beautiful history of Grecian science tell, whether in the statue, they worshipped the mere marble structure, or, in its forms and attributes, beheld and adored a personification of eternal truth and wisdom, and so prepared the mind for deeds which have rendered Greece for ever illustrious. Or, when returning from a Marathon, or a Salamis, the warriors of Athens, followed by trains of maidens, and matrons, and old men, returned thanks to the god of victories,-let the immortal record of the long series of glorious achievements which succeeded these, tell, whether gratitude to their heroes was not there identified with homage to the spirit or the divinity that inspired them.

True it is, that whenever physical or moral principles are personified, the ignorant may be led to mistake the sign for that which is signified; but one of the most admirable characteristics of the Grecian religion is, that, with little effort, every external form may be traced to the spirit which it represents, and every fable may be resolved into a beautiful illustration of physical or moral truth. So that when mystic influences, with increasing knowledge, ceased to sway the imagination, all powerful truths directed the

reason.

The natural and poetical religion of Greece therefore, differed from false and vulgar religions

in this, that it was calculated to hold equal empire over the minds of the ignorant and the wise; and the initiations of Eleusis were apparently the solemn acts by which the youths and maidens of Greece passed from ignorance and blind obedience to knowledge and enlightened zeal. Thus, in that happy region, neither were the priests knaves, nor the people their dupes.*

And what has been the result of this fundamental excellence?—That no interpolated fooleries have been able to destroy it; - that the religion of Greece exists, and must ever exist, the religion of nature, genius, and taste; -and that neither poetry nor the arts can have being without it. Schiller has well expressed this truth in the following lines:

"The intelligible forms of ancient poets, The fair humanities of old religion,

The power, the beauty, and the majesty,

That had their haunts in dale, or piny mountains,

Or forest, by slow stream, or pebbly spring,

Or chasms, and watery depths,-all these have vanish'd;
They live no longer in the faith of reason;

But still the heart doth need a language; still
Doth the old instinct bring back the old names;
And even at this day,

"Tis Jupiter who brings whate'er is great,

And Venus who brings every thing that's fair."

I am not here called upon to vindicate the errors and absurdities which poets and others introduced into mythology.

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CHAPTER III:

CAUTIONS AS TO YOUTH.

IN relation to early sexual association, it cannot be doubted, that when the instinct of reproduction begins to be developed, the reserve which parents, relatives and instructors adopt on this subject is often the means of producing injurious effects; because a system of concealment on this subject, as observed in the preceding chapter, is quite impracticable. Discoveries made by young persons in obscene books, the unguarded language or shameless conduct of grown up persons, even the wild flights of an imagination which is then easily excited, will have the most fatal consequences.

Parents or instructors ought therefore, at that critical period, to give rational explanations as to the nature and the object of the propensity, the mechanism of reproduction in various vegetable and animal beings, and the fatal consequences to which this propensity may lead. Such procedure, if well conducted, cannot but have the most bene

ficial results; because, in order that a sane person should avoid any danger, it is only necessary that he should see it distinctly.

The advantage, it has been observed, which the parent, relative or instructor derives from himself informing the adolescent in the new faculty which is developed in him, is to prevent his choosing, among corrupt servants or ignorant youths of his own age, the confidants of his amorous passion. The parent or instructor, moreover, is then justly entitled to, and has gratefully given to him, the entire confidence of the adolescent; and he is thereby enabled exactly to appreciate the degree of power of the propensity which he desires to divert or to guide.

Such being the case, it is the business of the parent to present a true picture of the effects of too early association of this kind, on the stature, the various development of the figure, the muscular power, the quality of the voice, the health, and especially on the acuteness, the power, the dignity, and the courage of the mind.

In doing this, it would be as stupid as injurious to employ the slightest degree of false representation, of reprimand, or even of what is called moralizing, which is only the contemptible cant of a being who cannot reason, when it takes the place of a simple and powerful statement of facts.

All of these would only render the young man a dissembler, and would compel him to choose another confidant.

Among other considerations, varying according to the circumstances of the case, those stated below may with advantage be presented.

At a certain period in the life both of plants and animals, varying according to their kind and the climate they live in, they are fit for and disposed to the reproduction of their species. The sexes in both are then attracted to each other. In plants, the powder termed pollen, in animals a peculiar liquid which, deriving its name by analogy from the seeds of plants, is termed seminal, is secreted by the male plant or animal, and, by organs differently formed in each kind, is cast upon ova or eggs either contained within, or deposited by, the female. The details of this process are among the most beautiful and interesting of the living economy. In mankind, the transition to this period is termed puberty.

It is with this critical period, and his conduct during it, that all that the youth deems most valuable, all that can decide his fortunes and his happiness in the world, his stature, figure, strength, voice, health, and mental powers are most intimately connected.

In regard to stature, the body appears to com