DISCOURSE ON THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION.

An interesting discourse between a Roman Catholic clergyman and an acquaintance, upon the influence of religion on the regulation of the temper, and the renewing of the heart. Dr. E. was speaking of a person of eighty-four years of age, who was labouring under a complication of complaints, and had been deprived of sight many years, yet was one of the happiest and most grateful of men, frequently acknowledging the many blessings he possessed in the beautiful language of the Psalmist.

Acquaintance.-To have attained so great an age, and to be so cheerful with such infirmities, he must possess a naturally happy and placid temper.

Doctor. Quite the contrary; his natural temper was irascible and violent.

Acq.-Then what has effected this wonderful change?

Doctor.-Religion.

Acq.-Religion will certainly do much, but if the natural temper is not good, there will be moments when the mind is thrown off its guard, and the dispositions nature has given, will shew themselves. We may reason with ourselves, we may feel the folly of giving way to irritation, yet when vexations arise, who will venture to say, that with philosophical calmness we can stand our ground?

Doctor. You are going, my dear sir, from our subject, I was not speaking of either philosophy or reason, for these I know can do little it is religionreligion only that can control the passions, subdue the

temper, and infuse into the soul tranquillity and peace.

Acq.-Well, putting philosophy and reason out of the question, yet I cannot allow, that the religious character can so forget the weaknesses of his nature, that he will not at times feel the irritations, the infirmities, and the passions that are attached to it: you cannot think otherwise.

Doctor-My dear friend, I do think otherwise, and if you will give me a patient hearing, I will explain to you my sentiments, I may say the convictions of my soul, on a subject of the first importance; I mean the regeneration of the human heart; man is by nature the most selfish, and the most irritable of all animals. The light of his natural reason is unable to subdue his evil propensities, and he who created him, with a condescension and love, that must ever call forth his gratitude and praise, has planted, or put into his heart a heavenly principle, or emanation from his own divine nature, for him to profit withal. This divine principle, which we term the grace of God, becomes more and more clear, as it is attended to, and it subdues, cleanses, and I may say, consumes all that is of an earthly, selfish, and sordid nature. A soul given up to its influence, undergoes a complete change, a new birth is experienced, old attachments are done away, new affections, new desires spring up; the spiritual understanding is illuminated, it sees the world in its true colours, and acknowledges the emptiness and vanity of all created things.

Acq.-Excuse me for interrupting you, but give me

U

leave to ask, if you believe man can attain perfection, while in a state of mutability?

Doctor.-Perfection comprehends every thing; that I durst not venture to make use of so strong a word, but it is my full belief, that by giving way to this spiritual teacher, by attending to its dictates, its admonitions, and reproofs, the soul undergoes such a complete change, that, whilst in the body, it is permitted to hold a sweet and intimate communion with its Maker, and when its frail tabernacle is dissolved, it is united to the fountain of all good, in a union never to be broken.

Acq.-Then it is your opinion, that none but purified spirits of this high order, are permitted an entrance into heaven, and that the great bulk of mankind are shut out from it.

Doctor.-Far be it from me to set limits to the mercy of the Almighty; it is a subject I do not at present feel liberty to enter upon, but you are again digressing from our subject; let me return and ask if you are now convinced, that a gracious God has not left man to the sport of his wayward passions, but has given him a counteracting principle sufficiently powerful to overcome them?

Acq.-Your arguments appear to me, to be so clear and conclusive, that I have nothing more to say, only to arrive at this state, must be a most difficult, though a most desirable, attainment.

Doctor.-Oh my friend, that I may not only convince your judgment, but that through infinite goodness, you may experimentally know and acknowledge

the truth of what I have asserted, is my fervent wish; and believe me, the attainment is not so difficult as you may imagine. The work is not left to our feeble powers: we have only to co-operate with this divine principle, to desire with our whole heart this purifying change, to be willing to feel as passive clay in the hands of the Almighty Potter, and we shall be led step by step, till the supernatural regeneration is effected.

Let me conjure you, as you wish for happiness, to reflect seriously upon your situation; to search after this divine light within you, to attend to its breathings, and expect no happiness, but through and by it; yet I can feelingly speak to you, and I do solemnly declare, that after pursuing happiness in the schools of the learned, in the philosophy of ages, in the pleasures of the world, I found her not, till I became acquainted with this pure and vital principle. Let me intreat, that you will often retire into inward silence, and under a sense of your own weaknesses, sit as it were, at the feet of Jesus: you will find a strength given to you, a consolation poured into your soul, that at present you have no idea of; all restless and irritable feelings will be overcome, every care will be diminished, every blessing will be doubled to you, and the evening of your days will close in peace and hope.

THE COMFORTER.

O Thou, who dry'st the mourner's tear!
How dark the world would be,

If, when deceived and wounded here,
We could not fly to Thee.

The friends who in our sunshine live,
When winter comes, are flown;
And he who has but tears to give,
Must weep those tears alone.

But Thou wilt heal that broken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their fragrance from the wounded part,
Breathes sweetness out of woe.

When joy no longer soothes or cheers,
And e'en the hope, that threw
A moment's sparkle o'er our tears,
Is dimm'd and vanish'd too.

Oh! who would bear life's stormy doom,

Did not Thy wings of love

Come brightly wafting through the gloom,

One peace-branch from above.

Then sorrow, touched by Thee, grows bright,

With more than rapture's ray;

As darkness shows us worlds of light

We never saw by day.

Moore.

My heart deceives me greatly, if I have not a high veneration, and sincere love for all good people, however they differ from one another or myself. The marks of goodness indeed I have always looked for, in the temper and conduct, and where these fail, the