dern Europe, old as they are in vice and corruption, and sinking, as they rapidly are, perhaps, into the same gulf of oblivion, that has long since received the glory of Greece and of Rome? If we go back to ancient nations for sports and pastimes, why not copy also their confused philosophy, and their stupid theology, their omens, their oracles, and their worship of false gods? And if we look to modern Europe for a similar purpose, why not look there also for government, for constitutions and laws! Why not change our political institutions, as well as demoralize our manners, in order to be equal with European nations in public as well as private degeneracy?

And here is a proper place for remarking, that under the old monarchies of Europe, though professing to be christians, the monarchs have found it for their interest to encourage any and every idle amusement, which would divert the populace from thinking on the subject of government. Men engaged in the low pursuits of horse-racing, bull-baiting, and fox-hunting, it was easily seen, would have no time nor inclination for studying the science of government, nor any other science, but that of "training" horses, hounds and bull-dogs! So with the demagogues, and the priests, and their oracles, of Greece and Rome; they knew that their in

trigues, their false theology, would not stand the test of investigation; and Demetrius, for example, who lived by the manufacture and sale of idols, or false gods, was willing, of course, so long as he could flourish upon their folly, that the people should spend their leisure hours at the circus, or the amphitheatre, tickled with the exploits of equestrians and gladiators, or swell the deluded ranks of a triumph, instead of ferreting out such impostors as himself and his compeers in iniquity. Such is the brief why, and the wherefore, of all the idle and demoralising sports of Europe, both ancient and modern: And such have been their baneful effects, that tyranny has triumphed for ages over the corruption and consequent imbecility of the people. You may set it down as a general rule, that whenever governors, or legislators, encourage idle and vicious amusements, it is to divert the eyes of the multitude from their own unhallowed deeds. Let the fools, they say to themselves, sacrifice their talents and their time at the racecourse, the circus, or the bull-bait, while we cheat them out of their liberties, and run away with the spoils of power and patronage, the fruits of unprincipled ambition!

But we have free constitutions, purchased by the blood of our fathers, as well as gospel light and liberty, purchased by the blood of our Sa

viour. We possess a country abounding in every resource that can render man happy, and glorify the Creator; and we have millions of fertile acres, laying waste for future generations to cultivate and improve. The blessings of our government, and our location upon the face of the globe, surpass those of all other people, so great has been the goodness of God, in directing our pious ancestors to this chosen retreat from all the vices, and asylum from all the oppressions, of the old world.

When we reflect upon those multiplied blessings which the all-bountiful Creator of the Universe has bestowed upon us, how natural is it, that every pious and grateful heart among us, should feel the full weight of its obligations to heaven? And thus feeling, to watch and pray for the preservation of those blessings, unmingled with alloy, uncontaminated by vice, idleness and profligacy.

But how grossly are they contaminated, how wickedly are they perverted, by the very pastime or sport which has called forth these remarks? How prostituted is the intellect, if such it can be called, and the time and labor, which are lost in "training" a brute beast for an idle rivalship of speed with a fellow-brute? If he be a father, who thus murders his time, how much better might he be employed in " "training"

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his children to run the race of virtue and piety, in the heavenly course marked out by the Saviour of mankind, than in "training" a brute for an exhibition, which is perhaps to lure those children, his beloved offspring, to temporal and eternal perdition. But small indeed is the consideration of evil, confined to one individual, when compared with the consideration of that which flows to thousands, from the existence of these practices or sports of the turf. Time misspent by all classes; the bands of virtue dissolved; youth initiated, and the middle aged confirmed, in depravity: Idleness, the bane of every virtue, and the parent of every vice, encouraged and extended: The laws of the land violated; And the laws of God set at defiance and trampled upon, by the cheat, the gambler, the drunkard, and the blasphemer, who are congregated together, on the Race-ground or course -the course of SATAN, and his satellites, which leads directly" down to the gates of hell!"

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This is, indeed, but a faint picture of the sport," and the evils which flow from its toleration among us. Would heaven, that those of its deluded votaries, who still retain some share of virtue, and whose example alone preserves the practice, might be led to reflect seriously upon the vice and misery which are the fruits of their attachment, to an idle, frivolous

and wicked amusement. They would then view it in the same odious light, in which every enlightened well-wisher of his country and of mankind, and every sincere christian, has ever viewed it. The scales having fallen from their eyes, they would abandon the Race-ground for a nobler course, where prizes of immortal stamp and value crown the exertions of those who are victorious; and thousands, who, by their example, are now exposed to temporal and eternal ruin, would hereafter "rise up and call them blessed." To those who are hardened in their propensity for the turf, and the vices connected with it, may God, of his infinite mercy, direct some ministering angel of reform, to enlighten their minds, to meliorate their hearts, and subdue their ruinous passion for an unhallowed pursuit. To those who are professed christians, but are nevertheless frequently led to the Race-ground, through want of reflection, we beg leave to say: If you have to-day attended a horse-race, and have had your moral sense insulted and shocked, if not blunted and destroyed, by the infamous scenes there presented; are you qualified, under such degradation of mind, to approach to-morrow the altar of God, in that spirit of pure devotion which is worthy of an immortal soul, offering up its homage to the source of its eternal happiness or misery!