the Isle of Wight, personifies the blessings of Sca Bathing in these spirited lines : See ruddy Health with naked bosom stand The pregnant tide with healing power replete, And drives far off the bloated fiend Disease ; Here Ocean's balm the sinking heart delights, And health and spirits on his sons bestow! * The other writer to whom I alluded, as having dwelt on this subject, is the late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, who, by a reference to the SEA, thus strikingly illustrates the character of the Deity: "Your fear of God is excessive. The cause of this dread is a particular knowledge of God. Recollect what I said to you concerning knowing only part of a subject. This is your case: you have attended to the judgments of God, to his threatenings against the wicked, and to that punishment which awaits them in another state: but you have not turned your attention to the MERCY of God expressed in his promises, and in his dispensations of goodness to others in your * Dr. Buchan, in an excellent treatise on Sea Bathing, writes on the subject, not only scientifically, but in a manner which cannot fail of being useful to those visiting the sea-side for the restoration of Health, THE CHARACTER OF THE DEITY. 47 condition. Suppose I could take a person, one who had never seen the SEA, and carry him in an instant to the sea-side, and set him down there; and suppose the sea, at that instant, to be in a storm; the great black and dismal clouds rolling, thunders bellowing, lightning flashing, the winds roaring, the sea dashing ten thousand watery mountains one against the other, the beach covered with shattered timber and cordage, merchandizes and corpses; this man would instantly conceive a dreadful idea of the sea, and would shudder and shriek, and fly for his life! It would be hard to give this man a pleasant notion of the sea, especially if he had been well informed that several of his relations and friends had perished in the tempest; yet this man would have but half a right notion of the sea. For could he be prevailed upon to go down to the beach a few days after, the heavens would smile, the air be serene, the water smooth, the seamen whistling and singing; here a vessel of trade sailing before the wind, there a fleet of men of war coming into harbour; yonder, pleasure-boats basking in the sun, the flute making melody to the breeze; the company, even the softer sex, enjoying themselves without fear: this man would form the other half-notion of the sea, and the two put together, would be the just and true idea of it. Apply this to our subject. "You have seen your heavenly Father reprove Adam, chide Moses, drown the old world, burn the cities of the plain, cause the earth to open and swallow up Dathan and his company, send a 48 TRUE RELIGION CHARACTERIZED. Joseph to prison, put a Jeremiah into a dungeon, and a Daniel into a den of lions: you have seen him fell a Paul down to the earth, not only kill an Ananias and Sapphira upon the spot, but strike a Zachariah dumb, and cleave the heart of even a Peter asunder with recollection and repentance; but, go back to these persons, and see a Paul preaching the faith which he once destroyed; a Peter begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ;-a Zachariah filled with the Holy Ghost, and singing, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, through whose tender mercy the day-spring from on high hath visited us, and hath delivered us out of the hands of our enemies, that we might serve him without fear in holiness all the days of our lives." You will join with me in admiring the appositeness of this illustration, since you have often regretted that religion should be ever clothed in the sable garb of melancholy. TRUE RELIGION is the cheerful adoration of that great and wonderful Being, by whose operations the felicity of the whole intelligent creation will be ultimately accomplished. For having thus contemplated the SEA in its natural and moral points of view, I shall offer no apology; such considerations lead to early reflection and genuine piety. I remain, dear Sir, Yours, &c. OLD FISHERMAN. 49 LETTER IV. OLD FISHERMAN; DRAUGHT OF MACKAREL; ROMANTIC SITUATION. DEATH AND CHARACTER OF WITLIAM; APOLOGETIC CONCLUSION, DEAR SIR, WANDERING one day on the beach of Sidmouth early in the morning, I met with an aged fisherman, seated under the cliff of a rock, and employed (like James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, of old) in mending his nets. I entered into conversation with him, and learnt from him many things with which I was unacquainted. Among other particulars, he told me, that these coasts had, of late years, been, in a measure, deserted by the finny tribe. For this fact no satisfactory reasons could be assigned. This spirit of emigration, by no means uncommon, at present, amongst the human species, has, it seems seized the piscatory race; nor is it yet ascertained to what shores they have betaken themselves. I gave this son of misfortune a trifle, for which he appeared grateful. Indeed I pitied the poor old man, who lamented the desertion, as it had been the occasion of narrowing the means of his subsistence. On his brow was indented many a furrow, and his D 50 A DRAUGHT OF MACKAREL. physiognomy assured me that he had, oftentimes, borne "the pitiless pelting of the storm!" Mackarel, however, are caught here in abundance. I saw a draught brought ashore one evening, and poured from the net into a basket. I was struck with their appearance, and handled them, for their colours were beautiful. The silvery white was shaded by purple dyes, and the agonies of dissolution produced a thousand variations, marked by exquisite delicacy! Upon my return from this scene, I found the band belonging to the Sidmouth volunteers playing on the beach, which, combined with the murmurs of the "wide weltering waves," generated pleasing sensations. The company were parading backwards and forwards, and sun rapidly setting in the west, while the approaching shades of darkness admonished us that day was closing upon us, and the empire of night was about to be resumed. Indeed, at that instant, to adopt the language of a celebrated female author, "I contemplated all nature at rest; the rocks, even grown darker in their appearance, looked as if they partook of the general repose, and reclined more heavily on their foundations." The purport of my visit to Sidmouth was to enjoy the company of a valuable friend, the Rev. Mr. B, who, on account of indisposition, had been obliged to quit the metropolis, and chose to retire into this part of the country. Him and his amiable family I found embosomed in a vale, |