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casion ; and from their manners, their pleasures ; and' 

 the whole scene in comparison with the habits and in- 

 ventions and institutions of the last fifty years will fade 

 like the evanescent cloud breathed upon a mirror. — 

 We wish not to be understood as depreciating the facts 

 or the men of other ages. On the contrary, we single 

 out exceptions, and say, they furnish examples from 

 whence moderns have derived many, very many of 

 their best lessons, and most valuable principles in eve- 

 ry branch of knowledge. We only say, that as a mass, 

 men of this day as much exceed in mind and morals, 

 those living two hundred years ago, as those living 

 two hundred years hence, will exceed the present 

 generation. 



For the proof, compare in the first place, the reli- 

 gion of men. 



1. That beautiful system of religious duty, so ex- 

 tensively adopted by the civilized world, and so re- 

 markably preserved amidstthe most extraordinary con- 

 vulsions of time, has depended, for its propagation, 

 upon the simplest truths. Unlike every other system, 

 it has been established in peace; without force, and 

 without money. No war, no human sacrifices, no po- 

 litical connexions, lie at the base of its structure. Its 

 promoters have been disinterested ; its sentiments 

 couched in the sublimest simplicity of language. It has 

 interfered with the authority of no government; with 

 no man's social duty : It has taught obedience to the 

 law ; embraced among its commands every regulation 

 necessary in life; enforced benevolence; united the 

 family circle; and even required the slave to obey his 

 master. We are struck as we contemplate its history 

 with two remarkable facts connected with its rise and 



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