Gents Mag 1761 p.73
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Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.73
inhabitants, unless prevented by sickness, repair to a small chapel, where divine service is devoutly performed by a reverend divine, who, after labouring many years in the vineyard of his master, and learning from experience, that merit alone is not always sufficient to procure preferment, has found at least a pleasing retreat, where his hours are spent in tranquillity and peace, and he enjoys the heart-felt pleasure of beholding the precepts of his great master practised by his flock, and his preaching attended with the desired success. Such is the tranquillity, such a happiness that reigns in this pleasing solitude; and could the votaries of noisy mirth and riotous intemperance be prevailed upon to visit this calm retreat, and behold the true content and unalloyed delights these peasants enjoy, they would, I am persuaded, be convinced, that they have pursued only the shadow of pleasure, who has here fixed her throne. For my own part, I must confess that I left this happy valley with regret, and tho' age has impaired my faculties, and almost dried up the fountains of life, yet I beheld with pleasure their innocent diversions, and could hardly forbear joining in their rural pastimes. "Happy mortals (I said to myself) you enjoy that satisfaction which the rich, the great, the ambitious, and the powerful, seek in vain amidst the crowds of a splendid court, and the gay assemblies of a populous city. And after gliding thus serenely down the stream of life, you will pass, with equal serenity, through the straits of death, into the boundless ocean of a happy eternity." Forgive the loquacity of an old man, who, though he can no longer hope to share in the pleasures of the world, rejoices in the happiness of others; and is desirous, even on the verge of life, to do every thing in his power to promote it, and to spend his last breath in the service of virtue. St Paul's Coffee-house, Jan. 6, 1761. J. HARRIS. |
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