As soon as Sylvia's infancy had expired, along with the neighbouring children, she was entrusted to the care of some famed old woman, hard by. Her proficiency, as in similar cases, was purely accidental, in unison with her tender conceptions and the capabilities of her governess; consequently, the education she received was very limited, and soon finished. As her bodily powers increased, some employment, different to “rearing the tender thought," was she to experience; and the moment Sylvia was capable of administering to the comfort of others, and reducing the necessities of her parents, she was placed in servitude. Whilst in this capacity, her conduct was marked with uniform propriety; and, to all appearance, | she preserved her character unspotted; | for what is more calculated to secure the esteem and eulogiums of our acquaintances, than the practice of honesty, industry, soberness, and integrity?

Prospects of success in business at becoming gloomy, Sylvia's father determined on repairing to, a sea-port town, about - miles distant thither the whole of the family removed; and as soon as an elegible situation presented itself, Sylvia entered again into service. In her new engagement, the same good conduct which characterized her at she determined at- she would not only persevere in, but, if possible, perfect : the respect of her mistress, the love of her fellow-servants, the esteem of her companions, and the good-will of all who knew her, seemed to predict, that ere long, her noble qualities and virtues would deservedly raise her above the necessity of menial drudgery, and place her in a more respectable sphere. These omens, as was anticipated, did not prove abortive; Sylvia's tolerable | person, and confirmed good disposi- | tion, were not long to be neglected or overlooked by the young men of A respectable tradesman became enamoured of her; and after the most satisfactory answers to his questions, relative to her character, &c, by mutual consent, together with those of their respective friends, they entered into the holy state of matrimony.

We will now just glance at Sylvia as a wife: United, at the blooming age of twenty-one, to a worthy man, with the brightest prospects before him; in

|

the full possession of domestic harmony; strife never entered the joyous circle; and slander and envy were alike strangers there; in a word, they were blessed with every enjoyment calculated to add permanency of bliss to middle" wedded life."

Thus were Sylvia and her happy partner;-but ah! how soon this bright horizon of imparadised bliss was to be overcast by the clouds of calamity. Sylvia, with the most torturing sensations, fancied she could discover a growing paleness, in the hitherto healthful countenance of her beloved husband : her suspicions, alas! were not groundless; little more than nine months after their union, she beheld him on the confines of eternity, wasting away under a devouring consumption. The disease increased, and before the departure of another moon, from the arms of his adored Sylvia his spirit winged its flight to joys immoral,

"Where nectars sparkle, angels minister,
And more than angels share, and raise, and

crown,

And eternize, the birth, bloom, burst of bliss."

YOUNG.

, were

How altered now the scene! Sylvia, the late happy Sylvia, at twenty-two a sorrowing widow! But the loss of her partner is only a prelude of future misery. Suffice it here to record, that the expectations of Sylvia's father, relative to business at not realized; and, agreeably to the suggestions of his friends, he quitted that town, and returned to his native village. Sylvia's residence was amongst the relatives of her deceased husband, at - ; but at intervals she visited her friends, and the spot of her nativity. During one of these visits, the fatal connexion commenced, which hurried her to a premature tomb. Mr. like the hovering hawk, espied her, and meditated her ruin. An interview was soon after contrived; and whether the unfortunate Sylvia was allured from the path of virtue, under the vain idea of becoming the consort of her professed admirer, the blandishments of ease, or the prospect of grandeur, she only knew; but,-is it possible?-Oh woman!-by credulity!--she became the kept mistress of this man of plea

sure.

و

at

Time rolled on,-witnessing the criminalities of sensual enjoyment ;-

but mark the sequel. That invaluable | not be said that the crime is so great, blessing, health, which, till now, had added perennial sweetness to the wretched Sylvia, began to decline; and, to all appearances, a similar fate to that of her husband appeared to threaten her. So it proved. A rapid consumption attacked her frame; and with quick steps it seemed to hurry her to an untimely grave. In her sickness I visited her. When I had passed the threshold, what were my sensations? what could they be? I had known the unfortunate victim from childhood, and watched her ascent on the ladder of both respectability and holiness; and I now beheld her precipitated from that summit into the vortex of despair. I asked her how she was? With a faltering and scarcely articulate accent, she answered, "Very poorly." My feelings were too acute to renew my interrogations. I hastened from the scene of wo; and in a few days, I heard the bell toll for the departed Sylvia! Her funeral, which soon followed, I silently witnessed, and read on the coffinplate, died 18-,

66

aged 27 years."

Reader! if thou be of the "softer sex," reflect on the fate of the unfortunate Sylvia. Remember, that the pursuit of virtuous objects is satisfying, and shall be rewarded; but the practice of sin affords only momentary gratification, whose end is death death eternal. If thou be of the other sex, reflect duly on the conduct of Mr. and from the misery he has entailed on the unhappy friends of Sylvia, resolve, with the divine assistance, to steer clear of that destructive rock; and not to listen to the suggestions of the prince of darkness.

THE STATE OF THE HEATHEN
CONSIDERED.

(Concluded from col. 831.)
JUNIUS. But you must allow, that the
heathen are very immoral; that they
commit crimes of the greatest malig-
nity; that murder and a thousand
evils are continually practised among
them.

Philo. With some, it is true; others have been noted for peaceable dispositions, and for hospitality towards strangers. But of those who have committed these irregularities, it can

as if it had been committed in a land abounding with light. Those who possess "not the (written) law, are a law unto themselves," and in proportion as the light is dim, the crime is lessened. Those who have many advantages have much to account for; those who have few, have less. The doctrine I contend for is simply this, that every man will be judged “according to the deeds done in his body," and according to the nature of the circumstances under which they were performed. By this method we see how the scripture generally, man's conduct in every case, and the justice of the Almighty, may harmonize. In the other view of the subject, you confound things that ought to be separate, and rend asunder that which ought to be joined. You make a man answerable at the day of judgment, because he had light, and you make him answerable, on the other hand, because he had no light; thus you judge the former punishable, and the latter punishable, and join opposites in the same class. If it be right to punish a man, who knowingly breaks a law, it is wrong to punish a man who ignorantly breaks a law, and this we get from the exercise of reason on the precepts of revelation, and the account given of the divine nature.

Junius. Is not the darkness of the heathen world in a great measure owing to the obstinacy of the people who will not admit the light?

Philo. In many cases it is, but not, I should think, in a place where the light of Christianity never shone. For instance, among the Esquimaux, who have lived in complete ignorance on this subject; among the various tribes of people in the interior regions of Africa, who have known nothing of a Supreme Being, to whom they were responsible for their actions; and among all those ancient nations, of whom history relates, that they knew not God, and had no idea of one great and universal Lord of the universe, who required them to form their actions according to certain laws. All these having no conception of the existence of a God, how could they serve him? And having no idea of a law, how could they regulate their conduct by it?

Junius. Perhaps these nations have had a little light; or perhaps their

forefathers had a great deal of light, and obscured or destroyed it.

Philo. If they had a little light, of course they will be judged by it. But if their forefathers committed a sin, what does that concern them? For "every man being judged according to his work," does not imply, every man according to the works of others. All the disadvantage produced must be something like that I have already stated, respecting the sin of Adam; it would leave them more deficient of heavenly light, and would entail on them a negative evil, rather than a positive one. How can we contemplate the proceedings at the day of judgment; and imagine some one called forward and interrogated on what was done a century before, by another whom he had never seen, and by whom he had never been aware that a crime was committed? Or, endeavour to picture to your imagination, a parent who should severely chastise one of his children, because another, who had lived and died previous to its birth, did something wrong? This is not like the conduct of our heavenly Parent. And men, when they attribute such actions to the Almighty, characterize Him as an unnatural parent, or an arbitrary monarch; and very coolly attribute to him what they would willingly avoid themselves.

Junius. Since you disapprove of the common notions, tell me your opinion of the state of the heathen, of the evangelizing of them, and of the real good which may be afforded as it regards this world and a future state.

Philo. My opinion is such as I have intimated in the course of my observations. In the first place, that God is just and good; secondly, that man is capable of acting; thirdly, that there always must be a fitness between the requisitions of the Almighty on the one hand, and the opportunities of the creature on the other; and fourthly, that there must be an agreement between the punishment inflicted by the Almighty, and the nature of the crime. As it regards these, general principles, applied to the heathen, I would intimate, that those who have a little light, so as to be conscious of the existence of a God, and of some necessary duties to be performed, must look around, and strive to find out the true mode of conduct. But if they unavoidably err, they cannot be judged for that

82.-VOL. VII.

error. If they seek to evade the guidance which they really possess, and knowingly commit acts contrary to what their notion of propriety teaches them, they will certainly be judged for this. If you increase their light, you in the same degree increase their responsibility.

Junius. Then, according to your creed, no benefit can result from sending the gospel to them.

Philo. Not exactly so. For if the scripture command it, we may reasonably suppose that some advantage will follow, or the command would never have been given. But because some good may result from this case, it does not follow that no good would exist in the other case. If any sort of injunction exist, we are bound to follow it; if we omit our duty, we shall be punished; not the heathen condemned, because we did wrong. Even if no essential good, in a religious way, were to result to the heathen, as it regards the quality of their happiness in a future state, yet there might be much benefit produced in a temporal way, as it respects the amount of happiness in the present world.

We can very easily conceive how the exertion of one individual may affect the welfare of another in temporal things, because men are greatly dependent on each other for happiness in life, though, of course, all men are under the government of the Almighty. And this system of things very plainly intimates the reason and propriety of a future state, to settle all irregularities on earth, and a future judgment to punish those who have injured man as well as disobeyed God. But, we cannot see the same relation between the actions of one man in this world, and the punishment given to another in another world; because the Supreme Being, whom we admire for his goodness, and adore for his perfections, cannot, by all that is taught in the scriptures, so confound things which have a plain and eternal dissimilarity. Let me ask you plainly-Will any man, in your opinion, be rewarded for the deed of another? Do you imagine, that at the judgment-day, any thing extra in your favour will appear, because a man of a different name from yourself, of a different colour perhaps, and in a different part of the world, on some mountain in the East Indies, or some valley in South America,

3 N

that many pious men, at the Reforma- | of conduct, the duty of those who are tion, doubted whether the great altera- properly qualified is to comply, and tion then made, was not rather detri- not talk about the peculiar relation in mental than favourable to the spread which the heathen existed, as it reof religion. But, though this preju- gards the affections of the Almighty dice existed, and though there were towards them. After the gospel was certain feelings of attachment to the introduced, those who believed were Popish church, it does not follow that saved, and those who believed not their scruples were founded on the were condemned. And ministers, and completest propriety. others, have no right to speculate on what would have happened, if they had not exerted themselves, any more than an individual has, to calculate on what would have happened if Adam had not sinned; or, than the philosopher has, to examine what would have existed, if men in general had possessed seven senses instead of five.