sophical discourse between the angel and Adam

-she

66

-Went forth among her fruits and flowers,

To visit how they prospered ;

he adds,

"Yet went she not, as not with such discourse
Delighted, or not capable her ear

Of what was high."

That such were the feelings and interests of our first parents, few will dispute: for it would have been strange indeed if, under such favourable circumstances, when all to them was new, and when they were just come from the hands of their Creator, perfect and intelligent, they had been unmindful of Him, and of his works. This being granted, may it not fairly be inquired whether any such essential difference exists between their circumstances and ours, as to render a meaner taste, and lower objects of pursuit, reasonable in us their descendants?

To young people just awaking from the dreams of childhood, and becoming capable of observation and reflection, is not this fair world with the interesting phenomena of nature, in fact, as new as it was to its first inhabitants? Have not they also every thing to see, to investigate, and to admire? True, this earth has now existed nearly six thousand years; and the works of nature have been explored and admired by the intellectual of mankind, in every successive generation. Yet, to the youth of this generation, it is as it were a new creation: the young are new to themselves; and all that surrounds them is novel. The language of Adam, describing his emotions upon the first starting into being, may be

adopted by every truly intelligent young person, in reference to the time when they first began to think and to observe.

"Straight toward heaven my wondering eyes I turned, And gazed awhile the ample sky :

About me round I saw

Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains,
And liquid lapse of murmuring streams; by these
Creatures that lived and moved, and walked or flew ;
Birds on the branches warbling; all things smiled;
With fragrance and with joy my heart o'erflowed.
Myself I then perused."

And happy they, who like him, discerning the great
Creator in his works, sum up all by exclaiming,

"Tell me how I may know him, how adore !"

But is it not equally strange and lamentable, when, so far from admiration being awakened, and curiosity excited by the beautiful and sublime objects of creation, and the great secrets of nature, the mind is satisfied with the most trifling pursuits and childish amusements?-when alternate attention to dress, visiting, and superficial acquirements, are suffered to engross all the time, or at least to engage all the interest?

If Milton had represented our mother Eve, when not occupied by the concerns of the domestic bower, as devoting her leisure hours to binding flowers in wreaths and garlands, wherewith to adorn herselfif he had told us that she and Adam spent their evenings in playing with pebbles, dancing on the turf, or in idle conversation; and that they rose and retired to rest without any devout acknowledgments to their Maker; we should certainly have

considered it a most absurd, unfair, and degrading representation, even after they had fallen from their first estate. Yet how many of their descendants are there, even in the most civilized and evangelized parts of the globe, whose time is spent to no better purpose! A young lady who rises without prayer, or with only a heartless and formal performance of it, who spends her morning in preparing ornaments of dress, or in pursuits equally trifling, and devotes her evening to gay amusements, or even to the more creditable recreation of sober visiting, and returning weary or dissipated, forgets to call upon God, is surely no less unmindful of the dignity of her nature, and the great ends of her existence.

Perhaps the subjoined stanzas may serve to illustrate our subject, by exemplifying the difference between a trifling and an intellectual taste.

It was a pleasant winter's night;

The sky was clear and the stars were bright,
The air was fresh and cold;

But all within was warm and tight;
And the fire flame cast a flashing light

On the carpet red, and the ceiling white,
And on the curtain fold.

Here Anne and Martha idly sit;
Because the candles are not lit,

And both are tired of play;

And Anne was tired of Martha's chat

About the trimming to her hat,

For her mother had said (she was sure of that)

She would trim their hats that day.

So rising as quickly as she could,

Anne went to the window, and there she stood;
The sash, which reached the floor, displayed
To view the pleasant garden shade;
For the curtains were not drawn.
And she was pleased to stand and see
The moon shine on the laurel tree :-
How, when the wind the foliage heaves,
It sparkles on the glossy leaves;

And what soft light and shade were shed
On every bush and every bed;

And what a sheet of light was spread
Over the level lawn.

Then roved her eye from star to star,
And soon her thought had fled as far:
For thought has neither chain nor bar,
It ranges fair and free:

And as she had not wings to fly
Amid the starry realms on high,
She marvelled that a mortal eye
Those distant worlds could see.

Their gentle mother enters now,
And pleasure gladdens Martha's brow;
For lo on either hand she bears
With tender touch, these hats of theirs ;
While in her basket store is seen

Some glossy yards of ribbon green ;
And having now unrolled it-

She forms the bow, she twines the band;
Behold, with light and dexterous hand;
And there does eager Martha stand,

Suggesting this, approving that,
And all her soul is in her hat

(Full large enough to hold it).

Nor think that thoughtful Anne defers
To thank her mother, too, for hers:
She came, and with a grateful look,
And duteous word, her hat she took,
And bore it to its place:

Yet that fair ribbon, bright and new,
Scarce cared she if 'twas green or blue:
For now her mind was braced with thought,
Some nobler happiness it sought

Than e'er with nicest art was wrought
With ribbon, pearl, or lace.

As years increased, still Anne inclined
To train and cultivate her mind,
At reason's nobler voice;

While Martha strove, with equal care,
To deck her person light and fair.—
Now, reader, these pursuits compare :
Compare-and make your choice.

XII.

SOLILOQUIES OF THE OLD PHILOSOPHER AND THE YOUNG LADY

"ALAS!" exclaimed a silver-headed sage, "how narrow is the utmost extent of human knowledge! how circumscribed the sphere of intellectual exertion!