ably and convincingly; but none other has ever been so satisfactory to my own mind:  I think it will be so to yours.  I am aware that much may be said in defence of the expediency of the amusements to which I refer; and as there is a certainty that both of them, or others of a similar nature, will meet with general support until “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ,"[98] it is a compensatory satisfaction that they are neither of them without their advantages to the general welfare of the country; that good is mixed with their evil, as well as brought out of their evil.  This does not, however, serve as an excuse for those who, having their mind and judgment enlightened to see the dangers to others and the temptations to themselves of attending such amusements, should still disfigure lives, it may be, in other respects, of excellence and usefulness, by giving their time, their money, and their example to countenance and support them.  Wo to those who venture to lay their sinful human hands upon the complicated machinery of God’s providence, by countenancing the slightest shade of moral evil, because there may be some accompanying good!  We cannot look forward to a certain result from any action:  the most virtuous one may produce effects entirely different from those which we had anticipated; and we can then only fearlessly leave the consequences in the hands of God, when we are sure that we have acted in strict accordance with His will.  Does it become the servant of God voluntarily to expose herself to hear contempt and blasphemy attached to the Holy Name and the holy things which she loves; to see on the stage an awful mockery of prayer itself, on the race-course the despair of the ruined gambler and the debasement of the drunkard?  The choice of the scenes you frequent now, of the company you keep now, is of an importance involved in the very nature of things, and not dependent alone on the expressed will of God.  It is only the pure in heart who can see God.[99] It is only those who have here acquired a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light[100] who can enjoy its possession.

It is almost entirely in this point of view that I have urged upon you the close consideration of the permanent influences of every present action.  At your age, and with your inexperience, I know that there is an especial aptness to deceive one’s-self by considering the case of those who, after leading a gay life for many years, have afterwards become the most zealous and devoted servants of God.  That such cases are to be met with, is to the glory of the free grace of God:  but what reason have you to hope that you should be among this small number?  Having once wilfully chosen the pleasures of this life as your portion, on what promise do you depend ever again to be awakened to a sense of the awful alternative of fulfilling your baptismal vows, by renouncing the pomps and vanities of the world, or becoming a withered branch of the vine into which you were once grafted—­a branch whose end is to be burned?