Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/154

 122

NOTES AND QUERIES. [io th s. 11. AUG. is, im

9. The Welsh word for Whitsuntide is Sutgwyn* a mere translation of the English name; from sul, sun, Sunday, and gwyn white. Perhaps we shall next be told thai Sidgwyn is a " corruption " of Pfingsten. 11 so, it will not surprise me at all to be told so ; for the more difficult such transforma- tions are, the more easily they obtain the credit of the ignorant.

WALTER W. SKEAT.

LETTERS OF WILLIAM COWPER.

(See ante, pp. 1,42,82.)

Pp. 53-55 :

Letter 9. Dated 01-ny (Olney), Jan. 15, 1768.

MY DEAR AUNT, I put off my writing to you from day to day, in hopes, that I shall find a sub ject in my own experience, that may make it worth your while to hear from me. 1 would not always be so complaining of barrenness and deadness, yet alas ! I have little else to write about. The Lord has given me so many blessings in possession, and enabled me to hope assuredly for such unspeakable things when the great work of Redemption shall be effectually completed in me, that wheresoever I look I see something that reminds me of ingratitude. If I look behind me, I see dangers and precipices, and the bottomless pit, from whence He has plucked me with an outstretch'd arm, made bare for my deliverance. If I look forward, I see the sure por- tion of His people, an everlasting inheritance in light, and the covenant that secures it, sealed with the blood of Jesus. My present condition too, is full of tokens of His love. The things which others may reckon in the number of their common mercies, are not so to me ; at least, ought not to be such in my esteem. The breath I draw, and the free exercise of my senses, He has not only given to me, but restored them, when I had deservedly forfeited both ; and not only restored them to me, but accom- panied them with such additional mercies, as can alone make them true and real blessings, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour, and a desire to employ them and every gift I receive from Him to the glory of His Name. In the day of my first love, I could not have enumerated these in- stances of His goodness without tears, but now, my reflexions upon them serve rather to convince me of the dreadful obduracy of my nature, and afford me even a sensible proof, that nothing less than the breath of the Almighty Spirit can soften it. But, blessed be the Lord, our anchor of hope is fastened on good ground, not in our own righte- ousness, but in that of Jesus : and every view of our own unworthiness is sanctified to us and be- comes a solid blessing, if it drives us closer to our only refuge.

Since I wrote the above, I have been taking a walk, and from my going out to my coming in I have been mourning over (I am afraid I ought to say, repining at) my great insensibility. I began with these reflexions, soon after I rose this morn- ing, and my attempt to write to you, has furnished me with additional evidences of it. I profess myself a servant of God, I am writing to a servant of God, and about the things of God, and yet can hardly

get forward, so as to fill my paper. I can only tell 1 you, my dear Aunt, that 1 love you, and 1 hope too- for the Lord's sake ; but I cannot speak, any more than I can do, the things that I would. I shall only add, at this time, that I am,

Dear Aunt, your affectionate, etc. etc.

Pp. 56-57:

Letter 10. Dated y (Olney), March 1, 1768.

MY DEAR AUNT, Your silence makes me fear for your health. If it be owing to illness, may the Lord sanctify it to you, and abundantly compensate to you all your bodily sufferings, by the manifesta tions of His gracious Spirit.

We are at last settled in our own mansion. The Lord provided it for us, and we hope has said concerning it : " Peace be to this house." He has called both our servants, and brought them, I trust, to an effectual acquaintance with the Saviour and themselves since we came to y [Olney].

What various methods does the good Shepherd use, and how wonderful is He in many of those dispensations, by which He brings His people within the sound of the Gospel ! We had no sooner taken possession of our own house than I found myself called to lead the prayers of the family: a formidable undertaking, you may imagine,, to a temper and spirit like mine ! I trembled at the apprehension of it, and was so dreadfully harassed with the conflict I sustained upon this occasion, in the first week, that my health was not a little affected by it : but there was no remedy, and I hope the Lord brought me to that point, to chuse death, rather than a retreat from duty. In. my first attempt He was sensibly present with me,, and has since favoured me with very perceptible assistance. My fears begin to wear off: I get rather more liberty of speech at least, if not of spirit, and have* some hope, that having opened my mouth, He will never suffer it to be closed again, but rather give increase of utterance and zeal to serve Him. How much of that monster Self has He taken occasion to shew me by this incident. Pride, ostentation, and vain-glory, have always been my hindrance in these attempts. These lie at the root of that evil tree, which the world good - naturedly calls bashfulness.f Evil ndeed in the character of a disciple of Christ. May our gracious Teacher mortify them all to death, and never leave me till He has made the dumb to speak, and the stammering tongue like the pen of a ready writer !

My dear friend, Mrs. U [Unwin], is wonder-

ully restored : her recovery, of which there seems to be no doubt, is as extraordinary, and as evident


 * MS. having.

t ' Conversation,' 347-50 : I pity bashful men, who feel the pain Of fancied scorn and undeserved disdain, And bear the marks upon a blushing face Of needless shame and self-imposed disgrace..

363-8:-

The cause perhaps inquiry may descry, Self-searching with an introverted eye, Concealed within an unsuspected part, The vainest corner of our own vain heart : For ever aiming at the World's esteem, Our self-importance ruins its own scheme..