Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-12-20

barbarian, and the most enlightened,
alike, study rather to avert his wrath
than to gain his love; and religion is with
them rather an impulse Of fehr than the
~ovcrnowing OF gratitude for his mcrc'es.
The gods al different nations have par
taken o! the nature OF the people who
worshipped. Those who compose the
mythology OF The a%nclcnts are sullied
with all human impurities, and are the
slaves of tho worst OF human PASSIONS;
easily excited to wrath, aud readily to
to be appcased. The fabulous Jove
committed crimes in heaven that the
earth would revolt from, yet inc was pic
turcd as benign and beautiful, and was
adored. The sacrifices offered to con
ciliale him were such MS would consIgn
the christian to the worst Of %perdItion,
yet they gained the heather heaven, il
so it may be called, governed by on
pictured less mercifui than man. They
copied their paradise from. their earthly
pursuits, and peorled it with nIch beings
as would minister to their earthly de.
sires, rcvivified 10 another regiOn.-Their
dream of futurity was ar eternity of hui
man pleasures, varied to suit the taste OF
the dreamer, and thus we find the Goth
revealing at the festive board in the hall
Of Odin, and the idle Mahometan luxuri-
ating in his harem with hours, whose
charms will never fade. The n could
imagine nothing surprising an everlast-
ing drinking bout, with the skull Of his
foe before him to hold his beverage. and
the other could conceive 10 heaven
where the grossest OF his earthly appe-
tites might not enter. But with Us,
Louisa, it is different, for those who
have a mind to enjoy n scene like this
we contemplate, may picture a heaven
far beyond the healhen's conception.
True, my BROTHER sho replied. with
US it is different; we enjoy light which
the heather did not enjoy, but that light
only serves to render to the guilty the
prospect Of the future more terrible
Not so, my Louisa; it is rather a ben-
con to those who have erred. The best
Of human institutions are attended with
partial evil, and even those Of divine ORR
gin, when applied 10 human affairs, are
not altogether exempt. Revealed reli-
| gion is the holy bond which binds the
mass of mankind i~ndi.soIubly together;
break it, aud chaos would literally come
again. 1t adds cheerfulncss to the light
OF heart, and is a balm to the wounded
spirit; yet not unirequcntly it prostrates
in place of comforting, for its denunci-
atoms alone arc heard by many, and its
bright rewards and promises are consid-
cred in extending to a few ofthe chos-
en-. Such imagine that heaven can on
ly be attained by passing through a life
Of purgatory here, and know not that
the most grateful offering that a be
rendered, is a cheerful heart and a pure
one. We came not here TO mourn in
sackloth and ashes over the inborn sin
ofthe old Adam, but rather to rejoice
and be grateful for the life that was Civ
en-: and render that life a gift to be re-
joiced Of
'True, we came not to our over
the inherent sic, , she replied; but the
sin that owes its origin to Us, we must
answer for
And hast not thou answered for it,
he exclaimed, 'as few have answered!
Has not the atonement in this world
been sufficient, without extending to the
next! Such is tho variety OF human Of
fences, that gownsmen themselves can
scarcely tell those tina, are against d.
vine, from such as arc merely infringe
ments of human laws. Too frequently
they are confounded, and the wrath Of
the Omnipotcnt is heard in the magma
ton ofthe offender, for an act not VIC
iouS in itself, but created Into a crime
by human institutions. II is possible TO-
refine OIL virtue until it becomes a vice,
aud to p~hilosophize on vice until it as
sumes the aspect Of virtue. You are
fading fast, Louisa, and | know not at
what ON Il breeze may come, and
forever nip the flower that l have SO
long and tenderly watched over. There
was a time when you was the pride of
my heart, and when my heart was prou-
dcst. Nay, weep not at the recollec-
ton; for dear to me as you thon were,
at no moment of your life were you ever
more dear TO me than at the present.
But the time is fast approaching, when
that delicate form must mingle with the
clods of the valley, and | become deso-
late. Still it is in your power TO leave
me one reelection that will be to me q day
star in my wanderings''
my brother, name it,
ode as | would have you. Let me
see a smile OH your lips as | close your
eyes in death, TO satisfy me that you
leave not this world in terror. know
il is the creed Of your sex, that she who
keeps her virtue unsullied, may be can
onized as a saint though begrlmmed with