his thoughts, and their occafional wanderings, with a force of expreffion dictated by the liveliness of his feelings. While his attainments in the love of God were thus.eminent, you, my friends, can teftify the exemplary love that he practifed toward his neighbour. To a conduct void of offence toward any individual, and marked with peculiar kindness to all who feared God, was added a beneficence fully proportioned to his ability, and exercifed with the greatest modefty and difcretion.

The confolation, which, after having endured the fevereft diftrefs, he at that time derived from a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave himself for him, he thus defcribes, in an affecting allegory:

I was a ftricken deer, that left the herd Long fince; with many an arrow, deep infixt,

My panting fide was charged, when I withdrew

To feek a tranquil death in diftant fhades.
There was I found by one who had himself
Been hurt by th' archers. In his fide he bore,
And in his hands and feet, the cruel fcars.
With gentle force foliciting the darts,
He drew them forth, and heal'd, and bade
me live.

The Tafk, B. 3.

This teftimony to the truth and folidity of that peace with God, which is the privilege of them who are juftified by faith, he published long after he had loft all enjoyment of the bleffing. But who would not have hoped to fee his path, like that of the fun, "thine more and more unto the perfect day?"-The degree and the duration of his fpiritual comforts had, perhaps, exceeded the ufual experience of pious people, and fome fufpenfion of them would not have feemed furprifing;

but who could have expected their total and final extinction?

Our departed friend conceived fome prefentiment of this fad reverfe as it drew near; and, during a folitary walk in the fields, he compofed a hymn, which is fo appro priate to our fubject, and fo expreffive of that faith and hope which he retained as long as he poffeffed himself, that although it is very familiarly known to you, I cannot forbear to introduce it in this place.

God moves in a mysterious way,

His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the fea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright defigns,
And works his fov'reign will.
Ye fearful faints, fresh courage take;

The clouds ye fo much dread
Are big with mercy, and fhall break

In bleffings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble fenfe,
But truft him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a fmiling face.
His purposes will ripen faft,

Unfolding ev'ry hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But fweet will be the flow'r.
Blind unbelief is fure to err,

And fean his work in vain ;
God is his own interpreter,

And he will make it plain.

Armed with like faith, let us contemplate the dreary path that our decealed neighbour trod fo long a time. Many have vifited its gloomy entrance, and fome have been a tedious while bewildered in it, but none within my knowledge have traced, as he did, its whole extent. The fteps by which he defcended to it were fudden, and awfully precipitous. The bright, yet ferene luftre, which had ufually "marked

the

་

the road that led him to the lamb," was fucceeded by impenetrable darknefs. After the clearest views of the love of God, and the expanfion of heart which he had enjoyed in his ways, his mind became obfcured, confufed, and difmayed. He concluded, as too many others have done under fo fenfible a change, and as the pfalmift in his infirmity was tempted to do, that "the Lord had caft him off; that he would be favourable no more; that his mercy was clean gone for ever!" That vivid imagination, which often attained the utmost limits of the fphere of reafon, did but too easily tranfgrefs. them; and his fpirits, no longer fuftained upon the wings of faith and hope, funk with their weight of natural depreffion into the horrible abyss of abfolute defpair. In this ftate, his mind became immoveably fixed. He cherifhed an unalterable perfuafion that the Lord, after having renewed him in holiness, had doomed him to everlafting perdition. The doctrines in which he had been established directly oppofed fuch a conclufion; and he remained ftill equally convinced of their general truth: but he fuppofed himself to be the only perfon that ever believed with the heart unto righteoufnels, and was notwithstanding excluded from falvation. In this ftate of mind, with a deplorable confiftency, he ceafed not only from attendance upon pub. lic and domeftic worship, but likewife from every attempt at private prayer; apprehending, that for him to implore mercy would be oppoLing the determinate counfel of God. Amidst these dreadful temptations, fuch was his unfhaken fubmiffion to what he imagined to be the divine pleasure, that he was accul

10

tomed to fay, "if holding up my finger would fave me from endlets torments, I would not do it against the will of God." It was only at feafons, when, racked by the immediate expectation of being plunged into everlasting mifery, his mind. became wholly distracted, that he ever uttered a rebellious 'word againft that God of love, whom his lamentable delufion transformed into an implacable oppreffor. His efforts at felf-deftruction were repeatedly renewed; but they were ftimulated by a strong impreffion that God had commanded him to perpetrate this act; and he even fuppofed that his involuntary failure in the performance had incurred the irrevocable vengeance of the Almighty! To this, and never to any other deficiency of obedience, have I heard him afcribe his imaginary exclufion from mercy.

Habituated to the fearful expectation of judgement, it became, as at the period formerly defcribed, by degrees lefs infupportable. He became acceffible to a few intimate friends in fucceffion, who laboured to divert his thoughts from the dreadful object that engroffed them, and to excite them to activity on different fubjects. Thus originated most of thofe poems, which, when published, charmed and furprised both the literary and the religious world. The attempt was fuccessful in that which interefted him much more than poetical fame, his partial relief from felf-torment. Sometimes his mind was led fo far from the vortex of diftrefs, as to indulge in playful effays; but thefe intervals were extremely tranfient. In general, his poems are the evident dictates of that reverence for God, that esteem for the gofpel, and that

benevo

The connection of this paffage is highly beautiful, but it is too large for quotation. It clotes with advice to the pitiable fufferer (which, alas! our deceafed friend could not bimfelf exemplify) to feek the favour of God, as the only balm for a wounded fpirit. At times, indeed, after more than twelve years of uninterrupted despair, fome tranfient changes of his mental fenfations admitted a gleam of hope, of which he immediately availed himfelf for a renewal of intercourfe with God. He prayed in private as before his affliction, and even his flumbers

.

were thus delightfully occupied.— He has fpoken of fuch nights, compared with thofe he ulically endured, as paffed on a bed of rofe-leares inftead of fiery tortures, and as a tranfition from hell to heaven. Thefe lucid intervals were unhappily fo fhort, that he never retumed his attendance on public worship. The moft tolerable days that he spent in the cuftomary state of his mind, he has defcribed to me, as begun with traces of horror, left by the moft frightful dreams. The forenoon being employed in compofition, became gradually lefs diftrefling. Before dinner he usually walked two hours; and the air, the rural profpects, and mufcular exercise, contributed to his farther relief. If at dinner, and during the afternoon, he had the company of an intimate friend or two, which was frequently the cafe during the last ten years that he lived in this neighbourhood, their converfation feemed to afford the principal alleviation to his habitual burden. The evening was commonly employed in reading aloud to fome friend who refided with him; for fuch was the care of God over this amiable fufferer, that he never was left without fome companion, whofe heart the Lord difpofed to facrifice every comfort for his prefervation and relief. But as night approached, his gloom of mind regularly increased; and when he went to his bed, it was not to reft, but to be again harassed in flum.ber with the terrifying images of a bewildered fancy, neither reftrained by the control of reafon, nor diverted by external objects.

Or the general condition of his mind, during the laft leven years of his abode in this vicinity, which certainly were the most tranquil that

he

he paffed in the latter part of his life, the beft judgement may be formed from his own expreffions, in a poem written towards the clofe of that interval. It was occafioned by the unexpected acquifition of a fmall portrait of his mother, whom he had loft more than half a century before, but had never ceafed to remember with the warmest gratitude and the fondest affection.Having defcribed her's and his father's paffage through this life to a heavenly world, under the figure of a voyage fpeedily and profperoufly terminated, he naturally reverts, in the fame metaphorical language, to the diftreffing contraft which his own fituation and prospects prefented.

But me, fcarce hoping to attain that rest, Always from port withheld, always diftrefs'd

Me howling winds drive devious, tempeft

leged with opportunities of fhewing their efteem for him, he was moit tenderly alive. The advancement of the knowledge of Chrift in the world at large was always near his heart; and whatever concerned the general welfare of mankind was interefting to him, fecluded as he was from the public, and in common from religious fociety. In like manner, from his distant retreat, he viewed, with painful fenfations, the progrefs of infidelity, and of fin in every fhape. His love to God, though unaffifted by a hope of di vine favour, was invariably manifefted, by an abhorrence of every thing that he thought difhonourable to the Moft High, and a delight in all that tended to his glory.

His fympathizing and admiring friends were fondly cherishing a hope, that the diminution of his fufferings, which was apparent for feveral fucceffive years, would at length refult in his restoration to fpiritual peace and joy. Although advanced in years, his health, by means of regular exercise and additional fociety, was not only preferved, but even feemed to improve, notwithstanding the root of his bitternefs evidently ftill remained.Amidft flattering expectations, the Lord permitted fome affecting events to revive his diftrefs in all its force, and to plunge him again into dif traction and defperation. He declined all mental or bodily exertion, and rejected all attempts at friendly confolation; nay, he conceived his tendereft friends to be transformed by the powers of darknets into confpirators against his welfare. Expecing every hour to be his laft out of endlefs torments, nothing fhort) of this horrible profpect could attract his notice for an inftant. He

refufed,

refufed, day after day, his neceflary food; and imminent danger appeared of his fpeedy departure out of life in fo dreadful a ftate of mind. But the Lord, who had dafhed the rifing hopes of his friends, now mercifully difappointed their fears. His period of mortality was extended; and means were unexpect edly afforded for his removal from this neighbourhood to a diftant fituation, where he could remain under the continual care of an amiable young kinfinan, who, with a tenderness beyond the common limits of filial affection, watched over the precious remnant of his life. Much of it elapsed without a probability of his reftoration to the ftate from which he had laft fallen. His intellectual powers were fo much affected by this relapfe, that he was only capable of attending to the molt trivial fubjects, even when willing to have his thoughts diverted from despair. Local advantages, the folicitous attention of affectionate friends, and the indefatigable affiduity of his only remaining companion, were at length rendered fo far ufeful, that he was enabled to refume his literary occupations, which were always, when purfued, a confiderable, though partial, alleviation of his diftrefs.

During the last year or two of Mr. Cowper's life, his health, and his ftate of mind, appeared to be as much restored as for an equal time, at any period during his long afflictions. Toward the clofe of the past winter, he was, however, attacked by a bodily diforder, which brought on a rapid decay. His young friend and relative, convinced that he would fhortly exchange a world of infirmity and forrow for a far more exceeding and eternal weight of

glory, repeatedly endeavoured to cheer him with the profpect, and to affure him of the happinets that awaited him. Still he refused to be comforted. "Oh! fpare me! fpare me! You know, you know it to be falfe," was his only reply, with the fame invincible despair to which he had fo long been a prey. Early on the 25th of April, he funk into a ftate of apparent infenfibility, which might have been mistaken for a tranquil flumber, but that his eyes remained half open. His breath was regular, though feeble; and his countenance and animal frame perfectly ferene. In this ftate he continued for twelve hours, and then expired, without heaving his breath.

General Washington's Will.

In the name of God, Amen. emon, a citizen of the United George Washington, of MountStates, and lately prefident of the fame, do make, ordain, and declare this inftrument, which is written with my own hand, and every page thereof fubfcribed with my name, to be my laft will and teftament, revoking all others.

Item.--All my debts, of which there are but few, and none of magnitude, are to be punctually and fpeedily paid; and the legacies hereafter bequeathed are to be difchatged as foon as circumftances will permit, and in the manner directed.

Item.To my dearly beloved wife, Martha Washington, I give and bequeath the ufe, profit, and benefit of my whole eftate, real and perfonal, for the term of her natu ral life, except fuch parts thereof as are fpecially difpofed of hereafter.

My