( 15 )
(illegible text)ink to comfort the calls of declining nature, or (illegible text)tereſt enongh to reſcue them from the ⟨impending⟩ horrors of a gaol;—the accumulation of ſuch ⟨misfortunes⟩, is more than ſufficient to excite ⟨compaſſion⟩, but not always ſufficient, as we find by ⟨melancholy⟩ example, to obtain relief.
So ſudden an alteration, is enough to ſhake a ⟨philoſophy⟩ that has not before been tried; and ⟨such⟩ a change is ſufficient to excite those complaints ⟨which⟩ are cauſed by diſappointment, but which ⟨may⟩ be born with patience, and finaly overcome ⟨by⟩ calmneſs and reſignation. If (illegible text)meet with ⟨affection⟩, are we alone unfortunate? If we loſe our (illegible text)l, are we the only beggars? How many are ⟨reduced⟩ to penury who cannot work! What numbers ⟨periſh⟩ without help, or are entombed alive without (illegible text) and yet how many emerge from diſtreſs and (illegible text)ant, by a manly fortitude, and ſteady perſerverance (illegible text) conduct! The hand of power may oppreſs; but ⟨innocence⟩ has its peculiar triumph, as miſery ⟨cannot⟩ reach the grave; for that is the retreat of ⟨Virtue⟩, her conſummation, and her end.
I can hardly prevail upon myſelf to believe, that ⟨the⟩ united violence of all the winds that ruſh from ⟨the⟩ heavens, blown through one tub, and directed (illegible text) one ſpot, could have occaſioned ſuch deſtruction, ⟨and⟩ in ſo ſhort a ſpace of time, as that of which I ⟨was⟩ an unfortunate witneſs, and of which I am now ⟨become⟩ the feeble recorder. If we even conclude it ⟨poſſible⟩ that the ruins of our buildings could have ⟨been⟩ occaſioned by the concentration of its fury, ⟨how⟩ are we to account for ſome phænomena of ⟨which⟩ we were the ſuffering and (illegible text)ed ⟨ſpectators⟩? How account for the ſudden irruption of ri(illegible text)ers, the lapſes of earth, the diſunion of rocks, ⟨the⟩ fiſures of mountains, and for other objects of ⟨the⟩ ſublime and terrible, which have changed and
