and contempt, religion itself suffers. It is liable to present, in the conduct of such persons, not the dignity of a rational system, but a detestable compound of weakness, fanaticism, and hypocrisy. Nor is this all; for if the amusements thus interdicted are really unlawful, the situation of many is extremely perilous. Let an intelligent youth, for instance, be accustomed to hear such pursuits declaimed against and forbidden, without a single reason accompanying the prohibition, or such reasons only as his judgment pronounces palpably absurd, how unprepared will he be to meet the first temptation, which a favourable opportunity supplies, to participate in pleasures rendered additionally fascinating by the very prohibition, which has been so decidedly but unsatisfactorily urged. All who have made human character the object of their study, are aware of the vigour of youthful passion, and how impatient it is of restraint. To curb it, the hand of reason must be assiduously employed; the native virtues of

the heart must be carefully cultivated they must be grafted on the stock of principle, in order to secure their growth and render them productive. The instructer of youth, who attempts to form a virtuous. character, at once fair and firm, on the basis of mere prohibition and command, acts with ignorance and folly, similar to that of the inconsiderate builder described in one of our Saviour's parables. Is it too much to affirm, that not a few of those fearful desolations of character, which often distress our view, have in great part been owing to this defective mode of education? The young disciple is made sufficiently familiar with the precepts of virtue, but the reasonableness of those precepts have not been exhibited; the rules of moral propriety have been laid down with accuracy and care, but their fitness has not been made apparent; direction is given, but principle is not instilled. These partial efforts are for a time sufficient. While the ductility which attends the first stages of mental growth

continues, nothing more is necessary for preserving the character. The natural affections of the youthful mind, its reverence for authority, and its love of imitation, are alone adequate to the task of binding the heart and forming the practice to virtue. Constantly under the eye of the parent or guardian, presented only with virtuous examples, and removed from temptations to evil, the juvenile character, like the injudicious structure referred to, while the sky is serene and no tempest is nigh, stands alike in beauty and safety; but when its circumstances are reversed; when the passions have become vigorous, the reins of authority slackened, and vicious practices rendered familiar by observation and example; when criminal pleasure solicits to indulgence, rendered additionally fascinating by the charms of novelty; when the scruples of conscience, which form the barrier against vice, are undermined by sophistry and shaken by ridicule; when this moral flood assails the fabric, it falls, and its prostrate ruins pre

sent the sad memento of unskilful design and hapless industry.

On the supposition, therefore, that fashionable amusements are really dangerous, it is important that the instructer of youth should employ his best exertions to prevent exposure to their temptations. It is obvious that unlawful gratification forms the strongest test of youthful virtue. Pleasure, at this early period of life, is peculiarly attractive, and becomes the most powerful enemy. If the severity of this test is to be relaxed, if the fair destroyer is to be interrupted in her pursuit and foiled in her artifices, the hand of truth must be diligently employed to strip the meretricious form of her flattering disguises, and, by exhibiting her genuine character and design,. to break the spell of her fatal blandishments.

If this object be ever important, it is especially so in the present day. It cannot have escaped observation, that the age in

which we live presents some prominent peculiarities, which have a powerful bearing on the subject under discussion. The relation which the religious part of society sustains to the rest of the community, has of late been considerably altered. The progress of general education and refinement has considerably modified the sentiments, habits, and taste of the professors of religion. The odium which was formerly attached to this class of society, is now almost universally removed; the harsh features of puritanical piety, at least in appearance, have been softened down; its contracted views and illiberal feelings exchanged for opposite qualities, and its general aspect rendered not only unforbidding, but even amiable; so that the profession of religion is not only tolerated, but, to a certain extent, has become fashionable. A spirit so conciliatory on the part of the world, cannot but be viewed by the religious party with complacency, and a wish to concede, as much as possible, the points of difference. The dis