I shall begin with an extract from my former essay; and shall then cite a few passages from the Tatler in confirmation. “I have been for some time meditating on the difference between those persons who merely exist, and those who may be truly said to live. The first thought of this kind presented itself this morning at a bathing room in this town. I there saw a youth who has been here several weeks, whose whole time has been occupied in eating and drinking, bathing, riding, small talk, and a variety of other amusements. Since I left the room, I have been employed in a profound meditation on the precise limits which divide existence from life, or in other words, the distinction between a life which is merely animal, and that which deserves the name of rational.—The existing animal is a biped, which of all others bears the nearest resemblance to man. It has not only all the parts of the human body in the greatest perfection, but it possesses every faculty of the human soul. In this respect it differs materially from all those creatures which have only a partial resemblance to man, such as the Ape, the Ourang-outang, the Parrot, &c. Some of these can mimic the actions of man, and others can imitate his words, but it is peculiar to this non-descript, to be capable of entertaining similar thoughts to his prototype. But there is one remarkable feature in the character of this animal, namely, that although he is capable of reflection, yet he appears as if he had no mind or understanding. He lives only for and to himself; he never rises above himself, nor looks beside or beyond himself; he regards all past and future events with equal indifference, and present gratification is the sole object of his attention. In this respect he appears most to resemble the swine, who will not allow even a brother pig of inferior strength to interfere with his propensities." The following quotations from the Tatler will both illustrate and diversify the foregoing remarks. No. 205, "I have often considered a certain class of people with very great attention, and have always spoken of them with the distinction of the Eaters and the Swallowers. The Eaters sacrifice all their senses and understanding to this appetite. The Swallowers, hurry themselves out of both, without pleasing this, or any appetite at all. The latter are improved brutes; the former are degenerated men. I have sometimes thought it would not be improper to add, neither dead or living + Margate. men; but persons in an intermediate state of humanity, under the appellation of the Dozers. The Dozers, are a set, who instead of keeping their appetites in subjection-live in subjection to them; and are in fact truly slaves to them." No. 96, "It has cost me very much care and thought, to marshall and fix young people under their proper denominations, and to arrange them according to their respective characters. I entered on my essay, with a declaration, that I should consider mankind in quite another manner than they had hitherto been represented; and that NONE BUT A USEFUL LIFE, SHOULD WITH ME BE ANY LIFE AT ALL. Every worthless man is a dead man, and I have therefore composed the following scheme of existence, for the benefit of both the living, and the dead, though chiefly for the latter, whom I must desire to regard it with all possible attention. In the number of the dead, I comprehend all persons of what title or dignity soever, who bestow most of their time in eating and drinking for the support of that imaginary existence which they call life; or in dressing and ornamenting those shadows and apparitions, which are looked upon by the vulgar as real men and women.-In short, whoever resides in the world without having any business to attend to, and passes away to age, without ever thinking on the errand for which he was sent hither, is my DEAD MAN, to all intents and purposes; and I desire that he may be so reported. The living are only those, who are some way or other employed in improving their own minds, or for the advantage of others; and even among these, I shall only reckon that part of their time which has been spent in the manner abovementioned. By these means, I am afraid, I shall find that the longest lives do not consist of many months, and the greatest part of the earth be quite unpeopled. According to this system, I may observe, that some men are born at 20 years of age, some at 30; some at threescore, and some not above an hour before they die. Nay, we may observe numbers, who die without ever being born; as well as many dead persons who fill up the blanks of mankind, and make better figures in life, than those who are alive, and in their proper and full state of health. However there may be many who pay their taxes, and live peaceably in their habitations, who are not yet born, or have departed this life several years. My design is to encourage these to attach themselves as soon as possible to the number of the living; for as I invite one class to break into VOL. VI. 3d SERIES. F being, and to become good for something; so I allow to the other a state of rescuscitation."-No. 97. "Having swept away a prodigious multitude in my last paper, and brought a great destruction upon my own species; I must now endeavor to raise fresh recruits, and if possible to supply the places of the unborn, and the deceased. It is said of Xerxes that when he stood on a hill, and saw the whole country around him covered with his army; he burst into tears, to think that not one of that multitude would be alive a hundred years afterwards. For my part, when I take a survey of this populous city, I can scarce forbear weeping to see how few of its inhabitants are now living. It was with this thought that I drew up my list of dull mortals, and endeavored to set out in it a great number of persons who have perished by a distemper commonly called ❝IDLENESS," which has long raged in the world, and destroyed more in every town than the plague. To repair the mischief it has done, and stock the world with a better race of mortals, I have more hopes of bringing to LIFE those that are young, than of reviving those that are old. [Here the author alludes to the well known allegory of Hercules, Virtue, and Pleasure,—and then adds] I have translated this allegory for the benefit of the youth of Great Britain, and also those who are still in the deplorable state of nonexistence, and whom I most earnestly intreat to come into the world. Let my embryos shew the least inclination to any single virtue, and I shall allow it to be a struggling towards birth; and though they may not have abilities to distinguish themselves in the most shining parts of a great character, they have a certain capacity of being just, faithful, modest, and temperate." I now add, that those who live, consider the end or design for which they were sent into the world, namely, to honor their Creator and to benefit their fellow-creatures. While those who merely exist, appear to have no visible end or object in their view, but rather like the brute creation, do as well as they can to-day, and think nothing of the future. I cannot bear, that the readers of the Youths' Magazine should rank in this class, and I therefore address them in a way of friendly caution. I close with a sentence from Sallust, which is thus translated in the Tatler, No. 96. "In my opinion, he only may be truly said to LIVE, and enjoy his being, who is engaged in some laudable pursuit; and acquires a name by some illustrious action, or useful art." To which I will add that the youth lives, who lives for eternity. CRITO. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TWO WORLDS. "The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal.' THE best means of securing permanent felicity in this changing and chequered scene, so far as it can be secured, is to preserve a constant and undeviating neutrality, if possible, with respect to the events that transpire in the present state of existence: to regard every thing on earth as uncertain, and look on every thing in heaven as fixed and secure. To "set the affections on things above, and not on things of the earth." Our prospects here at the most prosperous times are but dark and obscure, while those we entertain of celestial happiness are clear and unclouded. If we affix ideas of complete happiness to any sensible objects whatsoever we are generally disappointed. We know not what a day may bring forth, and what we regard as most certain, frequently proves transient and unabiding. Why should we feel so intensely and participate so deeply in circumstances which do not affect our lasting interests? One man engages so warmly in politics, that his very soul is absorbed in the contemplation of occurrences which could not otherwise secure his attention, or injure his state. His mind is abstracted from the occupations of life, or the welfare of his family, while he is discussing transactions that will never really profit him. The same might be said with respect to other things by which men allow themselves to be abstracted from duties involving their dearest interests. If the men of the world are so affected with what occurs in this temporal state, how much ought christians to be impressed with a continued sense of the superior politics which regulate the affairs of the eternal kingdom of glory!! (T.W.C.) IGDALIA. ANECDOTE OF A CHILD. A DEAR little boy under four years old, who was in the habit of being regularly taken by his parents on the Lord's day to the house of God, was one morning left at home on account of the state of the weather. When his father returned from chapel, he said to him, "Father! it has been sabbath-day for you, but not for me or my mother, for we have not been at chapel to-day." O! that many children of a larger growth, would think as this dear child thought! ANNE. SKETCH OF THE SPOT AT MALTA, Where St. Paul is supposed to have been shipwrecked. THE subjoined sketch of St. Paul's Bay and its Environs, in the island of Malta, to which tradition refers the shipwreck of the apostle Paul, was taken by Mr. Bird, missionary in Syria, and correctly exhibits the topography of the bay. The explanation is given by another who had visited the bay. The inlet c has very The ship might have anchored at a or b. much the appearance of a creek, and would lead us to think that the anchorage was at b. m is an island, and two seas meet at d, |