and her hands armed with whips and scorpions. As soon as she came near, with a horrid frown, and a voice that chilled my very blood, she bade me follow her. I obeyed; and she led me through rugged paths, beset with briers and thorns, into a deep, solitary valley. 3. Wherever she passed, the fading verdure withered beneath her steps; her pestilential breath infected the air with malignant vapors-obscured the luster of the sun, and involved the fair face of heaven in universal gloom. Dismal bowlings resounded through the forest: from every baleful tree the night-raven uttered his dreadful note; and the prospect was filled with desolation and horror. In the midst of this tremendous scene, my execrable guide addressed me in the following manner: 4. "Retire with me, O rash, unthinking mortal! from the vain allurements of a deceitful world; and learn that pleasure was not designed as the portion of human life. Man was born to mourn and to be wretched. This is the condition of all below the stars; and whoever endeavors to oppose it, acts in contradiction to the will of heaven. Fly, then, from the enchantments of youth and social delight, and here consecrate thy solitary hours to lamentation and wo. Misery is the duty of all sublunaryd beings; and every enjoyment is an offense to the Deity, who is to be worshiped only by the mortification of every sense of pleasure, and the everlasting exercise of sighs and tears." 5. This melancholy picture of life quite sunk my spirits, and seemed to annihilate every principle of joy within me. I threw myself beneath a blasted yew, where the winds blew cold and dismal around my head, and dreadful apprehensions chilled my heart. Here I resolved to lie till the hand of death, which I impatiently invoked,f should put an end to the miseries of a life so deplorably wretched. In this sad situation, I espied on one hand of me a deep muddy river, whose heavy waves rolled on, in slow, sullen murmurs. 6. Here I determined to plunge; and was just upon the brink, when I found myself suddenly drawn back. I turned about, and was surprised by the sight of the loveliest object I had ever beheld. The most engaging charms of youth and beauty, appeared in all her form; effulgent glories sparkled in her eyes, and their awful splendors were softened, by the gentlest looks of compassion and peace. the moon. 7. At her approach, the frightful specter, who had before 4 Scor'-pi-ons, reptiles having venom- d Sub'-lu-na-ry, earthly, being under ous stings. Pest-i-len'-tial, containing contagion. e An-ni'-hi-late, to reduce to nothing. Ex-e-cra-ble, deserving to be cursed. f In-vo' ked, addressed in prayer. g Spec'-ter, an apparition, a ghost. tormented me, vanished away, and with her all the horrors she had caused. The gloomy clouds brightened into cheerful sunshine, the groves recovered their verdure, and the whole region looked gay and blooming as the garden of Eden. I was quite transported at this unexpected change, and reviving pleasure began to gladden my thoughts, when, with a look of inexpressible sweetness, my beauteous deliverer thus uttered her divine instructions: 8. "My name is Religion. I am the offspring of Truth and Love, and the parent of Benevolence, Hope, and Joy.― That monster, from whose power I have freed you, is called Superstition; she is the child of Discontent, and her followers are Fear and Sorrow. Thus, different as we are, she has often the insolence to assume my name and character; and seduces unhappy mortals to think us the same, till she at length drives them to the borders of Despair-that dreadful abyssa into which you were just going to sink. 9. Look around and survey the various beauties of the globe, which heaven has destined for the seat of the human race, and consider whether a world thus exquisitely framed, could be intended for the abode of misery and pain. For what end has the lavish hand of Providence diffused innumerable objects of delight, but that all might rejoice in the privilege of existence, and be filled with gratitude to the be neficent Author of it. 10. "Thus to enjoy the blessings he has sent, is virtue and abedience; and to reject them merely as means of pleasure, is pitiable ignorance, or absurd perverseness. Infinite goodness is the source of created existence. The proper tendeney of every rational being, from the highest order of raptured seraphs to the meanest rank of men, is, to rise incessantly from lower degrees of happiness to higher. They have faculties assigned them for various orders of delights." 11. What!" cried I, "is this the language of Religion? Does she lead her votariese through flowery paths, and bid them pass an unlaborious life? Where are the painful toils of virtue, the mortifications of penitents, and the self-denying exercises of saints and heroes ?" 12. "The true enjoyments of a reasonable being," answered she, mildly, "do not consist in unbounded indulgence, or luxuriousf ease,-in the tumult of passions, the languor of indulgence, or the flutter of light amusements. Yielding to immoral pleasures corrupts the mind; living to animal and Abyss', a deep pit. Ex-quis-ite-ly, nicely, completely. Per-verse'-ness, crossness, untractableness. d Seraphs, angels of the highest orden, e Vo'-ta-ries, persons devoted by vow to any service. f Lux-u'-ri-ous, voluptuous, softening. trifling ones debases it: both in their degree, disqualify it for its genuine good, and consign it over to wretchedness Whoever would be really happy, must make the diligent and regular exercise of his superior powers his chief attention,adoring the perfections of his Maker, expressing good will to his fellow-creatures, and cultivating inward rectitude." 13. "To his corporeal faculties he must allow such grati fications, as will, by refreshing, invigorate him for nobler pursuits. In 'the regions inhabited by angelic natures, unmingled felicity forever blooms; joy flows there with a perpetual and abundant stream, nor needs any mound to check its course. Beings, conscious of a frame of mind originally diseased, as all the human race have cause to be, must use the regimen of a stricter self-government. 14. "Whoever has been guilty of voluntary excesses, must patiently submit, both to the painful workings of nature, and needful severities of medicine, in order to his cure. Still he is entitled to a moderate share, of whatever alleviating accommodations this fair mansion of his merciful Parent affords, consistent with his recovery. And, in proportion as this recovery advances, the liveliest joy will spring from his secret sense of an amended and improved heart.-So far from the horrors of despair is the condition even of the guilty.-Shudder, poor mortal, at the thought of the gulf into which thou wast just now going to plunge. 15. "While the most faulty have every encouragement to amend, the more innocent soul will be supported with still sweeter consolations under all its experience of human infirmities-supported by the gladdening assurances, that every sincere endeavor to outgrow them, shall be assisted, accepted, and rewarded. To such a one, the lowest self-abasement is but a deep-laid foundation for the most elevated hopes; since they who faithfully examine and acknowledge what they are, shall be enabled, under my conduct, to become what they desire. 16. "The Christian and the hero are inseparable; and to the aspirings of unassuming trust and filiale confidence, are set no bounds. To him who is animated with a view of obtaining approbation from the Sovereign of the universe, no difficulty is insurmountable. Secure, in this pursuit, of every needful aid, his conflict with the severest pains and trials, is little more than the vigorous. exercises of a mind in health. 17. "His patient dependence on that providence which looks through all eternity,-his silent resignation,-his ready a Rec'-ti-tude, uprightness, justness. d Al-le'-vi-a-ting, making more tolerable. b Cor-po'-re-al, pertaining to the body. e Fil'-ial, pertaining to a child. eReg-i-men,government,regulated diet, accommodation of his thoughts and behavior to its inscrutable ways, are at once the most excellent sort of self-denial, and a source of the most exalted transports. Society is the true sphere of human virtue. In social, active life, difficulties will perpetually be met with; restraints of many kinds will be necessary; and studying to behave right in respect of these, is a discipline of the human heart, useful to others, and improving to itself. 18. Suffering is no duty, but where it is necessary to avoid guilt, or to do good; nor pleasure a crime, but where it strengthens the influence of bad inclinations, or lessens the generous activity of virtue. The happiness allotted to man in his present state, is indeed faint and low, compared with his immortal prospects, and noble capacities: but yet, what ever portion of it the distributing hand of heaven offers to each individual, is a needful support and refreshment for the present moment, so far as it may not hinder the attaining of his final destination. 19. "Return, then, with me, from continued misery to moderate enjoyment and grateful alacrity :-return, from the contracted views of solitude, to the proper duties of a relative and dependent being. Religion is not confined to cells and closets, nor restrained to sullen retirement. These are the gloomy doctrines of Superstition, by which she endeavors to break those chains of benevolence and social affection, that link the welfare of every particular with that of the whole. Remember that the greatest honor you can pay the Author of your being is a behavior so cheerful, as discovers a mind satisfied with his dispensations." 20. Here my preceptress paused; and I was going to express my acknowledgments for her discourse, when a ringing of bells from the neighboring village, and the new rising sun, darting his beams through my windows, awoke me. Mrs. Carter. CHAPTER III. DIDACTIC PIECES. SECTION I. On the pleasure of acquiring knowledge. 1. In every period of life, the acquisition of knowledge is one of the most pleasing employments of the human mind. Sphere, a globe, orb, circuit. 6 A-lac-ri-ty, cheerfulness, liveliness. But in youth, there are circumstances which make it productive of higher enjoyment. It is then that every thing has the charm of novelty; that curiosity and fancy are awake; and that the heart swells with the anticipations of future eminence and utility. Even in those lower branches of instruction which we call mere accomplishments, there is something always pleasing to the young in their acquisition. 2. They seem to become every well educated person; they,, adorn, if they do not dignify humanity; and what is far more, while they give an elegant employment to hours of leisure and relaxation, they afford a means of contributing to the purity and innocence of domestic life. But in the acquisition of knowledge of the higher kind, in the hours when the young gradually begin the study of the laws of nature, and of the faculties of the human mind, or of the magnifi cent revelations of the Gospel,-there is a pleasure of a sublimer nature. 3. The cloud, which in their infant years seemed to cover nature from their view, begins gradually to resolve. The world in which they are placed, opens with all its wonders upon their eye; their powers of attention and observation seem to expand with the scene before them; and while they see, for the first time, the immensity of the universe of God, and mark the majestic simplicity of those laws by which its operations are conducted, they feel as if they were awakened to a higher species of being, and admitted into nearer inter course with the Author of Nature. 4. It is this period, accordingly, more than all others, that determines our hopes or fears of the future fate of the young To feel no joy in such pursuits, to listen carelessly to the voice which brings such magnificent instruction,-to see the veil raised which conceals the counsels of the Deity, and to show no emotion at the discovery,-are symptoms of a weak and torpida spirit-of a mind unworthy of the advantages it possesses, and fitted only for the humility of sensual and ignoble pleasure. e 5. Of those, on the contrary, who distinguish themselves by the love of knowledge,--who follow with ardor the career that is open to them,-we are apt to form the most honorable presages. It is the character which is natural to youth, and which, therefore, promises well of their maturity. We fore see for them, at least a life of pure and virtuous enjoyment and we are willing to anticipate no common share of future usefulness and splendor. 4 Nov'el-ty, newness, recentness. An-tic-i-pa'-tions, foretastes. Be-solve', dissolve, determine in mind. d Tor-pid, destitute of feeling, dull |