of a vision, and eternity opening on his view, how awful and inconceivably grand must be the emotions which are excited! It is here the triumph of Christianity is rendered complete, over the fanciful chimeras of scepticism, and the dark mists of infidelity. It is here the Christian finds in that invincible courage with which he meets the King of terrors,' the most indubitable evidence, that he has not followed cunningly devised fables:' he looks at the world which he is going to leave, but it is with an eye of commiseration; he views that into which he is about to enter, with the most lively emotions of complacency, joy, and delight.

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Perhaps no wider contrast could be drawn, than the death-bed of such a character, and that of a modern sceptic. The diciples of infidelity, whatever proof they may have given of their strength of intellect, or force of reasoning, when in the meridian of life, have always found, that it required something more effectual to conquer the timidity of nature, at the conclusion. They may have had refined speculations upon the subject, but speculation will not do now; by denying revelation, they have cut off every means of support, every avenue of comfort. The follies of youth, or the amusements which used to givə pleasure in more advanced years, are now become equally insipid; every idea is absorbed, in the dying infidel, by that of instantaneous annihilation; or of having his wretched existence prolonged, merely that his misery may be perpetuated. We might produce well authenticated instances of numbers of these unhappy self-deceivers, who died in the most agonizing tortures of mind, but we are acquainted with but few instances, of those who pretended to meet death with a placid coun

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tenance, like the sophistical Jean Jacques Rousseau. The coolness, apathy, and utter insensibility with which this infatuated man met his fate, have been matter of great triumph to his numerous satellites. But supposing him to have evinced that firmness which his biographers say he was possessed of, as the awful crisis drew near, how striking is the contrast, how manifest is the superiority, of that faith, of that principle, which caused one to exclaim, I desire to depart and to be with Christ,' I am now ready to be offered up!'

Stoical apathy is not Christian fortitude. As these states are superinduced by contrary causes, we see they are productive of different effects the hope of the one is gloomy and selfish, and founded only on probabilities; that of the other is cheerful and animated; a hope not founded on the possible correctness of a system of speculative notions, but on the promises of Him whose words stand surer than the heavens; a hope blooming with light and life, and immortality. "W. T."

Remarks on Man, &c.

"It is often matter of wonder to me, when I view the myriads of my fellow creatures, all endued in one proportion or other with a rational and thinking faculty, who can yet look on the sublimest of Nature's works with the stupid unconscious gaze of the brute, and appear to be wholly strangers to those refined sensations which constitute the chief happiness of a cultivated mind. How few of the busy throng secin to have leisure to sit down, and calmly consider the object and end of their being, the rank

which they hold in the scale of existence, and the means that will conduce, not only to preserve, but exalt the dignity of their natures! Destitute, as too many are, of these first principles, it is in vain to look for the finer feelings. These can only exist in a mind alike regardless of the pleasures or profits of the world; that can be raised into rapture with the beautiful and sublime of Nature, and at the same time soar to the contemplation of the great First Cause of beauty, order, and harmony. In short, true refinement can only exist, where the happy combination has becu effected, of religion and philosophy..

"I have often heard unqualified censure passed on our dignified moralist, Samuel Johnson, for the gloomy medium through which he viewed Human Nature. I would not undertake to clear him from all imputations of this kind; yet those who are in the hey-day of life and spirits would do well to deliberate before they pronounce. It is perhaps, the safest to consider man in a state of discipline; that he must unavoidably pass through a portion of misery; and that, without some such ordeal, he would be incapable of appreciating the value of that higher order of being for which he is designed. It is impossible to ascertain the exact proportion of our happiness or misery; but the united testimony of all ages declares, that the latter is ours by inheritance, while the former exists merely from accidental causes, and, as such, is every moment liable to interruption. In the language of the east, man is said to be born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.'

"I think no one can look on the endless variety of our species without astonishment. Taking in all the aspects, relations, and dependencies of man, what a complicated, unaccountable being,

he is! Placed on the confines of two worlds, he is alternately exalted or degraded by their influence; he is one while made partaker of angelic purity, and then sunk a thousand degrees lower than the meanest reptile. It is in this light that I have always considered history and biography as the most entertaining and instructive branches of reading. By the former, we are acquainted with the origin of the whole species, and their progress towards civilization, whilst the latter exhibits to our view, the virtues and vices of individuals, the follies of youth, or the weakness and eccentricities of old age. Yet, I conceive the delineation of wicked and unprincipled characters, has not so good an effect on our morals, as of those eminent for great virtues. Vice is of so contagious a nature, that habitual contemplation of it lessens the horror which it ought to excite; while virtue and truth are ever more lovely, and it is their unalterable tendency to rise in our estimation.

"I often deeply regret, that many who rank high in natural philosophy, should so far forget the study of their own being. This dereliction of principle proceeds, I believe, in a great measure, from the supposed narrowness of the field of enquiry. An experiment with the air pump will afford the highest delight, where a moral, or religious discourse, would fail to arrest the attention. In the investigation of nature, they conceive there is something tangible, and within the possibility of demonstration, while the laws of the intellectual world, because liable to many exceptions, and abstruse doctrines, they consider as wholly inexplicable. Thus, from a dread of falling into error and enthusiasm, many totally discard religion from their pursuits, and prefer

the coldness of scepticism, to the generous ardour of Christian piety.

"W. T."

At the latter end of this year his health became much impaired; considerable bodily debility came on, attended by great lameness, which rendered his employment particularly painful; and in the 1st month, 1813, he was obliged to relinquish it altogether. The lameness and pain extended from his hip to his foot, and were at first supposed to proceed from rheumatism, but proved to be a disease of the bone, of a peculiar and very painful nature, from which he never entirely recovered. This circumstance confined him. much at home, where he was visited by several of his friends, and by some benevolent persons resident in the neighbourhood; also by the clergymen of the parish (of Winwick), who shewed him much kindness, and encouraged him in the prosecution of his studies, particularly the classics. These occupied part of his time during this cessation from labour, the rest he devoted to reading and to correspondence with his friends..

To

"Lowton, February, 1813.. "I was glad to find, that the delineation of so great a character as Sir William Jones had employed the pen of so judicious a writer as the illustrious president of the most venerable institution that ever was formed.. He seems to have gone through the pleasing, mournful task, of exhibiting to the world, the splendid talents and amiable qualities of his honoured friend, with so