The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1857-10-17
indigenous to Immanuel's land, and can only
be fHlly understood on the confines of heaven.


Feel soft as dOwny pillows are,
While on His breast lean my head,
And breathe my life out sweetly there.
",Jesus. my God! know His name,
His name is all my trust;
Nor will Tie put my soul to shame,
Nor let my hope be lost"
With such accents on their lips, what null
titudes of pilgrims have approached the
Gland of pure delight" and, with the tear
in their eyes. but no murmur in their hearts
how often have survivors sung
"Wbv do we mourn departing friends2
Or shake at deaths alarms
,Tis but the voice that Jesus sends
To call them to His arms"
But there are many who cannot rise to SUCH
exultno strains, and who still, in the words
Of the familiar volume, have breathed out
their latest prayer. When Daniel Webster
lay diving, almost the last employment OF
that oracular voice, which had so often thrill
ed the senate, and given the signal of ac-
lion to his country, was to repeat again and
again, in deep aud sdicnl pathos, the psalm
beginning,
"Show pity, Lord, o Lord forgive,
Let a repenting rebel llyei
Are not thy u erces large and iree
Nav not sinner trust III thecl
And. to mention no other, there is a
crave-stone in Bengal which, besides name
and date, contains nothing but the lines,
"a guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On thy kind arms to fall =
an inscription peculiarly affecting, as the
testamentary Injunction and final confession
of faith, of one in labors SO abundant, and
for strength of character so conspicuous, as
William Carey.
If rightly told, life like that Of Isaac
Watts would read great lessons; but for
brevity, and Notwithstanding the exception
we have Just taken, the whole might be
condensed Study to be quiet, and to
do your own business" DR.. Watts had his
own convictions. He made no secret OF his
Nonconformity. At a period when many
Dissenters entered the church, and became
distinguished dignitaries, he deemed it his
duty still to continue outside of the Nation
al Establishment. At the same time, ne
was no agitator. He felt no call to rail at
his brethren for their ecclesiastical defec-
ton, nor did he write pamphlets against the
evils of hierarchy, real or imagined. But
God had given him "business." tie had
given him, as his vocation, to join together
those whom men had put asunder-mental
culture and vital piety. And, stud dying to
be quiet, he pursued that calling, very dill
gently, very successfully. Without conceal
inc the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel,
without losing the fervor of his personal de-
votion, he gained for that Gospel the no.
mage of genius and intelligence; and like the
King of Israel, he touched his harp so skill
fully, that many who hardly understood the
words, we're melted by the tune. Without
surrendering his right of private Judgment,
without abjuring his love of natural and
Artistic beauty, he showed his preference
for moral excellence. his intense conviction
of 'the truth as it is in Jesus" And now,
in his well-arranged and tasteful study, de-
corated by his own pencil, a Lutte and tele-
scope on the same table with his Bible, he
seems to stand before us, treatise on Logic
in one hand and volume on Hymns and
Spiritual Songs" in the other, asserting the
harmony of Faith and Reason, and pleading
for Religion and Refinement in firm and
stable union. And as far as the approval
of the Most High can be gathered from
events or from its reflection in the conscience
of mankind, the Master has said, "Well
done, good and faithful servant" Without
trimming, without temporizing, he was
"ouiet:' and without hustle, without boast
inc or parade, he did 'his own business, !"
the work that God had given him. And
now, no church repudiates him, Noneon-
formity cannot monopolise him. His eloge
is pronounced by Samuel Johnson aud Ro
bert Southcy, as well as Josiah Condor; ;
and whilst his monument looks down on
Dissenting graves in Abney Park, his efigy
reposes beneath the consecrated roof of
Westminster Abbey. And, which is far
better, next Lords day, the Name that is
above every name, will be sung in lanes
where princes worship and prelates minis
ter, as well as in barns where mechanics
pray and ragged scholars say, Amen, in
words for which all alike must thank his
hallowed genius; and it will only be some
curious student of hymnology, who will re-
collect that ISAAC WATTS is the Asaph OF
each choir, the leader of each company.