EFFECTS OF INFIDEL PHILOSOPHY. 



187 



you, that within a few weeks, I suffered an 

 Episcopaliat to preach in my pulpit, and to use 

 his own forms of prayer. Bi t such is the state 

 of feeling in my congregation, that, though such 

 a thing had never before occurred among them, 

 yet it met with their universal and unqualified 

 approbation. On the other hand, I expect, in 

 the course of a week or two, to preach a charity 

 sermon here in one of our Episcopal churches, 

 and to perform the whole service in my own way. 

 This, it must be confessed, is a little uncommon 

 even in this country ; but every thing indicates, 

 that such expressions of good will, even between 

 Presbyterians and Episcopalians, will soon be 

 come frequent. Independents and Presbyte 

 rians here occupy nearly the same ground. They 

 are indeed distinct denominations, but are repre 

 sented in each other s public bodies.&quot; The au 

 thor has perused an excellent sermon of the cler 

 gyman now alluded to, which was preached in 

 an Independent church when introducing an In- 

 dependent minister to his charge immediately after 

 ordination, which shows that we have still much 

 to learn from our transatlantic brethren, in relation 

 to a friendly and affectionate intercourse with 

 Christians of different denominations. 



No. XII. On the Demoralizing Effects of Infi 

 del Philosophy. P. 1 531 56. 



With the view of corroborating and illustrating 

 more fully the statements made in the pages re 

 ferred to, the following facts may be stated in re 

 lation to the moral character of the inhabitants of 

 France, particularly those of Paris. 



In the first place, the vice of gambling pre 

 vails in the capital of France to an extent un 

 known in almost any other country. The Pa- 

 lais Royale is the grand focus of this species of in 

 iquity, which is the fertile source of licentious 

 ness, and of almost every crime. Mr. J. Scott, 

 who visited Paris in 1814, thus describes this 

 sink of moral pollution. &quot; The Palais Royale 

 presents the most characteristic feature of Paris ; 

 it is dissolute, gay, wretched, elegant, paltry, 

 busy, and idle it suggests recollections of atro 

 city, and supplies sights of fascination it dis 

 plays virtue and vice living on easy terms, and 

 in immediate neighbourhood of each other. Ex 

 citements, indulgences, and privations art and 

 vulgarity science and ignorance artful con 

 spiracies and careless debaucheries all mingle 

 here, forming an atmosphere of various exhala 

 tions, a whirl of the most lively images a sti 

 mulating melange of what is most heating, in 

 toxicating, and subduing.&quot; Sir W. Scott, who 

 visited Paris in 1815, gives the following de 

 scription of this infamous establishment. &quot; The 

 Pa/ais Royale, in whose saloons and porticoes 

 vice has established a public and open school for 

 gambling and licentiousness, should be levelled 

 to the ground with all its accursed brothels and 



gambling houses rendezvouses the more seduc 

 tive to youth, as being free from some cf those 

 dangers which would alarm timidity in places of 

 avowedly scandalous resort. In the Satton den 

 Etrangers, the most celebrated haunt of this 

 Dom-Daniel, which I had the curiosity to visit, 

 the scene was decent and silent to a degree of 

 solemnity. An immense hall was filled with 

 gamesters and spectators. Those who kept the 

 bank, and managed the affairs of the establish 

 ment, were distinguished by the green shades 

 which they wore to preserve their eyes ; by their 

 silent and grave demeanour, and by the paleness 

 of their countenances, exhausted by their con 

 stant vigils. There was no distinction of per 

 sons, nor any passport required for entrance, 

 save that of a decent exterior; and, on the long 

 tables, which were covered with gold, an artisan 

 was at liberty to hazard his week s wages, or a 

 noble his whole estate. Youth and age were 

 equally welcome, and anyone who chose to play 

 within the limits of a trifling sum, had only to 

 accuse his own weakness, if he was drawn into 

 deeper or more dangerous hazard. Every thing 

 appeared to be conducted with perfect fairness. 

 The only advantage possessed by the bank 

 (which is however, enormous) is the extent of 

 the funds, by which it is enabled to sustain any 

 reverse of fortune; whereas, most of the indi 

 viduals who play against the bank, are in cir 

 cumstances to be ruined by the first succession 

 of ill luck ; so that, ultimately, the small ventures 

 merge in the stock of the principal adventurers, 

 as rivers run into the sea. The profits of the 

 establishment must, indeed, be very large, to 

 support its expenses. Besides a variety of at 

 tendants, who distribute refreshments to the 

 players gratis, there is an elegant entertainment, 

 with expensive wines, regularly prepared, about 

 three o clock in the morning, for those who 

 choose to partake of it. With such temptations 

 around him, and where the hazarding an insigni 

 ficant sum seems at first venial or innocent, it is 

 no wonder that thousands feel themselves gradu 

 ally involved in the vortex, whose verge is so lit 

 tle distinguishable, until they are swallowed up, 

 with their time, talents, fortune, and frequently 

 also both body and soul. 



&quot; This is vice with her fairest vizard; but the 

 same unhallowed precinct contains many a se 

 cret celiyor the most \ideous and unheard of de 

 baucheries ; many an open rendezvous of infamyj 

 and many a den of usury and treason ; the whole 

 mixed with a Vanity Fair of shops for jewels, 

 trinkets, and baubles; that bashfulness may not 

 need a decent pretext for adventuring into the 

 haunts of infamy. It was here that the preach 

 ers of revolution found, amidst gamblers, despe 

 radoes, and prostitutes, ready auditors of their 

 doctrines, and active hands to labour in their 

 vineyard. It was here that the plots of the 

 Buonapartists were adjusted ; and from hence 



