158 SALMONIA. 



even anger, when this conduct is not pursued. 

 The severe observance of the Sabbath is con- 

 nected with the vital creed of these rigid 

 Presbyterians ; it is not, therefore, extraor- 

 dinary, that they should enforce it even with a 

 perseverance that goes beyond the bounds of 

 good manners and courtesy. They may quote 

 the example of our Saviour, who expelled the 

 traders from the temple even by violence. 



PHYS. I envy no quality of the mind or 

 intellect in others ; be it genius, power, wit, or 

 fancy : but if I could choose what would be 

 most delightful, and I believe most useful to 

 me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to 

 every other blessing ; for it makes life a dis- 

 cipline of goodness ; creates new hopes, when 

 all earthly hopes vanish; and throws over the 

 decay, the destruction of existence, the most 

 gorgeous of all lights ; awakens life even in 

 death, and from corruption and decay calls up 

 beauty and divinity ; makes an instrument of 

 torture and of shame the ladder of ascent to 

 paradise ; and, far above all combinations of 

 earthly hopes, calls up the most delightful 

 visions of palms and amaranths, the gardens 



