l--something that forbids enjoyment, chains in dire
bondage the free, glad spirit of early life, and casts dark and
cheerless shadows on the sunshine of youth's bright morning! They
imagine it to stalk forth from a dark cell, arrayed in hood and
cowl, to frown upon them in their innocent pastimes--to curdle their
blood with severe rebukes, because of the buoyancy of their hearts
and to drive them back with scowling reprimands, when they would
walk in the sunny paths which God has kindly opened for their
elastic footsteps. Hence they close their ears to its invitations;
turn away from its instructions, as something designed to impose a
heavy yoke upon them; and postpone its claims, to be attended to
among the last acts of life.

That these views and feelings should widely prevail, on a subject
so important as religion, is a matter of deep regret. They are
erroneous and deleterious in the extreme. Let the young strive to
become acquainted with the true nature of the religion of Christ,
and they will learn that such are not its requirements, nor its
fruits. It is not the purpose of its Divine Author to sadden the
heart, or fill the mind with gloom; but to cheer and gladden the
soul, and lead it to the highest and sweetest enjoyments of
existence. It is not the aim of religion to deprive the young of any
real enjoyment--any recreation proper to their age or their nature,
as intellectual, moral, and spiritual beings. But it would assist
the young to distinguish between permanent happiness, and those
hurtful and wicked gratifications which corrupt the heart, and
plunge the whole being into the dark pool of sin and woe. Religion
is the friendly Guide sent from our Father in heaven, to lead his
creatures away from peril and woe, and direct their footsteps into
the most beautiful and happy paths of existence.

"Through life's bewildered way,
Her hand unerring leads;
And o'er the path her heavenly ray
A cheering lustre sheds."

What sight can present itself to the eye more pleasing than a
_religious youth_. By this I do not mean a gloomy, downcast,
sorrowful young man, or young woman, whose countenance is overcast
with shadows, and whose presence chills every beholder. It is a
darkened superstition, a cold, cheerless asceticism, and not the
Christian religion, which gives this unnatural and forbidding
appearance. A religious youth is one who is cheerful and
happy--whose countenance is pervaded with an e