Isaac Watts; his life and writings, his homes and friendsHood, Edwin Paxton
Religion
Isaac Watts; his life and writings, his homes and friends
Hood, Edwin Paxton
Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748
“Your most agreeable and divine conversation, two days ago,
so sweetly overpowered my spirits, and the most affectionate
expressions which you so plentifully bestowed on me awakened
in me so many pleasing sensations, that I seemed a borderer on
the heavenly world when I saw you on the confines of heaven and
conversed with you there. Yet I can hardly forbear to ask for
your stay on earth, and wish your service in the sanctuary,
after you have been so much within view of the glorious
invisibilities which the Gospel reveals to us. But if that hope
fail, yet our better expectations can never fail us. Our anchor
enters within the veil, where Jesus, our forerunner, is gone to
take our places (Heb. vi. ult.). May your pains decrease, or
your divine joys overpower them! May you never lose sight of
the blessed world, and of Jesus, the Lord of it, till the storm
is passed and you are safely arrived. And may the same grace
prepare me for the same mansions, and give you the pleasure of
welcoming to those bright regions
“Your affectionate and unworthy friend and brother,
“ISAAC WATTS.
“LIME STREET, _7th April, 1722_.
“Just going to Theobalds.
“P.S.—Our family salute you; they are much affected, pleased,
and edified with their late visit. Grace be with you and all
your dear relations. Amen.”
And among his friends, as we have already seen, he kept up a considerable
intimacy with his own fellow-townsman and fellow-student, SAMUEL SAY, son
of Giles Say, who was ejected from the parish church of St. Michael’s in
Southampton, and one of the first ministers of the Nonconformist church
of that town, and with which Watts’ family was connected. He was a kind
of smaller Watts, a man of large and varied knowledge in the classics,
mathematics, astronomy, and natural philosophy. For forty-eight years he
kept a journal of the alterations of the weather and of his observations
of remarkable occurrences in nature. Possessed of an extraordinary
genius, it was veiled and shrouded by a modesty as extraordinary; but
about two years before his death some of his papers were committed to the
press, consisting of poems and essays on the “Harmony, Variety and Power
of Numbers, whether in Prose or Verse.” He had a great admiration for
Milton, and translated apparently with great elegance the introduction
of “Paradise Lost” into Latin verse; and in the “Gentleman’s Magazine,”
vol. xxxv., is an interesting paper by him, entitled, “The Resurrection
Illustrated by the Changes of the Silkworm.” Watts thought highly of his
judgment, as the following, among other letters, indicates:
“_April 11th, 1728._
“DEAR SIR,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account