" whilst thou art wife; expect no further Time; " but embrace the Time present: For that which " is to come, is not yet Time, and perhaps when " it may come, it may not be thine."

A Letter from a young Lady to the Countess of HERTFORD, wrote not long before her Death.

Madam,

HIS

T is the laft Letter you will ever receive from me; the last Assurance I shall give you, on Earth, of a fincere and stedfast Friendship; but when we meet again, I hope, it will be in the Heights of immortal Love and Ecstasy. Mine, perhaps, may be the first glad Spirit to congratulate your fafe Arrival on the happy Shore. Heaven can witness, how fincere my Concern for your Happiness is; thither I have fent my ardent Wishes, that you may be secur'd from the flattering Delufions of the World; and, after your pious Example has been long a Blessing to Mankind, may you calmly resign your Breath, and enter the confines of unmolested Joy, where the overflowing Songs of Angels, in all the Pomp of heavenly Harmony, can't fully defcribe its Glories. In what Figures of celestial Eloquence, shall I relate the Loves of immortal Spirits? or tell you the Height, the Extent, the Fulness of their Bliss? All the soft Engagements on Earth, the tender Sympathies, and the most holy Union that Nature knows, are but faint Similitudes of the Sanctity and Grandeur of these divine Enjoyments. Hope and languishing Expectation are no more, and all Defire is lost in full and compleat Fruition. Love

?

Love reigns in eternal Triumph, here it governs
every Heart, and dwells on every Tongue.

They tune their golden Harps to the great Name
Of Love, immortal Love, their darling Theme.
Ten thousand echoes, thro' the lightsome Plains,
Repeat the clear, the sweet, melodious Strains;
The Fields rejoice, the fragrant Groves around,
Blossom afresh at their enchanting Sound:
The Heaven of Heavens, the dazling Heights

above,

Returns the Name, and hails the Pow'r of Love.

But Oh! when the fair Face of Eternal Love unveils its original Glories, and appears in the Perfection of uncreated Beauty, how wondrous, how ineffable the Vision! Fulness of Joy is in his Presence, Rapture and inexpressible Ecstasy! The fairest Seraphim stops his Lute, and, with a graceful Pause, confesses the Subject too high for his most exalted Strain. How impetuously do the Streams of immortal Joy rowl in, and enlarge the Faculty of every heavenly Mind!

I am now taking my Farewel of you here; but 'tis a short Adieu; for I die with full Perfuafion that we shall foon meet again; but Oh! in what Elevation of Happiness! in what Enlargement of Mind, and Perfection of every Faculty! what transporting Reflections shall we make on the Advantages of which we shall find ourselves eternally possess'd! To him that lov'd and wash'd us in his Blood, we shall ascribe immortal Glory, Dominion and Praise for ever. This is all my Salvation, and all my Hope; that Name in whom the Gentiles trust, in whom all the Families on Earth are blessed, is now my glorious, my unfailing Confidence; in his Merits alone I expect to ftand justified before infinite Purity and Justice. How poor were my Hopes, if I depended on those Works

Works which my own Vanity, or the Partiality
of Men, have called good, and which, if examin-
ed by Divine Purity, would prove, perhaps, but
specious Sins; the best Actions of my Life would
be found defective, if brought to the Test of that
unblemish'd Holiness, in whose Sight the Heavens
are not clean. Where were my Hopes, but for
a Redeemer's Merits and Atonement? How def-
perate, how undone my Condition? With the ut-
most Advantages I can boaft, I should start back
and tremble at the Thoughts of appearing before
the unblemished Majesty. O Jesus, what Harmo-
ny dwells in thy Name! celestial Joy, and immor-
tal Life is in the Sound; let Angels set thee to
their golden Harps, let the ransomed Nations for
ever magnify thee. What a Dream is mortal Life!
What Shadows are the Objects of Sense! All the
Glories of Mortality, my dear Friend, will be
nothing in your View, at the awful Hour of
Death; when you must be separated from the
whole Creation, and enter on the Borders of the
immaterial World. Something perfuades me this
will be my last Farewel in this World: Heaven
forbid that it should be an everlasting Parting.
May that Divine Protection whose Care I im-
plore, keep you ledfast in the Faith of Chriftiani-
ty, and guide your Steps in the strictest Paths of
Vi
Virtue. Adieu, my most dear Friend, 'till we
meet in the Paradise of God.

1

A

Of a Pack of CARDS.

Certain Gentleman having two Servants, one Servant complained to his Master of his fellow-fervant, that he was a great Player of Cards, which the Master would not allow in his family; he called for the Servant complained of, and tax'd him

him with faid Charge, who firmly deny'd it, saying: He knew not what Cards meant. At which the Master was angry with the Complainer, and called him to hear what he could farther fay: Who defired, he might be immediately searched, for he believed, he at that Time had a Pack in his Pocket. And accordingly he was searched and a Pack found in his Pocket; which he would not own to be Cards, but faid: That it was his Almanack. His Master asked him, How he made it appear to be his Almanack? His Answer was, There are in these Things you call Cards, as many Sorts as there are Quarters in the Year; that is four, Spades, Clubs, Hearts and Diamonds: There are as many Court Cards as there are Months in the Year, and as many Cards as there are weeks in the Year; and there are as many Pops as there are Days in the Year. At which his Master wondered; asking him, Did he make no other Use of them? He answered thus: When I see the King, it puts me in Mind of the Loyalty I owe to my Sovereign Lord the King; when I see the Queen, it puts me in mind of the fame; when I see the Ten, it puts me in mind of the Ten Commandments; the Nine, of the Nine Muses; the Eight, of the Eight Beatitudes; the Seven, of the Seven liberal Sciences; the Six, of the Six Days we should labour in; the Five, of the Five Senses; the Four, of the Four Evangelists; the Tray, of the Trinity; the Duce, of the Two Sacraments; and the Ace, that we ought to worship but one God. Says the Master, this is an excellent Ufe you make of them; but why did you not make mention of the Knave ? Sir, I thought I had no occafion to mention him, because he is here present, clapping his Hand on his fellow-Servant's Shoulder.

Q. Are the Stars living Creatures or not? A. Some there are of Opinion that they are not, though there are others that affirm the contrary of

the

A

:

the Sun, Moon, and some Stars; which, say they, are animate, and the Reason is, because they are commanded to run their Course, and in Jeremy the Moon is named the Queen of Heaven; and some do aver, from the Testimony of Job, where he faith, The Stars are not pure in his Sight: that therefore they are reasonable Creatures, and capable of Virtue and Vice.

Q. Of what Substance are the Stars ?

A. The Stars are of the same Substance that the Heavens be wherein they are placed, differing only from them in Thickness, which Dimension makes them more apt to receive and retain the light of the Sun, which thereby become visible to Sight, for the Heavens themselves being pure, thin, and transparent, are not visible as the Stars which shine as well in the Day as in the Night, although not perceived by reason of the Sun's greater Light. Q. What Motion have the Stars ?

A. The felf same Motion that the Heavens have wherein they are placed; which is, as fome, by the Primum Mobile, or first Mover, turned by God himself, as every one of the rest, by his own proper Intelligence. And whereas the seven Planets, Or wandering Stars, do change their Places, now here, now there, that is not by their own proper Motion, but by the Motion of the Heavens wherein they are placed; for a Star being of a round Shape hath no Members to walk by, from one place to another, but only by the Motion of the Heaven wherein they are fixed.

Q. What makes the full Moon, and from whence proceeds the Eclipse?

A. Her Oppofition to the Sun, makes her full, but her Eclipse or Darkning is caused when the Sun is opposite to her diametrically, and the Earth in the midit between them both, which being thick, and not transparent, cafting his Shadow to that Point which is oppofite to the Place of the Sun, will

C3

not