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    we have already in the house , ( antl his good old English hospitality had filled his ample residence with guests , ) a number more will arrive in the course of the morning , and several ministers among them ^ who were at the association at W yesterday ; and I think this would be a good opportunity to try whether we

    could not mingle religion with pleasure ; especially , I mean , so as to make it interesting and pleasant to the young people . Don ' t you ~ thin 1 rwe ^ " rnig rTt ~ have something itr ~ the way ~ of ~ ardfscussioti after dinner , when some interesting religious subject , to be fixed upon beforehand , should be brought forward ; and let those who feel inclined express their sentiments upon it . ' The proposal was a delightful one , and when mentioned at the breakfast table / met

    with universal approbation . Mr . H- — - lived in a lovely little village in the north-east of England ; a village lovely because he had made it so . Nature had done little to distinguish it . The surrounding country was flat and fenny ; but he had gradually brought it into a high state of cultivation , and had long exercised upon it his taste and skill in planting , till now he livedimbosomed in the rich varieties of woodland scenery . His own residence had partaken , both within and with out , of the progressive improvement that his presence seemed to infuse into every thing around him ; and presented the unique

    appearance of a large and somewhat antiquated house , nursed up into elegance and comfort . But his attention had been especially bestowed upon a garden , that lay for several acres along one side and at the back of the house . And a < lelightful ~ sight it was , as the friends arrived one after another , and party after party , to the number of nearly fifty , to see the old and the young rambling in groups along the green walks and among the clustering trees , and

    enjoying themselves unconstrained amid that heart-cheering scene * As soon as dinner was over , we all adjourned to a roomy grassplot at the side of the house , where the seats were ranged in the shade of an oak that had stood more than its hundred years , and whose leafy branches descended to the ground on every side . And after the fruits that were in season had been handed round , fresh from the neighbouring trees , one of the ministers was called to the chair , who introduced the subject for discussion with a cheerful propriety , that showed at once how well religion might be made to blend with pleasure , and how well the pleasantness of social enjoyment might be made to open the heart to the best feelings of religion . The subject , though not chosen with that view , formed a striking contrast with the scene . It was the doctrine of hereditary depravity ; and its horrors , as they were unfolded , only seemed to set off the innocent happiness of thaf ; friendly group . One of the speakers took this very position ; and said , that if he had wanted one argument more conclusive than any other against the doctrine that mankind were from their birth corrupt to the heart ' s core , he would appeal to that scene , and

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    17 b feftLIGtOtf AND PLEASURE .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 1, 1833, page 178, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2615/page/18/