No. 453, Τ' No. 453. Saturday, August 9, Saturday, August 9, 1712, Non usitata nec tenui ferar “HERE is not a more pleasing Exercise of the Mind than Gratitude, It is accompanied with such an inward Satisfaction, that the Duty is sufficiently rewarded by the Performance. It is not like the Practice of many other Virtues, difficult and painful, but attended with so much Pleasure, that were there no positive Command which enjoined it, nor any Recompence laid up for it hereafter, a generous Mind would indulge in it, for the natural Gratification that accompanies it. If Gratitude is due from Man to Man, how much more from Man to his Maker? The Supream Being does not only confer upon us those Bounties which proceed more immediately from his Hand, but even those Benefits which are conveyed to us by others. Every Blessing we enjoy, by what Means soever it may be derived upon us, is the Gift of him who is the great Author of Good, and Father of Mercies. If Gratitude, when exerted towards one another, naturally produces a very pleasing Sensation in the Mind of a grateful Man; it exalts the Soul into Rapture, when it is employed on this great Object of Gratitude; on this Beneficent Being who has given us every thing we already possess, and from whom we expect every thing we yet hope for, Most of the Works of the Pagan Poets were either direct Hymns to their Deities, or tended indirectly to the Celebration of their respective Attributes and Per fections. Those who are acquainted with the Works of the Greek and Latin Poets which are still extant, will upon Reflection find this Observation so true, that I shall not enlarge upon it. One would wonder that more of our Christian Poets have not turned their Thoughts this way, especially if we consider, that our Idea of the Supream Being is not only Infinitely more Great and Noble than what could possibly enter into the Heart of an Heathen, but filled with every thing that can raise the Imagination, and No. 453. and give an Opportunity for the Sublimest Thoughts and 1712. Plutarch tells us of a Heathen who was singing an Hymn to Díana in which he celebrated her for her delight in human Sacrifices, and other Instances of Cruelty and Revenge; upon which a Poet who was present at this piece of Devotion, and seems to have had a truer Idea of the Divine Nature, told the Votary by way of reproof, that in recompence for his Hymn, he heartily wished he might have a Daughter of the same Temper with the Goddess he celebrated. It was indeed impossible to write the Praises of one of those false Deities, according to the Pagan Creed, without a Mixture of Impertinence and Absurdity, The Jews, who before the Times of Christianity were the only People that had the Knowledge of the True God, have set the Christian World an Example how they ought to employ this Divine Talent of which I am speaking. As that Nation produced Men of great Genius, without considering them as inspired Writers, they have trans mitted to us many Hymns and Divine Odes, which excel those that are deliver'd down to us by the Ancient Greeks and Romans in the Poetry, as much as in the Subject, to which it was consecrated. This I think might easily be shewn, if there were occasion for it. I have already_communicated to the Publick some Pieces of Divine Poetry, and as they have met with a very favourable Reception, I shall from time to time publish any Work of the same Nature which has not yet appeared in Print, and may be acceptable to my Readers, Ꮮ When all thy Mercies, O my God, II O how shall Words with equal Warmth The Gratitude declare, That Through hidden Dangers, Toils, and Deaths, And through the pleasing Snares of Vice, VIII When worn with Sickness, oft hast thou And when in Sins and Sorrows sunk Thy IT Sine me, vacívom tempus ne quod dem mihi T is an inexpressible Pleasure to know a little of the only 1712. only to those who are turned for Speculation: Nay, they No. 454. who enjoy it, must value things only as they are the Monday, Objects of Speculation, without drawing any worldly August 11, Advantage to themselves from them, but just as they are what contribute to their Amusement, or the Improve ment of the Mind, I lay one Night last Week at Rich mond; and being restless, not out of Dissatisfaction, but a certain busie Inclination one sometimes has, I arose at Four in the Morning, and took Boat for London, with a Resolution to rove by Boat and Coach for the next Four and twenty Hours, till the many different Objects I must needs meet with should tire my Imagination, and give me an Inclination to a Repose more profound than I was at that time capable of. I beg People's Pardon for an odd Humour I am guilty of, and was often that Day, which is saluting any Person whom I like, whether I know him or not, This is a Particularity would be tolerated in me, if they considered that the greatest Pleasure I know I receive at my Eyes, and that I am obliged to an agreeable Person for coming abroad into my View, as another is for a Visit of Conversation at their own Houses. The Hours of the Day and Night are taken up in the Cities of London and Westminster by People as different from each other as those who are Born in different Cen turies. Men of Six-a-Clock give way to those of Nine, they of Nine to the Generation of Twelve, and they of Twelve disappear, and make Room for the fashionable World, who have made Two-a-Clock the Noon of the Day, When we first put off from Shoar, we soon fell in with a Fleet of Gardiners bound for the several Market-Ports of London; and it was the most pleasing Scene imagin able to see the Chearfulness with which those industrious People ply'd their Way to a certain Sale of their Goods, The Banks on each Side are as well Peopled, and beautified with as agreeable Plantations, as any Spot on the Earth; but the Thames it self, loaded with the Product of each Shoar, added very much to the Landskip. It was very easie to observe by their Sailing, and the Countenances of the ruddy Virgins, who were Supercargos, the Parts of the VI. |