HYMN ON THE SEASONS. 261 Feeds every creature; hurls the tempest forth; Where, o'er the rock, the scarcely waving pine Who shake th' astonish'd world, lift high to heaven Ye headlong torrents, rapid, and profound; Sound his stupendous praise; whose greater voice Soft roll your incense, herbs, and fruits, and flowers, From world to world, the vital ocean round, 262 HYMN ON THE SEASONS. And his unsuffering kingdom yet will come. The listening shades, and teach the night His praise. The long resounding voice, oft breaking clear, For me, when I forget the darling theme, In the void waste as in the city full; And where he vital breathes there must be joy. TRUE CHRISTIANS HAPPY IN EVERY SITUATION. 263 Myself in Him, in light ineffable; Come then, expressive silence, muse his praise. TRUE CHRISTIANS HAPPY IN EVERY SITUATION GRACE in the heart is "as gold tried in the fire,” which can stand the test of temptation, and which preserves its purity and firmness, both in the warm sunshine of prosperity, and in the fiery furnace of afflic tion. The health of the soul confers peculiar advantages, both for relishing every comfort, and for suffering every calamity of this life. When the passions are under the controul of reason and religion, and propor tioned to the worth of their objects, comfort dwells in the heart. Now, faith points out the objects which are most worthy; it directs towards them the chief force of the affections; and it weakens the ties of the heart to every object which is less valuable. The soul, calm and serene, though earthly enjoyments are withheld, triumphs in the certain accomplishment of her highest desires. Disappointments sink her not, for there is a better part of which they cannot bereave her. The reproaches of men, destroy not the assurance of God's love. The loss of wealth deprives not of peace of conscience. A soul dwelling at ease has more than compensates bodily sickness and pain. Faith and hope, sobriety, temperance, and self-denial, "gird up the loins of the mind," render it fit for struggling with adverse fortune, and blunt the edge of strokes which they cannot avert. He, who sits loose from the world, and when riches, and honours and pleasures increase, sets not his heart upon them, bids fairest not to be overwhelmed with grief, when sublunary comforts are withdrawn. When covetousness, ambition, and sensuality are subdued, solicitude ceases to torment. He possesses most, whose wants are fewest,-not he whose income is largest; for often when goods increase, they are increased who eat them, and who consume not only the abundance which the owner possesses, but the 264 TRUE CHRISTIANS HAPPY IN EVERY SITUATION. hours which he would much rather have spent in his closet or with his family. Contentment and satisfaction are often attained by the poor Christian, never by the wealthy profligate-whose joy in what he hath is perpetually destroyed by his thirst for that which he hath not. The poor may have, and feel that they have enough: the rich cannot have more. The faith of the Gospel sweetens every condition, enriches more than all other possessions, and supplies the want of every thing besides. Religion consecrates the understanding, the will, and the affections, to the best and noblest purposes, and opens the purest sources of transporting delight. A good man roams not from one business, from one company, from one amusement to another, in quest of ease and pleasure; for a good man "shall be satisfied from himself." He hath within, a never failing spring of satisfaction, which others in vain look for abroad. Indeed, the pleasures peculiar to him, and resulting from the exercises of grace and the performance of duty, are more than equivalent to those which the men of the world enjoy. We value lands and money, and account them wealth, because they purchase many things in themselves agreeable. If then, though without lands or money, we have that which procures enjoyments still more agreeable, we are truly rich. The exercise of grace, and the faithful performance of duties, produce joys far exceeding those of worldly men, when their corn, and wine, and oil, do most abound. The work of righteousness is peace; and the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever." Reflec tions that we have acquired sublunary honours and riches, and pleasures, afford no comfort. In the saddest hour, the remembrance is sweet, that love to God, concern for his glory, and compassion to the distressed, animated our hearts in happier times. The resistance and the victory over temptation, yields a satisfaction, which never flowed from a compliance with its solicita tions. In the meanest and most afflicted condition, the testimony of conscience, that even in difficult trials, we have not wickedly departed from our God, administers a certain solace. He, therefore, is rich, who is filled with the graces and consolations of the Holy AURORA BOREALIS IN NEWFOUNDLAND.. 265 Ghost, and the most distressing and perplexed situations have often displayed the intrinsic and superior excellency and virtue of those spiritual treasures. AURORA BOREALIS IN NEWFOUNDLAND. The IN Europe, the dry freezing winds proceed from north to east; in North America they are from north to west. When these prevail, the sky is clear and of a dark blue, and the nights transcendently beautiful. The moon displays far greater radiance than in Europe; and, in her absence, her function is not ill supplied by the uncommon and fiery brightness of the stars. Aurora Borealis frequently tinges the sky with coloured rays of such brilliancy, that their splendour, not effaced even by that of the full moon, is of the utmost magnificence if the moon does not shine. Sometimes it begins in the form of a scarf of bright light, with its extremities resting on the horizon, which, with a motion resembling that of a fishing net, and a noise similar to the rustling of silk, glides softly up the sky, when the lights frequently unite in the zenith and form the top of a crown. At other times its motion is like that of a pair of colours waving in the air, and the different tints of light present the appearance of so many large streamers of changeable silk; or it spreads into vast columns, and, altering slowly or by rapid motions into an immense variety of shapes, varies its colours from all the tints of yellow to the most obscure russet; and after having briskly skimmed along the heavens, or majestically spread itself from the horizon to the zenith, on a sudden it disappears, leaving behind a uniform dusky tract, which is again illuminated, and, in the same manner, suddenly extinguished. And at other times it begins with some insulated rays from the north and the north-east, which increase by degrees until they fill the whole sky, forming the most splendid sight that can be conceived, crackling, sparkling, hissing, and making a noise similar to that of artificial fire-works. These phenomena, which are generally considered as the effects of electricity, are looked upon as the forerunners of storms; and when these arise N. |