ble state which the prophet so emphatically describes: The field is wasted, and the land mourneth; the seed is rotten under the clods, and the harvest perisheth; the garners are laid desolate, and the barns are broken down; the new wine is dried up; the oil languisheth; and all the trees of the field are withered. How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate, because the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.' But blessed be the divine Providence, our fears are vanished, and a most joyful change has taken place; the Lord hath 'sent a gracious rain upon his inheritance, and refreshed it when it was weary.'+ Yesterday in the afternoon, the wind shifting to the south, roused the dormant clouds, and brought some of those agreeable strangers on its wings. At first they came sailing in small, and thin, and scattered parties: anon, the flying squadrons advanced in larger detachments, more closely wedged, and more deeply laden; till at last, the great rendezvous completed, they formed into a body of such depth, and extended their wings. with such a sweep, as darkened the sun, and overspread the whole hemisphere. Just at the close of day the gales which escorted the spongy treasures retired, and consigned their charge to the disposal of a profound calm: not a breeze shook the most tremulous leaf; not a curl ruffled the smooth expansive lake: all things were still as in attentive expectation: the earth seemed to gasp after the hovering moisture: nature, with her suppliant tribes, in expres sive pleading silence, solicited the falling fruitfulness, nor pleaded long, nor solicited in vain. The showers, gentle, soft, and balmy, descend. The vessels of heaven unload their precious freight, and enrich the penurious glebe: through all the night the li quid sweetness, incomparably more beneficial than trickling silver, distils; shedding herbs, and fruits, and flowers. Now the sun, mild and refulgent, issues through the portals of the east. Pleased as it were to have emerged from the late aggravated darkness, he Joel i. 10, &c. + Psal. Ixviil. 9. looks abroad with peculiar gaiety and the most engaging splendours: he looks through the disburdened air, and finds a gladdened world, that wants nothing but his all-cheering beams to render its satisfaction complete.. The glory comes!-Hail to thy rising ray, Great lamp of light, and second source of day! At his auspicious approach, the freshened mountains. lift their heads and smile: the garden 'opens its aro matic stores, and breathes, as from a fuming altar, balm to the smell and incense to the skies. The little hills, crowned with springing plenty, clap their hands" on every side: the moistened plains and irriguous valleys laugh and sing;' while their waters, lately exhausted, again are made deep,' and 'their rivers run like oil.'+ The whole earth, saturated with the bounty of hea ven, and flushed with humid life, wears a thousand marks of gratitude and complacency. Washed by the copious rain, how bright and vivid is the universal verdure! The green carpet below may almost vie with the blue canopy above: the forest, and every tree, burnish their colours, and array themselves in their finest apparel; which, as on a day of general festivity, is delicately decked with gems; gems of unsullied lustre, and of genial moisture. From every pasture, and from all the grove, the voice of pleasure and of melody resounds; while the officious zephyrs waft the floating harmony, blended with native perfumes, gently waft them to the senses, and touch the very soul with transport. Could there be a more brilliant appearance, or more exuberant demonstrations of joy, even to celebrate the anniversary of nature's birth? With what admirable propriety has the psalmist compared youder orient sun, in all his sparkling grandeur, to a young exulting bridegroom, who comes forth, with every heightened ornament, from his chamber, to shew himself in the These beautiful lines are borrowed from the Sea-piece, canto iv, a narratory, philosophical, and descriptive poem, written by my ingenious friend, Dr. Kirkpatrick. † Ezek. xxxii. 14. Psalm xix. 5. most distinguished period of his life, and to receive the blessing which consummates his happiness! This most charming and equally majestic scene recals to my memory that fine description of the Messiah, extant in the last lovely strains of the Israelitish swan : 'He shall be welcome and salutary 'as the light of the morning, when the sun ariseth,' to chase the malignant shades, and pour day through the reviving world. He shall be as the light of a morning' that is most se renely fair, without' either storms to disturb, or 'clouds' to obscure the glorious, the delightful dawn: yea, his appearance shall be more beautiful,' and his influences more beneficial, than the clear shining't of that grand luminary,' after' a night of settled gloom, and showers of incessant rain;' when his beams shed animating warmth and vital lustre, on the' tender ' grass' impearled with dews, and on all the green treasures of the' teeming 'earth.' As we have already contemplated the blessed Jesus under the amiable character of the Just One, the foregoing passage of Scripture represents him to our faith, in the more majestic quality of the Lord of Glory : or rather, unites the two grand peculiarities, which render him unparalleled in his personal, and all-sufficient in his mediatorial capacity. Great, unspeakably great, and glorious would our Israelitish swan-in allusion to those well-known lines of the poet, Multa dircæum levat aura cygnum." and not without a reference to the popular notion, that the swan sings the most melodious notes in its last moments.Fuit hæe facundi senis quasi cygnea vox.'-Tully. +More beautiful, more beneficial, than the clear shining," 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. Thus we have ventured to translate, or rather to paraphrase, the words. That the prefix often occurs in the acceptation of comparative pre-eminence, is plain from a very remarkable passage in Psal. xix. 10; where our inspired author, quite ravished with the love of the sacred oracles, declares, They are desirable beyond gold, even beyond the droppings of the honeycomb.' If this sense is admitted, we shall have a fine comparison, and a grand advance upon it; acknowledging the insufficiency even of the strongest and brightest images, to represent the glory of Christ's kingdom, and the benignity of his administration. Perhaps the translation may be too free and daring, and not approve itself to the exact critic: the sense, however, is unquestionably just, agreeable to the whole tenor of Scripture; and can want no recommendation to the intelligent Christian. Saviour appear, if we had no other manifestations of his excellency, than those which preceded his mysterious incarnation. In the ancient Scriptures he stands characterized, as the supreme object of God's ineffable complacency, vested with a glory prior to the birth of time, or the existence of things, even the glory which he had with the Father, before the world was :' he is every where exhibited as the ultimate desire of all nations; the sole hope of all the ends of the earth; the seed of inestimable and universal importance, in whom all people, nations, and languages should be blessed. In those royal, or rather divine acts and monuments, he is publicly recognised as the Ruler of God's people; whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation. And how august, how venerable is this Sovereign! since it was the highest honour of the most eminent saints and renowned monarchst to act as his harbingers. The splendour of the temple, the richness of its ornaments, and the solemnity of its services, were the ensigns of his grandeur, were his sacred regalia, intended to usher him into the world with becoming state. Every inspired prophet was his herald, deputed to blazon his perfections, or foretel his coming. Let us hear one, speaking the sentiments of all. God the Saviour came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.' Thunders sounded his John xvii. 5. + Moses, for instance, and Joshua, David and Solomon, were types, strongly marked types, of our great Lawgiver and Deliverer, of our divine Ruler and Preacher. 1 See Habak. iii. The greatest part of which sublime ode, refers to the wonderful works recorded by Moses and Joshua. It seems, especially in the exordium, to be an imitation of that grand and majestic description with which the Jewish legislator Introduces his last solemn benediction. Deut. xxxiii. These works are by Aspasio ascribed to Christ; and, I think, it is demonstrably certain, that Jesus Christ is the Jehovah celebrated in the books of Moses, and in the writings of the prophets. It is Christ who dwelt in the burning bush, and walked in the burning fiery furnace. It is Christ who wrought the miracles in Egypt, and the wonders in the field of Zoan. The temporal deliverer, and the eternal Redeemer of Israel, are one and the same; he is that 'captain of the hosts of the Lord,' who gave the nations as dust to their swords, and as driven stubble to their bow. Josh. v. 14. He is that mighty one who punished the stout heart of the king • Before trumpet, and lightnings waved his banners. him went the pestilence' for the destruction of his ene mies; but for the deliverance of Israel, he rode upon his horses and chariots of salvation. The mountains saw him and they trembled; the everlasting hills, and they bowed their heads. The abyss uttered her voice,' and acknowledged his sovereignty through her deepest caverns; "the towering surges lifted up their hands,' and remained in a suspended posture, while his people passed through their opening lines. Indeed both depth, and height, and every creature, have paid him homage, and done him service; and shall not we, my dear Theron, submit to his righteousness? Submit! shall we not embrace it, rely on it, and with joyful hearts, with triumphant tongues, say, there is none, there is nothing like it?+ Does not all mankind agree to estimate the merit of the practice according to the dignity of the person? If a neighbour of inferior rank, visit some poor afflicted wretch in a coarse garret, and on a tattered bed, it is no very extraordinary favour; but if a lady of the first dis tinction, or a nobleman of the highest order, perform the same office, it is a much more remarkable, a much more admired instance of self-denying charity. On the foot of this calculation, to what a supereminent height will the worthiness of our Lord's obedience rise! It will rise like some magnificent edifice, whose basis rests upon the centre, whose dimensións fill the hemisphere, and whose turrets glitter in the sky; or rather, it will extend itself to immensity, where length, and breadth, and all dimensions are lost: especially if we consider the names he bears, and the honours he receives; the works he has done, and those mightier works he is ap pointed to do. The names he bears:-The title by which Jesus of of Assyria; who cut down the thickets of his forest, and lopped his bough with terror. Isa. x. 34. He gave Moses his commission, gave Moses his law, and was both the Lord and the end of that sacred, significant, mysterious economy. Compare 1 Cor. X. 9. with Numb. xxi. 6, 7. See Dan. iii. 25. Heb. iii. 3, 4. * which, I think, is put in opposition to and forms a beautiful contrast. Ver. 10. t1 Sam. xxl, 9. |