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    stands for retys < w » Qfl % he aapie prin * fcSple , darkness % occasionally Jput far ignorance ^ nd Wan't , of understanding . * The declining capacities of the mind , ixiay well be calie < l the sun * the moan We

    and im st ^ rs < oy £ reast . cannot hfere explain the words llteraliy of a defect df vision- If eveiy pther clause of the passage be metaphorical , we , surely , must take this with equal latitude . The decay of the bodily sight , is mentioned afterwards : nor would this writer be guilty of needless repe * tition .

    In age , the memory and the imagination , the inventive and the reasoning powers , are usually less vigorous than they were in manhood . The curious machine , having been long in motion , gradually loses its distinguishing properties ,, and cannot be employed with the same ease , and to the same

    advantage . Trains of thought cease to pre * sent themselves with their former ra » pidity and clearness : the apprehension is duller , the perception more confused ; € < the sun and the light and the meon and the stars are darkened / 5

    As the consequence of the increased weakness of the mental faculties in age , the cares and troubles of the taortdseem to be multiplied . Nor has this circumstance escaped the notice of the author of EcGlesiastes , who

    adds , " nor the clouds return : after the rain /* There are climates and seasons ,. In which an almost constant succession of storms is experienced . The clouds may appear to be exhausted : yet others soon follow ; and the rain descends with little intermission .

    In like manner , to the Imagination of persons who are adv ^ ncea in y ^ ar ^ and whose bodily health is enfeebled ., no interval exists - between the vexatiohs and anxieties , from which they suffer .

    ¥ fen a The Hetorew writer now passes from the mind to the body . He refers to the dmis ; to the arms , the hantds , the knees , the feet—all which Me impaired by age ; t } ie nerves aqd muscles beiqg then considerably relaxed . In -oW persons , these

    members are ; l § $ p capable -of warding off injuries , aud of ^ perfornaing mmj of . fice ^ , ijar which they were designed ^ and th ^ with difficulty contribute to t ) je protection and wqafoirt of their owi ^ er- , At , t ^ s perii ?^ top ^ few ^ of the t ^ eth retnuin $ and eve n the se are

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    iusufficieat iot tfee ^ ceptioft € ff solid % > 4 . ' ' : . . • .. < .. - 4 ., ¦ : . /¦/ - > OHr author : ne ^ ct ^ epresepl ^ the de ? facts of ik&smsf $ > vdm& iisiiaMy altrtend declining life- Hem tm begins with those of the sigrM , of which most persons ; advanced in ye ^ tS ; ij ^ e the painful experience : * ' ere they , $ ha * look < mU at the ^ riadows be flartoHied ^

    Vei % 4 , He then describes the « M > n * dition of their sense of tmtez c land the doors shall be shut in the streets ,, when the sound of the grinding 3 s lew . ^ The aged have a diminished appetite for food , and less relish in the use of it j not being possessed , a 3 formerly , of the ipstramenta for taking it with pleasure and advantage . ; -

    It is the natural coaj 3 eqaenc « of this state of things to cause the sleep of the old to be shert mx& broken ; although their debility needs longer re * pose . While th ^ sl&inbers of ymttfy are light , and those of vigorous manhood undisturbed , watchfulness belongs € t

    to age : and he shall rise up at $ h «

    voice of the bird f * he awakes ^ t ih& first crowing of the cock ^ The writer proceeds in his descrip * tion of the faiWe of the senses , and

    speaks of that of hearing : ** aud all the < laughters of music shall be brought low , " or be of no avaiJ . In these wiQrds , he exi ^ r esses the dulnessiof th q ;

    ears of the old , to the harmony and melody of sounds , and the consequent inability of agfe to enjoy , as it wishes * the delights of social intercourse . jQ such a season , torpidity of hearing is i common and distressing mg& .

    Ver . 5 , It is much the same as to the sense of feeling . The touch * so essential to the safety sei the hod y loses , in age , its delicacy and quicks ae $ s . On this accouhi ; , liie tottering

    steps of the old , arfe iusecuise aad dang ^ TOfUs . Pers 3 © ns who hav e reached that period of life , cease to ; tread foinly even on a smooth * md level path : nor oan we be » a « toriished that they are m

    perpetual dread of encountering sewne mequalities in their road , that they are afraid of high places ^ arid pjf stuinbling in the way . When the writer adds , " ax ^ ft % h& almond tree shall flower / "he appears

    to mean , that the old ^ as though . ttey lived in a constant > v | W » ijer ^ ^ ft ito perception of the agreeable odours atfVmk'd l > y pleats a » rf flowers , though the spring and summer ., Thfe tree is .

    Untitled Article

    Mites < wi Passages of Scrfotufe . ^ ff

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1824, page 77, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2521/page/13/