Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

alone can ensure peace of mind, and real tranquillity. Aware of the pleasure which he took in visiting the poor, in his neighbourhood, and contributing to their relief, Mr. New-Y ton procured for him, a liberal annual allowance of cash, for the purpose of distribution, from the late excellent, John Thornton, Esq. It is almost needless to add, that becoming the almoner of this distinguished philanthropist, was to Cowper a source of the greatest enjoyment. No individual was ever more alive to the cry of distress; he seemed, indeed, to possess almost an excess of this amiable sensibility. Nothing gladdened his heart more than to be the means, of drying up the widow's tears, and assuaging the orphan's grief; which the liberality of this great philanthropist, allowed him often to accomplish. The decease of Mr. Thornton took place in 1790, and Cowper has immortalized his memory, by the following beautiful and sublime eulogy

[ocr errors]

"Thee, Thornton, worthy in some page to shine

As honest, and more eloquent than mine,

I mourn; or, since thrice happy thou must be,
The world, no longer thy abode, not thee:
Thee to deplore were grief mis-spent indeed;
It were to weep, that goodness has its meed,
That there is bliss prepared in yonder sky,
And glory for the virtuous when they die.

What pleasure can the miser's fondled hoard,

Or spendthrift's prodigal excess afford,

Sweet as the privilege of healing woe,

Suffered by virtue, combating below.

That privilege was thine; Heaven gave thee means
To illumine with delight the saddest scenes,
Till thy appearance chased the gloom, forlorn
As midnight, and despairing of a morn.
Thou had'st an industry in doing good,
Restless as his who toils and sweats for food;

Avarice in thee was the desire of wealth,
By rust unperishable, or by stealth;
And if the genuine worth of gold depend
On application to its noblest end,
Thine had a value in the scales of Heaven,
Surpassing all that mine or mint has given;
And though God made thee of a nature prone
To distribution, boundless, of thy own.
And still, by motives of religious force,
Impelled thee more to that heroic course,
Yet was thy liberality discreet,

Nice in its choice, and of a temperate heat ;
And, though an act unwearied, secret still
As, in some solitude, the summer rill
Refreshes, where it winds, the faded green,
And cheers the drooping flowers, unheard, unseen.
Such was thy charity; no sudden start,
After long sleep, of passion in the heart;
But stedfast principle, and in its kind
Of close alliance with the eternal mind,
Traced easily to its true source above,
To Him whose works bespeak his nature, love.
Thy bounties all were Christian, and I make
This record of thee for the gospel's sake,
That the incredulous themselves may see
Its use and power exemplified in thee."

Owing to some cause, for which we are unable to account, Cowper's correspondence with his friends became much less frequent after his settlement at Olney, than it had been formerly probably it might be attributed, in some degree at least, to his close intimacy with Mr. Newton, for they were seldom seven waking hours, apart from each other. The same vein of genuine and unaffected piety, however, runs through those letters which he did write, and they abound with remarks of uncommon excellence. To his cousin, Mrs. Cowper, he thus expresses his feelings: -"You live in the centre of a world, I know you do not

delight in. Happy are you, my dear friend, in being able to discern the insufficiency of all it can afford, to fill and satisfy the desires of an immortal soul. That God, who created us for the enjoyment of himself, has determined in mercy that it shall fail us here, in order that the blessed result of all our enquiries after happiness in the creature, may be a warm pursuit, and a close attachment to our true interests, in fellowship with him, through the mediation of our dear Redeemer. I bless his goodness, and his grace, that I have any reason to hope I am a partaker with you in the desire after better things, than are to be found in a world polluted by sin, and therefore, devoted to destruction. May he enable us both to consider our present life in its only true light, as an opportunity put into our hands to glorify him amongst men, by a conduct suited to his word and will. I am miserably defective in this holy and blessed art, but I hope there is, at the bottom of all my sinful infirmities, a desire to live just so long as I may be enabled to answer, in some measure, at least, the end of my existence, in this respect; and then to obey the summons, and attend him in a world, where they who are his servants here, shall pay him an unsinful obedience for ever."

The lively interest which Cowper took, in the spiritual welfare of his correspondents, will appear in the following letter to his esteemed friend, Joseph Hill, Esq., dated 21st January 1769:-" Dear Joe: I rejoice with you in your.recovery, and that you have escaped from the hands of one, from whose hands you will not always escape. Death is either the most formidable, or most comfortable thing, we have in prospect, on this side of eternity. To be brought near to him, and to discern neither of these features in his face, would argue a degree of insensibility, of which I will not suspect my friend, whom I know to be a thinking man. You have been brought down to the sides

of the grave, and you have been raised up again by him, who has the keys of the invisible world; who opens, and none can shut, who shuts and none can open. I do not forget to return thanks to him on your behalf, and to pray that your life, which he has spared, may be devoted to his service. Behold! I stand at the door, and knock,' is the word of him, in whom both our mortal and immortal life depend, and blessed be his name; it is the word of one who wounds only that he may heal, and who waits to be gracious. The language of every such dispensation is, 'Prepare to meet thy God.' It speaks with the voice of mercy and goodness, for without such notices, whatever preparation we might make for other events, we should make none for this. My dear friend, I desire and pray, that when this last enemy shall come to execute an unlimited commission on us, we may be found ready, being established and rooted in a well-grounded faith in his name who conquered death, and triumphed over him on the cross. If I am ever enabled to look forward to death with comfort, which I thank God is sometimes the case, I do not take my view of it from the top of my own works and deservings, though God is witness, that the labour of my life is to keep a conscience void of offence towards him. Death is always formidable to me, but when I see him disarmed of his sting by having it sheathed in the body of Christ Jesus."

To the same friend, on another occasion, he thus writes:"I take a friend's share in all your concerns, so far as they come to my knowledge, and consequently, did not receive the news of your marriage with indifference. I wish you and your bride all the happiness that belongs to the state; and the still greater felicity of that state, which marriage is only a type of. All those connexions shall be dissolved; but there is, an indissoluble bond between Christ and his

church, the subject of derision to an unthinking world, but the glory and happiness of all his people."

No one knew better how to administer consolation to those who were in distress, and certainly no one ever took a greater delight in doing it than Cowper. To his amiable cousin, Mrs. Cowper, who had been called to sustain a severe domestic affliction, he writes as follows:-"A letter from your brother, brought me yesterday, the most afflicting intelligence that has reached me these many years, I pray God to comfort you, and to enable you to sustain this heavy stroke with that resignation to his will, which none but himself can give, and which he gives to none but his own children. How blessed and happy is your lot, my dear friend, beyond the lot of the greater part of mankind: that you know what it is to draw near to God in prayer, and are acquainted with a throne of grace! You have resources in the infinite love of a dear Redeemer, which are withheld from millions: and the promises of God, which are, yea and amen in Christ Jesus, are sufficient to answer all your necessities, and to sweeten the bitterest cup which your Heavenly Father will ever put into your hand. May he now give you liberty to drink at these wells of salvation till you are filled with consolation and peace, in the midst of trouble. He has said, When thou passest through the fire, I will be with thee, and when through the floods, they shall not overflow thee. You have need of such a word as this, and he knows your need of it; and the time of necessity is the time when he will be sure to appear in behalf of those who trust in him. I bear you and yours upon my heart before him, night and day. For I never expect to hear of distress, which shall call upon me with a louder voice to pray for the sufferer. I know the Lord hears me for myself, vile and sinful as I am, and believe, and am

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »