BT 870 Dr. DISCOURSE O N T H E GLORIOUS CHANGE O F T H E VILE BODY. ^f^^^^^^^^tv^^^^^^'^^^-^i^-^y; DISCOURSE O N T H E Prefenc Vilenefs of the Body, AND It's Future Glorious Change B X CHRIST. By MATHER BYLES, D. D. Paftor of a Church in BOSTON. A&. xvii. 1 8. - He preached unto them ?ESUS> and the Refurrsftion. The SECOND EDITION. BOSTON, NEW-ENGLAND: RE-PRINTED BY^ THOMAS AND JOHN FLEET, AT THE HEART ^ GROWN i t 5 '] THE Glorious Change of the Vile Body. PHILIP. III. 21. Jhall change our vile Body, that it may be fajkioned like unto his glorious Body. |HE ApoftlePtftf/in the Chapter open before us, a- ter fome Precepts laid down, concludes with two Motives to perfvvade Men to the Practice of them : And thefe are, the Coming of CHRIST, in the Verfe pre- cecding my Text ; and the Refarreflian of the Saints now read unto you. Both of them are very foicmn and fublimc Thoughts : But it is only the latter which corncs immediate- ly within the Compafs of our prefent Meditation. The Refurreflion of the Dead, and, which is much the fame thing, the 'Transformation of thofe fcund alive, at the coming of CHRIST, are very clearly revealed in the New Teftament, efpecially by the Apoflle Paul. Bur ihe Glory of a Believer's Raifed Body is nor, nor indeed can it be any where more fully exprefs'd, than in the Words under cur immediate View. Who Jhall change our vile Body, that it may be fajhioned like unto his glorious Body. The Apoftle tells u?, Oar Bodies are now vi/e; our vile Bodies (hall be changed ; it is our Lord JESUS CHRIST who (hall change them ; and they fhall \}tfajbwfd like unto his glorious Body. How much is crowded into a few Words ! M180583 6 ^Tfag&rrtus Change of the vile Body. how emphatical are they ! how copious ! how fubiime ! How amply do they fill the Mind, and exhauft the imagine lioi), infpire our Faith, and awaken our Joy ? In handling thefe Words, I ftiall only have Time to fpeak to three of the four Articles (or if you pleafe, DtftnnesJ which you fee are plainly contained in them. Thefe Bodies of ours, In their prefent State, are VILE BO- DIES. Who fhall change our -vile Bodies * Shall we here Jet our Thoughts loofe upon a few Particulars, which will render it plain, and humble us with ths fad Conviclion, Thefe Bodies, of whofe Beauty and Vigor we are fo apt co boaft, alas, they are vile Bodies. Their Original is mean and defpicable. In the Senfe of the Greek Text, our Body was vile, even in the Purity of it* firffc Creadon. The Word which we tramlne vile, is r*v$iiKoff*as : The Body of our Humiliation. 'Tis a humble Body. It carries Humiliation even in its Origin and Con- frirurion. It comes from Humus ; the moifl Ground; The- Clay ; the low Earth. The Firft Principle of Humane, is Humus. Humiliation and Vilenefs is thus entail'd upon our Body, even from the primitive Materials out of which it was framed. Even Adam in Paradife and Innocence, might in this facred fenfe, hare own'd a Vile Body. And now, Let the Proud Creature look down to the Earth and view the Dud from which he fprung, and then confefs his Body Vile. And the Lord God formed Man out of the Du)} of the Ground.\ Out of the Clay was this living Frame falhioned ; here it had its humble Original ; and from this abjecl Earth did itarife and flioot up, thus curious in its Form and Conftkntion. This beauteous Arrangement of finer Duft, was taken from the common Glebe, into which it mu(t quickly fall, and refolve again. The Limbs which now (hew the exafteft Symmetry and Proportion, the Pulfes which beat with thefierceft Energy and Life, and the Afpe& that is flufh'd with Health and Beauty, owe all their Exif- to the fame Clods of Earth which harbour our Bre^ thren, \ Gea. ii. 7. 1136 glorious Change of the vile Body. 7 rhrcn, the Worms : The Worms, which wait to feaft upon our mouldering Carcafe ; and riot in our wafting Flefh. The Body is of the Earth, earthy: Duft it is, and to Duft it Jball return, Let us reflect thus, and then confefs, This VILE BODY. It isaym/l'/Body, and therefore a vile Body. It has in it a Body of Death; and no wonder it looks ghaftly, and loathfome, and vile. All irs Appetites are vitiated, and diforder'd, and it leads the Soul about like a Malefaftor irt Chains. The Spirit which God has infufed, is depraved and polluted by it : and Original Sin is communicated thro* the Veins of the' guilty Parent. The feveral Senfes of the Body prove fo many Traitors to the nobler Faculties of the Mind, and continually captivate and debafe it. How many Sins enter at the Eyes f and how many idle Ideas pafs in at the Ears, forever open to the Vanity of empty and corrupted Air. The Luxuries of the Palate debauch the enflaved Mortal, and drag him on to Excefs and Intemperance. He wanders among fenfible Appearances, and forgets fpiriiua! and divine Realities. He is hardly brought to confider, that the things which are SEEN are temporal, but t!: things which are not feen are eternal. Is not the Body, that thus abuies the Soul, the Rational Principle within, a viui Body ? The Body, the beautiful Workmanfliip of an Alwife Artificer, how is it funk beneath the Level of the brutal World, by its Sin againft God P wretched that ive are I who Jball deliver us from the Body of this Death f Our Body is a weak, infirm Body, and therefore a vile Body. It is a feeble Houfc of Clay, that totters to every Blaft. Difeafe and Mortality lurk in every Member, and Vein, and Mufcle. It is liable ro Contagions and Diflempers of all Sorts. They march filent and unfeen in the fine Air about us. They lie brooding in their Venom, through all the Fluids within ~ Latent Deftru&ion ! Death in Ambuf- cade! A Thoufand different Fevers {land ready to fcize this Body ; to torment it, and to burn away its Life : To lick up the finer Spirits, and fnap the Vital Ccrd. It may be 8 T'he glorious Change of the vile Body* at once blinded by aDefluxion of Rheum, fetrer'd with the Tortures of the Gout, and broken in the Agonies of the Stone : Like Sampfon in the Pbiliftian Prifon-houfe, at the fame Time blinded^ and Jhackled, and grinding. Every Nerve about us, is capable of Pains too great for us to bear, too ftrong for us ro refid, and too fubcii for us to efcape. The Strength of the mod athletick Body, is (till on the Wing - may fly away fuddcnly ; will do it fpeedily ; and mud ac Jad wholly leave it. The Beaury of the moil amiable Body, is every Day hading ro fade, and go out in obfcure Darknefs* Our daily eating and drinking, proclaim a feeble Body, that would faint and die if thefe were omitted. Every Time we fet down to a Table, or take a Cup in our Hand, we coofefs we are Creatures that need condant Support and Nourilh> ment. When we lie down to the neceflary Sleep of the Night, we own the Sleep of the Night mult relieve us a little from the long Slumber of the Grave. Every Breath we draw infmuates, in a filent Whifper, our Frailty, our Dependance on God, and our fiiort Continuance : It warns us that our Life is Wind. So weak is our Body, that it takes away much of our Thought from our Souls, to contrive for its Life, and Health, and Suftenance Let us look now upon the brittle Frame, and exclaim, O the vile Body ! It is a dying Body, and therefore a vile Body. Here our Bodies now (land, perhaps flourifhing in all the Pride and Bloom of Youth : Strong our Sinews ; moid our Bones j a&iveand fupple our Joints ; our Pulfes beating with Vigor, and our Hearts leaping with a Profufion of Life and Energy. But oh ! Vain Appearance and gaudy Dream ! Surely every Man at his bed Eftate, is altogether Vanity. He walks in a vain Show; he glitters, with delufive Colors; he fpends his Years as an Idle Tale. What avails if, that he is now hardy and robud, who mud quickly pant upon a Death -bed* What avails it, that his Limbs are fprightly in their eafy Motions, which mud quickly dretch in the dying Agony. The Lips now flunYd with a Rofey Colour, will anon quiver and turn pale. The Eyes that roll with a fparkling Viva- city, will fix ia a ghadly Horror. The mod jnuiical Voice \vill The glorious Change of the vile Body. $ vvili be ftop'd ; and the tuneful Breath fly away. The Face where Beauty now triumphs, will appear cold, and wan, and difroal, rifled by the Hand of Death. A cold Sweat will chill the Body a hoarfc Rattling will fill the Throat ; the Heart will heave with Pain and Labour, and the Lungs catch for Breath, but gafp in vain. Our Friends (land in Tears about our Bed : They weep ; but they cannot help us. The very Water with which they would cool and moiften our parched Mouths, we receive with a hollow Groan. Anon we give a Gafp, and they (hriek out in Didrefs, 'Oh! His gone, His dead /' The Body in that Inftant ftretches on the Sheets, an awful Corpfe. This is the End of our Body for this World : Pronounce now ; Is it not a vile Body ? But this brings me to the lad Article. Our Body will quickly be a dead Body, and this proclaims it a vileJBody. The Silks and foft Linnen which now fold and adorn thefe Bodies, rrmd be changed for a winding Sheet. The Applaufe and Compliment which now flatter us, are not heard in the Retirements of the Grave, to difturb its awful Silence : Nor (hall Reproaches and Reviling* break in upon our Reft there. Our pleafant Habitatfbns \viij be left for others, while we have no Apartment left us, but a Coffin, or a Tomb at mod. We (hail forfake our Difhes and our Tables ; and our felves become Food for the crawling Vermin of the Dud. How quickly {hall we haden to Clay and Alhes, in the folitary, and dark, and cold G In a few Years, the mod beauteous, or learned, or pious Head will grin a hideous Skull. Our broken Coffins will fiiew nothing but black Bones, and black Mould, and Worms rind Filth. The Places that knew us {hall know us no more. TnePerfons who were mod intimate in our Acquaintance; who footh'd us with their Yifirs, or carefb''d us in their Bofoms, will now forget us. When they {hall perhaps enter our Tombs and take up our Bones in their Hands, they'll not fufpeft the frightful Carcafe to be Ours, fave by the Letters on the broken Coffin, or the Inicription en lha id ring Monument. B And AO The glorious Change of the vile Body. And now, Man giveth up the Ghoft, and where is he ? What becomes of the Dream of Worldly Happinefs? Where are the Houfes, and the Coffers P The Great Name, the ioud Applaufe, and the Brutal Pleafure ? His Riches are left ro ethers,: And to whom he knows not ; whether a Wife Man or a Fool. He for fakes his numerous liouiH s confined to a narrow Coffin, in a lonely Vault. Cm ;i his Lands he retains but a few Foot of Earth ro cover him from the Sight. His beaded Name is forgot among the living, ai.j fcarce once in an Age cafually read upon his Grave -done. His' Breath goeth forth, he returneth to his Earth j in that very Day his Thoughts perifh. j The Spirit is given up j and fee the Body drops down, pale, and ft iff, and cold. The Eyes are fixt ; the Teeth are fet ; the Breath is fled. Is this the Face we once gazM, upon with fo m'uch Pieafure ? Are thefe the Cheeks th.it gfow'd fo frcfa, and bloom'd fo lovely ? Are ihefe the Lips that fmiPd fo graceful, and poarM out fuch a gliding Stream of Eloquence and Mufick ? Where's the tuneful Voice that once held the lidening Ear, and rais'd the atten- tive Eye ? Where are the proportioned Limbs, the fupple Joints, the vigorous Pulfes, the beating Heart, the working Brain, and the breathing Bread ? Lo, theBody is laid in the Dud, and the Worms cover it. Polluted Vermin crawl over every Part of the elegant Form, and the enchanting Face. It is folded in a winding Sheer, it is nailed in a black Coffin, and it is depofited in & filent Vault, amidd Shades and Solitude. The Skin breaks and moulders away; the Flefli drops in Dad from the Bones ; the Bones are covered with black Mould, and Worms twill about them. The Coffins break, and the Graves fink in, and the disjointed Skelleton ilrews the lonely Vault. This (liapely Fabrick mud leave its Ruins among the Graves ; lie negle&ed and forgot ; moulder away without a Name, and fcatrer among the Elements. * And were thefe Bones once living like ours ? and mud ours be as they ?' This hideous Skull, the frightful Jaw fallen, and the black Teeth naked to the Eye, was it once a thinking Frame, . pfcl, cxlvi, , T*he glorious Change of the vile Eody* 1 1 Frame, covered with a beauteous Skin ? Strange Alteration made by Death ! And are not our Burying-Grounds full of fuch Speclacles ? What do they but illuftrate and confirm the Do&rine ? Methinks every Grave, with open Mouth* preaches upon my Text, This Vile Bidy. O Vile Body ! under what infamous Difhonours of Loathfomenefs and Corruption art thou ? Thou inuft be laid away in the dufly Galleries of the Grave, the gloomy Chambers pf Death, un- regarded and unknown ; loft in deep Retirement, aad awful Siience. O Vile Body ! Thus we have feen with what Propriety Vilcnefs belongs to thefe Bodies. How fuitable and emphatical the degrad- ing Epithet ? Let us here paufe, and improve, and fee JJmits to the Description. Is this Body fo Vile and Wretched ? How -vain an&foolifk is it to be Proud of our Body. T Gpx r/T^ raTei/wo^f ^V: tte Bidy of our Humiliation. Vain Men ! Frond of the very Body of Humiliation ; Vile, debating, fujful Clay. Why fhculd we fet our Eyes upon that which is not ; or in a little Time will not be ? Why fliould we prefer our Bodies, and forget our Souls ? Cloath and adorn thofe, while we are regardlefs of the Salvation of thefe ? Why, ye Fair, fhouU ye be proud of a Beauty deflin'd to the embrace of Worms ? Or why, ye Strong, ihould ye boaft the hardy Nature, which muft quickly faint, and drop down breathlefs. O far ba the Thoughts from us, to be vain of fuch vile Bodies ! Away, the haughry Mein, and tlie difdair.fu! Glance ; the confcious Smile, and the afluming Brow, Away the artful Movements and manag'd Airs of Wanronccfs and Pride. No more let airy Fafhipns and loofer Modes of Drefs expofe the Body. Nor let it be loft in the ftudied Difproportipns of an ambitious Garb. Why need we aflfect an Apparel, fan- taflically Demure, on the one Hand ; or choofe on the other, Pomp, and Glitter, and empty Show ? We may appear de- cent in the Polite World, without running through all t.ho c^uick Succefiioa of Fopperies : The round f Attire like ~tbs B 2 Moon, \ The Round Tire, like the Moon, in Ifai. 5H. 18. was the Silver Crcfcent worn upon the Head, ia idclatrcus Hcncur to Qian% Ccddefs of the 1 2 The glorious Change of the vile Body. Moon, m a perpetual Circle of Changes. Let the vile Body be CLOATHED with HUMILITY :* Modcfty and Sobriety are the bed Ornaments. But let us fet Limits to the Exclamation, and not carry it too far. No ; our Bodies, vile as they are, are to be honour- ed and refpefted by us. They are the wonderful Produc- tion of Omnipotence, the curious Wor kmanfhip of an alwife Artificer. .Let the Body of the Sinner be as vile as it will, your Bodies, ye happy Believers, are raifed above the com- mon Clay in a nobler Honour. What, know ye not, (fays the Apoftle) that your Bodies are the Members of JESUS CHRIST ? Know ye not, that your Bodies are the Tem- ples of the HOLY GHOST,' that dwelleth in you.\ Our Bodies, it is true, are in many refpecls vile ; but yer, under all their humble Circum fiances, they are the Members of our Lord JESUS. Let us always then, when we call our Bodies vile, remember that they are nobie roo, and intitled to the fublimeft Honours. Let us take Care of them, cheriili them, view them in the Light in which CHRIST looked upon his own Body. For he fpake concerning the Temple of his Body, Joh. ii. 21. Let us refpeft and reverence our Bodies, as the Temples of the HOLY SPIRIT ; the Mem- bers of JESUS CHRIST, and the Candida res of a glorious Refnrrection. When we wafh, or feed, or cleat h, or, adorn our Bodies, let fuch Meditations as thefc, produce, and fanftify the Aft. But we come to the fecond Doctrine. Thefe vile Bodies of ours JJjall be CHANGED. The greateft Part of Believers on CHRIST ftiall be changed by a Refurrection from the Dead : But not all. Some (hall ne- ver die, but be found alive at the Appearance of CHRIST : Thefe (hall be caught up to meet the defcending Judge, and (hall be changed in the (hining Afcent. See in the ift Epii'r. Cor. xv. Chap, where the Apoftle treats this Subject at large, ver. 51, 52. Behold I /hew you a tnyftery ; t fajhioxed \ ff-J^^w, (haJl receive a like Figure and Shape, and be changed into the fame Image. So fays the Apoflie, i Cor. xv. 47, 49. fkefrfl man is of the Earth, earthy : the fecond Man is the Ijord from Heaven. And as x v :, 15. While the fame Day, the two Difciples going ro Emmaus, miftook him for a Traveller, from his Air and Drefs.f For after that he appeared in ANOTHER F RM |j unto two of them as they walked, and went into tht Country. In a Word, the Body of CHRIST could appear or vanifti juit as he pleafed, and it ihould feem without Refinance from grofler Matter. Thus to his Difciples met together, with the Door (hut, on a fudden, he flood confefs'd in '.he midft of them, to their Wjn;ler and Amazement.J 1 can fee nothing tending to Herefy in this Conjecture : Nor do I think we have any reafon to read the Paflage, after the Time of faulting the Door. But it is indifferent to our prefcnt Head, whether the Body of our Lord penetrated through ihe Pores of the Wood, as Light, which is a Bodjr does through the much finer Pores of Glafs ; or wheti.^x it had a Power fo marvellous, as to open and (hut the Door, ar once fo fwifr, and fo fo'ft, as to be entirely uaperceived both by the Sight and Hearing. Either the one or the c.hcr, (hows the wondrous Powers of the raifed Body. And are thefe the Glories of CHRIST'S Body ? our's (hall be faihioneJ like it, When we are raifed from the D-.-a;1, our Bodies will be active as the Flames, and vigorous as the Sun- beams. They will be able, to command their Shape, or to (hi ft their Place as they pleafe. To glide over Oceans, rife through the Clouds, dart like a Stream of Lightning from Ealt to Weft, and range fuddenly over the whole Creation. Ir implies, That our Bodies (hall be renewed, holy Bodies, CHRIST's Body is holy, and always was fo. He knew no Sin j a ' i though he was made in the likenefs of finful Fkfli, yec wi.hout Sin. He was holy, harmlejs, undsfiled, federate frcrt Sinners. His Body was facred, and confecrate, and perfectly holy from its Birth. So the Angel blefled the Womb of the pregnant Virgin, The Holy thin? which foall be born of t bee, jhiil be called the Son tfGOD. C Is t Lute. xxlv. 13 Mark xvi. 12. ii M;j can endure ever- laftingBurmngs f The darknefs of the Grave ihall be changed for the outer Darknefs y where Jhali be weeping andgnafl:ir,g of Teeth. Inftcad of being falhioned like unto CHRIST'S glorious Body ; they (hall be blacken'd with the finifii'd Image of the Devil, and be coafigned qvqr to e*vcr!cij! : ..-g C 2 "I //-, 2 The glorious Change of the vile Body. Fire. prepi~cd for the Devil and bis Angels. O the fearful Change, which the Refune&ion will make upon the Bodies of the wicked ! Let us learn tofet a double Value upon our Bodies. Though We may not idolize them, as the Crime generally is, we ought to honour them, and cherifli them with a proper Care. What Honours are they coming to in a future Stare P They (hall be raifed, and changed, and faftiioned like to CHRIST'S glorious Body. Learn the Honours of our Lord JESUS CHRIST. 'Tis HE who (hall raife thefe vile Bodies, and fafliion them like his glorious B:>dy. 'Herein is rhe dear Saviour mighty as a GOD j herein he is good 2^ a GOD too. Not only can he, but he will do this for us. O what Love fhould beat In the Hearts of thefe Bodies, to him who fliall change them, and be the Strength of tbcfs very Hearts, and their Portion for ever. What Thanks (hall we pay this adored JESUS ! What grateful Returns fliall we make him ! Lee every Breath arife tuneful in his Honours, who ihall quickly infpire thefe Noftrils with Breath that will never fcatter or gafp away. Let every Pulfe in our Blood, beat Time to Mufick of his Praife, who will anon give the Pulfes to leap through this living Frame, unfainting and immortal. Lee every Member of thefe vile Bodies, grow honourable, by Employment in his Service, who fhall change our vile Bodies, and fafliion them like his own. Our Eyes, be ye exhautled in viewing the Works of GOD, in Reading his Word, and be lifted up to Heaven in his Praife ! Thefe Eyes which (hall fee GOD ! Our Ears, employ all your curious Organs in hearing his dear Voice ; thefe Ears which ihall quickly be changed; which fliall hear the Voice of the Son of GOD, in the Grave? where they lie, an t be tranfported vvirh endlefs HalKlujahs. Shall not thefe Tongues of ours be redeemed from the filent Grave, and utter the Anthems of Heaven ? Awake up then, our Tongue, our Glory ; and blefs and praife the LORD. Thefe Lips fhall forget the Pale of Death, and be changed, and bloom afrefh : what can we do left than praife thee aloud with joyful Lips, who (ball The glorious Change of the vile Body. 21 (hall renew rheir faded Beauty. O let all the Body which flui ^c changed hv CHRIST, be employed in the Service of CHRIST. Ho*' was CHRISTY B-xty employed upon Earth ? Let our B >jies he employed like bis now, which (hall \>Q fafbioned like />/ h;-c.:jter. And to conchidf. /v^/W^ ^ O Believer, 77^ tk?> c .(>'>&? st-j i! ni the Dull : for thy dew is as the ; tht Earth Jl, til c aft out her dead* Shall our Body dy of ours. Our ' ft Parts, they are fate. Nay, but our B ' bevifi Body, (hall be all glorious. Now, perhaps, th eB dies are in Pajn j bur quickly they (hall know no more Pain. .Nv>vv they are weary with Labour ; quickly, they (hall reft from their Labour, and raife to conflant Exercife \vi f hout Wearinefs. Now they weep and figh in many .vs : Quickly, all T^ars (lull be wiped from our Eyes, and Sorrow acd Sighing (hall flee away. Now they {hall die, and go down to the Graves which wait for us : But though we die, yet (h.ill we live ; we (hall be redeemed from the Power of the Grave, and arife to die no more. Therefore my heart is glal. and my $lcry rejoiceth ; my flejh afo reft in hope. For tbou wilt not leave my Soul in the Grave ; nor fuffer thy holy one always to fee co ruption. Thou wilt JLew me the path of Life, in a Refurre&ion from the Dead; in thy Prefence is Fulnefs oj Joy, and at thy Right Hand are Pleafures for evermore. AMEN. * Ifai. xxvi. 19. To fill up the vacant Pages, is inferred the following Extrad f New* England Weekly Journal, written by the Author in he Year 1727, under an afluiaed Charaaer, and fmce ottea reprinted in Magazine f, and clfc where. IN a former Paper, I began to confider thofe awful Changes which all Mankind muft pafs through, but which now lie hid in the Mazes of Fucmity, and appear to our Eyes in a Cloud at a great Diftance. I then confidsred Dearb, as awful and unavoidable j full of furprize, and big with a folemn Kind of Curicfity. As I was re- faming thefe Contemplations, and meditating on that new Face of Things which awa- kens to the lyes of a Spirit newly departed from the Body, I found among my Papers a imall Arabian Manufcript which I lit upon in my Travels thro' ferjia. It. contains a Collection of Traces written by feveral famous Oriental Mavi j among which is One, called, the Meditations of Co/Jim the Son of Ahmed. Thk being adapted to my Defign, I fhall communicate it to the Pablick, in a Traallation an litteral as the i li the two Languages will admit. I iha'.l only obfei ve, that though the Boldnefigpf the Metaphors, and the Liberty of the Style are, after the Eaftern Way, above flfe little Niceries of our colder Climates, and proclaim it genuine j yet there appear many in it, which look like fome of the Refinements of our modern European Philofophy j whence it fhould feem that they were acquainted with them before us. And whether we did not at firft derive our Knowledge in thefe Inftances from them, I leave to be de- cided by Men of Learning, who have Leifure, and a Genius for Antiquity. T ! .?e Meditation of CAS SIM the Son of AHMED. Was a few Nights ago, walking over the Kills in the Weftern and unireq':? nte-i 'Paths of tta City Lima, which looks to-vard* the Defert of Blcatif, in * refrefla m yfel v" after the Studies of the Day. As I grew tired With walking, I feated ; ' on the Head of one of the higheft among that verdent Range of Mountains, and gave n y -to a profound Contemplation on the Works of the great Creator, which trrrrj ' preferred tnemfelvec to my View, in the moil charming ProfpecT: imaginable, * Knight of the Place, the Stillnefs of the Seafon, the Majefty anduSpiernnity of the ' Shads*, which were at that time filvered over with a bright MoonJjBft, fpread througn - f my whole Scul a Trancuility, not to be felt but by a Mind free from Guilt, arid e railed by the Raptures of Religion and Devotion. On one Hand of the Summit where Beared buried in Sleep and Silence, and produced in my Heart thefe * ten er ove: flrxvi'ngs ofCompaffion anc! Humanity which are natural to a punerous MinJ. * On tlis other i.de. the De'Vii: >;T.i^ //extended its Uncultivated Demenfions, and by * i r V,*i: v's a- J Ruggednefs of Land/kip, flruck my Imagination with a hind of ple.v .oivor. I could obferve nothing throughout its favage Waftes but the Cavenis ' ar.J Precipices, broken Rocks and Mountains, hallow Vales, fandy Plains, ar.il , ' F> r-fts with which it is covered. At the Foot of the Hill, the Pviver which water * L:^a, flowed alam; in a ferene Calm, jwhofe Waves feemed to. :r. irmur in their Sleej ' and nod gently to the Shore. Over mv Headth* Skies /hone with a lively blue, when: t the beautiful Emnrefs of the Night uifpml'ed her Influences, and the St. 1 . rs twinkh 'round her Throne, like fo im:iy Diamonds in an Arch of Saphire. In a \vord, the * Place, the Seafon, and the Siibj?ft of my Meditations all confpired to fix my Thoughis, ' and kindle in my Bofom the Flames of a holy Tranfport. '. AS I melted ?.wny in ftiefe Delights, I cculd not help imagining that the fame Em- ' pbyment I was then pleafing my felf with, bore fome Analogy to thefe which regale ' the departed Spirits of good Men. " O Son of AbmeJ, fair! I 1 to my felf. do no); the Inhabitants of Parsdife thus admire " the V/oiks of GOD ! Bce<; not the Harmony of their Praife rove through the Bowers " of Biifs, and foften the Murmurs of the Stre?ms of Life ! Are they not overflowed