the United States, they employed an American lady to make secret overtures to several of the leading members of Congress. To Gen. Reed, she was authorized to promise the sum of ten thousand pounds sterling, and the best 2 office in this country in his majesty's gift, on condition of his exerting his talent and influence in bringing about 3 a reconciliation between the contending parties. His reply to this proposition is, perhaps, equal to any thing 4 on record. "Madam," said he, "I am not worth purchasing, but, such as I am, the king of England is not rich enough to buy me."

1

2

3

SEC. C. THE POWER OF MUSIC.

When whispering streams do softly steal,
With creeping passion, through the heart;
And when at every touch, we feel

Our pulses beat and bear a part;
When threads can make

A heart-string quake;
Philosophy

Can scarce deny,

The soul can melt in harmony.

O lull me! lull me! charming air!

My sense is rocked with wonders sweet:
Like snow on wool, thy fallings are:

Soft like a spirit's, are thy feet.

Grief who need fear,

That hath an ear?

Down let him lie,

And, slumbering, die,

And change his soul for harmony.

SEC. CI. FEW AND MANY STRIPES.

What will be the answer of the Judge to the poor 1 Indian, none can say. That he was sadly mistaken in the means of salvation, and that what he had done could never purchase him everlasting life, is beyond a doubt; but yet 2 the Judge may say, "Come unto me, thou heavy-laden, and I will give thee the rest which thou couldst not pur3 chase for thyself." But, to the Christian, "Thou, who hadst my easy yoke, and my light burden; thou for whom

4 all was already purchased,——————' Thank God! it is not yet pronounced :-" begone! and fly for thy life!"

Wolfe.

1

SEC. CII. PART OF THE DEFENCE OF PAUL AT JERUSALEM.

"Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence, which I make now unto you." And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue they kept the more silence; and he saith, "I am verily a man who am a Jew born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was 2 zealous towards God, as ye all are, this day. And I per

secuted this way unto the death: binding and delivering into prison both men and women; as also the high priest doth bear me witness; and all the estate of the elders; from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring them who were there, bound unto Jerusalem to be punished.”

"And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and 3 was come nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me; and I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, 4 Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, 5 Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of

Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were 6 with me saw, indeed, the light, and were afraid, but they 7 heard not the voice of him that spake unto me. And I 8 said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, 9 being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came to Damascus."

SEC. CIII. THE CHRISTIAN ON HIS WAY TO HEAVEN

WOULD HAVE COMPANY.

Suppose it were suddenly revealed to any one among you, that he, and he alone of all that walk upon the face of this earth, was destined to receive the benefit of his Re1 deemer's atonement; and that the rest of mankind was lost; and lost to all eternity: it is hard to say what would be the first sensation excited in that man's mind by the intelli

&ence. It is indeed probable it would be joy to think that all his fears respecting his eternal destiny were now no more, that all the forebodings of the mind, and misgivings of the heart, all the solemn stir which we feel rising within us whenever we look forward to a dark futurity; to feel that all these had now subsided forever; to know that he shall stand in the everlasting sunshine of the love of God!-it is perhaps impossible that all this should not 2 call forth an immediate feeling of delight; but, if you wish the sensation to continue, you must go to the wilderness; you must beware how you come within sight of a human being, or within sound of a human voice; you must recollect that you are now alone upon the earth; or, if you want society, you had better look for it among the beasts of the field than among the ruined species to which you belong; unless, indeed, the Almighty, in pity to your desolation, should send his angels before the appointed time, that you might learn to forget in their society the outcast objects of your former sympathies. But to go abroad into human society; to walk amongst beings who are now no longer your fellow-creatures; to feel the charity of your common nature rising in your heart, and to have to crush it within you like a sin; to reach forth your hand to perform one of the common kindnesses of humanity, and to find it withered by the recollection, that however you may mitigate a present pang, the everlasting 3 pang is irreversible; to turn away in despair from these children whom you have now come to bless and save ;(we hope and trust both here and forever;-) perhaps it would be too much for you: at all events, it would be hard to state a degree of exertion within the utmost range of human energy, or a degree of pain within the farthest limits of human endurance, to which you would not submit, that you might have one companion on your lonely way from this world to the mansions of happiness.

But suppose, at that moment, that the angel, who brought the first intelligence, returns to tell you that there are beings upon this earth that may yet be saved: that he was before mistaken : no matter how; perhaps he was your guardian angel, and darted from the throne of grace with the intelligence of your salvation without waiting to hear the fate of 4 the rest of mankind: no matter how, but he comes to tell you that there are beings upon the earth, who are within the reach of your Redeemer's love, and of your own: that some of them are now before you; and their everlasting destiny is placed in your hands: then what would first

5 occur to your mind? Privations? dangers? difficulties? 6 No; but you would say, Lord, what shall I do? Shall I 7 traverse earth and sea, through misery and torment, that of those thou hast given me I may not lose one? Wolfe.

SEC. CIV. PLEASANTRY NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH RELIGION.

ner. •

Farthermore, the warrantableness of this practice in some 1 cases may be inferred from a parity of reason in this manIf it be lawful, (as by the best authorities it plainly doth appear to be,) in using rhetorical schemes, poetical 2 strains, involutions of sense in allegories, fables, parables and riddles, to discoast from the plain and simple way of speech, why may not facetiousness, issuing from the same principles, directed to the same ends, serving to like purposes, be likewise used blamelessly? If those exorbitances of speech may be accommodated to instil good doctrine into the head, to excite good passions in the heart, to illustrate and adorn the truth, in a delightful and taking way: (and 3 facetious discourse is sometimes notoriously conducible to the same ends;) why, they being retained, should it be rejected especially considering how difficult often it may be, to distinguish those forms of discourse from this; or exactly to define the limits which sever rhetoric and raillery? Some elegant figures and tropes of rhetoric, (biting sarcasms, sly ironies, strong metaphors, lofty hyperboles, paronomasias, oxymorons, and the like, frequently used by the best speakers, and not seldom even by the sacred writers,) do lie very near upon the confines of jocularity, and 4 are not easily differenced from those sallies of wit, wherein the lepid way doth consist; so that, were this wholly culpable, it would be matter of scruple, whether one hath committed a fault or no, when he meant only to play the orator or the poet; and hard surely it would be to find a judge who could precisely set out the difference between a jest and a flourish.

I shall only add, that of old even the sagest and gravest 5 persons, (persons of most rigid and severe virtue,) did much affect this kind of discourse and apply it to noble purposes. The great introducer of moral wisdom among the Pagans did practise it so much, (by it repressing the windy pride 6 and fallacious vanity of sophisters in his time,) that he thereby got the name of the droll; and the rest of those who pursued his design, do by numberless stories and apophthegms recorded of them, appear well skilled, and

much delighted in this way. Many great princes, (as Augustus Cæsar for one, many of whose jests are extant in Macrobius,) many grave statesmen, (as Cicero particularly, 7 who composed several books of jests,) many famous captains, (as Fabius, M. Cato the censor, Scipio Africanus, Epaminondas, Themistocles, Phocion, and many others, whose witty sayings, together with their martial exploits, are recorded by historians,) have pleased themselves herein, and made it a condiment of their mighty businesses. Barrows.

SEC. CV. HARSH NAMES GENERALLY UNJUST.

The reason of things also doth help to explain these words, and to show why they are prohibited: because these harsh terms are needless; mild words serving as well to express the same things: because they are commonly unjust; loading men with greater defect or blame than they can be proved to deserve, or their actions do import: (for every man that speaketh falsehood, is not therefore a liar: every man that erreth, is not thence a fool: every man that doeth amiss, is not consequently dishonest or wicked: the secret intentions and the habitual dispositions of men not being always to be collected from their outward actions :) because they are uncharitable; signifying that we entertain the worst opinions of men, and make the worst construction of their doings, and are disposed to show them no favor or kindness because also they produce mischievous effects; such as spring from the worst passions raised by them. Barrows.

Another grand offence against piety, is, rash and vain swearing in common discourse: an offence which now 1 strangely reigns and rages in the world: passing about in a specious garb, and under glorious titles, as a genteel and graceful quality; a mark of fine breeding, and a point of gallantry Who, forsooth, now, is the brave spark and complete gentleman, but he that hath the skill and confidence (O heavens! how mean a skill! how mad a confi2 dence!) to lard every sentence with an oath or a curse: making bold at every turn to salute God: fetching him down from heaven to avouch any idle prattle, to second