such dispositions of gaiety in a way of emulation of complaisance-and by seasoning matters otherwise distasteful and insipid, with an unusual, and thence grateful savor."

All this, which was originally said of wit, and much more in the same strain, might be said of Infidelity; for it is well known that wit, not reason, and ridicule, not wisdom, are the principal arms of this common enemy of mankind-an enemy found in all ranks of society, not excepting the religious themselves. It is an enemy that speaks all languages, and wears the costume of every age and nation. With the vulgar it can be vulgar, and with the refined, polite; with the voluptuous it can be voluptuous without scruple; and with the gay it can be fascinating to excess; with the man of business it can be economical; and with the profuse it can be generous to a proverb, and by the substitution of a few fashionable epithets, as nature, for God-chance, for Providence-character and virtue, for religion and piety—and reason, philosophy, and common sense, for divine revelation, it can very easily exclude those solemn verities from the creed of too many in the present day, even in the land where Bible societies and revivals of religion are well known.

The following graphic description of Infidelity is from the pen of Edward Irving, who, whatever may have been his errors in after life, at one time, possessed a power of language, and a vigor of thought, almost bordering on inspiration :

"At present, there is a rest, during which the spirit of Infidelity is playing its part most successfully,

The

and hath obtained the mastery of every thing but the tyrant thrones, and the superstitious altars, for which the terrible contest is about to be holden. whole science of Europe serveth Infidelity. The whole philosophy of Europe serveth Infidelity—the philosophy of expediency. The whole morality of Europe serveth Infidelity, which is also grounded upon utility. The spirit of freedom and liberty which is smouldering beneath her thrones and governments, ready to toss them on high, and shiver them to atoms, serveth Infidelity, and hath no end but to destroy that which is established. The spirit of the reformed religion over Europe, serveth Infidelity, for it hath set aside the Scriptures, and builds upon the common sense or reason of mankind, and were better to acknowledge Paine's Age of Reason, than the gospel for its standards.

"The spirit of poetry in Germany, where alone any powerful poetry exists, hath bowed to Infidelity, in the two bright and potent stars of Goethe and Schiller; and our Byron is becoming the poetical idol of foreign nations; and all over Europe, from Russia to the isles of Greece; and from the isles of Greece to the rock of Lisbon, our Bentham, the apostle of expediency, hath the upper hand of the lawgivers. And what is left I know not; but that these, the chief and sovereign influencers of the destinies of men, religion, morality, philosophy, science, poetry, and law, that have joined themselves to Infidelity, should dispense and disseminate their proclamations to the body of the people, which now they are doing by the wonderful extension of education, and professedly liberal principles.

"The wars and the rumors of wars which were to arise before the end, have come, and lo, they are past; and all Europe is pleasing itself with the imagination of peace. But let every traveller who hath looked into the veins and arteries of the constitution of every kingdom thereof, say whether they are not throbbing with the fever of passion, and every nerve vibrating convulsively under the weight which is oppressing it. And how can it be otherwise in foreign parts, when it is so even among ourselves, that expediency rides the chariot of the Lord in his own realm, so that faith is not regarded, even in our high places, as any thing beyond a word. They positively laugh you to scorn for propounding any other ground or basis of human action, or political government, than utility; and I have lived to hear the statesmen of this Protestant nation declare, in the hearing of those walls where heretofore the religious liberties of the land were established by two centuries of debate, that "there is little or no difference in creeds," or, in other words, that faith is little more than a name. It is gone forth that "a man is no more answerable for his faith, than for the stature of his person, or the color of his skin." How then must it be on the continent of Europe, where, in the universities, there is nothing but rationalism in religion, and liberalism in politics; in the Protestant churches, nothing but formality or persecution; where there is no spiritual sentiment but to be laughed at; no spiritual man but to be scorned; and hardly any at all either of spiritual sentiment, or spiritual life, intermingled with the great fermenting mass of feeling?

"Superstition hath driven Infidelity to its strong hold, which is, diffusion and ramification. And Infidelity hath driven superstition to its strong hold, which is, darkness and force. And the friends of the new power exult on all hands, in the march of mind, in the developement of thought and feeling. But in that developed feeling, there is no faith; in that mighty march of mind there is no religion. It is the natural man, unrestrained of God, fighting against the restraints of man. It is Satan in one form fighting against Satan in another form; it is the devil in his last and worst form, endeavoring to take and hold the earth."-(Irving's Babylon and Infidelity foredoomed of God.)

In the preceding description, the picture may be thought too highly colored, and the censures too sweeping and severe, but when it is considered that in European countries, church and state are blended in an unholy alliance, it will not be wondered at, if, on examination, there be found much of tyranny, hypocrisy, and Infidelity, and very little of genuine faith, sincerity and truth; and of that little we shall find that it exists not in the governments and churches, as such, but in independent societies, and isolated individuals, whose prayers and alms-deeds serve to the purifying and safety of the nations.

But how is it in our own highly favored land, where there is no unholy alliance of church and state, no reigning monarch, nor spiritual domination? Has Infidelity no place here? Alas for us! our free institutions will be found, it is feared, to tempt and invite the monster Infidelity to settle among us, rather than to repel and frown him from

our shores. For is it not a fact, that, among the ten thousand yearly emigrants that find a home and a resting place here, there are Infidels of the very worst stamp-men who styled themselves "free thinkers," at home, and who, by being proscribed there, have come here as "free inquirers," with a design to teach us how to think, rather than to profit by our former modes of thinking? Is it not a fact, that the professed disciples and admirers of our immortal Franklin, who, while the constitution was framing, taught our fathers to ask counsel of God in prayer, have prevailed to throw down our State altars, and stifle the voice of prayer in our halls of legislation? And whence this, but to the progress of Infidelity?

It is feared that there is now going on a "foreign conspiracy against our liberties," and that the introduction of so many Catholics yearly, is dangerous to the safety of the Republic. But wherefore? Are not all good Catholics true believers? Would to God they were! Doubtless it is the Infidelity that is mixed up with Catholicism, or it is that which produced Infidelity, and all its consequences, in France, which is to be dreaded, and which makes the prevalence of Popery so much to be feared.

It is well known that one of the most peaceable and quiet of all religious bodies on earth, has lately experienced one of the most dreadful schisms that ever rent a society. The FRIENDS have divided into Hicksite and Orthodox parties; but wherefore this division among a people who all professed to be led by the infallible spirit of God? Most unquestiona

bly a spirit of Infidelity, in some form or other, was