accepted the invitation, not so much because I expected or desired to be enamored of her beauty, as that I might indulge myself somewhat in the investigation of an affair which seemed to involve the interests of young men.

I

Miss. H. is tolerably pretty in her person and general address; but to bestow such extravagant encomiums on her beauty as appear to be very common here, would be in me a departure from truth. mention this without any conscious prejudice against her; nor am I willing to acknowledge that I am totally indifferent to external appearances, however much more I may value the attractions of a refined intellect and a pure heart.

I present this subject to my reader, merely to give a sample of the many ideal attractions that beset dwellers in cities of great magnitude. I have no doubt of the influence of the arch-enemy of virtue in all this. To see a young woman of intelligent countenance, mingling liquid poison for those who open not their mouths without emitting the noxious effluvia of diseased nature, and the curses worthy only of a devil in the regions of unfathomable darkness; and to see the young men of this city, and other cities too, (for her groggery is a shrine toward which many a distant orison is breathed, and to which many a foreign pilgrim bends) to see, I say, many from the bloom of the male part of the population in this country, in whom rests the future pros

pects and destinies of the land, fascinated by an ignis fatuus of their own creation, and sacrificing their health and character to maintain the charming illusion is proof enough to my mind that human nature, at least in these cases, is vulnerable to the attacks of the powers of darkness. I said, 'prepare to laugh ;' but I might more properly have said, prepare to weep!

so.

PRAYER FOR THE UNION.

Ir may seem improper, to some persons, that an obscure Christian should busy himself at all upon subjects of national polity; and much more so that he should give publicity to the crudities which may be concocted in his diminutive mind. Be it He will doubtless then be excused for his ignorance, rather than reproached for his temerity, should he for once speak his mind on a subject, which to him seems of sufficient magnitude and importance, to induce even him in his seclusion, to enter a word for the peace of Jerusalem, amid the din of conflicting elements, in this time of highwrought excitement upon national affairs.

I hold it as a general principle for the government of my own conduct, not to identify myself

Still, if

with any political party or body of men. there be any party who hold out for individual rights, for the peaceful possession of guarantied possessions, for the rights of conscience, for the encouragement of virtue, and for the punishment of vice, more than another, to that party I am allied, and to that party, I am willing to declare, I will ever remain a firm adherent, be it for life or be it for death, so far forth as the maintenance of these principles is concerned.

Think not

But let me not be misunderstood. for a moment that I would amalgamate the church and the state, that vice might wither, and virtue flourish. No, no. The history of even enlightened and elevated England teaches me that this would be miserable economy. My idea is, that to connect the state with the church is to erect a wall or barricade around the dwelling-place of the Most High; to circumscribe, if possible, the outgoings of Jehovah himself, and to shut out from the garden of the Lord, the beams which are to enliven and animate the vine which his own right hand hath planted.

Nor let it be supposed for a moment that I would bound away to that other extreme, and divest the government of all right to recognize in her proceedings, Virtue, Religion, Justice. Far from it. She should never lose sight of the eternal principles involved in these epithets, in her endeavors to

promote the external prosperity of her constituents. She should never wittingly suffer herself to be drawn into collision with these all-important interests. Such an event would call for the reprobation of every honest man, for the indignant protest of every Christian heart.

But, alas! what are these times upon which we have fallen ? Surely, the present (1832) is an eventful period in the history of this highly favored country.

One declares not tauntingly, but with tears that 'the current term of Presidency, signalized as it is and has been by the abrogation of plighted faith, and the diminution of wonted respect to the judiciary, constitutes an era in the administration of our government.' Another reiterates that there is an appalling lack of interest in the affairs and rights of the Indians and Aborigines of our country, which has encouraged a spirit of reckless avarice for their guarantied possessions, that has at length wrested from a portion of them the homes which were doubly their own, and that, too, under the legislative sanction of an individual State, patronized by the smiles of the chief magistrate of this great Republic.' And yet another affirms that 'not only are the red men oppressed, but with shame be it said - two of the messengers of truth to those benighted fellow-beings are now incarcerated within the territory of this free country, for occupying their posts as Watchmen of Israel in

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the Cherokee country and what is more, their watch-towers, where they were accustomed to preach the everlasting gospel of the Son of God, had been bought and paid for.' And can it be, I am led to inquire as I review these paragraphs, can it be that all this is truth? 'Ay,' cries an ardent politico religionist; 'indeed it is truth, too palpable not to be known by the most obscure and retired citizen. And yet it is not so dreadful a truth, as that the genius of oppression treads upon the necks of two millions of our own colored population. But verily, neither of these things ought so to be. What honest man can contemplate them without sighing from the fullness of his grief, "my country-my country!""

But, soberly, the internal commotions arising from various sources, causing the nation to heave and rock with jarring interests, indicate a crisis in the union of these States, if not in the prosecution of the hitherto glorious experiment of republican self-government. Whether the seeds of disruption which are constantly springing up, are of exotic or native origin, I shall not here attempt to settle. Be this as it may, the fruits are palpable, not only at home, but abroad; and the crowned heads of Europe are looking to the event of all this trouble with an intensity of interest a thousand-fold greater than that which is elicited in our own country. O, that at least American Christians would awake to the