characters, and with an undecaying lustre. That I also may wear, —wear on my very soul, the traces of IMMANUEL, pierced for my sins, and bruised for my transgressions. That I also may be crucified with CHRIST, at least in penitential remorse, and affectionate sympathy. That I may know the fellowship of his sufferings; and feel all my evil affection wounded by his agonies, mortified by his death.

upon as

There is another subject of the verdant kingdom, which, on account of its very uncommon qualities, demands my particular notice. One so extremely diffident in her disposition, and delicate in her constitution, that she dares not venture herself abroad in the open air, but is nursed up in the warmth of a hot-bed, and lives cloistered in the cells of a greenhouse.- -But the most curious peculiarity is, that of a'l her kindred species, she alone partakes of perceptive life; at least, advances nearest to this more exalted state of being; and may be looked the link which connects the an.mal and the vegetable world. A stranger, observing her motions, would almost be induced to suspect that she is endued with some inferior degrees of consciousness and caution. For, if you offer to handle this sensitive plant, she immediately takes the alarm; hastily contracts her fibres; and, like a person under apprehensions of violence, withdraw. from your finger, in a kind of precipitate disorder. Perhaps, the beauty of her aspect might be sullied, or the niceness of her texture discomposed, by the human touch.— Therefore, like a coy virgin, she recedes from all unbecoming familiarities; and will admit no such improper, if not pernicious freedoms.

Whatever be the cause of this unusual effect, it suggests an instructive admonition to the Christian. Such should be our apprehensive timorous care with regard to sin, and all, even the most distant approaches of vice. So should we avoid the very appearance of evil, and stand aloof from every occasion of falling. If sinners entice, if forbidden pleasures tempt, or if opportunity beckon, with the gain of injustice in lier hand: O! turn from the gilded snare; touch not the beauteous bane; but fly, fly with haste; fly without any delay, from the bewitching ruin. Does anger draw near with her lighted torch, to kindle the flame of resentment in our

breasts? Does flattery ply our ears with her enchanting and intoxicating whispers? would discontent lay her leaden hand upon our temper, and mould into our minds her sour leaven, in order to make us a burden to ourselves, and unamiable to others? Instantly let us divert our attention from the dangerous objects; and not so much endeavour to antidote, as to shun the moral contagion. Let us revolve in our meditations, that wonderful meekness of our distressed Master, which, amidst the most abusive and provoking insults, maintained an uniform tenor of unshaken serenity. Let us contemplate that prodigious humiliation, which brought him, from an infinite height above all worlds, to make his bed in the dust of death. Let us soothe our jarring our uneasy passions, with the remembrance of that cheerfulness and resignation, which rendered him in the deepest poverty, unfeignedly thankful, and under the heaviest tribulations, most submissively patient.

Harbour not, on any consideration, the betrayer of your virtue. Always maintain a holy sensibility of soul. deaf, inflexibly deaf, to every beguiling solicitation. If it obtrude into the unguarded heart, give it not entertainment, no, not for a moment. To parley with the enemy, is to open a door for destruction. Our safety consists in flight; and, in this case, suspicion is the truest prudence; fear, the greatest bravery.- Play not on the brink of the precipice. Flutter not round the edges of the flame. Dally not with the stings of death. But reject, with a becoming mixture of solicitude and abhorrence, the very first insinuations of iniquity; as cautiously, as the smarting sore shrinks even from the softest hand; as constantly as this jealous plant recoils at the approaching touch*.

The prophet Isaiah, in an elegant and lively description of the upright man, says, He shaketh his hands from holding of bribes; and, I may add, from practising any kind of iniquity. The image, exceedingly beautiful and equally expressive, both illustrates and enforces the doctrine of this whole selection. Shaketh his hands; just as a person would do, who happens to have burning coals fall into his lap, or some venomous creature fastening upon his flesh. In such a case, none would stand a moment to consider, or to debate with himself, the expediency of the thing; he would instantly fling off the pernicious incumbrance, instantly endeavour to disengage himself from the clinging mischief. Isa. xxxiii. 15.

Not long ago, these curious productions of the Spring were coarse and mis-shapen roots. Had we opened the earth, and beheld them in their seed, how uncouth and contemptible had their appearance been !—But now they are the boast of nature; the delights of the sons of men; finished patterns for enamelling and embroidery, out-shining even the happiest strokes of the pencil. They are taught to bloom, but with a very inferior lustre,* in the richest ta pestries and most magnificent silks. Art never attempts to equal their incomparable elegancies; but places all her merit in copying after these delicate originals. Even those who glitter in silver, or whose clothing is wrought of gold, desirous to borrow additional ornaments, from a sprig of jessamine, or a little assemblage of pinks.

What a fine idea may we form, from hence, of the resurrection of the just, and the state of their re-animated bodies! As the roots even of our choicest flowers, when deposited in the ground, are rude and ungraceful; but when they spring up into blooming life, are most elegant and splendid; so the flesh of a saint when committed to the dust, alas! what is it? A heap of corruption; a mass of putrefying clay. But when it obeys the great Arch-angel's call, and starts into a new existence; what an astonishing change ensues! what a most ennobling improvement takes place !-That which was sown in weakness, is raised in all the vivacity of power. That which was sown in deformity, is raised in the bloom of celestial beauty. Exalted, refined, and glo

I have represented the danger of not extinguished immediately the very first sparks of temptation, in a variety of views. Because a proper behaviour in this conjuncture, is of such vast importance to the purity, the safety, and the comfort of our minds. Because I had the royal moralist in my eye, who, deterring his pupils from the path of the wicked, cries, with an air of deep concern, and in the language of vehement importunity, cries! Avoid it; pass not by it; turn from it, and pass away. How strongly is the counsel urged, by being so frequently repeated, in such a remarkable diversity of concise and abrupt, conse quently of forcible and pressing admontions !--Prov. iv. 15. *The cowslip smiles in brighter yellow drest,

Than that which veils the nubile virgin's breast!
A fairer red stands blushing in the rose,

Than that which on the bridegroom's vestment flows.

PRIOR

rified, it will shine" as the brightness of the firmament," when it darts the inimitable blue, through the fleeces,-the snowy fleeces of some cleaving cloud.

Fear not, then, thou faithful Christian; fear not, at the appointed time, to descend into the tomb. Thy soul thou mayest trust with thy omnipotent Redeemer, who is LORD of the unseen world; "who has the keys of hell and of death." Most safely thou mayest trust thy better part, in those beneficent hands, which were pierced with nails, and fastened to the ignominious tree, for thy salvation.—With regard to thy earthly tabernacle be not dismayed: it is taken down only to be rebuilt upon a diviner plan, and in a more heavenly form. If it retire into the shadow of death, and lie immured in the gloom of the grave, it is only to return, from a short confinement to endless liberty. If it fall into dissolution, it is in order to rise more illustrious from its ruins; and wear an infinitely brighter face of perfection and of glory*.

Having now made my panegyric, let me next take up a lamentation, for these loveliest productions of the vegetable world.---For I foresee their approaching doom: yet a little while, and all these pleasing scenes vanish; yet a little while, and all the sweets of the breathing, all the beauties of the blooming spring are no more. Every one of these amiable forms, must be shrivelled to deformity and trodden to the earth. Significant resemblance this, of all created beauty. All flesh is grass, like the green herbage liable and to fade. Nay all the goodliness thereof, its fine accomplishments, and what the world universally admires, is as the flower of the field,† which loses its gloss, decays and perish. es, more speedily than the grass itself. Behold then, ye brightest among the daughters of Eve; behold yourselves in this glass. See the charms of your persons eclipsed, by the lustre of these little flowers; and the frailty of your state represented, by their transient glories. A fever may scorch

The wise, the just, the pious, and the brave,
Live in their deaths, and flourish from the grave;
Grain hid in earth, repays the peasant's care,
And ev'ning suns set but to rise more fair.

† Isa. xl. 6.

prone

The reader will excuse me, if I imitate, rather than translate the following lines from Theocritus; if I vary one image, add another, and give a new turn to the whole.

those polished veins; a consumption may emaciate the dimp. ling cheeks; and a load of unexpected sorrows depress those lively spirits. Or, should these disasters in pity spare the tender frame; yet age, inexorable age, and wrinkles will assuredly come at last; will wither all the fine features, and blast every sprightly grace.

Then, ye fair, when those sparkling eyes are darkened and sink in their orbs; when they are rolling in agonies, and swimming in death,how will you sustain the affliction? how will you repair the loss? Apply your thoughts to religion; attend to the one thing needful. Believe in, and imitate the blessed JESUS; then shall your souls mount up to the realms of happiness, when the well-proportioned clay is mingled with its mean original. The light of GOD'S countenance will irradiate, with matchless and consummate perfection, all their exalted faculties. Cleansed entirely from every dreg of corruption, like some unsullied mirror, they will reflect the complete image of their Creator's holi

When snows descend, and robe the fields,
In winter's bright array;

Touch'd by the sun the lustre fades,
And weeps itself away.

When springs appears; when violets blow,
And sheds a rich perfume,

How soon the fragrance breathes its last,
How short lived is the bloom!

Fresh in the morn, the summer rose
Hangs with'ring ere 'tis noon,
We scarce enjoy the balmy gift,
But mourn the pleasure gone.

With gliding fire, an ev'ning star
Streaks the autumnal skies,

Shook from the sphere, it darts away,

And in an instant dies.

Such are the charms that flush the cheek,

And sparkle in the eye;

So, from the lovely finish'd form

The transient graces fly.

To this the seasons, as they roll,

Their attestations bring;

They warn the fair; their ev'ry round,

Confirms the truth I sing.