Page:Reflections among the monuments.pdf/10

 ſnowy colour? The ſurface ſmoothly poliſhed, like her amiable temper, and engaging manners. The whole elegantly adorned, without either extravagant pomp or ſordid negligence; like her undiſſembled goodneſs remote from the leaſt oſtentation, yet in all points exemplary. But ah! how vain were all theſe endearing charms! How vain the luſtre of thy ſprightly eye! How vain the bloom of thy bridal youth! How vain the honours of thy ſuperior birth! How unable to ſecure the lovely poſſeſſor from the ſavage violence of death! How ineffectual the univerſal eſteem of thy acquaintance; the fondneſs of thy tranſported huſband; or even the ſpotleſs integrity of thy character, to prolong thy ſpan, or procure thee a ſhort reprieve!—The concurrence of all theſe circumſtances reminds me of thoſe beautiful and tender lines,

How lov'd, how valu'd once, avails thee not:

To whom related, or by whom begot.

A heap of duſt alone remains of thee:

"Tis all THOU art—and all the proud ſhall be!

Yet, though unable to divert the ſtroke, Chriſtianity is ſovereign to pluck out the ſting of death. Is not this the ſilent language of thoſe lamps, which burn; and of that heart, which flames: of thoſe palms, which flouriſh; and of that crown. which glitters in the well imitated ahd gilded marble? Do they not, to the diſcerning eye, deſcribe the vigilance of her faith; the fervency of her