in the crucible of the chemist; and they pronounce, without hesitation, that there is no such thing as a cir cle, a triangle, or a parallelogram in nature. They say that when we follow truth we pursue a phantom of the imagination, and are led away by an ignis fatuus which will entice us. forward to swamps of difficulty, to a region of doubts and a land of shadows. They tell us that the theory of the metaphysician is equally erroneous; that there is no eternal fitness of things; that there is nothing but discordance and opposition in rebus naturæ. When tired with this sceptical philosophy, we may listen to the precepts of another not less gloomy. Truth, they say, may exist, but is unworthy of so much labor and fatigue. There may be such a thing as the philosopher's stone-as a universal dissolvent-as the elixir of immortality; but the discovery would be productive of the most serious consequences in the great economy of nature. Let us amuse ourselves, say they, with the pleasing delusions of life, and not lose our time in searching after realities. Nature has hung out a thousand painted deceptions to hide from our eyes the real nature of things. Is not this a sufficient intimation that that which is concealed is disagreeable? Is there any such thing as colors inherent in bodies? yet without this pleasing illusion, what a world of deformity should we have! Nature is the very grave of abomination.. Well: tear down the wall of the whited sepulchre, and within you will find-" rottenness and dead men's bones." O! ye creatures of the moment, let us dance after the rainbow of hope, and revel in the light and airy fields of imagination. Let us skim lightly over the surface of nature: the flowers grow on the surface; and honey may be extracted from flowers. Let us be content with the trimmings, the colorings, the hangings that immediately meet the eye: they are de-signed to conceal the gloomy walls of our apartment. Let us look back upon our past lives and examine our own minds that we may see if there be not more happiness in error than in reality. Which have been our hap piest moments? those, in which we have searched successfully into the nature of things? those, in which the Eight of truth has beamed upon our heads, and enabled us to discover, with precision, the surrounding objects? I am afraid that the result of our investigation will be, that our days of bliss were days of ignorance: and we shall be led to conclude, with the preacher, that in " much knowledge there is much grief." Should we not rather endeavor to multiply these happy delusions than to clear them away? If light discover nothing but "sights of wo," had we not better remain in darkness? My sick brother is asleep; he dreams of light, life and joy. I see a smile on his countenance. Shall I awake him to a life of misery, sorrow and pain? Or shall I not rather remove every intruding noise, darken the windows, and leave him to repose? Children are happy: and were men content to remain children through life, they might be happy also. But when they become infatuated with the desire of knowledge, and, with a daring hand, attempt to remove the veil with which nature has thought proper to cover the ark which contains her secrets, their happiness is blighted. Foolish men! to break the glasses through which their mothers and nurses were content to receive the rays of knowledge! Foolish men! to soar with waxen wings above the atmosphere of prejudice which surrounds the dwellings of their fathers! Render not, O ye sons of men, the common occurrences of life insipid, by your folly, which you are pleased to dignify with the name of wisdom. Be as other men. Seize the rattle of folly; dance to the piping of a giddy multitude; write treatises concerning eternity in the sand; build pyramids of snow to immortalize your names; erect dams with grayhaired children in the mountain torrent; and sport with your brother insects in the sunbeams of the evening.-But should truth present her flambeau to your eyes-the illusion is gone-the "painted clouds that beautify our days" are vanished; and-great God! what a wastedark dismal wild" appears! What a chaos of forms without reality! What myriads of shadows, without substance, fleet through a universe of nonentities!— Fiction is lovely; O ye sons of men, rejoice in her smiles: but fly from the chambers of Truth; she is a gorgen, a hydra, a fury !--- What shall we say, when we hear the various opinions of men on these subjects? What shall we do, but mourn over the folly, the imbecility, the insanity of man! Desire of distinction. The desire of distinction is so strong in the human mind, that men lay hold of any thing however insignificant that may render them conspicuous. Is a man, by some accident, a few inches taller than another; you may immediately perceive that he values himself on his towering figure. Is he well set, and possessed of brawny limbs; you will find him anxiously contending for preeminence by measuring round the breast or taking the circumference of the thigh, with his athletic competitors. I cannot remember of having observed any of these candidates for fame who were desirous of the distinction arising from the prominence of their bellies; yet nothing is more common than to hear a man boast of having swallowed so many oysters, eaten so many eggs, devoured so many pounds of beef steaks, &c. What honor do these idiots expect to derive from the strength of their stomachs or the capacity of their paunches? Why, they hope to have it said in some tavern or beerhouse that " John Gormand is the damnedest fellow to eat that ever lived. He demolished, the other day, at the sign of the Mousetrap, a whole round of beef, eat ten dozen of oysters, ten dozen of eggs, five pound of cheese, drank a gallon of beer, and then refused to pay 25 cents for his dinner, because there was not a sufficiency of provisions." I knew two graziers to lay a very considerable bet on who could eat the most lobster. Both eat till they could not walk and then left the matter undetermined. The gentlemen were wealthy: they did not gormandize for the money that was betted, but for the sake of an immortal name. Such men appear determined to deprive "Robin a Bobbin the Bigbellied Hen" of his long established superiority: of whose exploits, in this way, it is recorded in heroic verse that he would eat more than threescore men;" that "A cow and a calf, "An ox and a half, "Was Robbin a Bobbin's morning bit." And afterwards, it is sublimely added, that There are others, who are scarcely less deserving of a statue than those last mentioned, who plume themselves on having drunk bottles of brandy, decanted dozens of madeira, and swilled oceans of port. Such heroes shall have a niche in the Temple of Fame, about to be established under the direction of the savage Piomingo.. THEOLOGY.. The antient Greeks and Romans worshipped a multitude of gods: the heavens, the earth, and hades swarmed with innumerable divinities. All the virtues and vices. of humanity, and all the operations of nature, were un-der the direction. of superintending deities: and these gods being unaccountably prolific, there was no space left in nature that did not teem with their progeny. The progress of science and the light of the gospel have con-tributed to lessen the number of immortals. Jupiter has forsaken the Capitol, the thunder has been wrested from his hand, and the father of gods and men is forgotten.. Neptune has lost the dominion of the waves, and Pluto, the empire of the shades. The sun.is no longer in the chariot of Apollo, nor the moon under the regency of his sister. Paphos and Cyprus are deserted by Venus, and Samos and Argos by Juno. Mercury has lost his wand, and Pallas her egis. Etna and Lemnos remain; but where is the blacksmith of Jupiter? The wind raises the waves without the assistance of Eolus, and the storm is calmed without the interference of Neptune. Bacchus is deprived of his thyrsis, and the mysteries of Ceres are secure from profanation. Thetis and the nereids are no more; we hear not the shell of the tritons. The dryads. and hamadryads have forsaken the woods, and the naiads deserted the fountains. Hippocrene is dry; the muses have escaped to heaven. The shepherds have lost the protec tion of Pan, and the orchards the care of Pomona Priapus has ceased to 'fray away' the birds, or interrupt the incantation of witches. No longer "Satyrs and sylvan boys are seen, "Peeping from forth their alleys green,' The harpies are expelled from their kingdom; and the sirens have ceased to practise their allurements ab Charon has been shipwrecked in the Styx; Cerberus has been deprived of his heads; and the snakes have been taken from the furies. Minos is no longer judge;.. Phlegethon has ceased to burn; and the frogs of hell have desisted from croaking. The wheel of Ixión revolves no longer; the Danaides have filled their urns; and Sisyphus rests from his labors. The pythia is not forced to the tripod; the cave of Trophonius is neglected; and the smoke of the sacrifice has ceased to ascend. Where is the oak of Dodona? where are the sibyls of Cuma? But there is one of the antient divinities who has maintained his situation in opposition to the efforts of philosophy and the benign influence of the gospel. He is worshipped with more sincere devotion at this day, than he has been at any former period. His temples are crowded from morning until evening by humble votaries of all sexes and ages. They do not serve him with "mere lip service;" for they have "his law written in their hearts." He is not the true God: yet they adore him "with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their strength, and with all their mind." They offer up at his shrine, as freewill offerings, every thing that is precious and valuable. He is not Moloch: yet they make their children pass through the fire for his sake.. He is a very old god, and has performed innumerable exploits of the most heroic kind. A thousand volumes, in folio, would not be sufficient to contain the thousandth part of the wonders he has effected. What are the labors of Hercules, the feats of Samson, the wars of the giants, the building of pyramids, the turning aside of rivers, and removing mountains? What are such trifles as |