THE EVENING PRIMROSE. 107 



soul in the soul's stead, with which it has to deal, 

 and proceeds as, in such a case, it would desire to 

 be dealt with ; constantly keeping in view the mo- 

 mentous interests of eternity. At the same time, 

 it will infuse all imaginable tenderness into the 

 faithful dealing which conscience dictates ; and 

 herein is its peculiar character most brightly devel- 

 oped, tliat it will stoop to the weakness of the most 

 feeble-minded ; studying the very prejudices of its 

 object, in order to avoid any needless infliction. 



There are some minds so constituted, that they 

 appear, intuitively, to fall into the very circum- 

 stances of those with whom they have to do ; inso- 

 much that the pain or embarrassment of another 

 will affect them as personal troubles : — the gratifi- 

 cations of others yield them a positive pleasure. 

 Of this sensitive class was Cowper, whose univer- 

 sal tenderness of feeling took into its grasp the very- 

 brute creation. And if such characters were nu- 

 merous among men, we should find the world very 

 different from what we now experience it to be. 

 Sweet and refreshing it is, to meet with individu- 

 als so constituted : and wliere divine grace has 

 given a higher impulse and a nobler aim to their 

 benevolence — when, not merely the temporal, but 

 also the spiritual benefit of their fellow creatures 

 becomes an object of their deep concerns — they 

 are as palm-trees in the desert of our pilgrimage. 



