Scott describes the fascinations of the stage as follows:

"The unusual form of the house, filled with such groups of crowded spectators, themselves forming an extraordinary spectacle to the eye which has never witnessed it before, yet all intent upon that wide and mystic curtain, whose dusky undulations permit us now and then to discover the momentary glitter of some gaudy form, or the spangles of some sandaled foot which trips lightly within; then the light, brilliant as that of day; the music, which in itself is a sufficient treat in every other situation, our inexperience mistakes for the very play we came to witness; then the slow rise of the shading curtain, disclosing as if by actual magic a new land, with woods, and mountains, and lakes, lighted it seemed to us by another sun, and inhabited by a race of beings different from ourselves, whose language is poetry, whose dress, demeanour, and sentiments, seem something supernatural, and whose whole actions and discourse are calculated, not for the ordinary tone of every-day life, but to excite the stronger and more powerful faculties—to melt with sorrow— overpower with terrors-astonish with the marvellous -or convulse with irresistible laughter-all these wonders stamp indelible impressions on the memory; and we still remember the sinking lights, the dispersing crowd, with the vain longings which we felt, that the music would again sound, and the magic curtain once more arise, and the enchanting dream recommence; and the astonishment with which we looked upon the apathy of the older part of our company, who, having the means, did not spend every evening in the theatre."

It is not strange, then, that so many have been destroyed by the theatre. The country youth, unsuspecting and inexperienced, visits this place of amusement for once, just to see for himself. This done, he is caught in the meshes of the tempter, and the chance of his recovery is small. While the Tremont theatre, in Boston, was undergoing transformation into a place of worship, a man was observed to come in, sit down, and weep. One of the labourers inquired into the cause of his grief. "Oh! I was thinking," said the aged man, "of my two sons who were both ruined here." How many parents have wept bitter tears for a similar reason! That young man is wise who resolves never to enter a theatre.

It appears that Lawrence, on one occasion, did depart from his determination to avoid places of temptation, and visit the theatre. He was a fellow-boarder with the author of a new play, and, as a personal favour, consented to go and hear it on the night of its introduction. It was a very different affair, however, from those bewitching tragedies usually enacted at theatres. And yet he says of this: "In looking back, the picture comes fresh before me; and, among all, I do not recollect one who was the better, and most were ruined. The theatre is no better now."

Had not Lawrence possessed uncommon resolution, with high moral principle, he might not have withstood the temptation of that single play. Or had he witnessed some fascinating and impressive tragedy, instead of that common-place affair, with all his firmness and principle, he might have been ruined by thus venturing upon the tempter's ground. He wrote very truthfully:

K

"The theatre is no better now." It has always been a prolific source of evil, and always will be. In 1778 the American Congress passed the following resolve :—

"Whereas, true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty and happiness : Resolved, that it be, and is hereby earnestly recommended to the several States to take the most effectual measures for the encouragement thereof, and for the suppressing theatrical entertainments, horse-racing, gaming, and such other diversions as are productive of idleness, dissipation, and a general depravity of principles and manners."

Four days after the passage of the above, the following was passed:

"Whereas, frequenting play-houses and theatrical entertainments has a fatal tendency to divert the minds of the people from a due attention to the means necessary for the defence of the country and the preservation of their liberties: Resolved, that any person holding an office under the United States, who shall act, promote, encourage, or attend such plays, shall be deemed unworthy to hold such office, and shall be accordingly dismissed."

We have thus dwelt upon this one evil of the city— the theatre-because it is second to none in its alluring character, and in the ruin it has already wrought. When a youth leaves his country home for the noisy and tempting city, he should understand that such amusements are dangerous. He should go fully resolved to shun them as he would the plague. Such temptations render his exchange of the country for the city hazardous.

We shall close this chapter by citing two facts, one related by Dr Harper, of Scotland, and the other by Dr Thompson, of New York. The former says :-" Somewhere about twenty years ago, six lads, my informant one of the number, natives of one of the northern counties of England, mutual acquaintances, and similarly educated, went to London about the same time, to be employed in different branches of business. One of the five was beloved for his gentle, generous spirit, and was remarked upon by his associates for his religious impressions, and during a length of time was exemplary in his attention to the duties of the Sabbath. Jaunting on the Lord's day was the first decided step of defection, soon followed by gambling and other evil work; next came bankruptcy and total destitution; shunned by his former companions, he grew as callous as he was degraded, and at length sought and found an asylum in a London workhouse, where he died from exhaustion and disease ten days after his admission.

Another, of whose serious character as favourable if not higher hopes were entertained, fell before the same temptations-married, lived expensively, ran into debt; under the pressure of his difficulties robbed a generous master; fled to America, where he gave himself up to brutal intemperance, and soon died the victim of wretchedness and vice.

"A third, losing character and subsistence by a similar course, poisoned himself in despair.

"The fourth was a young man of high talents and cultivated mind, a solicitor by profession, with very flattering prospects. Sabbath-breaking, gaming, intemperance, with their usual results, marked his course.

He died of want, and his famished corpse was found one night on the steps of a house in Islington.

"The history of the fifth is a repetition of the tragic tale. Sabbath-profanation was followed by dissipated habits. He committed the crime of seduction, fled with his victim, exhausted his means of living; having reached a town in the north of Scotland, he drank to excess to drown his misery, and went and shot himself in his bed. And here," said the narrator, "am I of the six alone remaining to tell the story of their fall." And he ascribed his own preservation, under God, to the alarm which smote him when his early associates first proposed to him to pass part of their Sundays in pleasure, and to the reverence which he sedulously cultivated for the Lord's day, and the public ordinances of religion.

66

The instance given by Dr Thompson is that of a young man, who, he says, was the son of respectable and pious parents, yet living in the vicinity of New Haven, who endeavoured to train him up in the way of the Lord. Some ten years ago he was a pupil in the Sabbath school in which I was then a teacher. He was a well-behaved youth, neither profane, idle, nor vicious; and as he grew up to manhood, he acquired a character for industry and sobriety. Occasionally, indeed, he fell into loose company, but was soon reclaimed by parental kindness and authority, so that till he became of age he was never openly vicious, and seldom absent from his father's house at unseasonable hours. In short, his general deportment at this period would have compared favourably with that of the youth in any plain, well-regulated household. About four years ago, when he was nineteen years old, he began to