,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,dr4 ,,watts4 ,,presented ,,by ,,miss ,,abney ,,to ,,dr4 ,,williams' ,,library4 ,,isaac ,,watts2 ,his ,life and ,writings1 ,,his ,,homes ,,and ,,friends4 8,few men have left behind such purity of character1 or such monuments of laborious piety4 ,he has provided instruction for all ages1 from those who are lisping their first lessons to the enlightened readers of ,malebranche and ,locke2 he has left neither corporeal nor spiritual nature unexamined2 he has taught the art of reasoning and the science of the stars40--,dr4 ,johnson4 8,the ,independents1 as represented by ,dr4 ,watts1 have a just claim to be considered the real founders of modern ,english hymnody40--,lord ,selborne4 ,,london3 ,,the ,,religious ,,tract ,,society1 #ef1 ,,paternoster ,,row2 #fe1 ,,st4 ,,paul',s ,,churchyard2 ,,and #afd1 ,,piccadilly4 ,,manchester3 ,,corporation ,,street4 ,,brighton3 ,,western ,,road4 ,illustration3 ,,preface4 ,most men who have left behind them a name so universally honoured and beloved as that of ,isaac ,watts have shone in many biographies2 he reverses the rule1 and really has more monuments in stone erected to his memory than there have been readable biographies to record the transactions of his life4 ,from time to time it seems necessary and natural to attempt some fresh record of the memory of honoured men2 even the best biographies wear out1 and succeeding ages demand a tribute in harmony with varying impressions or increased information4 ,the life of ,watts was one of the most quiet and equable of lives2 it flowed on in almost unbroken tranquillity and peace2 it was passed in much seclusion1 neither his taste nor his health permitting him to come much personally into the presence of the world4 ,the authentic incidents of his career1 of which we have any record1 are1 indeed1 very few1 yet1 such as they are1 they should surely be gathered up1 and put into some fitting memorial4 ,besides this1 it is a life always good to contemplate4 ,acquaintance seems to lift the reader almost into that region whose air the good man breathed so freely4 ,the object of the following pages will be to attempt to do some justice to the various attributes of his mental character4 ,his fame as a writer of hymns has1 by its very brightness1 obscured departments of work which cost him far more labour4 ,watts was modest2 in every estimate of himself he disclaimed any title to the rank of a poet2 but in truth his powers1 as manifested in his writings1 whether we regard him as a preacher1 theologian1 or metaphysician1 are all equally luminous and instructive4 ,beyond all these1 a character exalted by seraphic piety and all-embracing charity makes the narrative of such a life well worthy of the study of all to whom it is pleasant to contemplate human nature in the finer proportions of genius1 sanctified and illustrated by ,divine grace4 ,it is curious1 and almost amusing1 to notice that ,samuel ,johnson quite tamed down his rugged temper and speech when he wrote the life of ,watts4 ,he speaks of him as one who maintained orthodoxy and charity not only in his works but in his innermost nature3 not a discourteous or disrespectful word flaws the sketch he has written4 ,watts was the ,melancthon of his times1--not only in the ranks of ,nonconformity1 but within the pale of the ,establishment there was no other mind so resembling the mild and uniform spirit1 and graced by the many-coloured scholarship of the great ,reformer4 ,it cannot indeed be expected that those should know or care for ,watts1 who are not in affinity with his mild and temperate1 and yet majestic nature4 ,equally removed from the servility which would have enslaved1 or the fanaticism which would have inflamed1 the portrait of ,watts is one which will be studied to advantage at all times4 ,when ,johnson characterized the philosophical and literary writings of ,dr4 ,watts as 8productions which1 when a man sits down to read1 he suddenly feels himself constrained to pray10 he also describes the influence which the reading or the study of his whole life is calculated to have upon the mind4 ,it is not fertile in personal incidents1 but it has been well remarked that the ,christian biography has other objects--it may be hoped that many other biographies have higher objects--than that of merely exciting the imagination1 or agitating the mind by the recital of romantic adventures1 brilliant actions1 or daring exploits4 ,watts reminds us of that saying of ,richard ,sibbes1 that 8a ,christian must be neither a dead sea nor a raging sea40 ,his frequent illnesses1 as in the case of ,richard ,baxter1 8set him upon learning to die1 and thus he learned how to live40 ,for the greater portion of his life he lived painfully within sight of the world to come2 he hovered on the border-land of life2 he is a fine illustration of power in weakness1 and he adds another to the list of those men who surprise us by the results of amazing industry1 plied beneath all the interferences of sickness1 and a weak and fragile frame4 ,thanks are due1 and are hereby heartily rendered1 to the ,rev4 ,herman ,carlyle1 ,,ll4,b41 of ,southampton1 for permission to engrave the portrait from the vestry of ,above ,bar ,chapel--it has never been engraved before1 and is believed to be the portrait presented by his pupil1 early in life1 to the ,rev4 ,john ,pinhorne1 master of the ,southampton ,grammar ,school2 and also to ,j4 ,hunter1 ,esq41 of ,dr4 ,williams' ,library1 for his invariable courtesy1 and for permission1 obtained through him1 to use the portrait formerly the property of ,miss ,abney1 and the bust1 of which also engravings are given in the work4 ,e4 ,,paxton ,,hood4 ,illustration3 ,,contents4 ,,chap4 ,,page ,i4--,,birth ,,and ,,childhood ,,of ,,isaac ,,watts #a ,,ii4--,,in ,,the ,,academy ,,at ,,stoke ,,newington #ae ,,iii4--,,in ,,the ,,hartopp ,,family #cb ,,iv4--,,pastor ,,of ,a ,,london ,,church #dj ,v4--,,first ,,publication ,,as ,a ,,sacred ,,poet #eg ,,vi4--,,residence ,,in ,,the ,,abney ,,family #ge ,,vii4--,,hymns #hd ,,viii4--,a ,,circle ,,of ,,friends #acf ,,ix4--,,the ,,countess ,,of ,,hertford ,,and ,,mrs4 ,,rowe #agb ,x4--,,shimei ,,bradbury #ahi ,,xi4--,,his ,,times #bje ,,xii4--,,return ,,to ,,stoke ,,newington #bah ,,xiii4--,,the ,,world ,,to ,,come #bbf ,,xiv4--,,the ,,man #bdf ,,xv4--,,death ,,and ,,burial #beh ,,xvi4--,,summary ,,and ,,estimate ,,of ,,prose ,,writings #bgd ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,michael',s ,,gaol1 ,,in ,,which ,,watts' ,,father ,,was ,,confined4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,i4 ,birth and ,childhood of ,isaac ,watts4 ,isaac ,watts was born at ,southampton1 ,july #agth1 #afgd1 the same year in which ,john ,milton died4 ,he was the eldest of nine children1 and was named after his father1 ,isaac4 ,his father was a truly worthy and respectable man4 ,in the course of the future years of his very long life1 he became the master of a school of considerable reputation in the town4 ,dr4 ,johnson says it was reported that ,watts' father was a shoemaker4 ,in the year #agjj ,isaac ,watts1 of #ba1 ,french ,street1 ,southampton1 was a clothier or cloth factor2 so he is described in legal documents which still exist in that town2 so he is described in another deed of #agai2 while in #agcf he is described as 8,isaac ,watts1 of the town and county of ,southampton1 gentleman30#a this was the year in which he died4 ,at the time1 however1 of ,isaac's birth1 deep grief was round1 and heavy distress over the household4 ,the father was a ,nonconformist1 and a deacon of that which is now the ,above ,bar ,congregational ,church in ,southampton4 ,it was a cruel time2 the laws were very bitter against ,nonconformists1 and the traveller through ,southampton in many months of the year #afgd-ge might have seen a respectable young woman1 with a child at her breast1 sitting on the steps of the gaol seeking and waiting for admission to her husband4 ,it was the mother of ,watts1 and the daughter of ,alderman ,taunton4 ,tradition says1 she was ,french in her lineage1 of an exiled ,huguenot family1 driven over to ,england by intolerance and the massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew1 in the reign of ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,thus ,watts was the child of persecution1 and through all the earliest years of his life his mind must have been habituated to such impressions and associations as were well calculated to draw out and give sharpness and distinctness to his convictions4 ,the old prison remains very nearly the same as when the young mother sat with her child looking up to the barred room in which her husband was confined4 ,it stands upon the beach of the sweet ,southampton waters1 which then rolled much further in1 and almost washed the prison doors4 ,legend asserts that it was only a few steps from this spot that ,canute fixed his chair when1 in order that he might rebuke the adulation of his courtiers1 he commanded the waves to retire4 ,perhaps the imprisoned man turned to the incident1 and thought of ,one who is able to still the noise of the waves and the tumult of the people1 and to say to all billows1 8,hitherto shalt thou come1 and no further40 ,if able to climb to the tower of his prison1 a lovely scene opened to his view3 the charming hills of ,bittern on the left2 the 8sweet fields beyond the swelling floods0 opposite1 on the right of the ,southampton waters2 at his foot the old houses of the quaint little town1 and his own persecuted abode4 ,the author of 8,the ,christian ,life in ,song0 has not unnaturally conceived that probably to his mother he was indebted for the lyrical tendencies in which at a very early period his faith sought to express itself4 ,the ,french ,huguenots led the way in the utterance of feeling in sweet sacred hymns2 and the grieving young mother might perhaps refresh her faith by some of the strains of her old people1 while little knowing that she held in her arms one who was to eclipse the fame of ,clement ,marot in this particular4 ,as to the imprisonment of the father1 a licence had been issued in #affb by ,charles ,,ii41 under the signature of ,arlington1 allowing 8a room or rooms0 in the house of ,giles ,say to be used for congregational worship1 and ,mr4 ,say1 himself an exile and refugee from the persecutions of ,france1 to be 8the teacher40 ,in a short time this licence of indulgence was withdrawn1 and ,mr4 ,say and his chief supporters were thrown into prison2 one of the principal of these1 as we have seen1 was ,isaac ,watts the elder4 ,it was an unpromising commencement to an illustrious life2 and this trouble was no sooner escaped from than it was renewed4 ,liberated from prison1 ,isaac was still a very young child when his father was imprisoned again on the same charge for six months4 ,in #afhc he was obliged to flee from home into exile from his family4 ,where he passed his time we have no exact information1 but for two years he was living principally in ,london2 and thus the family continued to pass through a course of domestic suffering until those happier days came which brought the abdication of the ,stuart family and in honour of which1 on the succession of ,william1 we cannot wonder that ,isaac ,watts was glad to pour out some of his earliest verses4 ,watts sprang from a fairly good family4 ,alderman ,taunton1 his grandfather on his mother's side1 is still remembered in ,southampton by his public benefactions4 ,the grandfather ,watts had been engaged in the naval service1 and was commander of a man-of-war in the year #afef under ,admiral ,blake4 ,he appears to have been a man of great courage and many accomplishments4 ,he had some skill in the lighter recreations of music1 painting1 and poetry4 ,a story is told how in the ,east ,indies he had a personal conflict with a tiger1 which followed him into a river2 he grappled with the monster1 and got the better in the conflict4 ,in the ,dutch war the vessel he commanded exploded1 and thus in the prime of life he met his end4 ,it has been tenderly remarked that 8the grandmother ,lois0 is often as influential on the opening mind as 8the mother ,eunice40 ,the widow of the gallant sailor1 and grandmother of the poet1 had not only many stories to tell of her husband's adventures1 but seems to have been remarkably amiable1 if she may be judged by the glowing verses in which her grandson sought to do honour to her memory4 ,she sought to instil into his mind the lessons of early piety1 and exercised an influence over his early education during the time when trial and grief were strong in the household of her children4 ,the old people appear to have possessed considerable property1 but it was probably much diminished during those persecuting times4 ,such was the stock whence the poet was descended4 ,we may speak of it as a good strong root1 both upon the father's and upon the mother's side4 ,a sap of nobleness and gentleness seems to have given vitality to both families1 and to have left its best influences in their child4 ,isaac ,watts the elder was a man of great social worth4 ,in after years his boarding-school became a most flourishing establishment1 and children were sent to it to receive their training both from ,america and the ,west ,indies4 ,there is a document written to his family when he was living in exile from them1 which places his high principles of character1 his prudence and his piety1 his strong ,protestantism1 and his intelligence in a very remarkable light4 ,he also had a taste for sacred verse1 and many of his pieces have been preserved breathing a saintly meditative spirit4 ,mr4 ,parker1 the amanuensis of ,dr4 ,watts1 mentions a singular anecdote to illustrate how his advice was sought by persons of the town on account of his reputation for wisdom4 ,a person1 a stonemason1 in ,southampton1 had a dream4 ,he had purchased an old building for its materials2 previous to his pulling it down he dreamed that a large stone in the centre of an arch fell upon him and killed him4 ,upon asking ,mr4 ,watts his opinion1 he said1 8,i am not for paying any great regard to dreams1 nor yet for utterly slighting them4 ,if there is such a stone in the building as you saw in your dream0 7which he told him there really was71 8my advice to you is1 that you take great care1 in taking down the building1 to keep far enough off from it40 ,the mason resolved to act upon his opinion1 but in an unfortunate moment he forgot his dream1 went under the arch1 and the stone fell upon him and crushed him to death4 ,this good father lived to the advanced age of eighty-five2 his son ,isaac was then in his sixty-third year1 and only two or three days before his father's death addressed to him the following tender and satisfying letter3-- 8,,newington3 ,february #hth1 #agcf-cg4 8,,honoured ,,and ,,dear ,,sir1 8,it is now ten days since ,i heard from you1 and learned by my nephew that you had been recovered from a very threatening illness4 ,when you are in danger of life1 ,i believe my sister is afraid to let me know the worst1 for fear of affecting me too much4 ,but as ,i feel old age daily advancing on myself1 ,i am endeavouring to be ready for my removal hence2 and though it gives a shock to nature when what has been long dear to one is taken away1 yet reason and religion should teach us to expect it in these scenes of mortality and a dying world4 ,blessed be ,god for our immortal hopes1 through the blood of ,jesus1 who has taken away the sting of death6 ,what could such dying creatures do without the comforts of the ,gospel8 ,i hope you feel those satisfactions of soul on the borders of life which nothing can give but this ,gospel1 which you taught us all in our younger years4 ,may these ,divine consolations support your spirits under all your growing infirmities2 and may our blessed ,saviour form your soul to such a holy heavenly frame1 that you may wait with patience amidst the languors of life for a joyful passage into the land of immortality6 ,may no cares nor pains ruffle nor afflict your spirit6 ,may you maintain a constant serenity at heart1 and sacred calmness of mind1 as one who has long passed midnight1 and is in view of the dawning day6 #8,the night is far spent1 the day is at hand6' ,let the garments of light be found upon us1 and let us lift up our heads1 for our redemption draws nigh4 ,amen4 8,i am1 dear ,sir1 8,your most affectionate obedient ,son1 8,,isaac ,,watts40 ,troubled as were the early years of his life1 the subject of our biography furnishes one of those rare instances in which the precocity of infancy was not purchased at the expense of power in maturity2 it is said that before he could speak plainly1 when any money was given to him1 he would cry1 8,a book6 a book6 buy a book60 ,he began to learn ,latin at the age of four years1 and in the knowledge of this language and in ,greek he made swift progress2 it is probable that of ,latin1 ,greek1 and ,hebrew he had considerable knowledge while yet a child4 ,he is one of those who have been said to 8lisp in numbers40 ,his utterances of infant rhyme are not astonishing1 but every biography of him has repeated the story how1 when he was seven years of age1 his mother after school-hours one afternoon offered him a farthing if he would give her some verses1 when he presented her with the well-known couplet3 ,i write not for a farthing1 but to try ,how ,i your farthing writers can outvie4 ,it was about the same time that1 some verses of his falling into the hands of his mother1 she expressed her doubts whether he could have written them1 whereupon he immediately wrote the following acrostic2 and if some of the lines seem to falter1 the last two are certainly remarkable as the expression of a mere child1 and have even a kind of prophecy in them of his future years3 ,i am a vile polluted lump of earth1 ,s o ,i've continued ever since my birth2 ,a lthough ,jehovah grace does daily give me1 ,a s sure this monster ,satan will deceive me1 ,c ome1 therefore1 ,lord1 from ,satan's claws relieve me4 ,w ash me in ,thy blood1 ,o ,christ1 ,a nd grace ,divine impart1 ,t hen search and try the corners of my heart1 ,t hat ,i in all things may be fit to do ,s ervice to ,thee1 and sing ,thy praises too4 ,it was perhaps from the uncertainty of tuition at home1 or from the youthful student outstripping the attainments of his father1 that he was early sent to the grammar-school at ,southampton1 of which the ,rev4 ,john ,pinhorne was the principal4 ,he was a man of good character and attainments1 rector of ,all ,saints ,church in ,southampton1 prebendary of ,leckford1 and vicar of ,eling1 in the ,new ,forest4 ,the ,nonconformist relations of his young pupil appear to have produced no uncharitable effect upon the master's mind4 ,from the first he prophesied the future eminence and celebrity of the young scholar4 ,he died in #agad1 when these were in their dawn4 ,watts held him in most reverent and grateful memory1 and illustrated these feelings in a ,pindaric ,latin ode1 which1 in its recapitulation of the classical authors1 to whose pages the master had guided his knowledge1 certainly shows at once the abundant scholarship of the worthy pair4 ,there1 in the grammar-school of the town1 in the dark reigns of the ,second ,charles and ,james1 the little ,puritan was the most diligent and advanced scholar1 the beloved of his master4 ,he very early exhibited a great proficiency in ,latin1 ,greek1 and ,french4 ,a spare1 pale child1 there was perhaps nothing peculiarly prepossessing in his features1 if we except the bright1 intense sparkling eye1 and the quivering1 nervous expression4 ,there was certainly nothing robust about him1 but all the indications of the future scholar4 ,may we not also say the indications of the future saint--a little meditative ,samuel--of a time in our history of which we may say 8the ,word of the ,lord was precious in those days1 there was no open vision80 ,these first years1 when the mind was gathering to itself the many tools of knowledge1 were passed in his father's house at ,southampton--an utterly different ,southampton from that which we see now--a charming little sequestered town2 the gentle river rolled its pleasant and pellucid waves before it1 undisturbed by the iron floating bridge1 as the nobler ,southampton ,water rolled along between it and the ,isle of ,wight4 ,unsullied by steamboats1 it was no dept for the great navies of the ,west1 but it must have been a charming country town1 its streets almost overshadowed by the noble trees of the ,new ,forest4 ,the historian and antiquarian will find no lack of material for observation and suggestion in ,southampton2 it is rich in old nooks and reminiscences1 and as full of material for the artist as for the archologist4 ,legend and story of ,st4 ,benedict or ,king ,canute1 of the knightly ,bevis and ,ascapart were1 we may be sure1 not less fragrant then than they are there to-day4 ,many of the old houses are standing2 the old town walls1 the monuments of the great ,roman road1 and the noble bars of the town looked1 we may be sure1 more perfect then than now2 the neighbourhood in which ,watts lived still bears traces of being the oldest part of the town2 other spots1 which bear the marks of nineteenth century improvements in handsome parks and squares and streets1 were then only wide1 open fields2 and many of the objects interesting to those who visit ,english shrines have altogether passed away4 ,the gaol in which ,watts' father was confined1 ,st4 ,michael's ,prison1 the old ,bull ,hall1 and the buildings round the old ,walnut tree--the town retains the names of these places1 and still conveys some impression of what they were4 ,the ,blue ,anchor ,postern still exhibits its massive old masonry1 the relics of a building inhabited by ,king ,john1 and a royal residence of ,henry ,,iii4 ,yet more interesting memories gather in another part of the town1 round the ,widows' ,almshouses1#b founded by ,mr4 ,thorner1 the friend and co-religionist of ,watts' father4 ,the little town1 from being one of the most inconsiderable1 has become one of the most thriving and famous in the empire4 ,still1 changed as ,southampton is during the last two hundred years1 it is not difficult to realize something of its ancient character4 ,its counterpart or resemblance may still be found in some of those small seaport towns of ,france which have been left to their primitive isolation by the retreating tides of population4 ,yet a good many things in the old town of ,southampton remain unchanged4 ,it is full of quaint nooks and corners1 gateways and archways bearing the evident marks of high antiquity4 ,for a long period ,southampton sank into a state of sequestration and repose2 but her early history was something like her later1 and there was a day when in the most palmy and splendid time of ,venice her connection with that great commercial republic was as intimate as it is now with the ,eastern and ,western ,indies4 ,its glory dates from the time of the ,conquest2 and a circumstance ominous to ,england in the landing there of ,philip ,,ii41 of ,spain1 the husband and ill-adviser of ,mary1 is the last instance recorded of its prominence and splendour in the ancient day4 ,the old parish of ,all ,saints1 in which ,watts was born1 and the neighbourhood in which his childhood was passed1 remain so little changed as to enable the visitor to carry in his mind a fair picture of the old lanes and streets1 rambling round the old church1 in the middle of the now rudely paved square4 ,the house in which ,watts was born1 in ,french ,street1 is still standing1 and seems to give the assurance of being much the same1 although it has so far yielded to the indignities of time that one side of it is a public-house and the other a marine store4 ,it must have been a plain but roomy1 substantial building1 standing back with its garden behind it1 full of lofty rooms and rambling nooks and passages4 ,there he first saw the light1 there he passed his play days of childhood2 there the dreamy1 studious boy accumulated the first spoils of knowledge2 returning thither after his academical course was closed1 there he wrote his first1 and even a considerable number of his hymns2 and thither1 a celebrated man1 he often came to visit his parents1 even when he was an old man4 ,a fragrant memory of early piety and matured holiness still lingers over the old place1 and consecrates it as one of our ,english shrines4#c ,in his childhood circumstances happened likely to produce some effect upon his mind4 ,the memory of the terrible plague of #affe1 in which between one and two thousand persons were swept away1 was still fresh in ,southampton for one hundred and fifty years after4 ,the annalists of the town tell us it did not recover from the state of decay into which it fell from that dreadful visitation4 ,the shops were all closed1 all who could fled from the town1 and the streets were overgrown with grass4 ,when ,watts was six years old the great comet flamed over ,england1 with which were associated in many minds such dreadful portents1 and it no doubt lent a colour to many of his after most imaginative conceptions4 ,it was an object of singularly marvellous splendour4 ,several years after he seems to have put the memory of the impressions it produced upon him into the couplets in which he alters ,young's description1 and the words sufficiently show how the surprising spectacle had excited his youthful fancy3 ,who stretched the comet to prodigious size1 ,and poured his flaming train o'er half the skies8 ,is't at ,thy wrath the heavenly monster glares ,o'er the pale nations1 to announce ,thy wars8 ,the life of ,watts had very little in it at any time which related to the history of the period in which he lived1 yet it is impossible not to notice that these first years of his life at ,southampton were among the most exciting and memorable of the country's history4 ,what ,england was ,lord ,macaulay has well described in perhaps one of the most charming chapters of his history--the ,state of ,england at the death of ,charles ,,ii4 ,it was the time of ,england's ,reign of ,terror1 and circumstances were happening1 the conversations upon which must have produced a vivid impression upon the mind of a youth of lively sensibility4 ,the execution of ,algernon ,sidney and ,lord ,william ,russell1 the trial of ,richard ,baxter1 the rising of ,monmouth1 the tremendous descent of ,jefferies in the ,bloody ,assize of the ,west1 the trial of the bishops1 the flight of ,james1 the landing of ,william at ,torbay1 and his progress to ,london2 these were circumstances such as ,england had never seen before1 such as ,england can never see again1 and they all crowded fast upon each other in the years of ,watts' boyhood and early youth4 ,the period of the youth of ,watts calls up to the mind a singularly contradictory range of associations2 it was a wild1 wicked1 and frivolous time1 and yet there were men living then whose names have adorned1 and will ever adorn the literature of our land4 ,watts was fourteen years of age when ,john ,bunyan finished his eventful course4 ,samuel ,wesley1 the father of ,john and ,charles1 was just leaving his academy at ,stoke ,newington and the ,dissenters1 by whom he had been educated2 ,henry ,more1 the singular mystic1 preceded ,bunyan by one year to the grave2 ,ralph ,cudworth was accumulating his immense mass of nebulous scholarship2 ,south was preaching his celebrated sermons1 in which coarseness so frequently 8kibes the heels0 of wisdom2 ,robert ,boyle was1 with intense ardour1 prosecuting his observations and studies in natural history and science1 and blending with equal ardour with them his devotions to revealed religion and ,divine truth2 ,barrow was pursuing his ponderous lucubrations2 ,newton was expounding the system of the universe1 and ,locke the system of the mind2 ,howe was indulging in his seraphic ardours2 ,dryden was drawing to the close of an inglorious life1 and writing some of the pieces which have best served his fame2 ,john ,evelyn1 the model of an ,english gentleman1 was studying his trees at ,wootton1 or penning his entertaining diary at ,sayn ,court2 ,samuel ,pepys1 garrulous and silly1 was writing a history without knowing it1 as the ,boswell or the ,paul ,pry of the court and the town2 ,lely was flattering a meretricious taste by his paintings1 and ,christopher ,wren preparing his plans for rebuilding ,london4 ,the persecutions to which the ,nonconformists through this period were exposed of course affected society in ,southampton2 the avenues to prosperity and peace seemed to lie only in conformity to the ,church of ,england4 ,it was then that1 in consequence of his great and promising attainments1 his diligence and high character1 an offer was made to ,watts by ,dr4 ,john ,speed1 a physician of the town1 on the behalf of several others1 to send him to one of the universities1 and very handsomely defray all his expenses there4 ,he did not hesitate for a second1 but respectfully and firmly replied that he was determined to take up his lot amongst the ,dissenters4 ,two of his early friends1 in every way incomparably his inferiors1 conformed1 and attained to archiepiscopal dignities4 ,yet1 in spite of all that he afterwards wrote on the relation of the civil magistrate to religion1 there would seem to have been little in his faith1 feeling1 or practice which might not easily have found a home in the ,establishment but for the persecuting spirit of the time4 ,it was the same year that in his slight1 curious autobiographical memoranda1#d he mentions concisely how he 8fell under considerable convictions of sin20 in the year following1 his entry runs on1 8and was led to trust in ,christ1 ,i hope40 ,in the same year1 #afhi1 he mentions that he had a great and dangerous sickness2 and all these events of his life1 which look so brief and cold to us as we put them down on paper1 were great and crucial events to him1 settling the foundations of his character1 probably leading him away from the pursuits of scholarship as a mere charm and recreation of cultivated taste1 to regard it as the important means by which an entrance might be obtained to everlasting truths4 ,these events would add to those motives which had determined him to renounce the idea of university training1 and to seek an entrance into the ministry through the humbler portal of a ,dissenting academy4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,in the ,academy at ,stoke ,newington4 ,the neighbourhood of ,london1 to which ,isaac ,watts removed from ,southampton for the purpose of completing his studies1 and preparing for the work of the ministry1 was ,stoke ,newington1 and in that neighbourhood he was destined to pass the greater part of his life4 ,it was probably even then pervaded1 as for a long time before and ever since1 by an atmosphere of mild but consistent ,nonconformity2 the academy in which he studied was beneath the superintendence of the ,rev4 ,thomas ,rowe1 the pastor of the ,independent ,church assembling in ,girdlers' ,hall1 in the ,city4 ,it was probably one of the most considerable of the time1 and appears to have succeeded to one also well known upon the same spot1 of which the principal was the ,rev4 ,charles ,morton4 ,here studied the celebrated ,daniel ,defoe1 also originally intended for the ,nonconformist pulpit1 as he says in one of his reviews3 8,it is not often ,i trouble you with any of my divinity2 the pulpit is none of my office4 ,it was my disaster first to be set apart for1 and then to be set apart from1 the honour of that sacred employ40 ,the academy had a good reputation1 and the effort which old ,samuel ,wesley had made to sully its fair fame only reflected his own dishonour1 and left it untarnished4 ,charles ,morton was one of those obscure but remarkable men in which our country at that time was so rich4 ,he was descended from a singularly distinguished family--that of ,cardinal ,morton1 ,thomas ,morton1 ,bishop of ,durham1 and many other distinguished men4 ,he took his degree of ,m4,a4 at ,wadham ,college1 ,oxford1 and became1 and continued until the ,act of ,uniformity1 rector of ,blisland1 in ,cornwall2 after preaching for a short time at ,st4 ,ives he removed to ,london1 and shortly after opened an academy on ,newington ,green4 ,defoe pronounces the highest encomiums upon him and his method as a tutor2 and ,samuel ,wesley1 in the midst of his bitterness and ungracious flippancy--for he had been maintained on the foundation under the idea of entering the ,nonconformist ministry--ceases from his abuse to honour the memory of his master2 he1 however1 after having trained several men who became eminent in their day1 teased by continued persecution1 passed over to ,america2 there his fame had preceded him2 there he became pastor of a church in ,charlestown1 and ,vice-president of ,harvard ,university4#e ,shortly after the departure of ,mr4 ,morton for ,america1 the academy to which ,watts was consigned was founded by the eminently learned ,theophilus ,gale1 ,m4,a41 the author of that large medley of scholarship 8,the ,court of the ,gentiles40 ,he also had been deprived of considerable ,church preferments4 ,to his charge the eccentric ,philip ,lord ,wharton committed the tutorship of his sons2 with them he travelled on the ,continent1 adding to the stores of his mental wealth1 and contracting a friendship with the learned ,bochart4 ,he arrived in the metropolis on his return to see the city in the flames of the terrible conflagration1 but to learn that the manuscripts he had left in the care of a friend were all saved1 while the house in which they had been preserved was destroyed4 ,his mind was so largely stored with every kind of learning that his friends entreated him to settle as a professor of theology1 which he did at ,stoke ,newington1 and there he continued till he died in #afgh1 at the early age of forty-nine4 ,he left his personal estate for the education of young men for the ministry2 his library1 with the exception of his philosophical books1 to ,harvard ,college4 ,beneath a tutor so distinguished the interests of the two academies had probably merged into one4 ,the successor of ,mr4 ,gale was one of his own students1 ,thomas ,rowe1 whom we have already mentioned4 ,he was the son of the ,rev4 ,john ,rowe1 ,m4,a41 ejected from ,westminster ,abbey1 and who was called to preach the thanksgiving sermon before the ,parliament on the occasion of the destruction of the ,spanish fleet1 ,october #hth1 #afef4 ,thomas ,rowe very early entered upon the work of the ministry4 ,at the age of twenty-one he succeeded his father as pastor of ,girdlers' ,hall in ,basinghall ,street4 ,isaac ,watts came to the academy of ,stoke ,newington in the year #afij2 he was then in his sixteenth year4 8,such he was10 says ,dr4 ,johnson1 8as every ,christian ,church would rejoice to have adopted40 ,there was no doubt a rare congeniality of spirit between the tutor and his illustrious pupil2 the native gentleness of the latter found nothing perhaps in the former to give to it either sharpness or force2 indeed1 the name of ,thomas ,rowe would be lost but for the fame of ,watts4 ,the pupil was nearer to manhood than was implied in his years2 he was a well-informed and richly cultivated scholar when he left his father's house1 and his modest bearing was such as even a tutor might entrust with the responsibilities of friendship4 ,friendship soon matured between them2 the tutor testified that he never on any occasion had to give his pupil a reproof4 ,his academical exercises show with what diligence he was applying himself to the work of preparation for the work of his future life4 ,a sweet and cheerful gravity pervaded his manners and his studies1 and it may be boldly said that in the great universities of that time there were very few who wrought with so much vigour or to so much purpose4 ,his ,latin essays written at this period 8show10 says ,dr4 ,johnson1 8a degree of knowledge both philosophical and theological1 such as very few attain by a much longer course of study40 ,this verdict of ,johnson is only just4 ,one method adopted by ,watts in his studies he has commended to others in his 8,improvement of the ,mind10 and it has probably been often successfully adopted4 ,it was the plan of abridging the works of the more eminent writers in the various departments of study4 ,thus he printed the material more indelibly on his memory2 at the same time1 by recasting the thoughts or the information in his own mind1 he was so compelled to analyze and digest that he made the whole matter more entirely his own mental property4 ,to this practice he alludes when he says3 8,other things also of the like nature may be usefully practised with regard to the authors which you read--viz41 ,if the method of a book be irregular1 reduce it into form by a little analysis of your own1 or by hints in the margin2 if those things are heaped together which should be separated1 you may wisely distinguish and divide them2 if several things relating to the same subject are scattered up and down separately through the treatise1 you may bring them all to one view by references2 or if the matter of a book be really valuable and deserving1 you may throw it into a better method1 reduce it to a more logical scheme1 or abridge it into a lesser form4 ,all these practices will have a tendency both to advance your skill in logic and method1 to improve your judgment in general1 and to give you a fuller survey of that subject in particular4 ,when you have finished the treatise with all your observations upon it1 recollect and determine what real improvements you have made by reading that author40#f ,there was another plan which reveals the careful student1 and to which ,dr4 ,gibbons refers in his life3 8,there was another method also which the doctor adopted1 it may be in the time of his preparatory studies1 though of this we are not able to furnish positive evidence1 but of which there is the fullest proof in his further progress of life1 namely1 that of interleaving the works of authors1 and inserting in the blank pages additions from other writers on the same subject4 ,i have now by me1 the gift of his brother ,mr4 ,enoch ,watts1 the #8,westminster ,greek ,grammar' thus interleaved by the doctor1 with all he thought proper to collect from ,dr4 ,busby's and ,mr4 ,teed's #8,greek ,grammars1' engrafted by him into the supplemental leaves2 and ,i have besides in my possession a present from the doctor himself1 a printed discourse by a considerable writer1 on a controverted point in divinity1 interleaved in the same manner1 and much enlarged by insertions in the doctor's own hand40 ,certainly from hints such as these no writer could seem by his own careful diligence to be more admirably prepared to write to and counsel young men and others concerning the improvement of the mind4 ,most of the biographers of ,watts have referred to his fellow-students4 ,several of them were interesting men4 8,the first genius in the academy10 to adopt ,watts' own descriptive designation1 was ,mr4 ,josiah ,hart2 but very speedily after his removal from ,mr4 ,rowe he conformed1 and became chaplain to ,john ,hampden1 ,esq41 the member for ,buckinghamshire4 ,presently after he became chaplain to his grace the ,duke of ,bolton1 ,lord ,lieutenant of ,ireland4 ,such offices furnished very easy opportunities for advancement in the ,church4 ,before long he became ,bishop of ,kilmore and ,ardagh2 and in #agdb he was translated to the archbishopric of ,tuam1 with which was united the bishopric of ,enaghdoen1 with liberty to retain his former see of ,ardagh2 yet he retained friendly relationships with his old fellow-student1 and in the 8,lyrics0 occurs a free translation of an epigram of ,martial to ,cirinus1 which seems to intimate that he was not wanting himself in poetic inspiration3 ,so smooth your numbers1 friend1 your verse so sweet1 ,so sharp the jest1 and yet the turn so neat1 ,that with her ,martial1 ,rome would place ,cirine1 ,rome would prefer your sense and thought to mine4 ,yet modest you decline the public stage1 ,to fix your friend alone amidst th' applauding age4 ,fifty years after the period of their life as fellow-students we find the ,archbishop writing to ,watts1 8,god grant we may be useful while we live1 and may run clear and with unclouded minds till we come to the very dregs6 ,i send you my visitation charge to my clergy of ,tuam4 ,i submit it to your judgment4 ,your old friend and affectionate servant1 ,,josiah ,,tuam40 ,if in some part singularly expressed1 it gives a not unpleasing idea of the writer's character4 ,another fellow-student was ,mr4 ,john ,hughes2 but he also1 though dedicated to1 and educated for1 the ,dissenting ministry1 upon leaving the academy soon conformed to the ,establishment2 he cultivated the lighter studies of music1 poetry1 and painting4 ,the ,lord ,chancellor ,cowper1 in #agag1 appointed him secretary to the commissions of the peace2 and after the resignation of the ,chancellor he was still continued in the same office4 ,he became a contributor to the 8,tatler10 8,spectator10 and 8,guardian10 and he attained to the friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the age4 ,addison admired him as a poet1 ,pope held him in veneration for his goodness1 and ,bishop ,hoadley honoured him as a friend4 ,others of the fellow-students continued stedfast to the principles of their ,dissenting ,alma ,mater1 and became in their way also useful and remarkable men2 among these was ,mr4 ,samuel ,say1 the fellow-townsman of ,watts1 and one year his junior4 ,after a useful course of ministrations he succeeded ,dr4 ,calamy at ,westminster1 and continued there until his death4 ,through life he was on intimate friendly terms with his fellow-townsman4 ,little as we know of him1 sufficient is known to give to us the picture of a thoroughly accomplished man1 even with considerable claims to be regarded as a man of genius2 indeed it strikes us1 in reviewing the intercourse of these young men with each other1 and their recommendations of each other1 that there was a thoroughness about their attainments2 and that while they were faithful to severer studies they were not indisposed to those graceful exercises of the mind and fancy which have generally1 but we believe unjustly1 been regarded as incompatible with the severity of the ,puritan character4 ,to this indulgence1 no doubt1 the taste of the tutor1 ,mr4 ,rowe1 was favourable4 ,we know that ,watts was accomplished in several departments of taste1 although all the exercises which have come down to us from his college-days are quite of the severer character--critical1 metaphysical1 and theological--but his conscience was probably of that tender order which would esteem it an unfaithfulness to the object for which he was placed in the academy to turn aside to pursuits of a lighter and less sacred description4 ,another fellow-student of ,isaac ,watts was ,daniel ,neal1 celebrated as the author of 8,the ,history of the ,puritans20 he proved in an eminent degree his call to the work of the ministry1 and after some time spent in travel settled as a pastor in the metropolis4 ,it is usual in our day1 with the ,dissenting academies1 to receive no one as student for the ministry who has not previously qualified himself by membership with the church which commends him4 ,the practice appears to have been more liberal in ,watts' day4 ,he was never a member of the church at ,southampton1 but in the third year of his residence with ,mr4 ,rowe he united himself with the church of his tutor1 as he enters it in his memoranda1 8,i was admitted to ,mr4 ,t4 ,rowe's church ,december1 #afic40 ,this church also1 like so many of the ,independent churches in the city1 had a very honourable ancestry--as we have previously said1 it then held its meetings in ,girdlers' ,hall1 ,basinghall ,street2 after the death of ,mr4 ,rowe it removed to ,haberdashers' ,hall1 but the church itself appears to have originated with the eminent ,william ,strong1 ,m4,a41 still held in honour by the lovers of old ,puritan literature for his folio on the ,covenants4 ,he was a fellow of ,katherine ,hall1 ,cambridge1 and rector of ,more ,crichel1 in ,dorsetshire4 ,this living during the ,civil ,wars he was compelled by the ,cavaliers to relinquish1 and1 coming to ,london1 he became minister of the church assembling in ,westminster ,abbey1 and subsequently in the ,house of ,lords4 ,it is singular that thus both the ministers of the congregation in ,girdlers' ,hall were originally pastors of the church in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,mr4 ,strong died in #afed1 and was buried in the ,abbey church1 but upon the restoration his remains had1 with those of ,cromwell1 ,blake1 and ,pym1 the honour of exhumation4 ,still1 in the church when ,watts became a member of it1 lingered some of the old elements which first composed it2 perhaps the most conspicuous of these was ,major-,general ,goffe1 the well-known name of one of the judges of ,charles ,i4 ,such was the church with which ,watts held his first communion1 and from which he was only transferred to become the pastor of that over which he presided for the remainder of his life4 ,it need hardly be said that whatever interest attached to its memory in connection with the circumstances which we have recited1 his name confers upon it the most permanent human interest4 ,the union must have strengthened that intimacy we have already pointed out between himself and his tutor1 pastor1 and friend4 ,it is not probable that even at this period ,mr4 ,rowe had the large scholarship and keen insight into the beauties of the most famous classics possessed by his pupil1 if we may form a judgment from the ,pindaric ode to ,mr4 ,pinhorne1 but a quiet mind will often marshal ideas into order1 and give a military usefulness in commanding materials it could not recruit4 ,watts was probably never1 at any period of his life1 wanting in the accoutrements of discipline2 but this was the service chiefly rendered at the academy1 this and the more earnest entrance upon philosophical and theological studies4 ,we are sure also that he and his tutor well harmonized in their sense of the duty and the dignity of moral independence2 ,watts had already shown himself to be possessed of this by his entrance into the academy4 ,in his lines 8,to the much honoured ,mr4 ,thomas ,rowe1 the director of my youthful studies10 he says3 ,i hate these shackles of the mind ,forged by the haughty wise2 ,souls were not born to be confined1 ,and led1 like ,samson1 blind and bound2-- ,but when his native strength he found ,he well avenged his eyes4 ,i love thy gentle influence1 ,rowe1 ,thy gentle influence like the sun1 ,only dissolves the frozen snow1 ,then bids our thoughts like rivers flow1 ,and choose the channels where they run4 ,and here we may say farewell to the tutor2 he lived just long enough to see his scholar settled in the ministry2 but for his companion pupils he occupied a solitary home2 he was never married1 and in #agje1 riding through the city on horseback1 he was seized with a fit1 fell from his horse1 and instantly died4 ,he was one of those men of whom the world makes little mention1 and finds little recorded2 he was a comparatively young man4 ,we have dwelt upon the furniture of his mind1 the attractiveness of his manners1 the docility and beauty of his disposition2 to these it may be added that he was also probably possessed of an engaging manner in the pulpit1 as he retained what was then considered a large congregation to the time of his death4 ,while referring to the ,dissenting academies of those days1 it may be interesting to notice that from one of them in ,gloucester1 beneath the tutorship of the ,rev4 ,samuel ,jones1 two eminent men received their first training for the ministry of the ,church of ,england1 although intended for the ,nonconformist communion--,samuel ,butler1 the distinguished author of the 8,analogy10 and ,bishop of ,durham2 and ,thomas ,secker1 ,bishop of ,oxford1 and afterwards ,archbishop of ,canterbury4 ,the ,archbishop probably found one of his earliest patrons in ,dr4 ,watts1 by whom1 as the following letter testifies1 he was introduced to the academy4 ,the biographers of the ,archbishop1 ,dr4 ,porteus and ,dr4 ,stinton1 pass over the ,archbishop's first studies1 as conducted by 8one ,mr4 ,jones1 who kept an academy at ,gloucester20 but the following letter from ,secker1 written when about the age of eighteen to ,dr4 ,watts1 gives a very admirable idea of the manner in which he directed the work of study in the academy3 8,,gloucester3 ,nov4 #ahth1 #agaa4 8,,rev4 ,,sir1 8,before ,i give you an account of the state of our academy1 and those other things you desired me1 please to accept of my hearty thanks for that service you have done me1 both in advising me to prosecute my studies in such an extraordinary place of education1 and in procuring me admittance into it4 ,i wish my improvements may be answerable to the advantages ,i enjoy2 but1 however that may happen1 your kindness has fixed me in a place where ,i may be very happy1 and spend my time to good purpose1 and where1 if ,i do not1 the fault will be all my own4 ,i am sensible how difficult it is to give a character of any person or thing1 because the most probable guesses we make very often prove false ones4 ,but1 since you are pleased to desire it1 ,i think myself obliged to give you the best and most impartial account of matters ,i can4 8,mr4 ,jones1 then1 ,i take to be a man of real piety1 great learning1 and an agreeable temper2 one who is very diligent in instructing all under his care1 very well qualified to give instructions1 and whose well-managed familiarity will always make him respected4 ,he is very strict in keeping good order1 and will effectually preserve his pupils from negligence and immorality4 ,and accordingly1 ,i believe1 there are not many academies freer in general from those vices than we are4 ,in particular my bedfellow1 ,mr4 ,scott1#g is one of unfeigned religion1 and a diligent searcher after truth4 ,his genteel carriage and agreeable disposition gain him the esteem of every one4 ,mr4 ,griffith is more than ordinary serious and grave1 and improves more in everything than one could expect from a man who seems to be not much under forty2 particularly in ,greek and ,hebrew he has made a great progress4 ,mr4 ,francis and ,mr4 ,watkins are diligent in study and truly religious4 ,the elder ,mr4 ,jones1 having had a better education than they1 will in all probability make a greater scholar2 and his brother is one of quick parts4 ,our logic1 which we had read once over1 is so contrived as to comprehend all ,hereboord1 and far the greater part of ,mr4 ,locke's ,essay1 and the ,art of ,thinking4 ,what ,mr4 ,jones dictated to us was but short1 containing a clear and brief account of the matter1 references to the places where it was more fully treated of1 and remarks on1 or explications of the authors cited1 when need required4 ,at our next lecture we gave an account both of what the author quoted and our tutor said1 who commonly then gave us a larger explication of it1 and so proceeded to the next thing in order4 ,he took care1 as far as possible1 that we understood the sense as well as remembered the words of what we had read1 and that we should not suffer ourselves to be cheated with obscure terms which had no meaning4 ,though he be no great admirer of the old logic1 yet he has taken a great deal of pains both in explaining and correcting ,hereboord1 and has for the most part made him intelligible1 or shown that he is not so4 ,the two ,mr4 ,joneses1 ,mr4 ,francis1 ,mr4 ,watkins1 ,mr4 ,sheldon1 and two more gentlemen1 are to begin ,jewish ,antiquities in a short time4 ,i was designed for one of their number1 but rather chose to read logic once more2 both because ,i was utterly unacquainted with it when ,i came to this place1 and because the others having all1 except ,mr4 ,francis1 been at other academies1 will be obliged to make more haste than those in a lower class1 and consequently cannot have so good or large accounts of anything1 nor so much time to study every head4 ,we shall have gone through our course in about four years' time1 which ,i believe that nobody that once knows ,mr4 ,jones will think too long4 8,i began to learn ,hebrew as soon as ,i came hither1 and find myself able now to construe and give some grammatical account of about twenty verses in the easier parts of the ,bible1 after less than an hour's preparation4 ,we read every day two verses apiece in the ,hebrew ,bible1 which we turn into ,greek 7no one knowing which his verses shall be1 though at first it was otherwise74 ,and this1 with logic1 is our morning's work4 ,mr4 ,jones also began about three months ago some critical lectures1 in order to the exposition you advised him to4 ,the principal things contained in them are about the antiquity of the ,hebrew language1 letters1 vowels1 the incorruption of the ,scriptures1 ancient divisions of the ,bible1 an account of the ,talmud1 ,masora1 and ,cabala4 ,we are at present upon the ,septuagint1 and shall proceed after that to the ,targumim1 and other versions1 etc4 ,every part is managed with abundance of perspicuity1 and seldom any material thing is omitted that other authors have said upon the point1 though very frequently we have useful additions of things which are not to be found in them4 ,we have scarce been upon anything yet but ,mr4 ,jones has had those writers which are most valued on that head1 to which he always refers us4 ,this is what we first set about in the afternoon1 which being finished we read a chapter in the ,greek ,testament1 and after that mathematics4 ,we have gone through all that is commonly taught of algebra and proportion1 with the first six books of ,euclid1 which is all ,mr4 ,jones designs for the gentlemen ,i mentioned above1 but he intends to read something more to the class that comes after them4 8,this is our daily employment1 which in the morning takes up about two hours1 and something more in the afternoon4 ,only on ,wednesdays1 in the morning1 we read ,dionysius's ,periegesis1 on which we have notes1 mostly geographical1 but with some criticisms intermixed2 and in the afternoon we have no lecture at all4 ,so on ,saturday1 in the afternoon1 we have only a ,thesis1 which none but they who have done with logic have any concern in4 ,we are also just beginning to read ,isocrates and ,terence1 each twice a week4 ,on the latter our tutor will give us some notes which he received in a college from ,perizonius4 8,we are obliged to rise at five of the clock every morning1 and to speak ,latin always1 except when below stairs amongst the family4 ,the people where we live are very civil1 and the greatest inconvenience we suffer is1 that we fill the house rather too much1 being sixteen in number1 besides ,mr4 ,jones4 ,but ,i suppose the increase of his academy will oblige him to move next spring4 ,we pass our time very agreeably betwixt study and conversation with our tutor1 who is always ready to discourse freely of anything that is useful1 and allows us either then or at lecture all imaginable liberty of making objections against his opinion1 and prosecuting them as far as we can4 ,in this and everything else he shows himself so much a gentleman1 and manifests so great an affection and tenderness for his pupils as cannot but command respect and love4 ,i almost forgot to mention our tutor's library1 which is composed for the most part of foreign books1 which seem to be very well chosen1 and are every day of great advantage to us4 8,thus ,i have endeavoured1 sir1 to give you an account of all that ,i thought material or observable amongst us4 ,as for my own part1 ,i apply myself with what diligence ,i can to everything which is the subject of our lectures1 without preferring one subject before another2 because ,i see nothing we are engaged in but what is either necessary or extremely useful for one who would thoroughly understand those things which most concern him1 or be able to explain them well to others4 ,i hope ,i have not spent my time1 since ,i came to this place1 without some small improvement1 both in human knowledge and that which is far better1 and ,i earnestly desire the benefit of your prayers that ,god would be pleased to fit me better for ,his service1 both in this world and the next4 ,this1 if you please to afford me1 and your advice with relation to study1 or whatever else you think convenient1 must needs be extremely useful1 as well as agreeable1 and shall be thankfully received by your most obliged humble servant1 8,,thomas ,,secker40 ,secker's first communion was with a ,dissenting church--the ,rev4 ,timothy ,jollie's--and he preached his first sermon in a ,dissenting meeting-house at ,bolsover1 in ,derbyshire4 ,he retained his feelings of affectionate indebtedness to his early friend to the close of ,watts' life4 ,his term of study closed at ,stoke ,newington1 ,watts1 still little more than a youth1 returned for some time to his father's house at ,southampton4 ,worshipping with the congregation there1 under the ministry of the ,rev4 ,nathaniel ,robinson1 he felt that the psalmody was far beneath the beauty and dignity of a ,christian service4 ,he was requested to produce something better1 and the following ,sabbath the service was concluded with what is now the first hymn of the first book2 and a stirring hymn it is--as an ascription of praise or worship1 and as a confession of faith it is remarkably comprehensive and complete4 ,behold the glories of the ,lamb ,amidst ,his ,father's throne2 ,prepare new honours for ,his name1 ,and songs before unknown4 ,let elders worship at ,his feet1 ,the church adore around1 ,with vials full of odours sweet1 ,and harps of sweeter sound4 ,those are the prayers of the saints1 ,and these the hymns they raise2 ,jesus is kind to our complaints1 ,he loves to hear our praise4 ,eternal ,father1 who shall look ,into ,thy secret will8 ,who but the ,son shall take the book1 ,and open every seal8 ,he shall fulfil ,thy great decrees1 ,the ,son deserves it well2 ,lo6 in ,his hand the sovereign keys ,of heaven1 and death1 and hell4 ,now to the ,lamb that once was slain1 ,be endless blessings paid2 ,salvation1 glory1 joy1 remain ,for ever on ,thy head4 ,thou hast redeemed our souls with blood1 ,hast set the prisoners free2 ,hast made us kings and priests to ,god1 ,and we shall reign with ,thee4 ,the worlds of nature and of grace ,are put beneath ,thy power2 ,then shorten these delaying days1 ,and bring the promised hour4 ,this is the tradition of the origin of the first hymn4 ,it was received with great alacrity and joy4 ,it was indeed 8a new song40 ,the young poet was entreated to produce another1 and another4 ,the series extended from ,sabbath to ,sabbath1 until almost a volume was formed1 although their publication was long delayed4 ,this was the interesting result of his return to ,southampton4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,in the ,hartopp ,family4 ,returning from ,southampton1 ,isaac ,watts entered the family of ,sir ,john ,hartopp1 the first of those two influential friends whose names will always be associated with his own2 it was ,october #aeth1 #afif1 he being then twenty-two years of age1 when he went to reside with him4 ,within the memory of some of the old inhabitants of ,stoke ,newington there stood on the north side of ,church ,street the remains of a red brick house1 with large casement windows2 once they were all handsomely painted1 and bore the arms of ,fleetwood1 ,hartopp1 and ,cook4 ,but no one of these later generations saw that old mansion in all its original greatness4 ,in later years it came to be divided into houses1 and parts of it drifted down from the abode of statesmen to the boarding-school for young ladies4 ,still it retained even to its close1 traditionary relics and reminiscences of the old days of its pride and importance4 ,on the ceilings of its principal rooms were the remains of the arms of the ,lord ,general ,fleetwood2 and in the upper part there was a little door concealed by hangings1 through which the persecuted ,nonconformist passed into a place of safety and concealment1 in the days of ,charles ,,ii4 ,the old house was built towards the close of the reign of ,elizabeth1 so that even at the period when it comes before our readers it was ancient4 ,it was purchased by ,charles ,fleetwood1 ,lord ,general of the army of the ,commonwealth1 and under ,cromwell one of the ,council of ,state4 ,it is quite unnecessary here to dwell upon his transient importance and power2 he was one of the last of those remarkable men in that singular interregnum of our history1 and the very last after the resignation of ,richard ,cromwell who held some of the shadows of the departed substance of greatness4 ,he spent the remainder of his days in the mansion of ,stoke ,newington before his final departure for ,bunhill ,fields4 ,to this place1 in time succeeded ,sir ,john ,hartopp1 by his wife ,elizabeth ,fleetwood1 a grand-daughter of the ,general2 and to this old red brick building1 with its secret chambers and armorial casements and ceilings1 ,isaac ,watts came as a tutor in the family4 ,sir ,john ,hartopp was not a mere city knight1 and indeed city knighthoods meant much more in those days than now4 ,he was of an old ,leicestershire family of ,dalby ,parva1 in the register books of which place the name is written ,hartrupte4 ,the family was able to trace a very interesting history back to the time of ,richard ,,ii42 the baronetcy dated from the time of ,james ,i41 and the family received considerable honours from ,charles ,i41 and1 what is more to the purpose of the present memoir1 it was in his house that ,richard ,baxter planned1 if he did not partly write1 8,the ,saint's ,everlasting ,rest40 ,sir ,john ,hartopp1 the friend of ,watts1 was born at the commencement of the ,civil ,wars4 ,in his early youth the whole of his neighbourhood was alive with marchings and counter-marchings4 ,buckminster was the place of the family residence1 and the steeple of the parish church was used as a watch-tower for reconnoitring4 ,the house was alive and perpetually on the guard against the incursions of the ,cavaliers4 ,sir ,edward ,hartopp1 the first baronet1 died at the commencement of the ,protectorate of ,cromwell1 and was buried at ,buckminster2 his son1 the father of ,sir ,john1 died a short time previous to the ,restoration1 and about this time we find the family removed to ,london and settled at ,stoke ,newington4 ,sir ,john became an eminent ,nonconformist2 as he cast in his lot among the ,independents1 he was a member of the ,church of ,dr4 ,owen1 with whom he maintained a very close and intimate friendship2 and there is in the library of the ,new ,college1 in ,st4 ,john's ,wood1 a volume of the sermons of ,owen1 very carefully written down after hearing them1 copied1 probably for use in the family1 in ,sir ,john's handwriting4 ,many of ,dr4 ,owen's manuscripts came into his possession upon his decease1 and were contributed by him to the complete collection of the ,doctor's sermons4 ,sir ,john ,hartopp was an ardent and active patriot4 ,he was three times chosen representative for his native county of ,leicestershire4 ,in #afga he was high sheriff1 and he afterwards distinguished himself by his earnest advocacy of the ,bill of ,exclusion to bar the ,duke of ,york's succession to the throne4 ,he became the subject of much persecution1 and paid in fines apparently the larger portion of #g1jjj4 ,he died in #agbb1 when the affairs of the nation had long1 through the active exertions of such men as he was1 settled themselves into comparative tranquillity and prosperity4 ,watts preached in his memory his sermon 8,on the ,happiness of ,separate ,spirits made ,perfect10 and he dwells at some length upon certain personal characteristics1 from which we gather that ,sir ,john was an accomplished man1 with a taste for universal learning1 and the pursuit of knowledge in various forms--mathematics in his younger days1 and astronomy in his old age2 keeping alive his early knowledge of ,greek for an intelligent acquaintance with the ,new ,testament1 and so late in life as at the age of fifty entering upon the study of ,hebrew4 ,his house became the refuge of the oppressed1 while by some happy disposition of ,providence he himself was saved from those more severe and painful persecutions to which so many were not only exposed but subjected4 ,his ardent attachment to ,dr4 ,owen assures us of the temper and character of his religious convictions1 and altogether he shines out before us as one of those beautiful and luminous examples and illustrations of the men to whom our country owes so much4 ,so far as we can gather from what is left on record of him1 he appears to have been a true ,christian gentleman1 a fine harmonious combination of characteristics blending in him the severity of high principle with a gentle and tenderly affectionate nature4 ,sir ,john ,hartopp1 as we have seen1 became by marriage connected with the family of ,cromwell2 he married ,elizabeth1 one of the daughters of the ,lord ,general ,fleetwood1 and his sister married a son of the old general--thus there was a double connection4 ,when ,fleetwood's house was first built in the village of ,stoke ,newington it must have been a stately mansion4 ,in his day it was probably divided1 and had all the characteristics of the old mansions of the earlier part of the seventeenth century4 ,hither the ,general retired after the ,restoration1 and here1 singularly enough1 he was permitted to pass his days in tranquil obscurity4 ,he died while ,watts was studying at the adjoining academy4 ,watts no doubt knew the old ,ironside1 for he was on terms of close intimacy with his son1 ,smith ,fleetwood4 ,such were some of the collateral connections of the ,hartopp family4 ,and there was another4 ,sir ,nathaniel ,gould1 to whom ,watts inscribes a poem1 who married ,frances1 the daughter of ,sir ,john and ,lady ,hartopp4 ,such was the circle in which it appears he moved to and fro with a pleasant and indulged affability4 ,all of these people were members of the church over which ,dr4 ,owen had presided1 and of which ,watts was hereafter1 and shortly1 to be minister4 ,it was no doubt owing to the intimacy he sustained with all these eminent persons1 that he by-and-bye received the invitation to become their pastor1 in which relation he preached a funeral sermon1 as we have seen1 for ,sir ,john1 so also for ,lady ,hartopp1 and ,lady ,gould1 of whom he remarks1 8,i would copy a line from that most beautiful elegy of ,david1 and apply it here with more justice than the ,psalmist could to ,saul and ,jonathan1 #8,lovely and pleasant were they in their lives1 and in their death they were not divided1' silent were they and retired from the world1 and unknown except to their intimate friends2 humble they were and averse to public show and noise1 nor will ,i disturb their graves by making them the subject of public praise40 ,it was a house full of daughters and two sons4 ,two had already gone to the family vault1 and one--born the year of ,watts' entrance into the family--was soon to follow4 ,but there were nine daughters in the household2 of these two had died before the days of ,watts' residence1 seven survived2 these were ,helen1 and ,mary1 and ,martha1 and ,elizabeth1 and a second ,anne1 and ,bridget1 and ,dorothy1 and ,frances4 ,was ,watts their tutor8 ,it was a dangerous neighbourhood for a young man1 amidst all those bright glances and radiant young faces in the ,puritan household2 perhaps the danger had been greater had there been fewer of them4 ,fancy indulges herself in picturing the life of the young student there4 ,as we have seen1 ,frances married ,sir ,nathaniel ,gould1 and died in #agaa1 six days after her mother1 ,lady ,hartopp4 ,the other six daughters all lived and died unmarried in the family home4 ,how solitary1 one thinks1 the last of that bright circle must have felt1 dying there in #agfd1 sixty-two years after ,watts first took up his abode among them4 ,isaac ,watts entered the family as the tutor of the future baronet1 and many of those pieces which he afterwards gave to the world were the productions of this time1 many of his 8,miscellaneous ,thoughts10 the chief portions of his 8,logic10 and probably much of his 8,improvement of the ,mind40 ,we have said already he furnishes1 like ,john ,calvin and some others1 an instance of a singular prematurity of intelligence1 not however interfering1 as is so frequently the case1 with future eminence1 usefulness1 and advancement4 ,here1 then1 was for some time ,watts' home4 ,he studied hard and diligently1 drawing forth and putting into shape the results of previous years of scholarship4 ,behind the house there were extensive gardens and remarkably fine trees1 and especially a noble cedar1 said to have been planted by ,general ,fleetwood1 concerning which ,robinson tells a singular story3 ,that long years ago a scythe had been hung up in the fork of the tree1 and was left there unnoticed and untouched until years after it was discovered1 the body of the tree having completely overgrown it and enclosed the blade so fast that it could not be removed4 8,and10 says ,robinson1 8it is at this day to be seen1 the point of the blade on the one side1 and the end on the other40#h ,the young man to whom ,watts was tutor died at the age of thirty-five4 ,he had succeeded his father in the baronetcy4 ,watts had given to him a noble training4 ,upon the publication of his 8,logic0 it was dedicated to him1 and the writer reminds him that it had been prepared for him to assist his early studies4 ,some of the most animating verses in the 8,lyrics0 are addressed to him1 and many other scholastic pieces also were prepared for his pupil while residing at ,stoke ,newington4 ,amidst the shades of its trees were written many of those essays so pleasing to read now1 his 8,miscellaneous ,thoughts0 and 8,juvenile ,relics40 ,here the young man was indeed training himself as well as teaching his pupil1 when we remember that many1 if not most1 of his hymns had already been written at ,southampton1 and that his 8,institutes of ,logic0 and his whole method of thought were matured and written here2 truly he appears to have been an industrious athlete4 ,neither egotism nor egoism seems to shadow his studies by any morbid self-consciousness1 or any wondering dreams as to what his future destiny might be4 ,he appears to have been one to whom faith and duty were sufficient4 ,he had found his ,saviour1 and he believed2 he had his work to do1 and he wrought at it like a living conscience4 ,by-and-by he left the old house which had yet a singular history4 ,his pupil was very wealthy1 and he appears to have given during his life1 and to have left upon his death a maintenance1 with the family mansion1 to his six maiden sisters4 ,there they lived1 and there they died2 and it is remarkable1 as has been already said1 that one of them died in #agfd1 aged eighty-one1 ninety years1 as the church register shows1 after the death of a young sister in #afgd1 the year in which ,watts was born2 this1 we may be sure1 was throughout his life one of the houses he would frequently revisit1 and renew his impressions of youthful days amidst its elm and cedar shades4 ,gradually all the members of the family dropped away1 each in turn gathered one by one1 till one and all were re-united in the vaults of ,stoke ,newington ,church4 ,but we are stepping on too fast for our life of ,watts1 whose more obvious and active career was all before him yet4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,pastor of a ,london ,church4 ,watts preached his first sermon on his birthday1 ,july #agth1 #afih2 he was then twenty-four years of age4 ,he probably mingled with his duties as tutor those of chaplain to the excellent family in which he resided4 ,the ice once broken1 he began to preach constantly4 ,sir ,john ,hartopp and his family were members of the church of ,dr4 ,chauncy1 in ,mark ,lane2 and it was1 no doubt1 greatly in consequence of this friendship that ,watts was invited to become the assistant of the doctor4 ,it is curious to compare the dearth of chapels and preachers in the ,city in the present day with the many remarkable for their importance at the time when ,watts became a pastor4 ,still a few places stand out1 dating from that time2 but1 for the most part1 all have gone1 leaving only the memories of certain men of remarkable attainments1 wit1 and eloquence behind them4 ,to the distinguished circle of ministers1 and to the church which had known1 before him1 men so eminent1 ,watts1 all but unknown1 brought a name which was to give to them a crowning reputation4 ,his qualities as a preacher all accounts represent as rather solid than shining4 ,his sermons were beautiful in their clear harmonious symmetry of powers1 rather than startling4 ,surely never a man who poured into his verse so much rich brilliancy of expression--sometimes1 it must be admitted1 with questionable rhetorical afflatus and pomp of utterance--preserved through all that we know of his public teaching so quiet and equable a flow of language and ideas1 so instructive1 while so entirely removed from all that can unduly agitate the spirit4 ,in ,jeremy ,taylor we wonder that the poet seems to abandon every ambitious attempt when he writes verse1 while his sermons possess a gorgeous and overwhelming splendour of diction and imagery4 ,in ,watts1 on the other hand1 it is equally surprising that so sprightly and splendid a fancy1 so rich a command over sacred verses and images1 should express itself with such calmness and modesty in words intended for the pulpit2 but this was probably of a piece with his whole character4 ,his hymns are often raptures and ecstasies1 but he reserved these for his most private life1 for his own heart1 for his closet and study4 ,there was nothing in his character bustling1 prominent1 or obtrusive4 ,in an evening conversation he would shrink as far as possible from taking any prominent part1 and would never in ordinary company lead it4 ,in the home circle1 among close and well-known friends1 he shed around himself a genial atmosphere2 but he was too essentially a student and a book-man to be in any high sense a popular preacher4 ,eminent and eminently honoured1 his greatness was not of that order which easily finds itself at home in multitudes4 ,his person was not striking1 although we can conceive it to have been very impressive2 and his mode of setting forth all things upon which he wrote or spoke was so purely thoughtful1 demanded so intimate a sympathy with pensive and meditative moods1 and required so close an acquaintance with high and abstract thoughts1 that it is not to be wondered at that his fame as a preacher and scholar was rather reserved for the intimate circle than for more extended1 not to say vulgar1 spheres4 ,the ,city of ,london at present conveys no idea of what it was then2 and what it was very materially affects our estimate of the position of ,watts as one of its ,nonconformist ministers4 ,the ,city of ,london was the chief bulwark of ,english freedom4 ,happily all the needs and occasions for what it was in those days have long since passed1 and ,england itself has greatly become what ,london was then4 ,the ,city of that date calls up the idea of some such spots as the great medival cities1 the burgher strongholds of the middle ages4 ,not many years before it had been the refuge of the five members whom ,charles ,i4 sought to attach for high treason4 ,it had been committed to the cause of ,puritanism1 ,protestantism1 and ,william2 some of its chief men had become martyrs to the cause of civil and religious liberty4 ,the governments of ,charles ,,ii4 and ,james ,,ii4 scarcely permitted to active minds and public men a middle way4 ,nonconformity was imposed by the exactions of tyranny upon spiritually minded men4 ,hence1 leaving the fanes and structures then very pleasantly standing in many a retired close1 surrounded by pleasant trees1 sequestered places in the midst of the graves of many generations1 such persons were compelled to assemble for worship where they best could1 in some old guild hall or place of trade1 some loft over offices and warehouses4#i ,most of the congregations we now should consider small4 ,no company composed of faithful souls meeting for ,divine service beneath the blessing of ,him who said1 8,where two or three are gathered together in ,my name1 there am ,i in the midst of them10#aj can be held contemptible2 but their congregations were largely composed of persons who had figured prominently in the great actions of the immediately preceding years1 officers and soldiers of that great army which had overawed the world by their fame1 persons to whom ,nonconformity was no mere negation1 but the profession of all that was dearest to human freedom or to human hopes1 men of substance and position1 the most eminent merchants1 to whose sense religious and civil liberty were so closely related that it was impossible to do injustice to the one without aiming at the heart of the other1 and who knew that to injure either was to hurt the lesser1 but still eminent interests of trade and commerce1 and industry1 and national prosperity4 ,nonconformity in the ,city of ,london has grown in representative wealth and importance2 but it may be safely affirmed that it could not show such congregations of noble men as those which thronged its contemptible meeting-houses in ,watts' day4 ,referring back to those times1 entering one of the chapels during the time of service1 we should1 perhaps1 be astonished and chilled by the want of animation and ardour1 if these are to be tested by the apparent excitement4 ,indeed1 to our taste1 the service must have appeared very formal and frigid2 not merely in the fact that no instrumental music of any kind would have been tolerated1 no response or chant1 but1 in many congregations1 there was no singing at all4 ,to the stricter ,puritan sensibility this would have been merely intolerable4 ,we have instances of ministers who were made uncomfortable in their churches1 and compelled to relinquish them1 because they desired to introduce some religious melody2 in other instances it was the minister who disapproved such extravagant piety in his people4 ,the ,society of ,friends was not alone in its renunciation of all the adornments and flights of religious song4 ,even where singing was indulged1 it was ,patrick's or the ,scotch version1 or some such literal translation of the words of ,scripture4 ,paraphrases and more expanded religious sentiments had never been heard of1 and were regarded1 when first introduced1 as seditious and dangerous innovations1 disturbing the purity of so reasonable a service1 which derived all its life and interest from its most perfect conformity to a spiritual order2 the simple voice of the minister in prayer1 and in preaching1 meandering in many instances through roads of uncommon length4 ,we have instances on record of a prayer itself taking the entire length of that time we now ordinarily allot to a public service4 ,this state of things in the congregation must have greatly influenced the religious life of the times where it existed at all4 ,it became cold1 remote1 and abstract2 not that there were wanting instances1 both of ministers and congregations1 who maintained1 in the midst of so much lifelessness1 a high spiritual state and intercourse4 ,the ,nonconformists throughout the country were1 in the latter part of the seventeenth century1 for the most part men disposed to social quiet4 ,they had now recovered in some measure a state of religious tranquillity1 and they were rather interested quietly to preserve what they possessed1 than to attempt any occupation of new ground1 either in principle or in practice4 ,they made few efforts to correct the vices of men1 or to convert them from their life of sin4 ,the round of ,nonconformist duty and piety was a quiet1 staid1 and respectable service2 nothing1 we suppose1 could be more unlike the satires so often pronounced upon it4 ,most of its ministers were men of considerable scholarly attainments1 their minds fed by the rich and strengthening food to be found in some of the oldest fathers and the earliest reformers2 at the same time they were accustomed to abstractions and questions1 which at once enlarged and strengthened the understanding4 ,they had no acquaintance with our large varieties of nature and language2 but they were keen observers of human nature1 and they submitted their knowledge to the test and use of daily life4 ,as to their people1 in many instances1 no doubt1 they were humble1 perhaps even of obscure rank1 but this was not always the case4 ,nonconformity in those times included others than those we should even call the respectable middle classes2 it represented an order of political opinion quite as much as religious doctrine and practice1 not only as we have seen in ,london1 but in many districts of the country4 ,some of the highest and oldest families formed the staff and stay of congregations4 ,it was a respectable but cold piety1 in many instances with assured tendencies towards ,socinianism and ,unitarianism4 ,the ,nonconformity into which ,watts came1 and with which during the whole of his life he mingled1 is quite removed from that ,nonconformity of ,methodism and ,revivalism which became the great religious movement of the last century4 ,it was a ,nonconformity educated1 solid1 rooted in certain principles and assurances1 inclining too exclusively to a life of thought2 the religion of intelligent multitudes who could not conform1 especially to what the ,church of ,england was1 in that coarse and intolerant time1 when her nets gathered fish of every sort1 among them some chiefly remarkable for their rapacity and impurity4 ,it was over one of these old ,city churches1 probably the most famous of them1 that the youthful ,isaac ,watts was called to preside as the pastor4 ,the congregation or church contained a number of eminent persons2 its pastors had been eminent men2 here a few years before ministered ,joseph ,caryl4 ,from the pulpit of this place probably were poured forth those prelections on the ,book of ,job1 assuredly in more than one sense a monument to the memory of ,patience6 ,vast and mammoth-like1 a megatherium of books1 the most huge commentary ever written1 but a structure of learning1 with eloquence and evangelical truth1 if large in bulk almost equal in worth4 ,over this church1 more recently1 had presided a greater man in the person of the mighty ,john ,owen1 the friend of ,cromwell1 and1 during the ,protectorate1 ,vice-,chancellor of ,oxford4 ,the place of meeting was in ,mark ,lane1 and in the congregation there were present some whose character and lives might a little daunt any preacher1 much more a very youthful one4 ,there were many in that congregation able to carry the memory back through the days of ,england's fiery trials1 through the years of war and of persecution1 and the times when the ,city was alive in its own defence4 ,they had heard the cry1 8,to your tents1 ,o ,israel60 when1 in an ill-omened hour1 ,charles ,i4 came to the ,city2 they had seen the ,thames alive with barge and boat as the members were escorted back to ,westminster2 some had served in the camp with the ,ironsides1 and some had seen ,sir ,harry ,vane hailed to the scaffold2 there were officers of the old ,commonwealth army1 members of the old ,long ,parliament1 strong merchants and magistrates who had stood up for the liberties of the ,city and of ,england2 there1 in that congregation1 scattered over the place were clustering remnants of the immediate members and descendants of ,cromwell's family1 none more remarkable than that most singular woman1 ,mrs4 ,bendish1 ,bridget ,ireton1 the grand-daughter of ,cromwell1 of whom all contemporaries spoke as hearing just the same relation to her grandfather in character that ,elizabeth bore to ,henry ,,viii4--a woman with a most remarkable life2 there was ,charles ,fleetwood1 her mother's second husband2 there was ,charles ,desborough1 the brother-in-law to ,oliver ,cromwell2 there was that fine old ,english gentleman ,sir ,john ,hartopp1 and ,lady ,hartopp1 who was a daughter of ,charles ,fleetwood1 and thus allied to ,mrs4 ,bendish2 there was ,lady ,vere ,wilkinson1 and ,lady ,haversham1 a daughter of the ,earl of ,anglesey1 and the wife of ,john ,thompson ,earl of ,haversham2 and there1 last as we mention them1 but far from least in importance in the life of ,watts1 ,sir ,thomas and ,lady ,abney4 ,as we have said already1 the ,independent churches of the ,city were in that day greatly composed of such characters as these4 ,look into any one1 and you will see such persons of rank and influence1 although probably a kind of ,cromwell clannishness gave distinctness and importance to the little church in ,mark ,lane2 there was a respectability and dignity about those churches in general which we should in these days but little appreciate4 ,they were snug little spiritual corporations1 held together by several bonds which have ceased to be distinctive now2 a strong faith in certain great first principles in religion2 a strong faith also in certain political principles1 quite essential to the freedom of their faith and their religious life and its usages4 ,nor can we conceal from ourselves that there was also a conservative spirit of an aristocratic flavour2 there was nothing in the communion which savoured of our modern more heterogeneous assemblies3 the members were usually persons of strong character1 considerable culture1 and thought4 ,their idea of liberty was no more cut out after the modern type than was their theology2 indeed both were ideal4 ,if the ,harringtons and ,sidneys dreamed their republics1 not upon the wild democratic inclusiveness of complete suffrage1 the proclamation of the sanctity of ignorance1 and the wisdom of vice1 but upon the models of classical times1--these for the most part idealized the republic of the saints1 and formed their conceptions of church life and political freedom upon the unattainable standard of the college of the apostles1 and the traditions of the community of the saints4 ,yet it is very easy to perceive how1 ensconcing themselves in religious life as in a comfortable arm-chair1 while perfectly faithful themselves1 they became the parents of that large declension of such churches to ,arianism and the cognate ,socinian ideas which in the later periods of his life vexed the spirit of ,watts1 and led his thoughtful philosophic nature into an arena of mild1 but not the less earnest conflict4 ,watts1 accepting the charge of the church1 was ordained over it ,march #hth1 #agjb1 the day on which ,king ,william died4 ,the young minister's immediate predecessor was ,dr4 ,isaac ,chauncy1 who1 like most of his coadjutors in the ministry of that period1 was a gentleman of good and ancient family2 originally coming over with the ,conqueror1 settled at ,yardley1 ,berkshire1 in the time of ,elizabeth1 and by the drift of circumstances conducted to considerable eminence among the ,puritans and ,nonconformists4 ,the father of ,isaac ,chauncy had been professor of ,greek in the ,university of ,cambridge1 and vicar of ,ware1 in ,hertfordshire4 ,he took up his testimony for ,nonconformity when the 8,book of ,sports0 was published1 commanding him to desist from preaching on the ,sabbath afternoon1 that the people of his parish might indulge themselves in profane amusements2 he fell beneath the vengeance of ,archbishop ,laud1 and was twice cited before the ,court of ,high ,commission2 he made a recantation1 which he afterwards so regretted and bewailed that he threw up everything and withdrew to ,new ,england4 ,his son ,isaac held the living of ,woodborough1 in ,wiltshire1 from whence he was ejected1 and after ministering a short time in ,andover came to ,london1 intending to practise as a physician1 when the church in ,mark ,lane called him to become its minister2 but he was not popular as a preacher1 however eminent in other qualifications4 ,the congregation had exhibited signs of decline when ,watts was called in1 probably as one on whom the eyes of leading ,nonconformists were fixed1 especially as the friend of ,sir ,john ,hartopp4 ,although so young1 his knowledge of mathematics1 of the classics1 of ,church history1 of theological science1 especially his piety1 must have made him already well known in ,nonconformist circles4 ,this knowledge extended back to the early part of #afih1 so that for nearly two years he must have been the preacher1 and it may be presumed very considerably the pastor of the church before1 upon the resignation of ,dr4 ,chauncy1 he succeeded him in his office3 the members of this distinguished church must have invited him with their eyes completely open to all that he was as a preacher and as a man4 ,but he gave no indications of ability to enforce by his bodily powers the manifestations of his genius--his health appeared to be constantly failing4 ,for some months before his ordination he had been laid aside from preaching1 and in search of health had1 by the advice of physicians1 visited ,bath4 ,and then again we find him for some time resting at home at his father's house1 now1 no doubt1 a comfortable residence1 a flourishing school1 and released from all the terrors which had shadowed it in his infancy4 ,and from thence again by physicians we find him sent to ,tunbridge ,wells1 so that he says1 8,i was detained from study and preaching five months by my weakness1 except one very short discourse at ,southampton in extreme necessity40 ,he was of a slight and most fragile frame throughout his life4 ,his works constitute an amazing monument of industry4 ,but during the years he had been tutor in ,sir ,john ,hartopp's family he must have performed these duties in a spirit of remarkable conscientiousness1 for he prepared some of the works which afterwards delighted and instructed the world1 as the necessary means of the course he was pursuing in the education of the young man1 his pupil4 ,very remarkably this is the case with his 8,system of ,logic10 which when it was published many years after was adopted and continued to be until recently the text-book for the ,universities of ,oxford and ,cambridge2 this appears also to have been the case with his 8,scheme of ,ontology40 ,he refers to many of his writings published at a much later period of his life1 as for the most part the productions of these his earlier years4 ,we shall have occasion to speak of these again2 at present it is sufficient to refer to this persistency of mental labour and assiduous industry as not only the sufficient cause for the illness which suspended him from labour1 but the foundation of future years of painful infirmity which accompanied him through life4 ,there must have been much about him not only to command respect but to enchain affection4 ,long hesitating as to whether he should accept the proffered pastorate1 he had not long entered upon the real responsibilities of his office before he was again seized with a painful and alarming illness2 almost immediately he was compelled again1 in ,july1 #agjb1 to renew his rest in ,southampton1 and then returning to ,london he mentions1 in the memoranda we have already quoted1 that he was 8seized with violent gaundise and colic three weeks after my return to ,london1 and had a very slow recovery1 eight or nine weeks' illness4 ,from ,september #hth1 or thereabouts1 to ,november #bgth or #bhth4 ,this year1 viz41 #agjb1 by slow degrees removed from ,newington to ,thomas ,hollis's1 in the ,minories40 ,during a period of about six years ,watts appears to have resided in the family of ,sir ,john ,hartopp2 in the paragraph above quoted he refers to his removal to the house of ,mr4 ,hollis1 in the ,minories4 ,the names of the places associated with the ministrations or the residence of ,watts and his fellow ministers in the ,city1 sound to our ears now strange and singularly unromantic and uninteresting2 but what they are now we must not for a moment suppose they resembled then4 ,even the ,minories--now the last place in which one could wish to reside--lay1 at that time1 open and fresh towards the pleasant fields of the east end of ,london1 a rather distinguished neighbourhood beneath the shadows of the ,tower1 and pleasantly refreshed by the breath from the waters of the then really silvery ,thames1 whose banks were alive with the songs of watermen4 ,the ,minories or ,minoresses--so called from the nuns of the ,order of ,st4 ,clair--had once been the region of noble residences2 here had been the residence of ,sir ,philip ,sidney1 here his body lay in state4 ,the spot was1 and is1 full of interesting memories4 ,the family of the ,hollis's was from ,sheffield1 in ,yorkshire1 and having founded churches in ,doncaster and ,rotherham1 removing to ,london1 the father of ,watts' friend became one of the most helpful representatives of ,nonconformity in the ,city1 immediately connected with the church assembling in ,pinners' ,hall1 beneath the pastorate of ,dr4 ,jeremiah ,hunt4 ,to this place1 in consequence of the narrow and dilapidated state of the building in ,mark ,lane1 ,watts and his people were compelled to remove in the year #agjd4 ,pinners' ,hall had for years been used by ,nonconformists1 and in their turns ,baxter1 ,owen1 ,bates1 ,manton1 and ,howe had all preached in it to crowded congregations1 hence the reason1 most likely1 of the friendship of the minister and ,mr4 ,hollis4 ,we have few particulars of ,watts in his pastoral work4 ,from the first days of his pastorate his health was a frequent source of interruption to his activity4 ,the hymns and poems frequently expressing the experience of pain1 weakness1 and weariness are no fancies2 they express a very devout spirit of resignation1 with regret1 as he expresses it1 that 8many other souls are favoured with a more easy habitation1 and he hoped with a better partner1 accommodated with engines which have more health and vigour20 but he instantly recovers his spirits to exclaim1 8,shall ,i repine then1 while ,i survey whole nations and millions and millions of mankind that have not a thousand's part of my blessings80 ,he was laid aside by sickness for five months soon after he became assistant to ,dr4 ,chauncy1 #afih2 he was the subject of another illness soon after his settlement in the pastoral charge in #agja2 a violent fever seized him in #agab1 his constitution was shattered by it1 his nerves weakened and unstrung1 and he prevented from returning to his public work until ,october1 #agaf2 we find from his own record that he was confined by illness in #agbi2 and many other occasions might be discovered of these sharp bodily afflictions4 ,life around him was usually beautiful and serene2 he seems to have possessed a very large revenue of love1 but he unquestionably possessed this 8thorn in the flesh10 nor can we doubt that such experiences to such a faith as his1 gave personal meaning to his hymns4 ,he sung very often as one stretched on a rack1 and not the least of his pains must have been that his incessantly active nature1 his constant design and desire to carry out some purpose or to pursue some task found itself checked and arrested4 ,dr4 ,gibbons quotes a paragraph from a very beautiful letter to a friend1 a minister1 in affliction1 through which there runs a vein of true spiritual friendship1 and a pathos which his own experience of trials would very naturally inspire3 8,it is my hearty desire for you that your faith may ride out the storms of temptation1 and the anchor of your hope may hold1 being fixed within the veil4 ,there sits ,jesus our ,forerunner1 who sailed over this rough sea before us1 and has given us a chart1 even ,his ,word1 where the shelves and rocks1 the fierce currents and dangers are well described1 and ,he is our ,pilot1 and will conduct us to the shores of happiness4 ,i am persuaded that in the future state we shall take a sweet review of those scenes of ,providence which have been involved in the thickest darkness1 and trace those footsteps of ,god when ,he walked with us through the deepest waters4 ,this will be a surprising delight1 to survey the manifold harmony of clashing dispensations1 and to have those perplexing riddles laid open to the eyes of our souls1 and read the full meaning of them in set characters of wisdom and grace40 ,it is not extraordinary1 therefore1 that even so early as #agjc the church relieved ,watts by choosing a co-pastor1 ,mr4 ,samuel ,price1 a native of ,wales1 but a student from ,attercliff1 in ,yorkshire4 ,as it was necessary to have a co-pastor1 he was chosen upon the express desire and earnest recommendation of ,watts2 but many years appear to have passed between the choice of the church and his ordination as joint pastor1 for ,watts' autobiographic memoranda says3 8,june1 #agjc1 ,mr4 ,samuel ,price was chosen by the church to assist me20 but he was not ordained to the office of co-pastor until #agac4 ,this relationship continued until it was dissolved by death4 ,they were colleagues considerably upwards of forty years1 and ,price succeeded his beloved and amiable friend1 whom he survived about seven years2 he died in #agef1 having been connected with the church fifty-three years4 ,watts mentions him in his will as his faithful friend and companion in the ministry1 and leaves some little legacy1 8as only a small testimony of his great affection for him1 on account of his services of love during the many harmonious years of their fellowship in the work of the ,gospel40 ,watts several times1 in the course of the prefaces and dedications to his published works1 refers affectionately to his colleague2 and his colleague when he died expressed a wish that he might be buried as near as possible to his honoured friend4 ,it may be incidentally mentioned that he was uncle to the celebrated ,dr4 ,richard ,price4 ,although his companion in the ministry neither as a preacher nor man of letters approached the eminence of ,watts1 it would seem that he was in every way acceptable as a preacher and a pastor1 8judicious1 and useful1 and eminent in his gift of prayer10 says ,gibbons4 ,certainly1 the old place in ,mark ,lane became too small1 for1 after a temporary sojourn in ,pinners' ,hall1 in #agjh the congregation removed from ,mark ,lane#aa to ,duke ,street1 ,st4 ,mary ,axe4 ,it had been the site of one of the most celebrated metropolitan ecclesiastical establishments previous to the ,reformation1 the ,priory of the ,holy ,trinity1 the founder of which was ,matilda1 ,queen of ,henry ,i42 it became a huge establishment and enormously wealthy1 the richest convent in ,england1 some have said2 rich in lands and ornaments1 and incomparably surpassing all the other priories in the same county4 ,the prior was always an alderman of ,london1 although1 if he happened to be exceedingly pious1 he appointed a substitute to enact temporal matters2 and on solemn days this clerical alderman rode through the city with the other aldermen1 but arrayed in his monastic habit4 ,on the dissolution of the monasteries this became one of the earliest spoils1 and it was given by ,henry ,,viii4 to ,sir ,thomas ,audley1 the ,speaker of the ,house of ,commons1 and afterwards ,lord ,chancellor4 ,on the site of the old priory he erected a splendid mansion1 in which he resided until his death in #aedd4 ,his daughter and sole heiress1 ,margaret1 married ,thomas1 ,duke of ,norfolk1 so the estate descended to the ,howard family1 and became the ,duke's place2 he lost his head2 passing to his eldest son1 he sold it in #aeib to the mayor1 corporation1 and citizens of ,london4 ,this is a singular piece of history1 which ,wilson1 in his 8,history of ,dissenting ,churches10 has gathered from ,strype1 ,maitland1 and ,pennant4 ,in the time of ,watts the neighbourhood had scarcely fallen from its high estate4 ,time had been since the period of the ,reformation when ,sir ,francis ,walsingham1 ,sir ,thomas ,wyatt1 and the ,earl of ,northumberland had their houses here2 and ,bury ,street derived its name from the abbots of ,bury1 who also had a residence on this spot4 ,since the time of ,cromwell1 however1 the region had become a kind of ,juden ,strasse4 ,the ,jews1 who now form its principal inhabitants1 then first settled there4 ,the spot on which the chapel was built was part of a garden1 although removed from public observation1 a necessity laid upon the ,nonconformists of that time1 who were compelled to retreat into obscure recesses to escape the vigilance of prowling informers4 ,the building has now entirely passed away1 but we very well remember it1 one of the old square substantial buildings with its galleries1 exactly an ideal conventicle of those times1 one of those in which the ,nonconformists seemed to teach that there was no beauty in architecture which they particularly desired4 ,the rich furniture and attainments of the ministers' minds contrasting singularly with the plain and altogether unornamented and even barn-like simplicity of the scene of their ministrations3 almost the only buildings which now retain the entirely unornamented architecture of the ,puritan times are those of the members of the ,society of ,friends4 ,such was the building opened in ,bury ,street1 ,october #crd1 #agjh2 it is also interesting to notice that it was erected at the costly sum of #fej6 ,in the present year of the publication of this volume a building has been erected in the ,city of ,london for the same order of communicants as those in ,bury ,street1 at a cost of #ee1jjj4 ,the two sums are very suggestive of a comparison and contrast between the ,nonconformists of the time of ,watts and of to-day4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,v4 ,first ,publication as a ,sacred ,poet4 ,the fact that the first work published by ,watts was the 8,sacred ,lyrics0 may justify this early estimate of his character as a sacred poet4 ,it is probable1 nay it is certain1 that the time bestowed by ,watts upon poetry was very slight and insignificant compared with that which he devoted to the graver pursuits of life1 and the various studies connected with philosophy1 theology1 preaching1 and education4 ,he first1 however1 appeared in print as the author of the 8,hor ,lyric10 the ,lyrical ,poems3 and ,dr4 ,johnson judges that they entitled him to an honourable place amongst our ,english poets4 ,watts himself thought very modestly of his claims in this way1 and speaks concerning his own compositions in the humblest language4 8,i make no pretences10 he says1 8to the name of a poet1 or a polite writer in an age wherein so many superior souls shine in their works through the nation40 ,in many of his hymns he unquestionably deserves the highest honour3 but for the most part it is not in the lyrics we are to seek1 as we certainly shall not find1 the noblest illustrations of his poetical genius2 nor1 perhaps1 is it probable that we should turn to them with much interest or expectation but that they are the production of ,dr4 ,watts1 and that he was the author of those hymns so dear to the ,church of ,christ1 and the 8,divine and ,moral ,songs for ,children40 ,in all our judgments and criticisms upon ,watts as a poet1 two things must be borne in mind3 first1 as we have seen above1 that he not only disclaimed the character himself1 but proved his sincerity by regarding it only as the recreation of grave and serious studies1 and the very natural occupation of a man of fine taste and largely cultivated sensibility2 and next1 we must remember1 that the poetry of the age in which he lived was artificial1 formed for the most part upon classical models1 whose rules were very greatly inapplicable to ,english verse4 ,the sweetest and most perfect poet in any near approach to those times was ,oliver ,goldsmith1 and he was the writer least imbued with classical lore1 and the one who left all classical rules and allusions furthest behind him1 content to express himself in simple and pleasing ,english4 ,johnson was a poet1 and ,joseph ,addison1 but although so much more ambitious and devoted to the pursuit1 they neither of them have produced sentiments or expressions which charm us more than those we find in the productions of ,watts4 ,thomas ,gray was a poet1 but only in two or three instances did the simplicity and purity of the ,english language1 and the simple metre1 succeed in winning him from the trammels of classical formularies4 ,indeed there was something ludicrous in the poetry of the time2 and the great genius of ,pope1 which really was equal to anything in verse1 seemed almost to struggle in vain against the pedantic rules he imposed upon himself4 ,it was the age of fantastic ornament and of formal symmetry1 of artificial gardening1 of trimmed yews1 when even ,nature herself in her trees1 hedgerows1 and flower-beds was made to look ridiculous4 ,a sort of tulip-mania1 a false admiration in colour and in form1 took possession not merely of the speculators in the market1 but of the devotees of the fine arts4 ,years passed on before ,english poetry liberated itself from these false trammels1 and the first great ,english writer who subsequently gave freedom and freshness1 a combination of sublimity and simplicity to ,english verse1 was ,william ,cowper4 ,we must separate and distinguish between ,watts as a poet1 the author of the 8,lyrics10 and ,watts as a hymnologist1 and the author of those pieces which1 as they have been1 so we trust they will continue to be1 a precious legacy of the ,church1 and the expression of its deepest1 highest1 and tenderest emotions4 ,in a letter to the 8,gentleman's ,magazine10 when his judgment was appealed to for a poetical decision1 he said1 8,though ,i have sported with rhyme as an amusement in younger life1 and published some religious composures to assist the worship of ,god1 yet ,i never set myself up among the numerous competitors for a poet of the age1 much less have ,i presumed to become their judge40 ,there is a writer of one or two immortal hymns in our language who sometimes suggests a comparison with ,dr4 ,watts4 ,watts was capable of poetry4 ,he was not only a poet in his hymns1 but a poetic nature often broke through the turgid pindarics he adopted as the vehicle of his expressions4 ,but ,ken was no poet at all1 and yet1 unlike ,watts1 who disclaimed the character1 this was ,ken's one vanity4 ,a writer in the 8,quarterly ,review10 which may be accepted here as an unexceptionable umpire1 says1 8,if there was any vanity in the good man's heart1 it would seem to have been on the subject of his poetical skill4 ,he expresses1 indeed1 a belief that his verses are open to the assaults of criticism1 but he must have thought something of them1 for he left them for publication1 and they fill four thick volumes4 ,the contrast is strange between the clear1 free1 harmonious flow of his prose1 and the barbarous1 cramped1 pedantic language1 the harsh dissonance1 the extravagant conceits1 which disfigure the great mass of his verses4 ,mr4 ,anderson has tried the ingenious experiment of reducing some passages from metre to prose1 and no doubt they gain considerably6 ,but there is no getting over the fact that these four volumes are altogether a mistake40#ab ,such a criticism as this can never be pronounced on ,watts1 but it is yet true that some of the vices of ,ken disfigure the pages of the 8,hor ,lyric10 and they are traceable to the same cause--the forsaking simplicity and nature1 and following artificial models and straining after affected diction4 ,he was essentially a hymn writer1 and among the lyrics the most beautiful and effective pieces are those which either are hymns or approach nearest to that order of composition4 ,the modern reader will be impatient of the frequent apostrophe1 and1 although 8personification1 that is1 the transformation of the qualities of the mind1 and abstract ideas1 and general notions into living embodiments10 has ever been regarded as one of the noblest exercises and proofs of the poetic faculty1 we suppose few will be disposed to regard ,watts' excursions in this way with favour4 ,he possessed this power in an eminent degree3 instantaneously1 apparently1 a sentiment became an image1 and the image pointed to a tender and pathetic treatment4 ,his elegy on the death of ,william ,,iii4 has often been cited as a fine piece of elegiac personification2 should it seem extravagant to the reader1 it would scarcely seem so to ,lord ,macaulay2 and it must be remembered that ,dr4 ,watts was one who regarded himself and the nation as profoundly indebted1 surely not unnaturally1 for freedom and prosperity to the arms and government of the deceased king4 ,he was young when he wrote these verses4 ,william1 as we have said1 died the day on which ,watts was ordained to the work of the ministry1 #agjb4 ,the verses present a picture of the illustrious hero lying in state1 surrounded by the weeping arts and graces of society4 ,dr4 ,gibbons1 not inappropriately1 speaks of the piece as 8the largest constellation of personifications occurring amongst the ,doctor's ,odes30 ,preserve1 ,o venerable pile1 ,inviolate thy sacred trust2 ,to thy cold arms the ,british isle1 ,weeping1 commits her richest dust4 ,rest his dear sword beneath his head2 ,round him his faithful arms shall stand3 ,fix his bright ensigns on his bed1 ,the guards and honours of our land4 ,high o'er the grave ,religion set ,in solemn guise2 pronounce the ground ,sacred1 to bar unhallowed feet1 ,and plant her guardian virtues round4 ,fair ,liberty1 in sables drest1 ,write his loved name upon his urn2 ,william1 the scourge of tyrants past1 ,and awe of princes yet unborn4 ,sweet ,peace1 his sacred relics keep1 ,with olives blooming round her head1 ,and stretch her wings across the deep ,to bless the nations with the shade4 ,stand on the pile1 immortal ,fame1 ,broad stars adorn thy brightest robe2 ,thy thousand voices sound his name ,in silver accents round the globe4 ,flattery shall faint beneath the sound1 ,while hoary ,truth inspires the song2 ,envy grow pale1 and bite the ground1 ,and ,slander gnaw her forky tongue4 ,night and the grave1 remove your gloom2 ,darkness becomes the vulgar dead2 ,but glory bids the royal tomb ,disdain the horrors of a shade4 ,glory with all her lamps shall burn1 ,and watch the warrior's sleeping clay1 ,till the last trumpet rouse his urn1 ,to aid the triumphs of the day4 ,but he had a simpler manner1 and even in his stronger expressions rose to the majesty of simple strength1 as in the following3 ,,launching ,,into ,,eternity4 ,it was a brave attempt6 advent'rous he1 ,who in the first ship broke the unknown sea3 ,and leaving his dear native shores behind1 ,trusted his life to the licentious wind4 ,i see the surging brine3 the tempest raves3 ,he on the pine-plank rides across the waves1 ,exulting on the edge of thousand gaping graves3 ,he steers the winged boat1 and shifts the sails1 ,conquers the flood1 and manages the gales4 ,such is the soul that leaves this mortal land1 ,fearless when the great ,master gives command4 ,death is the storm3 she smiles to hear it roar1 ,and bids the tempest waft her from the shore3 ,then with a skilful helm she sweeps the seas1 ,and manages the raging storm with ease3 7,her faith can govern death7 she spreads her wings ,wide to the wind1 and as she sails she sings1 ,and loses by degrees the sight of mortal things4 ,as the shores lessen1 so her joys arise1 ,the waves roll gentler1 and the tempest dies1 ,now vast eternity fills all her sight1 ,she floats on the broad deep with infinite delight1 ,the seas for ever calm1 the skies for ever bright4 ,the weight and grandeur of his thoughts1 the radiance of his perception1 the far-reaching1 remote grandeur of the objects of his verse1 must always be taken into account1 pondered1 and allowed an adequate influence over the reader's mind1 whenever attempts are made to estimate what he was as a sacred poet4 ,not the less was his mind in ready accord with objects of ,nature4 ,he had seen1 probably1 little of ,nature in her more grand and exciting moods4 ,men like him1 horn to ,london life1 and only occasionally escaping thence to some near and quiet watering-place1 saw little of those ample pages which1 in our own or other lands1 are now unrolled to almost every designing eye4 ,but his verses abundantly show with what perfect sympathy every object touched him1 how all the smaller or greater things of ,nature impressed the subtle sense within him1 and awoke the mystery and the awe4 ,the following lines1 not composed as a hymn1 but included in his 8,miscellaneous ,thoughts10 have always seemed to us very cogently to illustrate this3 ,my ,god1 ,i love1 and ,i adore2 ,but souls that love would know ,thee more4 ,wilt ,thou for ever hide1 and stand ,behind the labours of ,thy hand8 ,thy hand unseen sustains the poles ,on which this huge creation rolls3 ,the starry arch proclaims ,thy power1 ,thy pencil glows in every flower2 ,in thousand shapes and colours rise ,thy painted wonders to our eyes2 ,while beasts and birds1 with labouring throats1 ,teach us a ,god in thousand notes1 ,the meanest pin in ,nature's frame ,marks out some letter of ,thy name4 ,where sense can reach1 or fancy rove1 ,from hill to hill1 from field to grove1 ,across the waves1 around the sky1 ,there's not a spot1 or deep or high1 ,where the ,creator has not trod1 ,and left the footstep of a ,god4 ,and in the same strain1 with what strength and majesty he sweeps every chord of ,nature in his sublime version of the #adhth ,psalm3 ,loud hallelujahs to the ,lord4 ,the strong nervousness of his expression1 the passionate personification 7always the mark of a great poet7 with which his verses abound1 sometimes1 but more especially in his lyrics1 give the appearance of inflation to his expressions4 ,but when attempting to describe adequate themes1 they only fitly represent the subject1 as in the following fine description of the glory of ,god in the clouds3 ,thy hand1 how wide it spreads the sky6 ,how glorious to behold6 ,tinged with a blue of heavenly dye1 ,and starred with sparkling gold4 ,there ,thou canst bid the globes of light ,their endless circles run2 ,where the pale planet rules the night1 ,and day obeys the sun4 ,the noisy winds stand ready there ,thy orders to obey2 ,with sounding wings they sweep the air1 ,to make ,thy chariot way4 ,there like a trumpet loud and strong1 ,thy thunder shakes our coast2 ,while the red lightnings wave along1 ,the banners of ,thy host4 ,on the thin air1 without a prop1 ,hang fruitful showers around2 ,at ,thy command they sink1 and drop ,their fatness to the ground4 ,strong exception has been taken to ,watts' verse1 on the score of its frequent1 almost passionate1 expression of ,divine love2 in this he frequently writes like ,madame ,guyon1 or like some of those old monastic spirits who passed their days in cloisters2 and ,watts' life was almost as cloisteral as that of a monk4 ,unlike his amiable friend1 ,philip ,doddridge1 he was never diverted from any of the solemn pursuits of his life by the claims of human passion or affection1 although there are not wanting verses which1 perhaps1 show that he had not been altogether insensible to female charms3 ,virgins1 who roll your artful eyes1 ,and shoot delicious danger thence2 ,swiftly the lovely lightning flies1 ,and melts our reason down to sense4 ,but perhaps his poem 8,few ,happy ,matches10 reveals some reason why his timid spirit refused to seek its happiness in matrimonial chains1 and so he turned to the higher affections1 singing-- ,life is a pain without ,thy love2 ,who can ever bear to be ,cursed with immortality1 ,among the stars1 but far from ,thee8 ,but the author of many of these hymns must often have been wafted away with a true mystic ecstasy4 ,the warmth of this rapture has been objected to2 the objection lies1 also1 against the works of most of the great mystics4 ,my ,god1 the spring of all my joys1 is one of countless illustrations-- ,my ,god1 my life1 my love1 ,to ,thee1 to ,thee1 ,i call4 or-- ,dearest of all the names above4 ,in such as these1 if the reader feels unable to rise to them amidst the delights of family joys--wife1 and children1 and society--let him remember how ,watts lived1 his solitary nights1 in a family where1 no doubt1 his presence was a charm and blessing1 but in which he must have been to himself1 comparatively1 lonely as a monk1 feeding his mind with thoughts until they became passions and ecstasies to him1 and even found their vent in such words as the following3 ,his charm shall make my numbers flow1 ,and hold the falling floods2 ,while silence sits on every bough1 ,and bends the listening woods4 ,i'll carve our passion on the bark2 ,and every wounded tree ,shall drop and hear some mystic mark ,that ,jesus died for me4 ,the swains shall wonder when they read1 ,inscribed on all the grove1 ,that ,heaven itself came down and bled ,to win a mortal's love4 ,to this same order of sacred personification also belong those verses1 which are certainly remarkable1 and when properly apprehended among the most tenderly antithetical in our language1 on the ,death of ,moses3 ,sweet was the journey to the sky ,the wondrous prophet tried2 8,climb up the mount10 said ,god1 8and die20 ,the prophet climbed and died4 ,softly his fainting head he lay ,upon his ,maker's breast2 ,his ,maker kissed his soul away1 ,and laid his flesh to rest4 ,in ,god's own arms he left the breath ,that ,god's own ,spirit gave2 ,his was the noblest road to death1 ,and his the sweetest grave4 ,and while remarking upon the poet1 we may notice that many of his pieces reflect that quiet scholarly spirit of the age1 in which not only ,watts1 but so many other writers delighted to indulge2 that ,seneca-like musing and moralizing1 that contented dreaming beneath umbrageous woods and by the side of purling streams4 ,it has been said that ,samuel ,rogers1 in his 8,human ,life10 portrays the ,twickenham side of existence4 ,the ,stoke ,newington side was very much like it1 certainly wholly unlike the stir and heat of the vivid passions1 the painful introspections1 and diseased musings1 which have forced their way into modern poetry4 ,if ,watts described or dealt with these it was not in his verse1 although many of his prose writings seem to reveal that he was not ignorant of them2 such is his often quoted piece3 ,,true ,,riches4 ,i am not concerned to know ,what1 to-morrow1 fate will do3 ',tis enough that ,i can say1 ,i've possessed myself to-day3 ,then1 if haply midnight death ,seize my flesh1 and stop my breath1 ,yet to-morrow ,i shall be ,heir to the best part of me4 ,glittering stones1 and golden things1 ,wealth and honours that have wings1 ,ever fluttering to be gone1 ,i could never call my own3 ,riches that the world bestows1 ,she can take1 and ,i can lose2 ,but the treasures that are mine ,lie afar beyond her line4 ,when ,i view my spacious soul1 ,and survey myself a whole1 ,and enjoy myself alone1 ,i'm a kingdom of my own4 ,i've a mighty part within ,that the world hath never seen1 ,rich as ,eden's happy ground1 ,and with choicer plenty crowned4 ,here on all the shining boughs ,knowledge fair and useful grows2 ,on the same young flow'ry tree ,all the seasons you may see2 ,notions in the bloom of light1 ,just disclosing to the sight2 ,here are thoughts of larger growth1 ,rip'ning into solid truth2 ,fruits refined1 of noble taste2 ,seraphs feed on such repast4 ,here1 in a green and shady grove1 ,streams of pleasure mix with love3 ,there1 beneath the smiling skies1 ,hills of contemplation rise2 ,now1 upon some shining top1 ,angels light1 and call me up2 ,i rejoice to raise my feet1 ,both rejoice when there we meet4 ,there are endless beauties more ,earth hath no resemblance for2 ,nothing like them round the pole1 ,nothing can describe the soul4 ',tis a region half unknown1 ,that has treasures of its own1 ,more remote from public view ,than the bowels of ,peru2 ,broader 'tis1 and brighter far1 ,than the golden ,indies are2 ,ships that trace the watery stage ,cannot coast it in an age2 ,harts1 or horses1 strong and fleet1 ,had they wings to help their feet1 ,could not run it half-way o'er ,in ten thousand days or more4 ,yet the silly wand'ring mind1 ,loath to be too much confined1 ,roves and takes her daily tours1 ,coasting round the narrow shores-- ,narrow shores of flesh and sense1 ,picking shells and pebbles thence3 ,or she sits at ,fancy's door1 ,calling shapes and shadows to her2 ,foreign visits still receiving1 ,and to herself a stranger living4 ,never1 never would she buy ,indian dust1 or ,tyrian dye2 ,never trade abroad for more1 ,if she saw her native store3 ,if her inward worth were known1 ,she might ever live alone4 ,nor1 much in the same vein1 was he indisposed occasionally for a gentle kind of satire1 as in the following vigorous paraphrase1 which some readers may perhaps be surprised to find falling from the pen of ,watts4 8,when ,i meet with persons10 he says1 8of a worldly character1 they bring to my mind some scraps of ,horace30 8,nos numerus sumus1 et fruges consumere nati1 ,alcinoique juventus ,cui pulchrum fuit in medios dormire dies10 etc4 ,,paraphrase4 ,there are a number of us creep ,into this world1 to eat and sleep2 ,and know no reason why they're born1 ,but merely to consume the corn1 ,devour the cattle1 fowl1 and fish1 ,and leave behind an empty dish4 ,the crows and ravens do the same1 ,unlucky birds of hateful name2 ,ravens or crows might fill their places1 ,and swallow corn and carcases4 ,then if their tombstone1 when they die1 ,ben't taught to flatter and to lie1 ,there's nothing better will be said1 ,than that 8,they've eat up all their bread1 ,drank up their drink1 and gone to bed40 ,and the following verses are surely very pleasing to the discontented and unquiet3 ',tis a dull circle that we tread1 ,just from the window to the bed1 ,to rise to see1 and to be seen1 ,graze on the world awhile1 and then ,we yawn1 and stretch to sleep again4 ,but ,fancy1 that uneasy guest1 ,still holds a longing in our breast3 ,she finds or frames vexations still1 ,herself the greatest plague we feel4 ,we take great pleasure in our pain1 ,and make a mountain of a grain1 ,assume the load1 and pant and sweat ,beneath th' imaginary weight4 ,with our dear selves we live at strife1 ,while the most constant scenes of life ,from peevish humours are not free2 ,still we affect variety3 ,rather than pass an easy day1 ,we fret and chide the hours away1 ,grow weary of this circling sun1 ,and vex that he should ever run ,the same old track2 and still1 and still ,rise red behind yon eastern hill1 ,and chide the moon that darts her light ,through the same casement every night4 ,we shift our chambers and our homes1 ,to dwell where trouble never comes3 ,sylvia has left the city crowd1 ,against the court exclaims aloud1 ,flies to the woods2 a hermit saint6 ,she loathes her patches1 pins and paint1 ,dear diamonds from her neck are torn2 ,but humour1 that eternal thorn1 ,sticks in her heart3 she's hurried still1 ',twixt her wild passions and her will3 ,haunted and hagged where'er she roves1 ,by purling streams1 and silent groves1 ,or with her furies1 or her loves4 ,then our native land we hate1 ,too cold1 too windy1 or too wet2 ,change the thick climate1 and repair ,to ,france or ,italy for air4 ,happy the soul that virtue shows ,to fix the place of her repose1 ,needless to move2 for she can dwell ,in her old grandsire's hall as well4 ,virtue that never loves to roam1 ,but sweetly hides herself at home4 ,and easy on a native throne ,of humble turf sits gently down4 ,without claiming then for ,watts a pre-eminent place among those who are called poets1 these citations will be sufficient to show that however he might disclaim the dignity1 he deserved the designation4 ,and there are poets whose eminence is in general more unquestioned1 who deserve it less4 ,he was unjust to himself in this particular2 verse and rhyme fell from him easily1 happily1 naturally4 ,perhaps he succeeded least when he most ambitiously attempted2 but he had a remarkable and pleasant power of instantly translating some sentiment which crossed his mind from the classics into ,english verse1 as in those well-known lines1-- ,seize upon truth where'er 'tis found1 ,on ,christian1 or on heathen ground4 ,amongst your friends1 amongst your foes1 ,the flower's divine where'er it grows1 ,neglect the prickle and assume the rose4 ,in which he elevates the sentiment of ,virgil1-- 8,fas est ab hoste doceri40 ,referring to his translations1 it has been very justly said that he seldom translates or imitates a heathen poet but he either makes him a ,christian in the end1 or shows his deficiency in not being one4 ,he consistently maintained throughout his writings1 as a poet1 the determination expressed in the lines-- ,thy name1 ,almighty ,sire1 and ,thine1 ,jesus1 where ,his full glories shine1 ,shall consecrate my lays4#ac ,his familiar method of remembering the signs of the ,zodiac is an illustration of the rapid and neat way in which he could bind up knowledge in a verse3 ,the ram1 the bull1 the heavenly twins1 ,and next the crab the lion shines1 ,the virgin and the scales2 ,the archer1 scorpion1 and the goat1 ,the man that holds the water-pot1 ,the fish with glittering tails4 ,and his receipt for the orderly conduct of ,divine worship1 for sustaining a mental effort in prayer1 is useful1 beautiful1 and perfect3 ,call upon ,god1 adore1 confess1 ,petition1 plead1 and then declare ,you are the ,lord's1 give thanks and bless1 ,and let ,amen confirm the prayer4 ,the devout purpose which ruled and governed the whole life of ,watts is of course manifest in his poems4 ,such as he is1 he is always a sacred poet2 he never forgets that his life has been consecrated and set apart to religious teaching and to the promulgation of useful knowledge2 his moralities are recreation1 never mere dreams2 and if he never attempts the great flights of poetry in epic or dramatic writing1 we may remember that in this1 as in his yet more sacred pieces1 he was a lyrist1 and reserved all his greater efforts for his work in the ministry1 seeking thus to make more sweet and serviceable the whole service of the ,house of ,god4 ,throughout these remarks we have left it to be inferred that the verse-making1 great as was the fame it procured the author1 was regarded by him merely as the accident of his work2 at the same time his nature seems to have been truly in sympathy with all those impulses derived from external scenery1 calculated to stir a poetic sensibility4 ,we fancy his modest nature would almost have assented1 without a rejoinder1 even to some of the very severe criticisms which modern fastidiousness has pronounced upon him2 but ,dr4 ,gibbons assures us how swiftly and instantly his spirit caught every impression of natural scenery and life2 how he delighted in the rural verdure1 or the waving harvest-field1 or the resounding grove2 how his nature was awed almost equally by the wonderful and subtle labours of the industrious bee1 or the sun walking through the heavens in the greatness of his strength4 ,in his lyrics1 classical forms1 perhaps1 rather hampered than aided him2 he was fascinated by the majestic roll of the ,pindaric ,greek2 but from this fault the best of his hymns are entirely free4 ,we have dwelt thus at length upon some of the characteristics of ,watts' verse1 feeling that criticism upon it is far from exhausted2 and that1 amidst its various representatives in our language1 in spite of that modern contempt which is creeping even into the circles of those who profess to hold his faith and follow in his footsteps1 he still deserves to retain a place in the history of ,english poetry4 ,we have referred rather to those more striking and obvious marks of his genius2 but we must still prefer him in his more quiet and subdued strains of devotion1 those peaceful1 pensive lines with which his works abound4 ,it is equally certain that he wrote a number of verses and lines perfectly indefensible on the score of good taste3 this is the more remarkable1 because his taste does seem to have been cultivated to the highest pitch of excellence2 and his mind was remarkable1 not merely for the plenitude of its ideas1 but for the easy elegance with which he ordinarily gave expression to them4 ,however this may be1 their bad taste and strange conceits have not greatly repressed the reverence with which we regard the works of ,george ,herbert or of ,henry ,vaughan2 nor does the frequent turgidity of ,milton much interfere with the admiration and awe with which we read most of his poems4 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,,abney ,,house1 ,,stoke ,,newington4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,residence in the ,abney family4 ,it was at that period of ,watts' life1 when he felt in a very especial manner his loneliness1 and fever and infirmity were reducing him to a painful sense of abiding weakness1 that ,sir ,thomas and ,lady ,abney invited him to spend a week with them at their magnificent house of ,theobalds1 in ,hertfordshire4 ,he accepted the invitation1 and the hosts and their guest seemed to have been so mutually pleased with each other that ,watts continued in the family until his death1 a period of thirty-six years4 ,watts must have then been about thirty-eight years of age4 ,johnson remarks upon this friendship that 8it was a state in which the notions of patronage and dependence were overpowered by the perception of reciprocal benefits2 it deserves a particular memorial20 and he refers to ,dr4 ,gibbons' interesting account1 which is1 indeed1 one of the most pleasant pieces of his biography1 and compels the wish that he had more frequently broken the monotony of the book by pages so pleasing4 ,the event was one of those kind providences which those who watch the lives of eminent men1 who have served their generation and the cause of ,god1 will not fail to perceive4 ,think of the solitary student1 the shrinking1 sensitive man1 the modest and fearful spirit who could not command service1 and recoiled from giving trouble1 how fearfully life might have dragged along through a few years of languor and pain1 unequal to much service1 unable to gather round him any1 or but few1 of the comforts of life1 suddenly transferred to all the affluent comforts of this magnificent abode1 to its rooms1 capacious and luxurious1 the abode of order1 and harmony1 and holiness1 not only a pious household1 but entirely after the type favoured by the thoughtful guest4 ,there were the rich rural scenes1 the delightful garden1 the spreading lawn1 and the fragrant and embowered recess1 all wooing the body back to health and the heart to peace2 and although a few years after his entrance into the household ,sir ,thomas ,abney dies1 yet the guest cannot be permitted to depart4 ,the same affection and respect are continued by ,lady ,abney and her daughter4 ,lady ,abney was the sister of the chief friend of ,watts' younger days1 ,thomas ,gunston2 her wealth was very great1 and1 says ,gibbons1 8her generosity and munificence in full proportion40 ,there must have been a pleasant fellowship and community of tastes1 certainly a fitting harmony of character2 reminding us of ,robert ,boyle with his sister ,lady ,ranelagh1 or ,william ,cowper with ,mary ,unwin2 such relationships are very beautiful in their serene1 unselfish character4 ,beneath the roof of ,lady ,abney ,watts died4 ,within two months of his departure to ,bunhill ,fields1 she was taken to her resting-place in the vaults of ,stoke ,newington ,church4 ,but the family in which ,dr4 ,watts was for more than half his life an honoured guest merits some more particular mention4 ,sir ,thomas ,abney was descended from an ancient and respectable family in ,derbyshire4 ,his father was ,james ,abney1 ,esq41 of ,wilsley1 whose ancestors had enjoyed that estate upwards of five hundred years4 ,the son came to the ,city of ,london1 and appears to have passed through the honours of ,alderman1 ,sheriff1 and ,lord ,mayor4 ,for the services he rendered to ,king ,william he received the honour of knighthood1 and was chosen chief magistrate some years before his turn4 ,he appears to have had in those troublesome times great influence in the ,city1 though holding at that time a strong opinion adverse to the ,stuarts4 ,he was chosen in #agja to represent it in ,parliament2 he was a director of the ,bank1 and president of ,st4 ,thomas' ,hospital2 and when1 upon the death of the exiled ,james1 the ,king of ,france1 ,louis ,,xiv41 caused the ,pretender to be proclaimed at ,st4 ,germains ,king of ,great ,britain1 and by the recall of the ,earl of ,macclesfield war seemed to be unavoidable1 ,sir ,thomas ,abney1 in the ,court of ,common ,council1 proposed1 in opposition to the majority of his brethren on the bench1 an address to ,william ,,iii41 declaring that they would support him against ,france and the ,pretender3 it was carried and transmitted to the ,king1 who was then on the ,continent4 ,it is impossible now to estimate the vigour this imparted to the ,king's affairs--it was the note which roused the nation4 ,it was said that this act of ,sir ,thomas ,abney served the cause of the ,king more than if he had raised for him a million of money4 ,it is a singular circumstance that although ,watts received such marks of favour from the ,abney family1 ,sir ,thomas and ,lady ,abney do not appear to have1 in the first days of their acquaintance1 belonged to the church of which ,watts was pastor4 ,sir ,thomas was a member of that church during the pastorate of ,mr4 ,caryl1 whose daughter was his first wife4 ,after ,mr4 ,caryl's death he united himself with the church of which ,john ,howe was the minister4 ,nonconformists were at that time1 as they have been frequently since1 ,lord ,mayors of the ,city1 usually complying by occasional conformity so far as to attend one part of the ,sunday at church1 the other at their own place of worship4 ,when ,sir ,humphrey ,edwin1 who was a member of ,pinners' ,hall congregation1 was ,mayor1 he very unwisely caused the regalia of the ,city to be carried to his meeting-house1 and it created a vehement storm4 ,but it is remarkable that ,mr4 ,milner1 usually very accurate1 in his life of ,dr4 ,watts quotes a paragraph from 8,the ,shortest ,way with the ,dissenters10 speaking of it as a piece of ,high ,church vituperation1 apparently unaware that this was the very production of ,defoe1 the satire for which he was put in the pillory2 ,mr4 ,milner1 misled by the heartiness of the composition1 like many of ,defoe's day1 came to the conclusion that it was the work of an enemy to those whose interests the pamphlet was intended to serve4 ,the paragraph points immediately to ,sir ,thomas and his friend ,watts1 as the reader will perceive by the designations italicized3 8,but a lady1 ,queen ,anne1 now sits on the throne1 who though sprung from that blood which ye and your forefathers spilt before the palace-gates1 puts on a temper of forgiveness1 and1 in compassion to your consciences1 is not willing that you should lose the hopes of heaven by purchasing here on earth4 ,she would have no more ,sir ,humphreys tempt the justice of ,god1 by falling from his true worship and giving ear to the cat-calls and back-pipes at ,st4 ,paul's2 would have your ,sir ,thomas's keep to their primitive text1 and not venture damnation to play at long spoon and custard for a transitory twelvemonth2 and would have your ,sir ,tom sing psalms at ,highgate ,hill1 and split texts of ,scripture with his diminutive figure of a chaplain1 without running the hazard of qualifying himself to be called a handsome man for riding on horseback before the ,city trainbands40 ,it may be noticed now how much the interest of ,king ,william and the ,hanover succession to the throne of ,england were served by the ,protestant dissenters of the ,city of ,london1 and by no one more than by ,sir ,thomas ,abney4 ,he lived to a good old age1 dying at his house at ,theobalds in the year #agbb4 ,nor can we wonder that his friend should pay a high tribute to his memory in a funeral sermon1 and seek to give it a more durable place in a sketch in his 8,miscellaneous ,thoughts40 ,theobalds was a fine old palace1 and has been celebrated in the verses of poets and the pages of novelists1 and the memoirs of historians2 but no biography of ,watts gives any specific account of the magnificent old building in which he spent the greater number of the years of his life4 ,it was as much ,watts' home as if it had been his own property2 and he was in the habit of saying his poetical contributions would have been much more numerous had he1 in his early life1 been privileged with the means of retirement among such shades and gardens1 and ample grounds4 ,theobalds was1 and had been1 everything that could excite the memory1 or stir or soothe and lull the imagination4 ,situated a little more than a mile from ,cheshunt1 in ,hertfordshire1 and within an easy ride from the metropolis1 on the borders of ,enfield ,chase1 it possessed a very remarkable history2 it had been the favourite residence of the mighty ,cecil1 ,lord ,burleigh2 to this place he fled with eagerness to enjoy his short intervals of leisure2 amidst its shades he planned and plotted schemes in which the whole future of ,england's history was interested2 he laid out immense sums of money upon the grand pile1 and kept up great state with extraordinary magnificence1 while he might be seen ambling along upon a mule through the groves of his magnificent domains1 overlooking his workmen or the parties of pleasure he had gathered around him4 ,here1 at this old house1 ,queen ,elizabeth had repeatedly rested in the course of her great progresses4 ,here1 when ,burleigh and his mistress had both passed away1 came ,james ,i41 and held his masques1 written by ,ben ,jonson1 and enjoyed his pleasures4 ,it was in his reign that it was given up by the ,earl of ,salisbury to ,queen ,anne of ,denmark1 amidst such strange pageantries of most intemperate folly that ,sir ,john ,harington writes1 contrasting the days of ,james ,i4 with what he remembered of the same place in the days of ,queen ,elizabeth1 8,i never did see such lack of good order1 discretion1 and sobriety1 as ,i have now done40 ,in ,watts' day there was living in the neighbouring village of ,cheshunt that remarkable man1 also a member of ,watts' church4 ,richard ,cromwell1 although1 somewhat to shroud himself in obscurity1 he usually went by the name of ,mr4 ,clarke4 ,an eminent novelist#ad has woven into his fiction very naturally one of the most striking incidents of his story from the casual meeting of his hero and the son of the ,protector on this very spot1 when ,cromwell became his host and entertainer4 ,richard ,cromwell died probably before ,watts became a constant resident at ,theobalds2 and indeed ,cromwell removed from ,cheshunt some time before his death4 ,cheshunt churchyard once contained a number of inscriptions upon the tombs from the pen of the poet2 most of them have probably long been obliterated1 but two or three have been snatched from oblivion2 an inscription for the tomb of ,thomas ,pickard1 ,esq41 citizen of ,london1 who died suddenly1 probably a member of ,watts' church3 ,a soul prepared needs no delays1 ,the summons comes1 the saint obeys2 ,swift was his flight and short the road1 ,he closed his eyes and saw his ,god4 ,his flesh rests here till ,jesus come ,and claims the treasure from the tomb4 ,another epitaph3 ,beneath this stone ,death's prisoner lies4 ,that stone shall move1 the prisoner rise ,when ,jesus with ,almighty word ,calls ,his dead saints to meet their ,lord4 ,the following lines were not long since in existence1 written upon a ceiling dial at a western window of ,theobalds3 ,little sun upon the ceiling ,ever moving1 ever stealing ,moments1 minutes1 hours away2 ,may no shade forbid thy shining ,while the heavenly sun declining ,calls us to improve the day4 ,there was another1 indeed there appear to have been several2 it was the taste of the times to line the avenues with these moralities in verse3 ,thus steal the silent hours away1 ,the sun thus hastes to reach the sea1 ,and men to mingle with their clay4 ,thus light and shade divide the year1 ,thus till the last great day appear ,and shut the starry theatre4 ,if we are able to discriminate ,watts in his various abodes here and at ,stoke ,newington1 certainly it is not his biographers we have to thank for it4 ,they have jumbled up his residences in a very heterogeneous fashion1 and leave us very much in doubt whether their descriptions of his rooms apply to his earlier or later abode4 ,assuredly he lived in a mansion large enough for him4 ,one of the smallest of mortals1 he had one of the largest homes4 ,we can readily believe that good ,sir ,thomas was very well pleased from such a pile to deliver up a suite of apartments to such a guest4 ,his own rooms were a kind of true literary hermitage1 adorned with paintings from his own pencil1 and his collection of portraits of eminent persons he had known1 or great contemporaries he admired2 at the entrance of his study on the outside were the fine lines from the first book of ,horace's satires1 in which he denounces the faithless friend3 8,he who reviles his absent friend1 who does not defend him while another defames him1 who aims at the groundless jeers of people1 and the reputation of a wit1 who can feign things not seen1 who cannot keep secrets1 he is the rancorous man40 ,the spaces within1 where there were no shelves1 were filled up with prints of distinguished friends1 or eminent persons4 ,of course1 there was a spacious old ,elizabethan fireplace1 panelled on either side1 and in each panel an inscription from the beloved ,horace4 ,on the one side3 ,locus est pluribus umbris4 ,and on the other3 ,quis me dolorum propria dignabitor umbra4 ,there we are permitted to fancy him4 ,such were his haunts among those pleasant and sequestered shades1 and such was his home4 ,his rooms well arranged and tasteful1 as one biographer has depicted them4 ,the lute and the telescope on the same table with the ,bible1 a treatise on logic in one hand1 and hymns and spiritual songs in the other4 ,few writers in our language seem to suggest a finer illustration of the mingled powers of faith and reason4 ,with so small a family what a silent household it must have seemed1 sustained in its grand and memorable stateliness4 ,there passed what we may believe to have been the happiest years of ,watts' life1 amidst scenes inviting to rest1 and with little to disturb the equanimity of his quiet spirit1 receiving and reflecting its own peace1 peace not to be disturbed even by much bodily restlessness and pain4 ,those numerous allusions in his hymns to the wakeful hours of night were not mere poetic fancies1 8the comforts of my nights0 were not unneeded2 for many years he knew little of sleep1 except such as could be obtained by medicine2 intense mental application1 working upon a weak and nervous constitution1 brought about the consequences of insomnia1 or sleeplessness yet his mind seems to have been too calm1 too equally balanced1 and too completely under the control of highest principles1 ever to know such agitations as shake to their centre some poetic natures4 ,even public agitations did hot disturb him much4 ,almost the severest trial he knew was the vehement and intolerant persecution he sustained from the tongue and pen of ,thomas ,bradbury2 but to him we may refer in subsequent pages4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,hymns4 ,so early as the year #agjj ,watts' brother1 ,mr4 ,enoch ,watts1 wrote a letter to him from ,southampton1 urging upon him the publication of his hymns4 ,it sets not only the mind of the writer as a member of the ,doctor's family in a favourable light1 as well as it expresses the probable general feeling of desire for some hymns suitable for ,divine service4 ,we quote it here3 8,,southampton3 ,march1 #agjj4 8,,dear ,,brother1-- 8,in your last you discovered an inclination to oblige the world by showing it your hymns in print1 and ,i heartily wish1 as well for the satisfaction of the public as myself1 that you were something more than inclinable thereunto4 ,i have frequently importuned you to it before now1 and your invention has often furnished you with some modest reply to the contrary1 as if what ,i urge was only the effect of a rash and inconsiderate fondness to a brother2 but you will have other thoughts of the matter when ,i first assure you that that affection1 which is inseparable from our near relationship1 would have had in me a very different operation1 for instead of pressing you to publish1 ,i should with my last efforts have endeavoured the concealment of them1 if my best judgment did not direct me to believe it highly conducing to a general benefit1 without the least particular disadvantage to yourself4 ,this latter ,i need not have mentioned1 for ,i am very confident whoever has the happiness of reading your hymns 7unless he be either sot or atheist7 will have a very favourable opinion of their author2 so that1 at the same time you contribute to the universal advantage1 you will procure the esteem of men the most judicious and sensible4 ,in the second place1 you may please to consider how very mean the performers in this kind of poetry appear in the pieces already extant4 ,some ancient ones ,i have seen in my time1 who flourished in ,hopkins and ,sternhold's reign2 but ,mason now reduces this kind of writing to a sort of yawning indifferency1 and honest ,barton chimes us asleep4 ,there is1 therefore1 a great need of a pen1 vigorous and lively as yours1 to quicken and revive the dying devotion of the age1 to which nothing can afford such assistance as poetry1 contrived on purpose to elevate us even above ourselves4 ,to what may we impute the prevalency of the songs1 filled with the fabulous divinity of the ancient fathers1 on our passions8 ,is it1 think you1 only owing to a natural propensity in us to be in love with fable1 and averse to truth in her native plainness8 ,i presume it may partly be ascribed to this1 that as romance has more need of artifice than truth to set it off1 so it generally has such an abundance more1 that it seldom fails of affecting us by making new and agreeable impressions4 ,yours now is the old truth1 stripped of its ragged ornaments1 and appears1 if we may say so1 younger by ages1 in a new and fashionable dress1 which is commonly tempting4 8,and as for those modern gentlemen who have lately exhibited their version of the ,psalms1 all of them ,i have not seen ,i confess1 and1 perhaps1 it would not be worth while to do it unless ,i had a mind to play the critic1 which you know is not my talent1 but those ,i have read confess to me a vast difference to yours1 though they are done by persons of no mean credit4 ,dr4 ,patrick most certainly has the report of a very learned man1 and1 they say1 understands the ,hebrew extremely well1 which1 indeed1 capacitates him for a translator1 but he is thereby never the more enabled to versify4 ,tate and ,brady still keep near the same pace4 ,i know not what sober beast they ride 7one that will be content to carry double71 but ,i am sure it is no ,pegasus3 there is in them a mighty deficiency of that life and soul which is necessary to raise our fancies and kindle and fire our passions1 and something or other they have to allege against the rest of adventurers2 but ,i have been persuaded a great while since1 that were ,david to speak ,english1 he would choose to make use of your style4 ,if what ,i have said seems to have no weight with you1 yet you cannot be ignorant what a load of scandal lies on the ,dissenters1 only for their imagined aversion to poetry4 ,you remember what ,dr4 ,speed says3 ,so far hath schism prevailed they hate to see ,our lines and words in couplings to agree1 ,it looks too like abhorred conformity3 ,a hymn so soft1 so smooth1 so neatly drest1 ,savours of human learning and the beast4 ,and1 perhaps1 it has been thought there were some grounds for his aspersion from the admired poems of ,ben4 ,keach1 ,john ,bunyan1 etc41 all flat and dull as they are2 nay1 ,i am much out if the latter has not formerly made much more ravishing music with his hammer and brass kettle4 8,now when you are exposed to the public view these calumnies will immediately vanish1 which1 methinks1 should be a motive not the least considerable4 ,and now we are talking of music1 ,i have a crotchet in my brain1 which makes me imagine1 that as chords and discords equally please heavy-eared people1 so the best divine poems will no more inspire the rude and illiterate than the meanest rhymes1 which may in some measure give you satisfaction1 in that fear you discover1 ne in rude vulgus cadant1 and you must allow them to be tasteless to many people1 tolerable to some1 but to those few who know their beauties1 to be very pleasant and desirable2 and1 lastly1 if ,i do not speak reason1 ,i will at present take my leave of you1 and only desire you to hear what your ingenious acquaintance in ,london say to the point1 for ,i doubt not you have many solicitors there1 whose judgments are much more solid than mine4 ,i pray ,god ,almighty have you in ,his good keeping1 and desire you to believe me1 my dear brother1 8,your most affectionate kinsman and friend1 8,,enoch ,,watts40 ,but notwithstanding this and other solicitations1 the first edition was not published until #agjg4 ,the copyright of the hymns was sold to ,mr4 ,lawrence1 the publisher1 for #aj2 about half a century before the same sum was given to ,milton for his 8,paradise ,lost20 the volume instantly obtained a very large acceptance1 and he then directed his attention to his version of the ,psalms2 this was only completed by him during the painful and distressing illness from which he suffered about #agab and the following years1 but the ,psalms were not published until the year #agai4 8,dr4 ,watts10 says ,james ,montgomery1 in his introduction to the 8,christian ,psalmist10 8may almost be called the inventor of hymns in our language1 for he so far departed from all precedent that few of his compositions resemble those of his forerunners1 while he so far established a precedent to all his successors that none have departed from it otherwise than according to the peculiar turn of mind in the writer1 and the style of expressing ,christian truths employed by the denomination to which he belonged40 ,and1 again1 he says1 8,we come to the greatest name among hymn-writers1 for we hesitate not to give that praise to ,dr4 ,isaac ,watts1 since it has pleased ,god to confer upon him1 though one of the least of the poets of this country1 more glory than upon the greatest either of that or of any other1 by making his #8,divine ,songs' a more abundant and universal blessing than the verses of any uninspired penman that ever lived4 ,in his #8,psalms and ,hymns' 7for they must be classed together7 he has embraced a compass and variety of subjects which include and illustrate every truth of revelation1 throw light upon every secret movement of the human heart1 whether of sin1 nature1 or grace1 and describe every kind of trial1 temptation1 conflict1 doubt1 fear1 and grief1 as well as the faith1 hope1 charity1 the love1 joy1 peace1 labour1 and patience of the ,christian in all stages of his course on earth1 together with the terrors of the ,lord1 the glories of the ,redeemer1 and the comforts of the ,holy ,spirit1 to urge1 allure1 and strengthen him by the way4 ,there is in the pages of this evangelist a word in season for every one who needs it1 in whatever circumstances he may require counsel1 consolation1 reproof1 or instruction4 ,we say this without reserve of the materials of his hymns2 had their execution only been correspondent with the preciousness of these1 we should have had a ,christian ,psalmist in ,england next 7and that only in date1 not in dignity7 to the #8,sweet ,singer of ,israel4' ,nor is this so bold a word as it may seem4 ,dr4 ,watts' hymns are full of #8the glorious ,gospel of the blessed ,god2' his themes1 therefore1 are much more illustrious than those of the son of ,jesse1 who only knew #8the power and glory' of ,jehovah as he had #8seen them in the sanctuary1' which was but the shadow of the ,new ,testament ,church1 as the face of ,moses holding communion with ,god was brighter than the veil he cast over it when conversing with his countrymen40 ,his attention was very early awakened to the importance and necessity for some improvement in this department of ,divine service4 ,our readers will remember that after he had closed his academical studies at ,stoke ,newington1 before he entered on the ministry1 he returned home and lived during the years #afie and #afif in the old house with his father2 he devoted those years1 the twenty-first and twenty-second of his life1 to systematic reading1 meditation1 and prayer2 and during those years he appears to have composed the greater number of his hymns4 ,thus1 if they are among the first effusions of his poet's pen1 they are among the best1 and in this circumstance they resemble the first and chief volume of one of his successors in the art of sacred poetry in our own day1 ,john ,keble1 whose 8,christian ,year0 was the production of his earliest manhood1 and all whose subsequent efforts in verse seem to be a vain striving to overtake the beauty and harmony of his first performances4 ,many of ,watts' later hymns are very noble and beautiful1 but the greater number appear to have been composed in those early ,southampton days4 ,dr4 ,gibbons says1 8,mr4 ,john ,morgan1 a minister of very respectable character now living at ,romsey1 ,hants1 has sent me the following information3 #8,the occasion of the ,doctor's hymns was this1 as ,i had the account from his worthy fellow-labourer and colleague1 the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,price1 in whose family ,i dwelt above fifty years ago4 ,the hymns which were sung at the ,dissenting meeting at ,southampton were so little to the gust of ,mr4 ,watts1 that he could not forbear complaining of them to his father4 ,the father bid him try what he could do to mend the matter4 ,he did1 and had such success in his first essay that a second hymn was earnestly desired of him1 and then a third1 and fourth1 etc41 till in process of time there was such a number of them as to make up a volume4'0 ,it is remarkable that in ,england the power of the popular hymn was so late in discovering itself4 ,it does not appear to have been known here in the old ,roman ,catholic days as assuredly it was in other countries1 while in ,germany the ,reformation was born and brought forth amidst the chanting of noble and triumphant hymns4 ,it appears to be impossible to realise the services of the ,church without the hymn4 ,canon ,liddon1 curiously analyzing the texts of several of the ,pauline ,epistles1 seems to demonstrate that those 8faithful sayings0 quoted by the apostle as the embodiment of the belief of the ,church1 were apostolic hymns sung in the ,redeemer's honour4 ,and certainly the early ,church expressed its faith and its best aspirations in hymns4 ,of this we have many and very beautiful illustrations2 as we descend from that time along the line of the ages1 the great ,divine truths united themselves to experiences and hopes in the hearts of many1 and as we read the great hymns of the ,church we behold her travelling along as beneath a series of triumphal arches reared out of the service of sacred song1 expressing the emotion of multitudes of spirits4 ,for the history of holy hymns is really the history of the ,church4 ,our sacred hooks carry us back1 indeed1 to the airs of ,palestine2 the voices of the soul strong1 intuitional1 and clear1 rising from the sands of ,arabia2 from the tabernacle in ,shiloh1 from the forests of ,lebanon1 from ,moses and ,david1 from ,asaph to the sons of ,korah1 from the majestic antiphones of the temple2 the murmur of captives by ,babylonish streams2 and then rich and strong the raptures of the apostles1 touched from the altar flame of heaven1 they were not less than sacred hymns2 and from their times what gushes and wails of sacred song come sounding to us1 clear and shrill1 over the roar of persecuting multitudes1 or from desert caves or the lonely ,churches of the catacombs6 ,the rich hymns of the early ,fathers are still amongst the most treasured legacies of the ,church4 ,christian hymnology is the treasure-house into which all the best devotions of the men 8of whom the world was not worthy10 exiled kings1 bishops1 confessors1 and seers1 and souls of lowlier state1 have been poured1 giving to us in some instances the doxology of a life-time1 and associating through all ages the martyr's or the musician's name with that one particular chord4 ,we have no collection yet1 at all such as we desire to see1 in which the varied tones of human hearts through all times are collected2 the surges of old cathedral aisles2 low1 thrilling tones of old monks2 thunder-peals of the wild1 old1 rugged people2 chants of the ancient martyrs at the stake2 the glorious and wonderful hymns of the ,greek ,church2 the treasuries of ,latin hymns1 and even many of the more popular of the great vernacular ,german chants4 ,for the hymns of the ,church are the lamps of the ,church2 they are the myriad lights which stream through the darkness of the dark centuries1 and they furnish the fresher beam of the new illumination1 lighting the shrines and altars and chapels of modern times4 ,what is a hymn8 ,st4 ,augustine has1 in a well-known passage1 defined a hymn to have necessarily a threefold function4 ,it must be praise2 it must be praise to ,god2 it must be praise in the form of song4 ,these limitations1 essential as they seem1 would perhaps curtail many of our selections4 ,we should then have to exclude much of that meditative devotion with which our best books abound2 much also of that too painful and curious self-anatomy which many of our best hymn-writers permit their strains to exhibit4 ,yet we are very far from thinking that to be the test of sacred song which ,augustine has supplied1 and with which a very able writer in the 8,quarterly ,review10 in an article on hymnology1 has quoted with approbation4#ae ,this test1 applied to the great hymnals and hymnologists of the ,church of the middle ages1 would1 we apprehend1 be quite a failure4 ,it is true that praise1 and praise to ,god1 and praise to ,god through ,christ1 in the form of song1 should be the grand criterion for the structure of sacred verses for the use of congregations2 but to what extent should these be mixed with the strains of simple devotion1 the dwelling of the spirit upon the perfections of the ,almighty2 and with confession1 the laying bare of the heart--its wants and its woes--in no morbid tone or strain1 before the ,divine and searching eye8 ,our impression surely is that hymns should represent all that the spirit desires to express in its moods of praise and prayer4 ,by a more earnest appeal to the senses1 the soul is opened2 and it has been well said that so closely and mystically knit together are our higher and lower natures1 that to neglect the one is to neglect the other4 ,in prayer--the long1 earnest1 extemporaneous prayer--the spirit becomes abstracted1 and1 perhaps1 even in the highest states1 in the most subduing states of ecstacy1 there are few of the congregation who rise as the preacher rises1 or rest as he rests4 ,the hymn1 in its throbbings and tremulous and pendulous vibrations1 breaks through the monotony and ennui the body imposes on the soul1 and1 therefore1 we are quite away from that increasing number in our more immediate midst who are indisposed to avail themselves of the bursts of sensuous song4 ,we remember that it is not long since grave exception was taken by some among us to the singing-- ,there is a land of pure delight1 on the ground that it contains no recognition of1 or praise to1 the ,redeemer4 ,but1 surely1 as long as beautiful sights and beautiful sounds1 the solemn gloom and glory of the everlasting hills1 and the endlessness of the pure sky are to be apprehended by men1 so long it must be not only a desirable1 but an imperative thing1 that they should all be transferred to the keys of the ,christian organ and of ,christian speech4 ,we are not unaware of the danger of the defence of sthetic beauty1 to spiritual ,christianity1 but a wise and balanced nature will know how far to advance and when to stop1 and we quite believe that our doxologies1 and thanksgivings1 and moments of ,christian fervour should lay under contribution every faculty of the soul1 and that each faculty may be moved by a ,divine affection1 speak to the heart's inner chambers1 and relate them to the most consecrated heights4 ,for song being a natural expression of inflamed emotion1 man must become an unnatural creature if he disdain to sing1 and those who cannot themselves sing do not therefore always the less delight in the happy jubilant expressions attained by others2 for man1 happily1 can enjoy that to which he cannot attain1 and in this consists one of the great moving powers of his soul4 ,unconverted people sing4 ,they have airs and melodies wafted from the ground of the nature in which they live and have their being2 and when they learn and feel their heritage of salvation and immortality1 the joy in ,god through ,jesus ,christ demands its appropriate expression in suitable elevated strains and tones4 ,and ,christians feel their unity1 not so much in reading or in preaching as in those great expressions which rise above the colder forms of the understanding1 and touch each other at the centre of some great affection of faith or hope4 ,it is1 we must think1 to ,protestantism that the ,church is indebted for the ample and sweeping robes of spiritual melody4 ,papists indignantly deny this4 ,cardinal ,wiseman has told us in a well-known article1 that ,protestantism is essentially undevotional4 ,our devotional practices and services might be improved and increased2 but for the multitudes of its hymnologists1 and the multitude of their songs1 and for the fulness and the fervour of those same songs ,protestantism seems to leave ,western and ,eastern ,churches far behind4 ,although some of our spiritual airs and aspirations need the hallowing touch of time before they can receive the consecration of affection which crowns the words of ,basil1 and the hymns of ,ambrose1 and the chants of ,gregory4 ,thus1 the history of the hymn1 and of hymns from the earliest ages1 their originals1 their writers1 their associations1 would form one of the most charming chapters of ,church history4 ,to read how the great hymns grew1 what study of ,church history can be more delightfully entertaining8 ,down the long line of the ages the hymns pass on1 and they1 more than the creeds of councils and the clangour of warriors1 seem to shape the spandrels from whence leap up the great arches of the ,church4 ,the great ,church hymns1 by these greatly its unity of faith is proclaimed4 ,in what simple incidents many of the chords arose4 ,that is a very sweet1 solemn1 pathetic line in our wonderful ,burial ,service1 8,in the midst of life we are in death0--in fact1 it seems to be the adaptation of the first line of the rare old ,latin hymn1 the 8,media ,vita10 composed by ,notker ,balbulus1 born of a noble family of ,zurich4 ,he attained to great eminence at ,st4 ,gall by his learning and skill in music and poetry1 and his knowledge of the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,no one ever saw him1 say the old stories of him1 but he was reading1 writing1 or praying4 ,the faint sound of a mill-wheel near his abbey1 moved him to compose a beautiful air to some pious verses1 and looking down into a deep gulf1 and the danger incurred by some labourer in building a bridge over the abyss1 suggested the celebrated hymn1 the 8,media ,vita40 ,what a singular and interesting history there is in the hymn1 8,jerusalem1 my happy home40 ,through what generations of variations it has passed6 ,the history of hymns1 from the earliest to the latest times1 furnishes one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the ,church4 ,in the hymn the spirit seems to bound into a higher life1 and expressions which are scarcely admitted in cold conversation1 which almost seem like exaggerations in an essay1 or inflated even in a sermon1 are felt to be a sweet1 fitting1 and natural utterance2 in some happy moment a nature gifted by genius1 subdued by sorrow1 but lifted up to a region of serene vision and glowing consolation1 found itself caught and compelled to utter an experience which to itself was not always abiding1 but which often became afterwards an exceeding joy to it to remember1 and which the ,church at large retained as the expression of what it believed1 and desired yet more fervently to believe through all subsequent ages4 ,thus the great hymns grew1 and the ,church has never been without them4 ,thus many of the portions of the ,common ,prayer ,book of the ,church of ,england and many of its collects are 8the golden fruit in a network of silver20 and we in the present day are singing hymns of the holy men of old1 who were moved by the ,divine ,spirit to utter forth the words of prayer and praise4 ,in his ,life of ,dr4 ,watts1 ,dr4 ,johnson has many remarks which have been the subjects of criticism and exception1 but in none are his remarks more open to exception than when he says that 8his religious poetry is unsatisfactory40 8,the paucity of its topics10 he continues1 8forces perpetual repetition1 and the sanctity of the matter rejects the ornaments of figurative diction2 it is sufficient for ,watts to have done better than others what no man has done well40 ,if this is kindly said1 still it is not true2 perhaps ,johnson was confining his observation1 which he ought not to have done1 to sacred poetry as belonging to that order represented by ,milton or ,phineas ,fletcher2 and yet this could scarcely be the case2 and if he referred to his productions as a hymn-writer1 then1 through the long ages past1 men innumerable had done well1 as many a noble ,latin and ,german hymn abundantly shows4 ,in the first ages of the ,church1 the whole city of ,milan was alive with hymns1 and ,augustine tells us how his soul was moved by the power of sacred psalms2 the passage is well worth remembering4 8,the hymns and songs of the ,church10 he says1 8move my soul intensely2 by the truth distilled by them into my heart the flame of piety was kindled1 and my tears flowed for joy4 ,the practice of singing had been of no long standing in ,milan1 it began about the year when ,justinian persecuted ,ambrose2 the pious people1 watched in the church1 prepared to die with their pastor2 there my mother sustained an eminent part in watching and praying2 then hymns and psalms1 after the manner of the ,east1 were sung1 with a view of preserving the people from weariness2 and thence the custom has spread through ,christian ,churches40 ,johnson was a pious man1 the truth as it is in ,jesus was held by him very heartily1 but we are compelled to believe that1 with all his amazing knowledge1 he had not seen the innumerable hymns which through the successive ages had rained down their beautiful influences on the ,church4 ,luther1 as is well known1 ushered in his great ,reformation with a voice of joy and singing4 ,there is a pretty little anecdote telling how one day he stood at his window and heard a blind beggar sing4 ,it was something about the grace of ,god1 and it brought tears into his eyes1 and then the good thought rushed into his soul1 and it wrought its results there4 8,if ,i could only make gospel songs which would spread of themselves among the people40 ,and he did so4 ,the songs were fashioned1 and flew abroad like singing birds--8like a lark singing towards heaven's gate10 says one writer2 8the song shot upward1 and poured far and wide over the fields and villages2 and though the snare of the fowler sometimes captured the preacher1 and military mobs dispersed the congregation--like the little minstrel among the clouds1 too happy to be silenced1 too airy to be caught1 and too high to dread man's artillery--the little song filled all the air with ,new ,testament music1 with words such as #8,jesus1' #8,believe and be saved1' #8,gospel1' #8,grace1' #8,come unto ,me1' #8,worthy is the ,lamb that was slain1' and thus they became the passwords and watchwords of the ,church40#af ,watts has been styled the ,marot of ,england2 he must receive far higher praise than could be implied by this designation2 but there are resemblances between the two4 ,clement ,marot was the favourite poet of ,francis ,i4 of ,france2 ,bayle ascribes to him the invention of modern metrical psalmody4 ,he was a free and even profane writer1 but ,vatable1 the ,hebrew professor1 suggested to him the translation of the ,psalms into ,french verse4 ,he did so1 or rather he translated fifty-two ,psalms 8from the ,hebrew into ,french rhyme40 ,they quite took the taste of ,paris2 they found universal reception1 and became favourites with ,francis ,i41 who sent a copy to ,charles ,v4 ,most of the pieces were set and sung to the tunes of the gay ballads of that day4 ,they were quite the favourites of the court of ,henry ,,ii4 and ,catherine de ,medicis1 especially they became the favourites of the ,huguenot party2 ,marot1 it is said1 had himself belonged to the party of the ,reformation4 ,ere long1 however1 the dangerous tendency of the pieces was perceived by the ,sorbonne1 the book was denounced2 ,marot fled to ,turin1 where he closed in poverty a life which had passed in singular vicissitudes1 but which only just before had been sunned in the rays of the courtly magnificence of ,paris in that splendid time4 ,marot's small collection was completed by ,theodore ,beza1 and the pieces continued long in use among the ,reformed ,churches2 some1 we believe1 are1 with many additions1 still sung4 ,our chief concern at present is with our own country1 but the other reforming peoples of ,europe appear to have preceded us in this holy art1 although some indications are given of the existence of a very hearty and earnest religious song2 in the ,zurich ,letters1 published by the ,parker ,society1 we find1 even so early as #aefj1 the following letter from ,bishop ,jewel to ,peter ,martyr2 he says3 8,religion is now somewhat more established than it was2 the people are everywhere exceedingly inclined to the better part2 the practice of joining in church music has very much conduced to this2 for as soon as they had commenced singing in public in one little church in ,london1 immediately1 not only the churches in the neighbourhood1 but even the towns far distant1 began to vie with each other in practice4 ,you may sometimes see at ,st4 ,paul's ,cross1 after the service1 #f1jjj persons1 old and young1 of both sexes1 all singing together and praising ,god4 ,this sadly annoys the mass priests and the devil1 for they perceive that by this means the sacred discourses sink more deeply into the minds of men1 and that their kingdom is weakened and shaken at almost every note40 ,as time went along in our country1 there appeared a race of poets of the highest order2 we need scarcely mention such names as ,quarles1 ,vaughan1 ,herbert1 ,jeremy ,taylor1 ,richard ,baxter1 ,john ,norris1 ,thomas ,ken1 and with these names we certainly ought to include ,john ,milton1 who attempted a version of several of the ,psalms1 one of which is a great favourite with us to this day4 ,poets not remarkable for sanctity1 like ,john ,dryden1 were compelled to the service of sacred song1 as in the instance of his fine hymn1 ,creator1 ,spirit1 by whose aid4 ,richard ,baxter leaves a beautiful testimony as to the power of sacred hymns over himself2 he says1 8,for myself ,i confess that harmony and melody are the pleasure and elevation of my soul2 ,i have made psalms of praise in the holy assembly the chief delightful exercise of my religion and my life1 and have helped to bear down all the objections which ,i have heard against church music and against the #adith and #aejth ,psalms4 ,it was not the least comfort ,i had in the converse with my late dear wife1 that our first in the morning and last at night was a psalm of praise1 till the hearing of others interrupted it4 ,let those that savour not melody leave others to their different appetites1 and be content to be so far strangers to their delights40 ,with all this it is singular that an amazing prejudice existed until the time of ,watts against the indulgence of congregational psalmody4 ,josiah ,conder simply expressed the fact1 when he says1 8,watts was the first who succeeded in overcoming the prejudice which opposed the introduction of hymns into our public worship40 ,it is quite remarkable that the prejudice against congregational singing was quite as great with many of our ,english ,churches as amongst the ,papists themselves2 among the ,presbyterians especially1 this prejudice obtained a considerable hold and lingered long4 8,no ,english ,luther10 says ,conder1 8had risen to breathe the living spirit of evangelical devotion into heart-stirring verse adapted to the minds and feelings of the people4 ,are we to suppose the want was not felt1 or was there anything in the aristocratic genius of the ,presbyterian polity that forbade or repressed the free expression of devotion in the songs of the sanctuary80#ag ,it was about the time that ,isaac ,watts came to ,london that some of the assemblies of the saints were shaken by the innovation1 of singing4 ,the ,baptists appear to have been most indisposed to the doubtful practice2 and in the church of the well-known ,benjamin ,keach1 of ,southwark1 the pastoral ancestor of ,charles ,spurgeon1 when the pastor1 after long argument and effort1 established singing1 a minority withdrew and 8took refuge in a songless sanctuary10 in which the melody within the heart might be in no danger of disturbance from the perturbations of song4#ah ,the ,society of ,friends was not alone in regarding with distaste all the exercises of song in the house of the ,lord4 ,those who are interested in the curious literature of that time may easily discover pamphlets and lectures which show 8great searchings of heart0 upon the question 8whether ,christ1 as ,mediator of the ,new ,covenant1 hath commanded ,his churches under the ,gospel in all their assemblies to sing the ,psalms of ,david1 as translated into metre and musical rhyme1 with tunable and conjoined voices of all the people together1 as a ,church ordinance1 or any other song or hymn that are so composed to be sung in rhyme by a prelimited and set form of words80 ,the dispute was mainly confined to the ,baptist churches4 ,but in #agjh one of the ,eastcheap lectures1 in a discourse by ,thomas ,reynolds1 replied to the 8objections of singing40 ,a few years before the controversy had run strong and high4 ,isaac ,marlow very angrily maintained the ordinary songless usage1 in the year #afif1 in his 8,truth ,soberly ,defined0 and in the 8,controversies of ,singing ,brought to an ,end40 ,benjamin ,keach seems to have been the first to lead on in this suspicious diversion by the publication of his 8,breach ,repaired in ,god's ,worship2 or1 ,singing of ,psalms1 ,hymns1 and ,spiritual ,songs1 proved to be an ,holy ,ordinance of ,jesus ,christ40 ,this appeared in #afia4ai ,the controversy is forgotten now1 except by those who explore the more curious nooks and corners of ,church history4 ,among the followers of ,christ the ,quakers are the only people who have consistently maintained their first profession1 a profession1 however1 in which they do not imitate their founder1 ,george ,fox1 of whom we especially read that he sometimes led his services with singing4 ,it was into this state of things that ,isaac ,watts was introduced4 8,i almost think10 says ,alexander ,knox1 8that he was providentially appointed to furnish the revived movement of associated piety1 which ,divine ,wisdom foresaw would take place in ,england in the #ahth century1 with an unexampled stock of materials for that department1 which alone needed to be provided for1 of their joint worship4 ,examine his poetry1 and you will find that1 though ability to converse with ,god in solitude is not absolutely overlooked1 the sheet-anchor is what he calls the sanctuary4 ,in particular in the ,psalms you will find him generally applying to ,christian assemblies what ,david said of the ,temple services1 as if public ordinances occupied the same supreme place in the inward and spiritual as in the outward and carnal dispensation40 ,this judgment of ,knox is curiously involved1 and its latter portion seems to contradict its former4 ,acquaintance with ,watts' hymns will show that ,knox was quite wrong1 that ,watts by no means overlooked the inward and the spiritual2 but his object seems to have been to provide a congregational1 joint1 and united service4 ,and for this it does seem as if he in an especial manner was raised up by the providence of ,god2 and this becomes more evident as we notice how it is from his day1 and apparently very greatly from the method he created that the popular hymnology of our country1 which is now surely--may we not dare to say8--the noblest1 of any church or of any nation in the world1 dates its true original4 ,we have claimed for ,watts already a far higher rank than is implied by the ,marot of ,england1 but it is certain that exception will be taken to our judgment when we say that no other writer of this order approaches near to him in the elevation1 not merely of expression1 but of sentiment2 the very grandeur1 the majesty of his epithets1 the inflamed utterances may be to some more quiet natures a ground of exception4 ,to them they seem sometimes to be open to the charge of inflation4 ,yet every order and variety of expression1 from the loud swelling jubilant rapture to the softest and sweetest strains of tenderness1 find fitting utterance in them4 ,the efforts he made to create a sacred congregational psalmody exposed him1 as we know1 in his own times to obloquy1 singular as it seems1 even to contempt1 and this contempt has been renewed in our own day4 ,in a paper1 understood to be from the pen of ,john ,keble1 in the 8,quarterly ,review10 it is said1 8,watts was an excellent man1 a strong reasoner1 of undoubted piety1 and perhaps--a rarer virtue--of true ,christian charity2 but in our opinion he laboured under irreparable deficiency for the task he undertook--he was not a poet6 ,he had a great command of ,scriptural language1 and an extraordinary facility of versification2 but his piety may induce us to make excuses for his poetry--his poetry will do little to excite dormant piety40 ,the writer then goes on to remark upon the rude1 homely1 and unequal strains of ,watts1 there follows something like a history of psalmody in ,england1 but not another word about our author4#bj ,george ,macdonald1 the novelist1 has condescended to sneer at ,watts and to travesty his verses1 while another writer in a fierce attack upon evangelicalism--the predominance of which in ,watts' verses we presume to be the spring of the hatred they often inspire--informs us that 8most of ,dr4 ,watts' hymns are doggerel20 and after quoting some passages he considers to deserve this appellation--and which some of them do--he closes by saying1 8,these may possibly be poetry1 but if they are1 it is extremely plain that #8,paradise ,lost' and #8,in ,memoriam' are not poetry40 ,thus by many it has come to be settled that ,watts must take a very low place in ,english literature1 if1 indeed1 he can be considered in any sense worthy of a place at all4 ,let us see how the case stands4 ,the man who has no sympathy with ,nature is not to be expected to find beauty or melody in the poetry of ,burns or ,wordsworth4 ,men who have no sympathy with evangelical truth can scarcely be expected to have much admiration for ,watts2 yet the gifted nobleman1 who was the ,mecnas of the past age1 was not an indifferent critic1 and when called on to cite the most perfect verse in the language he immediately instanced ,there shall ,i bathe my weary soul ,in seas of heavenly rest1 ,and not a wave of trouble roll ,across my peaceful breast4 ,a friend who1 to his other attainments adds those of scholar and a critic1 suggests how interesting it would be to analyze the verses of ,watts1 for the purpose of noting how often he evidently thought in foreign languages1 and especially the ,latin1 with which he was so familiar2 and hence we have lines which1 while to some readers they appear to be doggerel1 are indeed illustrations that he was using words in their real etymological sense1 and thus imparting to his verse a singular beauty2 thus3 ,how decent and how wise1 ,how glorious to behold1 ,beyond the pomp that charms the eyes ,and rites adorned with gold4 ,thus1 again1 of ,god3 ,he sits on no precarious throne1 ,nor borrows leave to be4 ,and thus again3 ,let every creature rise and bring ,peculiar honours to our ,king4 ,every poet is to be judged by what he is on the average4 ,homer has been said to nod2 ,milton is frequently very turgid1 and innumerable passages sink quite below the usual sustained magnificence of the poem2 in ,shakespeare there are lines1 conceits1 and redundances which all good taste would wish away4 ,the reader who judged of ,keble's capacity for poetry by his version of the ,psalms1 or many of his later pieces1 would not form a very lofty estimate of his powers4 ,and there are many more expressions and passages than we shall care to count among the psalms and hymns of ,watts which are wholly indefensible by any standard of good taste1 good sense1 or good theology4 ,upon these1 critics1 like those to whom we have referred1 have pounced1 these they have quoted1 and to the crowds of passages sublime or pathetic1 strong or tender1 they have most adroitly closed their eyes or their ears4 ,watts has suffered in many ways4 ,accused by one class of critics of bad taste1 and sneered at for the absence of poetic gifts by another class1 his theology has been called in question as leaning towards heresy4 ,how this charge could ever have been made by any man who had read for himself ,watts' hymns passes all our conception4 ,but the ,unitarians1 with a mendacity singularly their own1 have in many instances taken his hymns and garbled them to suit their own theology4 ,the ,unitarians are clever at taking possession of other people's property1 their churches1 their endowments1 their books1 their great names1 and1 in ,watts' instance1 their hymns4 ,we have even seen the ,te ,deum adapted to a ,unitarian service4 ,the ,unitarians are regarded as an exceedingly moral people1 and it has often been supposed that what they lack in doctrine they make up in duty1 but it is quite true that they are singularly dishonest2 and the most eminent ,unitarian minister in ,england in our day1 the ,rev4 ,james ,martineau1 does not hesitate to charge such dishonesty upon his community2 he shows how the term ,unitarian has to be kept out of sight in order that certain property may be obtained4 ,he says1 8,how could an organization with a doctrinal name upon its face1 the ,unitarian ,association1 go into court and plead our right to our chapels1 on the ground of their doctrinal neutrality8 ,accordingly1 another association had to be got up specially for the purpose1 the ,presbyterian ,association1 in order to evade the inconsistency2 and ,i know it to have been the opinion of the two founders of the ,unitarian ,association that they committed a disastrous mistake in giving a doctrinal name to the society40 ,and he says to ,mr4 ,macdonald1 to whom he is writing1 8,upon what ground can you claim a rightful succession1 as you have so nobly done1 to ,matthew ,henry and the founders of ,crook ,street1 if you place the essence of your ,church in doctrines which he did not hold60#ba ,and thus ,unitarians have constructed a science of equivocations1 and tread a plank of double meanings2 it expunges the term ,unitarian as designative of their creed1 and it takes the words representative of the creed of the great ,church through all ages1 and1 reversing the miracle of our ,lord1 they use them as vessels in which the wine is turned into water4 ,this is the principle which has governed in ,unitarian hymn-books4 ,the selection of many of the hymns from ,watts1 even his sacramental hymns1 have in several instances not been permitted to pass unmutilated2 and then1 putting the top stone upon the column of injustice1 the further indignity1 amounting to insolence1 of claiming him as a ,unitarian4 ,it is a curious thing to find a writer in the 8,wesleyan ,magazine0 for #ahca boasting that none of the ,wesleyan hymns have ever been used for the purpose of ,unitarian or ,socinian worship1 while ,watts' have been thus frequently employed4 ,the writer admits that in such instances they have been altered1 but says that 8,charles ,wesley's hymns are made of too unbending materials ever to be adapted to ,socinian worship40 ,he was quite mistaken in the fact1 they have often been 8bent0 for this purpose2 but it is the very peculiarity of ,watts that he rises to the pre-existent and uncreated realms of majesty1 of which our ,lord speaks as 8the glory ,i had with ,thee before the world was40 ,it would be interesting to know how any ,socinian or ,unitarian could 8bend0 that magnificent hymn1 ,ere the blue heavens were stretched abroad1 ,from everlasting was the ,word3 ,with ,god ,he was2 the ,word was ,god1 ,and must divinely be adored4 ,by ,his own power were all things made2 ,by ,him supported all things stand2 ,he is the whole creation's ,head1 ,and angels fly at ,his command4 ,ere sin was born or ,satan fell1 ,he led the host of morning stars3 ,thy generations who can tell1 ,or count the number of ,thy years8 ,but lo6 ,he leaves those heav'nly forms1 ,the ,word descends and dwells in clay1 ,that ,he may hold converse with worms1 ,dressed in such feeble flesh as they4 ,mortals with joy beheld ,his face1 ,the ,eternal ,father's only ,son2 ,how full of truth6 how full of grace6 ,when through ,his eyes the ,godhead shone4 ,archangels leave their high abode ,to learn new myst'ries here1 and tell ,the loves of our descending ,god1 ,the glories of ,immanuel4 ,but1 indeed1 the sum of the matter is that the theology--the evangelical theology of ,watts' hymns--is the chief reason of the exception taken to the poetry4 ,he is in a very eminent sense the poet of the ,atonement2 he saw the infinite meanings in that great expression 8the blood of ,jesus ,christ ,his ,son cleanseth us from all sin40 ,we have heard some quote and speak of what they have called that dreadful verse6-- ,blood hath a voice to pierce the skies1 ,revenge the blood of ,abel cries2 ,but the dear stream1 when ,christ was slain1 ,speaks peace as loud from every vein6 ,he saw infinite attributes in the ,incarnation of ,jesus ,christ1 ,god manifested in the flesh1 and he saw infinite consequences involved in the sacrifice of ,christ4 ,it was all to him 8the wisdom of ,god in a mystery10 it was all the great power of ,god4 ,thus we have called him the evangelical poet1 the poet of the ,atonement4 ,hence those who have a distaste for his doctrine will dislike his verse4 ,it was the nature of ,watts' theology that it entered more into the heavenly places1 the timeless1 and the unconditioned purposes of the ,infinite and ,eternal ,mind4 ,he was a student1 a real and a hard student1 and the speculations of his intellect whenever he betook himself to verse1 presented themselves to his mind suffused in the glowing but ineffable lights of eternity2 he seemed to be fond of revolving eternal truths4 ,we hope not to be misunderstood if we speak of him as a mystic4 ,although in his prose writings so little of the mystic appears1 in his hymns he is perpetually moving amidst the adumbrations of uncreated mind4 ,what an illustration of this is in that extraordinary hymn1 ,lord we are blind1 we mortals blind4 ,much of the mystic spirit which pervades his verse is perceptible in the fine paradox in the following expressions of the last verse3 ,the ,lord of ,glory builds ,his seat ,of gems unsufferably bright2 ,and lays beneath ,his sacred feet ,substantial beams of gloomy night6 ,it is quite vain work to argue with those who take exception to these expressions4 ,if they are not felt they will not be seen4 ,if we say ,watts was a mystic1 the expression will astonish some of our readers4 ,the hard abstract lines of cold creeds1 and bodies of theology1 suddenly in his verse flashed out radiant and visible as planets in southern heavens2 and his words expressing truths which seem cold in the creed of ,calvin or the rigid framework of the confessions and catechisms of ,puritanism1 became like wings of ardent fire1 tipped with seraphic light4 ,there was even an oriental splendour about his expressions4 ,he was mighty in the ,scriptures1 and we believe it will not be possible to find a verse or phrase which is not justified by ,scriptural expression4 ,his verse--the verse of the man who has been claimed as a ,unitarian--was incessantly struggling up to express in glowing metre those sublime flights of thought which have always been at once the prevailing glory and gloom of what is called the ,calvinistic theology4 ,we note this in such pieces as ,what equal honours shall we bring ,to ,thee1 ,o ,lord1 our ,god1 the ,lamb8 ,since all the notes that angels sing ,are far inferior to ,thy name4 ,or1 ,when ,i survey the wondrous cross ,on which the ,prince of ,glory died1 ,my richest gain ,i count but loss1 ,and pour contempt on all my pride4 ,or1 ,up to the fields where angels lie1 ,and living waters gently roll1 ,pain would my thoughts leap out and fly1 ,but sin hangs heavy on my soul4 ,thy wondrous blood1 dear dying ,christ1 ,can make this load of guilt remove1 ,and ,thou canst hear me where ,thou flyest1 ,on ,thy kind wings1 celestial ,dove6 ,or1 ,descend from heaven1 immortal ,dove1 ,stoop down and take us on ,thy wings1 ,and mount and hear us far above ,the reach of these inferior things4 ,or the hymn commencing ,oh the delights6 the heavenly joys6 ,or that1 ,now to the ,lord a noble song6 ,watts1 we have said1 has suffered in many ways4 ,no hymns1 we will be bound to say1 in our language have suffered so much from garbling and mangling2 many of them have passed through a perfect martyrdom of maltreatment4 ,dr4 ,kennedy1 of ,shrewsbury1 in his 8,hymnologia ,christiana10 will not admit 8,when ,i can read my title clear0 to be a hymn1 because it is gravely wrong in doctrine2 and 8,there is a land of pure delight0 is not admitted1 because it is seriously faulty in style4 ,but if an impartial reader should desire to sum up the great merits of ,watts1 it will perhaps be found that there is no doctrine of the great ,christian creed and no great ,christian emotion which does not find happy and frequently most faultless expression4 ,his hymns of ,praise to ,god1 are frequently among the most noble in our language2 for instance3 ,sing to the ,lord who built the skies1 ,the ,lord that reared this stately frame2 ,let all the nation sound ,his praise1 ,and lands unknown repeat ,his name4 ,he formed the seas1 ,he formed the hills1 ,made every drop1 and every dust1 ,nature and time1 with all her wheels1 ,and pushed them into motion first4 ,now from ,his high imperial throne ,he looks far down upon the spheres2 ,he bids the shining orbs roll on1 ,and round ,he turns the hasty years4 ,thus shall this moving engine last ,till all ,his saints are gathered in1 ,then for the trumpet's dreadful blast1 ,to shake it all to dust again6 ,yet1 when the sound shall tear the skies1 ,and lightning burn the globe below1 ,saints1 you may lift your joyful eyes1 ,there's a new heaven and earth for you4 ,he was fond of singing the uncreated glories of the ,son of ,god1 ,his official and mediatorial ,majesty1 as in that complete and glowing hymn1 ,join all the glorious names4 ,or1 ,go worship at ,immanuel's feet4 ,he had to vindicate himself during his life for the use of doxologies1 or hymns of praise to the ,holy ,spirit1 as in ,eternal ,spirit1 we confess ,and sing the wonders of ,thy grace4 ,or the invocation1 ,come1 ,holy ,spirit1 heavenly ,dove6 ,there is an intense and immediate objectiveness about ,watts' hymns2 praise1 like a clear and glowing firmament1 encompasses them all1 and the objects of adoration revolve1 like the firmamental lights1 clear and distinct to the vision2 they are often interior and meditative1 but they never indicate a merely morbid introspection2 they seem to glow in the light of the objects of their adoration3 again and again we are impressed by their reverent effulgence4 ,they are not the singular rapture over the worshipper's own state of feeling1 they are not even rapture so much on account of what is seen2 they are praise and honour to the objects themselves1 and they have indeed to be perverted before they can express any other sentiments than those they originally utter4 ,few writers more affectingly set forth the death of ,christ3 ,he dies6 the ,friend of sinners dies6 ,lo6 ,salem's daughters weep around2 ,a solemn darkness veils the skies1 ,a sudden trembling shakes the ground4 ,break off your tears1 ye saints1 and tell ,how high our great ,deliverer reigns2 ,sing how ,he spoiled the hosts of hell1 ,and led the monster ,death in chains4 ,say1 8,live for ever1 wondrous ,king6 ,born to redeem and strong to save20 ,then ask the monster1 8,where's thy sting80 ,and 8,where's thy victory1 boasting grave80 ,the hymn1 indeed1 contains some weak lines1 but the first and the three last verses have even great dramatic vigour and strength4 ,but hymns are not always to shine with splendid lights1 they are to soothe and comfort2 hence such words as-- ,come hither1 all ye weary souls4 ,we remember a venerable minister eighty-eight years of age1 who filled a conspicuous place in the ,church of his day2 while he was dying his daughter said to him3 ,jesus can make a dying bed ,as soft as downy pillows are1 ,while on ,his breast ,i lean my head1 ,and breathe my life out sweetly there4 ,the old man listened as well as he could to the verse1 then turned his head on the pillow1 repeated the words 8my head10 and so died4 ,perhaps some critic would remark that the versification is slightly inaccordant or defective1 but its tenderness has propitiated many a dying pang4 ,devotion is the eminent attribute of these hymns1--ardent1 inflamed rapture of holiness4 ,well has it been said 8to elevate to poetic altitudes20 every truth in ,christian experience and revealed religion needs the strength and sweep of an aquiline pinion2 and this is what ,isaac ,watts has done2 he has taken almost every topic which exercises the understanding and the heart of the believer1 and has not only given to it a devotional aspect1 but has wedded it to immortal numbers2 and whilst there is little to which he has not shown himself equal1 there is nothing he has done for mere effect4 ,rapt1 yet adoring1 sometimes up among the thunder-clouds1 yet most reverential in his highest range1 the 8good matter0 is in a song1 and the sweet singer is upborne as on the wings of eagles2 but even from that triumphal car1 and when nearest the home of the ,seraphim1 we are comforted to find descending lowly lamentations and confessions of sin--new music1 no doubt1 but the words with which we have been long familiar in the house of our pilgrimage4 ,religion never was designed ,to make our pleasures less4 ,thou art the sea of love ,where all my pleasures roll1 ,the circle where my passions move1 ,and centre of my soul4 ,to ,thee my spirits fly ,with infinite desire1 ,and yet how far from ,thee ,i lie6 ,dear ,jesus1 raise me higher4 ,i cannot bear ,thy absence1 ,lord1 ,my life expires if ,thou depart2 ,be thou1 my heart1 still near my ,god1 ,and ,thou1 my ,god1 be near my heart4 ,such are the streams of devotion on which we are borne in the verses of ,watts4 ,some of his hymns are like collects1 the compact1 comforting little watchwords and creeds of the ,church-- ,firm as the earth ,thy ,gospel stands4 ,or-- ,our ,god1 how firm ,his promise stands4 ,sometimes we have a fine bold trumpet-like tone of ,faith3 ,begin1 my tongue1 some heavenly theme1 ,and speak some boundless thing2 ,the mighty works1 or mightier name ,of our eternal ,king4 ,his very word of grace is strong ,as that which built the skies2 ,the ,voice that rolls the stars along ,speaks all the promises4 ,he said1 8,let the wide heaven be spread10 ,and heaven was stretched abroad3 8,abra'm1 ,i'll be thy ,god10 ,he said1 ,and ,he was ,abra'm's ,god4 ,how well he has expressed the depths of contrition in his version of the #east ,psalm1 what plaintive compassion-- ,o ,thou that hear'st when sinners cry6 ,and equally well he has depicted the happiness and serenity of 8a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience30 ,o happy soul that lives on high6 ,or-- ,lord1 how secure and blest are they ,who feel the joys of pardoned sin4 ,then how vigorously his notes rouse and stir to the activities of the ,christian life3 ,are we the soldiers of the cross1 ,the followers of the ,lamb8 ,or-- ,stand up1 my soul1 shake off thy fears6 ,the patriotic lyrics and hymns of ,watts have sounded1 how in his day they throbbed1 with that pulse of prayer for our country3 ,shine1 mighty ,god6 on ,britain shine ,with beams of heavenly grace2 ,reveal ,thy power through all our coasts1 ,and show ,thy smiling face4 ,amidst our isle1 exalted high1 ,do ,thou our glory stand2 ,and1 like a wall of guardian fire1 ,surround the favoured land4 ,and when the ,americans held their great 8,thanksgiving ,day10 ,watts' hymn1 always sung to the venerable old tune of ,st4 ,martin's1 was1 as ,mrs4 ,stowe tells us1 the national hymn of the ,puritans4#bb ,let children hear the mighty deeds ,which ,god performed of old1 ,which in our younger years we saw1 ,and which our fathers told4 ,our lips shall tell them to our sons1 ,and they again to theirs1 ,that generations yet unborn ,may teach them to their heirs4 ,the extent to which the verses of ,watts entered into all the incidents of the social life of the ,united ,states is well illustrated in the 8,pearl of ,orr's ,island30 in a very striking and pathetic manner the following stanzas often interlace the conversations of that charming story3 ,our ,god1 our help in ages past1 ,our hope for years to come1 ,our shelter from the stormy blast1 ,and our eternal home4 ,under the shadow of ,thy throne ,thy saints have dwelt secure3 ,sufficient is ,thine arm alone1 ,and our defence is sure4 ,before the hills in order stood1 ,or earth received her frame1 ,from everlasting ,thou art ,god1 ,to endless years the same4 ,thy word commands our flesh to dust-- 8,return1 ye sons of men20 ,all nations rose from earth at first1 ,and turn to earth again4 ,a thousand ages in ,thy sight ,are like an evening gone2 ,short as the watch that ends the night ,before the rising sun4 ,the busy tribes of flesh and blood1 ,with all their lives and cares1 ,are carried downwards by the flood1 ,and lost in following years4 ,time1 like an ever-rolling stream1 ,bears all its sons away2 ,they fly1 forgotten1 as a dream ,dies at the opening day4 ,like flowery fields the nations stand1 ,pleased with the morning light2 ,the flowers beneath the mower's hand ,lie withering ere 'tis night4 ,our ,god1 our help in ages past1 ,our hope for years to come1 ,be ,thou our guard while troubles last1 ,and our eternal home4 ,and we are reminded that this grand hymn1 which we have heard sung in barns and meeting-houses1 in kirks and cathedrals1 also comes with tender pathos in one of the affecting scenes of ,charlotte ,bront4 ,what grand expressions of personal faith abound among these verses1 what a radiant casting back of the blunted arrows of doubt and unbelief6 ,questions and doubts are heard no more2 ,let ,christ and joy be all our theme2 ,his ,spirit seals ,his ,gospel sure1 ,to every soul that trusts in ,him4 ,learning and wit may cease their strife1 ,when miracles with glory shine2 ,the ,voice that calls the dead to life ,must be almighty and ,divine4 ,what faith in the ,saviour's glorious resurrection and second advent6-- ,with joy we tell this scoffing age1 ,he that was dead hath left ,his tomb2 ,he lives above their utmost rage1 ,and we are waiting till ,he come4 ,sabbath songs1 songs for the social service at the close of the day1 songs for every variety of ,christian ordinance1 songs especially for the ,lord's ,supper1 songs of grief as the soul realises the death of the ,redeemer1 songs of rapture as the salvation becomes apprehensible-- ,salvation6 ,o the joyful sound6 ,or-- ,plunged in a gulf of dark despair4 ,the first ,elegies in our language are among ,watts' hymns4 ,when early manhood has been smitten down in its green prime1 how finely swells aloft that grand elegy with its triumphant close1 the paraphrase of the text1 8,he weakened my strength in the way4 ,he shortened my days30 ,it is the ,lord our ,saviour's hand ,weakens our strength amidst the race3 ,disease and death at ,his command ,arrest us and cut short our days4 ,spare us1 ,o ,lord1 aloud we pray1 ,nor let our sun go down at noon2 ,thy years are one eternal day1 ,and must ,thy children die so soon8 ,yet in the midst of death and grief1 ,this thought our sorrow shall assuage1 8,our ,father and our ,saviour live2 ,christ is the same through every age40 ,before ,thy face ,thy church shall live1 ,and on ,thy throne ,thy children reign3 ,this dying world shall they survive1 ,and the dead saints be raised again4 ,and when some form more than ordinarily venerable or beautiful1 holy or beloved1 has been lowered into its resting-place1 while they laid wreaths of camellias and evergreens on the coffin1 uprose that wonderful elegy3 ,hear what the ,voice from heaven proclaims ,for all the pious dead6 ,sweet is the savour of their names1 ,and soft their sleeping bed4 ,and how often1 in similar circumstances1 that other sweet requiem3 ,why do we mourn departing friends8 ,amidst trembling prayers1 in the darkened room1 in the presence of some sweet shrouded and coffined form1 the memory of some soft sealed face and folded hands1 and spirit for ever at rest1 has rose the hymn into pensive rapture3 ,are we not tending upward too1 ,as fast as time can move8 ,nor would we wish the hours more slow ,to keep us from our love4 ,contrasting the evanescence of man1 not merely with the eternity of ,god1 but with the eternity of ,christ1 and the promised prevalence of ,his salvation everywhere1 who has not seen large meetings leap into hearty fervour at the announcement of that noble prophecy3 ,jesus shall reign where'er the sun ,does his successive journeys run4 ,who has more triumphantly followed the spirit of the believer into its glorious home and rest8 ,watts had a singularly bold and majestic manner in striking in the very first words of a hymn the key-note of the whole piece2 indeed there was usually a singular fitness and force in the first line4 ,give me the wings of faith to rise ,within the veil1 and see ,the saints above2 how great their joys1 ,how vast their glories be6 ,some critics have objected to what seems to us the sweet natural pathos of that verse3 ,how we should scorn the clothes of flesh1 ,these fetters and this load1 ,and long for evening to undress1 ,that we may rest with ,god4 ,or that fine piece3 ,absent from flesh6 ,o blissful thought6 ,and the following verses1 not so often quoted1 or so well known3 ,and is this heaven8 and am ,i there8 ,how short the road6 how swift the flight6 ,i am all life1 all eye1 all ear2 ,jesus is here my soul's delight4 ,is this1 the heavenly ,friend who hung ,in blood and anguish on the tree1 ,whom ,paul proclaimed and ,david sung1 ,who died for them1 who died for me8 ,creator-,god1 eternal light1 ,fountain of good1 tremendous power1 ,oceans of wonders1 blissful sight6 ,beauty and love unknown before4 ,thy grace1 ,thy nature1 all unknown ,in yon dark region whence ,i came1 ,where languid glimpses from ,thy throne ,and feeble whispers teach ,thy name4 ,i'm in a world where all is new1 ,myself1 my ,god2 ,o blest amaze6 ,not my best hopes or wishes knew ,to form a shadow of ,his grace4 ,fixed on my ,god1 my heart1 adore2 ,my restless thoughts1 forbear to rove2 ,ye meaner passions1 stir no more2 ,but all my powers be joy and love4 ,and one of the most touching of his funeral pieces is that magnificent funeral march for some departed saint1 and worthy of the grand air to which it has often been sung--,handel's ,dead ,march in 8,saul30 ,unveil thy bosom1 faithful tomb6 ,take this new treasure to thy trust1 ,and give these sacred relics room ,awhile to slumber in the dust4 ,nor pain1 nor grief1 nor anxious fear ,invade thy bounds3 no mortal woes ,can reach the forms which slumber here1 ,and angels watch their soft repose4 ,so ,jesus slept6 ,god's dying ,son ,passed through the grave and blessed the bed3 ,rest here1 dear saint1 till from ,his throne ,the morning break and pierce the shade6 ,break from ,his throne1 illustrious morn6 ,attend1 ,o earth1 ,his sovereign word2 ,restore thy trust--a glorious form ,called to ascend and meet the ,lord4 ,a judicious and compendious arrangement in order of the hymns of ,watts1 would thus show that every form of expression apparently necessary for public service finds some adequate representation3 worship1 confession1 prayer1 expression of faith2 and those churches which for nearly a century had no other volume to assist them in their public devotions1 do not deserve so much pity as has very frequently been expressed for them4 ,soon after their publication they came to be used outside of the communion for which they were designed4 ,ralph ,erskine1 of ,dunfermline1 drew a great number of the verses into his most remarkable volumes of divine drollery1 sometimes in a most remarkable manner debasing the metre4 ,should the reader care to see an instance of this he may find it in 8,scripture ,songs10 ,book ,,iii41 ,song ,,iii42 but there are many other instances4 ,admirers of ,wesley are fond of citing against ,watts the well-known saying attributed to him1 that he would have given all he had written for the credit of being the author of ,charles ,wesley's hymn1 8,come1 ,o thou ,traveller unknown40 ,it has been truly said1 his excessive modesty often gloomed his greatness2 ,gibbons makes some such remark2 it1 at any rate1 kept all power and disposition to self-assertion in the shade2 but it is no reason why his admirers now should imitate1 with reference to himself1 that virtue1 and be indifferent to his great powers as a sacred poet4 ,no hymn-writer has suffered so much from mutilation as ,watts4 ,sometimes the attempts at improvement have been ludicrous4 ,we remember a specimen of many3 ,the little ants1 for one poor grain ,exert themselves and strive4 ,instead of-- ,labour and tug and strive4 ,but such emendations are innocent when compared with those in which the entire doctrine of the hymn has been expelled4#bc ,lord ,selborne 7,sir ,roundell ,palmer7 has said1 8,watts altered some of ,charles ,wesley's hymns1 much to his brother ,john's discontent1 as he testifies in the preface to his ,hymn ,book40 ,we have very little hesitation in assuring his lordship that he is mistaken1 and that he will find no instance in which ,watts altered1 however slightly1 ,wesley's hymns4 ,in two or three instances he altered and appropriated from ,tate and ,brady and ,patrick1 and acknowledged the extent of his alterations in notes1 a courtesy never extended to himself4 ,before ,jehovah's awful throne1 is ,watts altered1 and admirably altered1 by two words in the first line1 but the entire hymn was appropriated2 but indeed it was impossible that ,watts could alter ,wesley4 ,watts' work was all done1 and had long been done1 before ,wesley appeared4 ,literary plagiarism we believe to be a much less common sin than many suppose4 ,minds on the same plane of thought and feeling are likely to discover the same images1 and to indulge in the same expressions4 ,certainly ,mr4 ,milner1 in his 8,life of ,watts10 is wrong when he says 7page #bgf7 that ,watts' well-known lines3 ,the opening heavens around me shine ,with beams of sacred bliss1 were probably suggested to ,watts by ,gray's-- ,the meanest flow'ret of the vale1 ,the simplest note that swells the gale1 ,the common sun1 the air1 the skies1 ,to him are opening paradise4 ,watts' lines were published nine years before ,gray was born6 ,comparing the two great hymn-writers1 ,isaac ,watts and ,charles ,wesley1 an adequate sense may be arrived at1 if the very important distinctions are noticed between the work proposed in the verses of the two admirable men4 ,it is our conviction that while ,watts has1 in the stricter term of the word poet1 included in himself ,charles ,wesley1 the purpose of ,wesley's verse was especially to describe frames1 feelings1 and experiences1 to set these to a sweet strain of popular melody1 such as might rouse the thousands for whom they were intended4 ,nothing is more remarkable than the contrasted sense ,watts and the ,wesleys entertained of their performances4 ,the preface published to the ,wesleyan ,hymn ,book1 in #aggi1 is one of the most extravagant efforts of conceit in our language2 it is somewhat wonderful that the good taste of the ,wesleyan ,conference does not omit it from the editions now in the course of circulation4 8,here10 it says1 8is no doggerel1 no botches1 nothing put in to patch up the rhyme1 no feeble expletives2 here is nothing tinged or bombast1 or low and creeping2 here are no cant expressions1 no words without meaning2 those who impute this to us know not what they say40 8,here are10 it continues1 8the purity1 elegance1 and strength of the ,english language1 and the utmost simplicity and plainness suited to every capacity40 ,it goes on to assert that 8in the following hymns is to be found the true spirit of poetry1 such as cannot be acquired by art or labour1 but must be the gift of nature4 ,by labour a man may become a tolerable imitation of ,spenser1 ,shakespeare1 or ,milton1 and may heap together pretty compound epithets1 such as pale-eyed1 meek-eyed1 and the like2 but unless he be born a poet he will never attain to the genuine spirit of poetry40 ,how remarkably all this is in contrast to the spirit of the writer whose hymns had been before the world nearly half a century before this first collected edition of the ,wesleys' hymns was published4 ,john ,wesley included many of ,watts' hymns in his own hymn book1 but their authorship was not acknowledged2 and many others were vigorous translations from the ,german of ,zinzendorf1 ,paul ,gerhardt1 etc42 ,watts' hymn book was entirely and wholly his own4 ,it is ungracious work to bring into the rivalry of comparison or contrast two singers who have so sacredly served the ,church4 ,yet we will dare to say it here1 in the hymns of ,watts there is that peculiar accent1 that note of pain1 that majesty and melody of the deep minor chord--that sounding of a deeper experience--that ineffable something which testifies to a capacity of agony1 as well as to the assurance of ecstasy which is the true poet's prerogative and power4 ,we would even say the very test of ,watts' genius and experience is that many of his pieces1 and some of his very highest1 are unfitted for more than the select experience4 ,wesley's are more easy1 common-place1 and popular4 ,the hymns of ,watts1 however1 will stand a far higher test than that of the suffrages of large congregations or ecclesiastical communities--the sighs of the sick-room1 the death-bed1 the bereaved chamber1 the private closet of heart devotion4 ,with these verses on their lips refreshing their hearts1 how many pilgrims have approached the ,land of pure delight ,where saints immortal reign4 ,most of what has gone before applies to the hymns2 but some especial reference should be made to the version of the ,psalms4 ,palmer1 in his 8,life of ,watts10 says1 8,this is generally allowed to be his capital production in poetry1 with which1 in point of utility1 none of his other pieces will bear comparison40 ,from this verdict there will be many dissentients4 ,it is certainly true that in some of the pieces he rises to the highest rendering of the evangelical sense of the ,psalter4 ,his object was to interpret the ,psalms of ,christ2 it is not therefore very remarkable that when a young minister inquired of an elder which was the best commentary on the ,psalms1 he replied1 8,watts' version of them40 ,this judgment was not so singular as it seems4 ,watts' may be called the ,messianic version of the ,psalms2 he felt that without this construction they must be very greatly inexplicable4 ,the unfolding this idea popularly was an immense boon to the churches4 ,we are to remember that the ,book of ,psalms was the great ,hebrew ,psalter2 it was the ,book of ,common ,prayer and ,praise1 and when the ,christian ,church arose1 it still continued the use of these divine airs for the expression of its experiences and its faith4 ,jerome says3 8,the labourer1 while he holds the handle of the plough1 sings ,alleluia1 the tired reaper employs himself on the ,psalms1 and the vine-dresser1 while lopping the vines with his curved hook1 sings something out of ,david2 these are our ballads in this part of the world2 these1 to use the common expression1 are our love songs40 ,chrysostom has a noble panegyric upon the use of the ,psalms in the service of the ,church4 8,if we keep vigil in the ,church1 ,david comes first1 last1 and midst4 ,if early in the morning1 ,david is first1 last1 and midst40 ,again1 he goes on to declare how1 8in the funeral solemnities for the dead1 or when the girl sits at home spinning1 and not in cities alone1 and not alone in churches1 but in the forum and in the wilderness1 and even in the uninhabitable desert1 ,david excites to the praises of ,god40 ,and this has continued true ever since4 ,the case being so1 why was it that1 alike in ,hebrew and in ,christian days1 the ,book of ,psalms has had such a sovereign power over holy souls8 ,the personality of ,david has even obscured the higher personality and the ,messianic symmetry2 it is forgotten that in the ,hebrew language ,david signifies the beloved1 the darling1 the chosen one1 and that many of the ,psalms1 regarded as personal to him1 are rather to be apprehended in the same manner in which his name occurs in ,isaiah and ,jeremiah and ,ezekiel1 in which we have 8the key of ,david10 8,david1 a leader and commander to the people10 in 8the sure mercies of ,david10 terms the fulness of which is lost sight of by their being associated with the ,hebrew prince1 rather than with ,him who is the infinitely beloved of ,god and man4 ,thus in numerous ,psalms to which the prefix is given1 8,a ,psalm of1 or by1 ,david10 a stricter reading would be1 8,a ,psalm to1 or for1 ,david20 in some instances this sense comes out with great force1 and thus they illustrate that text in ,ezekiel1 penned hundreds of years after ,david's death1 8,i will set one shepherd over them1 and he shall feed them1 even my servant ,david 7i4e4 the ,beloved74 ,he shall feed them and be their shepherd40 ,what a different fulness of meaning is given to such innumerable passages as those in the #abcrd ,psalm1 8,for thy servant ,david's sake turn not away the face of thine anointed20 8,the ,lord hath sworn unto ,david1 ,of the fruit of thy body will ,i set upon thy throne30 if we substitute the ,beloved one for ,david in many such passages1 and what a rich meaning is unfolded6 ,david was perhaps the author of all these2 but in that wonderful spirit of the ,hebrew playing upon words1 just as he rose from his own occupation to exclaim1 8,the ,lord is my shepherd10 so he rose from his own name1 transforming it into a ,divine synonym1 searching for its origin and filling it out with divine and elevated ideas4#bd ,this was the spirit in which ,watts in his version restored the ,psalms to ,christ1 and removed them from the lower and more contracted circle of human personality to the suffering and reigning ,messiah4 ,most readers were thankful for the noble restoration of the evangelical regalia to their rightful owner2 and only here and there one or two1 like the indecent and insolent ,bradbury1 took exception to the performance as 8robbing them of their book of ,praise10 as that rash and vehement man1 referring to the version of ,watts1 said1 8,david is no longer suffered to be our ,psalmist40 ,this1 then1 is the spirit in which ,watts translated the ,psalms1 to the ,christian sense preserving1 as we have said1 the ,messianic idea throughout1 as in that stirring call to ,christian service3 ,arise1 ,o ,king of ,grace1 arise ,and enter to ,thy rest6 ,lo6 ,thy church waits with longing eyes ,thus to be owned and blest4 ,enter with all ,thy glorious train1 ,thy ,spirit and ,thy word2 ,all that the ,ark did once contain ,could not such grace afford4 ,the aim of ,watts in his ,book of ,psalms was to translate the ,old ,testament phraseology into a ,new ,testament language and experience4 ,james ,hamilton has illustrated this by an anecdote which it can scarcely be impertinent to quote here2 he says3 8,i cannot tell it accurately1 but ,i have heard of a godly couple whose child was sick and at the point of death4 ,it was unusual to pray together except at the hours of #8exercise2' however1 in her distress1 the mother prevailed on her husband to kneel down at the bedside and offer a word of prayer4 ,the good man's prayers were chiefly taken from the best of liturgies1 the book of ,psalms2 and after a long and reverential introduction from the #ijth and elsewhere1 he proceeded1 #8,lord1 turn again the captivity of ,zion2 then shall our mouth be filled with laughter and our tongue with singing4' ,and as he was proceeding1 #8turn again our captivity1' the poor agonized mother interrupted him3 #8,eh1 man1 you are aye drawn out for thae ,jews1 but it's our bairn that's deein'1' at the same time clasping her hands and crying1 #8,lord1 help us2 oh1 give us back our darling1 if it be ,thy holy will2 and if he is to be taken1 oh take him to ,thyself6' ,and fond as ,i am10 continues ,james ,hamilton1 8of scriptural phrases in prayer1 ,i am fonder still of reality4 ,it is a striking fact that the prayers addressed to ,christ in the ,gospels are hardly one of them in ,old ,testament language2 just as ,new ,testament songs embed in a language of their own ,old ,testament phrases20 and1 as we may add1 just as the woman and her husband had the same purpose in their prayers4 ,and it is in this way ,watts seems to apologize for his attempts when he says1 in his introduction to his version of the ,psalms3 ,,hebrew ,,melodies ,,christianized4 8,but since ,i believe that any ,divine sentence1 or ,christian verse1 agreeable to ,scripture1 may be sung1 though it be composed by men uninspired1 ,i have not been so curious and exact in striving everywhere to express the ancient sense and meaning of ,david1 but have rather expressed myself as ,i may suppose ,david would have done1 had he lived in the days of ,christianity2 and by this means1 perhaps1 ,i have sometimes hit upon the true intent of the ,spirit of ,god in those verses farther and clearer than ,david himself could ever discover1 as ,st4 ,peter encourages me to hope 7#a ,peter i4 #aa1 #ac7 where he acknowledges that the ancient prophets1 who foretold of the grace that should come to us1 were1 in some measure1 ignorant of this great salvation2 for though they testified of the sufferings of ,christ and ,his glory1 yet they were forced to search and inquire after the meaning of what they spake or wrote4 ,in several other places ,i hope my reader will find a natural exposition of many a dark and doubtful text1 and some new beauties and connections of thought discovered in the ,jewish poet1 though not in the language of a ,jew4 ,in all places ,i have kept my grand design in view1 and that is to teach my author to speak like a ,christian4 ,for why should ,i now address ,god my ,saviour in a song1 with burnt sacrifices of fatlings1 and with the fat of rams8 ,why should ,i pray to be sprinkled with hyssop1 or recur to the blood of bullocks and goats8 ,why should ,i bind my sacrifice with cords to the horns of an altar1 or sing the praises of ,god to high-sounding cymbals1 when the ,gospel has shown me a nobler atonement for sin1 and appointed a purer and more spiritual worship8 ,why must ,i join with ,david in his legal or prophetic language to curse my enemies1 when my ,saviour in ,his sermons has taught me to love and bless them8 ,why may not a ,christian omit all those passages of the ,jewish psalmist that tend to fill the mind with overwhelming sorrows1 despairing thoughts1 or bitter personal resentments1 none of which are well suited to the spirit of ,christianity1 which is a dispensation of hope and joy and love8 ,what need is there that ,i should wrap up the shining honours of my ,redeemer in the dark and shadowy language of a religion that is now for ever abolished1 especially when ,christians are so vehemently warned in the ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul against a ,judaizing spirit in their worship as well as doctrine8 ,and what fault can there be in enlarging a little on the more useful subjects in the style of the ,gospel1 where the psalm gives any occasion1 since the whole religion of the ,jews is censured often in the ,new ,testament as a defective and imperfect thing80 ,and1 again1 he says on the-- ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,hebrew ,,psalms4 8,moses1 ,deborah1 and the princes of ,israel2 ,david1 ,asaph1 ,habakkuk1 and all the saints under the ,jewish state1 sung their own joys and victories1 their own hopes1 and fears1 and deliverances1 as ,i hinted before2 and why must we1 under the ,gospel1 sing nothing else but the joys1 hopes1 and fears of ,asaph and ,david8 ,why must ,christians be forbid all other melody but what arises from the victories and deliverances of the ,jews8 ,david would have thought it very hard to be confined to the words of ,moses1 and sung nothing else on all his rejoicing days but the drowning of ,pharaoh of the fifteenth of ,exodus4 ,he might have supposed it a little unreasonable1 when he had peculiar occasions of mournful music1 if he had been forced to keep close to ,moses' prayer in the ninetieth ,psalm1 and always have sung over the shortness of human life1 especially if he were not permitted the liberty of a paraphrase2 and yet the special concerns of ,david and ,moses were much more akin to each other than ours are to either of them1 and yet they were both of the same religion2 but ours is very different4 ,it is true that ,david has left us a richer variety of holy songs than all that went before him2 but1 rich as it is1 it is still far short of the glorious things that we ,christians have to sing before the ,lord2 we and our churches have our special affairs as well as they4 ,now1 if by a little turn of their words1 or by the change of a short sentence1 we may express our own meditations1 joys1 and desires in the verse of those ancient psalmists1 why should we be forbidden this sweet privilege8 ,why should we1 under the ,christian dispensation1 be tied up to forms more than the ,jews themselves were1 and such as are much more improper for our age and state too8 ,let us remember that the very power of singing was given to human nature chiefly for this purpose1 that our own warmest affections of soul might break out into natural or divine melody1 and that the tongue of the worshipper might express his own heart40 ,the following well expresses his modest estimate of his work3 8,i must confess ,i have never yet seen any version or paraphrase of the ,psalms1 in their own ,jewish sense1 so perfect as to discourage all further attempts4 ,but whoever undertakes the noble work1 let him bring with him a soul devoted to piety1 an exalted genius1 and withal a studious application2 for ,david's harp abhors a profane finger and disdains to answer to an unskilful or a careless touch4 ,a meaner pen may imitate at a distance2 but a complete translation or a just paraphrase demands a rich treasury of diction1 an exalted fancy1 a quick taste of devout passion1 together with judgment1 strict and severe1 to retrench every luxuriant line1 and to maintain a religious sovereignty over the whole work4 ,thus the psalmist of ,israel might arise in ,great ,britain in all his ,hebrew glory1 and entertain the more knowing and polite ,christians of our age4 ,but still ,i am bold to maintain the general principle on which my present work is founded2 and that is1 that if the brightest genius on earth1 or an angel from heaven1 should translate ,david and keep close to the sense and style of the inspired author1 we should only obtain thereby a bright or heavenly copy of the devotions of the ,jewish king2 but it could never make the fittest psalm-book for a ,christian people4 ,it was not my design to exalt myself to the rank and glory of poets1 but ,i was ambitions to be a servant to the ,churches and a helper to the joy of the meanest ,christian4 ,though there are many gone before me who have taught the ,hebrew psalmist to speak ,english1 yet ,i think ,i may assume this pleasure of being the first who hath brought down the royal author into the common affairs of the ,christian life1 and led the ,psalmist of ,israel into the ,church of ,christ1 without anything of a ,jew about him4 ,and whensoever there shall appear any paraphrase of the ,book of ,psalms that retains more of the savour of ,david's piety1 or discovers more of the style and spirit of the ,gospel1 with a superior dignity of verse1 and yet the lines as easy and flowing and the sense and language as level to the lowest capacity1 ,i shall congratulate the world1 and consent to say1 ,let this attempt of mine be buried in silence40 ,this chapter must not be closed without some slight reference to the wonderful history and anecdote connected with these hymns2 verses from them have been murmured from innumerable death-beds1 have shone out as memorial lines on innumerable tombstones1 and have proved1 in how many instances1 to be the converting word1 the power of ,god unto salvation4 ,when the great orator and statesman of the ,united ,states1 ,daniel ,webster1 lay dying1 almost the last words which fell from those eloquent lips which had so often moved in the ,senate with thrilling and overwhelming power1 were those words of ,watts' #east ,psalm2 and he repeated them again and again3 ,show pity1 ,lord3 ,o ,lord1 forgive2 ,let a repenting rebel live2 ,are not ,thy mercies large and free8 ,may not a sinner trust in ,thee8 ,and the gravestone of the great shoemaker1 scholar1 linguist1 and missionary1 ,william ,carey1 in ,bengal1 contains beside the name and date only that final confession of faith3 ,a guilty1 weak1 and helpless worm1 ,on ,thy kind arms ,i fall4 ,the late beautiful and beloved ,william ,bunting used to tell a story of a poor blind woman1 in ,liverpool1 brought to a sense of sin and salvation at a ,wesleyan service held in connection with the national fast upon the first visit of cholera to this country4 ,her impressions had been stirred by ,watts' hymn--the #bbdth of the ,wesleyan ,selection--8,i'll praise my ,maker while ,i've breath40 ,the next morning she called on the ,rev4 ,r4 ,mc,owen1 and asked if he could procure for her the book in which was the hymn with those lines1 also ,watts'1 ,the ,lord pours eyesight on the blind1 ,the ,lord supports the sinking mind4 ,it also was in the ,wesleyan ,hymn ,book1 which ,mr4 ,mc,owen placed in her hands4 ,her memory was soon stored with the hymns which she delighted in repeating4 ,by her talent in shampooing she earned a respectable livelihood4 ,for this purpose she attended on the old ,earl of ,derby1 the grandfather to the present ,earl4 ,she repeated one of her hymns to him4 ,the old ,earl liked it1 and encouraged her to repeat more4 ,but one day1 when repeating the hymn of ,charles ,wesley1 8,all ye that pass by10 she came to the words3 ,the ,lord in the day of ,his anger did lay ,your sins on the ,lamb1 and ,he bore them away1 he said1 8,stop1 ,mrs4 ,brass1 don't you think it should be-- 8,the ,lord in the day of ,his mercy did lay80 ,she did not think his criticism valid2 but it showed she was not repeating her verses to inattentive ears1 and other indications showed that the blind woman was made a blessing to the dying nobleman4 ,but such anecdotes might be multiplied and extended to many pages4 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,isaac ,,watts ,,in ,,early ,,life4 ,believed to have been presented by him to his friend and schoolmaster1 the ,rev4 ,john ,pinhorne1 ,master of the ,grammar ,school1 ,southampton1 now in the ,vestry of ,above ,bar ,chapel1 ,southampton4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,a ,circle of ,friends4 ,the friends of ,watts1 at almost any period of his life1 form an interesting and very memorable circle1 a very striking portrait gallery4 ,amongst them are some well-known names1 and some1 comparatively unknown now1 famous then4 ,we have said1 about a mile from ,theobalds1 within the parish of ,cheshunt1 lived ,,richard ,,cromwell4 ,he was a member of ,watts' church1 although he removed from ,cheshunt some short time after ,watts' settlement4 ,but a more remarkable person than ,richard ,cromwell was ,cromwell's niece1 the granddaughter of the great ,protector1 ,mrs4 ,,bendish1 in whom it was said the very ,protector himself lived again4 ,her husband was ,thomas ,bendish1 ,esq41 a descendant of ,sir ,thomas ,bendish1 ,baronet1 ambassador from ,charles ,i4 to the ,court of ,turkey4 ,he died in #agjg1 but she survived him till #agbh1 removing1 however1 in the latter years of her life1 to ,yarmouth4 ,she was a piece of astonishing eccentricity4 ,she had a great admiration for ,owen as a theologian and ,watts as a poet2 and very early in his life ,watts addressed to her his poem against tears4 ,she was a member of his church4 ,her admiration for her grandfather was extraordinary1 and no one was permitted in her presence to express a doubt concerning his legitimate sovereignty or essential greatness4 ,what she might have been as a man is beyond all power to speculate2 as a woman she certainly inherited much of her grandfather's dreamy1 musing1 moody1 and ruggedly imperative character4 ,her character and her connections both alike commanded for her great respect1 but she was an oddity4 ,she was fond of night walks1 even on lonely roads4 ,she would not suffer a servant to attend her1 saying ,god was a sufficient guard1 and she would have no other4 ,visiting at the houses of friends1 she would usually set off at about one in the morning in her chaise1 or on horseback1 chanting as she went one of ,watts' hymns in a key1 it is said1 more loud than sweet4 ,there are pictures of her1 word paintings1 which bring her before our eyes in the oddest light4 ,capable of comporting herself with dignity in the best society1 she disdained no menial employment1 and very cheerfully turned her hand to the pitch-fork or the spade among her labourers and workmen1 working herself with a right ready and forcible good will1 from the early morning to declining day1 in an attire as mean as the meanest of those with whom she was toiling1 giving no account1 say some records1 of either her character or even her sex4 ,it is a curious thing to find the youthful ,isaac ,watts talking to this strong-minded creature like a patriarch in his lines addressed to her in #afii1 in which occurs the fine verse3 ,if 'tis a rugged path you go1 ,and thousand foes your steps surround1 ,tread the thorns down1 charge through the foe2 ,the hardest fight is highest crowned4 ,we could have liked a portrait of her from the pen of ,watts1 or a record of some of his conversations with her or with her uncle1 but it does not appear to have been in his way either to sketch the portraits of his friends or to violate private confidences or conferences by putting them on paper4 ,her son was another of ,watts' intimates1 and with him the family of ,bendish became extinct4 ,he died at ,yarmouth1 unmarried1 in the year #agec4 ,among the ministerial friends of ,watts stands the almost forgotten name of ,,john ,,shower1 a very beautiful and eminent man in his day1 a man of large learning and extensive travel4 ,he had ministered for some time to an ,english congregation at ,rotterdam1 and1 returning to ,england1 he passed through the periods of trouble afflicting the communion to which he belonged4 ,watts was on terms of close intimacy with him1 and they must have been congenial in their lives of elevated and profoundly cultured piety4 ,and there were men around ,watts in the ministry with whom he had great congeniality of sentiment4 ,eminent among these was ,,samuel ,,rosewell1 the son of ,thomas ,rosewell1 celebrated for his trial for high treason and unjust condemnation before the impious ,jefferies4 ,watts gives an interesting account of his visit to him on his death-bed in one of his sermons preached at ,bury ,street4 8,come1 my friends10 says he1 8come into the chamber of a dying ,christian2 come1 approach his pillow1 and hear his holy language3 #8,i am going up to heaven1 and ,i long to be gone1 to be where my ,saviour is4--,why are ,his chariot-wheels so long in coming8--,i hope ,i am a sincere ,christian1 but the meanest and the most unworthy3--,i know ,i am a great sinner1 but did not ,christ come to save the chief of sinners8--,i have trusted in ,him1 and ,i have strong consolation4--,i love ,god1 ,i love ,christ4--,i desire to love ,him more1 to be more like ,him1 and to serve ,him in heaven without sin4--,dear brother1 ,i shall see you at the right hand of ,christ4--,there ,i shall see all our friends that are gone a little before 7alluding to ,sir ,t4 ,abney74--,i go to my ,god and to your ,god1 to my ,saviour and to your ,saviour4' ,these10 observes ,watts1 8are some of the dying words of the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,s4 ,rosewell1 when1 with some other friends1 ,i went to visit him two days before his death1 and which ,i transcribed as soon as ,i came home1 with their assistance40 ,it was after this visit ,watts wrote to his friend the following note3 8,,dear ,,brother ,,rosewell1 8,your most agreeable and divine conversation1 two days ago1 so sweetly overpowered my spirits1 and the most affectionate expressions which you so plentifully bestowed on me awakened in me so many pleasing sensations1 that ,i seemed a borderer on the heavenly world when ,i saw you on the confines of heaven and conversed with you there4 ,yet ,i can hardly forbear to ask for your stay on earth1 and wish your service in the sanctuary1 after you have been so much within view of the glorious invisibilities which the ,gospel reveals to us4 ,but if that hope fail1 yet our better expectations can never fail us4 ,our anchor enters within the veil1 where ,jesus1 our forerunner1 is gone to take our places 7,heb4 vi4 ult474 ,may your pains decrease1 or your divine joys overpower them6 ,may you never lose sight of the blessed world1 and of ,jesus1 the ,lord of it1 till the storm is passed and you are safely arrived4 ,and may the same grace prepare me for the same mansions1 and give you the pleasure of welcoming to those bright regions 8,your affectionate and unworthy friend and brother1 8,,isaac ,,watts4 8,,lime ,,street1 #gth ,april1 #agbb4 8,just going to ,theobalds4 8,p4,s4--,our family salute you2 they are much affected1 pleased1 and edified with their late visit4 ,grace be with you and all your dear relations4 ,amen40 ,and among his friends1 as we have already seen1 he kept up a considerable intimacy with his own fellow-townsman and fellow-student1 ,,samuel ,,say1 son of ,giles ,say1 who was ejected from the parish church of ,st4 ,michael's in ,southampton1 and one of the first ministers of the ,nonconformist church of that town1 and with which ,watts' family was connected4 ,he was a kind of smaller ,watts1 a man of large and varied knowledge in the classics1 mathematics1 astronomy1 and natural philosophy4 ,for forty-eight years he kept a journal of the alterations of the weather and of his observations of remarkable occurrences in nature4 ,possessed of an extraordinary genius1 it was veiled and shrouded by a modesty as extraordinary2 but about two years before his death some of his papers were committed to the press1 consisting of poems and essays on the 8,harmony1 ,variety and ,power of ,numbers1 whether in ,prose or ,verse40 ,he had a great admiration for ,milton1 and translated apparently with great elegance the introduction of 8,paradise ,lost0 into ,latin verse2 and in the 8,gentleman's ,magazine10 vol4 xxxv41 is an interesting paper by him1 entitled1 8,the ,resurrection ,illustrated by the ,changes of the ,silkworm40 ,watts thought highly of his judgment1 as the following1 among other letters1 indicates3 8,april #aath1 #agbh4 8,,dear ,,sir1 8,your letter1 dated from ,feb4 #ajth to ,march #eth1 afforded me agreeable entertainment1 and particularly your notes on the #bnd ,psalm1 in which ,i think ,i concur in sentiment with you in every line1 and thank you4 ,the epiphonema to the #afth ,psalm is also very acceptable1 and1 in my opinion1 the ,psalms ought to be translated in such a manner for ,christian worship1 in order to show the hidden glories of that divine posey4 ,i beg leave only to query about the ,sheol in ,psalm #af1 whether that phrase of #8not seeing corruption' ought to be applied to ,david at all1 since ,peter 7,acts ii4 #ca7 and ,paul 7,acts xiii4 #cf7 seem to exclude him4 ,and though ,i will not say that your sense of the soul1 i4e41 the life1 may answer the ,hebrew manner of the reduplication of the same thing in other words1 yet1 as ,david sometimes speaks of the soul as a thing distinct from the body1 and may not the soul be taken in this place and ,sheol signify ,hades1 the state of the dead8 8,i am glad my little prayer-book is acceptable to you and your daughter4 ,i perceive you have been also 7among many others7 uneasy to have no easier and plainer catechism for children than that of the ,assembly4 ,i had a letter from ,leicestershire the very same day when ,i received yours on the same subject2 and long after this a multitude of requests have ,i had to set my thoughts at work for this purpose4 ,i have designed it these many years4 ,i have laid out some schemes for this purpose1 and ,i would have three or four series of catechisms1 as ,i have of prayers4 ,i believe ,i shall do it ere long if ,god afford health4 ,but1 dear friend1 forgive me if ,i cannot come into your scheme of #8bringing in the creed2' for it is1 in my opinion1 a most imperfect and immethodical composition1 and deserves no great regard1 unless it be put in at the end of the catechism for form's sake1 together with the ,lord's ,prayer and ,ten ,commandments1 as is done in the ,assembly's ,catechism4 ,the history of the life and death of ,christ is excessively long in so short a system and the design of the death of ,christ 7which is the glory of ,christianity7 is utterly omitted4 ,besides1 the operations1 of the ,spirit are not named4 ,the practical articles are all excluded4 ,in short1 'tis a very mean composure1 and has nothing valuable--prter mille annos4 ,my ideas of these matters run in another track1 which1 if ever ,i have the happiness to see you1 may be matter for communication between us4 ,i am sorry ,i forgot to put up the coronation ode in my pocket4 ,i will count myself in debt till ,i have an occasion to send you something more valuable along with it4 ,two days 7ago7 ,i published a little essay on charity schools1 my treatise of education growing so much longer in my hands than ,i designed4 ,if it were worth while to send such a trifle you should have it4 ,in the meantime ,i take leave1 and with due salutations to yourself and yours1 8,i am your affectionate brother and servant1 8,i4 ,,watts40 ,,william ,,coward is the name of one of ,watts' intimate friends1 an oddity in his way as great as ,mrs4 ,bendish3 he had been a merchant in the city2 he lived in retirement at ,waltonstow2 his name is well known now in ,nonconformist circles as the founder of 8,the ,coward ,trust10 a useful fountain of benevolence for the education of young1 and the assistance of poor decayed ministers4 ,he was a type of man easily realised to the imagination1 dogmatical and opinionated1 a bundle of eccentricities4 ,among others1 it was his whim to establish a rule that the doors of his house should never be opened1 however pressing the emergency1 after eight o'clock at night1 to any person whatever1 visitor or friend4 ,the name of ,hugh ,farmer is still held in high and deserved respect for manifold attainments1 one of ,doddridge's most hopeful students1 and who had probably been recommended to ,mr4 ,coward by ,doddridge1 to whose academy ,coward was a munificent helper4 ,farmer was the chaplain of the eccentric man1 but he arrived one evening at the door too late2 he found himself without lodging for the night1 and was compelled to betake himself to the house of another1 perhaps equally eminent1 but more courteous friend1 ,mr4 ,snell1 who not only took him in for that evening1 but compelled him to stay with him for thirty years4 ,nonconformist ministers appear to have possessed some singularly appreciative friends in those days4 ,william ,coward1 however1 was1 if a man of singular eccentricity1 one possessed of sterling virtues1 and especially zealous in the maintenance of the more rigid articles of faith1 and was constantly devising some plans of usefulness to assist both metropolitan and country ministers4 ,watts appears to have had great influence over him1 and could comb his rugged asperities into smoothness4 ,watts it was to whom we are greatly indebted for the shape assumed by the 8,coward ,trust40 ,he devoted #bj1jjj1 and by ,watts' wise and most judicious advice it was left in such a manner that1 unlike many other trusts1 it has been saved from the consequence of diversion or litigation2 and1 largely and most respectably useful1 it has furnished a most helpful hand in giving a thorough and most respectable education to many a young minister1 and helping many a poor one1 even to the present day4 ,the 8will0 of ,william ,coward is a curiosity1 and may be studied1 by those who have patience1 on the walls of the library of the ,new ,college4 ,among the friends of ,watts1 whose names ought to be mentioned1 we must not omit that of ,,john ,,shute1 ,,lord ,,barrington1 a person very interesting in his own times4 ,he moved in that immediate circle of which ,watts was a distinguished member2 he was nearly of ,watts' age1 and his mother was a daughter of that ,joseph ,caryl who was one of ,watts' early predecessors in the ministry at ,mark ,lane4 ,he was a thoughtful1 scholarly man1 as the several works he published abundantly show4#be ,his sixth and youngest son became the well-known ,shute ,barrington1 ,bishop of ,durham4 ,in the memoir prefixed to the three volumes of his father's works1 the name of ,dr4 ,watts is never even mentioned1 although the verses from the lyrics1 referring to the intimacy of ,shute with ,john ,locke1 addressed to him by ,watts1 are quoted4 ,he was a member of the ,church meeting at ,pinners' ,hall1 and had previously attended the ministry of ,thomas ,bradbury2 but when that person behaved so indecently to ,dr4 ,watts1 and took so turbulent a part in the discussion with reference to the ,trinity1 ,lord ,barrington united himself with the ,church at ,pinners' ,hall1 then beneath the ministry of ,dr4 ,jeremiah ,hunt4 ,it seems probable that an intimacy commenced early in life between ,mr4 ,shute and ,isaac ,watts1 perhaps before the settlement of ,watts in the ministry4 ,it was in #agah that ,swift writes of him1 8,one ,mr4 ,shute is named for the secretary to ,lord ,wharton2 he is a young man1 but reckoned the shrewdest head in ,england1 and the person in whom the ,presbyterians chiefly confide2 and if money be necessary toward the good work 7that is1 the repeal of the sacramental test7 in ,ireland1 it is reckoned he can command as far as #ajj1jjj from the body of ,dissenters here4 ,as to his principles1 he is a truly moderate man1 frequenting the church and the meeting indifferently40 ,he took the name of ,barrington about the time this letter was written1 a connection of his family1 ,francis ,barrington1 ,esq41 of ,tofts1 in ,essex1 leaving to him his estate conditionally upon his taking his name and adopting his arms4 ,the high favour in which he stood with ,george ,i4 exposed him to the jealousy and enmity of ,sir ,robert ,walpole4 ,he had an interview with the king on the first day after his arrival in ,london1 apparently in order that he might decline certain offices of preferment which were made him1 because the ,schism and ,conformity ,bills were as yet unrepealed4 ,upon this occasion he stated to the king the grievances beneath which ,dissenters suffered1 although they were amongst the most hearty and faithful friends of the ,house of ,hanover4 ,in the fifth year of this reign he was created a peer4 ,he stood very high in the friendship of the king1 and it seems that it was this very friendship which brought about the close of his political life when1 in #agbc1 he was expelled from the ,house of ,commons for his connection with the ,harburgh lottery4 ,this was a company formed for carrying on trade between ,england and the king's electoral dominions1 and it had been proposed that it should be assisted by a lottery to defray the expenses in deepening the ,river ,elbe near the port of ,harburgh2 the project had not met with the approbation of ,lord ,barrington1 but he received the king's personal commands to continue as sub-governor of the company1 ,prince ,frederick being the governor4 ,it furnished1 however1 the occasion which ,sir ,robert ,walpole knew how to use for the removal from his path of a man dangerous to his own unscrupulous ambition4 ,the project itself was simply a means1 favoured by the king1 for promoting trade between the two countries4 ,but now1 in his retirement1 he betook himself to pursuits of a very different character1 and the volumes of his theological works are most interesting1 and show abundantly how he brought to bear upon the department of theology that clearness of judgment which had characterized his political life1 united to a keen analytic power of criticism and discrimination very interesting to follow through the subjects he discusses2 his essay 8,on the ,dispensation of ,god to ,mankind as revealed in ,scripture0 is especially entertaining and suggestive4 ,he was nephew1 by his mother1 of ,sir ,thomas ,abney1 and this would make his intimacy with the family in which ,watts resided very natural2 but at his house at ,tofts he kept round about him much intellectual society1 and sometimes even of persons widely differing in opinion from himself1 such persons as ,antony ,collins1#bf the well-known sceptical writer of that day4 ,the ,greek ,testament was frequently the subject of investigation and criticism1 and on one occasion it is said ,collins remarked concerning the apostle ,paul1 8,i think so well of him as a man of sense and a gentleman1 that if he had asserted he had worked miracles himself1 ,i would have believed him40 ,lord ,barrington instantly produced a passage to that effect1 when the disconcerted sceptic seized his hat and hastily retreated from the company4 ,upon another occasion his lordship inquired how it was that although he professed to have no religion himself1 he was so careful that his servants should attend regularly at church1 when he replied he did this to prevent them robbing and murdering him4 ,this amiable nobleman1 moderate1 wise1 and well informed1 if we may not rather speak of him as a man of extensive and varied scholarship1 was such a one as could well appreciate and sympathize with ,isaac ,watts4 ,at the old house at ,tofts1 or ,beckets1 in ,berkshire1 where ,lord ,barrington died1 we may be sure that ,watts was a frequent visitor1 and it was the frequency of the intercourse probably which permits us so few letters between them1 and of those letters none before #agah4 ,we have already quoted the high estimate he formed of ,watts' 8,view of ,scripture ,history20 his estimate of the 8,logic0 he rates so highly that he says1 8,i shall not only recommend it to others1 but use it as the best manual of its kind myself1 and ,i intend1 as some have done ,erasmus or a piece of ,cicero1 to read it over once a year40 ,the following note sets every point of his friendship with ,watts in a very pleasing light3 8,,london1 ,jan4 #aa1 #agah4 8,,rev4 ,,sir1 8,i cannot dispense with myself from taking the first opportunity ,i have of acknowledging your great favour in assisting me so readily to offer up the praise due to ,almighty ,god for ,his signal mercies vouchsafed me on three several occasions1 and of assuring you that it was with the utmost concern ,i understood that ,i must not flatter myself with the hopes of your being with us in this last4 ,but how very obliging are you1 who would give yourself the trouble to let me know that1 though you could not give me the advantage of your company at ,hatton ,garden1 yet ,i should not want your assistance at a distance1 where you would address such petitions to heaven to meet ours as tend to render me one of the best and happiest men alive4 ,this they will influence to me in some measure1 both by their prevalency at the throne of grace1 and by instructing me in the most agreeable manner what ,i should aspire to4 ,whilst ,i read your letter1 ,i found my blood fired with the greatest ambition to be what you wish me4 ,i will1 therefore1 carefully preserve it1 where it shall be least liable to accidents1 and where it will be always most in my view4 ,there1 as ,i shall see what ,i ought to be1 by keeping it always before me1 ,i shall not only have the pleasure of observing the masterly strokes of the character you wish me1 but1 ,i hope1 come in time to bear some resemblance to it4 ,whilst you were praying for us1 we did not forget you2 nor shall ,i cease to beseech ,almighty ,god to make you a bright example of passive virtue1 till ,he shall see fit to restore you to that eminent degree of acceptableness and service you have once enjoyed4 8,i am1 sir1 your most obliged humble servant1 8,,barrington4 8,my wife is very much obliged by your civility4 ,she has desired a copy of your letter1 which1 she says1 will be as useful to her as it has been entertaining1 if it be not her own fault4 ,both our humble services attend the good family where you are4 ,i am sorry my lady's cold is like to deprive us of their company on ,wednesday40 ,yet another of the circle of friends1 whose names occur to the mind when we think of ,watts1 is the saintly ,,james ,,hervey4 ,one of ,watts' biographers speaks of 8the bloated effusions of ,hervey which are now justly discarded1 then not only tolerated1 but admired40 ,it is an unjust judgment2 ,james ,hamilton was much more fair and faithful when he says of him that 8he had a mind of uncommon gorgeousness1 his thoughts are marched to a stately music1 and were arrayed in the richest superlatives20 and he speaks of ,hervey's 8,theron and ,aspasia0 as 8one of our finest prose poems40 ,james ,hervey deserves that his name should be mentioned with great affection and respect4 ,his life was perpetually stretched upon a rack of infirmity and weakness4 ,there is even a kind of pathetic drollery in watching him at ,weston ,favell living his bachelor's life1 and1 while stirring the saucepan which held the gruel constituting his modest meal1 turning aside to derive some new fancy1 fact1 or image from the microscope on his study table4 ,as a writer1 he indulged himself too freely in colour1 but many of his works are very pleasing2 he was not only passionately fond of natural scenery1 but in an equal degree delighted in the discoveries of natural history2 his copious description of the human frame is one of the most seductive dissertations on anatomy and physiology in our language2 and those subjects1 not remarkable for being invested with the charms of fancy1 certainly do in his descriptions appear to be invested by the fascinations of poetry4 ,he was a friend of both ,doddridge and ,watts4 ,he lived ever in the neighbourhood of the grave1 but his little church of ,weston ,favell was filled with a loving congregation4 ,it was a small flock1 for it was a small church3 but the humble villagers felt a large amount of affectionate regard for their feeble and yet famous friend4 ,into his church he speedily introduced1 after their publication1 ,dr4 ,watts' ,hymns4 ,so he tells ,watts3 8,to tell you1 worthy ,doctor1 that your works have long been my delight and study1 the favourite pattern by which ,i would form my conduct and model my style1 would be only to echo back in the faintest accents what sounds in the general voice of the nation4 ,among other of your edifying compositions1 ,i have reason to thank you for your #8,sacred ,songs1' which ,i have introduced into the service of my church2 so that in the solemnities of the ,sabbath1 and in a lecture on the week-day1 your music lights up the incense of our praise1 and furnishes our devotions with harmony4 ,our excellent friend1 ,dr4 ,doddridge1 informs me of the infirm condition of your health1 for which reason ,i humbly beseech the ,father of spirits and the ,god of our life to renew your strength as the eagle's1 and to recruit a lamp that has shone with distinguished lustre in ,his sanctuary2 or1 if this may not consist with the counsels of unerring wisdom1 to make all your bed in your languishing1 softly to untie the cords of animal existence1 to enable your dislodging soul to pass triumphantly through the valley of death1 leaning on your beloved ,jesus1 and rejoicing in the greatness of ,his salvation4 ,you have a multitude of names to bear on your breast and mention with your lips1 when you approach the throne of grace in the beneficent exercise of intercession2 but none1 ,i am sure1 has more need of such an interest in your supplications than1 dear sir1 your obliged and humble and affectionate servant1 8,,james ,,hervey40 ,there could not be a very long intimacy between these two1 or much knowledge of each other2 they were both hermits1 following1 in the midst of much weakness1 the calls of duty and the pursuits of a cultivated taste4 ,the letter we have just quoted was written the year before ,watts died2 ,hervey lived ten years longer1 but died at the age of forty-seven4 ,he forms one of a cluster of men singularly interesting to contemplate4 ,with ,doddridge1 from their vicinity in the same county1 he was on terms of the closest intimacy4 ,he was a large scholar1 a poet by natural temperament1 and an intense lover of natural description4 ,his works1 once so famous1 are almost forgotten1 and have fallen into quite an undeserved neglect1 partly arising1 it may be1 from the unfavourable estimate formed of them by those who have not read them1 or who may have fixed their impressions from the scanning his 8,contemplation of the ,starry ,heavens10 or his 8,reflections in a ,flower ,garden10 or his 8,descant on ,creation40 ,his portrait should be suspended in the gallery of those we are noticing as one1 who1 if not among ,watts' most intimate friends1 yet revered and loved him much4 ,but there is one name with which that of ,watts is constantly united2 it is the name of one whose nature in a marked and special manner seemed fitted to produce a perfect harmony and accord1 it is the name of ,,philip ,,doddridge4 ,at what period the friendship commenced cannot be very exactly ascertained4 ,probably1 had the life of ,doddridge been spared to pen the biography of his venerable friend1 the present biographer might have felt his work a superfluity of naughtiness2 but1 considerable as the distance was between the ages of the friends1 ,watts preceded his younger brother by only a short time to the grave4 ,like ,watts1 his name is especially associated with the hymnology of ,england2 nor is there a collection of sacred songs which does not contain some strains from the pair of sweet singers4 ,doddridge is indeed rather known by a few pieces1 very sweet and helpful1 but limited in the range of their emotions1 and never attempting the lofty and dazzling flight of ,watts' nobler pieces4 ,doddridge's life is full of interest2 it has yet to be written1 for there was a variety of incidents in his story which scarcely appears in the biography of ,kippis1 or the admirable memoir of ,job ,orton4 ,all things considered1 it was a wonderful life3 its activity was amazing1 the variety of his literary acquirements and spoils was prodigious2 one would say he had much more of the poet's temperament than ,watts2 he was impulsive1 passionate1 affectionate1 yet we certainly miss in him that indefinable something which constitutes the poet1 and which something1 ,watts assuredly possessed4 ,in some particulars both in his ancestry and earlier career ,doddridge resembled ,watts2 ,philip1 like ,isaac1 was the child 7he was the twentieth7 of a mother whom persecution had drifted to our shores2 at his birth his mother seemed so near to death that no attention was given to the almost lifeless little castaway1 the infant1 and the world almost lost ,philip the moment he was born4 ,if ,watts probably received his first lessons in biblical knowledge from his grandmother by the fireside of the old house in ,french ,street1 the ,dutch tiles in the chimney constituting an illuminated and illustrated ,bible1 from which ,doddridge's mother first initiated her own son into ,bible lore1 have become a famous tradition4 ,like ,isaac1 ,philip made so much progress in scholarship1 that he had the offer of a training in either ,university if he would enter the ,established ,church2 it was made generously by the ,duchess of ,bedford4 ,philip1 like ,isaac1 declined the temptation1 and so he found his alma mater beneath the more modest and obscure roof of a ,dissenting academy at ,kibworth1 in ,leicestershire4 ,doddridge was born in the year when ,watts first became the co-pastor of ,dr4 ,chauncy1 and he died in #agea1 scarcely two years after the venerable friend whom he so much honoured and loved4 ,thus1 when ,watts died1 ,doddridge was on his way to the tomb1 dying by the slow process of consumption4 ,great as was the difference in point of age1 it is affecting to read the following letter from ,watts to ,doddridge--indeed1 it simply expresses the truth they were 8both going out of the world40 8,,stoke ,,newington1 ,oct4 #ah1 #agdf1 ,saturday4 8,,dear ,,sir1 8,my much esteemed friend and brother1 8,it was some trouble to me that you even fancied ,i had taken anything ill at your hands2 it was only my own great indisposition and weakness which prevented the freedom and pleasure of conversation2 and ,i am so low yet that ,i can neither study nor preach1 nor have ,i any hope of better days in this world2 but1 blessed be ,god1 we are moving onwards1 ,i hope1 to a state infinitely better4 ,i should be glad of more ,divine assistance from the ,spirit of ,consolation1 to make me go cheerfully through the remaining days of my life4 ,i am very sorry to find1 by reports from friends1 that you have met with so many vexations in these latter months of life2 and yet ,i cannot find that your sentiments are altered1 nor should your orthodoxy or charity be called in question4 ,i shall take it a pleasure to have another letter from you1 informing me that things are much easier1 both with you and in the west country4 ,as we are both going out of the world1 we may commit each other to the care of our common ,lord1 who is1 we hope1 ours in an unchangeable covenant4 ,i am glad to hear ,mrs4 ,doddridge has her health better2 and ,i heartily pray for your prosperity1 peace1 and success in your daily labours4 8,i am yours affectionately1 in our common ,lord1 8,i4 ,,watts4 8,p4,s4--,i rejoice to hear so well of ,mr4 ,ashworth3 ,i hope my lady and ,i have set him up with commentators1 for which he has given us both thanks4 ,i trust ,i shall shortly see your third volume of the #8,family ,expositor4'0 ,watts' life was uniform2 we can scarcely point to a period and say the man woke into life and being then and there2 but ,doddridge reached his period of interior life and labour when he became pastor and tutor at ,northampton1 and it would almost seem as if disappointment in love made a man of him4 ,the work accomplished by ,doddridge in the academy of which he was tutor was enormous1 and it exhibits the thoroughness of the training in the small unostentatious academy where the ,dissenting ministers of that day gathered their stores of knowledge1 and received their education for the ministry4 ,and he was great as a preacher--the peasants of the neighbourhood thought so--his usefulness among them was eminent2 and ,akenside1 the poet1 thought so4 ,the variety of his correspondence is an amazing characteristic too2 various1 not only as to the personages with whom he corresponded1 but the subjects upon which he corresponded with them4 ,like ,watts1 his sweet and gentle nature charmed the most obdurate--he had not even a ,bradbury to ruffle the equanimity of his spirit--even the rough and savage ,warburton became kind to him2 he reviewed the 8,divine ,legation10 in the 8,works of the ,learned10 a review of that day2 and it was to the ,english ,bishop who quarrelled with everybody1 the gentle ,nonconformist was indebted for obtaining that easy passage in the sailing vessel1 in which the captain gave up his cabin to him1 that he might journey to the warm airs of ,lisbon to lay aside his labours and to die4 ,doddridge is known by many of his works4 ,his 8,family ,expositor0 a long time held a place in the family and in the study2 but a far more extensive fame has followed the authorship of 8,the ,rise and ,progress of ,religion in the ,soul40 ,this work1 as its dedication to ,dr4 ,watts shows1 owes also its existence to him2 two letters exhibit1 on either side1 the sentiments these admirable men entertain for each other2 the first is the dedication to which reference has been made3 8,,rev4 ,,and ,,dear ,,sir1 8,with the most affectionate gratitude and respect ,i beg leave to present you a book1 which owes its existence to your request1 its copiousness to your plan1 and much of its perspicuity to your review1 and to the use ,i made of your remarks on that part of it which your health and leisure would permit you to examine4 ,i address it to you1 not to beg your patronage to it1 for of that ,i am already well assured1 and much less from any ambition of attempting your character1 for which1 if ,i were more equal to the subject1 ,i should think this a very improper place1 but chiefly from a secret delight which ,i find in the thought of being known to those whom this may reach as one whom you have honoured1 not only with your friendship1 but with so much of your esteem and approbation too1 as must substantially appear in your committing a work to me1 which you had yourself projected1 as one of the most considerable services of your life4 8,i have long thought the love of popular applause a meanness which a philosophy far inferior to that of our ,divine ,master1 might have us to conquer4 ,but to be esteemed by eminently great and good men1 to whom we are intimately known1 appears to me not only one of the most solid attestations of some real worth1 but1 next to the approbation of ,god and our own consciences1 one of its most valuable rewards4 ,it will1 ,i doubt not1 be found so in that world to which spirits like yours are tending1 and for which1 through ,divine grace1 you have obtained so uncommon a degree of ripeness4 ,and permit me1 sir1 while ,i write this1 to refresh myself with the hope that when that union of hearts which has so long subsisted between us shall arrive to its full maturity and endearment there1 it will be matter of mutual delight to recollect that you have assigned me1 and that ,i have1 in some degree1 executed a task which may1 perhaps1 under the blessing of ,god1 awaken and improve religious sentiments in the minds of those we leave behind us1 and of others that may arise after us in this vain1 transitory1 and ensnaring world4 8,such is the improvement you have made of capacities for service that ,i am fully persuaded heaven has received very few in these latter ages who have done so much to serve its interests here below2 few who have laboured in this best of causes with equal zeal and success2 and therefore ,i cannot but join with all who wish well to the ,christian interest among us1 in acknowledging the goodness of ,providence to you1 and to the ,church of ,christ1 in prolonging a life1 at once so valuable and so tender1 to such an advanced period4 ,with them1 sir1 ,i rejoice that ,god has given you to possess in so extraordinary a degree1 not only the consciousness of intending great benefit to the world1 but the satisfaction of having effected it1 and seeing such an harvest already springing up1 ,i hope1 as an earnest of a more copious increase from thence4 ,with multitudes more ,i bless ,god that you are not in the evening of so afflicted and so laborious a day rendered entirely incapable of serving the public from the press and from the pulpit1 and that1 amidst the pain your active spirit feels when these pleasing services suffer long interruption from bodily weakness1 it may be so singularly refreshed by reflecting on that sphere of extensive usefulness in which by your writings you continually move4 8,i congratulate you1 dear sir1 while you are in a multitude of families and schools of the lower class1 condescending to the humble yet important work of forming infant minds to the first rudiments of religious knowledge and devout impressions1 by your various catechisms and divine songs1 you are also daily reading lectures of logic and other useful branches of philosophy to studious youth2 and this not only in private academies but in the most public and celebrated seats of learning1 not merely in ,scotland1 and in our ,american colonies1 where for some peculiar considerations it might be most naturally expected1 but1 through the amiable candour of some excellent men and accomplished tutors1 in our ,english universities too4 ,i congratulate you that you are teaching no doubt hundreds of ministers and private ,christians by your sermons1 and other theological tracts1 so happily calculated to diffuse through their minds that light of knowledge1 and through their hearts that fervour of piety1 which ,god has been pleased to enkindle in your own4 ,but above all ,i congratulate you that by your sacred poetry1 especially by your psalms and your hymns1 you are leading the worship1 and1 ,i trust also1 animating the devotions of myriads in our public assemblies every ,sabbath1 and in their families and closets every day4 ,this1 sir1 at least so far as it relates to the service of the sanctuary1 is an unparalleled favour by which ,god hath been pleased to distinguish you1 ,i may boldly say it1 beyond any of ,his servants now upon earth4 ,well may it be esteemed a glorious equivalent1 and1 indeed1 much more than an equivalent1 for all those views of ecclesiastical preferment to which such talents1 learning1 virtues1 and interests might have entitled you in an establishment2 and ,i doubt not but you joyfully accept it as such4 8,nor is it easy to conceive in what circumstances you could1 on any supposition1 have been easier and happier than in that pious and truly honourable family in which1 as ,i verily believe in special indulgence both to you and to it1 ,providence has been pleased to appoint that you should spend so considerable a part of your life4 ,it is my earnest prayer that all the remainder of it may be serene1 useful1 and pleasant4 ,and as1 to my certain knowledge1 your compositions have been the singular comfort of many excellent ,christians--some of them numbered among my dearest friends--on their dying beds1 for ,i have heard stanzas of them repeated from the lips of several who were doubtless in a few hours to begin the #8,song of ,moses and the ,lamb1' so ,i hope and trust that1 when ,god shall call you to that salvation1 for which your faith and patience have so long been waiting1 ,he will shed around you the choicest beams of ,his favour1 and gladden your heart with consolations1 like those which you have been the happy instrument of administering to others4 ,in the meantime1 sir1 be assured that ,i am not a little animated in the various labours to which ,providence has called me1 by reflecting that ,i have such a contemporary1 and especially such a friend1 whose single presence would be to me as that of a cloud of witnesses here below to awaken my alacrity in the race which is set before me4 ,and ,i am persuaded that1 while ,i say this1 ,i speak the sentiment of many of my brethren1 even of various denominations1 a consideration which ,i hope will do something towards reconciling a heart so generous as yours1 to a delay of that exceeding and eternal weight of glory which is now so nearly approaching4 ,yes1 my honoured friend1 you will1 ,i hope1 cheerfully endure a little longer continuance in life amidst all its infirmities from an assurance that1 while ,god is pleased to maintain the exercise of your reason1 it is hardly possible you should live in vain to the world or yourself4 ,every day and every trial is brightening your crown1 and rendering you still more and more meet for an inheritance among the saints in light4 ,every word which you drop from the pulpit has now surely its peculiar weight4 ,the eyes of many are on their ascending prophet1 eagerly intent that they may catch1 if not his mantle1 at least some divine sentence from his lips1 which may long guide their ways1 and warm their hearts4 ,this solicitude your friends bring in those happy moments when they are favoured with your converse in private1 and1 when you are retired from them1 your prayers1 ,i doubt not1 largely contribute towards guarding your country1 watering the ,church1 and blessing the world4 ,long may they continue to answer these great ends4 ,and permit me1 sir1 to conclude with expressing my cheerful confidence that in these best moments you are often particularly mindful of one1 who so highly esteems1 so greatly needs1 and so warmly returns that remembrance as1 8,reverend ,sir1 your most affectionate brother1 8,and obliged humble servant1 8,,philip ,,doddridge4 8,,northampton1 ,dec4 #ac1 #agdd40 ,this dedication1 of which ,dr4 ,watts said1 8,it is the only thing in that book ,i can hardly permit myself to approve10 may be appropriately followed by a letter to ,mr4 ,david ,longueville1 minister to the ,english church at ,amsterdam1 who had written to ,dr4 ,watts asking his advice with reference to the translation of the works of ,doddridge into the ,dutch tongue2 to this ,watts replies3 8,,rev4 ,,sir1 8,it is a very agreeable employment to which you call me1 and a very sensible honour you put upon me1 when you desire me to give you my sentiments of that reverend and learned writer1 ,dr4 ,doddridge1 to be prefixed to a translation of any of his works into the ,dutch tongue4 ,i have well known him for many years2 ,i have enjoyed a constant intimacy and friendship with him ever since the providence of ,god called him to be a professor of human science1 and a teacher of sacred theology to young men among us1 who are trained up for the ministry of the ,gospel4 ,i have no need to give you a large account of his knowledge in the sciences1 in which ,i confess him to be greatly my superior2 and as to the doctrines of divinity and the ,gospel of ,christ1 ,i know not of any man of greater skill than himself1 and hardly sufficient to be his second4 ,as he hath a most exact acquaintance with the things of ,god and our holy religion1 so far as we are let into the knowledge of them by the light of nature and the revelations of ,scripture1 so he hath a most happy manner of teaching those who are younger4 ,he hath a most skilful and condescending way of instruction1 nor is there any person of my acquaintance with whom ,i am more entirely agreed in all the sentiments of the doctrine of ,christ4 ,he is a most hearty believer of the great articles and important principles of the ,reformed ,church1 a most affectionate preacher and pathetic writer on the practical points of religion1 and1 in one word1 since ,i am now advanced in age beyond my seventieth year1 if there were any man to whom ,providence would permit me to commit a second part of my life and usefulness in the ,church of ,christ1 ,dr4 ,doddridge should be the man4 ,if you have read that excellent performance of his1 #8,the ,rise and ,progress of ,religion in the ,soul1' etc41 you will be of my mind2 his dedication to me is the only thing in that book ,i could hardly permit myself to approve4 ,besides all this1 he possesses a spirit of so much charity1 love1 and goodness towards his fellow ,christians1 who may fall into some lesser differences of opinion1 as becomes a follower of the blessed ,jesus1 his ,master and mine4 ,in the practical part of his labours and ministry1 he hath sufficiently shown himself most happily furnished with all proper gifts and talents to lead persons of all ranks and ages into serious piety and strict religion4 ,i esteem it a considerable honour which the ,providence of ,god hath done me1 when it makes use of me as an instrument in ,his hands to promote the usefulness of this great man in any part of the world2 and it is my hearty prayer that our ,lord ,jesus1 the ,head of the ,church1 may bless all his labours with most glorious success1 either read or heard1 in my native language or in any other tongue4 ,i am1 reverend sir1 with much sincerity your faithful humble servant1 and affectionate brother in the ,gospel of our common ,lord1 8,,isaac ,,watts40 8,the ,rise and ,progress of ,religion in the ,soul0 is still the best book of its kind2 but1 without doing any dishonour to its great merits1 it may be said that it is built up too much upon a frame-work like that of ,scupoli and ,a',kempis1 and we have known readers to whom it has rather been a message of despair than of mercy4 ,salvation and spiritual happiness seem to be rather in the attainment of some subjective condition1 than in the finished work of ,christ2 the soul seems to be invited rather to brood over1 or look in upon itself1 than to look outward and upward to ,christ4 ,still it has been rendered into all the leading languages in ,europe4 ,but it is in his hymns that the influence of ,doddridge most resembles that of his friend4 ,his hymns have been spoken of as a kind of spiritual amber3 but that term1 appropriate as it is1 is rather descriptive of hymns in general2 are they not all pieces of secreted spiritual electricity1 rare and rich in spiritual emotion8 ,and many of ,doddridge's have an ineffable beauty4 ,logan1 the ,scotch poet1 has the doubtful reputation of the authorship of several very sweet hymns2 we say doubtful1 because the authorship turns rather ominously towards the more likely genius of ,michael ,bruce2 but1 in any case1 the famous hymn1 so sanctified in almost every ,scotch household1 as it rises to the old tune of ,martyrdom-- ,o ,god of ,bethel1 by whose hand1 ought not to be regarded as his4 ,it may not be uninteresting to notice together the variations in the two hymns3 ,,logan4 ,o ,god of ,bethel6 by ,whose hand ,thy people still are fed2 ,who through this weary pilgrimage ,hast all our fathers led2 ,our vows1 our prayers1 we now present ,before ,thy throne of grace4 ,god of our fathers6 be the ,god ,of their succeeding race4 ,through each perplexing path of life1 ,our wandering footsteps guide3 ,give us each day our daily bread1 ,and raiment fit provide4 ,o spread ,thy covering wings around1 ,till all our wanderings cease1 ,and at our ,father's loved abode ,our souls arrive in peace4 ,such blessings from ,thy gracious hand1 ,our humble prayers implore2 ,and ,thou shalt be our chosen ,god ,and portion ever more4 ,,doddridge4 ,o ,god of ,jacob1 by ,whose hand ,thine ,israel still is fed1 ,who through this weary pilgrimage ,hast all our fathers led2 ,to ,thee our humble vows we raise1 ,to ,thee address our prayer1 ,and in ,thy kind and faithful breast ,deposit all our care4 ,if ,thou through each perplexing path1 ,wilt be our constant guide3 ,if ,thou wilt daily bread supply1 ,and raiment will provide2 ,if ,thou wilt spread ,thy shield around1 ,till these our wanderings cease1 ,and at our ,father's loved abode ,our souls arrive in peace2 ,to ,thee1 as to our covenant-,god1 ,we'll our whole selves resign2 ,and count that not our tenth alone1 ,but all we have is ,thine4 ,it is not generally known that ,doddridge pursued for many years the practice of ,watts--perhaps he derived it from him--of writing a hymn after each or many of his sermons1 so that the volume of his hymns is a tolerably large one1 numbering three hundred and forty-seven4 ,many of them have great evangelical tenderness and beauty2 we do not remember that they ever depart from a good and correct taste2 they never soar up to ,watts' daring heights1 but they are often very sweet and exquisite2 they are like the notes of a nightingale in the depths of evening shades1 or sometimes like dove-like wings flashing near to the earth1 but in the bright sunshine1 8wings tipped with silver1 or feathers of yellow gold40 ,and1 perhaps1 we appreciate rather more the frequent ecstasy of his hymns in the memory of the fact that the story of his own life shows him not to have been incapable of human passion4 ,to ,doddridge we are indebted for a pleasing illustration of the early reception of ,watts' sacred verses2 ,southey has quoted it in his life of ,watts2 the incident shows that the hymns1 in spite of the sneers of ,bradbury1 were hailed with much delight1 as supplying a very great want1 not only in public but domestic service4 ,the letter from ,doddridge is dated #agca4 8,till heaven is enriched by your removal thither1 ,i hope1 sir1 to find in you a counsellor and a friend1 if ,god should continue my life1 and ,i cannot but admire the goodness of ,providence in honouring me with the friendship of such a person4 ,i can truly say your name was in the number of those which were dearest to me long before ,i ever saw you4 ,yet1 since ,i have known you1 ,i cannot but find something of a more tender pleasure in the thought of your successful various services in the advancement of the best causes1 that of real1 vital1 practical ,christianity4 ,what happened under my observation a few days ago gave me joy with regard to you1 which is yet so warm in my mind1 that ,i hope1 sir1 you will pardon my relating the occasion of it4 ,on ,wednesday last ,i was preaching in a barn to a pretty large assembly of plain country people at a village a few miles off4 ,after a sermon from ,hebrews vi4 #ab1 we sang one of your hymns 7which1 if ,i remember right1 was the #adjth of the second book74 ,and in that part of the worship ,i had the satisfaction to observe tears in the eyes of several of the auditory1 and after the service was over1 some of them told me that they were not able to sing1 so deeply were their minds affected with it1 and the clerk in particular told me he could hardly utter the words of it4#bg ,these were most of them poor people who work for their living4 ,on the mention of your name1 ,i found they had read several of your books with great delight1 and that your hymns and psalms were almost their daily entertainments4 ,and when one of the company said1 #8,what if ,dr4 ,watts should come down to ,northampton8' another replied1 with a remarkable warmth1 #8,the very sight of him would be like an ordinance to me6' ,i mention the thing just as it was1 and am persuaded it is but a familiar1 natural specimen of what often occurs amongst a multitude of ,christians who never saw your face4 ,nor do ,i by any means intend it as a compliment to a genius capable of entertaining by the same compositions the greatest and the meanest of mankind1 but to remind you1 dear sir 7with all the deference and humility due to a superior character71 how much you owe to ,him who has honoured you as the instrument of such extensive service4 ,had ,providence cast my lot near you1 ,i should joyfully have embraced the most frequent opportunities of improving my understanding and warming my heart by conversing with you1 which would surely have been greatly for my advantage as a tutor1 a minister1 and a ,christian4 ,as it is1 ,i will omit none which may fall in my way2 and when ,i regret that ,i can enjoy no more of you here1 will comfort myself with the thoughts of that blessed state where ,i hope for ever to dwell with you1 and to join with you in sweeter and sublimer songs than you have taught the ,church below40 ,one of the most notable persons who crossed the life of ,dr4 ,doddridge was ,colonel ,james ,gardiner3 the stern soldier loved the gentle ,doctor1 and not less did the gentle spirit of the ,doctor attach itself firmly to the stern soldier4 ,another instance of the singular hinges on which friendships are suspended4 ,doddridge wrote his life1 and it created no little sensation1 especially in those circles to which ,colonel ,gardiner belonged4 ,one of the last letters of the ,countess of ,hertford to ,dr4 ,watts refers so distinctly to this book and to the character of ,doddridge1 that it may appropriately find a place here3 8,,percy ,,lodge1 ,nov4 #ae1 #agdg4 8,,reverend ,,sir1 8,the last time ,i troubled you with a letter was to return you thanks for your work on the 8,glory of ,christ10 a subject which can never be exhausted1 or ever thought of without calling for all the praise which our hearts are capable of in our present imperfect state4 ,my gratitude to you is again awakened by the obligation ,i am under 7and1 indeed1 the whole ,christian ,church7 to you for giving ,dr4 ,doddridge the plan1 and engaging him to write his excellent book of 8,the ,rise and ,progress of ,religion in the ,soul40 ,i have read it with the utmost attention and pleasure1 and1 ,i would hope1 with some advantage to myself1 unless ,i should be so unhappy as to find the impression it has made on my heart wear off like the morning dew which passeth away1 which ,god in ,his mercy avert4 ,if you have a correspondence with him1 ,i could wish you would convey my thanks to him1 and the assurance that ,i shall frequently remember him in my humble 7though weak7 address to the throne of ,almighty ,grace 7and which ,i know myself unworthy to look up to any otherwise than through the merits and sufferings of our blessed ,saviour71 that he may go on to spread the knowledge and practice of his doctrine1 and that he may add numbers to the ,church1 and finally hear those blessed words1 #8,well done1 thou good and faithful servant1 enter thou into thy ,master's joy4' 8,i cannot help mentioning to you the manner of this book falling into my hands1 as ,i think there was something providential in it4 ,about four months ago my poor lord had so totally lost his appetite that his physician thought it necessary for him to go to ,bath4 ,i was not a moment in doubt whether ,i should attend him there1 because ,i knew it was my duty1 and1 besides1 ,i could not have been easy to be absent when ,i hoped my care might be of some use4 ,yet ,i undertook the journey with a weight upon my spirits1 and a reluctance which is not to be described1 though ,i concealed it from him4 ,since the great affliction with which it pleased ,almighty ,god to visit me by the death of a most valuable and only son1 ,i found myself happiest in almost an entire retreat from the world1 and being of a sudden called into a place where ,i remembered to have seen the utmost of its hurry and vanity exerted1 terrified my imagination to the last degree1 and ,i shed tears every time ,i was alone at the thought of what ,i expected to encounter2 yet this dreaded change has1 by the goodness of ,god1 proved one of the happiest periods in my life1 and ,i can look back upon no part of it with greater thankfulness and satisfaction4 ,i had the comfort to see my ,lord ,hertford recovering his health by the use of those waters as fast as ,i could hope for4 ,i found it was no longer necessary1 as formerly1 to avoid giving offence1 to be always or frequently in company2 ,i enjoyed the conversation of two worthy old friends1 whom ,i did not expect to meet there1 and had an opportunity of renewing my acquaintance with ,lady ,huntingdon1 and admiring that truly ,christian spirit which seems to animate the whole course of her life2 and1 as ,i seldom went out1 ,i read a great deal1 and ,frederick1 the bookseller1 used to send the new books which he received on the waggon nights1 of which ,i kept what ,i chose1 and sent back the rest4 ,one night he sent me an account of some remarkable passages relating to the life of ,colonel ,gardiner2 as ,i had known this gentleman in his unconverted state1 and often heard with admiration the sudden and thorough change of his conduct for many years1 it gave me curiosity to read a book which seemed to promise me some information upon that subject4 ,i was so touched with the account given of it that ,i could not help speaking of it to almost everybody ,i saw2 among others1 the ,dowager ,lady ,hyndford came to make me a visit in the morning1 and as ,i knew she was of his country1 and had lived much in it1 ,i began to talk to her of the book1 and happened to name the author4 ,upon which she said she would believe whatever he wrote1 for he was a truly good man1 and had wrote upon the #8,rise and ,progress of ,religion in the ,soul' in a manner which she was sure would please me4 ,she gave me the title in writing1 and ,i bought the book the day before ,i left ,bath4 ,i have now been at home three weeks1 and have already had the pleasure to engage several others to read it1 who1 ,i hope1 will think of it as ,i do4 ,i would not wish to trouble you to write to me yourself1 but a letter from your amanuensis to let me know how you enjoy your health1 and whether you are still carrying on some work of your pen to the glory of our great ,master1 would be a very sincere pleasure to me4 ,let me beg to be remembered in your prayers1 for ,i am every day more sensible of the imperfection of my own1 and yet1 ,i hope1 my heart is sincere in its desires1 that it may be brought to a perfect conformity and submission to the will of my heavenly ,father4 ,my ,lord ,hertford always mentions you with regard1 and will be glad of your acceptance of the assurance of his friendship4 8,i am1 with an affectionate esteem1 ,sir1 8,your most faithful and obliged humble servant1 8,f4 ,,hertford40 ,it is impossible not to feel that1 viewed from many aspects1 ,philip ,doddridge must have been ,watts' most congenial friend4 ,the largest portion of ,watts' work was done before they knew each other1 but friendships founded in sympathy ripen very rapidly1 and the difference of years is very slightly felt where there is a great and happy congeniality of hearts4 ,watts was not a glowing correspondent1 but none of his letters are so tender as those to ,doddridge1 to whom he writes as his 8dear and valuable friend10 and always his 8affectionate brother and fellow servant10 and the letters warm greatly as the correspondence increases1 ,doddridge always looked up to1 and spoke of1 ,watts in terms of extraordinary reverence and affection2 in their work they were very similar2 ,doddridge's nature was smaller than his friend's1 but in its measure it was very harmonious and perfect4 ,watts had a fine metaphysical sagacity1 and the keenness with which he analyzed never interfered for a moment with the clearness of visions by which he stepped from the discrete to the concrete1 and from parts to the whole2 hence1 notwithstanding his fair and catholic nature1 he appears to have been much more absolutely dogmatic than ,doddridge1 and it was perhaps the defect of this great man's teaching that from the fatal facility which brought him into contact with every class and shade of opinion1 the lines of his more absolute creed were not fixed with sufficient distinctness3 but from his tutorship there passed forth a variety of men who all delighted to confess their obligations to ,doddridge1--,hugh ,farmer1 ,andrew ,kippis1 ,job ,orton1 ,benjamin ,fawcett1 and1 if not the most scholarly1 that beautiful and well-known teacher1 who realized perhaps beyond any his tutor's spirit and his tutor's peculiar power1 ,risdon ,darracott4 ,such was ,doddridge1 without some notice and knowledge of whom a review of the life and times1 the friends and labours of ,watts would be incomplete4 ,one hundred and twenty years have passed away since ,philip ,doddridge died1 but his name and many of his works are still as sweet and fragrant as ever4 ,his 8,life of ,colonel ,gardiner0 is still one of the most interesting of religious biographies2 his 8,family ,expositor0 still holds its place in the family2 his theological lectures are still an invaluable curriculum2 his correspondence is full of entertainment and interest2 his hymns are still sung in all our churches1 and that to which we have referred1 which ought assuredly to be spoken of as his1 8,o ,god of ,bethel10 sounded the other day down the aisles of ,westminster1 as the body of ,livingstone was lowered into the grave4 ,doddridge's body1 of course1 was denied a resting-place at ,lisbon by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities1 but it was permitted to repose in the burying-ground of the ,english ,factory4 ,the great earthquake1 which occurred shortly after1 left his grave undisturbed1 and it is a spot of holy ground unto this day4#bh ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,the ,countess of ,hertford and ,mrs4 ,rowe4 ,one of the most considerable of ,watts' correspondents and apparently intimate friends1 was ,frances1 ,countess of ,hertford1 afterwards ,duchess of ,somerset4 ,this lady was the daughter of the ,honourable ,mr4 ,thynne1 brother to ,lord ,weymouth2 she married ,algernon1 ,earl of ,hertford1 son of ,charles ,seymour1 ,duke of ,somerset1 who succeeded to the honours and estates of his father on ,december #bnd1 #agdh1 i4e4 about a week after the death of ,dr4 ,watts4 ,the ,countess appears to have been a woman of great piety1 amiability1 and accomplishments4 ,thomson1 in his 8,seasons10 addresses her3 8,o ,hertford1 fitted or to shine in courts ,with unaffected grace1 or walk the plain ,with innocence and meditation joined ,in soft assemblage1 listen to my song1 ,which thy own season paints2 when ,nature all ,is blooming1 and benevolent like thee40 ,a collection of select letters1 published by ,mr4 ,hull1 in two volumes1 includes eleven written by the ,duchess1 and they have been well characterized as exhibiting rectitude of heart1 delicacy of sentiment1 and a truly classic ease and elegance of style2 tinged with an air of melancholy1 occasioned by the loss of her only son1 ,lord ,beauchamp1 to whom she so frequently refers in her letters to ,dr4 ,watts4 ,his death at ,bologna1 in #agdd1 cast a settled gloom over her mind1 for he was a youth who seemed to give evidences of superiority and worth of character calculated to confer honour on the exalted station to which he was destined1 had his life been spared4 ,her letters all breathe the spirit of unaffected simple piety and resignation2 and from the time of her husband's elevation to the dukedom1 her life was subjected to the experience of intense troubles1 first1 in the death of her own son1 and very shortly after1 in #agej1 the death of the ,duke1 her husband2 and it is with reference to these occasions of grief that she writes to ,lady ,luxbrough1 ,september #ith1 #agej3 8,you are very obliging in the concern you express for the scenes of sorrow ,i have passed through4 ,i have indeed suffered deeply1 but1 when ,i consider it is the will of ,god1 who never chastises ,his poor creatures but for their good1 and reflect at the same time how unworthy ,i was of these blessings1 which ,i now lament the loss of1 ,i lay my hand upon my mouth1 and dare not repine1 but hope ,i can with truth appeal to ,him in the following words3 #8,such sorrow is sent that none may oppose ,his holy will4 ,let me sigh and offer up all my sighs to ,him6 ,let me mourn1 and in the meantime bless ,his name in the midst of my sorrow4'0 ,she did not herself long survive1 only till ,july #gth1 #aged1 leaving an only daughter1 who subsequently became ,duchess of ,northumberland4 ,the ,countess herself was the great and intimate friend likewise of ,mrs4 ,rowe2 and when this lady died1 to the ,countess and to ,dr4 ,watts she left those confidential letters to which reference may be made in subsequent pages of the present volume4 ,how far she drew the ,doctor from his retreat1 how often he visited the lady at her various houses1 we have no means of knowing2 the friendship continued certainly from #agbi to the close of ,watts' life1 and it was probably commenced some time before this date1 for the terms of the first letters are those of warm friendship4 ,in #agca she refers to her children1 especially to the son1 who was to be in after years a source of such grief to the mother's heart1 and she says1 8,my young people send their services to you2 ,i assure you my little boy has grown a great proficient in your #8,songs for ,children1' and sings them with great pleasure40 ,the lady herself secretly cultivated the recreation of verse1 and sometimes forwarded her fancies in this way to the ,doctor1 but she says1 8,i beg the favour of you not to give any copy of the enclosed verses1 for ,i would wish my excursions of this kind to be a secret from everybody but you1 and a friend or two more1 who know that ,i do not aim at the character of a genius by any attempt of this nature1 but am led to them merely to amuse a leisure hour1 and speak the sentiments of my heart40 ,she wrote1 however1 an elegy on ,mrs4 ,rowe1 which called forth an epigram from the ,doctor1 which was published in his posthumous volume of ,miscellanies1 8,remnants of ,time1 employed in ,prose and ,verse03 ,struck with a sight of ,philomela's urn1 ,eusebia weeps and calls the ,muse to mourn2 ,while from her lips the tuneful sorrows fell1 ,the groves confess a rising ,philomel4 ,writing from the ,hermitage on ,st4 ,leonard's ,hill1 she says3 8,i return you thanks for the epigram you were so good as to send me1 and should think myself very happy if anything of mine could deserve to show the joy ,i should feel in being able to imitate ,mrs4 ,rowe in the smallest instance4 ,i have only two meditations of hers1 which she gave me with the strongest injunctions not to let anybody see them1 lest they should be thought too rapturous2 but as ,i conclude she would not have included you among those from whom she meant they should be concealed1 ,i will have them copied if you desire it40 ,there are in her letters very pleasing indications of an amiable mind and heart2 she writes to him of the books which have met her in the course of her reading1 and her remarks are characterized by a quiet wisdom and judgment3 8,my ,lord and ,betty 7the future ,duchess of ,northumberland7 are in ,london1 so that my son and his governor are my only companions at present2 but we pass our time agreeably enough between reading1 walking1 and such other amusements as this place in which we are and the season of the year afford us2 we have been lately reading #8,leonidas1'#bi in which ,i think there are many fine thoughts2 but ,i hear the town are much divided in their sentiments about it1 since one part are for preferring it to ,milton1 and others for levelling it to the lowest rank of poetry4 ,i confess neither of these appear to me a just representation of it4 ,if you have read it1 ,i shall be glad to know your thoughts of it40 ,in another letter she remarks upon the poet ,pope3 8,i think everybody must wish a muse like ,mr4 ,pope's were more inclined to exert itself on ,divine and good-natured subjects2 but ,i am afraid satire is his highest talent1 for ,i think his #8,universal ,prayer' is by no means equal to some other of his works1 and ,i think his tenth stanza3 ,teach me to feel another's woe1 ,to hide the faults ,i see2 ,that mercy ,i to others show1 ,that mercy show to me3 an instance how blind the wisest men may be to the errors of their own hearts1 for he certainly did not mean to imprecate such a proportion of vengeance on himself as he is too apt to load those with whom he dislikes2 nor would he wish to have his own failings exposed to the eye of the world with all the invective and ridicule with which he publishes those of his fellow creatures40 ,the following is one of the most interesting and favourable letters from the many which ,dr4 ,gibbons has preserved of the correspondence extending over so many years3 8,jan4 #ag1 #agci4 8,,sir1 8,i am truly sorry to find you complain of any decay1 but ,i am sure if you have any it must he bodily1 and has no other effect than that which both ,mr4 ,waller#cj and yourself have so happily described as letting in light upon the soul4 ,i never read anything in life that pleased me better than your meditations on ,revelation x41 and ,i hope ,i shall not only delight in reading the words1 but lay the substance of it to my heart1 to which end allow me to beg your prayers as an assistance4 8,my lord's state of suffering--for he is again confined to his bed by the gout--gives me little opportunity and less inclination to lose much time in the gay amusements which are apt to divert other people from the thoughts of their dissolution2 but ,i am not sure that a life of care and anxiety has not as bad an effect by fixing the mind too attentively on the present gloom1 which obscures every cheerful ray which would otherwise enliven one's spirits4 ,i wish ,i had anything to send more worth your reading than the following verses1 but ,i have so little leisure that ,i can scarce get time to write letters to the few friends ,i correspond with4 ,these lines were written one morning in ,october as ,i was sitting in a bow-window in my chamber at ,st4 ,leonard's ,hill1 which looks on a little grove in the garden1 and beyond was an extensive view of the forest3 ,how lately was yon russet grove ,the seat of harmony and love6 ,how beauteous all the sylvan scene6 ,the flowers how gay1 the trees how green6 ,but now it no such charms can boast1 ,its music gone1 its verdure lost2 ,the changing leaves fall fast away1 ,and all its pride is in decay2 ,where blossoms deckt the pointed thorn ,now hangs the wintry drop forlorn2 ,no longer from the fragrant bush ,odours exhale1 nor roses blush4 ,along the late enamelled mead ,no golden cowslip lifts its head1 ,scarce can the grass its spires sustain1 ,chilled by the frost1 or drenched with rain4 ,alas6 just thus with life it fares4 ,our youth like smiling spring appears1 ,allied to joy1 unbroke with cares2 ,but swiftly fly those cheerful hours1 ,like falling leaves1 or fading flowers2 ,we quickly hasten to decline1 ,and ev'ry sprightly joy resign3 ,then be our heart prepared to leave ,those joys1 nor at their absence grieve2 ,sublimer pleasures let us prove1 ,and fix our thoughts on those above1 ,by the bright eye of sacred truth ,review the dangers of our youth1 ,think how by turns wild passions raged1 ,by calm reflection now assuaged1 ,and bless the gentle ev'ning hour1 ,when reason best exerts its power1 ,and drives those tyrants from our breast1 ,whose empire they too long possest3 ,devotion comes with grace divine1 ,around them heavenly glories shine1 ,while ev'ry gloom their rays dispel1 ,and banish the deceits of hell2 ,ambition now no more aspires1 ,contentment mod'rates our desires1 ,from envy free we can behold ,another's honours1 or his gold1 ,nor jealousy our rest alarms1 ,no longer slaves to mortal charms4 ,with prudence1 patience comes along1 ,who smiles beneath oppressive wrong3 ,if then such peaceful heav'nly guests ,age introduces to our breasts1 ,can we his soft approaches fear1 ,or heave a sigh1 or drop a tear1 ,because our outward forms decay1 ,and time our vigour steals away8 ,should we regret our short-lived bloom1 ,which1 could it last us to the tomb1 ,must quickly there to dust consume8 ,if thus life's progress we survey1 ,view what it gives1 what takes away1 ,we shall with thankful hearts declare1 ,it leaves us all that's worth our care4 8,i am importuned by a very valuable old woman1 who is declining apace1 to beg your prayers4 ,she took me from my nurse1 and if ,i have any good in me ,i owe it to her4 ,she was trusted by my mother with the care both of my sister and myself1 and has lived with me ever since4 ,but now1 though past seventy1 she cannot meet death without terror1 and yet ,i believe ,i may venture to answer that she has always lived under the strictest sense of religion2 but lowness of spirit1 joined to many bodily infirmities1 will shed darkness on the most cheerful minds1 and hers never was of that cast4 ,i fear she has very few months1 if weeks1 to come on earth1 and a notice that you will grant her request would make her1 ,i believe1 pass them with some comfort4 ,i am forced to take another page to assure you of my lord's compliments1 and those of my young people2 the two latter are very well4 ,i have no other view in sending the above verses but to prove that my confidence in your friendship has received no alteration from the length of time which has passed since ,i had an opportunity of assuring you in person with how true a regard 8,i am1 ,sir1 8,your most faithful humble servant1 8,f4 ,,hertford40 ,it is pleasant in these letters to notice the indications of a quiet and retreating spirit4 ,upon her return1 after a considerable absence1 to the family seat near ,marlborough1 she says3 8,i have the pleasure of finding my garden extremely improved in the two years ,i have been absent from it1 some little alterations ,i had ordered are completed2 the trees which ,i left small ones are grown to form an agreeable shade1 and ,i have reason to bless ,god for the pleasantness of the place which is allotted me to pass many of my retired hours in2 may ,i make use of them to fit me for my last1 and that ,i may do so1 allow me to beg the continuation of your prayers40 ,she several times refers to her 8dear old nurse10 the 8very valuable old woman0 mentioned in the lengthy letter quoted above3 8,your good prayers for poor ,rothery have met with unexpected success1 she is so much recovered that ,i begin to think she will get entirely well1 and if she does ,i think nothing of that kind has since ,i can remember looked more like a miraculous operation of the healing power of the ,almighty4 ,i hope the same ,divine mercy will long preserve you a blessing to the age1 and that you will find your strength return with the warm weather40 ,this was written from ,windsor ,forest2 the next month she writes from ,marlborough3 8,my poor old woman has got hither1 contrary to her own and all our expectations2 she has the deepest gratitude for your goodness to her1 and begs you will accept her thanks2 she is still very weak1 and ,i fancy will hardly get over the autumn40 ,this lady's letters exhibit a vein of intelligence and interesting reading in pleasant contrast to the frivolity of most of the courtly ladies of that age4 8,i have just had the oddest pamphlet sent me ,i ever saw in my life1 called #8,amusemens ,philosophiques sur le ,language des ,btes4' ,it was burnt by the hands of the common executioner at ,paris1 and the priest who wrote it banished till he made a formal retraction of it1 and yet ,i think it very plain by the style that the man was either in jest or crazed4 ,it is by no means wanting of wit1 but extremely far from a system of probability40 ,again1 in another letter3 8,i have forgotten whether in any of my later letters ,i ever named to you a little book newly translated from the ,italian1 by the same ,mrs4 ,carter who has a copy of verses printed in the beginning of ,mrs4 ,rowe's works1 occasioned by her death4 ,the book she has now translated is ,sir ,isaac ,newton's #8,doctrine of ,light and ,colours made easy for the ,ladies4' ,my daughter and ,i have both read it with great pleasure1 and flatter ourselves that we at least understand some parts of it40 ,it would be interesting to know who was the lady referred to in the following letter--it was probably ,mrs4 ,elizabeth ,carter2 the work of the ,doctor's to which so marked a reference is made was undoubtedly his discourses 8,on the ,world to ,come10 which had only just been published1 a copy of which he had forwarded to her1 and which had been acknowledged two or three weeks before in a letter from his 8faithfully affectionate servant1 ,f4 ,hertford40 8,,marlborough1 ,july #cj1 #agci4 8,,sir1 8,i would much sooner have written to you to thank you for the favour of your last letter1 had ,i enjoyed more leisure2 but ,i have had a friend with me this last month who has engrossed a good many of those hours which ,i used to employ in writing to my correspondents4 ,she is a very pious and religious1 as well as agreeable woman1 and has seen enough of the world in her younger years to teach her to value its enjoyments and fear its vexations no more than they deserve1 by which happy knowledge she has brought her mind and spirits to the most perfect state of calmness ,i ever saw2 and her conversation seems to impart the blessing to all who partake of her discourse4 ,by this you will judge that ,i have passed my time very much to my satisfaction while she was with me2 and1 though ,i have not written to you1 you have shared my time with her1 for almost all the hours ,i passed alone ,i have employed in reading your works1 which for ever represent to my imagination the idea of a ladder or flight of steps1 since every volume seems to rise a step nearer the language of heaven1 and there is a visible progression toward that better country through every page2 so that1 though all breathe piety and just reason1 the last seems to crown the whole1 till you shall again publish something to enlighten a dark and obstinate age1 for ,i must believe that the manner in which you treat ,divine subjects is more likely to reform and work upon the affections of your readers than that of any other writer now living4 ,i hope ,god will in mercy to many thousands1 myself in particular1 prolong your life many years4 ,i own this does not seem a kind wish to you1 but ,i think you will be content to bear the infirmities of flesh some years longer to be an instrument in the hands of ,god toward the salvation of your weak and distressed brethren4 ,the joys of heaven cannot fade1 but will be as glorious millions of ages to come as they are now1 and what a moment will the longest life appear when it comes to be compared with eternity60 ,upon the death of ,mrs4 ,rowe1 as she had left her meditations for the hands of ,dr4 ,watts1 when he proposed to publish the volume with his preface1 he also very naturally proposed to dedicate it to their friend the ,countess4 ,with extraordinary modesty1 however1 she shrunk from this4 ,she writes3 8,the sincere esteem ,i have for you makes it very difficult for me to oppose anything you desire1 and it is doubly so in an instance where ,i might have an opportunity of indulging so justifiable a pride as ,i should feel in letting the public see this fresh mark of your partiality to me1 but as ,i am apprehensive that the envy such a distinction would raise against me might draw some vexation with it1 ,i hope you will have the goodness to change the dedication into a letter to a friend1 without giving me any such appellation40 ,in another letter1 with characteristic modesty1 she says3 8,i can1 with the strictest truth1 affirm that ,i do not know any distinction upon earth that ,i could feel a truer pleasure in receiving were ,i deserving of it1 but as ,i am forced to see how much ,i fall below the idea which the benevolence of your nature has formed of me1 it teaches me to humble myself by that very incident which might administer a laudable pride to a more worthy person4 ,if ,i am constrained to acknowledge this mortifying truth1 you may believe there are many people in the world who look upon me with more impartial eyes than self-love will allow me to do2 and others1 who perhaps think ,i enjoy more of this world's goods than ,i either merit or than falls to the common lot1 look at me with envious and malignant views1 and are glad of every opportunity to debase me or those who they believe entertain a favourable opinion of me4 ,i would hope that ,i have never done anything1 wilfully ,i am sure ,i have not1 to raise any such sentiments in the breast of the meanest person upon earth1 but yet experience has convinced me that ,i have not been happy enough to escape them4 ,for these reasons1 sir1 ,i must deny myself the pleasure and the pride ,i should have in so public a mark of your friendship and candour1 and beg that if you will design me the honour of joining any address to me with those valuable remains of ,mrs4 ,rowe1 that you will either retrench the favourable expressions you intended to insert1 or else give me no other title at the top of it than that of a friend of yours and hers1 an appellation which1 in the sincerity of my soul1 ,i am prouder of than ,i could be of the most pompous name that human grandeur can lay claim to40 ,she shrunk from all observation1 and in another letter says1 8,i will trespass so far on your good nature as to beg you will leave out whatever will imply my attempting to write poetry2 but if there be any among the things you have of mine which you think worth placing among yours ,i shall have just cause to be pleased at seeing them come abroad in such company1 if you will have the goodness to conceal my name1 either under that of ,eusebia or ,a ,friend1 a title which ,i shall think myself happy to deserve40 ,this letter enables us to identify four poetical pieces1 entitled 8,a ,rural ,meditation10 8,a ,penitential ,thought10 8,a ,midnight ,hymn10 and the 8,dying ,christian's ,hope10 inserted in ,watts' ,miscellanies1 and attributed to ,eusebia1 as the compositions of the ,countess4 ,it may not be unpleasant to the reader to have brought before him some of these verses1 which will show that the modesty of the ,countess need not have been dictated by the poverty of her expression3 ,a ,,rural ,,meditation4 ,here in the tuneful groves and flow'ry fields1 ,nature a thousand various beauties yields3 ,the daisy and tall cowslip we behold ,arrayed in snowy white1 or freckled gold4 ,the verdant prospect cherishes our sight1 ,affording joy unmixed1 and calm delight ,the forest-walk1 and venerable shade1 ,wide-spreading lawns1 bright rills1 and silent glade1 ,with a religious awe our souls inspire1 ,and to the heav'ns our raptured thoughts aspire1 ,to ,him who sits in majesty on high1 ,who turned the starry arches of the sky2 ,whose word ordained the silver ,thames to flow1 ,raised all the hills1 and laid the valleys low2 ,who taught the nightingale in shades to sing1 ,and bade the skylark warble on the wing2 ,makes the young steer obedient till the land1 ,and lowing heifers own the milker's hand2 ,calms the rough sea1 and stills the raging wind1 ,and rules the passions of the human mind4 ,this correspondence sets in a very beautiful light the character of this amiable and excellent lady1 no doubt one of ,watts' attached friends1 and intercourse with whom1 through the long period of twenty years1 must have been to him a frequent source of rest and enjoyment4 ,when their intimacy commenced she was in immediate attendance on the ,queen ,caroline1 wife of ,george ,i4 ,in those days the attempts which subsequently were made by the ,countess of ,huntingdon to create a feeling of piety and purity in the neighbourhood of the court had not been commenced1 the manners of the great were not favourable to goodness and virtue1 and the general spirit of the time brings out into strong relief the character of this gentle and noble lady2 seldom apparently free from illness1 her thoughts usually move round those loftiest sources of consolation in which the highest or the humblest equally find the surest and most abiding alleviation and repose4 ,in #agcg ,watts sustained a loss in the innermost and most intimate circle of his acquaintance by the death of ,mrs4 ,rowe4 ,his early relations with this lady have round them some traditions of a tender mystery2 it is generally supposed that upon his side at one time his feelings for ,miss ,singer1 her maiden name1 were something more than those of mere friendship4 ,the charms of the lady appear to have been considerable1 and procured her previous to marriage many admirers1 among others ,prior1 the poet1 who sought the lady's hand in vain1 and in his poem on 8,love and ,friendship0 expresses himself after the most approved fashion of the disconsolate ,werthers of that day1 informing her that-- ,he dies in woe1 that thou mayst live in peace4 ,it would seem that ,watts' attachment was some time talked about extensively1 for ,young refers to it in one of his satires3 ,what angels would those be1 who thus excel ,in theologies1 could they sew as well6 ,yet why should not the fair her text pursue8 ,can she more decently the ,doctor woo8 ,isaac1 a brother of the canting strain1 ,when he has knocked at his own skull in vain1 ,to beauteous ,marcia often will repair1 ,with a dark text to light it at the fair4 ,oh how his pious soul exults to find ,such love for holy men in womankind6 ,charmed with her learning1 with what rapture he ,hangs on her bloom1 like an industrious bee2 ,hums round about her1 and with all his power1 ,extracts sweet wisdom from so fair a flower4 ,more respectfully1 ,mrs4 ,barbauld appears to allude to the circumstance when addressing ,mrs4 ,rowe1 she says3 ,thynne1 ,carteret1 ,blackmore1 ,orrery approved1 ,and ,prior praised1 and noble ,hertford loved1 ,seraphic ,ken1 and tuneful ,watts were thine1 ,and virtue's noblest champions filled the line4 ,but there is no reason1 beyond the idle chatter of the town1 to suppose that there was more than ardent friendship between the two2 ,watts was not a man ever likely to have been refused in marriage1 and the talk appears only to have originated from the fact that people in general suppose that there can be no community of taste1 and intellectual intercourse1 and high and even ardent friendship between opposite sexes without its pointing to marriage4 ,that it was not so in this instance appears certain1 not only from the very high regard ,mrs4 ,rowe always entertained for ,watts1 but from the terms of the letter addressed to him to be delivered after her death2 we would rather suppose it possible1 although we do not assert it1 that ,elizabeth ,singer might have been not indisposed to a relationship the idea of which was not encouraged by the ,doctor1 and which he deferred to the calmer communion of intimate friendship and high esteem4 ,the proofs that this was the case are not very clear if the circumstance is probable4 ,however it might be1 it never interfered with their friendship which continued not only unbroken to death1 but beyond death4 ,mrs4 ,rowe was a lady quite famous in her own time2 to an elevated piety she united in her style of composition many of the faults of the age in which she lived2 her works were tinctured by an ardent mode of expression little in harmony with the more frigid expressions of our own day4 ,for ,dr4 ,watts she entertained the highest esteem4 ,she died suddenly1 but in her cabinet were found letters for two or three of the friends who held the highest place in her affections1 especially for the ,countess of ,hertford and ,dr4 ,watts2 the letter to the ,doctor was accompanied by the manuscript of her 8,devout ,exercises10 which she requested him to publish after a complete and thorough revision4 ,a portion of his correspondence with the ,countess upon this we have already quoted2 the volume is dedicated to the ,countess as ,mrs4 ,rowe's intimate friend1 and ,watts1 whose mind and heart were now in a state of quiet and holy calm1 dispassionately reviews the merits of her various works2 he does not altogether vindicate her ardent style1 on the other hand1 he is far from severely reprehending it2 he remarks how in former years even grave divines had expressed the fervours of devout love to the ,saviour much in the style of the ,song of ,solomon1 and says1 8,i must confess that several of my compositions in verse written in younger life were led by those examples unwarily into this track40 ,indeed1 many of his hymns1 especially those which are paraphrases of the ,song of ,solomon1 are quite as ardent as anything we meet with in the writings of ,mrs4 ,rowe4 ,the love of ,christ is a principle1 but we should be sorry to think that in the heart of the believer it may not glow with all the fervour and force of a great passion2 the language of the ,apostle ,paul shows us that it may1 but his language is not coloured by the singular ecstasy of the ,oriental mind2 it is fervid1 but the line is very distinctly marked between the expressions of a merely human passion1 which1 however pure upon the heart which utters them1 may by hearts less holy and elevated seem to be almost the utterance of license1 and even to colder though not less holy natures may seem to border on profanity4 ,there are ,christians still who delight in this doubtful method of expressing and setting forth the holiest affections4 ,watts in all his religious works had at all times the ardent and fervent words of a poetic and imaginative nature1 but he considerably pruned both thought and speech as the years passed in study and seclusion brought a riper wisdom2 he did not repress the ardours of the heart1 but he gave to their expression a chastened and colder form2 he was not satisfied indeed by light without love1 but he clothed that love with a more sacred reticence4 ,mrs4 ,rowe's writings have all an exceedingly unreticent character1 but she lived apparently a holy life1 realizing very greatly the ardours which gushed so glowingly from her pen1 and it says much for all that she was in herself1 that through so many long years she retained a close and intimate friendship with a judgment so wisely balanced1 and a nature so simple and domestic1 as that which evidently shines in the character of the ,countess of ,hertford4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,x4 ,shimei ,bradbury4 ,there was living in ,london contemporary with ,watts one of those ungentle1 unbeautiful spirits1 from whose malignant jealousy few men of eminence entirely escape2 he appears to have been to ,watts what ,alexander the coppersmith was to ,paul1 he did him much evil and sought to do more4 ,bradbury was one of the most vehement and virulent spirits of the times1 he was infected with the prevalent spirit of railing long before he began to cast about his ,shimei and ,rabshakeh pleasantries upon ,watts2 he was well known for his capabilities in this way1 and in #agae ,daniel ,defoe reproved him in a pamphlet entitled1 8,a ,friendly ,epistle by way of ,reproof1 from one of the people called ,quakers to ,thomas ,bradbury1 a dealer in many words40 ,the following paragraph illustrates the character of the man the pamphlet is intended to represent3 8,men1 especially1 ,thomas1 preaching men1 as thou art1 ought much rather to move their people and their brethren to forbear and forgive one another1 than to move and excite them to severities1 and to executing revenge upon one another1 lest the day come when that which they call justice may be deemed injustice4 ,i counsel thee1 therefore1 that thou forbear to excite thy sons of ,belial to do wickedly1 but rather that thou preach to them that they repent1 for the ,kingdom of ,heaven is at hand2 which ,i meekly advertise thee is the proper duty of thy employment1 whereas the other is the work of darkness and tendeth to blood40 ,again1 he says3 8,i must lead thee by the hand1 not by the nose1 ,thomas--others have done thee that office already--that thou mayst be convinced1 yea1 even confounded1 for those whom thou hast1 with so great confidence1 taken on thee to recommend as good men1 and men fearing ,god4 ,i do thee justice1 ,thomas1 and therefore observe in thy behalf that thy modesty would not permit thee to say1 #8,they were men hating covetousness4'0#ca ,bradbury was one of those men who1 pursuing politics in the pulpit with vehement and intolerant pertinacity1 degrade the standard of the minister of the ,gospel2 he was even charged with desiring the blood of the ministers of ,queen ,anne in the pamphlets of the day1 especially in 8,burnet and ,bradbury2 or1 the ,confederacy of the ,press and the ,pulpit for the ,blood of the last ,ministry40#cb ,a life of ,watts would be quite incomplete which did not give some account of his very eminent but now almost forgotten assailant and enemy1 ,thomas ,bradbury4 ,born at ,wakefield1 in ,yorkshire1 he had all the characteristics of a typical ,yorkshireman2 he was a bold and hearty1 and possibly1 whatever that may be worth1 well-meaning man2 he possessed a considerable amount of natural genius1 especially for doubtful drollery and expletive4 ,it is a wonder that his name has not found a record in such histories as ,macaulay's and ,stanhope's1 for it has a semi-historical interest4 ,he was probably the most representative political ,nonconformist among the ministers in the ,city of ,london of his day1 and a well-known anecdote tells that he was the first to proclaim1 as he did from his pulpit1 the accession of ,george ,i4 to the throne4 ,it is said that he was walking through ,smithfield in a very pensive and thoughtful mood on ,sunday1 ,august #ast1 #agad1 when the great 8,schism ,bill0 was about to take effect1 when ,bishop ,burnet happened to pass in his carriage2 the ,bishop called to his friend1 and inquired into the cause of his great thoughtfulness4 8,i am thinking10 replied ,bradbury1 8whether ,i shall have the constancy and courage of the noble army of martyrs whose ashes are deposited in this place1 for ,i most assuredly expect to see similar times of violence and persecution1 and that ,i shall be caused to suffer in a like cause40 ,the ,bishop was himself equally zealous with ,bradbury for the cause of ,protestantism2 he told him that the ,queen was very ill1 that she was given over by her physicians1 who expected every hour to be her last2 and he further said1 that he was even then on his way to the ,palace to inquire the particulars1 and that he would despatch a messenger to ,mr4 ,bradbury with the earliest intelligence of the ,queen's death1 and that if he should be in the pulpit when the messenger arrived1 he should drop a handkerchief from the gallery as a token of that event4 ,the messenger employed was ,mr4 ,john ,bradbury1 a brother of the preacher1 and one in the medical profession4 ,the ,queen died while ,bradbury was preaching1 and the intelligence was conveyed to him by the signal agreed upon2 perhaps the preacher may be forgiven if his heart was filled with joy2 he indeed suppressed his feelings during the sermon1 but in his prayer gave thanks to ,god who had again delivered the nation from the power of evil counsels1 and implored a ,divine blessing upon his majesty ,king ,george and the ,house of ,hanover4 ,he always gloried in being the first who proclaimed ,king ,george the ,first4 ,this anecdote gives a fair idea of the character of the man2 one more utterly unlike ,isaac ,watts it is impossible to conceive2 he was a man whose learning was limited1 he had neither taste nor capacity for those refined subtleties either of argument or imagination into which ,watts was forced by the necessities of controversy in his times2 also1 ,bradbury was a rugged1 rough-and-ready speaker and thinker1 possessed of a dangerous prompt wit1 not always free from a coarse disregard of the feelings of others2 nor can we fail to see that there mingled1 perhaps unconsciously to himself1 a considerable amount of jealousy of his more eminent and illustrious brother4 ,before ,watts had received his invitation to become the co-pastor or successor of ,dr4 ,chauncy1 the congregation had heard ,mr4 ,bradbury2 it is easily understood that the courtly1 polished1 and perhaps fastidious people would scarcely appreciate an eloquence like that of 8bold ,bradbury0--a term by which ,queen ,anne designated him4 ,then1 at the first signal of his hostility to ,watts1 one of his own most distinguished people1 ,watts' friend1 ,lord ,barrington1 forsook him2 it was perhaps not likely to improve his temper1 and ,watts1 although exceedingly firm in his own convictions1 as he had not the strength so neither had he the disposition for any vehement political action1 and if he stepped aside slightly to use his influence in political partisanship1 it was unfortunately not to aid the particular persons espoused by ,bradbury4 ,and so it was that in the sermons of this free-spoken man there are handed down to us perhaps the most harsh and unjust words which ever assailed the ministry of ,isaac ,watts4 ,it was at a later period of life1 when ,watts was very infirm1 that1 at a meeting of the ministers in the ,redcross ,street ,library1 he rose to propose some resolution1 and1 with his weakly constitution and feeble voice1 he found considerable difficulty in making himself heard1 when ,bradbury called out to him in the meeting1 8,brother ,watts1 shall ,i speak for you80 ,the quiet little ,doctor turned to him and said1 8,why1 ,brother ,bradbury1 you have often spoken against me40 ,at first he had encouraged the idea of ,watts' publication of his ,paraphrase of the ,psalms and of his ,hymns1 but when they came forth1 although they proved so acceptable to congregations in general1 he continued to use the dull version of ,dr4 ,patrick until his dying day in his own place1 ,new-court ,chapel1 and prevented their introduction into the service at ,pinners' ,hall4 ,there1 however1 on one occasion the clerk happened unluckily to give out one of ,watts' pieces2 up rose ,bradbury immediately1 exclaiming1 8,let us have none of ,watts' 7w7hims40 ,in all this1 and in other such instances1 a faithful biographer must see the traces of a good deal of mere jealousy4 ,it is quite an exceptional instance in the life of ,watts1 and it must seem singular that so sweet and gentle a nature should have suffered from the misrepresentations of any1 and ,bradbury has perhaps1 even in his grave1 been the most abiding enemy to ,watts' reputation4 ,it seems scarcely probable that the ,unitarians could have so audaciously claimed our writer as their own1 had not ,bradbury set them a wicked example in his sermons4 ,one of the most affecting and earnest passages in the correspondence of ,watts is his remonstrance with his unjust brother against unseemly attacks upon him1 and misrepresentations of his opinions4 ,watts1 so far as we can see1 was never either discourteous or unjust2 but he bitterly felt it that while1 by his hymns and his treatises1 he was attempting to shake the ground of the ,arian heresy1 his name was1 from the pulpit and the pen1 covered with obloquy as injuring and shaking the foundations of the most exalted faith in ,christ4 ,bradbury was not concerned to reply to arguments1 but in a right-down vehement manner to denounce those from whom he differed4 ,he was no metaphysician4 ,turning over the many volumes of his sermons1 we find them all characterized by strong evangelical statement1 a very happy arrangement of thoughts1 and great lucidity and apt readiness of expression4 ,he never passed beyond the sense or culture of an ordinary audience2 it must also be said that he never put the bridle on his wit4 ,he was a man who could never find himself in the wrong1 and who must always have the last word1 and that word a disagreeable one4 ,in a most extraordinary manner he could write and say the most abusive and bitter things1 and seem quite surprised that the person to whom they were addressed did not take them as expressions of kindness4 ,he tells ,watts that he is 8profane1 conceited1 impudent1 and pragmatical20 he says3 8,you are mistaken if you think ,i ever knew1 and much less admired1 your mangling1 garbling1 transforming1 etc41 so many of your ,songs of ,zion2 your notions about psalmody1 and your satirical flourishes in which you express them1 are fitter for one who pays no regard to inspiration1 than for a ,gospel minister1 as ,i may hereafter show in a more public way40 ,and when ,watts mildly demurred to this as a personal reflection1 he says1 in reply3 8,should any one take the liberty of burlesquing your poetry1 as you have done that of the ,most ,high ,god1 you might call it personal reflection indeed2 when ,i consider that most of those expressions are adopted either by the ,new ,testament or the evangelical prophets1 ,i tremble at your mowing them together1 as you were resolved to make the ,songs of ,zion ridiculous40 ,again he says3 8,do you think that the ministers of ,london are to stand still while you tear in pieces eight great ,articles of their faith8 ,and must every one who answers your arguments be accused of personal reflections80 ,such is the vein in which this noisy man writes4 ,watts replies in a spirit of singular meekness2 ,bradbury1 while indulging in the coarsest invective1 professes a large amount of respect and honour1 and ,watts says3 8,i am always ready to acknowledge whatsoever personal respect ,mr4 ,bradbury has conceived for one of so little merit as ,i can pretend to2 but ,i know not how to reconcile the profession of so much respect with so many and so severe censures1 and with such angry modes of expression1 as you have been pleased to use both in print and in writing40 ,vindicating himself for attempting to set the ,psalms of ,david to the service of song1 he says3 8,you tell me that ,i rival it with ,david1 whether he or ,i be the sweet psalmist of ,israel4 ,i abhor the thought2 while yet1 at the same time1 ,i am fully persuaded that the ,jewish psalm-book was never designed to be the only psalter for the ,christian ,church2 and though we may borrow many parts of the prayers of ,ezra1 ,job1 and ,daniel1 as well as of ,david1 yet if we take them entire as they stand1 and join nothing of the ,gospel with them1 ,i think there are few of them will be found proper prayers for a ,christian ,church2 and yet1 ,i think1 it would be very unjust to say #8we rival it with ,ezra1 ,job1 etc4' ,surely their prayers are not best for us1 since we are commanded to ask everything in the name of ,christ4 ,now1 ,i know no reason why the glorious discoveries of the ,new ,testament should not be mingled with our songs and praises1 as well as with our prayers4 ,i give solemn thanks to my ,saviour1 with all my soul1 that ,he hath honoured me so far as to bring ,his name and ,gospel in a more evident and express manner into ,christian psalmody4 8,and since ,i find you have been pleased to make my hymns and imitations of the ,psalms1 together with their prefaces1 the object of your frequent and harsh censures1 give me leave to ask you whether ,i did not consult with you while ,i was translating the ,psalms in this manner1 fourteen or fifteen years ago8 ,whether ,i was not encouraged by you in this work1 even when you fully knew my design1 by what ,i had printed1 as well as by conversation8 ,did you not send me a note1 under your own hand1 by my brother1 with a request that ,i would form the fiftieth and the hundred and twenty-second ,psalms into their proper old metre8 ,and in that note you told me too that one was six lines of heroic verse1 or ten syllables1 and the other six lines of shorter metre2 by following those directions precisely1 ,i confess ,i committed a mistake in both of them1 or at least in the last2 nor had ,i ever thought of putting in those metres1 nor considered the number of the lines1 nor the measure of them1 but by your direction1 and at your request4 ,i allow1 sir1 with great freedom1 that you may have changed your opinion since1 and you have a right to do it without the least blame from me2 but ,i do declare it1 that at that time you were one of my encouragers1 and therefore your present censures should be lighter and softer4 8,you desire me at the end #8to remember former friendships1' but you will give me leave to ask which of us has forgot them most2 and ,i am well assured that ,i have more effectually proved myself all that which you are pleased to subscribe1 viz41 your steady1 hearty1 and real friend1 your obedient and devoted servant1 8,i4 ,,watts40 ,and the following letter is a very fair illustration of the temper and spirit of ,watts' replies to his censorious and abusive brother3 8,,lime ,,street1 ,nov4 #a1 #agbe4 8,,reverend ,,sir1 8,on ,friday night last my worthy friend and neighbour1 ,mr4 ,caleb ,wroe1 called on me at ,theobalds1 and desired me to convey the enclosed paper to you1 with his humble thanks for the share you have given him in the late legacy intrusted with you1 and he intreats that you would please to pay the money into the hands of this messenger1 that ,i may return it to him2 and ,i cannot but join my unfeigned thanks with his1 that you are pleased to remember so valuable and pious a man in your distributions1 whose circumstances are by no means above the receipt of such charitable bequests1 though his modesty is so great as to prevent him from sueing for an interest in them4 8,but while ,i am acknowledging your unexpected goodness to my friend1 permit me1 sir1 to inquire into the reason of your unexpected conduct towards myself in so different a manner4 ,it is true ,i live much in the country1 but ,i am not unacquainted with what passes in town4 ,i would now look no further backward than your letter to the ,board at ,lime ,street1 about six months ago1 where ,i was present4 ,i cannot imagine1 sir1 what occasion ,i had given to such sort of censures as you pass upon me there among others1 which you are pleased to cast upon our worthy brethren2 nor can ,i think how a more pious and ,christian return could have been made by that ,board at that time than to vote a silence and burial of all past contests1 and even of this last letter of yours1 and to desire your company amongst us as in times past4 ,i had designed1 sir1 to have never taken any further notice of this letter1 if ,i had not been abundantly informed that your conduct since is of the same kind1 and that you have persisted in your public reflections on many of my writings in such a manner as makes it sufficiently appear that you design reproach to the man1 as much as to show your zeal against his supposed errors4 ,the particular instances of this kind ,i need not rehearse to you2 yourself are best acquainted with them4 ,and yet1 after all this1 ,i had been silent still2 but as ,i acknowledge ,god and seek ,him in all my ways1 so ,i am convinced it is my duty to give you a private admonition1 and1 as a brother1 ,i intreat you to consider whether all this wrath of man can work the righteousness of ,god8 ,let me intreat you1 sir1 to ask yourself what degrees of passion and personal resentment may join and mingle themselves with your supposed zeal for the ,gospel8 ,jesus1 the searcher of hearts1 ,he knows with what daily labour and study1 and with what constant addresses to the throne of grace1 ,i seek to support the doctrine of ,his ,deity as well as you1 and to defend it in the best manner ,i am capable of4 ,and shall ,i tell you also1 sir1 that it was your urgent request1 among many others1 that engaged me so much further in this study than ,i at first intended4 ,if ,i am fallen into mistakes1 your private and friendly notice had done much more toward the correction of them than public reproaches4 ,i am not conscious to myself that either my former or latter conduct towards you has merited such indignities as these2 nor can ,i think that our blessed ,lord1 who has given you so rich a furniture of imagination1 and such sprightly talents for public service1 will approve such employment of them in the personal disgrace of your brethren that own the same faith1 that preach the same ,saviour1 and attempt to spread abroad the same doctrines of salvation4 8,i wish1 sir1 it were but possible for you to look upon your own conduct1 abstracted from that fondness which we all naturally bear to self1 and see whether there be no occasion for some humbling and penitent thoughts in the sight of ,god4 ,it is not the design of this writing to carry on a quarrel with you4 ,it has been my frequent prayer1 and it will be my joy1 to see your temper suited to your work1 and to hear that you employ your studies and your style for the support of truth and godliness in the spirit of the ,gospel1 that is1 in the spirit of meekness and love4 ,and ,i conclude with a hearty request to ,heaven that your wit may be all sanctified1 that you may minister holy things with honour and purity and great success1 and you may become as eminent and public an example of piety1 meekness1 heavenly-mindedness1 and love to all the saints1 as your own soul wishes and desires4 ,farewell1 sir1 and forgive this freedom of your humble servant and fellow labourer in the ,gospel of ,christ1 8,i4 ,,watts40 ,it is very satisfactory1 however1 throughout the correspondence to feel that ,watts1 the only one of the two names in which we now feel much interest1 preserves a spirit of quietness and candour2 the correspondence was forced upon him by the noisy ,bradbury1 and as he commenced it so he was determined to have the last of it4 ,watts had quietly implored him to silence1 saying3 8,let us examine what is past1 and take care for the time to come what we write or print with regard to our brethren be expressed in such language as may dare appear and be read by the light of the last conflagration1 and the splendour of the tribunal of our returning ,lord40 ,this produced a tempest of a letter1 in which ,bradbury says3 8,i learn no such passive obedience to an unreasonable adversary1 but rather the contrary2 you should have left off contention before it was meddled with1 for ,i doubt not to open to the world your shame40 ,the correspondence is very lengthy2 it is not probable that it will ever be reprinted2 it is not worth the patience of perusal1 unless to add to the esteem of the subject of these memoirs4 ,bradbury's turbulent nature in the course of it seems to be utterly ungoverned1 and raves along in a manner quite fatal to any respect with which a desire to think well of the man might possess the reader's mind4 ,it had perhaps been better if the wave of this correspondence had1 like most of ,watts' letters1 been lost to the eye1 but1 by some fatality1 it is the only complete piece of correspondence in our author's life published4 ,walter ,wilson remarks upon it that 8the letters are of that personal nature as do but little credit to the writers40 ,this is very unjust2 if ,mr4 ,wilson had read1 he must have known that there is not one word in the letters of ,watts which does not reflect the quiet holiness of a spirit at perfect peace with itself1 only desirous of healing the heart of his antagonist4 ,bradbury even censures him because1 after his attacks on ,watts in print1 he did not reply in print1 but referred to them in private letters to him6 ,watts had expressed his desire in seeking the truth1 and says3 8,i acknowledge with respect and thankfulness the kind opinions you have entertained of me1 and ,i really #8value all the care you have shown not to grieve my spirit1' whensoever ,i see it practised4 ,i easily believe1 indeed1 that your natural talent of wit is richly sufficient to have taken occasions from an hundred passages in my writings to have filled your pages with much severer censures4 ,in the vivacity of wit1 in the copiousness of style1 in readiness of ,scripture phrases1 and other useful talents1 ,i freely own you for my superior1 and will never pretend to become your rival4 ,but it is only calm and sedate argument that weighs with me in matters of controversy1 nor will ,i be displeased with any man for showing me my mistakes by force of argument1 and in a spirit of meekness2 it is only in this manner truth must be searched out1 and not by wit and raillery40 ,to this came back the following3 8,your profession of #8seeking the truth' is very popular1 and ,i do not wonder to find it so often in all your writings2 but then there is such a thing as #8ever learning1 and not being able to come to the knowledge of the truth4' ,and it is pity1 after you have been more than thirty years a teacher of others1 you are yet to learn the first principles of the oracles of ,god4 ,what will our hearers think of us when we succeed the greatest men of our last age in nothing else but their pulpits8 ,is there no certainty in the words of truth8 ,was ,dr4 ,owen's church to be taught another ,jesus1 that the ,son and ,holy ,spirit were only two powers in the ,divine nature8 ,shall the men who planted and watered so happy a part of the vineyard have all their labours rendered in vain8 ,shall a fountain in the same place send forth sweet water and bitter8 ,what need is there of a charge80#cc ,on the whole1 it is well to refer to this controversy4 ,it is a painful1 important item in ,watts' life1 and brings out very clearly how singularly he was removed from irritable passions1 and it sadly reveals how impossible it seems even for the most gentle natures to escape the venom and the vileness of the 8perils of false brethren40 ,bradbury unquestionably was firmly attached to evangelical truth1 so far as he knew it1 and his discourses in the two volumes called 8,the ,mystery of ,godliness1 ,considered in ,sixty-one ,sermons10 are certainly interesting1 suggestive1 and even admirable specimens of preaching2 but1 we have said1 he was chiefly known as a political preacher4 ,his printed discourses contain few intimations of that wit which was a favourite weapon with him in the pulpit1 and of which we have some indications in the sermon entitled 8,the ,ass and the ,serpent10 a comparison between the tribes of ,issachar and ,dan in their regard for civil liberty--a sermon1 like all those in the volume which contains it1 devoted to rousing the spirit of the times in which he lived4 ,regularly as the fifth of ,november came round1 he commemorated the day in a sermon1 and afterwards adjourned with his friends to dine at a tavern1 where1 it is said1 he always sung the national song1 8,the ,roast ,beef of ,old ,england20 there1 no doubt1 jest and joke passed round pretty freely1 for1 as we have intimated1 he had a sprightly wit and a copious flow of eloquence4 ,watts gently remonstrated with him for these displays1 to which he replied in his vehement and peppery style4 ,george ,whitefield1 at a later period1 more strongly remonstrated with him on his conduct in this particular1 but not apparently with much effect4 ,it is said that upon the death of ,queen ,anne1 an incident to which we have already referred1 he took for his text on the occasion of her funeral sermon1 8,go1 see now this cursed woman and bury her1 for she is a king's daughter40 ,the story is exceedingly likely1 for he belonged to a race of men not indisposed to misuse ,scripture after that unbecoming fashion2 and we may surely say1 notwithstanding the ominous shadows which brooded over the closing years of a reign commenced with so much promise1 the anecdote1 even the possibility that it may be true1 testifies to the cruel coarseness1 the low profane jocularity1 and ungrateful injustice of the man4 ,he was a hearty politician1 to whom all refinements of speech or sentiment were unknown1 and1 right or wrong1 he plunged on in a reckless kind of fashion4 ,he adopted as his motto1 ,pro ,christo et patri1 ,for ,christ and my country4 ,charity may be permitted to hope that he1 at any rate1 thought the motto did not unworthily represent the man1 if sometimes in his conduct he seems somewhat unworthily to represent the motto4 ,and while ,watts was pursuing his studies in scholarly seclusion1 never knowing the happiness of robust health1 and1 although a firm ,nonconformist1 on good terms with bishops and ministers of the ,church of ,england1 and ministers and members of many communions of ,christians1 ,bradbury mixed with freedom with the moving parties in the ,city1 and was ever ready to lift up his voice loudly about all the political circumstances of the passing hours4 ,thus the two men1 although ministers of the same order1 within a very short distance of each other1 were in their sympathies wide apart2 they desired1 indeed1 the same great ends1 but the roads they took to their attainment were widely different4 ,it is still singular and unaccountable1 but for the personal motives we have assigned above1 that ,bradbury should have expressed himself with so much bitterness and hostility concerning his old friend1 whose principles1 neither in religion nor politics1 could ever have been at any very great remove from his own2 but so it is1 that amidst the multitude of friends that honoured and esteemed ,watts highly for his work's sake1 we find ,bradbury standing aside like a very ,shimei pouring upon him his perpetually reiterated torrent of contempt1 obloquy1 and scorn1 and no motive appears but the dangerous one which influences three-fourths of all the evil and hatred in the world2 jealousy of a rank for which he was unfit1 and genius to which he could not attain4 ,on the whole1 it may be said of ,bradbury1 in the language of an old ,english poet1 he was 8like a pair of snuffers1 he snips the filth in other men1 and retains it in himself20 it could not be said of him 8the snuffers were of pure gold40 ,as ,archbishop ,abbott says of ,jonah1 in his sermons on the prophet3 8,some drams and grains of gold appear in him and his action1 but dross is there by pounds2 little wine1 but store of water2 some wheat1 but chaff enough40 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,his ,times4 ,take the life of almost any man who has stood in any relation to the thought and intelligence of his times1 in any period of ,english history1 and it is interesting to regard him by the light of the events flowing on around him4 ,watts was almost a literary solitary2 he cannot be referred to as greatly influencing the times in which he lived1 but an outline of his life is incomplete if we give no reference to the events of his time4 ,from the last years of the reign of ,charles ,,ii4 to the closing years of ,george ,,ii4 constitutes the era of ,watts4 ,every age seems eminently important to its actors--sometimes even to spectators--and yet that age stands out with singular distinctness4 ,how different the times of ,watts' birth and those of his death3 the infant in the arms of a weeping mother1 beneath the bars of the dungeon of the imprisoned ,nonconformist1 and the old man1 that same infant1 passing away1 with the great ,methodist movement rising into activity over the whole nation4 ,a little room1 scarcely tolerated in ,southampton1 where a few persecuted ,nonconformists assembled together1 and large chapels1 capable of holding thousands1 rising amidst the far-off wastes of ,northern ,yorkshire and ,western ,cornwall1 and a sudden burst of religious vitality finding vent in hymns and meetings over the whole country4 ,if the change in the aspect of religious life was remarkable1 not less remarkable was the change1 or rather perhaps we ought to say the changes1 which had been brought about in the political4 ,the period of ,watts' childhood was the most ominous1 unhappy1 and unsettled in ,english story2 men knew not what to expect1 they knew not whither they were drifting4 ,those were the days of the great ,monmouth ,rebellion and ,jeffreys' 8,bloody ,assize20 the days of the execution of ,algernon ,sidney and ,lord ,william ,russell1 the days of ,titus ,oates4 ,the mind of ,england was full of plots1 and the fear and the shadow of plots1 succeeded by internal discords1 and a disunited front to possible external foes4 ,well has it been said1 8,it was high time that ,james should go2 it was time that ,william should come40 ,the closing years of ,watts' life ,mr4 ,hallam ventures to speak of1 and ,earl ,stanhope confirms the verdict1 as nationally the happiest period of all ,england's history1 a brief period during which plenty and comfort seemed everywhere to abound4 ,we do not refer to the moral state of the people2 that appears to have been low enough1 but the nation had reached1 and the people were experiencing1 the blessedness of a lull of peace after that great storm which had shaken every timber of the national vessel4 ,the period of ,george ,,ii4 appears to be that ideal time upon which many look back under the designations of 8,happy ,england0 and 8,merry ,england40 ,between these two periods how many intervening chapters occur6 and it is not a little distressing to a biographer that it seems impossible to lay the hand upon scarcely a letter of the many multitudes of letters which ,watts must have written1 and many1 one cannot but think1 illustrating some of the circumstances and the characters of the times1 and his interest in them4#cd ,thus1 for instance1 he was an intimate friend of that ,david ,polhill who was one of the foremost men in the affair of the great 8,kentish ,petition10 a circumstance which shines brightly among the gallant actions of those who1 with daring intrepidity1 supported ,william ,,iii4 ,it was at a time when pusillanimity and fear of ,france would have been fatal4 ,the ,house of ,commons1 rent by faction1 was very slow in vindicating the king2 five ,kentish gentlemen1 magistrates1 interpreting the opinion of their county1 signed as deputies a petition calling upon the ,house to lay aside their own personal differences1 to attend better to public affairs1 and especially to vote sufficient supplies to sustain the king and his allies4 ,it was a daring step2 the five gentlemen who bore the petition to the ,house all presented themselves as responsible for it2 the ,house instantly voted that it was scandalous1 infamous1 and seditious1 calculated to destroy the constitution of ,parliament1 and to subvert the established government of the realm4 ,the five gentlemen1 of whom ,david ,polhill was one1 were1 amidst the acclamations of the nation1 committed to prison1 and there for some time they continued4 ,the pen of ,defoe sprang into eloquence on their behalf1 and when they were liberated1 as they were shortly1 one of those demonstrations--not of the mob--but of the strong middle classes of ,england1 greeted them on ,blackheath on their way home1 bells clanging1 bonfires burning1 and ,kent altogether in such a state as it had not been in since the ,restoration of ,charles ,,ii4 #agjc--one wonders if ,watts went down into the ,city on the #cast of ,july that year1 to see one whom he must very well have known1 who1 as we have seen1 studied some years before ,watts was there1 at the ,dissenting ,academy in ,stoke ,newington--,daniel ,defoe1 standing in the pillory2 for ,defoe's great and even intimate friend1 ,william ,,iii1 was dead1 and the men who had long winced beneath his wit1 and had longed for the time of their reprisals1 fancied the time had come at last2 but1 indeed1 the sentence which was intended for punishment turned into a painful kind of triumph4 ,it cannot be a pleasant position for the head and the hands to be fixtures in that fashion for an hour2 but if the sentence has to be borne1 then it is pleasant to find the rude machine adorned with flowers and garlands1 and the odium of the punishment transferred from the sufferer to his judges4 ,however1 they ruined ,defoe4 ,this was the year in which1 as ,watts mentions in his slight autobiographic memoranda1 occurred the great storm1 one of the most fearful ,england has ever known4 ,whole buildings were hurled down1 two hundred and fifty thousand timber trees torn up by the roots1 spires beaten from the churches1 and the lead from the roofs of more than one hundred churches rolled up like scrolls4 ,eight thousand persons perished by drowning2 the ,severn overflowed its banks1 and fifteen thousand sheep besides other cattle perished2 eight hundred dwelling-houses1 four hundred windmills1 and barns without number1 were thrown down4 ,some people were killed in their beds1 among others ,dr4 ,kidder1 ,bishop of ,bath and ,wells1 and his wife4 ,the damage done in ,london amounted to about a million of pounds sterling1 in ,bristol to #aej1jjj4 ,the damage on the sea was still more considerable1 many ships of the royal navy were cast away1 and innumerable merchant vessels4 ,imagination quite fails to realize the horrors of that tremendous night2 it was as one has said of it1 8,as if the destroying angel hurried by shrouded in his very gloomiest apparel40 ,and side by side with such great national calamities went our great national rejoicings4 ,this was the moment in our history when the genius of ,marlborough was rising1 and the victories of ,blenheim and ,ramillies were taking place1 holding in check1 beyond any question1 the audacity of ,louis ,,xiv41 and exhibiting the power and influence of ,england in the foreign affairs of ,europe in a manner never so remarkably exhibited before4 ,such were 8the times that went over him40 ,watts lived through all those curious transactions round the ,court of ,queen ,anne2 lived also through the great ,sacheverell riots--and a curious time that was for ,dissenters1 as he bears testimony again in his little outline of coincidences with his autobiographical memoranda4 8,march #ast1 #agaj4 ,the mob rose and pulled down the pews and galleries of six meeting-houses1 that is1 ,mr4 ,burgess1 ,mr4 ,bradbury1 ,mr4 ,earle1 ,mr4 ,wright1 ,mr4 ,hamilton1 and ,mr4 ,charles ,taylor1 but were dispersed by the guards under ,captain ,horsey1 at one or two in the morning40 ,he passed through all that excitement of public feeling arising from the introduction of the 8,schism ,bill10 which1 beyond anything1 covered with gloom the last days of the reign of ,queen ,anne4 ,when she ascended the throne1 ,watts wrote a lyric in honour of her happy accession2 there was no inconsistency in his expressing almost a burst of gladness and joy at her decease4 ,the 8,schism ,bill0 was worthy of the very worst days of the ,stuarts2 it was intended to crush all ,nonconformist schools1 and all ,dissenting academies2 any ,nonconformist teacher was to be imprisoned three months1 every schoolmaster was to receive the sacrament and take the oaths1 and if afterwards guilty of being present at a conventicle1 to be incapacitated and imprisoned4 ,earl ,stanhope1 in his quiet1 very interesting1 and1 on the whole1 impartial history1 speaks of 8this tyrannical act10 and well remarks3 8,it is singular that some of the most plain and simple notions1 such as that of religious toleration1 should be the slowest and most difficult to be impressed upon the human mind40#ce ,it is interesting to notice that this measure was greatly the creation of ,lord ,bolingbroke1 a man who1 while 8he thought it10 as ,earl ,stanhope says1 8necessary to crush ,dissenters10 was himself altogether independent and incapable of any religious faith or conviction4 ,infidelity has never found its interests on the side of true freedom1 but only of lawlessness and licentiousness1 to which it is ever fond of applying the glorious term4 ,in the midst of the panic created by this measure the ,queen died1 died on the very day the ,schism ,act was to have taken effect1 and ,george ,i4 succeeded to the ,english throne4 ,he commenced his reign with a noble declaration of liberty of conscience4 ,at his first appearing in council he said1 8,i take this occasion to express to you my firm purpose to do all that is in my power for the supporting and maintaining the ,churches of ,england and ,scotland as they are by law established1 which ,i am of opinion may be effectually done without the least impairing the toleration allowed by law to her ,protestant ,dissenters1 so agreeable to ,christian charity40 ,watts lived through that great agitation which consigned ,francis ,atterbury1 the ,bishop of ,rochester1 first to the ,tower1 and then to exile1 for his complicity with the ,pretender1 and attempts to bring back the ,stuarts4 ,atterbury was sworn by many oaths to maintain the ,protestant succession1 but his guilt was soon manifest beyond any doubt1 even to the most lenient and doubtful mind4 ,it was greatly to men of ,watts' order of religious conviction that the reigning family owed the stability of its power2 and when the fury of the clergy1 especially the ,high ,church clergy1 was excited by the arrest of the ,bishop1 one of their own order1 and attempts even made to set him forth in the light of a martyr1 it is interesting to notice that it was ,bishop ,gibson1 the friend and correspondent of ,watts1 who allayed the storm4#cf ,the intense antipathy to ,rome and the ,papacy1 so manifest in the writings of ,watts1 and in the wild passions of the times1 was not without a cause1 and a cause which would make itself especially felt in the ,city of ,london4 ,when ,watts was ordained over the church in ,mark ,lane1 only fifteen years had elapsed since the ,revocation of the ,edict of ,nantes2 that dreadful act of persecution had poured over many parts of ,england and of ,america the noble refugees of freedom and ,protestantism2 multitudes found their way to the neighbourhood of ,london2 not far from the neighbourhood of ,watts' church1 there sprung up a ,protestant ,french colony4 ,they did no harm to this nation by their exile hither1--they brought character1 and piety1 and invention1 and wit2 where they rested they reared the unadorned and humble temples of their simple ,protestant service4 ,possessed themselves of the hymns of ,clement ,marot1 they probably suggested a psalmody1 sweeter and more elevated than our churches at that time possessed--but in many instances their sufferings in the course of their expatriation had been dreadful4 ,from year to year they still escaped to our shores1 and found their way to ,london2 the people and their pastors were aided by the government of ,william and ,mary1 and by the succeeding governments4 ,it was not possible but that the dread of honest and quiet thinkers1 and the more turbulent passions of the people1 should be awakened against that fearful system which seemed so recklessly to strike at all national happiness and prosperity2 and in ,england the ,papacy had its agents almost ubiquitous1 crafty1 cunning1 powerful1 cruel1 and remorseless2 it was no time for the indulgence of a mere philosophical calm and dreams of generous toleration4 ,there were frequent wild outbreaks of madness and wrath in heated and excited mobs1 and the language indulged by writers1 usually so clear and wise1 became intense in hatred to ,rome2 but let the reader transfer his feelings to that time1 and interpret his feelings by natural fear1 and he will scarcely be able to visit either manifestation with very severe reprehension4 ,the times through which ,watts lived were indeed very remarkable1 regarded from many points of view4 ,well might the nation shudder at the idea of any approach to ,popery on the part of our own government2 for if the villages and towns of our coast opposite to ,france1 and the neighbourhoods of the little suburban villages of ,shoreditch and ,spitalfields1 were thronged with the refugees of persecution from ,france1 refugees of a similar persecution from ,austria also1 at a later period1 poured into ,prussia1 into ,new ,england1 and into some parts of our own country1 and especially into ,london4 ,the ,church of ,rome did not1 in those days1 permit many years to pass without refreshing the memory of ,protestants as to her power and disposition to persecute4 ,watts interested himself on behalf of the poor ,saltzburgers 7#cc1jjj was raised in ,london for their relief74 ,multitudes settled at ,ebenezer1 in ,georgia4 ,the ,rev4 ,f4 ,m4 ,ziegenhagen writes to ,watts that 8any old rag thrown away in ,europe is of service to them1 old shoes1 stockings1 shirts1 or anything of wearing apparel from men and women1 grown people or children4 ,wherefore1 dear sir1 if ,baron ,oxie's supposition be true1 perhaps you might1 by the blessing of ,god1 be the happy instrument to get here and there something of old clothes for them to cover their nakedness40 ,to this application ,watts appears to have responded1 as ,mr4 ,ziegenhagen again replies3 8,the readiness you show in assisting the poor ,saltzburgers1 nay1 your well receiving the mentioning them and their circumstances in my last letter1 gave me great satisfaction40 ,those of these persecuted ones who passed over to the ,american plantations appear to have settled surprisingly1 aided by ,england2 ,george ,whitefield bears testimony to the great blessings which rested upon them4 ,england made a parliamentary grant of #aj1jjj to relieve their sufferings4 ,our readers know the amazing story1 the mighty exodus1 the march of the exiles1 amounting to #bj1fgh1 in the depth of winter4 ,the pathos of that story is immortalized in one of the sweetest poems of ,goethe1 and for us in the prose of ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,prussia threw her arms open to receive them2 but many perished on the march for want of food1 having been obliged to leave their goods behind them4 ,the ,count of ,warnigrode gave a substantial dinner to #ijj of them2 the ,duke of ,brunswick liberally entertained others2 the clergy of ,leipsic met a number of the wanderers on their way1 and led them into the city through the gates1 singing ,luther's hymn as they passed in4 ,the ,revocation of the ,edict of ,nantes1 to which we have referred1 happened a short time before ,watts commenced his ministry2 this rousing event happened when it was drawing towards its close4 ,as we turn over some of the hymns of ,watts1 and some pages of his and other writings of the day1 it seems as if the denunciations of ,rome were wanting in good taste1 and tender charitableness of feeling4 ,the sentiments ,watts expressed and indulged in never appear to go beyond the bounds of propriety2 his sentiments towards ,rome are shared by ,john ,milton1 who wrote while the valleys of ,piedmont were flaming with burning villages1 and covered with the bodies of the slaughtered saints of ,god4 ,in those years ,rome had the power to get up every now and then some such startling spectacle to astonish ,europe and mankind4 ,papists are still surprised that such entertainments were not taken in good part1 and that1 on the contrary1 fervid expressions of indignation were uttered1 and loud prayers put up that ,god would save ,england from the dominancy of ,rome again in the politics of our nation4 ,men like ,watts judged such expressions to be neither unnatural1 unholy1 nor unwise3 they had not reached that stoical calm which contemplates either the insolent outrage and persecution of a hierarchy trampling under foot the holiest rights of men1 or the groans of protracted suffering1 with indifference2 they lived in the neighbourhood of danger1 and did not affect a calmness of feeling as they beheld1 even in their own neighbourhood1 infidelity and priestism working together1 as they so often work1 forging fetters for a nation4 ,in several pages of this volume glances have been given at the aspects of the age and its manners1 so far as they affected1 or were affected by1 the subject of this memoir4 ,a large portion of that time may be spoken of as the most dissolute age of ,england1 and even in the later period it was a rude1 rough time4 ,in those regions in which vice did not abound1 a thick1 dark night of ignorance 8covered the people40 ,however we may boast of a few splendid names in literature1 and however some character or incident gives effect and pomp to the scenery1 still it is only worthy of the apt description of ,john ,foster#cg that 8we are only gazing with delight at a fine public bonfire1 while in all the cottages round the people are shivering for want of fuel40 ,it was a time along whose way romance loves to loiter2 when the lanthorn lighted the sedan on the neighbourly visit in town as well as country2 when1 also1 no home was exempted from the housebreaker1 and every suburb was haunted by highwaymen4 ,we need not dwell at greater length on the literary characteristics of the age2 incidentally we may remind our readers that to ,watts1 in the later years of his life1 we owe the introduction to the world of a poem which has not long ceased to be a very popular one1 8,the ,grave10 by ,robert ,blair1 the minister of the parish of ,athelstanford1 in ,scotland4 ,blair sent his poem to ,watts1 and ,watts thought so well of it that he sent it to ,doddridge1 and both advised its author to publish it1 and appear to have been able to render him some valuable assistance in making it known4 ,almost forgotten now1 it immediately took the popular taste4 ,it is not wonderful that it did so1 for it has all the gloomy magnificence of a body lying in state2 but it is gloomy without vulgarity1 and has the gorgeousness of the silver shieldings and splendid heraldry on the black velvet4 ,it is short2 it perhaps seems to us now almost a sentimental piece of commonplace2 but it instantly took possession of the public mind1 and is still included in most respectable collections of ,english poets4 ,it belonged to a class of pieces which appear to have been great favourites with people in those days1 and which have furnished abundant materials for sermons ever since--,hervey's 8,meditations among the ,tombs10 and ,young's 8,night ,thoughts10--although the last is a very far superior piece of work1 and may deserve to be spoken of as one of the finest of purely didactic poems4 ,blair1 in his far-off home among the ,east ,lothians1 had everything which to such a nature as his would be likely to press home with a pensive force upon the mind2 and the deep reality of ,james ,hervey's nature1 every one at all acquainted with his biography well knows4 ,edward ,young1 it may without much indignity to charity be believed1 was a man of a very different order1 in whom unrealized sentiment considerably dominated the character4 ,he was a man of unquestionable genius1 and he so far laid his genius on the altar of religion that he produced not only the poem to which we are referring1 but many others1 which1 if not of equal eminence1 had a decided religious influence4 ,but he was a constant haunter of the abodes of fashion1 a hanger-on of ,courts1 and not at all indisposed to avail himself of every kind of help in seeking to further his purposes in life4 ,he was not below the average of men1 but the 8other-worldliness0 of his poem contrasts strangely enough with the worldliness of the author2 if1 when he wrote of the other world1 he wrote like a saint1 we cannot forget that1 when he wrote of this1 he wrote as a keen satirist4 ,in fact1 all this belongs to the character of the poetry of the period2 it was not real1 it was stiff and stilted2 it was poetry in brocade2 nothing about it looks very real4 ,of course there are beautiful lines and beautiful passages to be quoted1 but its men and women are not real4 ,the poetry of our own times1 as compared with those1 has gained immeasurably in this1 in reality1 and a large proportion of the things which were said and admired then would be regarded as simply ridiculous now4 ,no reference has been made to the ,states of ,america4 ,the ,united ,states had no existence in ,watts' day--,america was regarded then much as we regard ,australia now4 ,watts had many friends there1 and much interesting correspondence exists between them2 especially interesting it is to find in the history of ,harvard ,university that ,watts' name occurs as one of its early benefactors4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,return to ,stoke ,newington4 ,it would be a very difficult thing to realize now in the suburb of ,stoke ,newington1 the ,stoke ,newington of ,isaac ,watts' day4 ,the mighty city has absorbed it2 the lanes1 the fields1 the woods1 the old bridge1 the old church1 and the very river have vanished4 ,it must have been a very pretty little rural village1 comprised in a small cluster of houses2 it may even be spoken of as a kind of sequestered hermitage1 amidst whose shades those who desired it might find1 if the stillness of nature could give it1 perfect peace4 ,even more than forty years after ,watts' death there were only one hundred and ninety-five houses2 within the memory of old inhabitants it was still but a village4 ,in ,watts' day it was probably surrounded by trees2 a short time before he took up his residence there1 there were seventy-seven acres of woodland in demesne1 part of the ancient forest of ,middlesex1 so justifying its name from ,stoke1 a wood 7,stoke ,newington1 the new little town in the wood74 ,a very pleasant retreat1 the like of which we should have to look a long way from any ,london suburb to discover now4 ,the ancient houses have disappeared from the present vicinity1 and two of the last1 and those in which ,watts passed his early and his later age1 the houses of ,hartopp and ,abney1 have only just been pulled down4 ,we have noticed the history of ,fleetwood's house1 built in the reign of ,queen ,elizabeth2 but tradition assigns to some old houses in the village1 called the 8,bishop's ,place10 the frequent visits of ,henry ,,viii41 and here1 on a part of these premises1 was born ,samuel ,rogers1 the poet2 and it is a singular and noticeable thing1 that as the father of the poet died in #agic1 and had lived the greater part of his life at ,stoke ,newington1 those who knew the poet talked with a man who was the child of one who had probably not only seen but talked with ,isaac ,watts4 ,there is a spot in ,stoke ,newington still called 8,king ,henry's ,walk10 and when the premises supposed to be his retreat were taken down1 parts of the old wainscot were found to be richly gilt and ornamented with paintings1 although1 indeed1 almost obliterated4 ,stoke ,newington1 about the period when ,watts resided there1 was the residence and retreat of many celebrities4 ,here1 as we have seen1 ,defoe was educated1 and for some time resided2 and here1 a little later1 resided another whose name has been a charm over childhood1 ,thomas ,day1 the author of 8,sandford and ,merton40 ,watts had only been dead two years when ,john ,howard came to reside in the village4 ,the place seems especially to have been the retreat of retired statesmen or merchants1 but all ranks seem to mingle memories in the little village4 ,queen ,elizabeth's ,walk is founded on the tradition that in the ,manor ,house the ,princess ,elizabeth was concealed during a part of the reign of ,queen ,mary4 ,london suburbs were wont to retain the flavour of a peculiar kind of society1 and not less really than ,twickenham retained its literary eminence2 not less renowned than ,clapham for its 8,sect10 was ,stoke ,newington eminent as the home and haunt of ,nonconformist celebrities4#ch ,the interest of the place1 however1 gathers greatly round the memories of the houses of the ,hartopp and the ,abney families1 for ,watts is the greatest name connected with ,stoke ,newington1 and in both these houses he found his home4 ,watts' biographers have hitherto not nicely discriminated the periods of his residence2 reading ,southey1 it might be supposed he had passed all his life at ,stoke ,newington2 reading ,milner1 it might be supposed he not only passed the greater part of his life1 but closed his days at ,theobalds4 ,the truth is1 that ,thomas ,gunston1 the brother of ,lady ,abney1 purchased a house and twenty-five acres of land with the ,manor of ,stoke ,newington4 ,he pulled the house down1 and commenced the erection of a very large and elegant house on the site of the old one1 but he died in #agjj1 just before the completion of the building4 ,he was a young man1 and ,watts was young1 and between the two there appears to have been a bond of exceedingly close and tender friendship4 ,when ,thomas ,gunston died he left the house to his sister1 then residing at ,theobalds with her husband1 ,sir ,thomas ,abney1 and there ,watts resided with them2 but many years after1 probably when time had softened the stroke which seems to have been felt very keenly1 ,lady ,abney left ,theobalds and came to her house in ,stoke ,newington4 ,watts came with the family1 and in this house were passed the last thirteen years of his life1 and there1 shortly after the death of her revered friend1 ,lady ,abney died4 ,the house then became the property of the eldest daughter1 ,miss ,elizabeth ,abney1 who never married1 and whose name occurs as a considerable benefactor to the neighbourhood4 ,upon her death1 she directed by her will the lease and estate to be sold1 and after the payment of certain legacies1 the residue to be distributed to poor ,dissenting ministers1 to their widows1 and other objects of charity2 the sale realized #ac1jjj4 ,this1 then1 was the spot associated with some of ,watts' earliest1 happiest days1 and was the scene of their quiet close4 ,his friendship with ,thomas ,gunston was evidently founded on moral and intellectual relationship1 and when he died1 he poured out his grief in a long elegy1 published in the ,lyrics4 ,it is noticeable in the poetry of ,watts1 and of that day1 that so many of the subjects are devoted to the memory of friends4 ,if a friend died1 or if any other circumstance happened in life1 it seemed necessary to embody the impressions in verse1 and we need not1 perhaps1 regard this as altogether artificial and unnatural2 in ,watts' instance1 we may be sure it was not so1 although many of the expressions sound extravagant2 those to which most exception is taken have scarcely more of this characteristic than some of the similar poems of ,milton2 we may1 for instance1 remember ,lycidas3 ,mourn1 ye young gardens1 ye unfinished gates1 ,ye green enclosures and ye growing sweets ,lament2 for ye our midnight hours have known1 ,and watched us walking by the silent moon ,in conference divine1 while heavenly fire1 ,kindling our breasts1 did all our thoughts inspire ,with joys almost immortal4 ,and again-- ,oft have ,i laid the awful ,calvin by1 ,and the sweet ,cowley1 with impatient eye ,to see these walls1 pay the sad visit here1 ,and drop the tribute of an hourly tear4 ,still ,i behold some melancholy scene1 ,with many a pensive thought and many a sigh between4 ,two days ago we took the evening air1 ,i and my grief4 ,amidst the exaggerations1 however1 which a prosaic age may fancy it detects1 there is no reason for including expressions which it would certainly be impossible to appropriately use now2 the poet calls upon the dusky woods and echoing hills1 the flowery vales overgrown with thorns1 the brook that runs warbling by1 the lowing herd1 and the moaning turtle1 the curling vine with its amorous folds1 and the stately elms1 the reverent growth of ancient years1 standing tall and naked to the blustering rage of the mad winds4 ,these are images which must have been simply natural and appropriate when the piece was written2 all is changed1 entirely changed now1 unless some exception be made for the elms which are1 or were1 recently standing4 ,the death of this amiable1 excellent1 and promising young man stands out as probably the most intense grief of ,watts' life4 ,as there was a community of taste1 leisure for the indulgence of the pursuits of the intellect and the heart1 and the strong wish to gratify the instincts of a noble nature1 it is not wonderful that ,watts poured out his feelings in so lengthy a poem4 ,the young man appears to have come of a high-spirited family2 his father1 ,john ,gunston1 befriended many of the ministers when they fell beneath the arm of persecution2 and when the eminent ,dr4 ,manton was imprisoned in the ,gate ,house for refusing the ,oxford ,oath1 the ,lady ,broughton1 his keeper1 placing the keys at his disposal1 allowed him an opportunity of visiting his friend1 ,mr4 ,gunston1 at ,newington4 ,thus we have the early and tender connection of ,watts with this village4 ,and not long since the old house was standing4 ,an amiable and accomplished man of our time writes1 in a letter dated ,may1 #ahdj3 8,on my return to town ,i stopped at ,stoke ,newington1 and paid a promised visit to an old friend and colleague at ,abney ,house1 where he has charge of the literary education of some twenty candidates for the ministry4 ,the house--that in which ,dr4 ,watts lived for more than a generation1 composed his precious hymns1 and at last died--afforded me1 in its noble antique apartments1 in its still rich embellishments1 its surrounding grounds 7said to contain the bones of ,oliver ,cromwell71 and1 above all1 its sacred associations1 more delight than ,i can express40#ci ,on the spot where the house stood1 with its beautiful grounds1 gardens1 and trees extending round1 is now laid out the ,abney ,park ,cemetery1 amongst whose forests of tombs may be detected innumerable names very dear to the memories of modern ,nonconformists3 since the closing of ,bunhill ,fields1 ,abney ,park ,cemetery has become what it was1 a sort of santa croce1 or campo santo of revered and hallowed dust4 ,though now within a short walk of the great city1 it seemed a sequestered village when ,watts resided there4 ,the roads were probably not of the best1 and there were no lights upon them4 ,the woods intervening and in the neighbourhood1 would furnish shelter for many social annoyances1 and even dangers4 ,but it was nearer to ,london than the more stately and palace-like abode of ,theobalds1 and1 noble as it was1 it was altogether a plainer habitation4 ,watts was probably1 after the death of ,sir ,thomas ,abney1 very much the modest master of both abodes4 ,until within a short period of its dissolution the house contained such memories of ,watts as adorned the walls of ,theobalds4 ,we have seen that he was a painter1 and the fashion at that time was to adorn the wainscoting and walls and panels4 ,there were noble rooms in the mansion1 and thus were they relieved1 mostly by subjects of a classical1 mythical1 and allegorical character4 ,he painted four characters of ,youth and ,age1 ,mirth and ,grief1 for two of the parlours1 8where10 says ,dr4 ,robinson1 8they are at this present day40 ,to the time of its fall the mansion testified to the taste and elegance with which it was fitted up1 the painted room displaying costly ornaments1 and altogether a fine specimen of the age in which it was arranged2 the mouldings gilt1 and the whole of the panels and sides painted with subjects from 8,ovid10 and on the window-shutters pictorial decorations1 supposed to have been the production of the pencil of ,watts1 emblematical of ,death and ,grief1 and evidently alluding to the decease of ,mr4 ,gunston4 ,the elms1 to which reference has been already made1 continued to excite attention to the last4 ,planted long before the building was commenced1 they continued to wave their widowed branches after it had passed away4 ,dr4 ,robinson mentions a portrait of ,watts which long continued in the house1 an indifferent portrait of him when a young man1 in a blue night-gown1 wig and band1 and three or four duplicate mezzotinto prints of him when older by ,g4 ,white1 #agbg1 clerically habited1 with a ,bible in his right hand1 and under him in capitals3 ,,isaac ,,watts 8,in ,christo mea vita latet1 mea gloria ,christus1 hunc lingua1 hunc calamus celebrat nec magis1 tacebit4 ,in uno ,jesu omnia40 ,and on the upper corner 8,to live is ,christ1 to die is gain40 ,here his last days were passed2 ,dr4 ,gibbons does not mention in what year the family left ,theobalds to return to ,stoke ,newington1 but it must have been about thirteen years before his death2 and during this time1 although his life was clouded by many pains and infirmities1 he still continued the active operations of his pen1 and1 as we shall have occasion to see1 the active operations of his mind1 employing himself especially in attempting to solve what seems to many the insolvable question of the ,trinity of ,persons in the ,godhead4 ,but as he descended towards the closing years it seems that he suffered greatly from some members of his own family4 ,in a letter from the ,rev4 ,john ,barker to ,dr4 ,doddridge1 written nearly two years before ,watts' death1 we read3 8,the behaviour of ,dr4 ,watts and the wretch ,buckston towards ,dr4 ,isaac is a most marvellous1 infamous1 enormous wickedness2 ,lady ,abney1 with inimitable steadiness and prudence1 keeps our friend in peaceful ignorance1 and his enemies at a becoming distance1 so that in the midst of the persecution of that righteous man he lives comfortably2 and when a friend asks him how he does1 answers1 #8,waiting ,god's leave to die4'0#dj ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,the ,world to ,come4 8,the ,world to ,come0 was for a long time one of those favourite pieces which occupied a place upon our forefathers' book-shelves1 and especially charmed the dwellers at home in those times and places when and where there were no ,sabbath evening services2 it belongs to that era when ,christian people found their spiritual pleasure and refreshment in ,baxter's 8,saint's ,everlasting ,rest10 to which work it bears no inconsiderable resemblance4 ,southey1 in his 8,life of ,watts10 in which1 like ,johnson1 he lays aside all his acerbity against ,watts and ,dissenters1 appears to dwell with much pleasure on this book4 ,probably most of our readers are now unacquainted with it2 and1 if so1 they have to learn how much there is in these two volumes of suggestion and instruction4 ,watts was fond of dwelling in imagination upon1 and dilating with his pen over1 the conditions of the world to come4 ,the work first appeared in two volumes1 although the second was not published until the year #agde1 when ,watts was drawing near to the period of his own entrance into that kingdom1 upon whose conditions he had speculated so largely and interestingly4 ,some portions of this work soon found their way into other languages2 his piece on 8,the ,end of ,time0 was translated1 as a tract1 into most of the tongues of ,europe2 an edition is now circulating1 or was a short time since1 in modern ,greek1 on the shores of the ,levant2 and none of the prose works of ,watts have perhaps obtained so large an acceptance1 or produced1 on the one hand1 more serious impressions1 and1 on the other1 more quieting and comfortable consolation4 ,the work has the characteristic of the times in which it was written--diffuseness2 but here1 if sometimes there is an indulgence in those fancies and colourings of speech of which we become impatient now1 we find some of the best illustrations of that happy power of illumination and imagination which we should expect to abound in the works and sermons of such a poet as ,watts4 ,the poet and the metaphysician meet1 and mutually aid each other in the attempt to enter upon the mysteries of the unseen world2 his ideas1 perhaps1 do not differ greatly from those which are ordinarily entertained amongst us4 ,franke1 the well-known ,german pietist1 was the means of the translation of a portion of the work in ,geneva1 and the translator said1 in introducing the work1 that 8the preacher had taken occasion of flying with his thoughts into the blessed mansions of the just1 and had given not only a very probable and beautiful idea of the glory of a future life in general1 but also an enumeration of the many sorts of enjoyments and pleasures that are to be met with there40 ,but ,watts' 8,world to ,come0 is not limited to the work that bears that title4 ,his thoughts perpetually hovered round that fascinating theme4 ,he was constantly1 as we find in many of his pieces1 engaged in attempts to understand the nature of metaphysical substance4 ,though from ,revelation we can only gather that 8we know not what we shall be10 yet there are precious hints from which we may obtain all that is sufficient for comfort and for light1 especially in the ,great ,teacher's promise that 8where ,i am there shall also ,my servant be10 and the assurance of ,his apostle that 8we shall see ,him as ,he is40 ,it would not be uninteresting to group together all ,watts' words from his various works illustrating his conception of 8,the ,world to ,come10 his conjectures concerning the mode of our immortality2 thus he presents to us-- ,,the ,,brain ,,book4 8,we may try to illustrate this matter by the similitude of the union of a human soul to a body4 ,suppose a learned philosopher be also a skilful divine and a great linguist1 we may reasonably conclude that there are some millions of words and phrases1 if taken together with all the various senses of them1 which are deposited in his brain as in a repository1 by means of some correspondent traces or signatures2 we may suppose also millions of ideas of things1 human and divine1 treasured up in various traces or signatures in the same brain4 ,nay1 each organ of sense may impress on the brain millions of traces belonging to the particular objects of that sense2 especially the two senses of discipline1 the eye and the ear2 the pictures1 the images1 the colours1 and the sounds1 that are reserved in this repository of the brain1 by some correspondent impressions or traces1 are little less than infinite2 now1 the human soul of the philosopher1 by being united to this brain1 this well-furnished repository1 knows all these names1 words1 sounds1 images1 lines1 figures1 colours1 notions1 and sensations4 ,it receives all these ideas2 and is1 as it were1 mistress of them all4 ,the very opening of the eye impresses thousands of ideas at once upon such a soul united to a human brain2 and what unknown millions of ideas may be impressed on it1 or conveyed to it in successive seasons1 whensoever she stands in need of them1 and that by the means of this union to the brain1 is beyond our capacity to think or number4 ,let us now conceive the ,divine ,mind or ,wisdom as a repository stored with infinite ideas of things present1 past1 and future3 suppose a created spirit1 of most extensive capacity1 intimately united to this ,divine ,mind or ,wisdom3 may it not by this means1 by ,divine appointment1 become capable of receiving so many of those ideas1 and so much knowledge1 as are necessary for the government and the judgment of all nations8 ,and this may be done two ways1 viz41 either by the immediate application of itself1 as it were by inquiry1 to the ,divine ,mind1 to which it is thus united1 or by the immediate actual influences and impressions which the ,divine ,mind may make of these ideas on the human soul1 as fast as ever it can stand in need of them for these glorious purposes4 ,since a human brain1 which is mere matter1 and which contains only some strokes and traces1 and corporeal signatures of ideas1 can convey to a human soul united to it many millions of ideas1 as fast as it needs them for any purposes of human life2 how much more may the infinite ,god1 or ,divine ,mind or ,wisdom1 which hath actually all real and possible ideas in it in the most perfect manner1 communicate to a human soul united to this ,divine ,wisdom1 a far greater number of ideas than a human brain can receive2 even as many as the affairs of governing and judging this world may require4 ,this may be represented and illustrated by another similitude1 thus3 suppose there were a spherical looking-glass or mirror vast as this earth is2 on which millions of corporeal objects appeared in miniature on all sides of it impressed or represented there1 by a thousand planetary and starry worlds surrounding this vast mirror2 suppose a capacious human spirit united to this mirror1 as the soul is to the body3 what an unknown multitude of ideas would this mirror convey to that human spirit in successive seasons6 ,or1 perhaps1 this spirit might receive all these ideas at once1 and be conscious of the millions of things represented all round the mirror4 ,this mirror may represent the ,deity2 the human spirit taken in these ideas successively1 or conscious of them all at once1 may represent to us the soul of ,christ receiving1 either in a simultaneous view1 or in a successive way1 unknown myriads of ideas1 by its union to ,godhead2 though1 it must be owned1 it can never receive all these ideas which are in the ,divine ,mind40 ,and thus he endeavours to image to his mind the worlds3 ,,earth1 ,,heaven1 ,,and ,,hell4 8,i have often tried to strip death of its frightful colours1 and make all the terrible airs of it vanish into softness and delight2 to this end1 among other rovings of thought1 ,i have sometimes illustrated to myself the whole creation as one immense building1 with different apartments1 all under the immediate possession and government of the great ,creator4 ,one sort of these mansions are little1 narrow1 dark1 damp rooms1 where there is much confinement1 very little good company1 and such a clog upon one's natural spirits1 that a man cannot think or talk with freedom1 nor exert his understanding1 or any of his intellectual powers with glory or pleasure4 ,this is the ,earth in which we dwell4 ,a second sort are spacious1 lightsome1 airy1 and serene courts open to the summer sky1 or at least admitting all the valuable qualities of sun and air1 without the inconveniences2 where there are thousands of most delightful companions1 and everything that can give one pleasure1 and make one capable and fit to give pleasure to others4 ,this is the ,heaven we hope for4 ,a third sort of apartments are open and spacious too1 but under a wintry sky1 with perpetual storms of hail1 rain1 and wind1 thunder1 lightning1 and everything that is painful and offensive2 and all this among millions of wretched companions cursing the place1 tormenting one another1 and each endeavouring to increase the public and the universal misery4 ,this is ,hell4 8,now what a dreadful thing it is to be driven out of one of the first narrow dusky cells into the third sort of apartment1 where the change of the room is infinitely the worst6 ,no wonder that sinners are afraid to die4 ,but why should a soul that has good hope1 through grace1 of entering into the serene apartment1 be unwilling to leave the narrow smoky prison he has dwelt in so long1 and under such loads of inconvenience8 ,death to a good man is but passing through a death entry1 out of one little dusky room of his ,father's house into another that is fair and large1 lightsome and glorious1 and divinely entertaining4 ,oh may the rays and splendours of my heavenly apartment shoot far downward1 and gild the dark entry with such a cheerful beam as to banish every fear1 when ,i shall be called to pass through40 ,he teaches and very much elaborates1 as ,southey says1 the doctrine of ,milton3 --,what1 if earth ,be but the shadow of ,heaven1 and things therein ,each to other like1 more than on earth is thought8 ,southey somewhat naturally finds an occasion for humour in that ,milton beheld in heaven a place for armies1 the review of bright brigades1 and illustrious cohorts with keen swords and long bright spears1 and so he remarks1 8,the ,heaven of ,watts' imagination was coloured by his earthly pursuits1 and whether there were to be reviews of armies or not there were to be sermons40 8,for10 says ,watts1 8not only is there the service of thanksgiving here and of prayer1 but such entertainment as lectures and sermons also1 and there all the worship that is paid is the established worship of the whole country40 ,but the conceptions formed by ,watts of the heavenly state are majestic in the main4 8,for the ,church10 he says1 8on earth is but a training school for the church on high1 and is1 as it were1 a tiring-room in which we are dressed in proper habit for our appearance and our places in that bright assembly40 ,thus he beholds 8,boyle and ,ray pursuing the philosophy in which they delighted on earth1 contemplating the wisdom of ,god in ,his works2 and ,henry ,more and ,howe continuing their metaphysical researches with brightened and refined powers of mind40 ,it is singular that ,watts1 who speculated so keenly and clearly into the nature of metaphysical substance1 should have thus somewhat embarrassed his views of the heavenly state by discriminating so much the pursuits of a pure and perfect soul1 by characteristics which partake of the faulty views of an earthly understanding2 but we are to remember that he wrote for useful purposes1 and we may believe that some of those excursions of the fancy1 while scarcely consistent even with his own metaphysics1 added not a little to the pleasant horizon spread out before the view of those readers unable or indisposed to follow him into more abstract and pure regions of thought4 ,interestingly and curiously he seeks to trace the progress of the soul from the visible to the invisible world2 we know this world by ,space and ,substance1 the solution of these in connection with our existence in that future world to come is not less a trouble to ,watts than it has been to the rest of us4 ,space he endeavoured to annihilate1 ,substance also1 and he argues1 as ,isaac ,taylor has argued since in his 8,physical ,theory of ,another ,life10 that as disembodied spirits cannot exist everywhere1 and do not probably exist anywhere1 philosophically they may be said to exist nowhere4#da ,the question then is whither does the soul depart when it is separated from the body8 ,perhaps it may be furnished with some new vehicle of a more refined matter1 which will remind readers of ,abraham ,tucker's singular chapters in his 8,light of ,nature10 on the 8,vehicular ,state20 and it is very suggestive to find him intimating that it may abide where death finds it1 not changing its place1 but only its manner of thinking and acting1 and its mode of existence1 and without removal finding itself in heaven or in hell according to its own consciousness1 and that is1 according to its own previous training or education1 and then he says1 8,i may illustrate this by two similitudes1 and especially apply them to the case of holy souls departing40 ,they may remind the reader of ,henry ,vaughan's beautiful verse3 ,if a star were confined in a tomb1 ,its captive light would e'en shine there2 ,but when it bursts it dissipates the gloom1 ,and shines through all the sphere4 8,suppose a torch enclosed in a cell of earth1 in the midst of ten thousand thousand torches that shine at large in a spacious amphitheatre4 ,while it is enclosed1 its beams strike only on the walls of its own cell1 and it has no communion with those without4 ,but let this cell fall down at once1 and the torch that moment has full communion with all those ten thousands2 it shines as freely as they do1 and receives and gives assistance to all of them1 and joins to add glory to that illustrious place4 8,or suppose a man born or brought up in a dark prison1 in the midst of a fair and populous city4 ,he lives there in a close confinement2 perhaps he enjoys only the twinkling light of a lamp1 with thick air and much ignorance2 though he has some distant hints and reports of the surrounding city and its affairs1 yet he sees and knows nothing immediately but what is done in his own prison1 till in some happy minute the walls fall down2 then he finds himself at once in a large and populous town1 encompassed with a thousand blessings4 ,with surprise he beholds the king in all his glory1 and holds converse with the sprightly inhabitants4 ,he can speak their language1 and finds his nature suited to such communion4 ,he breathes free air1 stands in the open light2 he shakes himself1 and exults in his own liberty40 ,the gentle spirit of ,watts trembled before hell2 he expressed his belief in eternal punishment in the strongest and most unequivocal terms1 not because he found it plainly in his understanding1 but because he found it plainly declared in the ,new ,testament1 while yet1 like other fathers in the ,church1 he expresses within himself a latent hope that ,god has some secret and mitigating decree1 and that although we neither dare preach nor speculate upon it1 bowing to the word1 we yet may hope that ,infinite ,love will find out a way4#db ,some readers will be surprised to find that among his proofs of a separate state1 ,watts does not hesitate1 although very modestly1 to avow some belief in ,apparitions4 ,it was the age of superstition and supernatural visitations4 ,joseph ,addison indeed was aiming at a sweeping reform1 and attempting to lay all the ghosts in the country4 ,watts says-- ,,concerning ,,the ,,possibility ,,of ,,apparitions4 8,at the conclusion of this chapter ,i cannot help taking notice1 though ,i shall but just mention it1 that the multitude of narratives1 which we have heard of in all ages1 of the apparition of the spirits or ghosts of persons departed from this life1 can hardly be all delusion and falsehood4 ,some of them have been affirmed to appear upon such great and important occasions as may be equal to such an unusual event2 and several of these accounts have been attested by such witnesses of wisdom1 and prudence1 and sagacity1 under no distempers of imagination1 that they may justly demand a belief2 and the effects of these apparitions1 in the discovery of murders and things unknown1 have been so considerable and useful1 that a fair disputant should hardly venture to run directly counter to such a cloud of witnesses without some good assurance on the contrary side4 ,he must be a shrewd philosopher indeed who1 upon any other hypothesis1 can give a tolerable account of all the narratives in ,glanvil's #8,sadducisimus ,triumphatus1' or ,baxter's #8,world of ,spirits and ,apparitions1' etc4 ,though ,i will grant some of these stories have but insufficient proof1 yet if there be but one real apparition of a departed spirit1 then the point is gained that there is a separate state4 8,and1 indeed1 the ,scripture itself seems to mention such sort of ghosts or appearances of souls departed 7,matt4 xiv4 #bf74 ,when the disciples saw ,jesus walking on the water they #8thought it had been a spirit4' ,and 7,luke xxiv4 #cg7 after ,his resurrection they saw ,him at once appearing in the midst of them1 #8and they supposed they had seen a spirit2' and our ,saviour doth not contradict their notion1 but argues with them upon the supposition of the truth of it1 #8a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see ,me to have4' ,and1 ,acts xxiii4 #h1 #i1 the word #8spirit' seems to signify #8the apparition of a departed soul1' where it is said1 #8,the ,sadducees say there is no resurrection1 neither angel nor spirit2' and1 verse #i1 #8,if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to this man1' etc4 ,a spirit here is plainly distinct from an angel2 and what can it mean but an apparition of a human soul which has left the body80 ,an acquaintance with the 8,world to ,come0 will take away even now from the reader any surprise at the popularity it once enjoyed during years when printed sermons were not very abundant1 and when readers received without questioning the doctrines and statements of such books as bore the imprint of the names of eminent men4 ,many passages are fraught with a most pleasing eloquence1 and1 read by a serious mind1 are well calculated to convey not only passing1 but permanent impressions4 ,shall we take two or three8 ,,all ,,things ,,preach ,,the ,,end ,,of ,,time4 8,time1 hastening to its period1 will furnish us with perpetual new occasions of holy meditation4 ,do ,i observe the declining day1 and the setting sun sinking into darkness8 ,so declines the day of life1 the hours of labour1 and the seasons of grace2 oh may ,i finish my appointed work with honour ere the light is fled6 ,may ,i improve the shining hours of grace ere the shadows of the evening overtake me1 and my time of working is no more6 ,do ,i see the moon gliding along through midnight1 and fulfilling her stages in the dusky sky8 ,this planet also is measuring out my life1 and bringing the number of my months to their end4 ,may ,i be prepared to take leave of the sun and moon1 and bid adieu to these visible heavens1 and all the twinkling glories of them6 ,these are all but the measures of my time1 and hasten me on towards eternity4 ,am ,i walking in a garden1 and stand still to observe the slow motion of the shadow upon a dial there8 ,it passes over the hour lines with an imperceptible progress1 yet it will touch the last line of daylight shortly3 so my hours and my moments move onward with a silent pace2 but they will arrive with certainty at the last limit1 how heedless soever ,i am of their motion1 and how thoughtless soever ,i may be of the improvement of time1 or the end of it4 ,does a new year commence1 and the first morning of it dawn upon me8 ,let me remember that the last year was finished1 and gone over my head1 in order to make way for the entrance of the present3 ,i have one year the less to travel through the world1 and to fulfil the various services of a travelling state3 may my diligence in duty be doubled1 since the number of my appointed years is diminished6 ,do ,i find a new birth-day in my survey of the calendar1 the day wherein ,i entered upon the stage of mortality1 and was born into this world of sins1 frailties1 and sorrows1 in order to my probation for a better state8 ,blessed ,lord1 how much have ,i spent already of this mortal life1 this season of my probation1 and how little am ,i prepared for that happier world6 ,how unready for my dying moment6 ,i am hastening hourly to the end of the life of man1 which began at my nativity3 am ,i yet born of ,god8 ,have ,i begun the life of a saint8 ,am ,i prepared for that awful day which shall determine the number of my months on earth8 ,am ,i fit to be born into the world of spirits through the strait gate of death8 ,am ,i renewed in all the powers of my nature1 and made meet to enter into that unseen world1 where there shall be no more of these revolutions of days and years1 but one eternal day fills up all the space with ,divine pleasure1 or one eternal night with long and deplorable distress and darkness8 ,when ,i see a friend expiring1 or the corpse of my neighbour conveyed to the grave3 alas6 their months and minutes are all determined1 and the seasons of their trial are finished for ever2 they are gone to their eternal home1 and the estate of their souls is fixed unchangeably3 the angel that has sworn their #8time shall be no longer' has concluded their hopes1 or has finished their fears1 and1 according to the rules of righteous judgment1 has decided their misery or happiness for a long immortality4 ,take this warning1 oh my soul1 and think of thine own removal6 ,are we standing in the churchyard1 paying the last honours to the relics of our friends8 ,what a number of hillocks of death appear all round us6 ,what are the tombstones but memorials of the inhabitants of that town1 to inform us of the period of all their lives1 and to point out the day when it was said to each of them1 your #8time shall be no longer4' ,oh may ,i readily learn this important lesson1 that my turn is hastening too6 ,such a little hillock shall shortly arise for me on some unknown spot of ground2 it shall cover this flesh and these bones of mine in darkness1 and shall hide them from the light of the sun1 and from the sight of man1 #8till the heavens be no more4' ,perhaps some kind surviving friend may engrave my name1 with the number of my days1 upon a plain funeral stone1 without ornament and below envy2 there shall my tomb stand1 among the rest1 as a fresh monument of the frailty of nature and the end of time4 ,it is possible some friendly foot may1 now and then1 visit the place of my repose1 and some tender eye may bedew the cold memorial with a tear3 one or another of my old acquaintance may possibly attend there to learn the silent lecture of mortality from my grave-stone1 which my lips are now preaching aloud to the world3 and if love and sorrow should reach so far1 perhaps1 while his soul is melting in his eye-lids1 and his voice scarce find an utterance1 he will point with his finger and show his companion the month and day of my decease4 ,oh that solemn1 that awful day1 which shall finish my appointed time on earth1 and put a full period to all the designs of my heart and all the labours of my tongue and pen4 ,think1 oh my soul6 that while friends or strangers are engaged on that spot1 and reading the date of my departure hence1 thou wilt be fixed under a decisive and unchangeable sentence1 rejoicing in the rewards of time well improved1 or suffering the long sorrows which shall attend the abuse of it in an unknown world of happiness or misery40 ,and we should think that many a believer has read the following with sentiments of delight3 ,,christ ,,admired ,,and ,,glorified ,,in ,,his ,,saints4 8,astonishing spectacle6 ,when the dark and savage inhabitants of ,africa1 and our forefathers1 the rugged and warlike ,britons1 from the ends of the earth1 shall appear in that assembly1 with some of the polite nations of ,greece and ,rome1 and each of them shall glory in having been taught to renounce the gods of their ancestors1 and the demons which they once worshipped1 and shall rejoice in ,jesus the ,king of ,israel1 and in ,jehovah the everlasting ,god4 ,the conversion of the ,gentile world to ,christianity is a matter of glorious wonder1 and shall appear to be so in that great day3 that those who had been educated to believe in many gods1 or no god at all1 should renounce atheism and idolatry1 and adore the true ,god only2 and those who were taught to sacrifice to idols1 and to atone for their own sins with the blood of beasts1 should trust in one sacrifice1 and the atoning blood of the ,son of ,god4 ,here shall stand a believing atheist1 and there a converted idolater1 as monuments of the almighty power of grace4 ,there shall shine also in that assembly here and there a prince and a philosopher1 though #8not many wise1 not many noble1 not many mighty are called4'#dc ,and they shall be matter of wonder and glory3 that princes1 who loved no control1 should bow their sceptres and their souls to the royalty and ,godhead of the poor ,man of ,nazareth3 that the heathen philosophers1 who had been used to yield only to reason1 should submit their understandings to ,divine revelation1 even when it has something above the powers and discoveries of reason in it4 8,come1 all ye saints of these latter ages1 #8upon whom the end of the world is come1' raise your heads with me1 and look far backwards1 even to the beginning of time1 and the days of ,adam2 for the believers of all ages1 as well as of all nations1 shall appear together in that day1 and acknowledge ,jesus the ,saviour3 according to the brighter or darker discoveries of the age in which they lived1 ,he has been the common object of their faith4 ,ever since ,he was called #8the ,seed of the woman1' till the time of ,his appearance in the flesh1 all the chosen of ,god have lived upon ,his grace1 though multitudes of them never knew ,his name4 ,it is true1 the greater part of that illustrious company on the right hand of ,christ lived since the time of ,his incarnation1 for the #8great multitude which no man could number' is derived from the ,gentile nations4 ,yet the ancient patriarchs1 with the ,jewish prophets and saints1 shall make a splendid appearance there3 #8one hundred and forty-four thousand are sealed among the tribes of ,israel2' these of old embraced the ,gospel in types and shadows2 but now their eyes behold ,jesus ,christ1 the substance and the truth4 ,in the days of their flesh they read ,his name in dark lines1 and looked through the long glasses of prophecy to distant ages1 and a ,saviour to come2 and now1 behold1 they find complete and certain salvation and glory in ,him4 #8,these all died in faith1 not having received the promises1 but having seen them afar off1 and were persuaded of them1 and embraced them4' ,they died in the hope of this salvation1 and they shall rise in the blessed possession of it4 8,behold ,abraham appearing there1 the father of the faithful1 #8who saw the day of ,christ1 and rejoiced to see it2' who trusted in his ,son ,jesus1 two thousand years before ,he was born2 his elder family1 the pious ,jews1 surround him there1 and we1 his younger children1 among the ,gentiles1 shall stand with him as the followers of his faith1 who trust in the same ,jesus almost two thousand years after ,he is dead4 ,how shall we both rejoice to see this brightest day of the ,son of ,man1 and congratulate each other's faith1 while our eyes meet and centre in ,him1 and our souls triumph in the sight1 love1 and enjoyment of ,him in whom we have believed6 ,how admirable and divinely glorious shall our ,lord ,himself appear1 on whom every life is fixed with unutterable delight1 in whom the faith of distant countries and ages is centered and reconciled1 and in whom #8all the nations of the earth appear to be blessed1' according to the ancient word of promise4 8,then one shall say3 #8,i was a sensual sinner1 drenched in liquor and unclean lusts1 and wicked in all the forms of lewdness and intemperance2 the grace of ,god my ,saviour appeared to me1 and taught me to deny worldly lusts1 which ,i once thought ,i could never have parted with4 ,i loved my sins as my life1 but ,he has persuaded and constrained me to cut off a right hand1 and to pluck out a right eye1 and to part with my darling vices2 and behold me here a monument of ,his saving mercy4' 8#8,i was envious against my neighbour1' shall another say1 #8and my temper was malice and wrath2 revenge was mingled with my constitution1 and ,i thought it no iniquity2 but ,i bless the name of ,christ my ,redeemer1 who1 in the day of ,his grace1 turned my wrath into meekness2 ,he inclined me to love even my enemies1 and to pray for them that cursed me2 ,he taught me all this by ,his own example1 and ,he made me learn it by the sovereign influences of ,his ,spirit4 ,i am a wonder to myself1 when ,i think what once ,i was4 ,amazing change1 and ,almighty grace6' 8,then a third shall confess3 #8,i was a profane wretch1 a swearer1 a blasphemer2 ,i hoped for no heaven1 and ,i feared no hell2 but the ,lord seized me in the midst of my rebellions1 and sent ,his arrows into my soul2 ,he made me feel the stings of an awakened conscience1 and constrained me to believe there was a ,god and a hell1 till ,i cried out astonished1 8,what shall ,i do to be saved80 ,then ,he led me to partake of ,his own salvation1 and1 from a proud1 rebellious infidel1 ,he has made me a penitent and a humble believer1 and here ,i stand to show forth the wonders of ,his grace1 and a boundless extent of ,his forgiveness4' 8,a fourth shall stand up and acknowledge in that day3 ,and ,i was a poor carnal1 covetous creature1 who made this world my god1 and abundance of money was my heaven2 but ,he cured me of this vile idolatry of gold1 taught me how to obtain treasures in the heavenly world1 and to forsake all on earth1 that ,i might have an inheritance there2 and1 behold1 ,he has not disappointed my hopes3 ,i am now made rich indeed1 and ,i must for ever sing ,his praises4' 8,there shall be no doubt or dispute in that day whether it was the power of our own will1 or the superior power of ,divine grace1 that wrought the blessed change1 that turned the lion into a lamb1 a grovelling earthworm into a bird of paradise1 and of a covetous or malicious sinner made a meek and a heavenly saint4 ,the grace of ,christ shall be so conspicuous in every glorified believer in that assembly1 that1 with one voice1 they shall all shout to the praise and glory of ,his grace1 #8,not to us1 ,o ,lord1 not to us1 but to ,thy name be all the honour6' 8,behold that noble army with palms in their hands2 once they were weak warriors1 yet they overcame mighty enemies1 and have gained the victory and the prize2 enemies rising from earth and from hell to tempt and to accuse them1 but they overcame #8by the blood of the ,lamb4' ,what a ,divine honour it shall be to our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 #8the ,captain of our salvation1' that weak ,christians should subdue their strong corruptions1 and get safe to heaven through a thousand oppositions within and without6 ,it is all owing to the grace of ,christ1 that grace which is all-sufficient for every saint4 ,they are made #8more than conquerors through ,him that has loved them4' ,then shall the faith and courage and patience of the saints have a blessed review2 and it shall be told before the whole creation what strife and wrestlings a poor believer has passed through in a dark cottage1 a chamber of lone sickness1 or perhaps in a dungeon2 how he has there combated with #8powers of darkness1' how he has struggled with huge sorrows1 and has borne1 and has not fainted1 though he has been often #8in heaviness through manifold temptations4' ,then shall appear the bright scene which ,st4 ,peter represents as the event of sore trials 7#a ,peter i4 #f1 #g74 #8,when our faith has been tried in the fire of tribulation1 and is found more precious than gold1' it shall shine to the praise1 honour1 and glory of the suffering saints1 and of ,christ ,himself at ,his appearance4 8,behold that illustrious troop of martyrs1 and some among them of the feebler sex and of tender age4 ,now1 that women should grow bold in faith1 even in the sight of torments1 and children1 with a manly courage1 should profess the name of ,christ in the face of angry and threatening rulers2 that some of these should become undaunted confessors of the truth1 and others triumph in fires and torture1 these things shall be matter of glory to ,christ in that day2 it was ,his power that gave them courage and victory in martyrdom and death4 ,every ,christian there1 every soldier in that triumphing army1 shall ascribe his conquest to the grace of his ,lord1 his ,leader1 and lay down all their trophies at the feet of his ,saviour1 with humble acknowledgments1 and shouts of honour4 8,almost all the saved number were1 at some part of their lives1 weak in faith1 and yet1 by the grace of ,christ1 they held out to the end1 and are crowned2 #8,i was a poor trembling creature1' shall one say1 #8but ,i was confirmed in my faith and holiness by the ,gospel of ,christ2 or1 ,i rested on a naked promise1 and found support1 because ,christ was there1 and ,he shall have the glory of it4' #8,in ,him are all the promises yea1 and in ,him amen1 to the glory of the ,father2' and the ,son shall share in this glory2 for ,he died to ratify these promises1 and ,he lives to fulfil them4 8#8,oh1 what an almighty arm is this1' shall the believer say1 #8that has borne up so many thousands of poor sinking creatures1 and lifted their heads above the waves6' ,the spark of grace that lived many years in a flood of temptations1 and was not quenched1 shall then shine bright to the glory of ,christ1 who kindled and maintained it4 ,when we have been brought through all the storms and the threatening seas1 and yet the raging waves have been forbid1 to swallow us up1 we shall cry out in raptures of joy and wonder3 #8,what manner of ,man is this1 that the winds and the seas have obeyed him8' ,then shall it be gloriously evident that ,he has conquered ,satan1 and kept the hosts of hell in chains2 when it shall appear that ,he has made poor1 mean1 trembling believers victorious over all the powers of darkness1 for the ,prince of ,peace has bruised him under their feet40 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,the ,man4 ,watts1 as we have seen1 lived so much in retirement and retreat1 and was so constant a sufferer from the infirmities of health1 that little is known in the way of incident and anecdote of his life4 ,in a sense1 indeed1 he lived constantly before the eyes of men1 for his industry1 when he was capable of industry1 must have been immense2 he must have read extensively1 he thought deeply1 and he possessed not only an active but a facile pen1 which appears to have served him very readily when he desired to translate his thoughts into language4 ,his life belongs to that order we represent by such names as ,richard ,hooker1 ,jeremy ,taylor1 and ,john ,howe3 we do not here compare or contrast the finer details of their character1 but1 like them1 he appears to have been essentially a man of contemplation2 his activity was only the reflection of a contemplative life4 ,in height he was quite beneath the common standard2 ,dr4 ,gibbons says not above five feet1 or1 at most1 five feet two inches2 we are not accustomed to associate so small a stature with any commanding presence in the pulpit2 yet his preaching was greatly admired1 and ,dr4 ,jennings says that it was not only weighty and powerful1 8but there was a certain dignity and respect in his very aspect which commanded attention and awe1 and when he spoke1 such strains of truly ,christian eloquence flowed from his lips as one thinks could not be easily slighted1 if resisted40 ,he was altogether a very slight figure--thin1 an oval face1 an aquiline nose1 his complexion fair and pale1 and1 ,gibbons says1 his forehead low2 but this does not appear in his portrait1 nor does that which it usually indicates1 a want of generosity1 mark his character4 ,when unable to preach1 it was with difficulty he could be persuaded to accept the stipend of the church of which he was the pastor1 saying that1 as he could not preach1 he had no title to any salary4 ,his refusal was not accepted1 but the delicate sense of honour marks the character of the man2 while1 from the time he lived in the ,abney family1 he devoted a third part of his income to charitable purposes4 ,his eyes appear to have lighted up his face2 they are described as singularly small and grey1 and are said to have been amazingly piercing and expressive4 ,his voice was very fine and1 slender1 but regular1 audible1 and pleasant4 ,the anecdote is well known of him that when he was in one of those coffee-houses--then the haunts of men who knew what company they might expect to find1 for every particular coterie had its own place of rendezvous--he overheard his name given by one person to another1 who said in surprise1 8,what6 is that the great ,dr4 ,watts80 ,whereupon he wrote down a verse and handed it to him3 ,were ,i so tall to reach the pole1 ,and grasp the ocean in a span1 ,i must be measured by my soul1-- ,the mind's the standard of the man4 ,we have never thought the anecdote a very likely one2 ,watts was altogether too quiet1 and we may use the word1 majestic in his manner to make it possible he would do this4 ,the verse is indeed his1 but it occurs in a lengthy poem1 and it is possible that it was fitted into a fabulous incident which some inventor of scenic situations thought might be1 or ought to be1 true4 ,there is another anecdote which has been related of him1 although we have seen it attributed to others1 how1 when once in a coffee-house1 and somewhat in the way of a tall giant of a man1 he said to ,watts1 8,let me pass1 ,o giant60 and ,watts replied1 8,pass on1 ,o pigmy60 8,i only referred to your mind10 said the giant2 8,i also to yours10 replied ,watts4 ,whatever impression such anecdotes may convey1 one of his chief characteristics was a very modest appreciation of himself4 8,his humility10 said ,dr4 ,jennings1 8like a deep shade1 set off his other graces and virtues1 and made them shine with greater lustre40 ,and of those attributes of his character of which others thought most highly1 he thought very inconsiderably4 ,and to such a character is often allied that which is very noticeable in him1 a very grateful sense of all favours conferred upon him4 ,there was nothing narrow in his mind1 he had a great width of thought and a great width of love3 although1 as we have seen1 a ,nonconformist by strong conviction1 judging the communion to which he belonged as favourable to civil and religious freedom1 and regarding the service as most in harmony with what he considered the simplicity of the ,gospel1 he was on terms of friendship with many other communions1 and especially with several of the prelates1 ministers1 and members of the ,established ,church4 ,it would be expected1 although this is not invariably the case1 that a mind so richly stored1 united to so ready an eloquence1 would shine in conversation1 and this was the case4 ,it is said that in conversation his wit sparkled2 his biographer says1 8,it was like an ethereal flame1 ever vivid and penetrating20 but he had an aversion to satire4 ,referring to the pictures he sometimes introduces1 illustrating the vices and follies of his age1 he utterly disclaims the idea that in them he has attempted to portray any personal character4 8,i would not10 he says1 8willingly create needless pain or uneasiness to the most despicable figure among mankind2 there are vexations enough among the beings of my species without my adding to the heap4 ,when a reflecting glass shows the deformity of a face so plain as to point to the person1 he will sooner be tempted to break the glass than reform his blemishes2 but if ,i can find any error of my own happily described in some general character1 ,i am then awakened to reform it in silence1 without the public notice of the world1 and the moral writer attains his noblest end40 ,he was not happy in the friendship of listeners1 who took down with any accuracy the sayings which fell from him2 and it is probable that in conversation1 although rich and full1 wide and wise1 it was rather remarkable for these characteristics than for either its gaiety or its force4 ,there were few waste moments for which he had to give an account2 he acted like a miser by his time1 and permitted few moments to pass without their being garnered and compelled to pay interest4 ,we read of his writing on horseback1 and whithersoever he travelled the objects which entered either the eye or the ear seem to have left abiding impressions4 ,it seems even the injustice of his opponents in disputation did not make him angry4 ,such injustice we know he had to experience2 and when1 in his later years1 he offended on both sides1 one writer complaining of him that he had gone too far1 and another that he had not gone far enough1 he contented himself by saying1 8,moderation must expect a box on both ears40 ,a character like that of ,watts inspires confidence in almost all that proceeds from his pen3 the men1 indeed1 who carry what ,chalmers called 8weight in life10 are usually the tall1 the self-assertive1 and the strong2 none of these attributes mark him1 and yet he appears to have carried great weight4 ,it was not by vehemence1 but by wisdom2 he did not win by the forcible striking of the ball1 but by prescience and a judicious calculation4 ,watts1 like so many of the great wits1 poets1 and authors of his time1 was what we should now consider very slightly versed in the accomplishments of travel3 a few places in the neighbourhood of ,london and ,southampton and ,tunbridge ,wells seem almost to exhaust his excursions4 ,indeed1 ,england was for the most part an unknown country1 and as to the continent of ,europe1 men of wealth and fashion were expected to perfect their education by the grand tour1 but to persons even in ,watts' circle of society1 ,france1 ,switzerland1 and ,italy1 with their cities1 memories1 forests1 and mountains1 were unknown4 ,gray had not yet discovered ,cumberland and ,westmoreland1 and when discovered1 there were no facilities to make travel thither very easy2 ,yorkshire and ,lancashire were almost equally unknown4 ,the place to which we frequently find ,watts retreating for the benefit of his health was ,tunbridge ,wells1 and a singular place it must have been for a retreat1 judging from the description ,macaulay has given us of it in his history2 but it furnishes us with a singular sense of the simple things which excited the imagination1 to read how ,watts regarded it4 ,many a modern reader is struck with surprise at ,shakespeare's description of the cliffs of ,dover--a description of terror and fear arising from precipitous heights1 which we could scarcely now persuade ourselves to be just of ,helvellyn and ,pendle4 ,the rocks of ,tunbridge seemed to ,watts so wild and fearful that they furnish him with a subject for a sermon1 8,on the vain ,refuge of ,sinners10 from the text reciting the condition of those who said to the mountains and rocks1 8,fall on us1 and hide us from the face of ,him that sitteth upon the throne40 ,the sermon is expressly called 8,a ,meditation upon the ,rocks near ,tunbridge ,wells10 and he says3 8,when ,i see such awful appearances in nature1 huge and lofty rocks hanging over my head1 and at every step of my approach they seem to nod upon me with overwhelming ruin2 when my curiosity searches far into hollow clefts1 their dark and deep caverns of solitude and desolation1 methinks1 whilst ,i stand amongst them1 ,i can hardly think myself in safety1 and1 at best1 they give a sort of solemn and dreadful delight4 ,let me improve the scene to religious purposes1 and raise a ,divine meditation4 ,am ,i one of those wretches who shall call to these huge impending rocks to fall upon me80 ,when ,watts first visited ,tunbridge ,wells in search of health and refreshment1 it must have been to our modern sense an uncomfortable place2 even at the close of his life and in his later visits1 it was only just rising into importance as the retreat of the coteries of fashion and letters2 it is almost the only spot left now which we may be sure1 from some points of view1 looks much as it did in the day when ,watts1 ,richardson1 or ,johnson walked along the ,pantiles1 and inhaled the breezes from the neighbouring rocks and grounds4 ,such as it was at the close of the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries1 we find described in the pages of ,macaulay and some of the novelists and poets4 ,the waters possessed some real1 and acquired an artificial1 fame2 there was no town1 only a few neat and rustic cottages1 some of these moveable2 moveable cabins and huts were drawn on sledges from one part of the common to another4 ,fashionable ,london tradespeople went down and spread out their bazaars under the trees1 and near the spring2 a fair was daily held1 in which were booths where the man of letters and the politician might find his cup of coffee1 his newspaper1 and his friend2 and others1 in which the gambler might find his vice and his victim4 ,on the whole1 it was a merry place for sated and wearied fashionable loungers1 where they might believe that they were becoming rural1 and charm themselves into the persuasion that they were the spectators of a poetry of nature1 which they would have been indisposed to experience too long or too deeply2 but a place where we cannot suppose that ,watts found himself for any length of time at home4 ,he was1 however1 frequently there1 and upon one occasion he was guilty of one of the few of what may be called the vanities of verse which fell from his pen4 ,the atmosphere of watering-places is favourable to every kind of literary as well as other lounging4 ,watts was not altogether insensible1 we should suppose1 to the charms of female beauty1 and certainly a man may well be moved to express himself in verse concerning it1 when feeble verses have been erroneously attributed to him4 ,it was in the summer of #agab1 when at ,tunbridge ,wells1 that he wrote the following lines in honour of ,lady ,sunderland1 one of the daughters of the ,duke of ,marlborough2 her husband had just been dismissed from the councils of the queen1 and she had just withdrawn from the court4 ,we may suppose the little clusters of various loungers and talkers would be surprised to see them in some one of the little local flying 8,mercury's0 of the day where these verses appeared and were attributed to ,watts2 he appears to have felt it was an occasion for some apology for stepping into such a by-way2 he does so in the following note1 upon which fancy may a little divert itself as to the life he and others led at ,tunbridge ,wells3 ,,to ,,amyntas4 8,perhaps you were not a little surprised1 my friend1 when you saw some stanzas on the ,lady ,sunderland at ,tunbridge ,wells1 and were told that ,i wrote them2 but when ,i give you a full account of the occasion your wonder will cease4 ,the ,duke of ,marlborough's three daughters1 namely1 the ,lady ,godolphin1 the ,lady ,sunderland1 and the ,lady ,bridgewater1 had been at the ,wells some time when ,i came there2 nor had ,i the honour of any more acquaintance with any of them than what was common to all the company in the ,wells1 that is1 to be told who they were when they passed by4 ,a few days afterwards they left that place1 and the next morning there was found a copy of verses in the coffee-house1 called the #8,three ,shining ,sisters2' but1 the author being unknown1 some persons were ready to attribute them to me1 knowing that ,i had heretofore dealt in rhyme4 ,i confess ,i was ashamed of several lines in that copy4 ,some were very dull1 and others1 as ,i remember1 bordered upon profaneness4 8,that afternoon ,i rode abroad as usual for my health1 and it came into my head to let my friends see that1 if ,i would choose such a theme1 ,i would write in another manner than that nameless author had done4 ,accordingly1 as ,i was on horseback1 ,i began a stanza on the #8,three ,shining ,sisters1' but my ideas1 my rhyme1 and the metre would not hit well while the words ran in the plural number2 and this slight occurrence was the real occasion of turning my thoughts to the singular2 and then1 because the ,lady ,sunderland was counted much the finest woman of the three1 ,i addressed the verses to her name4 ,afterwards when ,i came to the coffee-house1 ,i entertained some of my friends with these lines1 and they1 imagining it would be no disagreeable thing to the company1 persuaded me to permit them to pass through the press40 ,but here are the verses-- ,,ode ,,to ,,lady ,,sunderland1 #agab4 ,fair nymph1 ascend to ,beauty's throne1 ,and rule that radiant world alone2 ,let favourites take thy lower sphere1 ,no monarchs are thy rivals here4 ,the court of ,beauty built sublime1 ,defies all pow'rs but heaven and time2 ,envy1 that clouds the hero's sky1 ,aims but in vain her shafts so high4 ,not ,blenheim's field1 nor ,ister's flood1 ,nor standards dyed in ,gallic blood1 ,torn from the foe1 add nobler grace ,to ,churchill's house than ,spenser's face4 ,the warlike thunder of his arms ,is less commanding than her charms2 ,his lightning strikes with less surprise ,than sudden glances from her eyes4 ,his captives feel their limbs confined ,in iron2 she enslaves the mind3 ,we follow with a pleasing pain1 ,and bless the conqueror and the chain4 ,the ,muse that dares in numbers do ,what paint and pencil never knew1 ,faints at her presence in despair1 ,and owns th' inimitable fair4 ,presently appeared the following epigram or impromptu composed by some divine1 of which it has been truly remarked that it is difficult to say whether the author or the lady has the greater compliment6-- ,while numerous bards have sounded ,spenser's name1 ,and made her beauties heirs to lasting fame1 ,her memory still to their united lays ,stands less indebted than to ,watts's praise4 ,what wondrous charms must to that fair be given1 ,who moved a mind that dwelt so near to heaven6 ,tunbridge ,wells is still the pleasant resort of those who seek the mild and quiet attractions of charming scenery1 refreshing breezes1 and crags and downs2 but the romantic season of ,tunbridge ,wells is to be sought for about the period when ,watts and his contemporaries were visitors there1 scenes open to the fancy which it would be difficult to realize now amidst its splendid palatial residences2 even ,nature must look less like ,nature than it did then1 while the superior auxiliaries of comfort and accommodation have1 as in almost all such instances1 been purchased at the expense of dissipating the charms and rural beauties of a place which still retains so many of them as to make one of the most attractive and satisfying haunts for a sick heart among the sanatories of ,england4 ,the life of ,dr4 ,watts must be illustrated rather from his works than from its incidents4 ,it is remarkable that so little is recorded of him2 his powers of conversation seem to have been considerable1 and his reputation for wit was what we might naturally suppose from the liveliness of many of his prose writings4 ,but he was certainly unfortunate in his first biographer4 ,dr4 ,gibbons was an accomplished man1 a correct and fine scholar1 but surely the last thing for which he was ever intended1 either by nature or by grace1 was to write a biography4 ,his contains many noticeable and acute remarks1 and some passages which almost dilate into beauty2 but it is strange that1 constant as was his intercourse with his friend1 he has preserved scarcely anything either of anecdote1 conversation1 or description illustrating their intercourse2 and it seems certain that ,watts' life would have well repaid the assiduity of a ,boswell4 ,his mind was remarkably full1 and ,gibbons testifies how1 on any and every occasion1 he was able to express himself at once with great force1 propriety1 and elegance4 ,but his biographer only tells us how his life1 from the time of his earliest studies1 afforded little variety1 and consequently has few subjects for narration--it 8flowed along in an even1 uniform tenor2 one year1 one month1 one week1 one day being1 in a manner1 a repetition of the former40 ,like some other eminent men1 it somewhat appears as if he finished the furnishing of his mind when in his youngest years1 and devoted all the after period of his life to the unfolding1 amplifying1 expounding1 and popularizing the stores he had amassed and acquired4 ,dr4 ,gibbons refers to the fact that his 8,treatise on ,astronomy and ,geography0 was most probably prepared for the tuition of ,mr4--afterwards ,sir ,john--,hartopp2 when published in #agbe1 in the dedication to ,mr4 ,eames1 he says that3 8,the papers had lain by him in silence above twenty years20 and as to his 8,logic10 we have already referred to it2 and the dedication in which he tells his former pupil that 8it was fit that the public should receive1 through his hands1 what was originally written for the assistance of his younger studies1 and was thus presented to him40 ,and thus we are assured that the work which met with so large a reception and distinguished applause was prepared in days when he was himself little more than a youth1 to serve his own purposes of tuition4 ,such was the life of this interesting man--it was a fountain of life and power4 ,in the spacious chapel-walk in ,southampton there is a pavement-stone marked with the letter ,w--it stands for ,watts2 but1 as ,mr4 ,carlyle says in his interesting paper on ,watts1 it might stand for ,watts' ,well2 it was once the property of ,isaac ,watts1 and the well has a long story1 well authenticated in the church records of the ,above ,bar congregation4 ,that well of clear1 beautiful water was purchased by old ,isaac ,watts from his friend1 ,robert ,thorner1 the founder of the ,southampton ,charity4 ,it was on1 and constituted a part of1 the tenement known by the name of the ,meeting-house2 then it was leased to the church1 then it was purchased by the church4 ,it was known in ,southampton two hundred years ago4 ,it is now a fountain sealed1 but still it is known1 and proudly the pastor says1 8,our father ,isaac gave us this well1 and drank thereof1 himself and his children40#dd ,watts' ,well is no inapt symbol or emblem of ,watts' life and labours4 ,even lost to sight1 sealed over1 its springs still pour along their refreshing1 cooling1 and transparent streams2 nor have the crowds who hurry thoughtlessly by power to interfere with the useful freshness of its pure blessings4 8,the last days are the best witnesses for a man40 8,blessed10 says old ,robert ,harris1 8shall he be that so lived that he was desired1 and so died that he was missed40 ,isaac ,watts illustrated in a remarkable manner power in weakness4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,death and ,burial4 ,he died in #agdh1 at the age of seventy-four1 in ripe years1 and hoary with the honours of holiness4 ,we are dependent upon his friend and biographer1 ,dr4 ,gibbons1 for almost all that we know of his last days and hours1 but it is very pleasant to find that the author of 8,the ,world to ,come0 himself went down to the grave with all the calmness and confidence which the words he has uttered have so often imparted to others in the outlook towards the better country4 ,he says1 8,it is a glory to the ,gospel when we can lie down with courage in hope of its promised blessings2 dying with faith and fortitude is a noble conclusion of a life of zeal and service40 8,death in the course of nature10 he says1 8as well as by the hands of violence1 hath always something awful and formidable in it2 flesh and blood shrink and tremble at the appearance of a dissolution2 but death is the last enemy of all the saints1 and when a ,christian meets it with sacred courage he gives that honour to the ,captain of his salvation which the saints in glory can never give1 and which we can never repeat2 it is an honour to our common faith when it overcomes the terrors of death1 and raises the ,christian to a song of triumph in the view of the last enemy2 it is a new crown put upon the head of our ,redeemer1 and a living cordial put into the hands of mourning friends in our dying hour when we can take leave of them with holy fortitude1 rejoicing in the salvation of ,christ40 ,such were his words2 such honour have not all the saints2 some who have looked forward through life with triumph to that hour have fainted when it came1 and some who feared it most have felt it least3 peculiar temperaments and special forms of pain and disease sometimes make death dreadful2 and an old writer says1 8,we are not glad to feel the snake1 even when we know its sting is drawn40 ,thomas ,walsh1 one of the holiest and most eminent of the early ,methodists1 was very angry against ,john ,fletcher1 the seraphic vicar of ,madeley1 because he heard him say that some comparatively weak believers might die most cheerfully1 and that some strong ones1 for the further purification of their faith1 or for inscrutable reasons1 might have severe conflicts4 8,be it done unto you according to your faith10 said ,walsh1 8and be it done unto me according to mine40 ,but when the hour came to ,walsh it was clouded1 and those eyes which had 8looked out of the windows were darkened20 only at the last moment he exclaimed1 8,he is come6 ,he is come6 ,my beloved is mine1 and ,i am ,his for ever60 ,and so he passed4 ,but ,fletcher died in a rapture4 8,i know thy soul10 said his wife1 8but if ,jesus is very present with thee1 lift up thy right hand40 ,immediately it was raised4 8,if the prospects of glory sweetly open before thee1 repeat the sign40 ,the hand was raised a second time1 and so his soul breathed itself away4 ,faith survives the presence of sensible comforts4 ,an aged believer in ,southampton1 on her death-bed1 complained of the absence of sensible comforts to her pastor1 the ,rev4 ,w4 ,kingsbury1 but so strong was her faith that she said1 8,it is against the whole scope of ,divine revelation that my soul should be lost40 ,old ,thomas ,fuller1 having surveyed the various modes of death1 arrived at the short1 decisive conclusion1 8,none please me40 8,but away10 he adds1 8with these thoughts2 the mark must not choose what arrow shall be shot against it40 ,the happiness of a clear1 calm departure was given to ,watts1 his closing days were serene and happy2 with all the imaginative glow of his mind1 he had naturally a calm character4 ,he had well grounded his convictions2 he had long lived like a sunbeam amidst sunbeams in the light4 ,dr4 ,gibbons1 speaking from his own knowledge1 says1 8,although his weakness was very great1 he knew no decay of intelligence1 and was the subject of no wild fancies40 ,his biographer adds1 8,he saw his approaching dissolution with a mind perfectly calm and composed1 without the least alarm or dismay1 and ,i never could discover1 though ,i was frequently with him1 the least shadow of a doubt as to his future everlasting happiness1 or anything that looked like an unwillingness to die2 how ,i have known him recite with self-application those words in ,hebrews1 #8,ye have need of patience1 that1 after ye have done the will of ,god1 ye may receive the promise2' and how often have ,i heard him1 upon leaving the family after supper and withdrawing to rest1 declare with the sweetest composure1 that if his ,master was to say to him that he had no more work for him to do1 he should be glad to be dismissed that night4 ,and ,i once heard him say1 with a kind of impatience1 perhaps such as might in some degree trespass upon that submission we ought always to pay to the ,divine will1 #8,i wonder why the great ,god should continue me in life1 when ,i am incapable of performing ,him any further service8'0 ,the death-beds of great and eminent men are often hung round with curious fables and inventions2 one is mentioned even to our own day1 although ,dr4 ,gibbons denies the whole story in the very first edition of his biography4 ,somebody conveyed it to ,mr4 ,toplady1 who says1 8,that little more than half-an-hour before ,dr4 ,watts expired he was visited by his dear friend1 ,mr4 ,whitefield2 he1 asking him how he found himself1 the dying doctor answered1 #8,here am ,i1 one of ,christ's waiting servants4' ,soon after a medicine was brought in1 and ,mr4 ,whitefield assisted in raising him upon the bed that he might with more convenience take the draught2 on the doctor's apologizing for the trouble he gave ,mr4 ,whitefield1 the latter replied1 with his usual amiable politeness1 #8,surely1 my dear brother1 ,i am not too good to wait upon a waiting servant of ,christ6' ,soon after1 ,mr4 ,whitefield took his leave1 and often regretted since that he had not prolonged his visit1 which he would certainly have done could he have foreseen that his friend was but within a half-an-hour's distance from the kingdom of glory40 ,there is not a word of truth in the whole story2 ,dr4 ,gibbons says it is entirely fictitious4 8,mr4 ,whitefield never visited the doctor in his last illness or confinement1 nor had any conversation or interview with him for some months before his decease4 ,it were to be wished that greater care was practised by the writers of other persons' lives1 that illusions might not take place and obtain the regards of truth1 and lay historians who come after them under the unpleasing necessity of dissolving their figments1 and thereby1 in consequence1 evincing to the world how little credit is due to these relations40 ,his dying sayings are recorded1 and they were all of them of a quiet and peaceful nature4 ,dr4 ,jennings1 who preached his funeral sermon1 and saw him on his death-bed1 mentions1 that while for two or three years previous to his death his active and more sprightly powers of nature had failed1 his trust in ,god1 through ,jesus the ,mediator1 remained unshaken to the last4 ,to ,lady ,abney he said3 8,i bless ,god ,i can lie down with comfort at night1 not being solicitous whether ,i awake in this world or another40 ,and again he said3 8,i should be glad to read more1 yet not in order to be confirmed more in the truth of the ,christian religion1 or in the truth of its promises1 for ,i believe them enough to venture into eternity on them40 ,when he was almost worn out and broken down by his infirmities he said1 in conversation with a friend1 that he remembered an aged minister used to say1 that the most learned and knowing ,christians1 when they come to die1 have only the same plain promises of the ,gospel for their support as the common and the unlearned4 8,and so10 said he1 8,i find it2 they are the plain promises of the ,gospel that are my support1 and ,i bless ,god they are plain promises1 which do not require much labour or pains to understand them1 for ,i can do nothing now but look into my ,bible for some promise to support me1 and live upon that40 ,dr4 ,gibbons naturally regrets that he did not commit to writing the words of his dying friend2 it is wonderful that he did not2 but ,watts had an amanuensis who had been with him upwards of twenty years1 and who1 as ,gibbons says1 was 8in a manner ever with him20 to him and to ,miss ,abney1 or1 as she is generally called1 ,mistress ,elizabeth ,abney1 the eldest daughter and successor to the ,abney property1 we are principally indebted for the record of his dying words4 ,when he found his spirit tending to impatience1 he would check himself1 saying3 8,the business of a ,christian is to bear the will of ,god as well as do it4 ,if ,i were in health ,i could only be doing that1 and that ,i may do now2 the best thing in obedience is a regard to the will of ,god1 and the way to that is to get our inclinations and aversions as much modified as we can40 ,some of his expressions were such as the following3 8,i would be waiting to see what ,god will do with me2 it is good to say as ,mr4 ,baxter1 what1 when1 and where ,god pleases4 ,if ,god should raise me up again ,i may finish some more of my papers1 or ,god can make use of me to save a soul1 and that will be worth living for4 ,if ,god has no more service for me to do1 through grace ,i am ready2 it is a great mercy to me that ,i have no manner of fear or dread of death4 ,i could if ,god please lay my head back and die without terror this afternoon or night2 my chief supports are from my view of eternal things1 and the interest ,i have in them4 ,i trust all my sins are pardoned through the blood of ,christ2 ,i have no fear of dying2 it would be my greatest comfort to lie down and sleep1 and wake no more40 ,dr4 ,gibbons a short time before his death came into his room1 and finding him alone sat down for conversation with him2 he said not a word of what he had been or done in life1 but his soul seemed swallowed up with gratitude and joy for the redemption of sinners by ,jesus ,christ4 ,his visitor thought he realized the description of the apostle1 8,whom having not seen ye love2 in whom1 though now ye see ,him not1 yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory40 ,so he continued to the close1 rising into no ecstasies1 nor sinking into any great depressions1 in the full possession of his understanding1 free from pain of body1 comfortable in spirit4 ,this was during the autumn of #agdh4 ,it was during the month of ,november that he was confined to his room1 never to leave it any more4 ,for three weeks he continued in the state just described1 tenderly attended for the most part by ,lady ,abney or ,mr4 ,parker4 ,the following extracts are from ,mr4 ,parker's letters to the brother of ,dr4 ,watts1 residing at ,southampton1 the first dated ,november #bdth1 #agdh3 8,i wrote to you by the last post that we apprehended my master very near his end1 and that we thought it not possible he should be alive when the letter reached your hands2 and it will no doubt greatly surprise you to hear that he still lives4 ,we ourselves are amazed at it4 ,he passed through the last night in the main quiet and easy1 but for five hours would receive nothing within his lips4 ,i was down in his chamber early in the morning1 and found him quite sensible4 ,i begged he would be pleased to take a little liquid to moisten his mouth1 and he received at my hand three teaspoonsful1 and has done the like several times this day4 ,upon inquiry he told me he lay easy1 and his mind was peaceful and serene4 ,i said to him this morning that he had taught us how to live1 and was now teaching us how to die by his patience and composure1 for he has been remarkably in this frame for several days past4 ,he replied1 #8,yes4' ,i told him ,i hoped he experienced the comfort of these words1 #8,i will never leave thee1 nor forsake thee4' ,he answered1 #8,i do4' ,the ease of body and calmness of mind which he enjoys is a great mercy to him1 and to us4 ,his sick chamber has nothing terrifying in it4 ,he is an upright man1 and ,i doubt not that his end will be peace4 ,we are ready to use the words of ,job1 and say1 #8,we shall seek him in the morning1 but he shall not be4' ,but ,god only knows by whose power he is upheld in life1 and for wise purposes1 no doubt4 ,he told me he liked that ,i should be with him4 ,all other business is put off1 and ,i am in the house night and day4 ,i would administer all the relief that is in my power4 ,he is worthy of all that can be done for him4 ,i am your very faithful and truly afflicted servant40 ,on the next day1 ,november #beth1 in the afternoon1 aged seventy-four years1 four months1 and eight days1 the gentle spirit of the ,doctor passed away1 and ,mr4 ,parker wrote again to the same person3 8,at length the fatal news is come4 ,the spirit of the good man1 my dear master1 took its flight from the body to worlds unseen and joys unknown yesterday in the afternoon1 without a struggle or a groan4 ,my ,lady ,abney and ,mrs4 ,abney are supported as well as we can reasonably expect4 ,it is a house of mourning and tears1 for ,i have told you before now that we all attended upon him and served him from a principle of love and esteem4 ,may ,god forgive us all1 that we have improved no more by him1 while we enjoyed him60 8,may ,i be excused10 says his biographer1 8if ,i take the liberty of adding that ,i saw the corpse of this excellent man in his coffin1 and observed nothing more than death in its aspect4 ,the countenance appeared quite placid1 like a person fallen into a gentle sleep1 or such as the spirit might be supposed to leave behind it upon its willing departure to the celestial happiness4 ,how justly might ,i have said at the moment ,i beheld his dead earth1 as he does in an epitaph upon a pious young man1 who was removed from our world after a lingering and painful illness3 8,so sleep the saints1 and cease to groan1 ,when sin and death have done their worst3 ,christ has a glory like ,his own ,which waits to clothe their waking dust60 ,and this was the manner in which 8this silver cord was loosed1 and this golden bowl broken40 ,they buried him1 of course1 in ,bunhill ,fields2 thither already had been borne the bodies of many of those who had been his fellow-students1 and his most familiar friends2 and thither were to follow him at last many of those friends who were for a few brief years to survive him4 ,it was the ,campo ,santo of ,nonconformity1 the spot consecrated by the memories of the martyrs and confessors of civil and religious liberty1 and their tombs then were fresh4 ,their graves and their memories were green and verdant4 ,amidst the wilderness of indiscriminate tombs it is now scarcely possible to decipher localities1 dust has mingled with dust1 yet it would be scarcely possible to visit anywhere a spot where almost every mound recalled venerable remains or in the course of years became haunted by such tender and animating memories4 ,bunhill ,fields does not possess the attractive and splendid tombs of ,pre la ,chaise or ,munich1 of ,greenwood or ,kensall ,green1 but it may be with perfect certainty affirmed that none of these places possess such a congregation of sainted sleepers1 and such consecrated dust4 ,the history of this pensive enclosure goes back to the reign of ,henry ,,iii4 ,it had been from a period even anterior to this set apart as the exercising and training ground for the archers and train-bands of the ,city2 indeed it is probable1 whether he knew it or not1 that this is the very spot to which ,lord ,lytton refers in some of the earlier scenes of the 8,last of the ,barons10 the archery-ground of ,finsbury2 a romantic and lovely spot1 a very easy walk from the quaint gabled houses of the old ,city four hundred years since4 ,it was a spot surrounded by gardens and orchards in the ,manor of ,finsbury or ,fensbury1 and on the borders of that extensive suburban tract1 the ,moor ,fields2 but when the ,great ,plague decimated ,london1 the ,corporation set apart this field as a burial-place for the poor4 ,it was a gentle acclivity1 a rising spot of ground1 which1 affection had called the ,bonhill1 at a time when the language of the country was very largely held in possession by ,norman influences and ,french terms1 as in innumerable instances mingled with ,saxon4 ,thus3 ,in death divided from their dearest kin1 ,this was a field to bury strangers in2 ,fragments from families untimely reft1 ,like spoils in flight1 or limbs in battle left1 ,lay there#de ,the subsequent history of the place justifies another characterization from the same poet3 ,for they were there to this ,siberia sent1 ,doomed in the grave itself to banishment4 ,as a humble cemetery for the purposes we have mentioned1 it had been enclosed at the charge of the ,corporation1 but for this purpose it was not long needed2 and when the ravages of persecution succeeded to those of disease1 one ,tyndall purchased it1 principally for the interment of ,dissenters1 and it became known as ,tyndall's ,burying ,ground4 ,the first interment in this second epoch of its funereal history dates from the first distinctly legible stone in the year #affh4 ,twenty years after this1 it received the beloved and revered remains of ,john ,bunyan2 in the interim1 many of those who had been among the foremost religious actors1 preachers1 and writers of the time came hither--,thomas ,goodwin1 ,thomas ,manton1 ,joseph ,caryl1 ,theophilus ,gale1 ,john ,owen1 ,william ,jenkyn1 ,henry ,jessey1 ,william ,kiffin1 ,hanserd ,knollys1 and many others4 ,in this spot almost every order of religious outlawed opinion finds some representative3 here reposes the active body of ,daniel ,defoe1 and in ,bunhill ,fields1 but in a spot set apart to those of his opinion1 rests the founder of the ,society of ,friends1 ,george ,fox2 and here that revered and holy woman1 from whose household in the ,rectory of ,epworth went forth the inspiration1 as from her own life went forth the lives of the prophet and poet of ,methodism1 ,mrs4 ,susannah ,wesley2 here rest two well-beloved sweet singers1 whose names are found in all our hymn-books1 ,joseph ,swain and ,joseph ,hart4 ,as the years passed along every one brought some additional revenue to the wealth of the spot4 ,hither came ,dr4 ,gibbons1 ,watts' biographer1 and1 by-and-by1 ,john ,gill1 the author of the huge commentary1 if wild in fancy1 still learned in all ,rabbinical and ,hebrew lore1 and ,john ,macgowan1 the author of the 8,dialogues of ,devils20 here rests ,dr4 ,williams1 the founder of the well-known library1 and donor of the scholarships connected with it1 and by this name we are reminded of the great ,arians who sleep very quietly here4 ,here lie ,theophilus ,lindsay1 ,abraham ,bees1 ,richard ,price1 ,nathaniel ,gardner1 and ,thomas ,belsham1 all men of huge scholarship1 whatever our estimate of their doctrines2 here lies1 of another order1 the learned ,john ,eames1 the friend and fellow-student of ,dr4 ,watts1 the friend and correspondent of ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 and of whom ,watts said that he was the most learned man he ever knew2 ,thomas ,bradbury1 ,watts' abusive and disingenuous traducer and adversary1 found the quiet he never permitted himself to find when living1 either in tranquil or troublesome times2 and hither1 within the memory of those living1 came ,matthew ,wilks1 quaint and witty old preacher of the ,london ,tabernacles1 and his fiery-hearted and earnest co-pastor1 ,john ,hyatt1 and ,james ,upton1 ,john ,rippon1 and the beloved and beautiful ,alexander ,waugh and ,george ,burder4 ,the names we have mentioned are great1 but a very small instalment from the list of those famous in holiness and scholarship and sanctified genius1 to whom ,bunhill ,fields was the ,machpelah of their lives4 ,indeed1 until the opening of the ,abney ,park ,cemetery1 a place which derived its name and interest from its association with1 and memories of1 ,dr4 ,watts1 ,bunhill ,fields was the receptacle of every ,nonconformist notability in the neighbourhood of ,london4 ,it was as natural that those who had attained an eminence in its confession should receive sepulture there1 as that the great statesman or poet should repose within the hallowed naves of ,westminster4 ,the significance of the spot1 and the fact that it received amongst its other treasures all that was mortal of the subject of this memoir1 seem to justify this lengthy loitering amongst its tombs4 ,watts1 by his will1 directed that his remains should find their last resting-home in this place1 amongst the fathers and brethren1 many of whom he had so well known2 he also desired that it should be conducted as quietly as possible1 but wished that his body should be attended to the grave by two ,independent1 two ,presbyterian1 and two ,baptist ministers2 but an immense concourse of persons gathered1 as was to be expected4 ,dr4 ,chandler gave the address at the grave1 and ,dr4 ,david ,jennings preached to his people the funeral sermon4 ,returning from the funeral1 ,dr4 ,benjamin ,grosvenor was met by a friend1 who said1 8,well1 ,doctor1 you have seen the end of ,dr4 ,watts1 and must soon follow him2 what think you of death80 8,think of it60 replied he1 8why1 when death comes ,i shall smile on him if ,god smile on me40 ,other funeral sermons were preached1 and they are in our possession1 especially one by ,dr4 ,john ,milner1 of which ,doddridge thought very highly1 and in whose house ,oliver ,goldsmith1 a poor1 simple young man1 his mind and heart full of worlds of shrewdness and tenderness1 for a long time lived as an usher4 ,to prevent any laboured and too flattering an epitaph1 which in those days1 indeed1 there was plenty of cause to dread1 from the hands of partial friends1 who certainly had none of the graces of concision1 ,watts wrote his own modest memorial1 and it was placed over his grave4 ,it reads as follows3 8,isaac ,watts1 ,d4,d41 pastor of a church of ,christ in ,london1 successor to the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,joseph ,caryl1 ,dr4 ,john ,owen1 ,mr4 ,david ,clarkson1 and ,dr4 ,isaac ,chauncey1 after fifty years of feeble labours in the ,gospel1 interrupted by four years of tiresome sickness1 was at last dismissed to his rest-- ,in uno ,jesu omnia4 #b ,cor4 v4 #h3 #8,absent from the body1 and present with the ,lord4' ,col4 iii4 #d3 #8,when ,christ1 who is my life1 shall appear1 then shall ,i also appear with ,him in glory4'0 8,this monument1 on which the above modest inscription is placed1 by order of the deceased1 was erected1 as a small testimony of regard to his memory1 by ,sir ,john ,hartopp1 ,bart41 and ,dame ,mary ,abney40 ,but1 shortly after his death1 a monument was erected to his memory in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,another monument erected in his chapel met with a singular fate3 some years since the chapel was pulled down1 and all its properties sold off4 ,john ,astley ,marsden1 ,esq41 of ,liscard ,castle1 in ,cheshire1 passing through one of the ,london streets1 saw a marble tablet inscribed with the name of ,dr4 ,watts2 inquiring about its meaning1 he found it was the very tablet which had been set up behind his pulpit2 he purchased it as an interesting relic of a man for whom he had a great reverence1 he took it home to his residence in ,cheshire1 and upon his own ground he reared a church at his own expense1 and there placed the old cast-aside monument1 handing the church over in trust to the ,congregational body4 ,the inscription is that humble memorial which ,watts himself had prepared1 and to which we have referred4 ,in addition1 however1 to these1 a monument has been raised to his memory in ,abney ,park ,cemetery1 a cemetery which has succeeded to the reputation of ,bunhill ,fields as the resting-place of metropolitan ,nonconformists1 and is spread out upon the grounds where stood the house and park1 the history of which1 and its relation to the memory of ,watts1 we have given in an earlier part of this volume4 ,in #ahfa1 principally through the active exertions of ,mr4 ,william ,lankester1 a monument was erected to his memory in his native town of ,southampton4 ,the statue1 about eight feet high1 which is three feet larger than life1 is of white marble1 and stands upon a pedestal of polished grey ,aberdeen granite2 and the site selected has received since then the designation 8,watts' ,park40 ,the movement for the erection of the monument received the co-operation of ,churchmen as well as ,nonconformists1 and the president of the committee was ,dr4 ,wigram1 the ,bishop of ,rochester4 ,the statue was uncovered by the ,earl of ,shaftesbury1 ,july #agth1 #ahfa1 and the day was kept with great festivity in the town2#df it took the shape of a great local celebration in honour of a man who had conferred honour on the town by his life and writings4 ,it is not uninteresting to think of the change of public sentiment since the day when the infant ,isaac1 in the arms of his mother1 was held up to the eyes of his father in the gaol of the very town where1 to the honoured memory of that infant1 there was offered up so large an ovation of respect1 in which not only the ,mayor and ,corporation1 but members1 ministers1 and prelates of that very ,church which had persecuted the father for his opinions1 united4 ,it is a testimony to the change which has passed over ecclesiastical opinion since that day4 ,thus1 some portion of the prophecy of ,dr4 ,jennings in his funeral sermon1 from the text1 8,he being dead yet speaketh10 was fulfilled4 8,if ,i am not greatly deceived1 the same thing will be said of him in far distant ages that is said of ,abel in our text2 while he is now celebrating the honours of ,god and of the ,lamb in the new songs of heaven1 how many thousands of pious worshippers are this day lifting up their hearts to ,god in the sacred songs that he taught them upon earth6 ,though his voice is not any longer heard by us1 yet his words1 like those of the day and night1 are gone out to the end of the world4 ,america and ,europe still hear him speak1 and it is highly probable they may continue to do so till ,europe and ,america shall be no more40 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,isaac ,watts1 ,d4,d4 ,from the ,bust in ,dr4 ,williams' ,library4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,summary and ,estimate of ,prose ,writings4 ,in attempting any estimate of the prose writings of ,watts we give the first place to his educational works4 ,and without descending to adulation it may be fairly questioned whether any one individual in ,english literature has effected so much and such various work for the cause of education as ,isaac ,watts4 ,as we have seen1 he gave a system of logic to the universities1 a very simple system1 but it broke up the old trammels and chains of mere verbal logic1 and taught students to look after1 and how to look at things4 ,johnson says3 8,of his philosophical pieces his #8,logic' has been received into the universities1 and therefore wants no private recommendation4 ,if he owes part of it to ,le ,clerc1 it must be considered that no man who undertakes merely to methodize or illustrate a system pretends to be its author4 ,few books10 continues ,johnson1 8have been perused by me with greater pleasure than his #8,improvement of the ,mind1' of which the radical principles may indeed be found in ,locke's #8,conduct of the ,understanding1' but they are so expanded and magnified by ,watts as to confer upon him the merit of a work in the highest degree useful and pleasing4 ,whoever has the care of instructing others may be charged with deficiency in his duty if this book is not recommended40 ,and in another paragraph of his memoir ,johnson says3 8,for children he condescended to lay aside the scholar1 the philosopher1 and the wit1 to write little poems of devotion and systems of instruction adapted to their wants and capacities from the dawn of reason through its gradations of advance in the morning of life4 ,every man acquainted with the common principles of human action will look with veneration on the writer who is at one time combating ,locke1 and in another making a catechism for children in their fourth year2 a voluntary descent from the dignity of science is perhaps the hardest lesson that humility can teach40 ,there is1 indeed1 scarcely a department of knowledge1 however simple1 to which he did not descend2 there is scarcely a region of thought1 however subtle1 through which he did not familiarly move4 ,we have a volume on the 8,art of ,reading1 ,writing1 and ,pronouncing ,english10 this is for the very youngest students2 and for the same age we have his ,first and ,second ,catechisms1 and his 8,divine and ,moral ,songs20 we have his work on 8,astronomy1 ,geography1 and the ,use of the ,globes10 and the 8,compendium of the ,assembly's ,catechism1 with ,proofs10 and his most charming and rememberable 8,catechism of ,scripture ,history10 a large and yet most compendious volume3 and thus we reach the period of life when he prepares the mind for its graver studies and more serious exploits4 ,the 8,logic0 is easy and delightful reading1 and yet sets in order1 disciplines1 marshals1 and reviews mental materials so admirably that it may be read with great profit as well as pleasure4 ,when ,lord ,barrington told ,watts that he had a purpose to read it through once every year1 he said no extravagant thing4 ,it brings the mind back to its simplicity2 it is not1 and does not profess to be1 a science of mind or analysis of method1 or the laws of thought1 but it is a treatise on logic1 understanding by that term not so much the pushing inquiry into unexplored domains and fields1 as the setting forth the grammar of thought1 the principles of numeration1 by which a knowledge of the contents of the mind may be obtained1 which is surely the true idea of logic4 ,the affluence of illustrations and references is very great1 these occur easily and rapidly1 they are gathered up as a reaper gathers up a sheaf4 ,in its method it reminds us somewhat of ,bacon's 8,novum ,organum10 for in every chapter1 and every discrimination1 illustration1 and distinction1 occur instances unfolding the intention of the author1 and we venture to think that no logic has appeared since so well calculated to make a clear and honest mind4 ,the characteristics of the 8,logic0 of ,watts are very admirably summed up by ,tissot1 of ,dijon1 in his preface to a translation published in ,paris1 #ahdh3 8,,ii y a aussi plus de mthode et de clart peut-tre dans la logique de ,watts que dans celle d',arnaud4 ,le bon sens ,anglais1 le sens des affaires1 celui de la vie pratique1 s'y rvle un trs haut degr1 tandis que le sens spculatif d'un thologien passablement scolastique encore est plus sensible dans l',art de ,penser4 ,dr4 ,watts a su tre complet2 sans tre excessif1 il a touch trs convenablement tout ce qui devait l'tre1 et s'est toujours arrt au point prcis o plus de profondeur nuit a la clart40#dg ,as the 8,logic0 is a methodical and orderly arrangement of those principles which give conduct to the understanding1 as we have called it a grammar rather than an etymology of the laws of thought1 a setting forth of their necessary conditions of thinking1 rather than an inquiry into their first principles1 so his 8,improvement of the ,mind0 is an advance in the education of the character4 ,the 8,logic0 is a code of principles1 the 8,improvement of the ,mind0 the illustration of those principles in their practice and action4 ,no book can be better fitted to strengthen and direct the mind in the first years of mind-life4 ,is it ever read now8 ,is there an edition of it in circulation now8 ,are there many youths who would have patience to read it now8 ,and yet no work has taken its place4 ,it also1 like the 8,logic10 is fertile in illustrations of all that the author desires to convey2 every means by which the mind can be enlarged or strengthened is dwelt upon2 here there seems to be no unnecessary diffuseness1 but a compact presentation4 ,the style is apothegmatical1 and rather colloquial than rhetorical1 and it leaves upon the mind of the reader the impression of a large world of wealth in the mind of the author of which its pages are the mere fragments and indications4 ,there is a wisdom which rules men's lives and acts in their minds unconsciously1 and ages and times vary in the method pursued for the attainment of knowledge4 ,perhaps1 in the times in which we live the method is very much out of sight1 and men become wise in spite of themselves1 the faculties of character are sharpened and made intense by friction4 ,it may also be said that character is not so much the result of certain rules laid down for practice1 as the inevitable pressure of certain conditions from which it cannot well escape2 life educates men more than books1 and the sharp collision of society and its rough usages more than rules derived from writers4 ,all this is true2 but still some men continue to preach1 and others continue to hear1 it is to be supposed under the impression that the preaching and the hearing are not altogether in vain2 and it is a very desirable thing frequently to draw out into the light certain principles1 to give to minds1 so to speak1 a pictorial resemblance of the idea4 ,it is so in the 8,improvement of the ,mind10 the very subjects are suggestive3 general rules to obtain knowledge1--the five methods of improvement compared--rules relating to observation--books and reading--judgment of books--living instruction by teachers--learning a language--of knowing the sense of writers and speakers--conversation--of disputes in general--the ,socratical way of disputation--forensic disputes--academic or scholastic disputes--study or meditation--of fixing the attention--of enlarging the capacity of the mind--of improving the memory--of determining questions--of inquiring into causes and effects--of the sciences and their use4 ,then follows the second part1 which was posthumous2 hitherto the mind has been supposed to be attaining1 now it is itself communicating1 and here are discussions on methods of teaching and reading lectures--of an instructive style--of convincing of truth or delivering from error--of the use and abuse of authority--of managing the prejudices of men--of instruction by preaching--of writing books for the public1 etc4 etc4 ,and beneath all these subjects is spread out a mass of wise and useful observations1 the result1 the reader thinks1 of a life of earnest and careful study4 ,a wise and candid judgment pervades every page4 ,a confidence in the writer as in one who is not writing merely1 but who is giving to the reader a portion of himself1 grows in the mind4 ,watts was himself an exceedingly careful student4 ,we have seen how his practice was to condense or to amplify the volumes or the pages he himself read4 ,he recommended this plan to be followed with the nobler pieces of composition1 and such as it seemed desirable to make the heirlooms of the mind4 ,we have now lying before us the 8,ecclesiastics0 of ,john ,wilkins1 the ,bishop of ,chester4 ,the volume bears every internal evidence of being the property of ,dr4 ,watts3 it is interleaved1 and in addition to the varied and singular learning of the book itself1 in the handwriting of the ,doctor there is a perfect storehouse of references1 exhibiting the amazing world of knowledge over which his mind travelled2 and not merely references1 but frequently some condensed expression of sentiment and opinion4 ,we ought to refer to this very valuable little manuscript volume again4 ,it often seems surprising that volumes such as these have fallen into such neglect2 but they only share the fate of multitudes of others in various departments equally worthy4 ,the number of those who gaze upon the true regalia of literature is very small2 our times delight in startling contrasts1 antitheses and paradoxes1 and illustrations frequently rather remarkable for their brilliancy than for their solid and abiding persuasiveness4 ,the literature of every time has its vices and its virtues2 writers even exercising a far stronger fascination and spell over their day than ,watts are very seldom referred to now1 they are names and little more4 ,they are like extinct creations of other times1 a kind of dodo1 a being very near to our own day1 but yet only known by a specimen preserved in a museum4 ,thus probably the two works to which we have referred will have few more readers4 ,yet safer and wiser charts for travelling the seas of knowledge were never prepared1 and while they breathe a fine mental independence1 a freshness wafted from undiscovered realms1 they are eminently free from all that rashness and audacity of speculation which some have chosen to regard as a pursuit of knowledge1 or as adding to the spoils of the understanding4 ,he kept his students within the bounds of the knowable and provable1 and if he trampled upon the ridiculous logic which had for years held the mind of ,europe in chains1 by the fetters of words which had no kind of sense either in the heavens or the earth1 and resolutely determining that words could only be valuable when they were the real signs of things1 and things of which something could be known2 on the other hand1 he gave no encouragement to licentiousness of thought1 which is as dangerous to the well-being of the intelligence as the servility of opinion4 ,so that1 on the whole1 whatever advances and attainments we have made since1 we may believe that for the discipline and tutelage of the young1 a better finger-post could scarcely be set up upon the highways of knowledge than ,watts' 8,logic20 a better and more living guide a young man can scarcely have through the cities of instruction than his 8,improvement of the ,mind40 ,among the pieces of our author which are least known are the essays variously published under the title of 8,reliqui ,juveniles2 ,miscellaneous ,thoughts in ,prose and ,verse1 on ,natural1 ,moral1 and ,divine ,subjects1 written chiefly in younger years40 ,these were published in #agcd1 and dedicated to the ,countess of ,hertford4 ,a similar volume is the 8,remnants of ,time ,employed in ,prose and ,verse2 or1 ,short ,essays and ,composures on ,various ,subjects40 ,all of these are very pleasing essays1 in which the writer gives a more than ordinary rein to his fancy3 the pieces are in prose and verse1 and they display a considerable amount of humour2 the subjects are very various1 and display the purely literary excursions of the author's mind4 ,the reader will be so far interested as to enjoy some few selections4 ,to dwell at length upon the characteristics of the essays1 or to indulge in any lengthy citation1 would be like writing a dissertation upon ,johnson's 8,rambler10 or ,addison's 8,spectator20 indeed1 there is very much of the ,christian ,rambler and the ,christian ,spectator in these papers3 brief essays on manners1 on certain vices or defects of character1 conveyed after the usage of the time beneath names sheltered under a ,greek or ,latin etymology2 sometimes a graceful meditation upon a text of ,scripture1 and sometimes a poem4 ,we have ourselves found these essays always fresh and interesting1 possessing much of the spirit and vivacity and philosophical meditativeness of ,cowley1 with a perpetual suffusion of ,christian sentiment and doctrine1 and the whole exhibiting the vigilance of the author's eye1 and the active usefulness of his mind4 ,,the ,,skeleton4 8,young ,tramarinus was just returned from his travels abroad1 when he invited his uncle to his lodgings on a ,saturday noon4 ,his uncle was a substantial trader in the ,city1 a man of sincere goodness1 and of no contemptible understanding2 ,crato was his name4 ,the nephew first entertained him with learned talk of his travels4 ,the conversation happening to fall upon anatomy1 and speaking of the hand1 he mentioned the carpus and the metacarpus1 the joining of the bones by many hard names1 and the periosteum which covered them1 together with other ,greek words1 which ,crato had never heard of4 ,then he showed him a few curiosities he had collected2 but anatomy being the subject of their chief discourse1 he dwelt much upon the skeletons of a hare and a partridge4 #8,observe1 sir1' said he1 #8how firm the joints6 how nicely the parts are fitted to each other6 how proper this limb for flight1 and that for running2 and how wonderful the whole composition6' ,crato took due notice of the most considerable parts of those animals1 and observed the chief remarks his nephew made2 but being detained there two hours without a dinner1 assuming a pleasant air1 he said1 #8,i wish these rarities had flesh upon them1 for ,i begin to be hungry1 nephew1 and you entertain me with nothing but bones4' ,then he carried home his nephew to dinner with him1 and dismissed the jest4 8,the next morning his kinsman ,tramarinus desired him to hear a sermon at such a church1 #8,for ,i am informed1' said he1 #8the preacher will be my old schoolmaster4' ,it was ,agrotes1 a country minister1 who was to fulfil the service of the day2 an honest1 a pious1 and a useful man1 who fed his own people weekly with ,divine food1 composed his sermons with a mixture of the instructive and the pathetic1 and delivered them with no improper elocution4 ,where any difficulty appeared in the text or the subject1 he usually explained it in a very natural and easy manner1 to the understanding of all his parishioners4 ,he paraphrased on the most affecting parts largely1 that he might strike the conscience of every hearer1 and had been the happy means of the salvation of many2 but he thought thus with himself1 #8,when ,i preach at ,london ,i have hearers of a wiser rank1 ,i must feed them with learning and substantial sense1 and must have my discourse set thick with distinct sentences and new matter4' ,he contrived1 therefore1 to abridge his composures1 and to throw four of his country sermons together to make up one for the ,city1 and yet he could not forbear to add a little ,greek in the beginning4 ,he told the auditors how the text was to be explained2 he set forth the analysis of the words in order1 showed the hoti and the dioti--that is1 that it was so1 and why it was so--with much learned criticism--all of which he wisely left out in the country2 then he pronounced the doctrine distinctly1 and filled up the rest of the hour with the mere rehearsal of the general and special heads2 but he omitted all the amplification which made his performances in the country so clear and so intelligible1 so warm and affecting4 ,in short1 it was the mere joints and carcase of a long composure1 and contained above forty branches in it4 ,the hearers had no time to consider or reflect on the good things which were spoken1 or apply them to their own consciences2 the preacher hurried their attention so fast onward to new matters that they could make no use of anything he said while he spoke it1 nor had they a moment for reflection1 in order to fix it in their memories and improve by it at home4 8,the young gentleman was somewhat out of countenance when the sermon was done1 for he missed all that life and spirit1 that pathetic amplification1 which impressed his conscience when he was but a school-boy4 ,however1 he put the best face upon it1 and began to commend the performance4 #8,was it not1' said he1 #8sir1 a substantial discourse8 ,how well connected all the reasons6 ,how strong all the inferences1 and what a variety and number of them6' #8,it is true1' said the uncle1 #8but yet methinks ,i want food here1 and ,i find nothing but bones again4 ,i could not have thought1 nephew1 you would have treated me two days together just alike2 yesterday at home1 and to-day at church1 the first course was ,greek1 and all the rest mere skeleton4'0 ,,god ,,in ,,vegetation4 8,let us first consider this as it relates to the vegetable part of the creation4 ,what a profusion of beauty and fragrancy1 of shapes and colours1 of smells and tastes1 is scattered among the herbs and flowers of the ground1 among the shrubs1 the trees1 and the fruits of the field6 ,colouring in its original glory and perfection triumphs here2 red1 yellow1 green1 blue1 purple1 with vastly more diversities than the rainbow ever knew1 or the prism can represent1 are distributed among the flowers and the blossoms4 ,and what variety of tastes1 both original and compounded1 of sweet1 bitter1 sharp1 with a thousand nameless flavours1 are found among the herbs of the garden6 ,what an amazing difference of shapes and sizes appears among the trees of the field and forest in their branches and their leaves6 and what a luxurious and elegant distinction in their several fruits6 ,how very numerous are their distinct properties in their uses in human life6 ,and yet these two common elements1 earth and water1 are the only materials out of which they are all composed1 from the beginning to the end of nature and time4 ,let the gardener dress for himself one field of fresh earth1 and make it as uniform as he can2 then let him plant therein all the varieties of the vegetable world1 in their roots or in their seeds1 as he shall think most proper2 yet out of this common earth1 under the droppings of common water from heaven1 every one of these plants shall be nourished1 and grow up in their proper forms2 all the infinity1 diversity of shapes and sizes1 colours1 tastes1 and smells1 which constitute and adorn the vegetable world1 would the climate permit1 might be produced out of the same clods4 ,what rich and surprising wisdom appears in that ,almighty ,operator1 who out of the same matter shall perfume the bosom of the rose1 and give the garlic its offensive and nauseous powers2 who from the same spot of ground shall raise the liquorice and the wormwood1 and dress the cheek of the tulip in all its glowing beauties6 ,what a surprise1 to see the same field furnish the pomegranate and the orange tree1 with their juicy fruit1 and the stacks of corn with their dry and husky grains2 to observe the oak raised from a little acorn into its stately growth and solid timber2 and that pillars for the support of future temples and palaces should spring out of the same bed of earth that sent up the vine with such soft and feeble limbs as are unable to support themselves6 ,what a natural kind of prodigy it is1 that chilling and burning vegetables should arise out of the same spot2 that the fever and frenzy should start up from the same bed where the palsy and the lethargy lie dormant in their seeds6 ,is it not exceeding strange that healthful and poisonous juices should rise up1 in their proper plants1 out of the same common glebe1 and that life and death should grow and thrive within an inch of each other8 ,what wondrous and inimitable skill must be attributed to that ,supreme ,power1 that ,first ,cause1 who can so infinitely diversify effects1 where the servile second cause is so uniform and always the same6 ,it is not for me in this place to enter into a long detail of philosophy1 and show how the minute fibres and tubes of the different seeds and roots of vegetables take hold of1 attract1 and receive the little particles of earth and water proper for their own growth2 how they form them at first into their own shapes1 sending them up aspiring above ground by degrees1 and mould them so as frame the stalks1 the branches1 the leaves1 and the buds of every flower1 herb1 and tree4 ,but ,i presume the world is too weary of substantial forms1 and plastic powers1 and names without ideas1 to be persuaded that these mere creatures of fancy should ever be the operators in this wondrous work4 ,it is much more honourable to attribute all to the design and long forethought of ,god the ,creator1 who formed the first vegetables in such a manner1 and appointed their little parts to ferment under the warm sunbeams1 according to such established laws of motion as to mould the atoms of earth and water which were near them in their own figure1 to make them grow up into trunk and branches1 which every night should harden into firmness and stability2 and1 again1 to mould new atoms of the same element into leaves and bloom1 fruit and seed1 which last1 being dropped into the earth1 should produce new plants of the same likeness to the end of the world40 ,,food4 8,if the food of which one single animal partakes be never so various and different1 yet the same laws of motion which ,god has ordained in the animal world1 convert them all to the same purposes of nourishment for that creature4 ,behold the little bee gathering its honey from a thousand flowers1 and laying up the precious store for its winter food4 ,mark how the crow preys upon a carcase1 anon it crops a cherry from the tree2 and both are changed into the flesh and feathers of a crow4 ,observe the kine in the meadows feeding on a hundred varieties of herbs and flowers1 yet all the different parts of their bodies are nourished thereby in a proper manner3 every flower in the field is made use of to increase the flesh of the heifer1 and to make beef for men2 and out of all these varieties there is a noble milky juice flowing to the udder1 which provides nourishment for young children4 ,so near akin is man1 the lord of the creation1 in respect of his body1 to the brutes that are his slaves1 that the very same food will compose the flesh of both of them1 and make them grow up to their appointed stature4 ,this is evident beyond doubt in daily and everlasting experiments4 ,the same bread-corn which we eat at our tables will give rich support to sparrows and pigeons1 to the turkey and the duck1 and all the fowls of the yard3 the mouse steals it and feeds on it in its dark retirement2 while the hog in the sty1 and the horse in the manger1 would be glad to partake4 ,when the poor cottager has nursed up a couple of geese1 the fox seizes one of them for the support of her cubs1 and perhaps the table of the landlord is furnished with the other to regale his friends4 ,nor is it an uncommon thing to see the favourite lap-dog fed out of the same bowl of milk which is prepared for the heir of a wealthy family1 but which nature had originally designed to nourish a calf4 ,the same milky material will make calves1 lap-dogs1 and human bodies40 ,,christ ,,as ,a ,,sun4 8,i cannot deny myself1 in this place1 the pleasure of publishing to the world a very beautiful resemblance1 the first hints and notices whereof ,i received formerly in conversation from my reverend and worthy friend ,mr4 ,robert ,bragge1 whereby the person of ,christ as ,god-man in ,his exalted state may be happily represented4 ,the sun in the heavens is the most glorious of all visible beings3 his sovereign influence has a most astonishing extent through all the planetary globes1 and bestows light and heat upon all of them4 ,it is the sun that gives life and motion to all the infinite varieties of the animal world in the earth1 air1 and water4 ,it draws out the vegetable juices from the earth1 and covers the surface of it with trees1 herbs1 and flowers4 ,it is the sun that gives beauty and colour to all the millions of bodies round the globe2 by its pervading power perhaps it forms minerals and metals under the earth4 ,its happy effects are innumerable2 they reach certainly to everything that has life and motion1 or that gives life1 support1 or pleasure to mankind4 ,now suppose ,god should create a most illustrious spirit1 and unite it to the body of the sun1 as a human soul is united to a human body3 suppose this spirit had a perceptive power capacious enough to become conscious of every sunbeam1 and all the influences and effects of this vast shining globe1 both in its light1 heat1 and motion1 even to the remotest region2 and suppose at the same time it was able1 by an act of its will1 to send out or withhold every sunbeam as it pleased1 and thereby to give light and darkness1 life and death1 in a sovereign manner1 to all the animal inhabitants of this our earth1 or even of all the planetary worlds4 ,such may be the #8glorified human soul of our blessed ,redeemer united to ,his glorified body2' and perhaps ,his knowledge and ,his power may be as extensive as this similitude represents1 especially when we consider this soul and body as personally united to the ,divine nature1 and as one with ,god4 ,now this noble thought may be supported by such considerations as these4 ,as our souls are conscious of the light1 shape1 motions1 etc41 of such distant bodies as the planet ,saturn or the fixed stars1 because our eyes receive rays from thence2 so may not a human soul united to a body as easily be supposed to have a consciousness of anything1 wheresoever it can send out rays or emit either fluids or atoms from its own body8 ,may not the sun1 for instance1 if a soul were united to it1 become thereby so glorious a complex being1 as to send out every ray with knowledge1 and have a consciousness of everything wheresoever it sends its direct or reflected rays8 ,and may not the human soul of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ have a consciousness of everything wheresoever it can send direct or reflected rays from ,his own shining and glorified body8 ,to add yet to the wonder1 we may suppose that these rays may be subtle as magnetic beams1 which penetrate brass and stone as easily as light doth glass2 and at the same time they may be as swift as light1 which reaches the most amazing distance of several millions of miles in a minute4 ,by this means1 since the light of the sun pervades all secret chambers in our hemisphere at once1 and fills all places with direct and reflected beams1 if consciousness belonged to all those beams1 what a sort of omniscient being would the sun be6 ,i mean omniscient in its own sphere4 ,and why may not the human soul and body of our glorified ,saviour be thus furnished with such an amazing extent of knowledge and power1 and yet not be truly infinite8 ,let us dwell a little longer upon these delightful contemplations4 ,if a soul had but a full knowledge and command of all the atoms of one solid foot of matter1 which according to modern philosophy is infinitely divisible1 what strange and astonishing influences would it have over this world of ours8 ,what confusions might it raise in distant nations1 sending pestilential streams into a thousand bodies1 and destroying armies at once8 ,and it might scatter benign or healing and vital influences to as large a circumference4 ,if our blessed ,lord1 in the days of ,his humiliation1 could send virtue out of ,him to heal a poor diseased woman1 who touched the hem of ,his garment with a finger1 who knows what healing atoms1 or what killing influences1 ,he may send from ,his dwelling in glory to the remotest distances of our world1 to execute ,his ,father's counsels of judgment or mercy8 ,it is not impossible1 so far as ,i can judge1 that the soul of ,christ in its glorified state may have as much command over our heavens and our earth1 and all things contained in them1 as our souls in the present state have over our own limbs and muscles to move them at pleasure4 ,let us remember that it is now found out1 and agreed in the new philosophy of ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 that the distances are prodigious to which the powerful influence of the sun reaches in the centre of our planetary system4 ,it is the sun who holds and restrains all the planets in their several orbits1 and keeps in those vast bodies of ,jupiter and ,saturn in their constant revolutions--one at the distance of #dbd millions1 and the other at the distance of #ggg millions of miles--besides all the other influences it has upon everything that may live and grow in those planetary worlds4 ,it is the sun who reduces the long wanderings of the comets back again near to himself from distances more immensely great than those of ,saturn and ,jupiter4 ,and why may not the human nature of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 both in soul and body1 have a dominion given ,him by the ,father larger than the sun in the firmament8 ,why may not the ,son of ,god be endued with an immediate consciousness and agency to a far greater distance8 ,thus if we conceive of the human soul of ,christ1 either in the amazing extent of its own native powers or in the additional acquirements of a glorified state1 we see reason to believe that its capacities are far above our old usual conceptions1 and may be raised and exalted to a degree of knowledge1 power1 and glory suitable and equal to ,his operations and offices1 so far as they are attributed to ,his human nature in the word of ,god40 ,,apparent ,,folly ,,real ,,wisdom4 8,this very man1 this ,gelotes1 a few days ago1 was carried by his neighbour ,typiger1 to see a gentleman of his acquaintance2 they found him standing at the window of his chamber1 moving and turning round a glass prism1 near a round hole which he had made in the window-shutter1 and casting all the colours of the rainbow upon the wall of the room4 ,they were unwilling to disturb him1 though he amused himself at this rate for half an hour together1 merely to please and entertain his eyesight1 as ,gelotes imagined1 with the brightness and the strength of the reds and the blues1 the greens and the purples1 in many shifting forms of situation1 while several little implements lay about him1 of white paper and shreds of coloured silk1 pieces of tin with holes in them1 spectacles and burning-glasses4 ,when the gentleman at last spied his company1 he came down and entertained them agreeably enough upon other subjects1 and dismissed them4 ,at another time1 ,gelotes beheld the same gentleman blowing up large bubbles with a tobacco-pipe out of a bowl of water well impregnated with soap1 which is a common diversion of boys4 ,as the bubbles rose1 he marked the little changeable colours on the surface of them with great attention1 till they broke and vanished into air and water4 ,he seemed to be very grave and solemn in this sort of recreation1 and now and then smiled to see the little appearances and disappearances of colours1 as the bubbles grew thinner towards the top1 while the watery particles of it ran down along the side to the bottom1 and the surface grew too thin and feeble to include the air1 then it burst to pieces and was lost4 #8,well1' says ,gelotes to his friend1 #8,i did not think you would have carried me into the acquaintance of a madman2 surely he can never be right in his senses who wastes his hours in such fooleries as these4 ,whatsoever good opinion ,i had conceived of a gentleman of your intimacy1 ,i am amazed now that you should keep up any degree of acquaintance with him1 when his reason is gone and he is become a mere child4 ,what are all these little scenes of sport and amusement1 but proofs of the absence of his understanding8 ,poor gentleman6 ,i pity him in his unhappy circumstances2 but ,i hope he has friends to take care of him under this degree of distraction4' ,typiger was not a little pleased to see that his project1 with regard to his neighbour ,gelotes1 had succeeded so well2 and when he had suffered him to run on at this rate for some minutes1 he interrupted him with a surprising word3 #8,this very gentleman1' says he1 #8is the great ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 the first of philosophers1 the glory of ,great ,britain1 and renowned among the nations4 ,you have beheld him now making these experiments over again by which he first found out the nature of light and colours1 and penetrated deeper into the mysteries of them than all mankind ever knew before him4 ,this is the man1 and these his contrivances1 upon which you so freely cast your contempt1 and pronounce him distracted4 ,you know not the depth of his designs1 and therefore you censured them all as fooleries1 whereas the learned world has esteemed them the utmost reach of human sagacity4' 8,gelotes was all confusion and silence2 whereupon ,typiger proceeded thus3 #8,go now and ridicule the law-giver of ,israel1 and the ceremonies of the ,jewish ,church1 which ,moses taught them2 go1 repeat your folly and your slanders1 and laugh at these ,divine ceremonies1 merely because you know not the meaning of them1 go1 and affront the ,god of ,israel1 and reproach ,him for sending ,moses to teach such forms of worship to the ,jews4 ,there is not the least of them but was appointed by the ,greatest of ,beings1 and has some special design and purpose in the eye of ,divine ,wisdom4 ,many of them were explained by the ,apostle ,paul1 in his letter to the ,hebrews1 as types and emblems of the glories and blessings of the ,new ,testament2 and the rest of them1 whose reason has not been discovered to us1 remain1 perhaps1 to be made known at the conversion of the ,jews1 when ,divine light shall be spread over all the ancient dispensations1 and a brighter glory diffused over all the rites and forms of religion which ,god ever instituted among the race of ,adam4'0 ,a ,,plea ,,for ,,christianizing ,,horace4 8,it is a piece of ancient and sacred history which ,moses informs us of1 that when the tribes of ,israel departed from the land of ,egypt1 they borrowed of their neighbours gold and jewels by the appointment of ,god1 for the decoration of their sacrifices and solemn worship when they should arrive at the appointed place in the wilderness4 ,god ,himself taught ,his people how the richest of metals which had ever been abused to the worship of idols might be purified by the fire1 and being melted up into a new form1 might be consecrated to the service of the living ,god1 and add to the magnificence and grandeur of ,his tabernacle and temple4 ,such are some of the poetical writings of the ancient heathens2 they have a great deal of native beauty and lustre in them1 and through some happy turn given them by the pen of a ,christian poet may be transformed into ,divine meditations1 and may assist the devout and pious soul in several parts of the ,christian life and worship4 ,amongst all the rest of the ,pagan writers1 ,i know none so fit for this service as the odes of ,horace1 as vile a sinner as he was4 ,their manner of composure comes nearer the spirit and force of the ,psalms of ,david than any other2 and as we take the devotions of the ,jewish king1 and bring them into our ,christian churches1 by changing the scene and the chronology1 and superadding some of the glories of the ,gospel so may the representation of some of the heathen virtues1 by a little more labour1 be changed into ,christian graces1 or1 at least1 into the image of them1 so far as human power can reach4 ,one day1 musing on this subject1 ,i made an experiment on the two last stanzas of ,ode xxix1 ,book iii4 #8,non est meum1 si mugiat ,africis ,malus procellis1 ad miseras preces ,decurrere1 et votis pacisci1 ,ne ,cypri ,syrique merces ,addant avaro divitias mari2 ,dum me1 biremis prsidio scaph1 ,nudum per geos tumultus ,aura ferat1 geminusque ,pollux4' ,,the ,,british ,,fisherman4 ,let ,spain's proud traders1 when the mast ,bends groaning to the stormy blast1 ,run to their beads with wretched plaints1 ,and vow and bargain with their saints1 ,lest ,turkish silks or ,tyrian wares ,sink in the drowning ship1 ,or the rich dust ,peru prepares1 ,defraud their long projecting cares1 ,and add new treasures to the greedy deep4 ,my little skiff that skims the shores1 ,with half a sail and two short oars1 ,provides me food in gentler waves2 ,but if they gape in watery graves ,i trust the ,eternal ,power1 whose hand ,has swelled the storm on high1 ,to waft my boat and me to land1 ,or give some angel swift command ,to bear the drowning sailor to the sky40 ,a work like this would be incomplete if it did not attempt some general estimate1 however feeble1 of our author's works1 which are1 however1 so various that it is difficult to bring their relation to their author's mind beneath one classification4 ,the remark ,dr4 ,jennings made in his funeral sermon is simply just1 when he says he 8questions whether any author before ,dr4 ,watts ever appeared with a reputation on such a variety of subjects as he has1 both as a prose writer and a poet4 ,however10 he adds1 8this ,i may venture to say1 there is no man now living of whose works so many have been diffused at home and abroad1 which are in such constant use1 and translated into such a variety of languages1 many of which ,i doubt not will remain more durable monuments of his great talents than any representation ,i can make of them1 though it were to be graven on pillars of brass4 ,thus did he shine as an ingenious man and a scholar40 ,this circumstance of the variety of his writings constitutes them an element of his character3 he was more various than intense1 acute rather than profound4 ,there are some of his works upon which we need not permit ourselves to be detained1 they illustrate his readiness in turning to every kind of labour which seemed to give the promise of usefulness1 for usefulness was evidently in everything the object he set before himself4 ,regarded by the immense apparatus now at hand for every kind of mental exercise ,watts' labours do some of them seem needless2 but regarded from his own age1 it appears as if he created1 originated1 and gave effect to almost every department of religious or improving knowledge4 ,if the reader looks round the literary horizon of that day1 he will learn rightly to estimate the benefits conferred by this writer2 and these works1 the smallest1 the most inferior of his mental exercises1 were not one of them a mere compilation1 they were all the emanations of that perpetually active mind1 which1 whether the body were well or ill1 must be employed for some useful object and end4 ,none of his books were made out of other books1 excepting1 indeed1 so far as almost every volume must imply the knowledge of a subject and the mind of an author2 and at the same time it must be said that some of his books for the young have been dropped but not surpassed2 they might still furnish the best hints and the best arrangements for obtaining and imparting knowledge4 ,being a literary man1 ,watts falls beneath a class of observations which are not either necessary or applicable in forming an estimate of almost any of his brethren1 such as ,howe1 or ,jacomb1 or ,bradbury1 or1 indeed1 any of the writers of his order or day4 ,the wisdom of his mind was remarkable2 it was 8a city1 built four square40 ,in this useful purpose1 which he ever kept before him1 whatever charges may be preferred against him on the score of the indulgence of fancy 7and many of his writings reveal how capable he was of such excursions71 he kept his mind singularly free from the literary vanities of his times1 and his times as singularly illustrate at once the vanity and the glory of literature4 ,if anybody would know what vanities there were1 let him take down the volumes of the ,athenian ,oracle1#dh and he will find few other volumes which will give so lively an impression of the literary folly of those times4 ,old ,samuel ,wesley1 ,john ,wesley's father1 did not disdain to contribute largely to those pages2 they are affluent in absurdities1 while they have a show of learned ignorance4 ,select a few2 most of the essays are in the way of question and answer4 8,balaam being a ,moabite1 how could he understand the ass speaking to him in ,hebrew8 ,how came the two disciples to know ,moses and ,elias on the mount8 ,i am resolved to go round the earth on foot2 ,i desire to know whether my head or my feet will travel the most1 and how much the one more than the other8 ,whether or no there is a vacuum8 ,whether it is more proper to say the soul contains the body1 or the body the soul8 ,whether the quadrature of the circle be possible8 ,pray1 why does a n d not spell t u m8 t h e1 m e d8 etc4 etc4 ,whether ,adam was a giant8 ,how a silkworm lives when it has left off eating and is enclosed in its web8 ,whether it is prudent to live in a room haunted by spirits8 ,whether1 since mermen and mermaids have more of the human shape than other fishes1 they may be thought to have more reason8 ,where extinguished fire goes to8 ,where was the land of ,nod8 ,how is it the spaniel knows its master's horse8 ,whether a finite creature is capable of enduring infinite loss80 etc4 etc4 ,these volumes1 perhaps1 constitute the most amazing collection of nonsense in our own or any other language2 nor are they without a certain value as illustrating1 not only the time1 then in possession of men1 but the ridiculous way in which they used it4 ,of course there are questions1 and many of them1 of a more grave and serious character1 but for the most part they are the very soap-bubbles of the most foppish and foolish imaginations1 the most undisciplined and frequently prurient and indecent fancies4 ,the indulgence in these was quite a phase of the intellectual life of the time4 ,a singular chapter in the curiosities of literature and science a reader may find in such volumes as the 8,philosophical ,conferences of ,france20#di and the vanities of theology were quite equal to the vanities of literature1 as may be seen in the innumerable productions of the time4 ,with a mind so disposed to imaginative excursions1 it is quite worthy of notice that ,watts preserved a wise balance of all his powers and faculties2 he lived on the confines of the age of the wildest mysticism our literature has known4 ,from some words in his works he appears to have been well acquainted with the writings of ,henry ,more1 and also to have entertained for them that reverence and respect which assuredly many of them command2 but from their singular and erratic fancies he kept himself quite free4 ,very strange are the matters with which we find these old men entertained themselves1 affirming 8that ,god of ,himself is a dale of darkness1 were it not for the light of the ,son20 8that the star-powers are ,nature1 and the star-circle the mother of all things1 from which all is1 subsists1 and moves20 8that the waters of the world are mad1 which makes them rave and run up and down1 so as they do in the channels of the earth20 8that they1 at last1 shall be calcined into crystal20 8that the pure blood in man answers to the element of fire in the great world1 his heart to the earth1 his mouth to the ,arctic pole2 and0--but we will not finish this sublime stretch of metaphysical imagination--8that there be two kinds of fires1 the one a cold fire and the other hot1 and that death is a cold fire20 8that everything has sense1 imagination1 and a fiducial knowledge of ,god in it--metals1 meteors1 and plants not excepted40 ,also the like pleasant excursions of fancy are found in 8,paracelsus10 as 8that the stars are1 as it were1 the phials1 or cucurbits1 in which meteorical sal1 sulphur1 and mercury are contained1 and that the winds are made out of these by the ethereal vulcans1 are blown forth out of these emunctories1 as when a man blows or breathes out of his mouth20 8that the stars are1 as it were1 the pots in which the archeus1 or heavenly vulcan1 prepares pluvious matter1 which1 exhaled from thence1 first appears in the form of clouds1 and after condenses to rain20 8that hail and snow are the fruits of the stars1 proceeding from them as flowers and blossoms from trees20 8that the lightning and thunder are1 as it were1 the deciduous fruits of the ethereal stars20 8that the stars eat and are nourished10 etc4 etc4 ,all this1 and a good deal more to the like purpose4 ,since the beginning of the world1 men have asked of themselves and others strange questions1 like those ,southey discovered in ,luys de ,escobar3 8,when ,god made dresses for ,adam and ,eve1 how did ,he get the skins of which those dresses were made1 seeing that beasts were not yet killed80 8,perhaps10 says the respondent1 8,he made skins on purpose40 8,why are there three persons in the ,trinity rather than four or five80 8,st4 ,cosmas and ,st4 ,damian cut off a black man's leg and fastened it on a white man2 which will have the leg at the resurrection80 8,how did ,adam learn ,hebrew80 ,queer curiosities these1 all of which will remind the reader of the madness of ,elinora ,melorina1 a lady of ,mantua1 who1 being fully persuaded she was married to a king1 would kneel down and talk with him1 as if he had then been present with his retinue4 ,nay1 if she by any chance found a piece of glass upon a dunghill1 or if she came upon a piece of oyster-shell or tin1 or any such thing that would glisten in the sunshine1 she would say it was a jewel sent from her lord and husband1 and upon this account she would fill her cabinet full of this kind of rubbish4 ,the cabinets of the mystics1 amidst some worthier matter1 are full of the kind of rubbish we have quoted above1 which1 when instanced as solutions of things psychical or physical1 seem to be as satisfactory as the old story of the foolish person who1 riding an ass to the pond to drink by the light of the moon1 and some clouds intervening1 and hiding the moon while the ass was drinking1 arrived at the grave conclusion that the ass had swallowed up the moon1 and took it clean out of being4 ,when such grave problems and questions are the result of so much of fasting and devotion1 they only remind us of the question preferred by a monk on one occasion to a higher ,church dignitary3 8,how many keys did ,christ give to ,peter80 which brought the satisfactory reply1 that 8he ought to prepare himself by a course of physic for such grave1 sweet1 and savoury questions60 ,illustrative as they are of the literary vanities and follies of the time1 follies to which even scholarly clergymen and eminent writers lent themselves1 and as illustrating also not only the freedom of ,watts from such epidemical foolishness1 but the work he did in calling the mind to healthful methods of thought1 the writer trusts their quotation here may be forgiven4 ,he appears to have preserved his mind in great stillness4 ,it is the quiet and still mind which is wise and prudent2 and1 like ,henry ,more1 to whom we have referred1 his life would repeat what that great man was wont to say1 8,in the more peaceful spirit1 when it is also a quick and perceptive one1 will always reside those faculties which are to the soul vision and power4 ,in the deep and calm mind alone1 in a temper clear and serene1 such as is purged from the dregs1 and devoid of the more disorderly tumults of the body1 doth true wisdom or genuine philosophy1 as in its own proper tower1 securely reside40 ,hence the first great attribute of ,watts' mind is clearness4 ,he ever kept before him a purpose of usefulness1 alike in teaching men what to think about1 and how to think about it2 indeed1 it is simply true1 as ,gibbons has remarked1 that perspicuity was eminently a feature of his intellect2 and it must be admitted that upon whatever he speaks or writes1 he is always clearly to be understood--as we have seen1 it was by no means a great virtue of his age1 or of his contemporaries2 and if he discoursed upon the more lofty and difficult subjects of thought or philosophy1 they seem to acquire clearness in their passage through his mind4 ,he did not crowd words upon each other1 and images of every order were used by him1 not to add to the splendour of a paragraph1 or to set off a division1 but for the purpose of reflecting light on the reader's mind4 ,he has dwelt himself upon the prime importance of perspicuity4 ,in his 8,improvement of the ,mind10 he says3 8,he that would gain a happy talent for the instruction of others must know how to disentangle and divide his thoughts1 if too many are ready to crowd into one paragraph2 and let him rather speak three sentences distinctly and clearly1 which the hearer receives at once with his ears and his soul1 than crowd all the thoughts into one sentence1 which the hearer has forgotten before he can understand it40 ,it is a prime virtue in ,watts' style that it is clear2 it ought to be a chief virtue in every writer4 ,in him it illustrated the character of his mind4 ,he seemed even to be impatient of the dark and obscure1 and he never would permit himself to repose near the absolutely incomprehensible without attempting in some way to understand it2 so1 also1 as he attempts to express his mind upon any subject1 his sentences instantly appear to be the very windows of the intellect4 ,and this accounts for that other noticeable characteristic of his style--its perfect ease4 ,there was smoothness and grace1 the entire absence of the turgid and the bombastic2 his sentences flowed along in happy harmony4 ,very frequently such a style conveys the impression that a man has nothing to say1 when1 perhaps1 it is by immense labour1 and by the study of the finest writers1 and by conversation1 that he has attained to that grace and natural ease of manner in which all who listen or who read are instantly able to apprehend the meaning4 ,thus he himself translates his favourite ,horace3 ,smooth be your style1 and plain and natural1 ,to strike the sins of ,wapping or ,whitehall2 ,while others think this easy to attain1 ,let them but try1 and with their utmost pain1 ,they'll sweat and strive to imitate in vain4 ,another attribute1 to which ,gibbons alludes1 in ,watts' style is his dignity1 especially in the use of his metaphors and in the restraint he puts upon himself in his most ardent and animated passages4 ,a wise use of the passions is a marked characteristic of his writings1 as he says1 8,did the ,great ,god ever appoint statues for ,his ambassadors to invite sinners to ,his mercy2 words of grace written upon brass or marble would do the work almost as well2 where the preachers are stone no wonder if the hearers are motionless40 ,and in a fine passage in which he reprobates the philosophy of the ,earl of ,shaftesbury1 under the name of ,rhapsodus1 who affirms that neither the fear of future punishment1 nor the hope of future reward1 can possibly be called good affections1 ,watts exclaims3 8,go1 dress up all the virtues of human nature in all the beauties of your oratory1 and declaim aloud on the praise of social virtue and the amiable qualities of goodness1 till your hearts or lungs ache1 among the looser herds of mankind1 and you will ever find1 as your heathen fathers have done before you1 that the wild appetites and passions of men are too violent to be restrained by such mild and silken language4 ,you may as well build up a fence of straw and feathers to resist a cannon-ball1 or try to quench a flaming granado with a shell of fair water1 as hope to succeed in these attempts4 ,but an eternal heaven and an eternal hell carry a ,divine force and power with them4 ,this doctrine1 from the mouth of ,christian preachers1 has begun the reformation of multitudes4 ,this ,gospel has recovered thousands among the nations from iniquity and death4 ,they have been awakened by these awful scenes to begin religion1 and afterwards their virtue has improved itself into superior and more refined principles and habits by ,divine grace1 and risen to high and eminent degrees1 though not to consummate state4 ,the blessed ,god knows human nature better than ,rhapsodus doth1 and has throughout ,his ,word appointed a more proper and more effectual method of address to it by the passions of hope and fear1 by punishments and rewards40 ,his ideas are large and ample2 thoughts thronged through his pages4 ,admirable as his prose is1 he writes still like a poet1 and he speaks of the value of poetry as not a mere amusement or the embroidery of the mind1 he says how it 8brightens the fancy with a thousand beautiful images1 how it enriches the soul with great and sublime sentiments and refined ideas1 and fills the memory with a noble variety of language1 it teaches the art of describing well1 of painting everything to the life1 and presenting the pleasing and frightful scenes of nature and providence1 vice and virtue1 in their proper charms and horrors2 it assists the art of persuasion1 leads to a pathetic mode of speech and writing1 and adds life and beauty to conversation40 ,and hence his style is so attractive2 it has often been an enjoyment to us to turn over the pages of his prose writings4 ,what a variety of topics is presented to us in his interesting inquiry 8,concerning ,space10 and how interesting his treatment makes the discussion1 however abstract the topic4 ,it is the same with his philosophic essays on 8,innate ,ideas10 and on the 8,nature of ,substance10 and in that on the 8,strength and ,weakness of ,human ,reason40 ,his sermons1 we have before said1 have not the pomp and glow of ,jeremy ,taylor1 but they resemble1 and certainly do not fall inferior to1 those of ,john ,donne1 in a quiet metaphysical subtlety and a happy use of images supplied by fancy2 but let us select a few3 ,,the ,,soul ,,and ,,god4 8,my soul is touched with such a ,divine influence that it cannot rest1 while ,god withdraws1 as the needle trembles1 and hunts after the living loadstone40 ,a ,,sensitive ,,heart4 8,nothing could displease ,phronissa 7so this good mother is called7 more than to hear a jest thrown upon natural infirmities4 ,she thought there was something sacred in misery1 and it was not to be touched with a rude hand40 ,,impulsive ,,christians4 8,such ,christians as these 7such who are weak and too much under the influence of their passions7 live very much by sudden fits and starts of devotion1 without that uniform and steady spring of faith and holiness which would render their religion more even and uniform1 more honourable to ,god and more comfortable to themselves4 ,they are always high on the wing1 or else lying moveless on the ground4 ,they are ever in the heights or in the depths1 travelling on the bright mountains with the songs of heaven on their lips1 or groaning and labouring through the dark valleys1 and never walking onward as on an even plain towards heaven40 ,,the ,,fulfilment ,,of ,,divine ,,predictions4 8,how easy it will be for our blessed ,lord to make a full accomplishment of all ,his predictions concerning ,his kingdom2 salvation shall spread through all the tribes and ranks of mankind1 as the lightning from heaven in a few moments would communicate a living flame through ten thousand lamps or torches placed in a proper situation and neighbourhood40 ,he had an eminent power in description2 the following meditation is a rich illustration of this4 ,the whole meditation is far too long to quote--his descriptions of the awakening life of leaves1 and birds1 and insects--but he closes3 ,,the ,,first ,,of ,,may4 8',tis a sublime and constant triumph over all the intellectual powers of man1 which the great ,god maintains every moment in these inimitable works of nature1 in these impenetrable recesses and all mysteries of ,divine art2 and the month of ,may is the most shining season of this triumph4 ,the flags and banners of ,almighty wisdom are now displayed round half the globe1 and the other half waits the return of the sun to spread the same triumph over the southern world4 ,the very sun in the firmament is ,god's prime minister in this wondrous world of beings1 and he works with sovereign vigour on the surface of the earth1 and spreads his influence deep under the clods to the very root and fibre1 moulding them in their proper forms by ,divine direction4 ,there is not a plant1 nor a leaf1 nor one little branching thread above or beneath the ground1 which escapes the eye or influence of this beneficent star4 ,an illustrious emblem of the omnipresence and universal activity of the ,creator40 ,the following strikes us as very pleasing3 ,,on ,,distant ,,thunder4 8,when we hear the thunder rumbling in some distant quarter of the heavens1 we sit calm and serene amidst our business or diversions2 we feel no terrors about us1 and apprehend no danger4 ,when we see the slender streaks of lightning play afar off in the horizon of an evening sky1 we look on and amuse ourselves as with an agreeable spectacle1 without the least fear or concern4 ,but lo6 the dark cloud rises by degrees2 it grows black as night1 and big with tempests2 it spreads as it rises to the mid-heaven1 and now hangs directly over us2 the flashes of lightning grow broad and strong1 and1 like sheets of ruddy fire1 they blaze terribly all round the hemisphere4 ,we bar the doors and windows1 and every avenue of light1 but we bar them all in vain4 ,the flames break in at every cranny1 and threaten swift destruction2 the thunder follows1 bursting from the cloud with sudden and tremendous crashes2 the voice of the ,lord is redoubled with violence1 and overwhelms us with terror2 it rattles over our heads as though the whole house was broken down at once with a stroke from heaven1 and was tumbling on us amain to bury us in the ruins4 ,happy the man whose hope in his ,god composes all his passions amid these storms of nature1 and renders his whole deportment peaceful and serene amidst the frights and hurries of weak spirits and unfortified minds40 ,many pages might be filled with such passages in which the compactness of the proverb1 or the pleasantry of the fancy1 or the richness of the description1 is remarkable4 ,it comes out of such characteristics as we have noticed1 that he reformed the preaching of his day1 especially as to the structure of sermons2 it was the age of1 what he calls very felicitously1 8branching sermons20 and even ,john ,howe1 as both ,robert ,hall and ,henry ,rogers#ej have remarked1 8far outwent many of his most extravagant contemporaries in minute and frivolous subdivision2 we have sometimes heads arranged rank and file1 half a score deep40 ,henry ,rogers continues1 8,if any would wish to see the full extent to which ,howe carried this fault1 they may look into the #8scheme' 7a very accurate one71 which his publishers prefixed to the first edition of the #8,delighting in ,god1' and by the time the student has thoroughly digested and mastered that1 he will find little difficulty ,i apprehend in any of the first books of ,euclid40 ,it was the characteristic of nearly all the great ,puritan preachers before ,watts4 ,he speaks of some who would draw out a long rank of particulars in the same sermon under one general1 and run up the number to eighteenthly6 or seven and twentiethly6 until they cut all their sense into shreds1 so that everything they say of anything is a new particular2 and he says1 he has sat under this preaching until he has thought of ,ezekiel's vision in the valley full of bones1 8behold they were very many and very dry40 ,he adds1 8,a single rose bush1 or a dwarf pear1 with all their leaves1 flowers1 and fruit about them1 have more beauty and spirit in themselves1 and yield more food and pleasure to mankind1 than the innumerable branches1 boughs1 and twigs of a long hedge of thorns40 ,in the same manner he satirizes another kind of preaching1 in which there are no breaks and pauses4 8,is there no medium10 he says1 8between a sermon made up of sixty dry particulars1 and a long loose declamation without any distinction of the parts of it8 ,must a preacher divide his works by the breaks of a minute watch1 or let it run on incessantly like the flowing stream of sand in the hour-glass80 ,and thus he inquires1 8,can a long purling sound awaken a sleepy conscience8 ,can you make the arrow wound where it will not stick8 ,where all the discourse vanishes from the remembrance1 can you imagine the soul to be profited or enriched8 ,when you brush over the closed eyelid with a feather1 did you ever find it give light to the blind8 have any of your soft harangues1 your continued threads of silken eloquence1 ever raised the dead80 ,very happily he says1 8,preachers talk reason and religion to their auditories in vain1 if they do not make the argument so short as to come within their grasps1 and give a frequent rest to their thoughts2 they must break the ,bread of ,life into pieces to feed children with it1 and part their discourse into distinct propositions1 to give the ignorant a plain scheme of any one doctrine1 and enable them to comprehend or retain it4 ,the auditors of the first kind of preacher have some confusion in their knowledge1 the hearers of the last have scarce any knowledge at all40 ,the reader will not fail to notice1 in this nervous passage1 the happy imagery by which the writer gives point to his ideas4 ,but that which we have said hitherto refers rather to the style1 the vehicular frame-work in which ,watts set forth his thoughts2 it is more important to enter into the mind and spirit of the man2 and1 first1 no attribute seems more remarkable than the seraphic reverence of his nature4 ,it is not easy to mention a writer who more distinctly realises to the mind one of those six-winged seraphs ,isaiah saw1 who with twain covered his face1 with twain his feet1 and with twain stood ready to fly2 ,watts appeared ready for any flight2 but reverence1 an awful sense of the mysterious and inscrutable1 governed every movement of his soul4 ,the ,unitarians have1 with singular audacity1 sought to drag him through the ,serbonian bog of creedless ,christianity4#ea ,it is a fine remark1 quoted by ,southey1 that 8such doubts as troubled him he subdued1 not in a martial posture1 but upon his knees40 ,it is very certain that he had a large speculative disposition2 he approached very near to the veil which hides from man the incommunicable light2 there is not a line in his writings which displays a tendency towards ,arianism4 ,towards the doctrine of ,socinianism he does not condescend to give a single glance4 ,his complaint was1 and we apprehend it to be a more common one than even those who are troubled with it are aware1 not that he could not believe all that is revealed1 but that revelation had not conferred more light upon the subjects of even incomprehensible knowledge4 ,but his prayer1 his 8solemn address to the great and ever-blessed ,god1 upon what he had written concerning the great and ever-blessed ,trinity10 is certainly an extraordinary1 a passionate and most humble utterance of an ardently devout mind4 ,it is too lengthy for entire quotation1 but some of the closing paragraphs will convey the spirit of the entire piece1 and the whole may be read1 if read in the spirit in which it was written1 with profit to every one3 8,blessed and faithful ,god1 hast ,thou not promised that #8the meek ,thou wilt guide in judgment1 the meek ,thou wilt teach ,thy way8' ,hast ,thou not taught us by ,isaiah1 ,thy prophet1 that ,thou wilt #8bring the blind by a way they know not1 and wilt lead them in paths which they have not known8' ,hast ,thou not informed us by the prophet ,hosea1 that #8if we follow on to know the ,lord1 then we shall know ,him8' ,hath not ,thy ,son1 our ,saviour1 assured us1 that our ,heavenly ,father will give ,his ,holy ,spirit to them that ask ,him8 ,and is ,he not appointed #8to guide us into all truth8' ,have ,i not sought the gracious guidance of thy ,good ,spirit continually8 ,am ,i not truly sensible of my own darkness and weakness1 my dangerous prejudices on every side1 and my utter insufficiency for my own conduct8 ,wilt ,thou leave such a poor creature bewildered among a thousand perplexities1 which are raised by the various opinions and contrivances of men1 to explain ,thy ,divine ,truth8 ,help me1 ,heavenly ,father1 for ,i am quite tired and weary of these human explainings1 so various and uncertain4 ,when wilt ,thou explain it to me ,thyself1 ,o my ,god1 by the secret and certain dictates of ,thy ,spirit1 according to the intimation of ,thy ,word8 ,nor let any pride of reason1 nor any affectation of novelty1 nor any criminal bias whatever1 turn my heart aside from hearkening to these ,divine dictates of ,thy ,word and ,thy ,spirit4 ,suffer not any of my native corruptions1 nor the vanity of my imagination1 to cast a mist over my eyes while ,i am searching after the knowledge of ,thy mind and will1 for my eternal salvation4 8,i entreat1 ,o most merciful ,father1 that ,thou wilt not suffer the remnant of my short life to be wasted in such endless wanderings in quest of ,thee and ,thy ,son ,jesus1 as a great part of my past days have been2 but let my sincere endeavours to know ,thee1 in all the ways whereby ,thou hast discovered ,thyself in ,thy ,word1 be crowned with such success that my soul1 being established in every needful truth by ,thy ,holy ,spirit1 ,i may spend my remaining life according to the rules of ,thy ,gospel1 and may1 with all the holy and happy creation1 ascribe glory and honour1 wisdom and power1 to ,thee who sittest upon the throne1 and to the ,lamb for ever and ever40 ,we have stated the matter fairly as in relation to ,watts' entireness of faith1 but justice has not been done to ,watts in relation to that dilemma and agitation of public opinion and sentiment which forced him into controversy4 ,it was not that he himself doubted1 neither was it that he for himself approached the confines of a discussion of which it might be said-- ,dark with excessive light its skirts appear4 ,arianism was vexing the church in general in ,england in that age4#eb ,many of the churches1 especially those to which ,watts stood related1 indicated a close proclivity to ,arian sentiment4 ,the peculiar spirit of the times had created this degeneracy of sentiment2 there was little of what we are now accustomed to denominate practical ,christianity--the activities created by ,methodism were quite unknown4 ,all over the country were ,nonconformist churches 7nooks of retreat71 where some learned1 scholarly1 and philosophical minister was at the head of a class of thoughtful minds4 ,numbers of them seemed to have little to do but to think2 the heart did not minister much to the head in many instances4 ,the ,unitarianism of our day was unknown4 ,it thus represented very much the high ,arian sentiment of reverence to ,christ without the acknowledgment of ,his ,godhead4 ,the hymns of ,watts abound in expressions of praise to ,christ and to the ,holy ,spirit4 ,he was called upon to vindicate that which he himself had done2 he was called upon to defend that whole scheme of doctrine which accepted the ,three ,persons in the ,divine ,godhead4 ,perhaps the defect in all such efforts is1 that the very attempt to embody some doctrines within the forms of the understanding naturally and essentially depraves them4 ,if we say1 as we often do1 a ,god understood is no ,god at all--and this remark applies to mere natural religion--the same holds true of those higher doctrines of revelation which are the adumbrations of 8the light which no man hath seen or can see40 ,there are doctrines in ,theology1 even as there are doctrines in ,science1 the demonstration of which is rather negative than positive4 ,chemists tell us of an element essential to our life--we breathe it every moment2 it contributes to the balance of all the powers of the atmosphere2 it tames the subtle1 fiery-tempered oxygen1 the wild and vehement hydrogen2 it represses1 allays1 and composes1 but itself has no colour no odour2 it has no active properties1 no chemical affections2 it is one of the greatest mysteries in nature4 ,it is invisible1 and yet it proclaims its presence2 the chemist cannot touch it1 but he is sure of its existence4 ,it may well fill our minds with awe that we are ever in the presence of such an agent1 that before it the lamp of science is darkened1 like a man with a dim light in a room in which he sees phantoms he cannot touch1 and hears voices the causes of which he cannot detect1 and as he holds up his lamp he is aware of a presence that disturbs him1 that will not enter into his knowledge1 and for which he cannot account4 ,only he knows that it is4 ,such is nitrogen4 ,it is thus we apprehend the doctrine of the ,trinity4 ,all efforts must fail to apprehend the doctrines involved in the idea of the ,trinity1 which insist upon either the idea of personality or numeration1 as they are understood by us4 ,watts1 with the ,bible in his hand1 stood on the defensive against the aggressions of ,arianism1 and having attempted to unfold the ,christian doctrine of the ,trinity1 he published his further dissertation1 8,the ,arian ,invited to the ,orthodox ,faith2 a plain and easy method to lead such as deny the ,proper ,deity of ,christ into the belief of that ,article40 ,those who charge ,arianism upon ,watts can only do so1 because throughout the argument he has conducted it in a strain of eminent courtesy and charity4 ,he approached the matter in no spirit of disputation1 but with a cordial desire to promote1 if possible1 healing and unity2 nor do we think that there are any indications1 in the course of any of his discussions1 that his own mind or faith was unhinged2 but the discussions around him compelled him to direct his attention to questions certainly not uncongenial to his speculative and analytic order of mind4 ,probably the reader feels that there is a sufficient correspondence between the sense of our own spiritual wants and the revelation given to us in the ,divine ,word to make us feel that the ,trinity of ,persons in the ,godhead is a necessity of our moral nature1 and that it is a doctrine1 as we have already intimated1 best held1 as most satisfactory to the mind and conscience1 when held implicitly rather than explicitly4 ,the claim which the ,unitarians put forth to find in ,watts one of themselves is not less than audacious and dishonest4 ,it is1 however1 founded--very ridiculously1 we venture to think--upon some expressions reported after his death1 which implied that he would have been willing1 had he been able1 to have altered some expressions in his hymns4 ,truly it is amazing that the author could survive the publication of his first volume forty years1 and not alter many barbarisms of metre and expression4 ,it may1 perhaps1 be partly accounted for from the fact that the copyright of the hymns had passed at once from his hands4 ,we can very well believe there were certain expressions in his hymns he would have been not indisposed to alter1 without touching at all upon matters of doctrine4 ,it will be time enough for ,unitarians to claim ,watts when they are able to set aside his last published words1 and to reconcile them with that faith which they call theirs1 or to account1 upon such principles as they would make him hold1 for the sentiments which fell from his lips when dying4 ,but as a study of ,watts' mind1 these pieces of his are like all that emanated from his pen1 characterized by exceeding reverence for the subject he attempted to elucidate1 and by charity1 respect1 and courtesy towards his opponents4 ,johnson says3 8,i am only enough acquainted with his theological works to admire his meekness of opposition1 and his mildness of censure4 ,it was not only in his books1 but in his mind1 that orthodoxy was united with charity40 ,some will1 perhaps1 almost think that this width of charity in ,watts degenerated into a vice2 we hope this book has made it evident that he both had strong convictions and knew how to act upon them steadily4 ,but his heart was very inclusive in its love4 ,it was not merely that he lived within the shadows of persecution1 and belonged to an order whose opinions were only tolerated2 he represented the mildest type of ,nonconformity4 ,perhaps we shall surprise some readers not very well acquainted with his writings1 by informing them that one of the latest efforts of his mind and pen was upon the inquiry1 8,whether an ,establishment is altogether an ,impossibility40 ,this was in his ,essay1 published in the year #agci1 on 8,civil ,power in ,things ,sacred40 ,it is a singular scheme1 and the question is discussed with great moderation and candour2 but it is rather a plea for a system of national education than the establishment of a national religion4 ,he inquires1 indeed1 whether there might not be established a religion consistent with the just liberties of mankind1 and practicable with every form of civil government4 ,he thinks that officers should be appointed by the ,state to explain and enforce the great duties and sanctions of morality1 and that the citizens should be compelled to receive such lessons as are unquestionably at the foundation of a national well-being1 the welfare1 strength1 and support of the ,state1 and that such teachers1 as public benefactors1 should be sustained at the charge of the ,state4 ,watts' philosophical works exhibit him in the same light as his theological4 ,they are marked by a vivid disposition to analysis and speculation1 and by that elevated reverence of thought which appertains to all his writings4 ,instance his 8,inquiry ,concerning ,space2 whether it be ,something or ,nothing1 ,god or a ,creature40 ,most minds are quite unequal to such discussions1 and many regard them as unwise1 irreverent1 and dangerous4 ,they are a kind of intellectual ,matterhorn which certain daring spirits assault from age to age--the origin of evil1 liberty1 and necessity--the nature of substance1 and time1 and space4 ,it would surely be a dangerous and a doubtful doctrine to teach that such questions are only the territories or hunting-grounds of the bold masters of sceptical negations4 ,it does not derogate from the greatness of ,isaac ,watts to admit that he was neither a ,joseph ,butler1 a ,william de ,leibnitz1 nor a ,jonathan ,edwards2 but in his mind such studies became means of usefulness4 ,he fashioned ,alpenstocks for climbers among those higher mountain ranges1 through which he had himself travelled4 ,in such studies a reverent mind may at once enlarge the understanding while learning the limitation of its powers4 ,a wise guide will here1 too1 guard against the dangerous crevasse1 while he hath himself ,the secret learned ,to mix his blood with sunshine1 and to take ,the wind into his pulses4#ec ,johnson quotes a passage from ,mr4 ,dyer1 charging ,watts with confounding the idea of space with empty space1 and that he did not consider that though space might be without matter1 yet matter1 being extended1 could not be without space4 ,but in reply to this1 it may be remarked that this is the whole question1 and extended matter falls rather beneath the denomination of substance4 ,it appears certainly the case that ,watts1 in his discussion1 deals with infinite space1 or say1 certainly1 indefinite space--that is1 extension abstracted from phenomena4 ,such space ,sir ,isaac ,newton reverently regarded as the sensorium of ,god4 ,newton was so essentially reverent even in thought that it was not possible for him to indulge an idea which was capable of depraving religious conceptions2 but all minds1 even religious minds1 have not been equally reverent4 ,hence some have gone on to regard space as the immensity of ,god1 as a property of ,god4 ,but it would follow from this that as space is extended1 so ,god1 too1 must be extended2 and whatever tends to conform ,god with nature1 or to place ,him in contact with it1 in any other way than as in relation to ,his wisdom and ,his will1 is essentially unscriptural1 and it is a dangerous proclivity below which yawn the fearful gulfs of ,pantheism and ,atheism4 ,in these discussions our writer anticipated many of those shadows which in the course of a few years were to project themselves over the whole domain of philosophy and theology2 and1 indeed1 only a few years before1 in the great work of ,spinosa1 ominous indications had been given2 and the second part of the 8,living ,temple0 of ,john ,howe bore immediately upon the coming questions4 ,watts' essay penetrates into the stronghold of ,pantheism4 ,newton and ,pascal1 both looking up into the infinite spaces1 felt their nature called on to reply to the questions suggested4 ,the silence terrified ,pascal2 ,newton's calmer nature gathered up even infinite space into the great idea1 that it was but a mode1 or attribute1 of ,god4 ,some such doctrines govern the ,essays of ,watts3 ,space1 he argues1 cannot be ,god2 we cannot indeed conceive that infinite space ever began to be1 we have an idea of it as eternal and unchangeable2 according to ,watts it seems to contain what existence it has in the very idea1 nature1 or essence of it1 which is one attribute of ,god1 and whereby we prove ,his existence4 ,it appears to be a necessary being and has a sort of self-existence1 for we cannot tell how to conceive it not to he4 ,it seems to be an impassible1 indivisible1 immutable essence1 and therefore according to the ghastly pantheistic philosophy it is argued that space is ,god4 ,this idea ,watts concisely set aside1 because it involves the absurdity of making the blessed ,god a ,being of infinite length1 breadth1 and depth1 and ascribing to ,him parts of this nature measurable by inches1 yards1 and miles4 ,perhaps this is not so clear to all readers as it was to the writer himself2 but the close seems more satisfactory when he says1 8,strongest arguments seem to evince this1 that it must be ,god1 or it must be nothing40 ,watts1 then1 was an ,idealist1 and the remark of ,johnson arises from a misapprehension of the drift of the essay4 ,he argues that space is only the shadow cast by substance--we are sure that shadow or darkness is a mere nothing1 and space is nothing but the absence of body1 as shade is the absence of light1 and both are explicable without supposing either to be real beings3 it is therefore merely an abstract idea1 or1 as we should say1 a 8thought-form20 it will follow from this that such an idea of space dissolves one of the charming illusions of ,pantheism1 and that there rises from the midst of this universe of unidentical being the personality of man4 ,some critics have entertained a grim joke at the expense of ,watts1 that having annihilated space1 he proceeded in the next place to annihilate substance1 anticipating at once ,berkeley and ,hume4 ,let it then be remembered that he engaged in none of these excursions in a vain or ,pyrrhonistic spirit3 his essays were written not to unhinge1 but to rest and settle and give repose to the mind2 indeed he says1 8,there are mysteries wherein we bewilder and lose ourselves by attempting to make something out of nothing20 substance is one of these4 ,he goes for some distance on the way with ,locke1 especially in refuting the idea that substance is something real in nature2 with ,locke he argues that 8all the ideas we have of particular1 distinct sort of substances1 are nothing but several combinations of simple ideas coexistent in such1 the cause of their union1 which makes the whole subsist of itself40 ,only then comes in the important question1 8what is it that supports the accidents and qualities of being80 ,at this point ,watts parts company with ,locke4 ,his ideas of substance seem to be antagonistic to ,locke1 and dangerously sustaining ,spinosa1 who taught1 as our readers know1 that the whole universe1 ,god and this world1 may be the same individual substance--8,how can ,i be sure that ,god and the material world have not one common substance80 ,but1 very singularly1 ,watts himself in tracing the mistakes upon this matter to their origin1 seems to fall into the very error he seeks to explode1 the idea of a real1 invisible abstract or concrete1 seems to stand behind all things2 he says1 the mistakes which men make arise from the occult quality in the termination of names1 ity in solidity1 sion in extension1 which imply a quality without including the substance2 as whiteness1 without including the substance or the thing that is white2 the word white is concrete1 and denotes the thing or substance together with the quality1 and he says1 8,we ought to remember that things are made by ,god1 or ,nature1 words are made by man1 and sometimes applied in a way not exactly agreeable to what things and ideas require40 ,the object of ,watts in his discussion of the idea of substance1 was the same as that in his discussion in the idea of space1 to disarm ,spinozism of its gross and crude ideas of ,god4 ,but we do not feel that the same success closes the discussion4 ,perhaps it will be sufficient to admit at once that space and substance are both modes of ,divine operation4 ,push the inquiry to any extent1 and the most absolute ,spinozist is compelled to halt in some such conclusion4 ,that ,god is extended1 that ,he is a mere infinite extension1 is an absurdity2 but it seems that no injustice is done to the most reverent and infinite thought of ,god by regarding ,him as the essential sub-stans1 the substance as of all souls1 so of all being4 ,that about the philosophic essays which interests us is their freshness1 and the clear1 easily lucid1 and charmingly illustrated style in which the doctrines are conveyed4 ,they assuredly are a very happy commentary upon ,locke1 from whom he often separates1 as in the essay on 8,innate ,ideas20 he agrees with ,locke in the main1 and then proceeds to discourse upon many simple ideas which are innate in some sense4 ,his essay to prove that the 8,soul never ,sleeps10 and 8,on the ,place and ,motion of ,spirits1 and the ,power of a ,spirit to move ,matter10 are interesting2 that on the 8,departing and ,separate ,soul0 is a sublime piece of writing1 and on the 8,resurrection of the same ,body10 and on the 8,production and ,nourishment of ,plants and ,animals40 ,few persons now1 it may be supposed1 even know of the existence of these essays2 they seem to us pieces of truly delightful reading1 most instructive1 suggestive1 and entertaining1 singularly free from hard and unpleasant lines of dogmatism1 full of delightful and suggestive pictures2 take the following3 ,,sunbeams ,,and ,,starbeams4 8,what a surprising work of ,god is vision1 that notwithstanding all these infinite meetings and crossings of starbeams and sunbeams night and day1 through all our solar world1 there should be such a regular conveyance of light to every eye as to discern each star so distinctly by night1 as well as all other objects on earth by day6 ,and this difficulty and wonder will be greatly increased by considering the innumerable double1 triple1 and tenfold reflections and refractions of sunbeams1 or daylight1 near our earth1 and among the various bodies on the surface of it4 ,let ten thousand men stand round a large elevated amphitheatre2 in the middle of it1 on a black plain1 let ten thousand white round plates be placed1 of two inches diameter1 and at two inches distance2 every eye must receive many rays of light reflected from every plate1 in order to perceive its shape and colour2 now1 if there were but one ray of light came from each plate1 here would be ten thousand rays falling on every single eye1 which would make twenty thousand times ten thousand1 that is1 two hundred millions of rays crossing each other in direct lines in order to make every plate visible to every man4 ,but if we suppose that each plate reflected one hundred rays1 which is no unreasonable supposition1 this would rise to twenty thousand millions4 ,what an amazing thing is the distinct vision of the shape and colour of each plate by every eye1 notwithstanding these confused crossings and rays6 ,what an astonishing composition is the eye in all the coats and all the humours of it1 to convey those ten thousand white images1 or those millions of rays so distinct to the retina1 and to impress and paint them all there6 ,and what further amazement attends us if we follow the image on the retina1 conveying itself by the optic nerves into the common sensory without confusion8 ,can a rational being survey this scene and say there is no ,god8 ,can a mind think on this stupendous bodily organ1 the eye1 and not adore the ,wisdom that contrived it80 ,and the following is not only most interesting1 but anticipates1 with much strength1 a line of argument important to the sceptical philosophy of our own day4 ,the ,german ,buchner binds up his atheistic philosophy between the two covers of ,force and ,matter2 and many in our own country follow in the same train of singularly forgetful thought3 forgetful because force and matter are really not sufficient to constitute a universe2 the regulative and directive power which controls force and manipulates matter to its will is assuredly as essential a factor as either force or matter4#ed ,thus ,dr4 ,watts argues in his remarks3 ,,the ,,direction ,,of ,,motion ,a ,,proof ,,of ,,deity4 8,yet1 after all1 ,i know it may be replied again1 that gravitation is a power which is not limited in its agency by any conceivable distances whatsoever2 and therefore1 when these starbeams are run out never so far into the infinite void by the force of their emission from the star1 yet their gravitation towards the star1 or some of the planetary worlds1 which sometimes1 perhaps1 may be nearer to it1 has perpetual influence to retard their motion by degrees1 even as the motion of a comet is retarded by its gravitation towards the sun1 though it flies to such a prodigious distance from the sun1 and in time it is stopped and drawn back again and made to return towards its centre4 ,and just so1 may we suppose1 all the sunbeams and starbeams that ever were emitted1 even to the borders of the creation1 to have been restrained by degrees by this principle of gravitation till1 moving slower and slower1 at last they are stopped in their progress and made to return toward their own or some other planetary system4 ,and if so1 then there is a perpetual return of the beams of light towards some or other of their bright originals1 an everlasting circulation of these lucid atoms1 which will hinder this eternal dilation of the bounds of the universe1 and at the same time will equally prevent the wasting of the substance of the lucid bodies1 the sun or stars4 ,well1 but if this power of restraining and reducing the flight of starbeams be ascribed to this principle of gravitation1 let us inquire what is this gravitation1 which prevents the universe from such a perpetual waste of light8 ,it cannot be supposed to be any real property or natural power inhering in matter or body1 which exerts its influence at so prodigious a distance4 ,i think1 therefore1 it is generally agreed1 and with great reason1 that it is properly the influence of a ,divine power upon every atom of matter which1 in a most exact proportion to its bulk and distance1 causes it to gravitate towards all other material beings1 and which makes all the bulky beings in the universe1 viz41 the sun1 planets1 and stars1 attract the bodies that are near them towards themselves4 ,now this law of nature being settled at first by ,god the ,creator1 and being constantly maintained in the course of ,his providence1 it is esteemed as an effect of nature1 and has a property of matter1 though in truth it is owing to the almighty and all-pervading power of ,god exerting its incessant dominion and influence through the whole material creation1 producing an infinite variety of changes which ,ave observe among bodies1 confining the universe to its appointed limits1 restraining the swift motion of the beams of light1 and preserving this vast system of beings from waste and ruin1 from desolation and darkness4 ,if there be a world1 there is a ,god2 if there be a sun and stars1 every ray points to their ,creator2 not a beam of light from all the lucid globes1 but acknowledges its mission from the wisdom and will of ,god1 and feels the restraint of ,his laws1 that it may not be an eternal wanderer4 ,but ,i call my thoughts to retire from these extravagant rovings beyond the limits of creation4 ,what do these amusements teach us but the inconceivable grandeur1 extent1 and magnificence of the works and the power of ,god1 the astonishing contrivances of ,his wisdom1 and the poverty1 the weakness1 and narrowness of our own understandings1 all which are lessons well becoming a creature80 ,in the same manner1 also1 he replies to the modern doctrine of traducianism in his remarks on ,,creation ,,or ,,conservation4 8,it has been a very famous question in the schools1 whether conservation be a continual creation1 i4e41 whether that action1 whereby ,god preserves all creatures in their several ranks and orders of being1 is not one continued act of ,his creating power or influence1 as it were1 giving being to them every moment8 ,whether creatures1 being formed out of nothing1 would relapse again into their first estate of nonentity if they were not1 as it were1 perpetually reproduced by a creating act of ,god8 ,how there is one plain and easy argument whereby1 perhaps1 this controversy may be determined1 and it may be proposed in this manner4 ,in whatsoever moment ,god creates a substance1 ,he must create with it all the properties1 modes1 and accidents which belong to it in that moment2 for in the very moment of creation the creature is all passive1 and cannot give itself those modes4 ,now if ,god every moment create wicked men and devils1 and cause them to exist such as they are1 by a continued act of creation1 must ,he not1 at the same time1 create or give being to all their sinful thoughts and inclinations1 and even their most criminal and abominable actions8 ,must ,he not create devils1 together with the rage and pride1 the malice1 envy1 and blasphemy of their thoughts8 ,must ,he not create sinful men in the very acts of lying1 perjury1 stealing1 and adultery1 rapine1 cruelty1 and murder8 ,must ,he not form one man with malice in his heart8 ,another with a false oath on the tongue8 ,a third with a sword in his hand1 plunging it into his neighbour's bosom8 ,would not these formidable consequences follow from the supposition of ,god's conserving providence being a continual act of creation8 ,but surely these ideas seem to be shocking absurdities1 whereas1 if conservation be really a continued creation1 the modes must be created together with their substances every moment1 since it is not possible that creatures1 who every moment are supposed to be nothing but the immediate products of the ,divine will1 should be capable in every one of those very moments in which they are produced or created to form their own modes in simultaneous co-existence with their subjects4 ,i own there are difficulties on the other side of the question2 but the fear of making ,god the author of sin has bent my opinion this way4 ,we must always inviolably maintain it for the honour of the blessed ,god1 that all spirits1 as they come out of ,his hand1 are created pure and innocent2 every sinful act proceeds from themselves1 by an abuse of their own freedom of will1 or by a voluntary compliance with the corrupt appetites and inclinations of flesh and blood4 ,we must find some better way1 therefore1 to explain ,god's providential conservation of things than by representing it as an act of proper and continual creation1 lest we impute all the iniquities of all men and devils1 in all ages1 to the pure and holy ,god1 who is blessed for evermore40 ,there are two other pieces well worth a study--his remarks on ,mr4 ,locke's 8,essay on the ,human ,understanding10 and a 8,brief ,scheme of ,ontology40 ,the essay on ontology1 like that on logic1 is a most interesting handbook and guide to thought4 ,watts thought so clearly that it often seems as if he were only putting things neatly4 ,sometimes1 as in his 8,philosophic ,essays10 and in his pieces on the ,trinity1 he is eminently translucent2 you see that there is light behind4 ,this is the impression conveyed by his dissertation on 8,space10 8,substance10 and 8,concerning ,spirits1 their ,place and ,motion20 but in his ,ontology and ,logic he is transparent1 the objects are brought distinctly into view4 ,when he presents before you his greater thoughts his style is indeed clear1 but you feel that it is as when 8morning is spread upon the mountains0 before sunrise1 or as when evening lingers in the soft and rosy light after sunset1 there is something somewhere behind1 some orb of light which spreads out all that roseate glow2 in his ,ontology and ,logic he is concise and distinct1 as we have said2 you may almost call him a neat writer4 ,he has a wonderful power of accumulating particulars1 a singular felicity in discriminating ideas4 ,this gives to him a very nice sense of words1 as he says1 8,we must search the sense of words4 ,it is for want of this that men quarrel in the dark1 and that there are so many contentions in the several sciences1 and especially in divinity40 ,his power of discrimination is so nice that it often becomes as amusing as it is instructive2 regarded thus1 his ,logic is a most interesting book1 we suppose quite the most delightful to read of any treatise on logic in our language4 ,of this amusing cumulative power let the reader take the following3 ,,names ,,and ,,naming ,,things4 8,do not suppose that the natures or essences of things always differ from one another as much as their names do4 ,there are various purposes in human life for which we put very different names on the same thing1 or on things whose natures are near akin2 and thereby oftentimes1 by making a new nominal species1 we are ready to deceive ourselves with the idea of another real species of beings1 and those whose understandings are led away by the mere sound of words fancy the nature of those things to be very different whose names are so1 and judge of them accordingly4 ,i may borrow a remarkable instance for my purpose out of every garden which contains a variety of plants in it4 ,most of all plants agree in this1 that they have a root1 a stalk1 leaves1 buds1 blossoms1 and seeds3 but the gardener ranges them under very different names1 as though they were really different kinds of beings1 merely because of the different use and service to which they are applied by men1 as for instance those plants whose roots are eaten shall appropriate the name of roots to themselves1 such as carrots1 turnips1 radishes1 etc4 ,if the leaves are of chief use to us then we call them herbs1 as sage1 mint1 thyme2 if the leaves are eaten raw they are termed salad1 as lettuce1 purslane2 if boiled they become pot-herbs1 as spinage1 coleworts2 and some of those same plants which are pot-herbs in one family are salads in another4 ,if the buds are made our food they are called heads or tops2 so cabbage heads1 heads of asparagus1 and artichokes4 ,if the blossom be of most importance we call it a flower1 such as daisies1 tulips1 and carnations1 which are the mere blossoms of those plants4 ,if the husks or seeds are eaten they are called the fruits of the ground1 as peas1 beans1 strawberries1 etc4 ,if any part of the plant be of known or common use to us in medicine we call it a physical herb1 as cardamus1 scurvy-grass2 but if we count no part useful we call it a weed1 and throw it out of the garden2 and yet perhaps our next neighbour knows some valuable property and use of it1 he plants it in his garden and gives it a title of an herb or a flower4 ,you see here how small is the real distinction of these several plants considered in their general nature as the lesser vegetables1 yet what very different ideas we vulgarly form concerning them1 and make different species of them1 chiefly because of the different names given to them40 ,exactly the same characteristics meet us in his ,ontology1 but here there is yet more of this kind of amusement2 its pages are crowded with illustrations4 ,it was perhaps in the nature of the subject that he scarcely mentions a particular for which he does not furnish one or twenty illustrative examples3 take his curious discrimination of causes into the deficient1 the permissive1 and the conditional3 ,,classification ,,of ,,causes4 8,a deficient cause is when the effect owes its existence in a great measure to the absence of something which would have prevented it1 so that this may be reckoned a negative rather than a positive cause3 the negligence of a gardener1 or the want of rain1 are the deficient causes of the withering of plants2 and the carelessness of the pilot1 or the sinking of the tide1 is the cause of a ship's splitting on a rock2 the forgetfulness of a message is the cause of a quarrel among friends1 or of the punishment of servants2 the not bringing a reprieve in time is the cause of a criminal's being executed2 and the want of education is the cause why many a child runs headlong into vice and mischief2 the blindness of a man1 or the darkness of the night1 are the causes of stumbling2 a leak in a boat is a deficient cause why the water runs in and the boat sinks2 and a hole in a vessel is called a deficient cause why the liquor runs out and is lost4 ,man is the deficient cause of all his sins of omission1 and many of these carry great guilt in them4 8,a permissive cause is that which actually removes impediments1 and thus it lets the proper causes operate4 ,now this sort of cause is either natural or moral4 ,a natural permissive cause removes natural impediments or obstructions1 and this may be called a deobstruent cause4 ,so opening the window shutters is the cause of the light entering the room2 cleaning the ear may be the cause of a man's hearing music who was deaf before2 breaking down a dam is the cause of the overflowing of water and drowning a town2 letting loose a rope is the cause of a ship's running adrift2 leaving off a garment is the cause of a cold and a cough2 and cutting the bridle of the tongue may be the cause of speech to the dumb4 8,note4--,the cause which removes natural impediments may be a proper efficient cause with regard to that removal1 yet it is not properly efficient1 but merely permissive with regard to the consequences of that removal4 8,a moral permissive cause removes moral impediments1 or takes away prohibitions1 and gives leave to act3 so a master is a permissive cause of his scholars going to play2 a general is the same cause of his soldiers plundering a city2 and a repeal of a law against foreign silks is the permissive cause why they are worn4 8,query4--,was not ,god's permission of ,satan to afflict ,job rather natural than moral1 since his mischievous actions did not become lawful thereby1 and since it is now become his nature to do mischief where he has no natural restraint8 8,a condition has been usually caused causa sine qu non1 or a cause without which the effect is not produced4 ,it is generally applied to something which is requisite in order to the effect1 though it hath not a proper actual influence in producing that effect4 ,daylight is a condition of ploughing1 sowing1 and reaping2 darkness is a condition of our seeing stars and glowworms2 clearness of the stream is the condition of our spying sand and pebbles at the bottom of it2 being well dressed with a head uncovered is a condition of a man's coming into the presence of a king2 and paying a peppercorn yearly is the condition of enjoying an estate4 ,how far the perfect idea of the word condition1 in the civil law1 may differ from this representation is not my present work to determine4 8,note4--,these three last causes may possibly be all ranked under the general name of conditions1 but ,i think it more proper to distinguish them into their different kinds of causality40 ,we perhaps repeat ourselves in these last remarks1 for all is an illustration of that perspicuity which we mentioned as ,watts' first characteristic2 but in him perspicuity was not the attribute of a small mind1 or a limited range of vision2 perspicuous speech is the natural instrument of perspicuous thought3 how can that man express himself clearly who does not see clearly8 ,hence dark language must be the companion of dark vision2 but the perspicuity of a child amongst its playthings1 in its playground or its garden is one thing1 and the perspicuity of the pilot of a vessel1 or a gifted astronomer1 is quite another4 ,however wide or vast the subjects upon which ,watts wrote1 it seemed he had cleared thought in his own mind1 by the clearness with which speech served him in making the things in his own mind the property of others2 and upon whatsoever he wrote there was always the same suffusing light of the devoutness of the spiritual mind4 ,here is no flippancy2 here are no impertinent epigrams1 no hard words even for opponents2 we have to search a long way through his works before we find an expression of severity1 we will not say of contempt--perhaps there are such--but we are sure they will only be used of those who1 by some abandonment of sentiment1 had separated themselves from the common feeling of mankind4 ,yet there was considerable nervousness in his speech1 he was a great preacher1 he commanded attention2 judging from the testimony of ,johnson1 he must have been1 to cultivated minds1 one of the most distinguished preachers of his day3 his enunciation was clear1 forcible1 and distinct1 and what was wanting to an imposing presence was made up from the earnestness of the manner1 the calm luminousness1 elevation1 and we would even say1 the sustained but subdued vehemence of his diction4 ,his sermon on the 8,reformation of ,manners10 to which ,southey has referred1 not in his life of ,watts but in one of the volumes of his 8,common-place ,book10 as 8an extraordinary piece10 is an illustration of this4 ,it was preached at the time when we were in conflict with ,louis ,,xiv4 ,he gives the following side-glance to the wars in ,flanders1 and on the borders of the ,rhine1 and he refers to the importance1 not only of fighting the enemy abroad1 but resisting vice at home4 ,he exclaims1 in a remarkable passage3 8,but was there ever any war without danger1 or victory without courage8 ,besides1 the perils you run here are almost infinitely less than those which attend the wars of nations1 where the cause is not half so ,divine4 ,the fields of battle in ,flanders1 and almost all over ,europe1 have drunk up the blood of millions1 and have furnished graves for large armies2 but it can hardly be said that you have hitherto #8resisted unto blood striving against sin4' ,in a war of more than twelve years' continuance 7i4e41 against vice at home7 there has but one man fallen4 ,the providence of ,god has put helmets of salvation upon your heads4 ,some of you can relate wonders of deliverance to safety when you have been beset by numbers1 and their rage has kindled into resolutions of revenge2 the ,lord has taken away their courage in a moment1 the #8men of might have not found their hands2' thus ,he has caused #8the wrath of man to praise ,him1 and the remainder of wrath ,he hath restrained4'#ee ,read over this psalm1 and with ,divine valour pursue the fight4 ,but if your life should be lost in such a cause as this1 it will be esteemed martyrdom in the sight of ,god1 and shall be thus written down in the book of the wars of the ,lord4 ,believe me1 these red lines will look well in the records of heaven1 when the judgment shall be set1 and the books opened in the face of men and angels40 ,watts in the pulpit ought to furnish the subject for a distinct chapter--it must fall into this feeble attempt to realize the man's mind in his works4 ,his sermons were evidently carefully prepared and admirably arranged2 it was not possible for him to speak without thought1 but he used very few notes in the pulpit1 preparing carefully so that the mind and memory were fully charged1 giving to such a mind as his freedom1 instantaneous propriety1 and fulness of expression2 many men who exhibit fulness of wisdom1 both in thought and language1 in the study1 find all fail them when they come to speak in public4 ,on every hand we hear that this was not the case with ,watts1 and that his deliverances in public corresponded to his great powers in the study2 and his sermons are of that nature that they assure us if the delivery corresponded to the strength of the matter and the felicity and harmony of the composition1 they must have been very impressive4 ,as some of the great sermons of ,jeremy ,taylor appear to have been prepared to preach when he was in exile at the ,golden ,grove in ,wales1 in the drawing-room of ,lord ,vaughan1 so some of ,watts' sermons were prepared for delivery at the evening worship at ,theobalds2 one of the noblest of these is a commanding piece on the ,scale of ,blessedness1 or ,blessed ,saints1 ,blessed ,saviour1 ,blessed ,trinity4 ,in this subduing sermon occurs one of the passages which excited the wrath of ,thomas ,bradbury1 and to which we have referred4 ,here it is2 the note is evidently intended to justify himself from his coarse assailant1 although he does not say so4 ,a ,,scale ,,of ,,blessedness4 8,can we ever imagine that ,moses the meek1 the friend of ,god1 who was1 as it were1 ,his confidant on earth1 ,his faithful prophet to institute a new religion1 and establish a new ,church in the world1 who1 for ,god's sake1 endured forty years of banishment1 and had forty years' fatigue in a wilderness2 who saw ,god on earth face to face1 and the shine was left upon his countenance3 can we suppose that this man has taken his seat no nearer to ,god in ,paradise than ,samson and ,jephthah1 those rash champions1 those rude and bloody ministers of ,providence8#ef ,or can we think that ,st4 ,paul1 the greatest of the apostles1 #8who laboured more than they all1' and #8was in sufferings' more abundant than the rest2 who spent a long life in daily services and deaths for the sake of ,christ1 is not fitted for1 and advanced to a rank of blessedness superior to that of the crucified thief1 who became a ,christian but a few moments at the end of a life of impiety and plunder8 ,can ,i persuade myself that a holy man1 who has known much of ,god in this world1 and spent his age on earth in contemplation of the ,divine excellences1 who has acquired a great degree of nearness to ,god in devotion1 and has served ,him1 and suffered for ,him1 even to old age and martyrdom1 with a sprightly and faithful zeal3 can ,i believe that this man1 who has been trained up all his life to converse with ,god1 and is fitted to receive ,divine communications above his fellows1 shall dwell no nearer to ,god hereafter1 and share no larger a degree of blessedness1 than the little babe who has just entered into this world to die out of it1 and who is saved1 so far as we know1 merely by spreading the veil of the covenant grace1 drawn over it by the hand of the parent's faith8 ,can it be that the ,great ,judge who #8cometh and ,his reward is with ,him1 to render to every one according to his works1' will make no distinction between ,moses and ,samson1 between the apostle and the thief1 between the aged martyr and the infant1 in the world to come8 ,and yet1 after all1 it may be matter of inquiry1 whether the meanest saint among the sons of ,adam has not some sort of privilege above any rank of angels by being of a kindred nature to our ,emmanuel1 to ,jesus the ,son of ,god40 ,and the following is a fine passage on the ,trinity1 which may be read with pleasure1 although some years after he says that 8it is a warmer effort of the imagination than riper years would indulge4 ,what distinctions there may be in this one ,spirit ,i know not2 ,i am fully established in the belief of the ,deity of the ,blessed ,three1 though ,i know not the manner of the explication40 ,,the ,,trinity4 8,the ,father is so intimately near the ,son and ,spirit1 that no finite or created natures or unions can give a just resemblance of it4 ,we talk of the union of the sun and his beams1 of a tree and its branches3 but these are but poor images and faint shadows of this mystery1 though they are some of the best that ,i know4 ,the union of the soul and the body is1 in my esteem1 still farther from the point1 because their natures are so widely different4 ,in vain we search through all the creation to find a complete similitude of the ,creator4 8,and in vain may we run through all parts and powers of nature and art1 to seek a full resemblance of the mutual propensity and love of the ,blessed ,three towards each other4 ,mathematicians1 indeed1 talk of the perpetual tendencies and infinite approximations of two or more lines on the same surface1 which yet never can entirely concur in one line3 and if we should say that the ,three ,persons of the ,trinity1 by mutual indwelling and love1 approach each other infinitely in one ,divine nature1 and yet lose not their distinct personality1 it would be but an obscure account of this sublime mystery4 ,but this we are sure of1 that for three ,divine ,persons to be so inconceivably near one another in the original and eternal spring of love1 goodness1 and pleasure1 must produce infinite delight4 ,in order to illustrate the happiness of the ,sacred ,three1 may we not suppose something of society necessary to the perfection of happiness in all intellectual nature8 ,to know and be known1 to love and to be beloved1 are1 perhaps1 such essential ingredients of complete felicity that it cannot subsist without them4 ,and it may be doubted whether such mutual knowledge and love1 as seems requisite for this end1 can be found in a nature absolutely simple in all respects4 ,may we not then suppose that some distinctions in the ,divine ,being are of eternal necessity1 in order to complete the blessedness of ,godhead8 ,such a distinction as may admit1 as a great man expresses it1 of delicious society4 #8,we1 for our parts1 cannot but hereby have in our minds a more gustful idea of a blessed state1 than we can conceive in mere eternal solitude4' 8,and if this be true1 then the three differences1 which we call personal distinctions1 in the nature of ,god1 are as absolutely necessary as ,his blessedness1 as ,his being1 or any of ,his perfections4 ,and then we may return to the words of my text1 and boldly infer1 that if the man is blessed who is chosen by the free and sovereign grace of ,god1 and caused to approach1 or draw near ,him1 what immense and unknown blessedness belongs to each ,divine ,person1 to all the ,sacred ,three1 who are by nature and unchangeable necessity so near1 so united1 so much one1 that the least moment's separation seems to be infinitely impossible1 and1 then we may venture to say1 it is not to be conceived3 and the blessedness is conceivable by none but ,god6 8,this is a nobler union and a more intense pleasure than the ,man ,jesus ,christ knows or feels1 or can conceive1 for ,he is a creature4 ,these are glories too ,divine and dazzling for the weak eye of our understanding1 too bright for the eye of angels1 those morning stars2 and they1 and we1 must fall down together1 alike overwhelmed with them1 and alike confounded4 ,these are flights that tire souls of the strongest wing1 and finite minds faint in the infinite pursuit2 these are depths where our tallest thoughts sink and drown2 we are lost in this ocean of being and blessedness that has no limit on either side1 no surface1 no bottom1 no shore4 ,the nearness of the ,divine ,persons to each other1 and the unspeakable relish of their unbounded pleasures1 are too vast ideas for our bounded minds to entertain4 ,it is one infinite transport that runs through the ,father1 ,son1 and ,spirit1 without beginning1 and without end1 with boundless variety1 yet ever perfect and ever present without change1 and without degree2 and all this because they are so near to one another1 and so much one with ,god4 8,but when we have fatigued our spirits and put them to the utmost stretch1 we must lie down and rest1 and confess the great incomprehensible4 ,how far this sublime transport of joy is varied in each subsistence2 how far their mutual knowledge of each other's properties1 or their mutual delight in each other's love1 is distinct in each ,person1 is a secret too high for the present determination of our language and our thoughts3 it commands our judgment in silence1 and our whole souls into wonder and adoration40 ,he frequently indulged in a warmth of expression2 he did not disdain ornament1 although all was held in a wise check1 and indeed with a severe rein1 and his sermons were not less practical than beautiful4 ,they abound in such passages as the following1 in which he so sweetly and mildly expostulates with ,,censorious ,,christians4 8,be not too severe in your censures1 you who have been kept from temptation1 but pity others who are fallen1 and mourn over their fall4 ,do not think or say the worst things you can of those who have been taken in the snare of ,satan1 and been betrayed into some grosser iniquities4 ,when you see them grieved and ashamed of their own follies1 and bowed down under much heaviness1 take occasion then to speak a softening and a healing word4 ,speak for them kindly1 and speak to them tenderly4 #8,have compassion of them1 lest they be swallowed up of over much sorrow4' ,and remember1 too1 ,o censorious ,christian1 that thou art also in the body4 ,it is rich grace that has kept thee hitherto1 and the same ,god1 who for wise ends has suffered thy brother to fall1 may punish thy severity and reproachful language by withholding ,his grace from thee in the next hour of temptation1 and then thy own fall and guilt shall upbraid thee with inward and bitter reflections1 for thy sharp censures of thy weak and tempted brother4 ,this life is the only time wherein we can pity the infirmities of our brethren1 and bear their burdens4 ,this law of ,christ must be fulfilled in this world1 for there is no room for it in the next3 #8,wherefore bear ye one another's burdens1 and so fulfil ye the law of ,christ4' ,this world is the only place where different opinions and doctrines are found amongst the saints2 disagreeing forms of devotion1 and sects1 and parties1 have no place on high3 none of these things can interrupt the worship or the peace of heaven4 ,see to it then1 that you practise this grace of charity here1 and love thy brother1 and receive him into thy heart in holy fellowship1 though he may be weak in faith1 and though he may observe days and times1 and may feed upon herbs1 and indulge some superstitious follies while thou art strong in faith1 and well acquainted with the liberty of the ,gospel4 ,let not little things provoke you to divide communions on earth3 but by this sort of charity1 and a ,catholic spirit1 honour the ,saviour and ,his ,church here in this world2 for since there are no parties1 nor sects1 nor contrary sentiments among the ,church in heaven1 this ,christian virtue can never find any room for exercise there4 ,this kind of charity ends with death40 ,but such delineations as these might be pursued to a great length1 and we have scarcely dwelt at all upon that aspect of his public teaching which the last quotation instantly suggests1 its eminent practical character2 his discourses on 8,christian ,morality10 his beautiful discourse on 8,humility10 for which he received the hearty thanks of the ,bishop of ,london2 his 8,caveat against ,infidelity10 his 8,guide to ,prayer20 summarily1 it may be said1 he touched everything with an exquisite delicacy of conscience1 and with the elevation of a saint4 ,his mind cannot be summed in one attribute1 neither his piety1 nor his genius can be said to find an adequate illustration in one work2 he was one of a race of men of whom1 indeed1 the history of the literature of those times furnishes many illustrations1 whose learning and labours were alike vast2 they must have caught the earliest daybeam1 and trimmed the lamp far beyond the hours of midnight1 pursuing their industrious toil1 devouring libraries4 ,their works formed a library2 they had not the necessities of our times to call them away1 nor was it the age of magazines and reviews1 and the lighter shallops of literature4 ,the age immediately preceding that of ,watts1 and his own age1 present to us the forms of many men1 who in some sheltered nook passed a life unprofitable--ought we to say inglorious8--satisfied with the spoils of learning1 they lived a life of barrenness2 they sought wisdom for her own sake1 neither for the use it enabled them to confer on others1 or the fame it conferred on themselves2 or1 if they published1 it was not so much from the benevolent idea of the transfusion of knowledge1 but really from their interest only in their own idea4 ,these were the men and those the times which may be best described in the words of ,milton3 ,whose lamp at midnight hour ,is seen in some high lonely tower1 ,where he may oft outwatch the ,bear ,with thrice great ,hermes1 or unsphere ,the spirit of ,plato1 to unfold ,what worlds or what vast regions hold ,the immortal mind that hath forsook ,her mansion in this fleshly nook4 ,but to this order of mind ,watts added that which altogether changed it2 he possessed in an eminent degree the love of books and thought1 lofty imaginations1 and excursions through the far-off continents of knowledge2 but he added to the volitions of genius1 and the accumulations of the scholar1 the doing 8all for the glory of ,god20 few lives so useful and even so obvious seem to have been so sanctified from every human passion and selfish isolation2 and hence with powers which might have found their gratification had he chosen to move like some remote and solitary planet in an unilluminating orb1 he preferred rather to be a satellite1 shedding a useful lustre on his serene way1 and in the language of a well-known writer1 8singing while he shone40 ,the amiable critic to whom we have already referred says that the whole lesson of ,watts' life might be condensed into the apostolic injunction1 8,study to be quiet and mind your own business20 and the estimate is greatly true4 ,he was a firm ,nonconformist1 but he was no agitator2 he lived and wrought laboriously in his vocation1 and that vocation was to bring about 8the union of mental culture and vital piety40 ,as he did not write pamphlets to expose the evils of the hierarchy1 or the defects of his own ecclesiastical system1 so neither did he attempt to rebuke in print such assailants as ,bradbury4 ,he was the first in ,england who set the ,gospel to music2 and many who knew not the meaning of the words yet found their hearts melted by the melody of genius4 ,there is a saintly dignity and peaceful purity about his life which it is not invidious to say gives to him1 even in writers of his own order1 a high pre-eminence4 ,he seems to have been one whom 8the peace of ,god which passeth all understanding0 kept4 ,and surely he has won a place in the universal ,church--no ,church repudiates him2 his eulogy has been pronounced1 and his life recorded1 by ,samuel ,johnson1 and ,robert ,southey1 and ,josiah ,conder4 ,if his hymns crowd the 8,congregational ,hymn ,book10 they are to be found in the 8,hymns ,ancient and ,modern20 and1 as we have seen1 his monument adorns not only the 8conventicle0 but the cathedral4 ,ages differ1 and men differ with their age4 ,this is the place neither to compare nor to contrast2 but in an eminent sense ,watts appears to have fulfilled himself4 ,he drank deep from every kind of learning3 we have seen that he wrote upon every kind of subject2 and although it is the fashion now to pass him by1 and even to underrate many of those pieces in prose and verse which were long held as the most cherished heirlooms of the ,church1 we shall have to search long and far to discover a more ample and consecrated intelligence1 a more conscientious and laborious worker1 than the mild1 the modest1 yet majestic hermit1 philosopher1 and sweet singer of ,theobalds and ,stoke ,newington4 ,illustration3 ,,monument ,,of ,,dr4 ,,watts ,,in ,,westminster ,,abbey4 ,,footnotes #a 8,dr4 ,isaac ,watts10 a ,lecture by ,hermann ,carlyle1 ,,ll4,b41 seventh minister of the church of which ,dr4 ,watts' father was for forty-eight years a deacon4 #b ,it is interesting to remember that ,isaac ,watts the elder was the first local trustee to ,robert ,thorner's munificent bequest1 which is now the grandest of all the ,southampton charities1 and has made the name of ,thorner in that town a household word4 #c ,the soil of ,southampton seems to have been favourable to the production of the lyrical faculty1 although it is not probable that many of those whose hearts have been stirred by the holy strains of ,watts have been acquainted with the melodies of one of the most national of ,english song-writers1 the laureate of sailors1 also a townsman of ,southampton1 ,thomas ,dibden4 #d ,see ,appendix4 #e ,walter ,wilson's 8,life of ,defoe10 vol4 i4 pp4 #bf1 #bg4 #f 8,the ,improvement of the ,mind10 chap4 iv4 of 8,books and ,reading40 #g ,afterwards1 says ,dr4 ,gibbons1 ,dr4 ,daniel ,scott4 ,he was a very learned and amiable man4 ,after he had studied under ,mr4 ,jones he removed to ,utrecht for further education2 there he took the degree of doctor of laws4 ,in the year #agda he published a new version of ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel1 with critical notes1 and an examination of ,dr4 ,mills' various readings4 ,he published1 also1 in the year #agde1 an 8,appendix to ,h4 ,stephens' ,greek ,lexicon10 in two volumes4 #h 8,history and ,antiquities of ,stoke ,newington40 ,by ,william ,robinson1 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,s4,a4 #i ,the interested reader consulting that singular monument of patient and painstaking industry1 8,the ,history and ,antiquities of ,dissenting ,churches and ,meeting-,houses in ,london1 ,westminster1 and ,southwark10 by ,walter ,wilson1 will probably feel astonishment1 not less at their number than at the singular places in which they assembled4 #aj ,matt4 xviii4 #bj4 #aa ,originally ,mart ,lane4 #ab 8,quarterly ,review10 vol4 lxxxix4 pp4 #cjc1 #cjd4 #ac 8,ode to ,mr4 ,pinhorne40 ,translated by ,dr4 ,gibbons4 #ad ,lord ,lytton1 in 8,devereux40 #ae 8,quarterly ,review10 ,no4 #bbb1 ,april1 #ahfb4 ,art4 ,hymnology4 #af 8,british and ,foreign ,evangelical ,review10 #ahfe4 #ag 8,the ,poet of the ,sanctuary10 etc4 ,by ,josiah ,conder4 #aheg4 #ah 8,the ,psalter and the ,hymn ,book40 ,three ,lectures by ,james ,hamilton4 #ai ,see ,crosbie's 8,history of the ,english ,baptists0 7#agdj71 vol4 iii4 #bj 8,quarterly ,review10 vol4 xxxviii4 ,art4 ,psalmody4 #ba 8,letter to ,rev4 ,s4 ,f4 ,macdonald10 by ,james ,martineau1 #ahei4 #bb 8,old ,town ,folk10 chap4 iii4 #bc ,for illustrations of this1 see 8,a ,letter to the ,rev4 ,mr4 or a ,gnat destroying the ,little ,arian ,foxes among the ,vines10 and part of the 8,remains of ,dr4 ,watts' ,clear'd from the ,leaves and ,rags of ,arianism40 #bd ,see this idea illustrated in 8,an ,essay on the ,book of ,psalms10 by ,mary ,anne ,schimmelpenninck1 #ahbe1 and 8,an ,essay on the ,literature of the ,book of ,psalms10 in the 8,preachers' ,lantern10 vol4 ii4 p4 #eeh4 #be ,lord ,barrington's 8,theological ,works10 #c vols4 #bf 8,biog4 ,brit40 ,article1 ,barrington4 #bg ,dr4 ,southey1 remarking on this incident1 says3 8,the hymn1 indeed1 was likely to have this effect upon an assembly whose minds were under the immediate impression produced by a pathetic preacher40 ,they were those well-known words3 ,give me the wings of faith to rise ,within the veil1 and see ,the saints above1 how great their joys1 ,how bright their glories be4 ,once they were mourning here below1 ,and wet their couch with tears1 ,they wrestled hard1 as we do now1 ,with sins1 and doubts1 and fears4 ,i ask them whence their victory came2 ,they with united breath ,ascribe their conquest to the ,lamb1 ,their triumph to ,his death4 ,they marked the footsteps that ,he trod1 ,his zeal inspired their breast2 ,and1 following their ,incarnate ,god1 ,possess the promised rest4 ,our glorious ,leader claims our praise ,for ,his own pattern given1 ,while the long cloud of witnesses ,show the same path to heaven4 #bh ,see an admirable and interesting summary of ,doddridge's ,life and ,character1--8,philip ,doddridge30 8,north ,british ,review40 #bi ,glover's 8,leonidas10 a poem scarcely ever read or referred to now1 but which created considerable interest on its publication1 and for some time held a conspicuous place in ,english poetry4 #cj ,mr4 ,waller's lines1 to which her ladyship refers1 are at the conclusion of his ,divine ,poems3 ,the soul's dark cottage1 battered and decayed1 ,lets in new light through chinks that time has made3 ,stronger by weakness wiser men become1 ,as they draw near to their eternal home3 ,leaving the old1 both worlds at once they view1 ,that stand upon the threshold of the new4 ,the verses of ,dr4 ,watts which her ladyship intends is the poem in his 8,hor ,lyric10 entitled 8,a ,sight of ,heaven in ,sickness40 #ca 8,daniel ,defoe1 ,his ,life and ,recently ,discovered ,writings40 ,by ,william ,lee4 #c vols4 #cb ,see 8,memoirs of the ,life and ,times of ,daniel ,defoe10 etc4 ,by ,walter ,wilson1 ,esq4 #cc ,see the whole of this in the 8,posthumous ,works of the late learned and ,rev4 ,isaac ,watts10 #aggi4 #cd ,see an interesting table of 8,memorable ,affairs in my ,life and ,coincidents10 in ,watts' writing1 in ,appendix to this volume4 #ce ,see 8,history of ,england10 by ,earl ,stanhope1 vol4 i4 chap4 #a4 #cf ,lord ,macaulay says3 8,there was considerable excitement1 but it was allayed by a temperate and artful letter to the clergy1 the work1 in all probability1 of ,bishop ,gibson1 who stood high in the favour of ,walpole1 and shortly after became minister for ecclesiastical affairs40 #cg ,essay on 8,popular ,ignorance40 #ch ,see the 8,clapham ,sect40 ,sir ,james ,stephen's ,essays in 8,ecclesiastical ,biography40 #ci 8,memorials1 etc4 etc4 of the late ,w4 ,m4 ,bunting40 #dj ,doddridge's 8,life and ,correspondence10 vol4 iv4 p4 #ebj4 #da 8,without question we must affirm that ,body is the necessary means of bringing ,mind into relationship with space and extension1 and so of giving it ,place1 very plainly a disembodied spirit1 or we ought rather to say1 an unembodied spirit1 or sheer mind1 is ,,nowhere40--,isaac ,taylor's 8,physical ,theory of ,another ,life10 chap4 ii4 #db ,see ,preface to the second vol4 of 8,world to ,come10 ,octavo edition4 #dc #a ,cor4 i4 #bf4 #dd ,so says ,mr4 ,carlyle1 in one of the most interesting little documents in connection with the life of ,watts ever published1 the little pamphlet to which we have already referred4 #de ,montgomery on the ,cholera ,mount of ,sheffield4 #df 8,memorials1 ,historical1 ,descriptive1 ,poetical and ,pictorial1 ,commemorative of the ,inauguration of the ,statue to ,dr4 ,isaac ,watts1 in the ,western ,park1 ,southampton1 by the ,earl of ,shaftesbury1 ,july #agth1 #ahfa40 ,see also 8,the ,proceedings connected with the ,inauguration of the ,memorial ,statue to ,dr4 ,isaac ,watts1 at ,southampton1 ,july #agth1 #ahfa40 #dg 8,there is also perhaps more method and clearness in the logic of ,watts than in that of ,arnauld4 ,the good ,english sense--the business faculty--that of practical life1 repeats itself here in the highest degree2 whilst the speculative mind of a tolerably scholarly theologian is yet more full in the art of thinking4 ,now ,watts is complete without being extravagant2 he has touched very adequately all that is necessary1 and he always stops at the very precise point where depth might have injured transparency40 #dh 8,the ,athenian ,oracle1 being an entire collection of all the valuable ,questions and ,answers in the old ,athenian ,mercurys1 intermixed with many cases in ,divinity1 ,history1 ,philosophy1 ,mathematics1 ,love1 and ,poetry1 and never before ,published10 etc4 #d vols4 ,printed for ,andrew ,bell1 at the ,cross ,keys4 8,athenian ,sport2 or1 ,two ,thousand ,paradoxes ,merrily ,argued1 by a ,member of the ,athenian ,society40 8,memoirs for the ,ingenious2 containing several ,curious ,observations in ,philosophy1 ,mathematics1 ,physic1 ,philology1 and other ,arts and ,sciences1 in ,miscellaneous ,letters40 ,printed for ,h4 ,rhodes1 and for ,j4 ,harris1 at the ,arrow1 in the ,poultry4 #di 8,another ,collection of ,philosophical ,conferences of the ,french ,virtuosi1 upon ,questions of all sorts for the ,improving of ,natural ,knowledge1 made in the ,assembly of the ,beaux ,esprit of ,paris1 by the most ingenious persons of that nation1 rendered into ,english40 ,sold at the ,george1 in ,fleet ,street1 and the ,mitre1 ,middle ,temple1 #affe4 #ej ,rogers' 8,life of ,howe10 p4 #dgf4 #ea ,the matter1 we suppose1 is long since set at rest2 it may be very distinctly set at rest by a study of ,watts' works1 discussing the great question of the ,trinity4 8,watts not a ,socinian10 by the ,rev4 ,s4 ,palmer1 puts the matter in a popular and concise form2 but when his monument was erected in ,southampton1 a lecture was delivered and published on 8,his ,life1 ,character1 and ,religious ,opinions10 by the ,rev4 ,edmund ,kell1 ,m4,a41 ,f4,s4,a41 the late ,unitarian minister of ,southampton1 in which the old exploded dishonest statements were all reiterated4 #eb ,this is illustrated and manifest by the writings of ,waterland1 which are almost contemporary with the discussions of ,watts4 #ec ,j4 ,r4 ,lowell4 #ed ,this matter has been well argued against the ,atheistic view1 in a very interesting little pamphlet1 8,croll on the ,conservation of ,force40 #ee ,psalm lxxvi4 #e1 #aj4 #ef 8,these expressions may be sufficiently justified if we consider ,jephthah's rash vow of sacrifice1 which fell upon his only child2 and ,samson's rude or unbecoming conduct in his amours with the ,philistine woman at ,timnath1 the harlot at ,gaza1 and his ,delilah at ,sorek2 his bloody quarrels and his manner of life4 ,the learned and pious ,dr4 ,owen1 as ,i have been often informed by his intimate friend1 ,sir ,john ,hartopp1 called him a rude believer4 ,he might have strong faith of miracles1 but a small share of that faith which purifies the heart40 ,,table ,,of ,,coincidents4 ,mention has been made in p4 #ad of a curious ,autobiographical ,table prepared by ,dr4 ,watts of the chief incidents in his life1 together with contemporaneous events of public interest4 ,we give a fac-simile of the first page1 and the contents of the remainder4 ,illustration ,,coincidents4 ,,memoranda4 #afic3 ,july #ac3 ,grandmo4 ,i was admitted to ,mr4 ,t4 ,rows ,watts dyed ,church4 ,dec4 #afic ,i went into y ,country ,june4 #afid ,dwelt at my father's house #b years 4 ,came to ,s ,john ,hartopp's to be a ,tutor to his ,son at ,newington ,oct4 #ae4 #afif #afig4 ,jun4 #aa3 ,grandfa4 ,tanton dyed #ab ,cousin ,isaac ,began to preach1 after ,i had ,watts dyed pursued ,university ,studys above #h years4 ,july4 #ag4 #afih #afig ,peace at ,reswic ,went to ,southampton and concluded preached there severall times in a visit to my friends4 ,aug3 #afih4 #afih_/i ,cousin ,john ,preacht as ,dr4 ,chanceys ,chapm of ,portsm dyed ,assistant in y ,church at ,mark ,lane1 a little after that my fever and weakness began4 ,feb4 #afih_/i #afii_/agjj ,feb3 ,m ,w ,adams ,paid another ,visit to ,southampton dyed of #e weeks4 ,july #afii #agjj4 ,march #cj4 ,grandmo4 ,another4 ,june #agjj ,tanton died4 ,may #bb4 ,m ,john ,pook ,went to y ,bath by y advice of ,physicians4 ,june4 #i4 #agja4 ,nov3 #aa3 ,m ,tho4 ,gunston ,from y ,bath to ,southampton ,july4 #agja ,thence to ,tunbridge4 ,sept #c #agja4 returned to ,newington ,nov4 #c3 to preaching at ,mark ,lane4 ,nov3 #agja ,so y ,i was detained from ,study preaching #e o_/m by my ,weakness4 ,except one very short discourse at ,southto4 in extreme necessity4 ,dr4 ,chancy having left his people1 ,aprill #agja4 ,i being returned to preach among 'em1 they ,call'd me to y ,pastorall office4 ,jan4 #ae4 #agja_/b #agjb ,march #hth1 ,morning3 ,accepted it ,march #h ,king ,w dyed was ordained ,march #ah4 #agja_/b ,visited my friends at ,southampton ,july4 #agjb4 ,seizd w violent ,jaundice from ,sept #h or ,cholic #c weeks after my thereabout to return to ,london had a ,nov #bg or #h very slow recovery--#h or #i weeks ,illness ,this year 7viz7 #agjb by ,slow degrees removed from ,newington to ,m ,tho3 ,hollis's in the ,minories4 #agjb ,mrs4 ,owen ,dr ,owen's ,june--,m ,sam ,price was chosen by y ,widow dyed ,jan4 #ah3 ,church to assist me in preaching #agjc #agjc_/d ,aug ,i went to ,tunbridge and stayd there #g weeks with scarce any benefitt1 for the waters thro some defect of my stomach did not digest well4 #agjc ,nov #bf ,friday night ,dec3 after having intermitted in a great and ,saturday morning1 measure a method of study and pursuit of the ,great and ,dreadfull ,learning1 #d years1 by reas of my great ,storm indispositions of body and weakness of head 7excep w3 was of absolute necessity for my ,constant preaching7 being not satisfyd to live so any longer1 after due considerati prayer1 ,i took a boy to read to me write for me1 whereby my studies are much assisted4 ,dec #agjc ,visited my friends at ,southto4 ,may #agjd ,aug3 #ca4 #agjd ,bro3 ,remov'd our ,meeting place to pinners ,richard marryd hall and began expositions of ,scripture4 ,june #agjd ,br4 ,joseph ,brandley my ,visited ,southton ,july #agje first serv went away ,dec #agjd3 ,edwd4 ,hitchin came ,published my ,poems ,dec #agje ,aug #agje ,m ,tho3 ,rowe my ,tutor dyed ,m ,benoni ,rowe my ,went to ,southton ,may4 #ah #agjf returned intimate friend dyed ag w but small recruit of health4 ,ap3 #agjf ,july #e ,bro3 ,thomas marry'd1 ,may #i3 #agjf went to ,tunbridge ,aug #h3 ,returned much stronger ,aug #cj4 ,publisht essay against ,uncharitableness ,ap #agjg4 ,went to ,southton ,july1 returned ,july ,went to ,tunbridg3 ,aug3 returned ,sep #c ,union of ,e ,scot3 ,may ,all this ,year my health has been encouraging #a #agjg ,this year y ,french ,publisht my ,hymns ,sp ,songs ,july #agjg prophetts made a great ,overturned in a coach without hurt4 ,oct4 #e4 noise in our nation1 #agjg and drew in ,m ,lacy1 ,preached a reformation ,serm3 ,oct4 #f4 #agjg1 ,sir ,r4 ,bulckley c4 #bjj and printed it or more had y agitations1 #dj had y inspiration--,provd a delusion of ,satan at ,birmingh ,feb #c or #d #agjg_/h ,sister ,sarah marryed4 ,went to ,southto--and afterward to ,tunbr3 ,feb3 #agjg_/h ,aug #agjh ,pretender's invasion ,removed our ,meeting place to ,bury ,street disappointed4 ,march3 ,sep #bi3 #agjh4 #agjh ,may #be #agjh ,the ,prophetts ,printed #b ,edition of ,hymns #b ed3 of disappointed by ,m ,eams ,poems3 ,ap ,may #agji4 not rising fr the ,dead ,terrible long snowy winter #agjh_/i ,bro ,r3 came to settle in ,went to ,southton3 ,june3 ,tunbridg4 ,aug #agji ,lond3 ,oct #g #agji ,mar3 #a #agji_/aj y ,mob rose ,edw ,hitchen my ,serv went away ,dec3 #ca4 pulled down y pews ,i bought a horse for my health ,ap3 #agaj and gallerys of #f ,i rode down to ,southton1 back ag ,june meeting houses 7viz7 according to y acco3 ,i kept ,i rode above ,m ,burgess1 ,m ,bradbury1 #hjj mile fr ,ap #ac to ,sep #bh ,m ,earle1 ,m ,wright1 ,m ,i removed from ,m4 ,hollis's went to live ,hamilton1 ,m ,chr3 w ,m ,bowes att ,dec4 #cj ,john ,merchant ,taylor but were my ,serv3 came to me dispersed by y ,guards ,went to ,southton ,june1 returned ,july under ,capt3 ,horsey at #a or #b in y morning4 ,m ,arthur ,shallot sen ,went to ,tunbridge ,aug3 returned #g ,sep dyed3 #d ,feb #agaj_/aa being under a disorder of my stomach1 and ,m ,tho3 ,hunt and freq pains of y head4 ,found some merchant his wife relief at ,tunbr3 waters4 dyed about y same time4 ,m ,ann ,pickford dyed ,ap3 #g #agaa4 ,my ,lady ,hartopp dyed ,nov3 #i3 ,m ,gould1 ,nov #ae #agaa4 ,illustration ,,index4 ,abney ,house1 old1 #bbc ,sir ,thomas1 #gf ,academy at ,gloucester1 the1 #be at ,stoke ,newington1 #ae ,acrostic1 an1 #g ,anecdotes--,blind woman and ,watts' hymns1 the1 #acd2 ,bradbury and ,burnet1 #aia2 ,bradbury and ,dr4 ,watts1 #aic2 death of an aged minister1 #aac2 ,derby 7,earl7 and the blind woman1 #acd2 dying ,webster1 the1 #acd2 giant and pigmy1 #bdh2 of ,luther1 #ig2 sceptic defeated1 the1 #adf2 stonemason's dream1 the1 #e2 text for ,queen ,anne1 a1 #bjb2 8,that the great ,dr4 ,watts80 #bdg2 ,watts' 7,w7hims1 #aic2 8,what think you of death80 #bfi2 ,whitefield and ,watts1 #bfa ,anne's reign1 close of ,queen1 #bji ,arianism of ,watts' day1 the1 #caa ,artificial poetry1 #eh ,atonement1 the poet of the1 #ajh ,atterbury1 ,bishop1 #baj ,augustine1 ,st41 on the songs of the ,church1 #ig ,barbauld1 ,mrs41 quo41 #ahf ,barrington1 ,lord1 #add letter to ,watts1 #adg ,baxter on sacred hymns1 #ajj ,bendish1 ,mrs41 #acf ,birth and childhood of ,watts1 #a ,blair's 8,grave10 #bae ,bookmen1 the age of great1 #cci ,bradbury1 ,thomas1 #ahi1 #aij2 and ,bishop ,burnet1 #aia2 and ,dr4 ,watts1 #aib2 characteristics1 #bjb2 ,defoe's reproof to1 #ahi2 political preacher1 #aij ,bunhill ,fields1 its associations1 #bfe ,bunting1 ,w4 ,m41 quo41 #bbc ,carey's tombstone1 inscription1 #acd ,carter1 ,mrs4 ,elizabeth1 #ahj ,caryl's 8,book of ,job10 #df ,catechism1 ,watts'1 #ada ,cedar tree and the scythe1 the1 #cg ,character of ,watts1 #bdh ,chauncy1 ,dr4 ,isaac1 #dh ,christ1 ,psalms restored to1 #abi ,classical sentiment1 translation1 #ga ,coincidents1 table of 7see ,appendix7 ,collins1 ,antony1 and ,lord ,barrington1 #adf ,comet1 lines on a1 #ab ,conder1 ,josiah1 quo41 #ajj ,controversy between ,watts and ,bradbury1 #aid-bja ,countess of ,hertford and ,mrs4 ,rowe1 #agb2 and the ,rise and ,progress of ,religion1 #afg ,coward1 ,william1 #adb ,critics1 hostile1 #aaa ,cromwell1 ,richard1 #hj ,crucial events1 #ad ,daughters1 a group of1 #cf ,death1 #bei ,defoe in the pillory1 #bjh2 quoted1 #ae ,derby1 ,earl1 and the blind woman1 #acd ,devotion the attribute of ,watts' hymns1 #aac ,dissenters1 ,shortest way with1 #gh ,doddridge1 ,dr4 ,philip1 #aea ,dying1 #bfb ,elegy1 a lovely1 #cf ,england in the times of the last ,stuarts1 #ab ,england's history1 happiest period of1 #bjf ,english hymnology1 #ii ,epigram1 an1 #agd1 #bee ,erskine1 ,ralph1 and ,watts' hymns1 #abb ,expression1 fervour of1 #fe ,faith1 expressions of personal1 #aag ,family1 in the ,hartopp1 #cb last of the ,hartopp1 #ch ,father1 imprisonment of ,watts'1 #a ,fleetwood1 ,general1 #ce ,foster1 ,john1 quo41 #bae ,friend1 letter to an afflicted1 #ec ,friends1 ,watts'1 #acf ,fuller1 ,thomas1 on death1 #bfj ,gale1 ,theophilus1 #af ,gardiner1 ,colonel1 #aff ,gibbons1 ,dr41 quo41 #ec1 #ed1 #hi1 #bef1 #bfj1 #bfa ,girdlers' ,hall church1 #bb ,gloucester academy1 the1 #be ,glover's 8,leonidas10 #age ,grandfather and grandmother of ,watts1 #d ,gunston1 ,thomas1 #bbj ,harris1 ,robert1 quo41 #beg ,hart1 ,josiah1 #bj ,hartopp1 ,sir ,john1 #cc2 daughters of1 #cf ,hartopps1 last of the1 #ch ,hertford1 ,countess of1 #agb2 friendship with ,watts1 #agd2 letters1 character of1 #agc2 letters to ,watts1 #afg1 #agd1 #agf1 #agi1 #aha1 #ahb2 modesty1 #ahb2 poetry1 #agg1 #ahd ,hervey1 ,james1 #adh2 letter to ,watts1 #aej ,hollis family1 the1 #ea 8,hor ,lyric10 #eg ,house in ,french ,street1 the old1 #aa2 old ,abney1 #bbc2 ,stoke ,newington1 #cb2 ,theobalds1 #gi ,hughes1 ,john1 #bj ,hymns1 ,apostolic1 #ij ,hymn1 ,augustine's definition of a1 #ib2 origin of ,watts' first1 #cj2 8 what is a1 #ic ,hymnology1 ,christian1 #ia2 ,english1 #ii ,industry1 mental1 #ej2 of ,watts1 #bdi ,johnson1 ,dr41 quo41 #ag1 #ah1 #ge1 #if1 #cac ,jones1 ,rev4 ,samuel1 #be ,jennings1 ,dr41 quo41 #bgb ,keble's 8,christian ,year10 #hi2 criticism of ,watts' poetry1 #ajc ,ken1 ,bishop1 and ,watts contrasted1 #ei ,kennedy1 ,dr41 quo41 #aaa ,kentish petition1 the1 #bjg ,knox1 ,a41 criticism on ,watts1 #ajb ,latin1 thinking in1 #aje ,letters--,countess of ,hertford to ,watts1 #afg1 #agd1 #agf1 #agi1 #aha1 #ahb2 ,doddridge to ,watts1 #afd2 ,doddridge's dedicatory1 #aee2 ,hervey to ,watts1 #aej2 ,jewel to ,peter ,martyr1 #ii2 ,lord ,barrington to ,watts1 #adg2 of ,enoch ,watts1 #hd2 ,secker to ,watts1 #be2 to ,amsterdam1 #afj2 to an afflicted friend1 #ec2 to ,bradbury1 #aie1 #aig2 to ,doddridge1 #aec3 to ,samuel ,say1 #ada2 to ,thomas ,rosewell1 #aci2 ,watts to his father1 #f ,liddon1 ,canon1 quo41 #ij ,lispings in numbers1 #g ,logan and ,doddridge1 #afb ,london in ,watts' day1 #db ,luther's songs1 #ig ,macaulay1 ,lord1 quo41 #baa ,mansion1 an old family1 #cb ,mark ,lane chapel1 #ed2 the church in1 #df ,marot1 ,clement1 #ih ,martineau1 ,james1 quo41 #ajf 8,media ,vita10 the1 #ie ,messianic version of the ,psalms1 #abf ,mind of ,watts1 seraphic1 #cjh ,minories1 the1 #ea ,modesty of ,watts1 #acb ,montgomery's estimate of ,watts' hymns1 #hh ,monument to ,watts1 #bga ,morton1 ,rev4 ,charles1 #af ,motto1 a1 #bjc ,mystic1 ,watts a1 #aji ,nature1 ,watts' love of1 #fc ,nights1 sleepless1 #hc ,nonconformist1 a political1 #aij service1 early1 #dc ,nonconformists of old ,london1 #de ,papacy1 ,watts' antipathy to1 #baa ,parentage of ,watts1 #c ,parker1 ,mr41 quo41 #bfd1 #bfe ,pastor1 a youthful1 #di ,pastor of a ,london church1 #dj ,persecution1 the child of1 #b ,personal appearance of ,watts1 #bcc ,personification1 a definition of1 #fj ,personifications1 a constellation of1 #fa ,perspicuity of ,watts1 #cbi ,philosophical works of ,watts1 #cae ,physical theory of another life1 #bcc ,pinhorne1 ,rev4 ,john1 #h ,poetry of ,watts' time1 #eh ,poets1 imperfections of1 #aje ,polhill1 ,david1 #bjg ,pope1 a criticism on1 #age ,portrait of ,watts1 a1 #bbd ,prayer1 a beautiful1 #cji ,preacher1 ,watts as a1 #dj ,precocity1 #g ,price1 ,samuel1 #ed ,prose writings1 ,estimate and summary1 #bgc ,psalmless churches1 #aja ,psalms1 ,watts'1 #abf ,pupil1 ,watts'1 #ch ,puritan reminiscence1 #dc 8,quarterly ,review10 quo41 #ei ,relic1 an interesting1 #bgj ,resignation in sorrow1 #agc ,watts'1 #bfj ,rise and ,progress of ,religion1 etc41 #aee1 #afb ,rogers1 ,henry1 quo41 #cjf ,rogers1 ,samuel1 8,human ,life10 characterized1 #fg ,rosewell1 ,samuel1 death of1 #ach letter to1 #aci ,rowe1 ,mrs41 #agc1 #ahg and ,dr4 ,watts1 #ahe ,rowe1 ,thomas1 #ag1 #bd ,sacheverell mob1 doings of the1 #bji ,saltzburgers1 the1 #bac ,say1 ,samuel1 #ba1 #adj ,schism ,bill1 the1 #bji ,scott1 ,dr4 ,daniel1 #bf ,selborne1 ,lord1 quo41 #abb ,secker1 ,archbishop1 #be ,sermons1 branching1 #cjf2 satirized by ,watts1 #cjf ,shimei ,bradbury1 #ahi ,shower1 ,john1 #ach ,singing controversy1 the1 #aja ,southampton gaol1 #b2 of ,watts' day1 #i2 plague at1 #aa ,southey1 ,dr41 quo41 #afe ,spirit1 a meek and quiet1 #aii ,stoke ,newington1 #bah2 side of life1 #fg2 the old house at1 #cb ,storm of #agjc1 the great1 #bjh ,students1 ,watts' fellow1 #ai ,study1 methods of1 #ah2 ,watts'1 #hb ,suburb1 an old ,london1 #ee ,theobalds1 the old house at1 #gi ,theological works of ,watts1 #cac ,theology1 nature of ,watts'1 #aji ,thomson quo41 #agb ,times of ,watts1 #bjf ,tunbridge ,wells1 #bej ,tutor1 ,watts as a1 #cg ,unitarians and ,watts1 the1 #ajf1 #cac ,verse1 a perfect1 #ajd ,verse1 the accident of ,watts' life1 #gc ,verses1 satiric1 #fi ,waller quo41 #agf ,walsh and ,fletcher1 death of1 #bei ,watchwords and ,creeds1 #aae ,well1 ,watts'1 #beg ,wesley1 ,charles1 and ,watts contrasted1 #abd 8,wesleyan ,magazine0 quo41 #ajg ,wesleys' ,obligations to ,watts1 the1 #abc ,words1 dying1 #bfb 8,world to ,come0 criticised1 #bbf ,young1 ,dr41 #baf2 quo41 #ahf ,zodiac1 signs of the1 #gb4 ,,london3 ,,pardon ,,and ,,son1 ,,printers1 ,,paternoster ,,row4