had drunkards and tavern haunters, every where been presented and punished, the evil would never have grown to its present magnitude; the flood would never have risen, so as to overflow all the mounds of decency and order. It is confidently believed, that thousands who have died martyrs to intoxicating liquors, would have been saved to themselves, their friends and their country. It is by parleying and temporising, that we are brought to the brink of ruin. It is because so many of our sentinels have slept at their posts, or abandoned them, in the hour of danger, that the enemy has nearly mastered the camp, and is carrying on the work of death in every part of it. The truth is, that one advantage after another has been gained, and concession has followed concession, till very little, if any thing more, remains for hard drinkers to demand. They stagger unmolested in the face of day, before the houses of our magistrates. They lie at the corners of our streets, the shame of our race and a wonder to the very beasts. The informing officer sees it, or is afraid he shall see it, and passes by on the other side, Thus for want of vigilance and energy in the constituted authorities, do the intemperate go on with impunity, from year to year, ruining themselves, and corrupting thousands of others, by their influence and example.

5. Idleness is another legitimate parent of intemperance. An old divine has very foreibly remarked, that an" idle man's mind, is the devil's work shop." It is not pretended, that every idle man becomes a hard drinker ; but every such person exposes himself peculiarly to temptation, and hard drinking is certainly one of the vices, into which the idle are extremely apt, sooner or later, to fall.

6. The countenance which has been incautiously and extensively given, in worthy and serious families, to the free use of ardent spirits, has contributed not a little to swell the tide that roars around us, and fills every thoughtful mind with the most painful apprehensions. It has been thought an essential part of common civility and respect, in many such families, to treat company with some kind of spirits. This has given birth to a vast deal of ingenuity in coloring, diluting, mixing, and sweetening liquors, so as to render them in the highest degree beautiful and palatable. With the kindest intentions in the world, the decanter of brandy is brought out, or the sparkling cordial is handed round the friendly circle.

In order to show that their hospitality is real and hearty, the master and mistress of the house, must drink the health of their guests, and each guest, to show that he is not defi

cient in politeness must return the compliment. Or if any beg to be excused, something, it is presumed, must be the matter. "Why Mr. or Mrs, or Miss, I am sure you had better take the glass. Come, do drink a little at least. I know it will do you good. You look as if you needed it. Perhaps you don't like this kind of drink. Let me help you to some thing else. What will you take. We have brandy, old spirits, gin, cherry, &c.”

If it is perceived that any drink sparingly the first time round, they are most commonly urged to repeat the draught, in some such kind language, as the following. Do take a little more. You have scarcely tasted it. Come, I made it on purpose for you. You need not be afraid of it; it is extremely weak. There is scarcely a spoonful of spirits in the whole glass." Thus the reluctant are not unfrequently over persuaded to drink, when they would gladly decline. If children happen to be present, no matter how young, they too must receive their part of the disguised poison. I do not mean to say that this is excessive drinking; but I must think, that in almost every case, it is unnecessary, and often leads to the most unhappy consequences.

I

At the same time I wish to have it distinetly understood, that I have the highest respect for many, who have thought it necessary to treat their friends as above described. know them to be conscientious people; and have the fullest confidence, that if they can be convinced it is their duty, they will at once discontinue the practice. Let them seriously look at the tendency. Let them consult the records of experience. I have paid some attention to the subject; and cannot refrain from expressing my firm and solemn belief, that by such a use of ardent spirits as has been mentioned, in tea parties, and other social and friendly circles, many persons have gradually been seduced from the path of temperance, and have finally been undone. Nor has the mischief stopped here. The example thus set in high circles, has had a baleful effect upon multitudes, in the humble walks of life. If the rich drink, in their social intercourse, the poor must drink also; and thus the evils of drinking, are indefinitely extended and multiplied.

7. Many of our taverns, and all of our dram shops, are at once causes and effects of much intemperance. Their very existence proves, that the thirst for ardent spirits, is already insatiable; and while they indicate, they greatly increase, the mischief. It is not meant to deuy, that houses of public entertainment are necessary. A home for the stranger and the traveller should be provided in every town. But

surely it is not necessary, or safe, to have half a dozen taverns in one small village. It cannot be safe, to make it for the interest of so many men, to encourage their neighbors in idleness and drinking.

On this very subject, the prince of moral poets has employed his extraordinary powers, with his usual force and felicity, in the fourth book of the Task; a pretty long extract from which I shall here introduce.

"Pass where we may, through city or through town,

Village or hamlet of this merry land,

Though lean and beggar'd, every twentieth pace
Conducts the unguarded nose to such a whiff
Of stale debauch, forth issuing from the styes
That law has licensed, as makes temperance reel.
There sit, involv'd and lost in curling clouds
Of Indian fume, and guzzling deep, the boor,
The lackey, and the groom: the craftsman there
Takes a Lethean leave of all his toil;
Smith, cobler, joiner, he that plies the shears,
And he that kneads the dough; all loud alike,
All learned, and all drunk! The fiddle screams
Plaintive and piteous, as it wept and wail'd
Its wasted tones and harmony unheard :
Fierce the dispute, whate'er the theme; while she,
Fell discord, arbitress of such debate,
Perch'd on the sign post, holds with eve hand
Her undecisive scales. In this she lays
A weight of ignorance; in that, of pride;
And smiles delighted with the eternal poise.
Dire is the frequent curse, and its twin sound
The check-distending oath, not to be praised
As ornamental, musical, polite,

Like those which modern senators employ,
Whose oath is rhet'ric, and who swear for fame!
Behold the schools in which plebean minds,

Once simple, are initiated in arts,

Which some may practice with politer grace,

But none with readier skill! 'Tis here they learn
The road that leads, from competence and peace

To indigence and rapine; till at last,

Society grown weary of the load,

Shakes her incumper'd lap, and casts them out."

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As for those unlicensed grog shops, that are every where to be met with, I know of no language, which will express the abhorrence, which they ought to excite in every mind. The way to them is the way to hell, going down to the cham

bers of death. They are the work shops of that great enemy who ruleth in the hearts of the children of disobedience. If every tippling house were a Bastile, it would not be a place of so much danger, nor the cause of so much suffering.

Whenever I pass by one of them, I can scarcely, help faneying, that I hear the cries of a multitude of half naked and half starved children issuing from its gloomy interior; and that I see it filled with the most loathsome and painful diseases with mortgages, and constables, and auctioneers, and beggars, and idiots, and maniacs, and murderers, and prison grates, and strait jackets, and gallowses, and coffins! I believe, that at least three fourths of the places, in this country where liquors are sold by the gill or half gill, are fountains of corruption, whence flow in every direction, streams not to fertilize and cheer, but to curse the land with barrenness and death.

8. Many of the evils of intemperance may be distinctly traced to the great and increasing number of distilleries, in every part of the Union. That numbers of the owners of these establishments are worthy men I have no more doubt, than that the general influence of them upon the community is unspeakably pernicious. The arguments by which distilleries are commonly defended, I shall have occasion to examine hereafter. In the mean time, I must be permitted to state my full conviction, that hundreds, if not thousands, of bodies and souls, are annually destroyed, in the United States, by their means.

Where can one of these establishments be pointed out, which has not formed around itself a kind of intoxicating atmosphere, within the deadly influence of which drunkenness prevails and increases, in the most alarming manner? Who can deny that the fiery streams, which issue from a still, like melted lava from the flaming crater of a volcano, too often spread ruin and desolation where they flow.

2. X. Y.

THE IMMUTABILITY OF THE DIVINE PURPOSES CONSISTENT WITH THE CONDITIONAL DECLARATIONS OF GOD.

SOME of the most difficult and important doctrines of divine revelation are very evident, from the occurrences of divine Providence. The subject of the present essay is suggested to our attention by some facts which are recorded in the account, which the Bible gives us of Saul, the first king of Israel. After Samuel had anointed Saul to reign over Israel, he directed him to go to Gibeah and there wait seven

days for him, when he engaged to come and offer burnt offerings and instruct him what to do. Saul repaired to the place appointed and waited with great impatience for Samuel until the seventh day; but Samuel did not appear in the first part of the day. This threw Saul into great perplexity because the Philistines were gathering together to fight against Israel, and because his own soldiers were deserting from him. He was afraid to go against the Philistians, before sacrifices were offered, and he was afraid to offer sacrifices himself before Samuel came. But in this dilemma, he presumed to do it, and just as he had finished this religious service, Samuel came and accosted him in the following manner: “ And Samuel said, what hast thou done? And Saul said, because I saw the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not in the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash, therefore said I, the Philistines will come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord. I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt-offering. And Samuel said to Saul, thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee; for now would he have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue." Though God directed Samuel to make this declaration in his name, yet we cannot suppose that this declaration was inconsistent with the immutability of the divine purpose respecting Saul. Though God declared that he would have treated Saul differently, if he had conducted differently; yet this declaration was perfectly consistent with his original design of treating him exactly as he did treat him. And in all instances the conditional declarations, which God makes to men, are consistent with the immutability of his purposes.

To illustrate this subject it is proposed,

I. To show that the purposes of God are immutable. This is a truth which is capable of being established by the most plain and irresistible evidence. For it is the infallible consequence of the perfection of the divine nature.God is possessed of every natural and moral perfection. His perfect wisdom enabled him from eternity to form the wisest and best plan or scheme of conduct; and his perfect goodness must have disposed him to form the wisest and best purposes, before the foundation of the world. And having formed the wisest and best designs, he could never see any reason to alter them for the better. Hence it is morally certain, that God never can alter his designs any more than he can cease to be perfectly wise, powerful and good, or than he can