1700, March. xxii CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE LETTERS IN THIS VOLUME. 1685, May 21. 1693, Feb. .36-44 Epistola Fratri suo dilecto R. W. I. W. S. P. D...119-122 Mr. Isaac Watts, Sen. to his children.... 1696, May 30, 1697, Nov. 6. 1698. 1699, Jan. 11. .156-158 ...131 .173-176 ..176 ..132 ..176-179 1683, Aug. 22. To the Church of Christ meeting in Bury Street, of which the To the Church of Christ assembling in Mark Lane, London. From the Rev. T. Rowe's church, to the Church of Christ, of ... .399-401 ..401-404 CHAPTER I. MR. ISAAC WATTS, SEN. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.-FAMILY OF WATTS.—MR. THOS. WATTS.MRS. M. WATTS:-ODE ON HER DEATH.-MR. ISAAC WATTS.-EJECTED MINISTERS IN SOUTHAMPTON.-SAY FAMILY-PERSECUTED.-PLAGUE AT SOUTHAMPTON.-LICENSE FOR PREACHING.-MR. I. WATTS PERSECUTED, IMPRISONED, AND OBLIGED TO LEAVE HIS FAMILY:WRITES FROM LONDON TO HIS CHILDREN:-ZEAL AGAINST POPERY. -WRITINGS OF THE NONCONFORMISTS AGAINST THE PAPISTS.RETURNS TO SOUTHAMPTON.-SINGULAR DREAM OF A STONEMASON. -POETRY, "THE SOUL'S DESIRE OF REMOVE," "CEREMONIES,"“DIVINE WORSHIP,”—LINES WRITTEN IN HIS SEVENTY-FIRST YEAR.— DEATH OF MR. WATTS.-LETTER FROM HIS SON.-FUNERAL SERMON. "WE carry wisdom," says one of the fathers, "not in the external habit, but in the mind; we do not utter great things, but we live them."* This declaration, which its author advanced to check the arrogant assumptions of a vain philosophy, and to describe the character and conduct of the early Christians, is equally true with reference to their successors in modern times. The majority of those who have ornamented the faith, have been strangers to the "pomp and circumstance" which captivates the observation of man; the beauty of holiness has been generally unfolded in the privacies of domestic life; and the noblest struggles and the most impressive triumphs of Christian virtue, have transpired where no mortal eye can penetrate, in the retirement of the human bosom. There have, however, been those connected with the history of the church, who have lived great things as well as uttered them; who have associated the influence of religion with the highest intellectual excellence and mental grandeur; and *Minucius Felix. whose names are deservedly honoured as well for the efforts of genius, as for the more unobtrusive exercises of piety. To the greatest minds it has been an object of ambition, to live in the esteem and admiration of posterity; to be spoken and thought of when the sepulchre shall have closed over their remains; and thus to travel down the stream of time, to receive the homage of succeeding ages. "Nothing I confess," says Pliny to his friend Capito, "so strongly stimulates my breast, as the desire of acquiring a lasting name—a passion highly worthy of the human heart, especially of his, who, not being conscious of any ill, is not afraid of being known to posterity. It is the continued subject, therefore, of my thoughts, By what fair deed I too a name may raise."* But in estimating the characters of individuals, and in apportioning the honours of immortality, the world is too often guided by maxims directly opposed to those which the "wisdom from above" sanctions. The admiration of mankind is in general attracted by outward show and pompous ceremonial; and he who has contrived to surround himself with the elements of earthly grandeur, however unworthy his actions, and disastrous his existence may have been to others, is often distinguished by a memorial and an eulogy. The pen of the historian, the song of the poet, and the chisel of the sculptor, hence, have been employed to preserve the memory of those, who have alone surpassed their fellows by a career of splendid crime and desolating power. The distinctions, however, conferred upon such candidates for fame, are but short-lived; for though the record of their names may exist, yet posterity consigns them to merited neglect, or only refers to their story to illustrate the scorn and execration which an ill-spent life deserves. A far stronger claim upon the notice of a future age, have they who attempt to secure it by literary eminence; who * Lib. v. Epist. viii. |