The limits of this paper will allow of but few remarks on theatrical representations; and indeed, they would be inappropriate to its subject, since they have no solid claim to the character of amusements. For recreation, we must repair to other sources. The stage can neither relieve the mind from severe attention, nor recruit the animal spirits by an agreeable suspension of effort; its effort, on the contrary, is the excitement of the passions, which is always attended by a feverish restlessness, and followed by painful exhaustion. A sanguine hope is entertained by many that the attractions of the theatre are on the decline. It is an interesting feature of the present age, that notwithstanding every exertion on the part of managers in our towns, they often receive much less encouragement than they have been accustomed to experience. And there are reasons for thinking that this will be increasingly the case, from the want of dramatic materiel. Tragedy has long been on the wane, and Comedy is now rapidly declining. Not a few characters which amused the play-goers of thirty or forty years ago, are too gross to be tolerated now, when the licentiousness of speech and compositions, then so common, is becoming extremely rare. In the lapse of years, there has been not only an improvement in delicacy of feeling, but also a diminution of those personal peculiarities, to the embodying of which the actor looks for his highest fascination and applause. In the intercourse, and especially the mental improvement of society, a sort of homogeneity of character has been induced, which will render difficult the comedians finding new parts, and which will give to many of those now exhibited with eclat, an unnatural air. A glimpse of a period in which the influence of the stage shall be greatly diminished, is truly animating to a benevolent mind. Those who are acquainted with its history, drawn not by the hand of interested panegyrists, but by that of truth, need enter. tain no apprehension that a commensurate evil can arise from its ruins. On the contrary, when the sound is heard, "It is fallen," the most powerful engine ever devised for the destruction of man's dearest interests will have been demolished.

If it is asked on what principle amusements should be selected, the words of an eminent individual will furnish an appropriate reply: -"If there is something wholesome in them which almost refuses corruption; if the advantage they produce balance their mischief; if by scattering their oils around, they contribute to smooth, without poisoning the waves of life; if their direct or chance expense does not break in upon that treasury which every man keeps for his neighbor; if they are not so closely allied to the amusements of the bad as to break down the wall of partition between us and them; if they have no tendency to wean society from more profitable employments; if, lastly, they do not encroach on that handful of time bestowed on man to do the business of eternity.-If all this be true of any of them, I will say of him who uses them, he may be a Christian, and a good Christian, but I shall think him the most distin

guished Christian who uses them the least. The good, like the great man, (why, alas! are not the terms convertible ?) will ever seek his pleasures in the field of his duties, and, though he suffers mere amusement, will seldom court it.”

THE CHARACTER AND MISERY OF AN IRRELIGIOUS YOUTH. From the (English) Youth's Magazine.

"I never look at an irreligious young person," observed a most pious and estimable individual, " without cherishing a feeling of pure and unmixed pity; and when I think of the idle habits he forms, of the improper associations he cultivates, of the unsubstantial and pernicious pleasures he pursues, and of the amount of good he might be rendered instrumental in securing, were he governed by the principles of the Gospel, the impression produced on my mind, is at once mournful and overpowering." This remark is equally just and incontrovertible, though at the same time, it is scarcely possible for us to assent to its truth, without being the subjects of depressing and painful emotions. I do not feel solicitous to lessen the dignity of youth; to deface the beauty and tarnish the lustre of the youthful character; or to indulge in censorious and splenetic remarks, in relation to the habits, the conversation, the deportment, and "the ruling passions" of young people; but it must excite the profound and unmingled regret of every person of sober and accurate reflection, and especially of enlightened and devout feeling, to perceive so inconsiderable a number of those, who are encircled by all the beauty, richness, and splendor of "the vernal season of life," sitting at the feet of Jesus; breathing the lovely and celestial spirit of the Gospel; discovering that humility, decision, energy, sweet simplicity of character, and entire consecration of their powers, attainments, and resources, to the divine Redeemer, by which commanding features a child of God is at once beautified and distinguished.

Young people, who have left vanity fair;' whose conversation is emphatically in heaven; whose tone of hallowed and devout feeling is at once unequivocal and commanding; who discover the mind of Christ wherever they go; and who are unceasingly solicitous to exhibit the matchless beauty and the unsearchable riches of Jesus to those around them, without any regard to age, sex, or capacity, are, the most painful sense, strangers in the earth"-resembling green and fertile spots in the desert of human life; and while these are beauteous and luxuriant, all around discovers complete drought, aridity, and desolation.

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Asa minister of Christ, when I meet with young persons, I do not feel desirous of knowing, in the first place, whether they possess a variety of exterior or minor attractions. I like to meet with a youth of intelligence, who is extensively acquainted with literature and

science, and who has perused with attention and delight the publications of our best authors. I like to converse with a young person of genuine talent, whose taste has been diligently cultivated, whose judgement is vigorous, whose understanding is comprehensive, and whose tone of thinking is manly and powerful. I like to meet with an amiable youth, who discovers the utmost urbanity of manners, kindliness of feeling, and loveliness of disposition towards all with whom he associates. I am happy in meeting with an accomplished and interesting female, who is conversant with the polite arts, and who blends simplicity and modesty with all her accomplishments; but if the spirit of the Saviour be wanting, we may most appropriately and emphatically apply the langnage of the wise man, "Vanity of vanites, all is vanity." That is wanted, without which young people, however intelligent, gifted, amiable, and accomplished, are poor and miserable, blind and naked-in a state of complete spiritual destruction-of mournful wretchedness-of deep and fatal ignorance--and without provision for life, death, or eternity. An irreligious youth is a pitiable object, because he is devoid of that, which he indispensably and uniformly requires. He is traversing a wilderness; consequently he wants one who is qualified to conduct him, to preserve him from peril, to cheer and invigorate his spirits, and to stimulate him onwards amidst all the difficulties and calamities of the way. He is in a trackless forest, and he will find it utterly impossible to penetrate its profound and numerous recesses, and to escape the imminent and fearful dangers by which he is encompassed, unless one be with him, who is perfectly acquainted with the intricacies of the way, and who can follow all its windings, and avert all its evils. A young person, while he continues below, is in the enemy's country, where there are numerous snares laid; the most subtle temptations presented; and the most alluring and fascinating inducements held out; consequently he requires "the wisdom which cometh down from above;" which is divine in its nature, unerring in its directions, and most efficacious in its influence. He wants armour, and the Christian panoply is the only defence that will render him invulnerable. He wants "the sword of the Spirit," and the shield of faith, or else he will be easily vanquished by his deadly foes.

If these remarks be accurate, the writer of this unpretending essay is perfectly warranted in affirming, that an irreligious youth is, morally and spiritually, in a state of utter and dreadful destitution. He wants the best principles to govern him; the best feelings to purify him, the best motives to incite him; the best guide to direct him; the best friend to cheer and invigorate him; the best armor to constitute a sure and constant defence; the best enjoyments to compose and animate him; amidst all the afflictions and calamities of time; and the best hopes to brighten the passage that conducts to the tomb, and to unfold to his astonished and enraptured view, the unclouded splendors of immortality. My beloved young friends, be assured by one, who writes at least in his own humble estimation sincerely and experimentally on this subject, that it is the approving

and benignant smile of Jesus, which constitutes the felicity of earth, and the unmingled bliss of the celestial Paradise; and if you feel any solicitude that moral beauty should be imparted to your charac. ter; that a halo of pure and resplendent glory should encircle your brow; that true, indeed divine, dignity should be associated with your plans, habits and proceedings; that substantial and exquisite enjoyment should be realized, amidst all the fluctuations of time, and all the calamities that are incident to mortality; that perfect security should be possessed in the season of difficulty, in the period of temptation, in the chamber of suffering, and in the event of nature's dissolution, you must bear an evident and a striking resemblance to that matchless Saviour, who is emphatically "the chief among ten thousands, and the altogether lovely." I uniformly commiserate the mournful condition of a man devoid of the spirit of the Gospel, because I know, that if he is not wretched now, the period will speedily arrive, when wretchedness will be his portion forever; but when I see a profane or an impious youth, my feelings of commiseration are, if possible, still more powerfully excited."

NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

1. First Lessons in Intellectual Philosophy, or a Familiar Explanation of the Nature and Operations of the Human Mind. First American Edition, adapted to the use of Schools. By Rev. SILAS BLAISDALE. Boston: Lincoln & Edmands, 1829. pp. 358.

The science of Intellectual Philosophy has been not unfrequently regarded as of too abstruse a character, and as, at present, in too unsettled a state, to merit much attention from any but professed students. The "First Lessons" are however an attempt to exhibit the general principles of the science, in a form adapted to common use, and presented in such a manner as to be attractive to the young. The conversational form, so popular for other similar purposes, has been adopted. The work is perhaps rather remarkable for a copiousness and felicity of illustration, which elucidates almost every topic, and gives variety and interest to the whole. The system of Dr. Brown constitutes the basis of the arrangement; the truths are however presented in a style and manner quite the reverse of his, and questions are added at the bottom of every page, for the benefit of learners.

A word in regard to the two objections above mentioned, as sometimes made against the general introduction of this study. First, its abstruseness, instead of an objection, is quite the reverse. It enables the science to furnish a discipline to the thinking powers, which nothing else can give, and prepares the mind to enter upon the consideration of moral subjects, with far greater energy and effect.

As to the uncertainty attending metaphysical inquiries, there is far less of it than is often supposed. It is well known that the chair of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh has been almost the throne of Metaphysics, for England and America. The successive monarchs of the dynasty have each endeavored to erect his empire, in some degree, at least, upon the ruins of his predecessor's, and each has generally bestowed as much of his attention upon the little which he wished to demolish, as upon the far greater portion which he was ready to confirm. Men frequently dwell with more interest upon the few points on which they differ, than upon the many in which they agree; and the metaphysical philosophers have brought out a few spots of debatable ground, into a far more conspicuous rank than they deserve, when compared with the extensive regions of which they have settled and harmonious possession, and which are of undoubted beauty and fruitfulness. These regions, the work of which we are speaking designs to occupy; and they are, almost entirely, regions of unquestioned truth.

2. The Veracity of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, when compared, first, with each other, and second, with Josephus. By the Rev. J. J. BLUNT, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, (England.) First American Edition. Boston: Perkins and Marvin, 1829. pp. 127.

We have read this treatise with great satisfaction, and feel a pleasure in recommending it to the perusal of others.

The general argument, in its nature and objects, is substantially the same with that pursued in reference to other portions of the New Testament, by Paley, in his Hora Paulina-a work with which every one should be familiarly acquainted. It is a popular argument, and in the common concerns of life, has great influence. In courts of Justice, coincidence of circumstances, goes farther than almost anything else, to establish the credibility of witnesses with a jury. The principle involved in this argument is this: In all spurious writings, agreement is the effect of contrivance or design, and consequently, to use the words of Paley, " In examining the agreement between ancient writings, the character of truth and originality is undesignedness." The more indirect, minute, or circuitous any coincidences may appear, the greater the evidence that they are not the effect of design. A coincidence in the productions of independent writers may be minute without being uncertain, unobserved without being obscure, and oblique without being forced or fanciful.

It is not our object, however, to give an exposition of this argument. Its nature and objects will be best seen, and its force most readily felt, by attentively perusing the treatise before us. The undesigned coincidences here noticed establish, beyond all controversy, the fact, that the writers of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, were independent witnesses of the facts which they relate, and that each wrote from personal knowledge of his subject;