THE BELIEF IN FATE.

THIS is one of the most dangerous doctrines that can possibly take possession of the mind of man, and has been made an apology for the commission of almost every crime against civil society; and, indeed, is generally resorted to, to excuse every rash action; and, if fostered, will prove an encouragement to every kind of wickedness. It is very common among the ignorant to say, when a man commits suicide, "He could na wun by it; it was so ordained." If a person is killed by accident, it is immediately pronounced to have been destined by fate. If a young female goes astray, it is immediately said "it was her fate;" or, "it was so ordained." Such is the decision of the ignorant as to the fate or destiny of mortals. But, let it be considered but for a moment, what would be the consequences to society of such dangerous doctrines. The fact would be, that, if such a creed was to be admitted, the robber, the murderer, the thief, nay, every kind

of depredators would be encouraged to per. severe in their crimes, and place their actions to account of fate, and justify themselves in persevering in their wickedness, as being pushed on by the irresistible hand of fate. With these men, religion could not be considered as of any efficacy, being entirely opposed to that of fate.-Religion teaches that the Almighty created man a free agent; that he promised every man his assisting grace, to enable him to overcome evil, and to do good.-Religion also teaches that the Supreme Being has set good and evil before his creatures, with liberty to choose the one, and reject the other: In a word, the All-wise Being left it to man to choose either good or bad; and, if he adhered to the former, he would be rewarded with happiness in the next world; but if to the latter, he would be miserable to all eternity.

But the above doctrine would have other equally injurious effects in social life. It would encourage suicide, and the commission of many rash actions. The unfortunate man would say,-" Why should I live under my disgrace; I feel a strong impression on my mind that it is ordained I

should die by my own hand; and if so, I cannot resist it." The rash and inconsiderate man-"Why need I use any precaution to preserve my life? if it is ordained I must die by such means as fate has decreed, any thing that I can do will be of no avail." The ship-master would not only become careless of his own life, but, by neglecting his duty, would sacrifice the interest of his employers, and risk the lives of his passengers. The landsman, in like manner, would, through carelessness, hazard the lives and property of those committed to his charge; and, if an accident happened, would excuse himself by saying, "It was so ordained; and any precaution of mine could not have prevented it.” Endless, indeed, would be the mischief such dangerous principles might occasion, and many and dreadful have been its effects in society. It would undoubtedly put an end to all order in human affairs, and root out every spark of religion from the mind of

man.

FORTUNE TELLING.

If the

THIS is a practice extremely common, and one which ought to be discouraged in the severest manner, particularly among the lower class of the community. Almighty meant to deposit the secrets of the destinies of mankind in the breasts of individuals, it would undoubtedly be in those of men of solid piety and virtue, and not in those who have no claim to either.The Fortune-tellers of the present day, or at least those who pretend to that knowledge, are generally people of the most worthless character, and completely void of learning as of virtue; yet, they pretend to possess a gift of prophecy and supernatural knowledge far above their neighbours. Indeed, these false prophets are always vagrants, who endeavour to make themselves acquainted with the connections of those whose fortunes they attempt to read; and in virtue of that information, are enabled to point to this person a husband, and to another a wife, from among their own ac

quaintances, describing their very features and colour of their hair; and it may happen that some of those who have been so duped, may get a person answering some of these descriptions; but nineteen times out of twenty no such thing takes place; and it never fails to end in smoke at last: But the Fortune-teller has pocketed her cash, and that was all she aimed at.

As to the absurd idea, that these fortunetellers can give information regarding thefts, or point out the thief's countenance in amirror, it is equally ridiculous as fortunetelling. They may conjecture, from the person's character that is blamed, and from the circumstances related by the person who has lost the goods, that he is most probably the thief; but to know who really is the person who committed the act, this they cannot do. That they sometimes anticipate correctly that the stolen articles will be returned, requires not much knowledge of divination: it is well known that these persons have acquired a good deal of awe among the ignorant, and when the thief understands that they have prophesied that the goods will be returned, and that, if they are not, the thief will be discovered, it is