(9) Page 248.] Ούτως γαρ συνεχως θεασῃ τα ανθρωπινα, καπνον, και το μηδεν.-Marc. Antonin. x. 31; also xii. 33. ii. 17. So Eschylus on human life : Και πιστον ουδεν μάλλον, η καπνου σκια. and Sophocles: Όρω γαρ ήμας ουδεν οντας αλλο, πλην 1. 125. and Saint James : Ποια γαρ ή ζωη ύμων ; ατμις γαρ εστιν, ἡ προς ολιγον φαινομενη, επειτα δε αφανιζομενη.-S. James, iv. 14. Compare Psalm xxxix. 7., cxliv. 4., and Wisdom ii. 2-5. (10) Page 249.] Fluvius, levia atque inflata ad nos devehit, solida autem, et pondus habentia, submergit.-Bacon. de Augment. Scient. Lib. i. p. 82. (11) Page 250.] Aliquando naturæ tibi arcana retegentur, discutietur ista caligo, et lux undique clara percutiet. Imaginare tecum, quantus ille sit fulgor, tot sideribus inter se lumen miscentibus. Nulla serenum umbra turbabit ; æqualiter splendebit omne cœli latus; dies et nox, aëris infimi vices sunt. Tunc in tenebris vixisse dices, cum totam lucem totus adspexeris, quam nunc, per angustissimas oculorum vias, obscure intueris, et tamen admiraris tam procul. Quid tibi videbitur divina lux, cum illam suo loco videris ? Hæc cogitatio nihil sordidum animo subsidere sinit, nihil humile, nihil crudele. Deos omnium rerum esse testes ait, illis nos approbari, illis in futurum parari jubet, et æternitatem proponere; quam qui mente concepit, nullos horret exercitus, non terretur turbâ, nullis ad timorem minis agitur. Quid ni non timeat, qui mori sperat.-Seneca. Epistol. cii, p. 510. (12) Page 251.] Cives alterius civitatis, cujus rex veritas, cujus lex charitas, cujus modus æternitas.-S. Augustin. ad Marcellin. ep. cxxxviii. cap. iii. § 17. (13) Page 251.] Ἡ δε των αφθαρτων σωματων δοξα ου τοσουτον αφίησι το φως, όσον το σωμα τουτο φθαρτον, ουδε τοιούτον, οἷον και θνητοις όμμασι γενεσθαι χωρητον, αλλ' αφθαρτων και αθανατων δεομενον οφθαλμων προς την θεαν αυτου.-S. Chrysost. ad Theodor. laps. Disc. ii. p. 71. Op. Tom. vi, edit. Savil. Τουτῳ κειται νομος, μιμεισθαι τον πλαστην εις δύναμιν, και την εν ουρανοις ευταξίαν σκιαγραφειν επι γης.-και τας αρετας δε, ημετερα κτηματα γενόμενα, εύροι τις αν, όταν εξ επιμελειας συνυφανθωσι τῇ φύσει και ουτε επι γης μοχθουντας ἡμας απολιμπάνειν εθελουσιν (ην μη προς βιαν αυτας ἑκοντες αποδιωξωμεν ταις των χειρονων επαγωγαις) εκεισε τε επειγομένων προτρεχουσι, και τοις αγγέλοις τον κτησαμενον συνταττουσι, και λαμπουσι δι' αιωνος ὑπο τοις του κτίσαντος οφθαλμοις.-S. Basil. Hom. xxiii. p. 560. D. 561. A. (14) Page 252.] Τα αγαθα εξω μη ζητειτε· εν ἑαυτοις ζητείτε. -Epictet. Lib. iii. cap. χχίν. p. 344, • It is not a χωριστον, but a κτητον τι: not any thing separate from the soul, but something it possesses, that can make it happy. It is not happy by an incommunicate happiness, nor glorious by an incommunicate glory. Indeed, the discovery of such a glory to an inglorious, unholy soul, must rather torment than satisfy.'-Howe's Blessedness, Chap. i. Ρ. 453. 'Conscience, undoubtedly, is the great repository and magazine of all those pleasures that can afford any solid refreshment to the soul. For when this is calm and serene, then, properly, a man enjoys all things,-aud, what is more, himself; for that he must do before he can enjoy any thing else.'-South. Sermon on Proverbs iii. 17. 'In vain do we dream of happiness in any thing without us. Happiness must be within us. The foundation of it must be laid in the inward frame and disposition of our spirits. And the very same causes and ingredients which make up the happiness of God must be found in us, though in a much inferior degree, or we cannot be happy. They understand not the nature of happiness who hope for it upon any other terms. He who is the author and fountain of happiness cannot convey it to us in any other way, than by planting in us such dispositions of mind as are, in truth, a kind of participation of the Divine nature, and by enduing us with such qualities as are the necessary materials of hap. piness. And a man may as soon be well without health, as happy without goodness. If a wicked man were taken up to heaven, yet, if he still continue the same bad man that he was before, cælum non animum mutavit; he may have changed the climate, and gone into a far country; but, because he carries himself still along with him, he will still be miserable from himself. For a bad man hath a fiend in his own breast, and the fuel of hell in his guilty conscience.'-Archbishop Tillotson. Vol. i. Serm. 41. p. 486. (15) Page 252.] A palsy may as well shake an oak, or a fever dry up a fountain, as either of them shake, dry up, or impair, the delight of conscience. For it lies within; it centres in the heart; it grows into the very substance of the soul so that it accompanies a man to his grave; he never outlives it; and that for this cause only, because he cannot outlive himself.-South. on Proverbs iii. 17. These are truly what Saint Basil calls,—πεφυκότα τοις ανθρωποις οικειουσθαι καθαπαξ,-συγχωρουμενα δια της στενης εκείνης πυλης ακολουθησαι τοις εχουσιν,— μεν ἡμῖν ἑνωθηναι και κόσμος οντως γενεσθαι δυναται, συμφυής ψυχῇ τε και σωμarı.-S. Basil. Hom. xxiii. p. 558. C. (16) Page 256.] They are gone, but have left a relish and a fragrance upon the mind, and the remembrance of them is sweet.'-Bishop Horne. Preface to the Psalms. Works. Vol. II. p. lx. (17) Page 256.] Those gentle whispers of the Spirit, venæ divini murmuris, as Prudentius calls them ; those inward manifestations of God, are best discerned and attended to in this solemn silence. When the wind is high, and beats upon the windows and doors of the house, it is hard to hear what is said within. All tumultuous passions must be calmed, and the soul be in a state of due stillness and tranquillity, to hear what God speaks to it.'-Worthington on Self-resignation. Part I. chap. iv. p. 34. 'Loqui de Deo, quieta valde et liberæ mentis est. Tunc namque bene lingua dirigetur in sermone, cum secure sensus quieverit in tranquillitate: quia nec concussa aqua imaginem respicientis reddit; sed tunc in eâ vultus intendentis aspicitur, cum non movetur.'-S. Gregor. Magn. in Ezech. Lib. I. Hom. ii. p. 1125. So, when a smooth expanse receives imprest Calm nature's image on its watery breast, Down bend the banks, the trees depending grow, Swift ruffling circles curl on every side; Parnel's Hermit. IN the portion of Scripture from which these words are taken, God expostulates with his people Israel, for their ungrateful disregard of his past and present bounties, and for their attachment to the idolatries of other nations. He contrasts their base desertion of Jehovah, their true strength and glory, with the persevering constancy of the heathen, in the worship of their false unprofitable gods: Pass over to the isles of Chittim, and see, |