with? Not she who hopes, during her round of visits, to leave more cards than personally expressed compliments; nor even she who would gladly make more cordial and less unmeaning visits.

Do you sacrifice health to the claims of society? We have, in a former chapter, alluded to the danger of exposure after standing or dancing for hours in heated rooms. If all the young and lovely who have thus been hurried to their graves could be summoned to bear testimony to those who still expose themselves in this manner, the cloud of witnesses would strike terror and dismay to many a gay and thoughtless heart. Dancing may be a healthsome and delightful exercise at home, or where there is ample verge and pure free air; but in the cramped confines of the drawing-room and the crowded ball-room, where the exhausted atmosphere renders respiration difficult and laborious, such exercise cannot be beneficial. No wonder the Chinese, on seeing the efforts of English gentlemen and ladies under these circumstances, exclaimed with self-exultation-"We hire our dancing done in China."

Late hours at night, continued for a length of time, give a sallowness to the complexion, indicating that health is on the wane. The restorative virtues of morning air seldom lend their aid to freshen the departing bloom; the fatigue and exhaustion of a night of gaiety are frequent preludes to a morning headache and a train of attendant evil sprites. "Canst thou forego the pure ethereal soul,

In each fine sense so exquisitely keen,

On the dull couch of luxury to loll,

Stung with disease, and stupified with spleen?

"O, how canst thou renounce the boundless store
Of charms which Nature to her votary yields!
The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,
The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields;
All that the genial ray of morning gilds,

And all that echoes to the song of even,

All that the mountain's sheltering bosom shields,

And all the dread magnificence of Heaven!

O, how canst thou renounce, and hope to be forgiven ?"

And cheerfulness too; are not her smiles often sacrificed!

The sadness arising from physical suffering is not the only sadness induced by devotion to the claims of society. Disappointment and disgust often take the place of anticipated enjoyment ;

"The heart distrusting asks, if this be joy?"

Some imprudent word uttered, some unintentional severity, or some supercilious slight, frequently embitters the recollection of an evening. There is, too, a heartlessness, a coldness, in society, that chills the ardour of a warm, ingenuous nature, and sends back the current of kindness, until it is finally frozen to apathy. The severe scrutiny and unsparing criticism bestowed upon a novice are often painfully endured: blushing at the consciousness of her own awkwardness, and vexed to be thus subjected to ill-natured remark, she might exclaim, with one of Miss More's pastoral damsels in the "Search after Happiness,”—

"Are these the beings called polite?

Is this the world of which we want a sight?"

Domestic happiness is sometimes sacrificed. A happy fireside is forsaken for the mingled crowd. Sacrifice as it is, it must sometimes be made; but not too frequently, lest the taste should become vitiated, and the quiet enjoyment of home no longer be yours. Habits thus formed will not readily yield to a new situation and new circumstances. Woe to the man whose wife is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of party-going and party-giving! His house can scarcely be called his own; in it, he is a mere moveable, that must submit, like other furniture, to be tossed to and fro for the accommodation of society. This extreme fondness for display at home and abroad, in gay, extravagant wives-this entire want of home-feeling and quiet contentment-have driven a fearful number of husbands to the theatre and even to the gambling-table; to dissipation and ruin.

When the winter campaign is finished, travelling and watering-places take all the world of fashion from home. The sacrifice of comfort here is immense. Alas for our

country-her old-fashioned firesides-her rural pleasures -her comfortable homes! If those families who during the summer months leave town, would but expend the same amount of money now spent in travelling, year after year, upon the purchase of a neat country-house, with a few surrounding acres, how greatly would their comfort and usefulness be increased! It delights the imagination to revel amid the quiet little Edens that might thus be created by the hand of taste in every "bosky dell," and by the side of the clear rivers of our beautiful country. A taste for horticulture and the planting of trees, among the gentlemen, would harmonize with the ladies' taste for flowers, grottoes, and fountains. We are not so Utopian in our day-dreams, as to believe this would quite bring back the Golden Age; but we do believe that the sterling worth and domestic enjoyment of other days would be renewed. And the claims of society, how would they be thus answered? Much better than they now are by the itinerating mania that has seized all ranks. Those families whose places of residence are permanently in the country, would be better contented to remain there, if citizens and strangers were half the year their neighbours. Social intercourse between them might be placed upon a rational and agreeable footing; but it is quite preposterous thus to speculate upon what might be if-and if-and he who dares to attack the usages of society may chance to meet with as cordial a reception as Spenser's man, Talus, who went about the world with his iron flail.

And is there no sacrifice of principle ever made to keep on good terms with society? Do you never meet there the dissipated, the vicious, from whom your whole soul revolts? But you say, even these must not be given up entirely. Certainly not, if you can do them any good. The influence exerted upon them by ladies' society should be a strong, decided moral influence. Yet how can this be if you may not show, even by a look, that you disapprove of their characters? Until society has a sanative power through your instrumentality, it will not retard their progress in

dissipation. A' fearful responsibility thus devolves upon ladies who are leaders in society. If things good and holy are allowed to be ridiculed there; if the parsons, the righteous, the sanctimonious, as the ministers of religion and its professors are jeeringly termed, are made the target for their light missiles; if they countenance those who "look upon the wine when it is red," and quaff it while it sparkles, until reason vanishes and folly reigns, what happy influence do you exert? You lend the most powerful aid in accelerating their downward course. But it need not be, and it is not always thus. We hope and believe better things of you, kind readers, in this day of more enlightened morality and quickened sensibility. Be it your noble privilege to elevate still higher the standard of morals. God grant you a clear perception of what is due to society, and the power to benefit it, without the sacrifice of economy, time, health, cheerfulness, domestic happiness, and religious principles!

CHAPTER XXVII.

READING THE SACRED SCRIPTURES.

"We mourn not that prophetic skill

Is found on earth no more;
Enough for us to trace thy will

In Scriptures' sacred lore."

HEBER.

Of all knowledge, the most important to man is that which unaided reason seeks in vain, and philosophy, in her boldest flights, could never reach-the knowledge of the character of the Supreme Being, and our relations to him. Without divine revelation, not a ray of light illumines the past or gilds the dark future: man stands alone, a mournful mystery to himself: but, blessed be God, in the moral as in the natural world, he said, "Let there be light, and there was light."

P

The Old Testament reveals the Creator-his wisdom and goodness in calling forth from chaos this beautiful world, and furnishing it with magnificent richness for a habitation for man; the creation of man in the image of his Maker; his departure from the law of holiness, and the direful consequences of his guilt; proclaims pardon to the penitent, and restoration to the Divine favour through a Redeemer. It tells of the fearful increase of sin and horrible depravity, by a monstrous race polluting the earth, until at length the righteous judgment of God sweeps them from the face of it by a universal deluge; while praise for saving mercy ascends from one only family, who float securely upon the world of waters. It proclaims a covenant between God and one whom he condescends to style his friend, and his special love and favour to his descendants, to whom he promulgates the moral law; confirming, by miracles, his authority, and by prophets keeping alive, from generation to generation, the hope of that Saviour "in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed." Through its sacred pages are profusely scattered the sweetest, purest strains of poetic fancy, and the sublimest effusions of heaven-born eloquence. Its imperishable literature has inspired the noblest efforts of human genius. What other book contains such astonishing, such inexhaustible materials for thought and investigation? Bring to it all the treasures of knowledge to aid in its explanation and illustration. Profane history, ancient and modern, will throw light upon the prophecies; Eastern travels offer striking illustrations from existing customs and manners, and delineate Scripture geography with satisfactory precision. Search and compare Scripture with Scripture. Where there is obscurity that you cannot penetrate, resort to critical commentators; and where there are difficulties that you cannot solve, have recourse to the pious and the learned; but at the same time use the reason which God has given you for this noble purpose-the deep, daily study of his Holy Word.

The New Testament is the record of the long-promised