"To attempt to reason with them would be nothing less than casting pearls before swine and subjecting ourselves to the bitter mortification of witnessing the ease with which the grossest absurdities can remain proof against the most direct refutationsand the complacency which the human mind feels in its own horrifying delusions, notwithstanding the symptoms of their destructive tendency are too palpable to be concealed." Page 4. London: PRINTED, FOR FRANCIS WESTLEY, 10, STATIONERS' COURT, AND AVE-MARIA LANE. "And of their vain disputings find no end."-Francis. "They condemn what they do not understand."-Cicero. "But in the glorious enterprize he died."-Addison. "SIR, "I am a teacher in a family, amongst whose members your Ramblers circulate; and as you direct the force of your severe animadversions against the inconsistencies of professors of religion; I wish to call your attention to an evil which is the bane of our domestic.comfort, and of the moral improvement of the children who are placed under my care. Mr. and Mrs. Q. under whose roof I have resided for the last two years, are rather conspicuous characters in the town in which we live; and if the amiability of their temper and the wisdom of their practical maxims equalled the ardour of their zeal for a few doctrinal opinions, or their intellectual acuteness in detecting the imperfections of others, I should have no just cause for complaint. But, Sir, they are so enamoured with a few doctrines of the gospel, that they forget its numerous precepts; and are so fond of disputation, that their time is generally consumed in the heat of debate, rather than in the more profitable exercise of spiritual fellowship. That this wrangling habit should have a pernicious influence over tempers, naturally peevish and irritable will excite no astonishment; and though I have long hoped that the evil would ultimately be the means of correcting itself, I am sorry to say, it is becoming worse and worse. Because I cannot admit all their high notions on some mysterious points of Calvinism, and approve of their fanciful interpretation of the Scriptures, they treat me as a novice in religion, who means well, but who is left to the guidance of perverted reason. This I could endure patiently, but their temper, Sir, is so fiery, so waspish, so bitter, so sarcastic, so utterly at variance with the meek and quiet spirit of the gospel, that I should have left them long since, if it were not for the attachment I feel for the dear children. "In a late conversation which they held with me, on the subject of educating the children, they were pleased to acknowledge, that they thought me competent to teach them all the branches of general knowledge, but requested that I would not give them any religious instruction, because in their opinion no one could teach to profit but the Spirit of God. Hence they have interdicted the use of all catechisms, forbidden me to hear them say their morning and evening prayers, or to read to them any of the modern publications, which are intended for the benefit of the young. I have attempted to remonstrate with them, but they meet all my arguments with the charge, that as I am not enlightened, I cannot be qualified to judge of the propriety of their conduct; and though I think they respect me, yet they have given me an intimation that the strict observance of these laws is the condition on which I am retained in the family. Can you, Sir, point out to me any probable means by which they may be convinced of their fatal error? and if the means you may suggest should fail to produce the intended effect, will you tell me how I ought to act? Should I remain to violate the dictates of my conscience, by withholding religious instruction from my pupils? or ought 1 to resign my situation? Your attention to these questions will oblige," 66 Sir, "Yours, respectfully, 66 MARIA." "MADAM, "The contents of your letter would have excited my astonishment, if I had not previously met with such disfigurements of the Christian character, as you exhibit; and though I may regret, in common with yourself, that they should ever appear amongst us, yet I cannot hold out any hope of ever being able to reduce them to a correct resemblance. When the spirit of antinomianism takes possession of the human heart, it not only perverts the judgment, and vitiates the taste, but deadens all the finer sensibilities, and gives fresh energy, and virulence to the evil passions: and when it has gained an entire ascendancy, it produces, under the cloak of a public profession, the nearest degree of moral conformity to the author of all evil, of which an intellectual being is capable, during his residence in the flesh. That such persons, who refuse to teach their children the fear of the Lord, who arrogate to themselves all the wisdom which comes from above, without displaying that probity of principle-that peaceableness of disposition, or gentleness of temper, which invariably attend it; who breathe a spirit of rancorous hostility against every one who happens to differ from them on the high points of their belief; and who, if invested with the moral government of the world, would abolish our Bible and Missionary societies, that the aggregate number of the saved may be as small as possible, should ever be able to conclude that they possess the spirit of Christ Jesus, is one of those moral phenomena which exists to perplex our judgment as we are at present, too unskilled in the science of self deception to be able to account for it. To attempt to reason with them would be nothing less than casting pearls before swine, and subjecting ourselves to the bitter mortification of witnessing the ease with which the grossest absurdities can remain proof against the most direct refutations: and the complacency which the human mind feels in its own horrifying delusions, notwithstanding the symptoms of their destructive tendency, are too palpable to be concealed. "That you ought not to violate any condition which they prescribe, I think your good sense will readily admit; and as you cannot conscientiously observe it, I should recommend you, to assign your reasons, and then, if they are not satisfied, to retire. You may, by coming to such a decision, induce them to tolerate your habit of instructing the children, and in that case the end is gained; if not, you relieve yourself from the responsibility of their conduct, and depart without making any sacrifice of your principle, though you may of your feeling and of your interest. 66 I am, Madam, "Yours, "The AUTHOR." "Sir, "I have lately turned my attention to a course of intellectual reading; but I am sorry to say, that instead of being encouraged by my parents, I am opposed. They say that it will be of no use to me;that it will tend to disqualify me for the station I am likely to fill in society; and, by making me appear singular, it will make me appear ridiculous. When I ask them to supply me with books, they give me the Bible or some periodical magazine, and tell me that I ought not to thirst for more knowledge than I can find in them. Now, Sir, I do not wish you to understand that I hold the sacred volume in light estimation, or that I take no interest in the essays and the news with which the monthly publications of the press abound, I trust I revere the sacred page, and often meditate with seriousness and delight on the great and important truths which it has revealed to man; but I feel anxious, while I have leisure, to improve my mind and my taste, by the acquisition of general knowledge. My rank in society often brings me into connection with persons of some degree of literary eminence, whose conversation often turns on the excellences and defects of authors, of whose productions I am as ignorant as the wild Arabs of the desert; and hence I am doomed to sit in dumb silence, till the laws of politeness impose on them the propriety of asking some petty question, which makes me feel my intellectual degradation. If, Sir, it can be proved that we are forbidden to taste the fruit that grows on the tree of knowledge; or that it has any deleterious effect on the tendencies of our mind, I will bow in submission to such a prohibition; but if no such sentence has passed the lips of our |