The great object kept in view throughout the whole of this introduction, is the enforcement of religious principle, and the condemnation of a life lavished in dissipation and fashionable amusement.  In the pursuit of this object, it appears to us, that Mrs. Moore is much too severe upon the ordinary amusements of mankind, many of which she does not object to in this, or that degree; but altogether.  Caelebs and Lucilla, her optimus and optima, never dance, and never go to the play.  They not only stay away from the comedies of Congreve and Farquhar, for which they may easily enough be forgiven; but they never go to see Mrs. Siddons in the Gamester, or in Jane Shore.  The finest exhibition of talent, and the most beautiful moral lessons, are interdicted, at the theatre.  There is something in the word Playhouse, which seems so closely connected, in the minds of these people, with sin, and Satan,—­ that it stands in their vocabulary for every species of abomination.  And yet why?  Where is every feeling more roused in favour of virtue, than at a good play?  Where is goodness so feelingly, so enthusiastically learnt?  What so solemn as to see the excellent passions of the human heart called forth by a great actor, animated by a great poet?  To hear Siddons repeat what Shakespeare wrote!  To behold the child, and his mother—­the noble, and the poor artisan,—­the monarch, and his subjects—­all ages and all ranks convulsed with one common passion—­wrung with one common anguish, and, with loud sobs and cries, doing involuntary homage to the God that made their hearts!  What wretched infatuation to interdict such amusements as these!  What a blessing that mankind can be allured from sensual gratification, and find relaxation and pleasure in such pursuits!  But the excellent Mr. Stanley is uniformly paltry and narrow, —­always trembling at the idea of being entertained, and thinking no Christian safe who is not dull.  As to the spectacles of impropriety which are sometimes witnessed in parts of the theatre; such reasons apply, in much stronger degree, to not driving along the Strand, or any of the great public streets of London, after dark; and if the virtue of well educated young persons is made of such very frail materials, their best resource is a nunnery at once.  It is a very bad rule, however, never to quit the house for fear of catching cold.

Mrs. Moore practically extends the same doctrine to cards and assemblies.  No cards—­because cards are employed in gaming; no assemblies—­because many dissipated persons pass their lives in assemblies.  Carry this but a little further, and we must say,—­no wine, because of drunkenness; no meat, because of gluttony; no use, that there may be no abuse!  The fact is, that Mr. Stanley wants not only to be religious, but to be at the head of the religious.  These little abstinences are the cockades by which the party are known,—­the rallying points for the evangelical faction.  So natural is the love of power, that it sometimes becomes the influencing motive with the sincere advocates of that blessed religion, whose very characteristic excellence is the humility which it inculcates.