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 LIBRARY 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 B)m33 .W3 04 1833 
 Wayland, Francis, 1796-1865 
 Occasional discourses 
 
 A DONATION 
 
 
 Beceiued 
 
W A y L A N D ' S 
 
 DISCOURSES. 
 
OCCASIONAL 
 
 DISCOURSES, 
 
 SEVERAL NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. 
 
 FRANCIS WAYLAND. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JAMES LORING. 
 
 1833. 
 

 4 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1833, 
 
 BY JAMES LORING, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
TO 
 
 MY PARENTS, 
 
 THE REV. FRANCIS W A Y L A N D, 
 
 AND 
 
 MRS. SARAH WAYLAND, 
 
 OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. T. 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 
 AS AN EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE, 
 BY THEIR SON, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 The Moral Dignity of the Missionary Enter- 
 prise : A Discourse delivered before the Boston 
 Baptist Foreign Mission Society, on the Evening of 
 October 26, 1823, 9 
 
 The Duties of an American Citizen : Two Dis- 
 courses delivered in the First Baptist Meeting House 
 in Boston, on Thursday, April 7, 1825 ; the Day of 
 Public Fast, 40 
 
 The Death of the Ex-Presidents, July 4, 1826: 
 A Discourse delivered in the First Baptist Meeting 
 House in Boston, the week following their decease, . 80 
 
 The Certain Triumph of the Redeemer: A Dis- 
 course delivered in the Murray Street Church, New 
 York, on the Evening of May 9, 1830, 98 
 
 Encouragements to Religious Effort: A Dis- 
 course delivered in Philadelphia, at the Request of the 
 American Sunday School Union, May 25, 1830, . . 132 
 
 The Moral Efficacy of the Doctrine of the 
 Atonement : A Discourse delivered on the Evening 
 of February 3, 1831, in the First Baptist Meeting 
 House in Boston, at the Installation of the Rev. 
 William Hague, 167 
 
contents. 
 
 Elevated Attainments in Piety Essential to a 
 Successful Study of the Scriptures: A Dis- 
 course delivered in tlie Oliver Street Meeting House, 
 New York, on the Evening of December 17, 1832, at 
 the Ordination of Mr. William R. Williams, . ... 195 
 
 The Abuse of the Imagination, 218 
 
 Motives to Beneficence : A Discourse delivered in 
 the Old South Church, Boston, before the Howard 
 Benevolent Society, 236 
 
 Objections to the Doctrine of Christ Crucified 
 considered : A Discourse Delivered in Portland, at 
 the Ordination of the Rev. John S. Maginnis, Sep- 
 tember 27, 1832, 263 
 
 Discourse on Education: An Introductory Address 
 delivered in Boston, before the Convention of Teach- 
 ers, and other Friends of Education, assembled to 
 form the American Institute of Instruction, August 
 19, 1830, 292 
 
 The Philosophy of Analogy: A Discourse delivered 
 before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Rhode Island, 
 September 7, 1831, 319 
 
 Address on Temperance: An Address delivered 
 before the Providence Association for the Promotion 
 of Temperance, October 20, 1831, 344 
 
MORAL DIGNITY 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 MATTHEW XIII. 38. 
 
 THE FIELD IS THE WORLD. 
 
 Philosophers have speculated much concerning 
 a process of sensation, which has commonly been 
 denominated the emotion of sublimity. Aware that, 
 like any other simple feeling, it must be incapable of 
 definition, they have seldom attempted to define it ; 
 but, content with remarking the occasions on which it 
 is excited, have told us that it arises, in general, from 
 the contemplation of whatever is vast in nature, 
 splendid in intellect, or lofty in morals. Or, to 
 express the same idea somewhat varied, in the 
 language of a critic of antiquity,* " that alone is truly 
 sublime, of which the conception is vast, the effect 
 irresistible, and the remembrance scarcely if ever to 
 be erased." 
 
 ^>. * Longinus, Sec. VII. 
 
m 
 
 10 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 But although philosophers only have written about 
 this emotion, they are far from being the only men 
 who have felt it. The untutored peasant, when he 
 has seen the autumnal tempest collecting between the 
 hills, and, as it advanced, enveloping in misty obscurity, 
 village and hamlet, forest and meadow, has tasted the 
 sublime in all its reality ; and, whilst the thunder has 
 rolled and the lightning flashed around him, has 
 exulted in the view of nature moving forth in her 
 majesty. The untaught sailor boy, listlessly hearken- 
 ing to the idle ripple of the midnight wave, when on 
 a sudden he has thought upon the unfathomable 
 abyss beneath him, and the wide waste of waters 
 around him, and the infinite expanse above him, has 
 enjoyed to the full the emotion of sublimity, whilst 
 his inmost soul has trembled at the vastness of its 
 own conceptions. But why need I multiply illustra- 
 tions from nature ? Who does not recollect the 
 emotion he has felt, whilst surveying aught, in the 
 material world, of terror or of vastness ? 
 
 And this sensation is not produced by grandeur in 
 material objects alone. It is also excited on most of 
 those occasions in which we see man tasking, to the 
 uttermost, the energies of his intellectual or moral 
 nature. Through the long lapse of centuries, who, 
 without emotion, has read of Lconidas and his three 
 hundred's throwing themselves as a barrier before the 
 myriads of Xerxes, and contending unto death for the 
 liberties of Greece ! 
 
 But we need not turn to classic story to find all 
 that is great in human action ; we find it in our own 
 times and in the history of our own country. Who 
 
THE M I S S I O X A R Y ENTERPRISE. 1 1 
 
 is there of us that even in the nursery has not feh his 
 spirit stir within him, when with child-hi<e wonder he 
 has listened to the story of Washington ? And 
 although the terms of the narrative were scarcely 
 intelligible, yet the young soul kindled at the thought 
 of one man's working out the deliverance of a nation. 
 And as our understanding, strengthened by age, was 
 at last able to grasp the detail of this transaction, we 
 saw that our infantile conceptions had fallen far short 
 of its grandeur. O ! if an American citizen ever exults 
 in the contemplation of all that is sublime in human 
 enterprise, it is when, bringing to mind the men who 
 first conceived the idea of this nation's independence, 
 he beholds them estimating the power of her oppressor, 
 the resources of her citizens, deciding in their collected 
 might that this nation should be free, and through the 
 long years of trial that ensued, never blenching from 
 their purpose, but freely redeeming the pledge which 
 they had given, to consecrate to it, " their lives, their 
 fortunes, and their sacred honor." 
 
 " Patriots have toil'd, and in their country's cause 
 Bled nobly, and their deeds, as they deserve. 
 Receive proud recompense. We give in charge 
 Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic muse, 
 Proud of her treasure, marches with it down 
 To latest limes ; and sculpture in her turn 
 Gives bond, in stone and ever-during br.ass, 
 To guard liieni and immortalize iier trust." 
 
 It is not in the field of patriotism only that deeds 
 have been achieved to which history has awarded the 
 palm of moral sublimity. There have lived men, in 
 whom the name of patriot has been merged in that of 
 philanthropist; who, looking with an eye of compassion 
 
12 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 over the face of the earth, have felt for the miseries 
 of our race, and have put forth their calm might to 
 wipe off one blot from the marred and stained 
 escutcheon of human nature ; to strike off one form of 
 suffering from the catalogue of human wo. Such a 
 man was Howard. Surveying our world, like a spirit 
 of the blessed, he beheld the misery of the captive, 
 he heard the groaning of the prisoner. His determi- 
 nation was fixed. He resolved, single handed, to 
 gauge and to measure one form of unpitied, unheeded 
 wretchedness, and, bringing it out to the sunshine of 
 public observation, to work its utter extermination. 
 And he well knew what this undertaking would cost 
 him. He knew what he had to hazard from the 
 infection of dungeons, to endure from the fatigues of 
 inhospitable travel, and to brook from the insolence of 
 legalized oppression. He knew that he was devoting 
 himself upon the altar of philanthropy, and he willingly 
 devoted himself. He had marked out his destiny, 
 and he hastened forward to its accomplishment, with 
 an intensity " which the nature of the human mind 
 forbade to be more, and the character of the individual 
 forbade to be less."* Thus he commenced a new 
 era in the history of benevolence. And hence the name 
 of Howard will be associated with all that is sublime 
 in mercy, until the final consummation of all things. 
 
 Such a man is Clarkson, who, looking abroad, 
 beheld the sufferings of Africa, and, looking at home, 
 saw his country stained with her blood. We have 
 seen him, laying aside the vestments of the priesthood, 
 consecrate himself to the holy purpose of rescuing a 
 * Foster's Essay. 
 
THE MISSIONARY EXTERPRISE. 13 
 
 continent from rapine and murder, and of erasing this 
 one sin from the book of his nation's iniquities. We 
 have seen him and his fellow philanthropists for twenty 
 years never waver from their purpose. We have 
 seen them persevere amidst neglect, and obloquy, and 
 contempt, and persecution, until the cry of the op- 
 pressed, having roused the sensibilities of the nation, 
 the " Island Empress " rose in her might, and said to 
 this foul traffic in human flesh. Thus far shalt thou 
 come, and no farther. 
 
 It will not be doubted that in such actions as these, 
 there is much which may be truly called the moral 
 sublime. If, then, we should attentively consider 
 them, we might perhaps ascertain what must be the 
 elements of that enterprise, which may lay claim to 
 this high appellation. It cannot be expected that on 
 this occasion, we should analyze them critically. It 
 will, however, we think, be found, upon examination, 
 that to that enterprise alone has been awarded the 
 meed of sublimity, of which the object was vast, the 
 ACCOMPLISHMENT arduous, and the mp:ans to be 
 employed simple but efficient. Were not the object 
 vast, it could not arrest our attention. Were not its 
 accompJishment arduous, none of the nobler energies 
 of man being tasked in its execution, we should see 
 nothing to admire. Were not the means to that 
 accomplishment simple, our whole conception being 
 vague, the impression would be feeble. Were they 
 not efficient, the intens^^st exertion could only terminate 
 in failure and disgrace. 
 
 And here we may remark, that wherever these 
 elements have combined in any undertaking, public 
 2* 
 
14 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 sentiment has generally united in pronouncing it 
 sublime, and history has recorded its achievements 
 among the noblest proofs of the dignity of man. 
 Malice may for a while have frowned, and interest 
 opposed ; men who could neither grasp what was vast, 
 nor feel what was morally great, may have ridiculed. 
 But all this has soon passed away. Human nature is 
 not to be changed by the opposition of interest or the 
 laugh of folly. There is still enough of dignity in 
 man to respect what is great, and to venerate what is 
 benevolent. The cause of man has at last gained the 
 suffrages of man. It has advanced steadily onward, 
 and left ridicule to wonder at the impotence of its shaft, 
 and malice to weep over the inefhcacy of its hate. 
 
 And we bless God that it is so. It is cheering to 
 observe, that amidst so much that is debasing, there is 
 still something that is ennobling in" the character of 
 man. It is delightful to know, that there are times 
 when his morally bedimmed eye " beams keen with 
 honor ;" that there is yet a redeeming spirit within 
 him, which exults in enterprises of great pith and 
 moment. We love our race the better for every such 
 fact we discover concerning it, and bow with more 
 reverence to the dignity of human nature. We 
 rejoice that, shattered as has been the edifice, there 
 yet may be discovered, now and then, a massive pillar, 
 and, here and there, a well turned arch, which remind 
 us of the symmetry of its former proportions, and the 
 perfection of its original structuiis. 
 
 Having paid this our honest tribute to the dignity of 
 man, we must pause, to lament over somewhat which 
 reminds us of any thing other than his dignity. 
 
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 15 
 
 Whilst the general assertion is true, that he is awake 
 to all that is sublime in nature, and much that is 
 sublime in morals, there is reason to believe that there 
 is a single class of objects, whose contemplation thrills 
 all heaven with rapture, at which he can gaze unmelted 
 and unmoved. The pen of inspiration has recorded, 
 that the cross of Christ, whose mysteries the angels 
 desire to look into, was to the tasteful and erudite 
 Greek, foolishness. And we fear that cases very 
 analogous to this may be witnessed at the pres'ent day. 
 But why, my hearers, should it be so ? Why should 
 so vast a dissimilarity of moral taste exist between 
 seraphs who bow before the throne, and men who 
 dwell upon the footstool ? Why is it, that the man, 
 whose soul swells with ecstacy whilst viewing the 
 innumerable suns of midnight, feels no emotion of 
 sublimity, when thinking of their Creator ? Why is it, 
 that an enterprise of patriotism presents itself to his 
 imagination beaming with celestial beauty, whilst the 
 enterprise of redeeming love is without form or come- 
 liness ? Why should the noblest undertaking of 
 mercy, if it only combine among its essential elements 
 the distinctive principles of the gospel, become at once 
 stale, flat, and unprofitable ? When there is joy in 
 heaven over one sinner that repenteth, why is it that 
 the enterprise of proclaiming peace on earth, and 
 good will to man, fraught, as it would seem, with more 
 than angelic benignity, should to many of our fellow 
 men appear worthy of nothing better than neglect or 
 obloquy ? 
 
 The reason for all this we shall not on this occasion 
 pretend to assign. We have time only to express our 
 
16 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE, 
 
 regret that such should be the fact. Confining our- 
 selves therefore to tlie bearing which this moral bias 
 has upon the missionary cause, it is with pain we are 
 obliged to believe, that there is a large and most 
 respectable portion of our fellow citizens, for many of 
 whom we entertain evevy sentiment of personal esteem, 
 and to whose opinions on most other subjects we bow 
 with unfeigned deference, who look with perfect apathy 
 upon the present system of exertions for evangelizing 
 the heathen ; and we have been greatly misinformed, 
 if there be not another, though a very different class, 
 who consider these exertions a subject for ridicule. 
 Perhaps it may tend somewhat to arouse the apathy 
 of the one party, as well as to moderate the contempt 
 of the other, if we can show that this very missionary 
 cause combines within itself the elements of all that is 
 sublime in human purpose, nay, combines them in a 
 loftier perfection than any other enterprise, which was 
 ever linked with the destinies of man. To show this, 
 will be our design ; and in prosecuting it, we shall 
 direct your attention to the gkandeuu of the object; 
 
 the ARDU0U3NESS OF ITS EXECUTION; and the NATURE 
 
 or THE MEANS ou which we rely for success. 
 
 1st. The GiiANDEUii OF THE OBJECT. In the 
 most enlarged sense of the terms. The Field is the 
 JVorld. Our design is radically to affect the temporal 
 and eternal interests of the whole race of man. We 
 have surveyed this field, statistically, and find, that of 
 the eight hundred millions who inhabit our globe, but 
 two hundred millions have any knowledge of the 
 religion of Jesus Christ. Of these we are willing to 
 allow that but one half are his real disciples, and that 
 
THE MISSIOXARY EXTERPRISE. 17 
 
 therefore there are seven of the eight hundred millions 
 to whom the gospel must be sent. 
 
 We have surveyed this field, geographically. We 
 have looked upon our own continent, and have seen 
 that, with the exception of a narrow strip of thinly 
 settled country, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to the 
 mouth of the Mississippi, the whole of this new world 
 lieth in wickedness. Hordes of ruthless savages roam 
 the wilderness of the West, and men almost as ignorant 
 of the spirit of the gospel, are struggling for independ- 
 ence in the South. 
 
 We have looked over Europe, and beheld there 
 one nation putting forth her energies in the cause of 
 evangelizing the world. We have looked for another 
 such nation ; but it is not to be found. A k\v others 
 are beginning to awake. i\Iost of them, however, yet 
 slumber. i\Iany are themselves in need of missionaries. 
 Nay, we know not but that the movement of the cause 
 of man, in Europe, is at present retrograde. There 
 seems too ev-idently a coalition formed of the powers 
 that be, to check the progress of moral and intellect- 
 ual improvement, and to rivet again on the human 
 mind the manacles of papal superstition. God only 
 knows how soon the re-action will commence, which 
 shall shake the continent to its centre, scatter thrones 
 and sceptres, and all the insignia of prescriptive author- 
 ity, like the dust of the summer's threshing floor, and 
 establish, throughout the Christian world, representa- 
 tive governments, on the broad basis of common sense 
 and inalienable right. 
 
 We have looked over Africa, and have seen that 
 upon one little portion, reclaimed from brutal idolatry 
 
18 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 by missionaries, the Sun of Righteousness hath shined. ' 
 It is a land of Goshen, where they have light in their 
 dwellings. Upon all the remainder of this vast conti- 
 nent, there broods a moral darkness, impervious as 
 that which once veiled her own Egypt, on that pro- 
 longed and fearful night when no man knew his 
 brother. 
 
 We have looked upon Asia, and have seen its 
 northern nations, though under the government of a 
 Christian pi'ince, scarcely nominally Christian. On 
 the west, it is spell-bound by Mahommedan delusion. 
 To the south, from the Persian gulf, to the sea of 
 Kamschatka, including also its numberless islands, 
 except where here and there a Syrian church, or a 
 missionary station twinkles amidst the gloom ; the 
 whole of this immense portion of the human race is 
 sitting in the region and shadow of death. Such then 
 is the field for our exertion. It encircles the whole 
 family of man, it includes every unevangelized being 
 of the species to which we belong. We have thus 
 surveyed the missionary field, that we may know how 
 great is the undertaking to which we stand committed. 
 
 We have also made tm estimate of the miseries of 
 this world. We have seen how in many places the 
 human mind, shackled by ignorance and enfeebled by 
 vice, has dwindled almost to the standard of a brute. 
 Our indignation has kindled at hearing of men, im- 
 mortal as ourselves, bowing down and worshipping a 
 wandering beggar, or paying adoration to reptiles and 
 to stones. 
 
 Not only is intellect, every where, under the domin- 
 ion of idolatry, prostrated ; beyond the boundaries of 
 
THE MISSrOXARY ENTER PRISE. 19 
 
 Christendom, on every side, the dark places of the 
 earth are filled with the habitations of cruelty. We 
 have mourned over the savage ferocity of the Indians 
 of our western wilderness. We have turned to Africa, 
 and seen almost the whole continent a prey to lawless 
 banditti, or else bowing down in the most revolting 
 idolatry. We have descended along her coast, and 
 beheld villages burnt or depopulated, fields laid waste, 
 and her people, who have escaped destruction, naked 
 and famishing, flee to their forests at the sight of a 
 stranger. We have asked. What fearful visitation of 
 Heaven has laid these settlements in ruins .'' What 
 destroying pestilence has swept over this land, con- 
 signing to oblivion almost its entire population } What 
 mean the smoking ruins of so many habitations.'' 
 And why is yon fresh sod crimsoned and slippery with 
 the traces of recent murder ? We have been pointed 
 to the dark slave-ship hovering over her coast, and 
 have been told that two hundred thousand defenceless 
 beings are annually stolen away, to be murdered on 
 their passage, or consigned for life to a captivity more 
 terrible than death ! 
 
 We have turned to Asia, and beheld how the demon 
 of her idolatry has worse than debased, has brutalized 
 the mind of man. Every where his despotism has 
 been grievous ; here, with merciless tyranny, he has 
 exulted in the misery of his victims. He has rent 
 from the human heart all that was endearing in the 
 charities of life. He has taught the mother to tear 
 away the infant as it smiled in her bosom, and cast it, 
 a shrieking prey, to contending alligators. He has 
 taught the son to light the funeral pile, and to witness. 
 
20 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 unmoved, the dying agonies of his widowed, murdered 
 mother ! 
 
 We have looked upon all this ; and our object is, 
 to purify the whole earth from these abominations. 
 Our object will not have been accomplished till the 
 tomahawk shall be buried forever, and the tree of 
 peace spread its broad branches from the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific ; until a thousand smiling villages shall be 
 reflected from the waves of the IMissouri, and the 
 distant valleys of the West echo with the song of the 
 reaper ; till the wilderness and the solitary place shall 
 have been glad for us, and the desert has rejoiced and 
 blossomed as the rose. 
 
 Our labors are not to cease, until the last slave-ship 
 shall have visited the coast of Africa, and, the nations 
 of Europe and America having long since redressed 
 her aggravated wrongs, Ethiopia, from the Mediterra- 
 nean to the Cape, shall have stretched forth her hand 
 unto God. 
 
 How changed will then be the face of Asia ! 
 Bramins and sooders and castes and shasters will have 
 passed away, like the mist which rolls up the moun- 
 tain's side before the rising glories of a summer's 
 morning, while the land on which it rested, shining 
 forth in all its loveliness, shall, from its numberless 
 habitations, send forth the high praises of God and the 
 Lamb. The Hindoo mother will gaze upon her 
 infant with the same tenderness which throbs in the 
 breast of any one of you who now hears me, and the 
 Hindoo son will pour into the wounded bosom of his 
 widowed parent, the oil of peace and consolation. 
 
 In a word, point us to the loveliest village that 
 
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 21 
 
 smiles upon a New-England landscape, and compare 
 it with the filthiness and brutality of a CafTrarian kraal, 
 and we tell you that our object is to render that 
 CafTrarian kraal as happy and as gladsome as that 
 New-England village. Point us to the spot on the 
 face of the earth where liberty is best understood and 
 most perfectly enjoyed, where intellect shoots forth in 
 its richest luxuriance, and where all the kindlier 
 feelings of the heart are constantly seen in their most 
 graceful exercise ; point us to the loveliest and happi- 
 est neighborhood in the world on which we dwell ; 
 and we tell you that our object is to render this whole 
 eai'th, with all its nations, and kindreds, and tongues, 
 and people, as happy, nay, happier than that neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 We have considered these beings as immortal, and 
 candidates for an eternity of happiness or misery. 
 And we cannot avoid the belief that they are exposed 
 to eternal misery. Here, you will observe, the 
 question with us is not, whether a heathen, unlearned 
 in the gospel, can be saved. We are willing to admit 
 that he can. But, if he be saved, he must possess 
 holiness of heart ; for, without holiness, no man shall 
 see the Lord. And where shall we find holy heathen? 
 Where is there the vestige of purity of heart among 
 unevangelized nations ? It is in vain to talk about 
 the innocence of these children of nature. It is in 
 vain to tell us of their graceful mythology. Their 
 gods are such as lust makes welcome. Of their very 
 religious services, it is a shame even to speak. To 
 settle the question concerning their future destiny, it 
 would only seem necessary to ask, What would be 
 3 
 
22 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 the character of that future state, in which those 
 principles of heart which the whole history of the 
 heathen world develops, were suffered to operate in 
 their unrestrained malignity ? 
 
 No ! solemn as is the thought, we do believe, that, 
 dying in their present state, they will be exposed to 
 all that is awful in the wrath of Almighty God. And 
 we do believe that God so loved the world, that he 
 gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
 on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 Our object is to convey to those who are perishing 
 the news of this salvation. It is to furnish every 
 family upon the face of the whole earth with the word 
 of God written in its own language, and to send to 
 every neighborhood a preacher of the cross of Christ. 
 Our object will not be accomplished, until every idol 
 temple shall have been utterly abolished, and a temple 
 to Jehovah erected in its room ; until this earth, 
 instead of being a theatre on which immortal beings 
 are preparing by crime for eternal condemnation, 
 shall become one universal temple, in which the 
 children of men are learning the anthems of the 
 blessed above, and becoming meet to join the general 
 assembly and church of the first-born, whose names 
 are written in heaven. Our design will not be 
 completed, until 
 
 " One song employs all nations, and all cry 
 Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for usj 
 The dwellers in the vales, and on the rocks, 
 Shout to each other, and the mountain tops 
 From distant mountains catch the flying joy j 
 Till, nation after nation taught the strain. 
 Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round." 
 
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 23 
 
 The object of the missionary enterprise embraces 
 every child of Adam. It is vast as the race to whom 
 its operations are of necessity limited. It would 
 confer upon every individual on earth, all that intel- 
 lectual or moral cultivation can bestow. It would 
 rescue a world from the indignation and wrath, 
 tribulation and anguish, reserved for every son of man 
 that doeth evil, and give it a title to glory, honor, and 
 immortality. You see, then, that our object is, not 
 only to affect every individual of the species, but to 
 affect him in the momentous extremes of infinite 
 happiness and infinite wo. And now we ask, What 
 object ever undertaken by man can be compared with 
 this same design of evangelizing the world ? Patriot- 
 ism itself fades away before it, and acknowledges the 
 supremacy of an enterprise, which seizes, with so 
 strong a grasp, upon both the temporal and eternal 
 destinies of the whole family of man. 
 
 But all this is not to be accomplished without 
 laborious exertion. Hence we remark, 
 
 2d. The missionary undertaking is arduous 
 
 ENOUGH TO CALL INTO ACTION THE NOBLEST ENER- 
 GIES OF MAN. 
 
 Its arduousness is explained in one word, our 
 Field is the World. Our object is to effect an entire 
 moral revolution in the whole human race. Its ardu- 
 ousness, then, results of necessity from its magnitude. 
 
 I need not say to an audience acquainted with the 
 nature of the human mind, that a large moral mass is 
 not easily and permanently affected. A little leaven 
 does not soon leaven the whole lump. To produce a 
 change even of speculative opinion upon a single 
 
24 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 nation, is an undertaking not easily accomplished. In 
 the case before us, not a nation, but a world, is to be 
 regenerated ; therefore, the change which we would 
 effect is far from being merely speculative. If any 
 man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Nothing 
 short of this new creation will answer our purpose. 
 We go forth, not to persuade men to turn from one 
 idol to another, but to turn universally from idols to 
 serve the living God. We call upon those who are 
 earthly, sensual, devilish, to set their affections on 
 things above. We go forth exhorting men to forsake 
 every cherished lust, and present themselves a living 
 sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. And this 
 mighty moral revolution is to be effected, not in a 
 family, a tribe, or a nation, but in a world which lieth 
 in wickedness. 
 
 We have to operate upon a race divided into 
 different nations, speaking a thousand different lan- 
 guages, under every different form of government, 
 from absolute inertness to unbridled tyranny, and 
 inhabiting every district of country, salubrious or 
 deadly, from the equator to the poles. To all these 
 nations must the gospel be sent, into all these languages 
 must the Bible be translated, to all these climes, 
 salubrious or deadly, must the missionary penetrate, 
 and under all these forms of government, mild or 
 despotic, must he preach Christ and him crucified. 
 
 Besides, we shall frequently interfere with the more 
 sordid interests of man ; and we expect him to increase 
 the difficulties of our undertaking. If we can turn 
 the heathen to God, many a source of unholy trafRck 
 will be dried up, and many a convenience of unhal- 
 
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 25 
 
 lowed gratification taken away. And hence we may- 
 expect that the traffickers in human flesh, the disciples 
 of mammon, and the devotees of pleasure, will be 
 against us. From the heathen themselves we have 
 the blackest darkness of ignorance to dispel. We 
 have to assault systems venerable for their antiquity, 
 and interwoven with every thing that is proud in a 
 nation's hisiory. Above all, we have to oppose the 
 depravity of the human heart, grown still more invete- 
 rate by ages of continuance in unrestrained iniquity. 
 In a word, we go forth to urge upon a world, dead in 
 trespasses and sins, a thorough renewal of heart, and 
 a universal reformation of practice. 
 
 Brief as is this view of the difficulties which 
 surround us, and time will not allow us to state them 
 more in detail, you see that our undertaking is, as we 
 said, arduous enough to task to the uttermost the 
 noblest energies of man. 
 
 This enterprise requires consummate wisdom in the 
 missionary who goes abroad, as well as in those who 
 manage the concerns of a society at home. He who 
 goes forth unprotected, to preach Christ to despotic 
 or badly governed nations, must be wise as a serpent, 
 and harmless as a dove. With undeviating firmness 
 in every thing essential, he must combine the most 
 yielding facility in all that is unimportant. And thus, 
 while he goes forth in the spirit and power of Elias, 
 he must at the same time become all things to all 
 men, that by all means he may gain some. Great 
 abilities are also required in him who conducts the 
 mission at home. He must awaken, animate, and 
 direct the sentiments of a very large portion of the 
 3* 
 
26 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 community in which he resides, whilst at the same 
 time, through a hundred different agents, he is exert- 
 ing a powerful influence upon half as many nations, a 
 thousand or ten thousand miles off. Indeed it is 
 hazarding nothing to predict, that if efforts for the 
 extension of the gospel continue to multiply with their 
 present ratio of increase, as great abilities will, in a 
 few years, be required lor transacting the business of 
 a missionary society, as for conducting the affairs of a 
 political cabinet. 
 
 The missionary undertaking calls for perseverance; 
 a perseverance of that character, which, having once 
 formed its purpose, never wavers from it till death. 
 And if ever this attribute has been so exhibited as to 
 challenge the respect of every man of feeling, it has 
 been in such instances as are recorded in the history 
 of the missions to Greenland and to the South Sea 
 Islands, where we beheld men, for fifteen or twenty 
 years, suffer every thing but martyrdom, and then, 
 seeing no fruit from their labor, resolve to labor on 
 till death, if so be they might at last save one benighted 
 heathen from the error of his ways. 
 
 This undertaking calls for self denial of the highest 
 and holiest character. He who engages in it must, 
 at the very outset, dismiss every wish to stipulate for 
 any thing but the mere favor of God. His first act 
 is a voluntary exile from all that a refined education 
 loves ; and every other act must be in unison with 
 this. The salvation of the heathen is the object for 
 which he sacrifices, and is willing to sacrifice, every 
 thing that the heart clings to on earth. For this 
 object he would live ; for this he would die ; nay, he 
 
THE MISSIONARY ExXTER PRISE. 27 
 
 would live any where, and die any how, if so be he 
 might rescue one soul from everlasting wo. 
 
 Hence you see that this undertaking requires 
 courage. It is not the courage which, wrought up by 
 the stimulus of popular applause, can rush, now and 
 then, upon the cannon's mouth ; it is the courage 
 which, alone and unapplauded, will, year after year, look 
 death, every moment, in the face, and never shrink 
 from its purpose. It is a principle which will " make 
 a man intrepidly dare every thing which can attack or 
 oppose him within the whole sphere of mortality, retain 
 his purpose unshaken amidst the ruins of the world, 
 and press towards his object while death is impending 
 over him."* Such was the spirit which spake by 
 the mouth of an Apostle when he said, And now I go 
 bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the 
 things which shall befal me there ; save that the Holy 
 Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and 
 afflictions abide me. Yet none of these things move 
 me ; neither count I my lile dear unto myself, so that 
 I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry 
 which I have received of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 But, above all, the missionary undertaking requires 
 faith, in its holiest and sublimest exercise. And let 
 it not be supposed that we sj)eak at random, when we 
 mention the sublimity of faith. " Whatever," says 
 the British moralist, " withdraws us from the power 
 of the senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, 
 or the future predominate over the present, advances 
 us in the dignity of thinking beings."f And when 
 
 * Foster. t Tour to the Hebrides. lona. 
 
28 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 we speak of faith, we refer to a principle which gives 
 substance to things hoped for, and evidence to things 
 not seen ; which, bending her keen glance on the 
 eternal weight of glory, makes it a constant motive to 
 holy enterprise ; which, fixing her eagle eye upon the 
 infinite of future, makes it bear right well upon the 
 purposes of to-day ; a principle which enables a poor 
 feeble tenant of the dust to take strong hold upon the 
 perfections of Jehovah ; and, fastening his hopes to 
 the very throne of the Eternal, " bid earth roll, nor 
 feel its idle wliirL" This principle is the unfailing 
 support of the missionary through the long years of 
 his toilsome pilgrimage; and, when he is compared 
 with the heroes of this world, it is peculiar to him. 
 By as much then as the Christian enterprise calls into 
 being this one principle, the noblest that can attach to 
 the character of a creature, by so much does its 
 execution surpass in sublimity every other. 
 
 3d. Let us consider the means by which this 
 
 MORAL REVOLUTION IS TO BE EFFECTED. It is, in a 
 
 word, by the preaching of Jesus Christ and him 
 crucified. It is by going forth and telling the lost 
 children of men, that God so loved the world, that he 
 gave his only begotten Son to die for them ; and by 
 all the eloquence of such an appeal to entreat them, 
 for Christ's sake, to be reconciled unto God. This 
 is the lever by which, we believe, the moral universe 
 is to be raised ; this is the instrument by which a 
 sinful world is to be regenerated. 
 
 And consider the commanding simplicity of this 
 means, devised by Omniscience to effect a purpose so 
 glorious. This world is to be restored to more than 
 
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 29 
 
 it lost by the fall, by the simple annunciation of the 
 love of God in Christ Jesus. Here we behold means 
 apparently the weakest, employed to effect the most 
 magnificent of purposes. And how plainly does this 
 bespeak the agency of the omnipotent God ! The 
 means which effect his greatest purposes in the king- 
 dom of nature, are simple and imostentatious ; while 
 those wiiich man employs are complicated and tumul- 
 tuous. How many intellects are tasked, how many 
 hands are wearied, how many arts exhausted, in pre- 
 paring for the event of a single battle ; and how great 
 is the tumult of the moment of decision ! In all this, 
 man only imitates the inferior agents of nature. The 
 autumnal tempest, whose sphere of action is limited 
 to a little spot upon our little world, comes forth 
 attended by the roar of thunder and the flash of 
 lightning ; while the attraction of gravitation, that 
 stupendous force which binds together the mighty 
 masses of the material universe, acts silently. In the 
 sublimest of natural transactions, the greatest result is 
 ascribed to the simplest, the most unique of causes. 
 He spake and it was done ; he commanded and it 
 stood fast. 
 
 Contemplate the benevolence of these means. In 
 practice, the precepts of the gospel may be summed 
 up in the single command, Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself. 
 We expect to teach one man obedience to this com- 
 mand, and that he will feel obliged to teach his 
 neighbor, who will feel obliged to teach others, who 
 are again to become teachers, until the whole world 
 shall be peopled with one family of brethren. Ani- 
 
30 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 mosity is to be done away, by inculcating, universally, 
 the obligation of love. In this manner, we expect to 
 teach rulers justice, and subjects submission ; to open 
 the heart of the miser, and unloose the grasp of the 
 oppressor. It is thus we expect the time to be 
 hastened onward when men shall beat their swords 
 into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks ; 
 when nations shall no more lift up sword against nation, 
 neither shall they learn war any more. 
 
 With this process, compare the means by which 
 men, on the principles of this world, effect a meliora- 
 tion in the condition of their species. Tlieir almost 
 universal agent is, threatened or inflicted misery. 
 And, from the nature of the case, it cannot be other- 
 wise. Without altering the disposition of the heart, 
 they only attempt to control its exercise. And they 
 must control it, by showing their power to make the 
 indulgence of that disposition the source of more 
 misery than happiness. Hence, when men confer a 
 benefit upon a portion of their brethren, it is generally 
 preceded by a protracted struggle to decide which 
 can inflict most, or which can suffer longest. Hence, 
 the arm of the patriot is generally, and, of necessity, 
 bathed in blood. Hence, with the shouts of victory 
 from the nation which he has delivered, there arises 
 also the sigh of the widow, and the wail of the orphan. 
 Man produces good, by the apprehension or the 
 infliction of evil. The gospel produces good, by the 
 universal diffusion of the principles of benevolence. 
 In the former case, one party must generally suffer ; 
 in the latter, all parties are certainly more happy. 
 The one, like the mountain torrent, may fertilize, 
 
THE MISSIOXARY ENTERPRISE. 31 
 
 now and then, a valley beneath, but not until it has 
 wildly swept away the forest above, and disfigured the 
 lovely landscape with many an unseemly scar. Not 
 so the other j 
 
 "It droppeth as tlie gentle rain from heaven 
 Upon tlie place beneath ; it is twice blessed, 
 It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes." 
 
 Consider the efficacy of these means. The reasons 
 which teach us to rely upon them with confidence 
 may be thus briefly stated. 
 
 1. We see that all which is really terrific in the 
 misery of man results from the disease of his moral 
 nature. If this can be healed, man may be restored 
 to happiness. Now the gospel of Jesus Christ is the 
 remedy devised by Omniscience specifically for this 
 purpose, and therefore we do certainly know that it 
 will inevitably succeed. 
 
 2. It is easy to be seen, that the universal obedi- 
 ence to the command. Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself, 
 w^ould make this world a heaven. But nothing other 
 than the gospel of Christ can persuade men to this 
 obedience. Reason cannot do it; philosophy cannot 
 do it ; civilization cannot do it. The cross of Christ 
 alone has power to bend the stubborn will to obedi- 
 ence, and to melt the frozen heart to love. For, said 
 one who had experienced its efficacy, the love of 
 Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if 
 one died for all, then were all dead ; and that he died 
 for all, that they which live should not live to 
 themselves, but unto Him who died for them, and 
 rose again. 
 
32 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 3. The preaching of the cross of Christ is a 
 remedy for the miseries of the fall which has been 
 tried by the experience of eighteen hundred years, 
 and has never in a single instance failed. Its efficacy 
 has been proved by human beings of all ages, from 
 the lisping infant to the sinner a hundred 3^ears old. 
 All climates have witnessed its power. From the ice- 
 bound cliffs of Greenland to the banks of the voluptu- 
 ous Ganges, the simple story of Christ crucified has 
 turned men from darkness to light, and from the 
 power of Satan unto God. Its effect has been the 
 same with men of the most dissimilar conditions ; 
 from the abandoned inhabitant of Newgate, to the 
 dweller in the palaces of kings. It has been equally 
 sovereign amidst the scattered inhabitants of the forest 
 and the crowded population of the metropolis. Every 
 where and at all times, it has been the power of God 
 unto salvation to every one that believeth. 
 
 4. And lastly, we know from the word of the 
 living God, that it will be successful, until this whole 
 world has been redeemed from the effects of man's 
 first disobedience. As truly as I live, saith Jehovah, 
 all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 
 Ask of me, saith he to his Son, and I will give thee 
 the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost 
 parts of the earth for thy possession. In the Revela- 
 tion which he gave to his servant John of things which 
 should shortly come to pass ; I heard, said the Apostle, 
 great voices in heaven, saying. The kingdoms of this 
 world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of 
 his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. 
 Here then is the ground of our unwavering confidence. 
 
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 33 
 
 heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or one 
 tittle shall in no wise pass from the word of God, until 
 all be fulfilled. Such, then, are the means on which 
 we rely for the accomplishment of our object, and 
 such the grounds upon which we rest our confidence 
 of success. 
 
 And now, my hearers, deliberately consider the 
 nature of the missionary enterprise. Reflect upon 
 the dignity of its object ; the high moral and intellec- 
 tual powers which are to be called forth in its execu- 
 tion ; the simplicity, benevolence, and efficacy of the 
 means by which all this is to be achieved ; and, we 
 ask you, does not every other enterprise to which man 
 ever put forth his strength dwindle into insignificance, 
 before that of preaching Christ crucified to a lost and 
 perishing world ? 
 
 Engaged in such an object, and supported by such 
 assurances, you may readily suppose, we can very 
 well bear the contempt of those who would point at 
 us the finger of scorn. It is written. In the last days 
 there shall be scoffers. We regret that it should be 
 so. We regret that men should oppose an enterprise, 
 of which the chiefobject is, to turn sinners unto holiness. 
 We pity them, and we will pray for them ; for we 
 consider their situation far other than "enviable. We 
 recollect that it was once said by the Divine Mission- 
 ary, to the first band which he commissioned. He that 
 despiseth you, despiseth me, and he that despiseth me, 
 despiseth him that sent me. So that this very con- 
 tempt may at last involve them in a controversy 
 infinitely more serious than they at present anticipate. 
 The reviler of missions, and the missionary of th^ 
 4 
 
34 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 cross, must both stand before the judgment seat of 
 Him who said, Go ye into all the world, and preach 
 the gospel to every creature. It is affecting to think, 
 that whilst the one, surrounded by the nation, which, 
 through his instrumentality, has been rescued from 
 everlasting death, shall receive the plaudit, Well done, 
 good and faithful servant ; the other may be numbered 
 with those despisers who wonder and perish. O that 
 they might know, even in this their day, the things 
 which belong to their peace, before they are hidden 
 from their eyes ! 
 
 You can also easily perceive how it is that we are 
 not soon disheartened by those who tell us of the 
 difficulties, nay, the hopelessness, of our undertaking. 
 They may point us to countries once the seat of the 
 church, now overspread with Mahommedan delusion ; 
 or, bidding us look at nations who once believed as 
 we do, now contending for what we consider fatal 
 error, they may assure us that our cause is declining. 
 To all this we have two answers. First, the assump- 
 tion that our cause is declining, is utterly gratuitous. 
 We think it not difficult to prove, that the distinctiv^e 
 principles which we so much venerate, never exerted 
 so powerful an influence over the destinies of the 
 human race as at this very moment. Point us to 
 those nations of the earth to whom moral and intellect- 
 ual cultivation, inexhaustible resources, progress in 
 arts, and sagacity in council, have assigned the highest 
 rank in political importance, and you point us to 
 nations whose religious opinions are most closely allied 
 to those which we cherish. Besides, when was there a 
 period, since the days of the Apostles, in which so 
 
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 35 
 
 many converts have been made to these principles, as 
 have been made, both from Christian and Pagan 
 nations, within the last five and twenty years ? Never 
 did the people of the saints of the Most High look so 
 much like going forth in serious earnest, to take 
 possession of the kingdom and dominion, and the 
 greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, as 
 at this very day. We see, then, nothing in the signs 
 of the times which forebodes a failure, but every thing 
 which promises that our undertaking will prosper. 
 But secondly, suppose the cause did seem declining ; 
 we should see no reason to relax our exertions, for 
 Jesus Christ has said. Preach the gospel to every 
 creature. Appearances, whether prosperous or ad- 
 verse, alter not the obligation to obey a positive com- 
 mand of Almighty God. 
 
 Again, suppose all that is affirmed were true. If it 
 must be, let it be. Let the dark cloud of infidelity 
 overspread Europe, cross the ocean, and cover our 
 own beloved land. Let nation after nation swerve 
 from the laith. Let iniquity abound, and the love of 
 many wax cold, even until there is on the face of this 
 earth, but one pure church of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. All we ask is, that we may be members 
 of that one church. God grant that we may throw 
 ourselves into this Thermopylae of the moral universe. 
 
 But, even then, we should have no fear that the 
 church of God would be exterminated. We would 
 call to remembrance the years of the right hand of the 
 Most High. We would recollect there was once a 
 time, when the whole church of Christ, not only could 
 be, but actually was, gathered with one accord in one 
 
36 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISfi. 
 
 place. It was then that that place was shaken as with 
 a rushing mighty wind, and they were all filled with 
 the Holy Ghost. That same day, three thousand 
 were added to the Lord. Soon, we hear, they have 
 filled Jerusalem with their doctrine. The church has 
 commenced her march. Samaria has with one accord 
 believed the gospel. Antioch has become obedient 
 to the faith. The name of Christ has been proclaimed 
 throughout Asia Minor. The temples of the gods, 
 as though smitten by an invisible hand, are deserted. 
 The citizens of Ephesus cry out in despair, Great is 
 Diana of the Ephesians ! Licentious Corinth is puri- 
 fied by the preaching of Christ crucified. Persecution 
 puts forth her arm to arrest the spreading " superstition." 
 But the progress of the faith cannot be stayed. The 
 church of God advances unhurt, amidst racks and 
 dungeons, persecutions and death ; yea, " smiles at 
 the drawn dagger, and defies its point." She has 
 entered Italy, and appears before the walls of the 
 Eternal City. Idolatry falls prostrate at her approach. 
 Her ensign floats in triumph over the Capitol. She 
 has placed upon her brow the diadem of the Caesars ! 
 
 After having witnessed such successes, and under 
 such circumstances, we are not to be moved by 
 discouragements. To all of them we answer. Our 
 Field is the World. The more arduous the under- 
 taking, the greater will be the glory. And that glory 
 will be ours ; for God Almighty is with us. 
 
 This enterprise of mercy the Son of God came 
 down from heaven to commence, and in commencing 
 it, he laid down his life. To us has he granted the 
 high privilege of carrying it forward. The legacy 
 
The missioxauy enterprise. 37 
 
 wliich he left us, as he was ascending to his Father 
 and our Father, and to his God and to our God, was. 
 Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
 every creature ; and, lo, I am with you always, even 
 unto the end of the world. With such an object 
 before us, under such a Leader, and supported by 
 such promises, other motives to exertion are unneces- 
 sary. Each one of you will anxiously inquire, how 
 he may become a co-worker with the Son of God, in 
 the glorious design of rescuing a world from the 
 miseries of the fall! 
 
 Blessed be God, this is a work in which every one 
 of us is permitted to do something. None so poor, 
 none so weak, none so insignificant, but a place of 
 action is assigned to him; and the cause expects 
 every man to do his duty. We answer, then, 
 
 1. You may assist in it by your prayers. After 
 all that we have said about means, we know that every 
 thmg will be in vain, without the influences of the 
 Holy Spirit. Paul may plant, and Apollos water, it 
 is God who giveth the increase. And these influences 
 are promised, and promised only, in answer to prayer. 
 Ye then who love the Lord, keep not silence, and give 
 him no rest, until he establish and make Jerusalem a 
 praise in the whole earth. 
 
 2. You may assist by your personal exertions. 
 This cause requires a vigorous, persevering, universal 
 and systematic effort. It requires that a spirit should 
 pervade every one of us, which shall prompt him to 
 ask himself every morning. What can I do for Christ, 
 to-day ? and which should make him feel humbled and 
 ashamed, if at evening, he were obliged to confess that 
 4* 
 
38 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 he had done nothing. Each one of us is as much 
 
 obliged as the missionaries themselves, to do all in his 
 
 power to advance the common cause of Christianity. 
 
 We, equally with them, have embraced that gospel, 
 
 of which the fundamental principle is, JVone of us 
 
 liveth to himself. And not only is every one bound to 
 
 exert himself to the uttermost, the same obligation rests 
 
 upon us so to direct our exertions, that each of them 
 
 may produce the greatest effect. Each one of us may 
 
 influence others to embark in the undertaking. Each 
 
 one whom we have influenced, maybe induced to enlist 
 
 every individual of that circle of which he is the centre, 
 
 until a self-extending system of intense and reverberated 
 
 action shall embody into one invincible phalanx, " the 
 
 sacramental host of God's elect." Awake, then, 
 
 brethren, from your slumbers ! Seek first the kingdom 
 
 of God and his righteousness. And recollect that 
 
 what you would do, must be done quickly. The day 
 
 is far spent ; the night is at hand. Whatso€ver thy 
 
 hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is 
 
 no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in 
 
 the grave whither thou goest. 
 
 3. You may assist by your pecuniary contributions. 
 An opportunity of this kind will be presented this 
 evening. And here, 1 trust, it is unnecessary to say 
 that in such a cause we consider it a privilege to give. 
 How so worthily can you appropriate a portion of that 
 substance which Providence has given you, as in 
 sending to your fellow men, who sit in the region and 
 shadow of death, a knowledge of the God who made 
 them, and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent ? We 
 pray you, so use the mammon of unrighteousness, that 
 
THE MISSIONARY ENTERPHISE. 39 
 
 when ye fail, ihey may receive you into everlasting 
 habitations. But, I doubt not, you already burn with 
 desire to testify your love to the crucified Redeemer. 
 Enthroned in the high and holy place, he looks down 
 at this moment upon the heart of every one of us, and 
 will accept of your offering, though it be but the 
 widow's mite, if it be given with the widow's feeling. 
 In the last day of solemn account, he will acknowledge 
 it before an assembled universe, saying. Inasmuch 
 as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, 
 ye did it unto me ! 
 
 May God of his grace enable us so to act, that on 
 that day we may meet with joy the record of the 
 doings of this evening ; and to his name shall be the 
 glory in Christ. Amen. 
 
DUTIES 
 
 AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 LUKE XXI. 25. 
 
 AND THERE SHALL BE UPON THE EARTH, DISTRESS OF 
 NATIONS WITH PERPLEXITY. 
 
 The season has arrived, my brethren, when in 
 conformity with the usages of our forefathers, we are 
 assembled to supplicate the blessings of God on the 
 labors of the advancing year. Custom has permitted 
 that, on such occasions, the minister of religion, 
 digressing somewhat from the path of his ordinary 
 duty, should exhibit to his hearers, some truths not 
 expressly revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He 
 is allowed to select a theme, which may be rather of 
 national interest, and is commanded to abstain only 
 from such discussion, as would enkindle those feelings 
 of party animosity, to which a free people, in the 
 
DUTIES OF AN AiMERICAN CITIZEN. 41 
 
 present imperfect condition of human nature, must be 
 always liable. If, then, I should on this day direct 
 your attention to a subject somewhat unlike those 
 which you are accustomed to hear from this sacred 
 place, 1 trust the example of wiser and better men 
 will plead for me an apology. 
 
 But I find, in the occasion that has called us 
 together, an apology, with which I must confess 
 
 j myself far better satisfied. We have come here as 
 citizens of the United States, to implore the blessing 
 
 I of God upon our common country. At such a time, 
 it cannot be unsuitable to inquire, how may the inter- 
 ests of that country be promoted ? The destinies of 
 this, are intimately connected with those of other 
 nations, and it surely becomes us to ascertain the 
 duties which that connexion imposes upon us. I 
 remember that, on every question decided in this 
 community, each one of you has an influence. I am 
 addressing an assembly, whose voice is heard, through 
 the medium of its representatives, not only in our halls 
 of legislation, and in our cabinet, but throughout the 
 legislatures and the cabinets of the civilized world. 
 In the attempt, then, to enlighten you upon any of 
 those great questions, on which the well-being of our 
 country, as well as of other countries, is virtually 
 interested, I seem to myself to be discharging a duty 
 not improperly devolving upon a profession, which is 
 expected to watch, with sedulous anxiety, over every 
 change that can have a bearing upon the moral or 
 religious interests of a community. Impressed with 
 these considerations, I shall proceed to offer you some 
 reflections, on what appears to be the present intellect- 
 
42 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 ual and political condition of the nations of Europe ; 
 the relations which we sustain to them; and the 
 duties which devolve upon us, in consequence of those 
 relations. 
 
 I shall, this morning, direct your attention to some 
 reflections upon the present intellectual and 
 
 POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE NATIONS OF EUROPE. 
 
 You are doubtless aware that society, throughout 
 Christendom, has been undergoing very striking alter- 
 ations, since the era of the Reformation, and the 
 invention of the printing press. The effect of the 
 new impulse, which was then given to the human 
 mind, has been every where visible. The attempt to 
 delineate it would require a volume, instead of a 
 I paragraph. It will only be possible here to state, that 
 ! it has been produced by the more universal diffusion 
 I of the means of information ; it has been characterized 
 by a more unrestrained liberty of thinking ; and has 
 every where resulted in elevating the rank, and im- 
 proving the condition, of what are generally denomi- 
 nated the lowest classes of society. 
 
 But it must be obvious to all of you, that, especially 
 within the last fifty years, the intellectual character of 
 the middling and lower classes of society throughout 
 the civilized world has materially improved, and that 
 the process of improvement is at present going forward 
 with accelerated rapidity. A taste for that sort of 
 reading, which requires considerable reflection, and 
 even some acquaintance with the abstract sciences, is 
 every day becoming more widely disseminated. And 
 not only is the number of newspapers multiplying 
 beyond any former precedent, but it is found necessary 
 
AX AMERICAN CITIZEN. 43 
 
 to enlist in their service a far greater portion of literary- 
 talent than at any other period.* 
 
 For this increase of the reading and thinking popu- 
 lation of Europe at this particular time, many causes 
 may be assigned. It is owing, in part, to that slow 
 but certain progress, which the human mind always 
 makes after it has once commenced the career of 
 improvement. It may also have been considerably 
 accelerated by the various wars, which have of late 
 so frequently desolated the continent. The momen- 
 tous events to which every campaign gave birth, have 
 quickened the desire of intelligence in every class of 
 society, and taught men more or less to reflect upon 
 the principles which led to so universal commotions. 
 And, beside this, the range of information among those 
 attached to the army must have been materially en- 
 larged by visiting other countries, and becoming in a 
 considerable degree acquainted with their inhabitants, 
 and familiar with their institutions. 
 
 And here truth obliges us to state, that this melio- 
 ration owes much of its late advancement to the pious 
 zeal of Protestant Christians. Desirous to extend the 
 means of salvation to the whole human race, these 
 benevolent men have laboured with perseverance and 
 success, not only to circulate the Bible, but to enable 
 men to read it. Hence have arisen the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society, the British and Foreign School 
 Society, the Baptist Irish Society, the multiplied free 
 schools, and the innumerable Sabbath Schools, which 
 are so peculiarly the glory of the present age of the 
 
 » Note A. 
 
44 THE DUTIES Of 
 
 church. And surely it is delightful to witness the 
 disciples of Him, who went ahout doing good, thus 
 girding themselves to the work of redeeming their 
 fellow men from ignorance and sin. O! it is a goodlj 
 thing to behold the I'ich man pouring forth from his 
 abundance, and the poor man casting in his mite; 
 the old man directing by counsel, and the young man 
 ■seconding him by exertion ; the matron visiting the 
 |)rison, and the young woman instructing the Sabbath 
 School ; and all pledging themselves, each one to the 
 other, that, God helping them, this world shall be the 
 better for their having lived in it. The effects of 
 these exertions are every year becoming more dis-- 
 tinctly visible. In a short time, if the church be 
 faithful to herself, and faithful to her God, what are 
 now called the lower classes of society will cease to 
 exist ; men and women will be reading and thinking 
 beings ; and the word canaille will no longer be 
 applied to any portion of the human race, within the 
 limits of civilization. 
 
 In connexion with these facts, we would remark, 
 that in consequence of this general diffusion of intelli- 
 gence, nations are becoming vastly better acquainted 
 with the physical, moral and political conditions of 
 each other. Whatever of any moment is transacted 
 in the legislative assemblies of one country, is now 
 very soon known, not merely to the rulers, but also to 
 the people of every other country. Nay, an interest- 
 ing occurrence of any nature cannot transpire in an 
 insignificant town of Europe or America, without 
 finding its way, through the medium of the daily 
 journals, to the eyes and ears of all Christendom. 
 
AX AMERICAN CITIZEN. 45 
 
 Every man must now be, in a considerable degree, a 
 spectator of the doings of the world, or he is soon 
 very far in the rear of the intelligence of the day. 
 Indeed, he has only to read a respectable newspaper, 
 and he may be informed of the discoveries in the arts, 
 the discussions in the senates, and the bearings of 
 public opinion, all over the world. 
 
 The reasons for all this, as we have intimated, may 
 be found chiefly in that increased desire of information, 
 which chai'acterizes the mass of society in the present 
 age. Intelligence of every kind, and especially polit- 
 ical intelligence, has become an article of profit ; and, 
 when once this is the case^ there can be no doubt that 
 it will be abundantly supplied. Beside this, it is 
 important to remark, that the art of navigation has 
 been within a few years materially improved, and 
 commercial relations have become vastly more exten- 
 sive. The establishment of packet ships between the 
 two continents has brought London and Paris as near 
 to us as Pittsburgh and New-Orleans. There is 
 every reason to believe, that, within the next half 
 century, steam navigation will render the communica- 
 tion between the ports of Europe and America as 
 frequent, and almost as regular, as that by ordinary 
 mails. . The commercial houses of every nation are 
 establishing their agencies in the principal cities of 
 every other nation, and thus binding together the 
 people by every tie of interest; while at the same 
 time they are furnishing innumerable channels, by 
 which information may be circulated among every 
 class of the community. 
 
 Hence it is that the moral influen ce, which nations 
 5 
 
46 THEDUTIESOF 
 
 are exerting upon each other, is greater than it has 
 [ been at any antecedent period in the history of the 
 world. The institutions of one country, are becoming 
 < known, ahnost of necessity, to every other country. 
 Knowledge provokes to comparison, and comparison 
 leads to reflection. The fact that others are happier 
 than themselves, prompts men to inquire whence this 
 difference proceeds, and how their own melioration 
 may be accomplished. By simply looking upon a 
 free people, an oppressed people instinctively feel that 
 they have inalienable rights ; and they will never 
 afterwards be at rest, until the enjoyment of these 
 rights is guaranteed to them. Thus one form of 
 government, which in any pre-eminent degree pro- 
 motes the happiness of man, is gradually but irresist- 
 ibly disseminating the principles of its constitution, 
 and from the very fact of its existence, calling into 
 being those trains of thought, which must in the end 
 revolutionize every government, within the sphere of 
 its influence, under which the people are oppressed. 
 
 And thus is it that the field in which mind may 
 labour, has now become wide as the limits of civiliza- 
 tion. A doctrine advanced by one man, if it have 
 any claim to interest, is soon known to every other 
 man. The movement of one intellect, now -sets in 
 motion the intellects of millions. We may now 
 calculate upon efiects, not upon a state or a people, 
 but upon the melting, amalgamating mass of human 
 nature. Man is now the instrument which genius 
 wields at its will ; it touches a chord of the human 
 heart, and nations vibrate in unison. And thus he 
 who can rivet the attention of a community upon an 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 47 
 
 elementary principle hitherto neglected in politics or 
 in morals, or who can bring an acknowledged principle 
 to bear upon an existing abuse, may, by his own 
 intellectual might, with only the assistance of the 
 press, transform the institutions of an empire or a 
 world. 
 
 In many respects, the nations of Christendom 
 collectively are becoming somewhat analogous to our 
 own Federal Republic. Antiquated distinctions are 
 passing away, and local animosities are subsiding. 
 The common people of different countries are knowing 
 each other better, esteeming each other more, and 
 attaching themselves to each other by various mani- 
 festations of reciprocal good will. It is true, every 
 nation has still its separate boundaries and its individ- 
 ual interests ; but the freedom of commercial inter- 
 course is allowing those interests to adjust themselves 
 to each other, and thus rendering the causes of collis- 
 ion of vastly less frequent occuri'ence. Local questions 
 are becoming of less, and general questions of greater 
 importance. Thanks be to God, men have at last 
 begun to understand the rights, and to feel for the 
 wrongs, of each other. Mountains interposed do not 
 so much make enemies of nations. Let the trumpet 
 of alarm be sounded, and its notes are now heard by 
 every nation whether of Europe or America. Let a 
 voice borne on the feeblest breeze tell that the rights 
 of man are in danger, and it floats over valley and 
 mountain, across continent and ocean, until it has 
 vibrated on the ear of the remotest dweller in Chris- 
 tendom. Let the arm of oppression be raised to 
 crush the feeblest nation on earth, and there will be 
 
48 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 heard every where, if not the shout of defiance, at least 
 the deep-toned murmur of implacable displeasure. It 
 is the cry of aggrieved, insulted, much-abused man. 
 It is human nature waking in her might from the 
 slumber of ages, shaking herself from the dust of 
 antiquated institutions, girding herself for the combat, 
 and going forth conquering and to conquer ', and wo 
 unto the man, wo unto the dynasty, wo unto the party, 
 and wo unto the policy, on whom shall fall the scath 
 of her blighting indignation. 
 
 Now it must be evident, that this progress in intel- 
 lectual cultivation must be effecting important changes 
 in the political condition of the nations of Europe. 
 Tiiis moral power has been applied almost exclusively 
 to one portion of the social mass. The rulers remain 
 very much as they were half a century ago ; but the 
 people have advanced with a rapidity, of which the 
 former history of the world furnishes us with no similar 
 example. The relations which once subsisted between 
 the parties having changed, the institutions of society 
 must change with them. A form of government to be 
 stable, must be adapted to the intellectual and moral 
 condition of the governed ; and when from any cause 
 it has ceased to be so adapted, the time has come 
 when it must inevitably be either modified or subverted. 
 These remarks seem to us to apply with special force 
 to the present condition of many of the nations of 
 Europe. I will proceed then, and remark some of the 
 changes which this progress in intellectual improve- 
 ment is effecting in their political condition. 
 
 II. We shall commence this part of our subject 
 by remarking, that the various forms of government 
 
Ax\ AMERICAN CITIZEN. 49 
 
 ^ under which society has existed may, with sufficient 
 accuracy, be reduced to two ; governments of will, 
 
 and GOVERNMENTS OF LAW. 
 
 A government of will supposes that there are created 
 two classes of society, the rulers and the ruled, each 
 possessed of different and very dissimilar rights. It 
 supposes all power to be vested by divine appointment 
 in the hands of the rulers ; that they alone may say 
 under what form of government the people shall live ; 
 that law is nothing other than an expression of their 
 will ; and that it is the ordinance of Heaven that such 
 a constitution should continue unchanged to the re- 
 motest generations ; and that to all this, the people 
 are bound to yield passive and implicit obedience. 
 Thus say the Congress of Sovereigns, which has been 
 styled the Holy Alliance : " All useful and necessary 
 changes ought only to emanate from the free will and 
 intelligent conviction of those, whom God has made 
 responsible for power." You are well aware, that on 
 principles such as these rest most of the governments 
 of continental Europe. 
 
 The government of law rests upon principles pre- 
 cisely the reverse of all this. It supposes that there 
 is but one class of society, and that this class is the 
 people ; that all men are created equal, and therefore 
 that civil institutions are voluntary associations, of 
 which the sole object should be to promote the happi- 
 ness of the whole. It supposes the people to have a 
 perfect right to select that form of government under 
 which they shall live, and to modify it, at any subse- 
 quent time, as they shall think desirable. Supposing 
 all power to emanate from the people, it considers the 
 5* 
 
50 THE DUTIES OP 
 
 authority of rulers purely a delegated authority, to be 
 exercised in all cases according to a written code, 
 which code is nothing more than an authentic expres- 
 sion of the people's will. It teaches that the ruler is 
 nothing more than the intelligent organ of enlightened 
 public opinion, and declares that if he ceases to be so, 
 he shall be a ruler no longer. Under such a govern- 
 ment, may it with truth be said of law, that "her seat 
 is the bosom " of the people, " her voice the harmony" 
 of society ; " all men in every station do her reverence ; 
 the very least as feeling her care, and the very great- 
 est as not exempted from her power ; and though 
 each in different sort and n;ianner, yet all with uniform 
 consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and 
 joy." I need not add, that our own is an illustrious 
 example of the government of law. 
 
 Nou^, which of these two is the right notion of gov- 
 ernment, I need not stay to inquire. It is suflicient 
 for my purpose to remark, that whenever men have 
 become enlightened by the general diffusion of intelli- 
 gence, they have universally preferred the government 
 of law. The doctrines of what is called legitimacy, 
 have not been found to stand the scrutiny of imre- 
 strained examination. And beside this, the love of 
 power is as inseparable from the human bosom as the 
 love of life. Hence men will never rest satisfied with 
 any civil institutions, which confer exclusively upon a 
 part of society, that power which they believe should 
 justly be vested in the whole ; and hence it is evident 
 that no government can be secure from the effects of 
 increasing intelligence, which is not conformed in its 
 principles to the nature of the human heart, and which 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 51 
 
 does not provide for the exercise of this principle, so 
 inseparable from the nature of man. 
 
 We see tiien that the people under arbitrary gov- 
 ernments, whenever they have become enlightened, 
 must begin to desire some change in the existing 
 institutions. On the contrary, it is not unreasonable 
 to suppose, that to such change the rulers would every 
 where be opposed. Instances have been rare in the 
 history of man, in which the possessor of power, has 
 surrendered it to any thing but physical force. The 
 rulers every where will, to the utmost of their ability, 
 maintain the existing institutions. This is not con- 
 jecture. The Holy Alliance has declared its deter- 
 mination to bring its whole power to bear upon any 
 point, from which there was reason to fear that the 
 love of change, or, in other words, the love of liberty, 
 would be disseminated. They have announced that 
 " the powers have an undoubted right to assume an 
 hostile attitude, in relation to those States in which 
 the overthrow of governments may operate as an 
 example." 
 
 You perceive then, that if the people of Europe 
 have become dissatisfied with the government of will, 
 and if the rulers have determined to support it, the 
 present progress of intelligence must be rapidly di- 
 viding the whole community into two great classes. 
 The one is composed of the monarchy, the aristocracy 
 and the army, and in general of all those whose wealth, 
 whose rank, or whose influence depend on the contin- 
 uance of the existing system. The other is composed 
 of the middling and lower classes of society, of the 
 . men who understand the nature of liberal institutions. 
 
52 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 and who are groaning under the weight of civil and 
 religious oppression. The question at issue is, whether 
 a nation shall be governed by men of its choice, or by 
 men whose only title to rule is derived from hereditary 
 descent ; whether laws shall be made for the benefit 
 of the whole or of a part ; and whether they shall be 
 the expression of a monarch's will, or the unbiassed 
 decisions of an enlightened community. It is a ques- 
 tion between precedent and right ; between old notions 
 and new ones ; between rulers and ruled ; between 
 governments and people. It has already agitated 
 Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Prussia, 
 and South America. Hence you see that the parties 
 formed in those nations have all taken their names 
 from their attachments to one or the other of these 
 notions of government. Hence we hear of constitu- 
 tionalists and royalists, of liberals and anti-liberals, of 
 legitimates and reformers. It is, in a word, the same 
 question, though modified by circumstances, which 
 wrought out the revolution under Charles 1., and in 
 which the best blood of this country was shed at Lexing- 
 ton and at Bunker-Hill, at Saratoga, and atYorktown. 
 But we cannot pass from this subject without re- 
 marking another fact, which renders the present state 
 of Europe doubly interesting to every friend of the 
 religion of Jesus Christ. You are well aware that 
 what is called Christianity is at the present day exhib- 
 jited to the world un^er two very different forms. 
 The one supposes man amenable to no created being 
 for his religious opinions, and that, provided he do 
 not disturb the peace of society, he is perfectly at 
 liberty to worship God according to the dictates of his 
 
AX AMERICAN CITIZEN. 53 
 
 own conscience. It supposes, moreover, the Bible to 
 be a sufficient and the only rule of faith and practice ; 
 a book of ultimate facts in morals, which is to be put 
 into the hands of every one, which every one is at 
 liberty to interpret for himself, and that with his 
 interpretation neither any man nor body of men has 
 any right to interfere. The other form, which also 
 professes to be Christianity, supposes, on the contrary, 
 that religious opinion must be subject to the will of 
 man ; and that, for disbelieving the religion of the 
 State, the citizen is justly liable to fine, disfranchise- 
 ment, imprisonment, and death. It denies to man the 
 right of reading the scriptures, and substitutes in their 
 place monkish legends of fabulous miracles. It stamps 
 the traditions and the decisions of men with the au- 
 thority of a revelation from heaven, and thus places 
 conscience, by far the strongest of those principles 
 which agitate the human bosom and direct the human 
 conduct, entirely under the control of ambitious 
 statesmen and avaricious priests. You perceive, I 
 have alluded to the Protestant and Catholic forms of 
 Christianity, such as they generally exist on the con- 
 tinent of Europe. 
 
 These systems, as you must be convinced, depend 
 upon principles very different, the one from the other. 
 The one pleads for the universal circulation of the 
 scriptures ; the other, from its highest authority, for- 
 bids it. The one labours for the improvement of the 
 lower classes of society, and lives, and moves, and has 
 its being, in the atmosphere of religious liberty ; the 
 other has never been able to retain its influence over 
 the mind, any longer than whilst enforcing its doctrines 
 
54 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 by relentless persecution. And hence are the scrip- 
 tures supposed to have designated this church by that 
 awful appellation, " drunk with the blood of the 
 saints." Here then we see that the adherents of these 
 two systems must be at issue on that question, of all 
 others dearest to man, the question of liberty of 
 conscience. 
 
 But it is here of importance to observe, how nearly 
 
 the line which is dravv^n in this division coincides with 
 
 that other on the question of civil liberty, of which we 
 
 have just spoken. The government of will has never 
 
 been able to support itself, without an alliance with 
 
 the ecclesiastical power. Having no hold upon the 
 
 understanding, or upon the affections of man, it must 
 
 control his conscience, or it cannot be upheld. And, 
 
 on the contrary, the Catholic religion cannot carry its 
 
 principles into practice, without the assistance of the 
 
 J civil arm. The State needs the anathema of the 
 
 I Church to check the spirit of inquiry, and the Church 
 
 I needs the physical power of the State, to silence by 
 
 'force when it cannot convince by argument. These 
 
 systems are, as you see, the natural allies of each 
 
 other ; and hence in fact have they always been 
 
 found very closely united. Hence is it that we behold 
 
 at present, among the sovereigns of the Holy Alliance, 
 
 so evident an attempt to re-establish the influence of 
 
 the papal see ; and hence, to use the language of the 
 
 Christian Observer,* "do we perceive throughout 
 
 Europe the mournful advances of that superstitious 
 
 and persecuting church, whose much abused power 
 
 we had hoped was crumbling to decay." 
 
 * Ch. Observer, Vol. 24, p. 401. 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 55 
 
 And, on the contrary, it is equally evident, that 
 
 popular institutions are inseparably connected with 
 
 Protestant Christianity. Both rest upon the same 
 
 fundamental principle, the absolute freedom of inquiry. 
 
 Neither accepts of any support not derived from the 
 
 suffrages of a Iree, intelligent, and virtuous community. 
 
 Though each is perfectly independent, yet neither 
 
 could long exist without giving birth to the other. 
 
 And here, were it necessary, it would not be difficult 
 
 to show that the doctrines of Pratestant Christianity 
 
 are the sure, nay, the only bulwark of civil freedom. 
 
 A survey of the history of Europe, since the era of 
 
 the Reformation, would teach us, that man has never 
 
 correctly understood nor successfully asserted his 
 
 rights, until he has learned them from the Bible ; and, 
 
 still more, that those nations have always enjoyed the 
 
 most perfect freedom, who have been most thoroughly 
 
 imbued with the doctrines of Jesus Christ. But a 
 
 discussion of this sort would lead us too far from the 
 
 range of this discourse. Enough has, we trust, been 
 
 said to convince you, that the very existence of 
 
 Protestantism in Europe, is at stake on the issue of 
 
 the question, which appears so soo;i about to agitate 
 
 that continent. 
 
 And hence, if the human mind only continues to 
 advance at its present rate of improvement, a general 
 division of the people in Christendom seems inevitable. 
 The questions at issue are the most momentous that 
 can be presented, and the most active principles of 
 the human heart must oblige every man to rank 
 himself on the one side or on the other. It is the 
 question, whether man shall surrender up into the 
 
56 TilE DUTIES OF 
 
 hands of other men those rights, which he holds 
 immediately from God ; whether, in fact, he shall 
 bow to nothing but law, or tremble at the frown of a 
 despot. It is whether the human mind shall advance 
 steadily onward in the career of improvement, or 
 whether it shall lose all that it has gained, and sink 
 back again into the gloom of monkish superstition. 
 On the issue of this controversy depends the question, 
 whether the light of divine revelation shall shine far 
 and wide over ou* benighted world, pointing out to 
 our fellow men the path to everlasting life ; or whether 
 that light shall be extinguished, and the generations 
 which follow, the prey to a designing priesthood, shall 
 be led in ignorance to everlasting wo. 
 
 Such seem to us to be some of the circumstances 
 attending the present political condition of Europe. 
 That two parties are forming in every country, you 
 have abundant evidence; it is equally evident that the 
 question on which they are divided is of the utmost 
 magnitude ; and that it is, in every nation, substantially 
 the same. 
 
 I In concluding, it may be worth our while to remark, 
 very briefly, the condition and the prospects of these 
 two opposite parties. 
 
 1. As to their present state, we may observe, that 
 the one has enlisted the greatest numbers, while the 
 other wields the most efiective force. The one 
 comprises the lower and middling classes of society, 
 which are of course by far the most numerous, and 
 the other, the rulers and their inmiediate dependants. 
 The physical power of any nation always resides with 
 the governed, and it is the governed who are the 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 57 
 
 friends of free institutions. But it is to be remarked, 
 that the inillions who desire reform are scattered 
 abroad over immense tracts of country, each one by 
 his own fireside, without concert, and destitute of the 
 means for organized operation ; on the contrary, the 
 force of the rulers is ahvays collected, and can at any 
 moment be brought to bear upon any portion of terri- 
 tory, in which there might appear the least movement 
 towards revolution. 
 
 But the friends of popular institutions are opposed, 
 in every nation, by more than the force of their own 
 rulers. Whilst they are powerful only at home, the 
 rulers are able to bring all their forces to bear upon a 
 single point in any part of the civilized world. To 
 accomplish this purpose, seems the principal design of 
 the Holy Alliance ; and hence they have pledged the 
 physical force of the whole to each other, whenever a 
 question shall be agitated in any country, on which 
 depends the rights of the people. 
 
 2. If we compare their prospects, we shall find that 
 I the power of the popular party is increasing with amazing 
 ' rapidity. Nations are already flocking to its standard. 
 Fifty years ago, and it could be hardly said to exist, 
 only as the voice of indignant freemen was heard in 
 yonder ball,* the far famed "cradle of liberty." 
 From that moment, its progress has been right 
 onward. A continent has since declared itself free. 
 In the old world, the principles of liberty are becoming 
 more universally received, more thoroughly understood, 
 and more ably supported. Education is becoming 
 
 * Fanueil Hall, Boston. 
 
DO THE DUTIES 01* 
 
 every day more widely disseminated ; and every man, 
 as he learns to think, ranks himself with the friends of 
 intellectual improvement. The trains of thought are 
 already at work, which must effect important modifi- 
 cations in the social edifice, or that edifice, undermined 
 from its foundations, must crumble into ruin. 
 
 And thus, from these very causes, the other party 
 is rapidly declining. Nations are leaving it. The 
 people are loathing it. It cannot ultimately succeed, 
 until it has changed the ordinances of heaven. It 
 cannot prosper, unless it can check that tendency to 
 improvement, with which God endowed man at the 
 first moment of his creation. Every report of op- 
 pression weakens it. Every Sabbath School, every 
 Bible Society, nay, every mode of circulating knowl- 
 edge weakens it. And thus, unless by some combined 
 and convulsive effort it should for a little while recover 
 its power, it may almost be expected that within the 
 present age, it will fall before the resistless march of 
 public opinion, and give place every where to govern- 
 ments of law. 
 
AX AMERICAN CITIZEN. 59 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 PSALM LXVII. 1, 2. 
 
 GOD BE MERCIFUL UNTO US, AND BLESS US, AND CAUSE 
 HIS FACE TO SHINE UPON US ; THAT THY WAT MAY BE 
 KNOWN UPON EARTH, THY SAVING HEALTH AMONG ALL 
 NATIONS. 
 
 Pursuing the train of thought which was com- 
 menced this morning, I shall proceed to consider the 
 relation which this country sustains to the nations of 
 Europe, and some of the duties which devolve upon 
 us in consequence of this relation. 
 
 I. Let us consider the relation which this 
 
 COUNTRY SUSTAINS TO THE NATIONS OF EuROPE. 
 
 Here we shall observe, in the first place, that this 
 country is evidently at the head of the popular party 
 throughout the civilized world. The statement of a 
 few facts will render this remark sufficiently evident. 
 I I. This nation owes its existence to a love of 
 'those very principles for which the friends of liberty 
 are now contending. Rather than bow to oppression, 
 civil or ecclesiastical, our fathers fled to a land of 
 savages, determined to clear away in an inhospitable 
 wilderness, one spot on the face of the earth where 
 
OO "^^flF THE DUTIES OF 
 
 man might be free. Ense petit placidam sub libertate 
 quietem* 
 
 2. This nation first prochiimed these principles, 
 as the only proper basis of a constitution of government. 
 Here was it first declared by a legislative assembly : 
 " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 
 are created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
 Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among 
 these are life, liberty, and the pursuh of happiness; 
 that to secure these rights, governments are instituted 
 among men, deriving their just powers from the con- 
 sent of the governed : that, whenever any form of 
 government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
 the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to 
 institute a new government, laying its foundation on 
 such principles, and organizing its powers in such 
 form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
 safety and happiness. "f 
 
 3. This nation first contended for those principles 
 with perfect success. In other countries, attempts 
 had been made to re-model the institutions of govern- 
 ment. But in some cases, the attempt was arrested 
 in its outset by overwhelming force ; in others, the 
 first movement having been succeeded by anarchy, 
 anarchy gave place to military despotism, and this at 
 last yielded to a restoration of the former dynasty. In 
 our country first was the contest commenced, in sim- 
 plicity of heart, for the rights of man ; and when these 
 were secured, here alone did the contest cease. 
 
 * The armorial bearing on the shield of Massachusetts. 
 \ Declaration of Independence. 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 61 
 
 Since our revolution, other nations have followed our 
 example, and many more are preparing to follow it. 
 But when the most glorious success shall have attend- 
 ed their struggle for liberty, they are but our imitators; 
 and the greatest praise of any subsequent revolution 
 must be that it has resembled our own. Our heroic 
 struggle, its perfect success, its virtuous termination, 
 have rivetted the eyes of the people of Europe 
 specially upon us, and they cannot now be averted. 
 To us do they look, when they would see what man 
 can do ; and w^hile sighing under their oppressions, 
 they yet hope to be free. 
 
 4. And lastly, our country has given to the world 
 the first ocular demonstration, not only of the practi- 
 cability, but also of the unrivalled superiority of a 
 popular form of government. It was not long since 
 fashionable to ridicule the idea, that a people could 
 govern themselves. The science of rulers was sup- 
 posed to consist in keeping the people in ignorance, 
 in restraining them by force, and amusing them by 
 shows. The people were treated like a ferocious 
 monster, whose keepers could only be secure while its 
 dungeon was dark, and its chain massive. But the 
 example of our own country is rapidly consigning 
 these notions to merited desuetude. It is teaching 
 the world that the easiest method of governing an 
 intelligent people is, to allow them to govern them- 
 selves. It is demonstrating that the people, so far 
 from being the enemies, are the best, nay, the natural 
 friends of wholesome institutions. It is showing that 
 kings, and nobles, and standing armies, and religious 
 establishments, are at best only very useless appen- 
 6* 
 
6'2 THEDUTIESOF 
 
 dages to a form of government. It is showing to the 
 world that every right can be peVfectly protected, 
 under rulers elected by the people ; that a govern- 
 ment can be stable, with no other support than the 
 affections of its citizens ; that a people can be virtuous, 
 without an established religion ; and, more than this, 
 that just such a government as it was predicted could 
 no where exist but in the brain of a benevolent enthu- 
 siast, has actually existed for half a century, acquiring 
 strength, and compactness, and solidity with every 
 year's duration. And it is manifest that no where 
 else have men been so free, so happy, so enlightened, 
 or so enterprising, and no where have the legitimate 
 objects of civil institutions been so triumphantly at- 
 tained. Against facts such as these, it is difficult to 
 argue ; and they furnish the friends of free institutions 
 with more than an answer to all the theories of 
 legitimacy. 
 
 It is unnecessary to pursue this subject further. 
 You are doubtless convinced that this country stands 
 linked by a thousand ties to the popular sentiment of 
 Europe. We have no sympathies with the rulers. 
 The principles, in support of which they are allied, 
 are diametrically opposed to the very spirit of our 
 constitution. All our sympathies are with the people ; 
 for we are all of us the people. And not only are we 
 I thus amalgamated with them in feeling, we are mani- 
 'i'festly at the head of that feeling. We first promul- 
 gated their sentiments, we taught them their rights, we 
 first contended successfully for their principles j and 
 for fifty years we have furnished incontrovertible evi- 
 dence that their principles are true. These principles 
 
AN A^IKUI('AX CITIZEX. C3 
 
 have already girded us with Herculean stiength, in 
 
 the very infancy of our empire, and have given us 
 
 political precedence of governments, which had been 
 
 established on the old foundation, centuries before 
 
 .our continent was discovered. And now what nation 
 
 : will be second in the new order of things, is yet to be 
 
 ! decided ; but the providence of God has already 
 
 announced, that, if true to ourselves, we shall be 
 
 1 inevitably first. 
 
 Now to say that any country is at the head of 
 popul aj senti in e n t , is only to say, in other words, that 
 it is in her power to direct that sentiment. You are 
 then prepared to proceed with me, and remark, in 
 the next place, that it devolves on this country to lead 
 forward the present movement of public opinion, to 
 freedom and independence. 
 
 It devolves on us to sustain and to chasten the love 
 of liberty among the friends of reform in other nations. 
 It is not enough that the people every where desire a 
 change. The subversion of a bad government is by 
 no means synonymous with the establishment of a 
 better. A people must know what it is to be free ; 
 they must have learned to reverence themselves, and 
 bow implicitly to the principles of right, or nothing 
 can be gained by a change of institutions. A consti- 
 tution written on paper is utterly worthless, unless it 
 be also written on the hearts of a people. Unless 
 men have learned to govern themselves, they may be 
 plunged into all the horrors of civil war, and yet 
 emerge from the most fearful revolution, a lawless 
 nation of sanguinary slaves. But if this country re- 
 main happy, and its institutions free, it will render the 
 
64 THEDUTIESOP 
 
 common people of other countries acquainted with the 
 fundamental principles of the science of government ; 
 this knowledge will silently produce its practical 
 result, and year after year will insensibly train them 
 to freedom. 
 
 But suppose that the spirit of freedom have been 
 sustained to its issue, the blow to have been struck, 
 and, either by concession or by force, the time to 
 have arrived when the institutions of the old world 
 are to be transformed ; then will the happiness of the 
 civilized world be again connected most intimately 
 with the destinies of this country. Ancient constitu- 
 tions having been abolished, new ones must be adopted 
 by almost every nation in Europe. The old founda- 
 tions will have been removed ; it will still remain to 
 be decided on what foundations the social edifice shall 
 rest. From the relation which we now sustain to the 
 friends of free institutions, as well as from all the 
 cases of revolution which have lately occurred,* it is 
 evident that to this nation they will all look for pre- 
 cedent and example. Thus far our institutions have 
 conferred on man all that any form of government 
 was ever expected to bestow. Should the grand 
 experiment which we are now making on the human 
 character succeed, there can be no doubt that other 
 governments, following our example, will be formed 
 on the principles of equality of right. To illustrate 
 the subject by an example; — who does not see, that 
 if France had been illuminated in the era of her revo- 
 lution by the light which our fifty years' experience 
 
 * Note B, 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 65 
 
 has shed upon the world, unstained with the blood of 
 thi-ee millions of her citizens, she might now have 
 been rejoicing in a government of law ? 
 
 We have thus far spoken only of the effects which 
 this country might produce upon the politics of Europe, 
 simply by her example. It is not impossible, however, 
 that she may be called to exert an influence still more 
 direct on the destinies of man. Should the rulers of 
 Europe make war upon the principles of our consti- 
 tution, because its existence " may operate as an 
 example ;" or should a universal appeal be made to 
 arms, on the question of civil and religious liberty ; — 
 it is manifest that we must take no secondary part in 
 the controversy. The contest will involve the civil- 
 ized world, and the blow will be struck which must 
 decide the fate of man for centuries to come. 
 
 Then will the hour have arrived, when, uniting with 
 herself the friends of freedom throughout the world, 
 this country must breast herself to the shock of con- 
 gregated nations. Then will she need the wealth of 
 her merchants, the prowess of her warriors, and the 
 sagacity of her statesmen. Then, on the altars of our 
 God, let us each one devote himself to the cause of 
 the human race ; and in the name of the Lord of 
 Hosts go forth unto the batde. If need be, let our 
 choicest blood flow freely ; for life itself is valueless, 
 when such interests are at stake. Then, when a 
 world in arms is assembling to the conflict, may this 
 country be found fighting in the vanguard for the 
 liberties of man. God himself hath summoned her 
 to the contest, and she may not shrink back. For 
 this hour may He by his grace prepare her. 
 
66 THEDUTIESOF 
 
 How a contest of this kind would terminate, we 
 should doubt, if our trust were in an arm of flesh. 
 But we doubt not. We believe that the cause of man 
 will triumph, because the Judge of the whole earth 
 will do right. The wrath of man shall praise him, 
 and the remainder of wrath he will restrain. And 
 yet again we doubt not j for we believe that on the 
 issue of this controversy, the dearest interests of the 
 church of Christ are suspended. That day will 
 decide, whether the light of revelation shall shine far 
 abroad among the nations, or whether it shall be 
 extinguished, and its place be supplied by the legends 
 of a monkish superstition. We cannot believe that 
 the blood of martyrs has flowed so much in vain. 
 We cannot believe that God will suffer his church to 
 go back again for ages, after he has showed her, in 
 these latter days, so many tokens for good. There- 
 fore, though the kings of the earth set themselves, and 
 the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and 
 against his anointed, saying. Let us break their bands 
 asunder and cast away their cords from us ; he that 
 sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall 
 have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto 
 them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeas- 
 ure. For he hath set his King upon his holy hill of 
 Zion. God is our refuge and strength, a very present 
 help in trouble. The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the 
 God of Jacob is our refuge. 
 
 And if the cause of true religion and of man shall 
 eventually triumph, as we trust in God it will, who 
 can tell how splendid are the destinies which will then 
 await this country ! One feeling, the love of liberty, 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. G7 
 
 will have cemented together all the nations of the earth* 
 Though speaking diflerent languages and inhabiting 
 different regions, all will be but one people, united in 
 the pursuit of one object, the happiness of the whole. 
 And at the head of this truly holy alliance, if faithful 
 to her trust, will then this nation be found. The first 
 that taught them to be free ; the first that suffered in 
 the contest ; the nation that most freely and most 
 firmly stood by them in the hour of their calamity ; — 
 at her feet will they lay the tribute of universal grati- 
 tude. Each one bound to her by every sentiment of 
 interest and affection, she will be the centre of the 
 new system, which shall then emerge out of the chaos 
 of ancient institutions. Henceforth she will sway for 
 ages the destinies of the world. 
 
 Who of us does not kindle into enthusiasm as he 
 contemplates the mighty interests connected with the 
 prosperity of this country ? With the success of our 
 institutions, the cause of man throughout the civilized 
 world seems indissolubly interwoven. What, then, 
 let us inquire, are 
 
 n. The duties to which we are summoned 
 
 BY the relation THAT WE SUSTAIN TO OUR BRETH- 
 REN OF THE HUMAN RACE? This is the Idst topic to 
 which I shall direct your attention. 
 
 And here it is scarcely necessary to remark, that it 
 cannot be our duty to do any thing which shall at all 
 interfere with the internal concerns of any other gov- 
 ernment. We should thus compromise the fundamen- 
 tal principle of our constitution, that civil institutions 
 are to be established or modified only in obedience to 
 the will of the majority. But this ivill can be ascer- 
 
68 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 tained only by allowing each nation to select for itself 
 that form of government, which it shall choose. If 
 the majority in any nation are willing to be slaves, no 
 power on earth can make them free. It is certainly 
 their misfortune ; but physical force can do them no 
 good. We may extend to them every facility for the 
 dissemination of knowledge and of religion ; this we 
 owe to them as brethren of the human race ; and 
 having done this, we must commit them to the decis- 
 ions of an all-wise and holy Providence. 
 
 It is evident, then, that unless called to defend the 
 cause of liberty in the field, all we can do for it must 
 be done at home. Our power resides in the force of 
 our example. It is by exhibiting to other nations the 
 practical excellence of a government of law, that they 
 will learn its nature and advantages, and will in due 
 time achieve their own emancipation. 
 
 The question, then, what can we do to promote 
 the cause of liberty throughout the world, resolves 
 itself into another, what can we do to ensure the 
 success of that experiment which our institutions are 
 making upon the character of man ? 
 
 In answering it, it is important to remark, that 
 
 whatever we would do for our country, must be done 
 
 for THE PEOPLE. Great results can never be effected 
 
 in any other way. Specially is this the case under a 
 
 li republican constitution. Here the peoj)le are not 
 
 ' \ only the real but also^the acknowledged fountain of 
 
 ! ' all authority. They make the laws, and they control 
 
 I the execution of them. They direct the senate, they 
 
 j overawe the cabinet, and hence it is the moral and 
 
 intellectual character of the people which must give 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. G9 
 
 I to the " very age and body of our institutions their 
 
 [form and pressure." 
 
 So long, then, as our people remain virt^ious and 
 intelligent, our government will remain stable. While 
 they clearly perceive, and honestly decree justice, our 
 laws will be wholesome, and the principles of our 
 constitution will commend themselves every where to 
 the common sense of man. But should our people 
 become ignorant and vicious ; should their decisions 
 become the dictates of passion and venality, rather 
 than of reason and of right, that moment are or.r liber- 
 ties at an end j and, glad to escape from the despoiisna 
 of millions, we shall flee for shelter to the despotism 
 of one. Then will the world's last hope be extin- 
 guished, and darkness brood for ages over the whole 
 human race. 
 
 Not less important is moral and intellectual cultiva- 
 tion, if we would prepare our country to stand forth 
 the bulwark of the liberties of the world. Should the 
 time to try men's souls ever come again, our reliance 
 under God must be, as it was before, on the character 
 of our citizens. Our soldiers must be men whose 
 bosoms have swollen with the conscious dignity of 
 freemen, and who, firmly trusting in a righteous God, 
 can look unmoved on embattled nations leagued 
 together for purposes of wrong. When the means of 
 education every where throughout our country shall 
 be free as the air we breathe ; when every family 
 shall have its Bible, and every individual shall love to 
 read it ; then and not till then shall we exert our 
 proper influence on the cause of man ; then and not 
 till then shall we be prepared to stand forth between 
 7 
 
70 THEDUTIESOF 
 
 the oppressor and the oppressed, and say to the proud 
 wave of domination, Thus far shalt thou come and no 
 farther. 
 
 It seems then evident, that the paramount duty of 
 an American citizen, is, to put in requisition every 
 possible means for elevating universally the intellectual 
 and moral character of our people. 
 
 When we speak of intellectual elevation, we would 
 not suggest that all our citizens are to become able 
 linguists, or profound mathematicians. This, at least 
 for the present, is not practicable ; it certainly is not 
 necessary. The object at which we aim will be 
 attained, when every man is familiarly acquainted 
 with what are now considered the ordinary branches 
 of an English education. The intellectual stores of 
 one language are then open before him ; a language 
 in which he may find all the knowledge that he will 
 ever need to form his opinions upon any subjects on 
 1 which it will be his duty to decide. A man who 
 j cannot read, let us always remember, is a being not 
 contemplated by the genius of our constitution. 
 Where the right of suffrage is extended to all, he is 
 certainly a dangerous member of the community who 
 has not qualified himself to exercise it. But on this 
 part of the subject I need not enlarge. The proceed- 
 ings of our National and State Legislatures already 
 furnish ample proof that our people are tremblingly 
 alive to its importance. We do firmly believe the time 
 to be not far distant, when there will not be found a 
 single citizen of these United States, who is not en- 
 titled to the appellation of a well informed man.* 
 * Note C. 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 71 
 
 But supposing all this to be done, still only a part, 
 and by far the least important part of our work will 
 have been accomplished. We have increased the 
 power of the people, but we have left it doubtful in 
 what direction that power will be exerted. We have 
 made it certain that a public opinion will be formed ; 
 but whether that opinion shall be healthful or destruc- 
 tive, is yet to be decided. We have cut out channels 
 by which knowledge may be conveyed to every indi- 
 vidual of our mighty population ; it remains for us, 
 by means of those very channels, to instil into every 
 bosom an unshaken reverence for the principles of 
 right. Having gone thus far, then, we must go farther ; 
 for you must be aware that the tenure by which our 
 liberties is held can never be secure, unless moral, 
 keep pace with intellectual cultivation. This leads 
 us to remark, in the second place, that our other and 
 still more imperative duty is, to cultivate the moral 
 character of our people.* 
 
 On the means by which this may be effected, I 
 need not detain you. We have in our hands a book 
 of tried efficacy ; a book which contains the only 
 successful appeal that was ever made to the moral 
 sense of man ; a book which unfolds the only remedy 
 that has ever been applied with any effect to the 
 direful maladies of the human heart. You need not 
 be informed that I refer to the Holy Scriptures of the 
 Old and New Testament. 
 
 As to the powerful, I had almost said miraculous 
 effect of the sacred Scriptures, there can no longer be 
 a doubt in the mind of any one on whom fact can 
 * Note D. 
 
72 • THE DUTIES OF 
 
 make an impression. That the truths of the Bible 
 have the power of awakening an intense moral feeling 
 in man under every variety of character, learned or 
 ignorant, civilized or savage ; that they make bad men 
 good, and send a pulse of heathful feeling through all 
 the domestic, civil, and social relations ; that they 
 teach men to love right, to hate wrong, and to seek 
 each other's welfare, as the children of one common 
 parent; that they control the baleful passions of the 
 human heart, and thus make man a proficient in the 
 science of self government ; and finally, that they teach 
 him to aspire after conformity to a Being of infinite 
 holiness, and fill him with hopes infinitely more puri- 
 fying, more exalting, more suited to his nature than 
 any other, which this world has ever known ; are 
 facts, incontrovertible as the laws of philosophy, or 
 the demonstrations of mathematics. Evidence in 
 support of all this can be brought from every age in 
 the history of man, since there has been a revelation 
 from God on earth. We see the proof of it every 
 where around us. There is scarcely a neighbourhood 
 in our country where the Bible is circulated, in which 
 we cannot point you to a very considerable portion of 
 the population, whom its truths have reclaimed from 
 the practice of vice, and taught the practice of what- 
 soever things are pure, and honest, and just, and of 
 good report. 
 
 That this distinctive and peculiar effect is produced 
 upon every man to whom the gospel is announced, 
 we pretend not to affirm. But we do affirm, that 
 beside producing this special renovation to which we 
 have alluded, upon a part, it, in a most remarkable 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 73 
 
 degree, elevates the tone of moral feeling throughout 
 the whole of a community. Wherever the Bible is 
 freely circulated, and its doctrines carried home to 
 the understandings of men, the aspect of society is 
 altered ; the frequency of crime is diminished ; men 
 begin to love justice, and to administer it by law ; 
 and a virtuous public opinion, that strongest safeguard 
 of right, spreads over a nation the shield of its invisible 
 protection. Wherever it has faithfully been brought 
 to bear upon the human heart, even under most 
 unpromising circumstances, it has within a single 
 generation revolutionized the whole structure of socie- 
 ty ; and thus within a few years done more for man, 
 than all other means have for ages accomplished 
 without it. For proof of all this, I need only refer 
 you to the effects of the gospel in Greenland, or in 
 South Africa ; in the Society Islands, or even among 
 the aborigines of our own country. 
 
 But before we leave this part of the subject, it may 
 be well to pause for a moment, and inquire whether, 
 in addition to its moral efficacy, the Bible may not 
 exert a powerful influence on the intellectual character 
 of man. 
 
 And here it is scarcely necessary that I should 
 remark, that of all the books with which, since the 
 invention of writing, this world has been deluged, the 
 number of those is very small which have produced 
 any perceptible effect on the mass of human character. 
 By far the greater part have been, even by their con- 
 temporaries, unnoticed and unknown. Not many an 
 one has made its little mark upon the generation that 
 produced it, though it sunk with that generation to 
 7* 
 
74 THE DUTIES OF 
 
 Utter forgetfulness. But after the ceaseless toil of six 
 thousand years, how few have been the works, the 
 adamantine basis of whose reputation has stood unhurt 
 amid the fluctuations of time, and whose impression 
 can be traced through successive centuries on the 
 history of our species. 
 
 When, however, such a work appears, its effects 
 are absolutely incalculable ; and such a work, you 
 are aware, is the Iliad of Homer. Who can esti- 
 mate the results produced by this incomparable eifort 
 of a single mind ! Who can tell what Greece owes 
 to this first-born of song ! Her breathing marbles, 
 her solemn temples, her unrivalled eloquence,'and her 
 matchless verse, all point us to that transcendent 
 genius, who by the very splendour of his own effulgence 
 woke the human intellect from the slumber of ages. 
 It was Homer who gave laws to the artist ; it was 
 Homer who inspired the poet ; it was Homer who 
 thundered in the senate ; and, more than all, it was 
 Homer who was sung by the people ; and hence a 
 nation was cast into the mould of one mighty mind, 
 and the land of the Iliad, became the region of taste, 
 the birth-place of the arts. Nor was this influence 
 confined within the limits of Greece. Long after the 
 sceptre of empire had passed westward, genius still 
 held her court on the banks of the Ilyssus, and from 
 the country of Homer gave laws to the world. The 
 light which the blind old man of Scio had kindled in 
 Greece, shed its radiance over Italy ; and thus did he 
 awaken a second nation to intellectual existence. 
 And we may form some idea of the power which this 
 one work has to the present day exerted over the 
 
A.\ AMERICAN' CITIZEX. 75 
 
 mind of man, by remarking, that " nation after nation, 
 and century after century has been able to do little 
 more than transpose his incidents, new-name his 
 characters, and paraphrase his sentiments."* 
 
 But considered sim[)ly as an intellectual production, 
 who will compare the poems of Homer with the Holy 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testament ? Where 
 in the Iliad shall we find simplicity and pathos to vie 
 with the narrative of IMoses, or maxims of conduct to 
 equal in wisdom the Proverbs of Solomon, or sublim- 
 ity which does not fade away before the conceptions 
 of Job, or David, of Isaiah, or St. John ? But I 
 cannot pursue this comparison. I feel that it is doing 
 wrong to the mind which dictated the Iliad, and to 
 those other mighty intellects on whom the light of the 
 holy oracles never shined. Who that has read his 
 poem has not observed how he strove in vain to give 
 dignity to the mythology of his time ? Who has not 
 seen how the religion of his country, unable to support 
 the flight of his imagination, sunk powerless beneath 
 him ? It is in the unseen world that the master spirits 
 of our race breathe freely and are at home 5 and it is 
 mournful to behold the intellect of Homer striving to 
 free itself from the conceptions of materialism, and 
 then sinking down in hopeless despair, to weave idle 
 fables about Jupiter and Juno, Apollo or Diana. But 
 the difficulties under which he laboured are abundantly 
 illustrated by the fact, that the light which he poured 
 upon the human intellect taught other ages how 
 unworthy was the religion of his day of the man who 
 
 * Johnson. Preface to Sliakspeare. 
 
76 THEDUTIESOF 
 
 was compelled to use it. " It seems to me," says 
 Longinus, " that Homer, when he ascribes dissensions, 
 jealousies, tears, imprisonments, and other afflictions 
 to his deities, hath, as much as was in his power, 
 made the men of the Iliad gods, and the gods men. 
 To man when afflicted, death is the termination of 
 evils ; but he hath made not only the nature but the 
 miseries of the gods eternal." 
 
 If then so great results have flowed from this one 
 effort of a single mind, what may we not expect from 
 the combined efforts of several, at least his equals in 
 power over the human heart? If that one genius, 
 though groping in the thick darkness of absurd idola- 
 try, wrought so glorious a transformation in the char- 
 acter of his countrymen, what may we not look for 
 from the universal dissemination of those writings, on 
 whose authors was poured the full splendour of eternal 
 truth? If unassisted human nature, spell-bound by a 
 childish mythology, have done so much, what may 
 we not hope for from the supernatural efforts of pre- 
 eminent genius, which spake as it was moved by the 
 Holy Ghost ? 
 s To sum up in a few words wliat has been said. If 
 we would see the foundations laid broadly and deeply, 
 on which the fabrick of this country's liberties shall 
 rest to the remotest generations ; if we would see her 
 carry forward the work of political reformation, and 
 rise the bright and morning star of freedom over a 
 benighted world ; let us elevate the intellectual and 
 moral character of every class of our citizens, and 
 especially let us imbue them thoroughly with the 
 principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
AN AMERICAN C IT IZ EX. 77 
 
 You are well aware, that to carry into effect this 
 design, is one of the objects in which good men of 
 every denomination are now so actively engaged. 
 Having observed that the precepts of the Bible take 
 more immediate effect when repeatedly inculcated 
 upon man by teachers set apart for this purpose, 
 missionary societies have been formed to furnish such 
 teachers to the destitute. Having found that the 
 proportion of ministers of the gospel is lamentably 
 insufficient to meet the wants of our increasing popu- 
 lation, they have formed societies, and endowed 
 institutions, with the design of qualifying a greater 
 number for the pastoral office. And again, it has been 
 observed, that youth is the season for instilling into 
 man the elements of knowledge, and the principles of 
 piety ; and hence the Christian world is universally en- 
 gaged in the benevolent work of Sabbath school instruc- 
 tion. And here, in jiassing, I cannot but remark, that if 
 indeed our country shall be saved from that ruin 
 which has awaited other republics, and shall move 
 steadily onward in that career of glory which Provi- 
 dence has opened before her ; next to the circulation 
 of the Scriptures, to the Sabbath school more than to 
 any thing else, do I verily believe that salvation will 
 be owing. 
 
 You see then that these institutions all have one 
 common object in view, to elevate the intellectual and 
 moral character of our people. Here iprue philan- 
 thropy;_ hei-e is ^Chnstian patriot^ And this is 
 
 one reason why we so often present these charities to 
 your notice. When, therefore, we ask you to aid us 
 in circulating the Bible, in sending the gospel to the 
 
78 THEDUTIESOF 
 
 destitute, or in educating the ignorant, you must not 
 look unkindly at us ; for we plead the cause of our 
 country, of liberty, and of man. Let us all unite in 
 spreading abroad the means of knowledge and of 
 religion ; let us do our utmost to render our nation a 
 church of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 
 Then, liowe'er crowns and coronets be rent, 
 
 A virtuous populace sliall rise tlie while, 
 
 And stand a wall of fire, to guard their native soil. 
 
 And lastly, I would urge you, my brethren, to 
 activity in these labours of charity, by presenting at a 
 single view, the momentous results with which they 
 seem to me indissolubly connected j but I feel myself 
 utterly incompetent to the task. 
 
 When I reflect that some of you who now hear me 
 will see fifty millions of souls enrolled on the census 
 of these United States; when I think how small a 
 proportion our present efforts bear to the pressing 
 wants of this mighty population, and how soon the 
 period in which those wants can be supplied will have 
 forever elapsed ; when, moreover, I reflect how the 
 happiness of man is interwoven with the destinies of 
 this country; — I want language to express my con- 
 ceptions of the importance of the subject ; and yet I 
 am aware that those conceptions fall far short of the 
 plain, unvarnished truth. When I look forward over 
 the long tract of coming ages, the dim shadows of 
 unborn nations pass in solemn review before me, and 
 each, by every sympathy which binds together the 
 whole brotherhood of man, implores this country to 
 fulfil that destiny to which she has been summoned 
 
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 79 
 
 by an all-wise Providence, and save a sinking world 
 from temporal misery and eternal death. 
 
 In view of all these considerations, let me again 
 urge you to be in earnest in this cause. I would 
 plead with you, instead of engaging in political strife, 
 to put forth your hands to the work of making your 
 fellow citizens wiser and better. I pray you think 
 less of parties and more of your country j and instead 
 of talking about patriotism, to be indeed patriots. 
 And especially would I charge you to give to this 
 cause not only your active exertions, but your unceas- 
 ing prayers. Ye who love the Lord, keep not silence, 
 and give him no rest, until he establish this his Jeru- 
 salem, and make her a praise in the whole earth. 
 God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause his face 
 to shine upon us ; that his name may be known on 
 earth, and his saving health unto all nations. And to 
 him shall be the glory, forever. Amen. 
 
DEATH 
 
 THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 
 
 2 SAMUEL I. 19. 
 
 HOAV ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN ! 
 
 Events yet fresh in your recollection, brethren, 
 sufficiently explain my reasons for the choice of these 
 words on the present occasion. Our two most distin- 
 guished fellow citizens, men whose exertions have led 
 to greater results than perhaps any others of the 
 present age, have within a few days been gathered to 
 their fathers. A remarkable train of circumstances 
 attending these events, has seemed to me to intimate 
 that God has designed by them to teach us some 
 important and very definite lesson of instruction. 
 This is my apology, if apology be needed, for deviating 
 so far from my usual practice, as to devote a portion 
 of this day to the consideration of aught which does 
 not bear directly upon the great question of your 
 souls' salvation. 
 
DEATH OF THE EX-PRESIDE XTS. 81 
 
 J am 3'et more encouraged to attempt an improve- 
 ment of the present occasion, by the consideration that 
 the events to which I have alluded, have awakened 
 but one train of feeling throughout the whole people 
 of the United States. All mourn equally, and equally 
 for each of the patriots who have fallen. The agitation 
 of party for a moment subsides, and every man in- 
 stinctively lays aside the badges of political distinction, 
 as he draws near to that grave which is receiving to 
 its bosom the venerated remains of the fathers of his 
 country. It is a moment most favourable to national 
 reflection. The attempt to direct so universal a sen- 
 sation to some profitable result, cannot surely be 
 unworthy of a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is my design, this afternoon, briefly to enumerate 
 the services, and sketch the characters of the two late 
 Presidents of the United States, and then direct your 
 attention to such reflections as seem most naturally to 
 arise out of the circumstances of their lives and their 
 deaths. 
 
 John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, entered 
 upon active life, during the most eventful period of 
 this country's history, at the commencement of that 
 contest which led to our national independence. The 
 intellectual superiority of each was immediately dis- 
 covered, and each shone with distinguished brilliancy 
 in that constellation of pre-eminent talent, with which 
 the native State of each was at that time illuminated. 
 Both took an active part in the revolutionary measures 
 adopted by their respective Colonial Legislatures, 
 both were members of the first Continental Congress, 
 both stood in the very first rank among the great men 
 
8^ ON THE DEATH OP 
 
 of whom that assembly was composed, and no assem- 
 bly on earth could ever boast of greater, both were 
 members of the committee for drafting the Declaration 
 of Independence : they alone composed the sub-com- 
 mittee ; the one drafted it, and the other seconded 
 and most eloquently supported the motion for its 
 adoption ; and both, in veriest truth, putting their 
 hands to that memorable instrument, pledged to the 
 support of it, their lives, and fortunes, and their sacred 
 honor. 
 
 During the whole contest for our national independ- 
 ence, each in his appropriate sphere devoted his 
 undivided efforts to the object of securing the liberlies 
 of this country. Both were called to stations of the 
 utmost responsibility ; and each so discharged every 
 trust, as to increase that confidence which his fellow 
 citizens had before reposed in hiin. Both were 
 charged with important embassies to the most distin- 
 guished courts of Europe, and both conciliated the favor 
 of nations hostile to each other, towards these new 
 Republics of the West. Both returned home to fill 
 yet more distinguished stations in the councils of their 
 native country. Each, in the order of age, was called 
 to the highest ofiice in the gift of the people ; each 
 was at the head of a powerful and opposing political 
 party, and each retired from office, followed by the 
 mingled praise and reprobation of his fellow citizens. 
 Both lived to see the animosity of party disappear, 
 and to receive, in a greater share than has fallen to 
 the lot of any other man, Washington only excepted, 
 all the homage which the world could render to talents 
 and to virtue. Both have lived to behold the princi- 
 
THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 83 
 
 pies which they so ably advocated, and which but for 
 tliem had perhaps never prevailed, triumph in another 
 portion of this vast continent, and agitate the nations 
 of Europe with aspirations after liberty. Both lived 
 to witness that sun arise, which ushered in the second 
 half century after the signature of the declaration of 
 independence, and ere that sun had descended, both 
 had fallen asleep. He who drafted the instrument, 
 died on the hour in which it was signed, and he who 
 seconded the motion for its adoption, on the hour in 
 which it was first promulgated. 
 
 If great action indicates great talent, then has the 
 human race numbered but few men more talented 
 than these. If it be in the power of man, nay, I had 
 almost said, of Providence itself, to confer distinction, 
 then were these men distinguished. If it be any glory 
 to lay the foundation of a mighty nation, and erect 
 the superstructure at a crisis as appalling as the world 
 has ever seen ; if it be any glory to impart a new and 
 a liappier direction to the public sentiment of the age, 
 and to pour the gladness of a brighter hope upon the 
 destinies of futurity, then were the lives glorious of 
 the two late Presidents of the United States of America. 
 
 The talents of these illustrious men, though of the 
 highest order, were, in many respects, dissimilar. 
 Each was peculiarly formed by Divine Providence 
 for that station which he was called to fill, and for the 
 temperament of that people whom he was designed to 
 influence. If the almost metaphysical acuteness of 
 the one, was better fitted for the calculating habits of 
 the North, the glowing imagination of the other, vva.s 
 better adapted to the kindling impetuosity of the South. 
 
84 Ox\THEDEATHOF 
 
 The power of the one, was more visible in the firm- 
 ness, that of the other, in the elasticity of his intellec- 
 tual movement. The one, was distinguished for 
 logical conclusion, the other, for intuitive percep- 
 tion. The one, convinced by unanswerable argument, 
 the other, by self-evident illustration. In the one, 
 the powers of the understanding were more exclusive, 
 in the other, they were more combined with those of 
 the imagination. The natural bias of the one, was 
 probably towards ethics, that of the other, towards 
 philosophy. The papers of Mr. Adams, signed 
 Novanglus, and published at the commencement of 
 the Revolution, for legal erudition, for manly vigor, 
 for subtle discrimination, and political shrewdness, are 
 surpassed by nothing that I have ever seen in the 
 English Language. The philosophical works, and 
 the diplomatic correspondence of Mr. Jefferson, have 
 taken the rank of acknowledged models in those 
 species of composition. 
 
 Both were thoroughly learned, but their learning 
 was of a different character. The researches of the 
 one, were more confined within the limits of his orig- 
 inal profession ; those of the other, were more 
 expanded over the wide field of human investigation. 
 The one, was more remarkable for the depth, the 
 other, for the extent of his acquisitions. The one, 
 was the greater lawyer, the other, the more original 
 philosopher. Both were enthusiastic admirers of the 
 ancient classics, and specially of the ancient orators ; 
 but whilst the one occupied his leisure in the study of 
 their ethics, the other surrendered himself at will, to 
 the magic of their poetry. 
 
THE EX- PRESIDENTS. 85 
 
 As to their patriotism, it is impossible to institute a 
 comparison. Patriotism is a disposition of mind, of 
 which the differences can only be measured by greater 
 and less. But the patriotism of these illustrious men 
 admitted of no such disiinction. Each consecrated 
 bis entire self to the public good. There was no 
 sacrifice which one would and the other would not 
 have made for his country ; for either of them, for 
 that country, would have sacrificed his all. Each at 
 the commencement of the Revolution relinquished the 
 most flattering prospects when he embarked in the 
 cause of liberty ; each stood unmoved and immovable 
 in the most fearful hour of his country's trial ; each 
 afterwards pursued measures which he knew to be 
 unpopular, because he believed them to be wise ; 
 and, after lives devoted exclusively to the public 
 service, and in situations of confidential trust, the one 
 died in the possession of a bare competence, and the 
 other, under many and distressing embarrassments. 
 
 As statesmen, they had different views of the means 
 by which the prosperity of this country might be most 
 successfully advanced. The one looked with more 
 favor upon commercial, the other upon agricultural 
 enterprise. The bias of the one, was towards a more 
 efficient, and that of the other, towards a more popular 
 form of civil constitution. It is somewhat remarkable, 
 that the notions of the one, though he lost his popu-. 
 larity, prevailed, while those of the other, though he 
 retained his influence, have been abandoned. No one 
 at the present day will deny, that they differed from 
 honest and patriotic conviction. That powerful argu^ 
 ments may be urged in favor of both of these courses of 
 8* 
 
86 O N T H E D E A T H O F 
 
 national policy, no reflecting man can doubt ; but 
 which is the true policy for this country, nothing but 
 the experience of a century can decide. It must de- 
 pend upon events which no being but Omniscience can 
 foresee. iVnd even after this shall have been decided, 
 it will perhaps be equally impossible to declare which 
 was endued with the farthest and most clear-sighted 
 forecast ; for the attachment of each to the one or to 
 the other system, may very fairly be attributed to the 
 different place, and the dissimilar associations, of their 
 early education. 
 
 They differed, perhaps, more as politicians than in 
 any other aspect of character. The one moved, 
 with inconceivable power, the more visible ; the 
 other touched, with incomparable address, the more 
 occult springs of human action. The one felt with 
 accuracy the stronger throb of public sentiment; the 
 other observed, with unerring tact, its finer pulsations. 
 The talents of the one, bold, vehement, and yet wary, 
 would have been more fully developed as the leader 
 of an opposition ; while those of the other, equally 
 bold, but collected and foresighted, would have shone 
 with more distinction at the head of an administration. 
 The one, was liable to err from inflexibility of purpose ; 
 the other, to be led astray by the brilliancy of a first 
 conception. The first, unbending in purpose, would 
 have wrought out the greatest possible amount of result 
 from any measure which he could have carried ; the 
 other, inexhaustible in expedient, if he could not carry 
 one measure, would have carried another, and out of 
 several which might be presented, would have accom- 
 plished his purposes with almost equal certainty. 
 
THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 87 
 
 III manners, both were emphatically simple and 
 unostentatious, and in the various relations of private 
 life, both are represented to have been amiable and 
 exemplary. Each left his family and his own imme- 
 diate neighborhood, the seat of sincere and deepfelt 
 lamentation. Each, since his retirement from public 
 life, has devoted himself to the benefit of the rising 
 generation. The one, has been for several years 
 assiduously engaged in organizing a university for his 
 native State ; the other, from his own limited finances, 
 has endowed an academy in his native town. 
 
 With the circumstances attending the last moments 
 of these illustrious men, you are already well ac- 
 quainted. 1 shall not, therefore, attempt to awaken 
 your sympathies by their recital. The occasion does 
 not demand it. Every instance of mortality conveys 
 its own appropriate lesson ; and though that lesson be 
 always solemn, it is not always, nor is it in the present 
 case, particularly mournful. By a remarkable train 
 of coincidences in the present instance. Divine Provi- 
 dence seems to have designed to direct our attention 
 to some lesson of peculiar instruction. Let us then, 
 rather, endeavour to improve the present dispensation 
 by deriving from it those admonitions, which it is so 
 evidently intended to convey. 
 
 1. The lives of these two distinguished men, teach 
 us then, in the first place, the evanescent nature of 
 party excitement. 
 
 Many of you will very well remember, when these 
 two men, whose memory we all so deeply and univer- 
 sally revere, were the leaders of violent and opposing 
 parties, and when each reaped his full share of political 
 
88 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 adulation and political abuse. The success of the 
 one over the other was celebrated with the intoxicated 
 joy of a national deliverance, or deplored with the 
 bitter lamentation of a national calamity. And when 
 the parties, which each had respectively led, passed 
 into other hands, the warfare was continued with 
 unabated fury. Each was made in his retirement the 
 object of unqualified abuse. The spirit of party 
 pervaded all ranks of society, and mingled its bitter 
 waters with all the relations of civil and domestic life. 
 It kindled into a flame the baser passions of the 
 ignorant and vicious. Our cities were disgraced with 
 mobs, and in some cases polluted with blood. Aline 
 of distant, and decided separation was drawn, be- 
 tween even the more intelligent adherents of the two 
 conflicting interests. A man might expect that his 
 bosom friend would look coldly upon him, if he were 
 bold enough to allow either purity of motive, or wisdom 
 of conduct, to the measures of his opponents. The 
 most Intimate ties of relationship were sundered. 
 The father was arrayed against the son, and the son 
 against ihe father ; a man's foes became those of his 
 own household. And yet more, 1 am ashamed to 
 say, this same spirit of party infused its hateful influ- 
 ences into the services and devotions of the sanctuary 
 of God. You would hear a congregation of immortal 
 beings, nay, you would hear pious men, asking con- 
 cerning a minister of the gospel, not, Is he devout, but, 
 What are his politics ? The very sine qua non of his 
 acceptableness, was his supporting their candidate, 
 and approving their measures; and it was no serious 
 disqualification if he were prepared, when the occasion 
 
THE EX-PRESIDENT?. 89 
 
 presented, to anathematize their opponents. And thus 
 the pulpit was desecrated by political philippics and 
 personal abuse. Nothing could be heard or talked 
 of but politics. It seemed as though the intellectual 
 and moral vision of our citizens were distorted, and 
 nothing within the whole compass of knowledge could 
 be seen but in its relation to the interests of party. 
 A universal mania had seized upon the whole com- 
 munity. The ordinary topics of conversation were 
 tame, and the ordinary occupations of life uninter- 
 esting ; nay, the salvation of the soul itself seemed 
 unimportant, in comparison with the all absorbing 
 question, which of these two political parties should 
 be uppermost. 
 
 And now, what has become of all this mighty 
 clamour ? Passed away, and, we devoutly hope, for- 
 ever ! Where are the causes for this wide spread 
 commotion, which threatened to shake our union to its 
 centre ? 1 do not believe there is one of you who 
 can now remember them. You are surprised to find 
 that you could have imagined so broad distinctions, 
 where there was so little difference, and decided so 
 promptly where there was so much reason to hesitate. 
 The most zealous partisan among you is most 
 ashamed of those actions in which he then most 
 publicly exulted. And how changed is the feeling of 
 all of us towards the two illustrious leaders, whose 
 death we deplore ! Separated, though for a while 
 they were in life, in their deaths they cannot be 
 divided. The eulogy of the one, is by the Providence 
 of God, of necessity, as well as of choice, the eulogy 
 of the other. Throughout this whole continent, their 
 
90 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 former adherents and their former opponents, bend 
 over their common grave without one discordant 
 feeling, and in the weeds of undissembled sorrow, ren- 
 der their homage of heartfelt admiration equally to 
 each. The man would not now be tolerated in any 
 assembly of this country, who should attempt to 
 eulogize one at the expense of the other. So tran- 
 sient is the excitement of party. Thus certainly does 
 time correct tlie decisions of passion. It is to me, 
 evident, that to teach us this lesson is one of the 
 designs of Divine Providence in the present ch'spensa- 
 tion. In it, I hear the voice of God calling upon the 
 citizens of this country, to bury in this common grave 
 every vestige of party animosity, and to treasure up 
 the instruction of this day's recollections for the 
 benefit of succeeding ages. 
 
 2. The events which we have noticed teach us 
 the utter vvorthlessness of party distinctions. 
 
 These venerable men were once, as we have 
 remarked, the leaders of two opposite political parties. 
 Each held as uncontrollable asway overthemovements 
 of his adherents, and each was as worthy of that rank, 
 as any men who have ever been thus elevated. But 
 now that the excitement of party has subsided, who 
 considers this as adding one iota to their well earned 
 reputation ? Who records this upon the catalogue of 
 their glories.'' Of all the millions who have mourned 
 their deaths and honored their memories, who is there 
 that has thought or has cared which was the federal- 
 ist, and which was the republican ? We see, every 
 where, a disposition universal, as it is honorable, to 
 pass over this question in silence, and to consider 
 
THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 91 
 
 these events as accidents, which, though they could 
 not be avoided, are not now to be remembered. This 
 silence teaches us, that at this moment, we consider 
 their party elevation as forming the shade, rather than 
 the light, upon the picture of their history. We do 
 not so readily forget what is illustrious in the memory 
 of the beloved dead. 
 
 You cannot then but perceive, that, in the deliberate 
 opinion of their fellow citizens, party eminence adds 
 nothing to their reputation. No, great as they were 
 by nature, and distinguished by circumstances, with 
 no other claim to respect than that which political 
 party confers, so soon as the excitement which upheld 
 them had subsided, both would have sunk to unhonored 
 graves. And thus must it be always. Party distinct- 
 ion must, of necessity, be as evanescent as the excite- 
 ment from which it arises is fluctuating. It must 
 always be the sport of circumstances, beyond the 
 foresight and out of the control of any being but the 
 Omniscient and Almighty God. The man who 
 yesterday rode upon the curling crest of its topmost 
 wave, is to-day descending to the abyss; and it is well 
 if he be not to-moriow cast off, the helpless and pitiable 
 victim of misguided ambition. 
 
 3. We are taught by these events the true basis 
 of political reputation. 
 
 The meteor glare which once shone upon the 
 names of John Adams and Thomas Jefierson is extin- 
 guished, but these names are yet resplendent with 
 glory. No one thinks of them as politicians, and yet 
 they are remembered, and will be remembered forever. 
 They lived for their country, and although they were 
 
92 ONTHEDEATHOF 
 
 by accident they leaders of party, the loved not their 
 party, but their country. They conferred substantial 
 benefits upon man, and man will never forget them. 
 On this adamantine basis rests their hope of earthly 
 immortality. 
 
 A momentary popularity may confer evanescent dis- 
 tinction, or it may conduct a man to elevated office, but it 
 cannot work impossibilities. It cannot make falsehood 
 fact, nor turn the truth into a lie. It cannot make 
 the man who has not sought his country's good, his 
 country's benefactor. And let us all remember that 
 history will inquire, nay, the deliberate judgment of 
 our own age will inquire, not what a man has said, 
 but what has he done ; and the meed of praise will 
 be awarded to him alone who has done worthily. 
 
 Here then, we pray you, ye men of the world, 
 learn a lesson of wisdom. Ye would be numbered 
 among your country's benefactors ; be then what ye 
 profess to be, the benefactors of your country. Ye 
 inveigh continually against hypocrisy In religion, and 
 in this we cordially join with you. But tell us, can 
 any hypocrisy be more disgusting than that which Is 
 ringing perpetual changes on the sacred names of 
 country, and principles, and freedom, and patriotism, 
 when every reflecting man knows that ye believe not 
 the one half of what ye utter, and are only promoting 
 the interests of a particular party, or grasping at the 
 emoluments of an ardently desired office. 
 
 And here permit me to remark, that unless I have 
 utterly misjudged, a laxity of sentiment is liable to 
 prevail to a most alarming degree upon this very 
 important subject. It seems now almost taken for 
 
THK EX- PR ESI DENT?. 93 
 
 granted, that a man who takes any share in poliiical 
 arrangements must, under all circumstances, act with 
 his party, let them act right or wrong. Forswearing, 
 at the outset, allegiance to conscience and to common 
 sense, he must obey his political leader, let him com- 
 mend what he will ; and applaud or decry a citizen in 
 office or a candidate for office, not on account of his 
 merits or demerits, but because he is or is not num- 
 bered with the adherents to a particular name. And, 
 what is worse than all, I fear that there are not wanting 
 professors of the religion of Jesus Christ to whom 
 these remarks do in simple truth apply. 
 
 Now, whether a Christian may or may not be a 
 politician, I have no question whatever to raise. It 
 must be left to his own conscience and to the provi- 
 dence of God, and may be innocent, or praise-worthy, 
 or wrong, according to the circumstances of the partic- 
 ular case. But this question decided, we beg leave 
 to say, that a Christian has no right, any where, or 
 under any circumstances, to be any thing else than a 
 Christian. He must ask about a political as well as about 
 any other act, the question. Is it right, or is it wrong? 
 and by the answer to that question must he be guided. 
 It is just as wicked to lie about politics as to lie about 
 merchandise. It is just as immoral to act without 
 reference to the law of God, at a caucus, as any 
 where else. To prefer our own interests or the inter- 
 ests of party to that of our country, is treason against 
 that country, and sin against God. And it matters 
 not whether that treason be perpetrated with a ballot 
 or a bayonet, at the caucus or in the field. And still 
 more, no man can more surely be putting an end to 
 9 
 
94 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 his religion, than by frequenting any circle which he 
 must enter without his religion. Tliat man may yet 
 find himself in eternity without his religion, and it 
 may not be there quite so easy as it is on earth to 
 resume it. " There, is no shuffling." " Whosoever 
 denieth me before men, him will I deny before my 
 Father which is in heaven." 
 
 4. I remark, in the last place, that the lives which 
 we have contemplated, will furnish to religious men a 
 pleasing illustration of the nature of faith. 
 
 Faith, we have often told you, is that which brings 
 the .future to bear upon the present, with all the 
 power of a visible reality. It is the substance of 
 things hoped for, and the evidence of tilings not seen. 
 It was by political faith, that these illustrious men, 
 and their no less illustrious associates, overcame. I 
 can illustrate this in no manner so well; as by an 
 extract from a letter written by one of them on the 
 fifth of July, 1776, the day after the signature of the 
 declaration of Independence. "Yesterday the great- 
 est question was decided which was ever debated in 
 America, that these United States are and ought to 
 be free and independent. The 4th of July will be 
 a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am 
 apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding 
 generations as the great American festival. I am well 
 aware of the toil and blood and treasure it will cost to 
 maintain this declaration, and support and defend 
 these States ; yet through all the gloom, I can see 
 the rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is 
 worth more than all the means, and that posterity will 
 triumph, although you and I may rue it, which 1 hope 
 
tiil: ex presidents. 95 
 
 we shall not." Now it was precisely by this noble 
 disdain of the present and the visible, and by the yet 
 more noble acting for the invisible and the future, that 
 our fathers achieved the independence of their country, 
 and surrounded their names with imperishable glory. 
 And, on the contrary, the men who on that trying 
 hour acted only for the present and the visible, lost 
 even the too well beloved object of their base-born 
 idolatry, and have consigned their names to merited 
 and enduring contempt. 
 
 We all duly appreciate the victories achieved by 
 political faith. We all can estimate the glory of 
 anticipating the events of a coming half century. Tell 
 me, then, how much more glorious is it to anticipate 
 the events of a coming eternity ? It is to this that the 
 gospel exhorts iis. Too many of you are at this 
 moment under a bondage more galling than the yoke 
 of political oppression. The visible and tangible 
 world engrosses all your cares, and occupies all your 
 affections. In the mean time, eternity is forgotten, 
 and ye are living utterly reckless of your weal or wo 
 beyond the grave. The voice of God is calling you 
 to break loose from the fetters which surround you, 
 to set your affections on things above, and not on 
 things on the earth. The crown of eternal life is 
 promised to him that overcometh. The retributions of 
 a happy or of a miserable immortality are set before you, 
 and Jesus Christ hath said, Unless a man deny him- 
 self, and take up his cross and follow me, he cannot 
 be my disciple. Such, my hearers, is the condition 
 of our being. God hath ordained that the future can 
 be obtained only by a contempt of the present ; nay, 
 
96 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 more, the present can be enjoyed only by living for 
 the future. 
 
 The great question of this short hfe then is, whether 
 we will live by faith or by sight, for this life or for 
 the next, for time or for eternity. The difference of 
 result in either case, is precisely analogous to that which 
 we have noticed when speaking of political faith. He 
 who lives for the world that now is, loses the approbation 
 of the heart-searching God, and his end is shame and 
 everlasting contempt. He who, at the present, denies 
 himself ungodliness and worldly lusts, and lives soberly, 
 righteously, and godly, enjoys, while here, the peace 
 which passeth all understanding, and is crowned, at 
 the last, with glory, honor, and immortality. To 
 this choice, every one of you is called; and let me tell 
 you, every one of you is, of necessity, making it. 
 You contemplate with wonder the mighty interests 
 which were suspended on that moment which decided 
 this nation's independence. But each one of you is 
 called to a graver and more momentous decision. It 
 is not, whether the sojourners on earth shall for a few 
 years govern or be governed ; but whether immortal 
 beings, and those beings yourselves, shall suffer or 
 enjoy throughout the long, long ages of an infinite 
 eternity. 
 
 1 have spoken of the glories of patriotism and of the 
 honors bestowed by an approving country. But here 
 it is my duty to tell you, that the record of the patriot 
 is written upon a world that shall be burnt up. The 
 praise of man breaks not the silence of the grave, nor 
 is it heard in that region which is beyond it. The 
 only freedom celebrated there, is freedom from sin. 
 
THE EX-PKESIDE\TS. 97 
 
 The song which is sung by the multitude which no 
 man can number, is unto Him that hath loved us, and 
 washed us in his own blood, and made us kings and 
 priests unto God. Better were it then, and therefore 
 better is it now, that the tear of penitence gathered in 
 your eye, than that the plaudits of a world should 
 burst upon your ear. And at the last half hour of my 
 life, were the country that I love bending before me 
 in grateful admiration of patriotic service, much as I 
 might prize her tribute before every thing earthly, I 
 would turn away from the overwhelming spectacle, 
 and, renouncing every claim to merit, would draw near 
 to the throne of the Holy One of Israel, with the 
 prevalent plea of the self-condemned publican, "God, 
 be merciful to me, a sinner." Let us then by faith 
 anticipate that solemn half hour, and the judgment 
 day that is beyond it, and whilst we labor without 
 ceasing for the welfare of the country which is our 
 dwelling place for the night, fix our eye steadfastly on 
 the morning of the resurrection, and look for a city 
 which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is 
 God. Amen. 
 
CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 THE REDEEMER. 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS, XV. 25. 
 
 FOR HE MUST REIGN, TILL HE HATH PUT ALL ENEMIES 
 UNDER HIS FEET. 
 
 Of the probability of a future event, considered 
 simply apd by itself, we can know absolutely nothing. 
 Thus, were it demanded whether or not at some point 
 in the regions of infinite space, a planetary system 
 existed similar to our own, I certainly could not 
 answer. To affirm or to deny, would be alike un- 
 philosophical ; for upon such a supposition, there is 
 nothing upon which an opinion can be reasonably 
 founded. If, however, any relations could be traced 
 between the existence of such a system and some 
 clearly established fact, the case would at once be 
 altered. In proportion to the multiplicity and the 
 strength of these relations, would our belief be strength- 
 ened, until it arrived at a degree of conviction very 
 little short of that produced either by mathematical 
 demostration, or by the evidence of the senses. 
 
TRrUMPH OF THE REDEEMER. 99 
 
 The same principles apply, if we were called upon 
 to answer any other question that might be asked 
 respecting such a planetary system. Were it de- 
 manded whether its inhabitants were happy or misera- 
 ble, 1 could not answer. To affirm or deny, would be 
 equally premature ; for no media of proof on either 
 side iiave been as yet advanced. Could it, however, 
 be shown under what circumstances the inhabitants in 
 question had been created, and what relations subsisted 
 between their happiness or misery and the laws which 
 God had established for the government of his creatures, 
 then, as in the other case, might an opinion be reason- 
 ably entertained. 
 
 You observe, then, that in considering the probability 
 of a future event, considered simply and by itself, there 
 is no room for argument ; for, from the nature of the 
 case, there is no evidence on which conviction can be 
 founded. Argument is employed in examining the 
 relations which exist between one event that is known, 
 and another that is unknown or doubtful. These 
 relations we have the ability to trace with greater or 
 with less accuracy. Here is the true field for human 
 investigation. It is thus that the probability of a future 
 event is brought whhin the grasp of scientific investi- 
 gation. Mere assertion here will avail nothing. If 
 one man affirm, he must show why ; and if another 
 deny, he must prove not only that the previous showing 
 is inconclusive, but also that a contrary showing can be 
 maintained. He who does otherwise, waives his 
 claim to the character of a philosopher. 
 
 The text asserts the certainty of a future event. It 
 becomes a reasonable man to judge of its probability, 
 
100 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 upon the same principles as he would judge of the 
 probability of any other future event. 
 
 It is said that Jesus Christ must reign, until he have 
 put all enemies under his feet. The language is meta- 
 phorical, and the metaphor is derived from the language 
 of monarchical governments. A prince reigns wher- 
 ever his laws are obeyed. By Christ's universal reign, 
 then, it must be meant that his laws will be universally 
 obeyed. These laws are contained in the New Testa- 
 ment, a book which purports to be a revelation from 
 God toman. Hence, Jesus Christ will have triumphed 
 universally, or will have put ail enemies under his feet, 
 when the supreme authority of the Bible over the 
 conscience of man shall be universally acknowledged, 
 and when its precepts shall be obeyed by people of 
 every nation and of every language. 
 
 Beside this, various benefits resulting from this 
 obedience to the Gospel are also predicted. These 
 are briefly comprised in the promises, which teach that 
 the miseries of the fall shall be abolished, and this 
 earth become the abode of happiness and peace. 
 
 Now, considering the event simply and by itself, no 
 one could decide, either for or against its probability. 
 Our only mode of ascertaining any thing certain in 
 regard to it, is to consider the relations which it sustains 
 to things which exist, or to the laws which God has 
 established for the government of the universe. Thus, 
 we may inquire whether the moral system contained 
 in the Gospel have any such relations to the sensitive 
 part of our nature as will warrant us to expect its uni- 
 versal reception. We may examine whether the 
 Being, who, by the acknowledgment of all, governs 
 
OF THE REDEEMER. 101 
 
 the universe, have given any intimations on this subject. 
 Or we may observe whether the moral forces, which 
 direct the movement of society, have* not been so 
 combined that such an event must be the necessary 
 result. Now all these, and various others that might 
 be adduced, are as fair topics of arguments as any 
 other. If, on such grounds as these, we argue the 
 question fairly, it will not be sufficient to answer us 
 by a smile, or an epithet, or a sarcasm. There is 
 argument neither in drollery nor in abuse. If a man 
 assert the improbability of what we attempt to prove, 
 he must show not only that the relations which we 
 have attempted to illustrate do not exist, but, also, 
 that other relations do exist, which establish that im- 
 probability. 
 
 So much for the nature of the argument. We now 
 come to the argument itself. We shall endeavor to 
 show, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will universally 
 prevail. 
 
 I. From its peculiar adaptedness to gratify the 
 wants of the sensitive part of our nature. 
 
 II. From the intimations, in the history of the 
 world, which the Creator of the universe has given, 
 that such is his determination. — And, 
 
 III. From the fact, that the elements of society 
 have been so combined, that, at some time or other, 
 such must be the necessary result. 
 
 1. It is probable that the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
 will universally prevail, from its peculiar adaptedness 
 to gratify the wants of the sensitive part of our nature. 
 
 By the sensitive part of our nature, I mean those 
 attributes of mind, which are affected either pleasantly 
 
102 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 or painfully, by facts that do, and also by those that 
 do not, address themselves exclusively to the organs 
 of sense. It is, therefore, in this discussion, taken 
 for granted, that we possess taste, which is gratified 
 by our progress in the knowledge of the qualities and 
 relations of things, which delights in the beautiful and 
 glories in the vast ; and, also, conscience, which is 
 susceptible of affections peculiar to itself upon the 
 doing of right or the commission of wrong ; and that 
 these affections, so far as the history of man has been 
 traced, have had more to do than any other with his 
 happiness or misery. Taking these fiicts for granted, 
 it is not difficult to foretell what sort of intellectual 
 and moral exhibitions will be most widely disseminated, 
 transforming the human character and directing the 
 human will. It is upon the supposition that we may 
 thus judge what will in a particular manner affect the 
 human mind, that the whole science both of criticism 
 and rhetoric is founded. 
 
 I have said that taste is gratified by progress in the 
 knowledge of the qualities and relations of things, or 
 by striking exhibitions of what is commonly called 
 relative beauty. Hence the pleasui-e with which we 
 contemplate a theorem of widely extended application 
 in the sciences, or an invention of important utility in 
 the arts. Now, it is found that the material universe 
 has been so created as admirably to harmonize with 
 this principle of our nature. The laws of matter are 
 few and comparatively simple, but their relations are 
 multiplied even to infinity. The law of gravitation 
 may be easily explained to an ordinary man, or even 
 to an intelligent child. But who can trace one half 
 
OP THE REDEEMKU. 103 
 
 of its relations to things solid and fluid, things animate 
 and inanimate, to the very form of society itself, to 
 this system, to other systems, and, in fine, to the 
 mighty masses of this material universe ? The mind 
 delights to carry out such a principle to its ramified 
 illustrations ; and hence it cherishes, as its peculiar 
 treasure, a knowledge of these principles themselves. 
 Thus was it, that the discovery of such a law gave 
 the name of Newton to immortality, reduced to har- 
 mony the once apparently discordant movements of 
 our planetary system, taught us to predict the events 
 of coming ages, and to explain what before had been 
 hidden since the creation of the world. 
 
 Now, he who will take the trouble to examine will 
 perceive, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a system of 
 ultimate truths in morals, in a very striking manner 
 analogous to these elementary laws of physics. In 
 themselves, they are kw, simple, and easy to be 
 understood. Their relations, however, as in the 
 other case, are infinite. The moral principle, by 
 which you can easily teach your little child to regulate 
 its conduct in the nursery, will furnish matter for the 
 contemplation of statesmen and sages. It is the only 
 principle on which the decisions of cabinets and courts 
 can with safety be founded, and is, of itself, sufficient 
 to guide the diplomatist through all the mazes of the 
 most intricate negotiation. Let any one who pleases 
 make the experiment for himself. Let him take one 
 of the rules of human conduct which the Gospel pre- 
 scribes, and, having obtained a clear conception of it, 
 just as it is revealed, let him carry it out in its un- 
 shrinking application, to the doings and dealings of 
 
104 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 men. At first, if be be not accustomed to generali- 
 zations of tbis sort, be will find mucb tbat will stagger 
 bim, and he perhaps will be ready hastily to decide 
 that the ethics of the Bible were never intended for 
 practice. But, let him look a little longer, and medi- 
 tate a little more intensely, and expand bis views a 
 little more widely, or become, either by experience 
 or by years, a little older, and he will more and more 
 wonder at the profoundness of wisdom and the univer- 
 sality of application of the principles of the Gospel. 
 With the most expanded views of society, he can go 
 no where, where the Bible has not gone before bim. 
 With the most penetrating sagacity, be can make no 
 discovery which the Bible has not long ago promul- 
 gated. He will find neither application which inspira- 
 tion did not foresee, nor exception against which it has 
 not guarded ; and be will, at last, sink down in humble 
 adoration of the wisdom of Jesus of Nazareth, con- 
 vinced tbat he is the wisest man as well as the pro- 
 foundest philosopher, who yields himself up, in meek- 
 ness and simplicity of spirit, to the teachings of the 
 Saviour. 
 
 Now, with these universal moral principles the 
 Bible is filled. At one time, you find them explicitly 
 stated ; at another, merely alluded to ; here, standing 
 out in a precept; there, retiring behind a reflection; 
 now, enwrapped in the drapery of a parable, then 
 giving tinge and coloring to a graphically drawn 
 character. Its lessons of wisdom are thus adapted 
 to readers of every age, and of every variety of intel- 
 lectual culture. Hence no book is adapted to be so 
 universally read as the Bible. No other precepts are 
 
OF THE REDEEMER. 105 
 
 of SO extensive application, or are capable of guiding 
 us under so difficult circumstances. None other imbue 
 the mind with a spirit of so deep forethought and so 
 expansive generalization. Hence, there is no book 
 which expands the intellect like the Bible. It is the 
 only book which offers a reasonable solution of the 
 moral phenomena which are taking place around us. 
 Hence, there is the same sort of reason to believe 
 that the precepts of the Bible will be read, and studied, 
 and obeyed, as there is to believe that the system of 
 Newton will finally prevail, and eventually banish 
 from the languages of man the astronomical dreams 
 of Vishnu or of Gaudama. 
 
 There are, however, other exhibitions of taste, which 
 present no less interesting illustrations of the adapted- 
 ness of the Bible to the nature of man. It is while in 
 the exercise of this faculty, that he delights in the 
 beautiful, glories in the vast, and becomes susceptible 
 of the tenderness of the pathetic. I need not mention 
 that these are among the most pleasing of our in- 
 tellectual operations, nor that we eagerly search, in 
 every direction, for the objects of their appropriate 
 gratification. 
 
 To illustrate the sublimity and beauty of the Holy 
 Scriptures would, however, demand limits far more 
 extensive than the present discussion will allow. I 
 will, therefore, merely direct your attention to two 
 considerations, which I select, not as the most striking, 
 but as somewhat the most susceptible of brevity of 
 illustration. The first is, the scriptural conceptions of 
 character ; the second, the scriptural views of futurity. 
 
 It is to be remembered, that the Bible contains by 
 10 
 
106 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 far the oldest memorials of our race. Much of it was 
 written by men who had scarcely emerged from the 
 pastoral state, and who had acquired but little of the 
 knowledge, even then possessed, either in the arts or 
 the sciences. There was nothing in the circumstances 
 in which they were placed, to give either elevalion to 
 character, or beauty, or sublimity, to their conceptions 
 of it. And yet, these conceptions are most strikingly 
 diverse from every thing, which we elsewhere behold 
 in all the records of antiquity. The heroes of the 
 pagan classics are, for the most part, either sycophants 
 or ruffians, as they are swayed, alternately, by cunning 
 or by passion. The objects of their enterprises are 
 trifling and insignificant. The narrative of them is 
 valuable, neither for moral instruction, nor yet for 
 elevated views of human nature, either in the individ- 
 ual or in society, but for bursts of eloquent feeling 
 and delineations of nature, everywhere the same, and 
 always speaking the same language into the ear of 
 Genius. The world, in its moral progress, has long 
 since left behind it the ancient conceptions of distin- 
 guished character. Who would now take for his 
 model Achilles, or Hector, or Ulysses, or Agamemnon ? 
 What mother would now relate their deeds to her 
 children ? How different a view is presented by the 
 holy company of Patriarchs; Abraham, that beaute- 
 ous model of an eastern prince 5 IMoses, that wise 
 legislator ; David, the warrior poet ; Daniel, the far- 
 sighted premier ; and Nehemiah, the inflexible patriot. 
 The world still looks up with reverence to these moral 
 examples; they are now as profitable models for 
 contemplation, as they were at the beginning. 
 
OF THE REDEEMKR. 107 
 
 But if we would consider this subject in its strongest 
 light, let us bring together the scriptural and classical 
 characters of the same age. Contrast the history of 
 jEneas by Virgil, the most gifted and the most humane 
 of the Roman poets, with that of St. Paul, as it is 
 found in the Acts and the Epistles. Contrast the 
 faithless, vindictive, gross, cowardly, and superstitious 
 freebooter, with the upright, meek, benevolent, sympa- 
 thizing, but yet fearless, and indomitable apostle. Or, 
 if the thought be not profane, compare the most splen- 
 did conceptions either of ancient or modern times, 
 with the character of Jesus of Nazareth, as it is delin- 
 eated in the Gospels. We say, then, that if we would 
 gratify our taste with true conceptions of elevated 
 character ; if we would satisfy that innate longing 
 within us after something better and more exalted 
 than our eyes rest upon on earth ; it is to the Bible 
 that we shall be, by the principles of our nature, irre- 
 sistibly attracted. 
 
 I spoke of the views which the Gospel gives of 
 futurity. A brief alhision to a very few topics must 
 suffice for this part of the subject. 
 
 The Gospel alone has brought immortality to light. 
 Instead of annihilation, or the transmigration of souls, 
 or the dim place of shadows and of ghosts, or a para- 
 dise of sensual gratification, it reveals to us an eternity 
 of moral pleasure or of moral pain, the eternal weight 
 of glory, or the wrath of God without mixture. 
 Every thing else makes this world substance, and the 
 other world shadow. The Bible alone makes this 
 world shadow, and the other world substance. While 
 it makes this transitory scene merely the vestibule of 
 
108 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 our being, it alone renders it truly valuable, by making 
 every moment and every purpose take strong hold of 
 eternity. 
 
 The Bible presents us with the only views of the 
 character of Deity, which are in unison with the intel- 
 lectual and moral aspirations of man. It tells us of a 
 Being, who, the essential cause of all things, sustains 
 the flight of a sparrow, and upholds, by his word, this 
 measureless universe ; who, unsearchable in wisdom, 
 allows every creature whom he has made to fulfil the 
 purposes of its individual will, while, at the same time, 
 his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure ; 
 who, infinite in compassion, is every where most inti- 
 mately present to every one of us, sustaining the 
 disconsolate, comforting the cast down, binding up 
 the broken in heart, and pouring himself abroad, in 
 blessing, upon the infinite creation which he every 
 where pervades ; a God, so pure that the heavens 
 are not clean in his sight 5 and so just, that He will 
 forever, and every where, mete out to every creature, 
 how high or how low soever, a destiny exactly accord- 
 ing to the merit of his deeds. 
 
 But specially worthy to be mentioned here, is the 
 transcendent conception of the plan of redemption. 
 The race of man fixed in its opposition to the un- 
 changeable attributes of the all glorious God ; the 
 Son of God, undertaking the work of reconciliation ; 
 the mission of Christ, his bitter death, his triumphant 
 resurrection, and ascension to his primitive glory ; 
 entire cleansing from the stain of guilt to all that will 
 believe ; heaven, with its eternal weight of glory, 
 freely offered to the penitent ; the resurrection of the 
 
OF THE REDEEMER. 109 
 
 dead ; the final judgment ; all things material fleeing 
 away from the face of Him that sitleth upon the throne ; 
 the irrevocable decision ; the shouts of the redeemed ; 
 the wailings of the lost ; these are some of the spirit- 
 ual ideas which the Gospel has poured upon the 
 darkened mind of sin-beclouded man. Now, alto- 
 gether setting aside the fact, that, thus far, wherever 
 these notions of religion have been taught, all others 
 have soon ceased to be either known or thought upon, 
 I ask whether a system, which sheds such light upon 
 all the relations of man, which so fills his conceptions 
 with all that is beautiful and sublime in morals, which 
 proffers to him an immortality more glorious than 
 aught that elsewhere the mind of man had conceived, 
 must not, from the principles of human nature, be in 
 the end universally received. 
 
 We proceed to consider another fact to which we, 
 in the commencement, alluded. It is that, from some 
 cause or other, there has prevailed throughout our 
 race a very universal feeling of guiltiness, and an 
 apprehension, more or less distressing, of the wrath of 
 Deity, on account of sin. 
 
 Of the prevalence of this sentiment, you have 
 manifest proof, in the terror with which unusual 
 phenomena always inspire mankind ; in the univer- 
 sality of sacrifices and of other means for appeasing 
 the wrath of the gods, almost as numerous as the 
 tribes of men on the earth ; and in the fact that in 
 every nation particular individuals have been set apart, 
 whose special business it has been to propitiate the 
 Supreme Being. Nor is this consciousness of guilt 
 the mere phantom of a savage's hnagination. I doubt 
 10* 
 
110 THE CERTAIX TRIUMPH 
 
 whether there be a human 'oeiiig in this assembly, this 
 evening, who hath not, more than once, so feU it as 
 to exclaim, in the bitterness of a wounded spirit, what 
 must I do to be saved ? 
 
 Of the distress which this apprehension has occa- 
 sioned, you may judge from the nature of the means 
 which have been adopted to alleviate it. Hence, arose 
 those costly temples, in the construction of which the 
 wealth of nations was exhausted. Hence, smoked 
 the hecatombs of classic story, and the countless vic- 
 tims of the Jewish service. Hence, the mother has 
 devoted her first-born to atone for her transgression, 
 and the father has perished beneath the wheel of an 
 idol's car. And hence it is, that every where, but in 
 Protestant Christendom, the priesthood have exer- 
 cised so resistless a sway over the opinions and actions 
 of men. Claiming the exclusive prerogative of pro- 
 pitiating the Deity, they have wielded at will the 
 stormy passions of the multitude. Such has been the 
 fact under every form of false religion. It shows us, 
 at least, how agonizing is this apprehension, and that 
 men will sacrifice any thing, if it can only be allayed. 
 
 But neither the offerings of the laity, nor the services 
 of the priesthood, could ever take away sin. The 
 thoughtful heathen, as he retired from the classic 
 temple and the bleeding victim, out of a conscience 
 still pressed down under the weight of its own con- 
 demnations, exclaimed, O that 1 knew where I might 
 find Him ! The Hebrew, turning from the smoking 
 altar and the atoning priest, still cried out. Wherewith 
 shall I appear before God, and bow myself before the 
 High God ? The Hindoo mother, returning childless 
 
OP THE REDEEMER. HI 
 
 from the river that has swallowed up her babe, feels 
 the sting of guilt still rankling in unmitigated agony ! 
 The body of the devotee is crushed beneath the wheel, 
 but ah ! the wound was far deeper. From that man- 
 gled, bleeding corse, the soul is now set. free, but yet 
 uncleansed and in all her guiltiness, she appears before 
 her God. Thus is it also in our own country and at 
 the present day. A man, feeling the agony of a guilty 
 conscience, may flee every where but to Calvary, and 
 there is no relief for his anguish. But let him hear 
 that God so loved the world that he gave his only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shall 
 not perish but have everlasting life ; let him cast 
 himself for salvation upon Him whose blood cleanseth 
 from all sin ; let him imbibe and practise the precepts 
 of the Gospel, and he feels in his spirit that his deadly 
 wound is healed. The peace that passeth under- 
 standing is shed abroad in his soul. The Spirit 
 witnesseth with his spirit that he is reconciled to God. 
 From the dominion of sin, from the tyranny of the 
 passions, from subjection to a sensual and transitory 
 world, from the intolerable anguish of a wounded 
 spirit, the Son has made him free, and he is free 
 indeed. Being justified by faith, he has peace with 
 God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoices with 
 joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. 
 
 I am not speaking fables. I am speaking facts, — 
 facts as well attested as any other in the history of 
 man. Such are the wants of our nature, and such 
 are the effects of the Gospel, wherever it is received 
 in simplicity and in truth. And now, before we go 
 any farther, let us reflect upon the ground which we 
 
112 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 have gone over ; let us remark bow the Bible is 
 adapted to gratify the taste, to ennoble the imagination, 
 lo expand the conception ; let us estimate the power 
 of the religious principle, and the utter vanity and 
 heartlessness of every thing else on which that princi- 
 ple can fasten, and I ask every man to say, for him- 
 self, whether, judging from its adaptedness to gratify 
 the wants of our nature, it be not certain that it must 
 in the end prevail. 
 
 So much for the first argument. 
 II. There is sound reason for believing that the 
 Creator has given us assurance that the religion of the 
 Bible shall universally prevail. 
 
 I need scarcely repeat what was said at the com- 
 mencement of this discourse, that, without an exami- 
 nation of the evidence, to decide whether such an 
 event would take place, or whether God w^ould reveal 
 It, would be wholly unphilosophical. It cannot, how- 
 ever, be denied, that some notion of the probabihty of 
 an event may be deduced from a comparison of the 
 act with the known character of the actor. Thus, it 
 is not improbable that the Supreme Being has a 
 design with regard to the destinies of this world, nor, 
 as it is granted on all sides that he is infinitely merci- 
 ful, is it improbable that he should design to remove 
 the miseries which afRict us. Now, as the very thing 
 said to be predicted, is, that these miseries are to be 
 removed, there is surely neither intrinsic improbability 
 in the thing itself, nor in the supposition that God 
 should predict it. 
 
 But we assert that God has given positive assurance 
 that the Gospel shall prevail. To present the argu- 
 
OF THE REDEEMEn. 113 
 
 ment at length would be unsuitable for this occasion. 
 We shall attempt merely a very brief illustration of 
 the principle on which the argument for the divine 
 inspiration of the Scriptures rests. 
 
 You are aware, then, that the various events that 
 come within our knowledge, take place in the manner 
 of a regular and established series. Every link in 
 this endless succession has its own antecedent and its 
 own consequent. Hence are we enabled to use our 
 reason, both in preparing for the future and in ac- 
 counting for the past. 
 
 Whenever, in any case, this stated connexion is 
 discovered, so that one event is the invariable antece- 
 dent of another, we call the first a cause, the second 
 an effect. Thus, the falling of a shower is one event — 
 the growth of vegetation is another. The connexion 
 between them has, in certain circumstances, been 
 found invariable; and hence we say in summer that 
 the rain has caused the grass to spring forth, and also 
 that the springing forth of the grass is the effect of the 
 shower. The same is true of intellectual changes. 
 Thus, reflection is one state of mind, — knowledge is 
 another. The connexion between them has been 
 found invariable, and hence we say that reflection is 
 the cause of knowledge, and that knowledge is the 
 effect of reflection. 
 
 When, however, we use these terms, we do not 
 mean that the one event is the efficient cause of the 
 other; that is, that it is the cause in such a sense 
 that the one could produce the other, if there were 
 nothing else existing in the universe. We merely 
 mean that, in the present system, the one is made the 
 
114 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 Stated antecedent of the other ; but we know not that 
 it has any more efficient agency in its production than 
 any other tiling. God is the sole and only efficient 
 cause. If he had seen fit, he could as well have 
 arranged entirely different antecedents and conse- 
 quents, or he could have produced every change by 
 itself, without having established any regular order of 
 succession. But he has not seen fit thus to act. He 
 has connected every thing in the manner that we have 
 shown. This we call the course of nature. It is 
 God working according to the laws which he has been 
 pleased to establish. And as He has established this 
 manner of succession, He only can vary it. If, there- 
 fore, it be clearly and palpably varied from, it is 
 equally clear and palpable that he himself must have 
 varied it. 
 
 You will observe also, that these laws of antecedence 
 and consequence, or of cause and effect, pervade 
 equally the whole system, material and immaterial, of 
 which we form a part. Thus, belief is a state of 
 mind which no more arises without its appropriate 
 cause, than the herb grows where there is no moisture. 
 Each has its regular and stated antecedents. Other- 
 wise, there could be no reliance upon testimony, and 
 all history and all reasoning about facts would be the 
 veriest nonsense. I cannot believe that I see an audi- 
 ence before me, unless the antecedent be, that I see an 
 audience. I cannot see an audience, unless the ante- 
 cedent be, that an audience is present. Casualty in 
 these intellectual changes would produce effects far 
 more deleterious to the interests of society, than any 
 that could arise from the same cause in the material 
 
OF THE REDEEM ER. 115 
 
 world. It would at once do away, universally, belief 
 and every thing that is founded upon it. 
 
 Let us now apply these principles to the case before 
 us. It is, I suppose, granted, that a variation, clear 
 and indisputable, from the established succession of 
 cause and effect, or of antecedent and consequent, is 
 a sufficient proof of the interposition of Deity; for none 
 but Him could have thus varied the mode of his own 
 operation. Nor can it be denied that, if such a vari- 
 ation from the acknowledged laws of cause and effect 
 be indissolubly connected wilh instructions purporting 
 to come from God, God does in fact render himself 
 responsible for the truth of all that is thus delivered. 
 
 Now, we say that the first promulgation of the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ was attended with such a 
 variation from the laws of cause and effect, that the 
 interposition of Deity must necessarily be supposed, 
 in order to account for it; and, therefore, for the truth 
 of whatever that Gospel reveals, the moral character 
 of the Deity is responsible. 
 
 The apostles, and disciples, and the men of that 
 day did most certainly believe, that they saw the eyes 
 of the blind opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped, 
 the lepers cleansed, and the dead raised, by the word 
 of Jesus of Nazareth ; and also, that, after having seen 
 him crucified, dead, and buried, they saw him alive 
 again, conversed with him, walked with him; and 
 that they afterwards saw him, under most remarkable 
 circumstances, ascend up into heaven. 
 
 Now, I say, the question here really is not, whether 
 there was any variation from the regular succession of 
 cause and effect, but it is where was that variation. 
 
116 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 Either these events took place at the word of Jesus 
 Christ, or they did not. If they did take place, as the 
 evangelists relate them, the variation consists in this, 
 that God in this case suspended the laws of cause and 
 effect, and made a single word to become the antece- 
 dent of changes totally unlike to any which, either 
 before or since, have ever been known. And if this 
 be so, then He has intended to render himself respon- 
 sible for all that has been taught in connexion with 
 such an interposition. If, on the contrary, these 
 events did not take place, at the word of Jesus Christ, 
 then every individual of a great number of men either 
 believed that they saw what they did not see, or else 
 they saw what did not exist. There must have been, 
 therefore, a variation from the laws of cause and effect, 
 in the case of every several individual who supposed 
 himself a spectator ; that is, instead of a variation in one 
 case, there must have been a variation in a thousand cases. 
 Now such a departure from the laws of cause and effect 
 could have been produced only by the Supreme Being, 
 and it was inseparably connected with the promulgation 
 of the Gospel. Just as much then, as in the other case, 
 does it render the Supreme Being responsible for all 
 that we find there, either as precept or as prophecy. 
 On either supposition, the proof is full and decisive. 
 This, then, is one view of the principles on which 
 rests our belief that the agency of Deity was concerned 
 in the promulgation of this system, and, therefore, that 
 his veracity is responsible for the truth of it. Other 
 views might be easily suggested. In the Old Testa- 
 ment, the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish church, 
 the segregation of the Jews from all other nations, the 
 
O F T H K R E D E E M E n. 117 
 
 facts connected with the prophecies which the sacred 
 books contain, are inexphcable, upon any other sup- 
 position. Beside these, the fact that a few fishermen 
 of Galilee have discovered a new moral system, 
 thousands of years in advance of their age, a system 
 which does, beyond question, embody the moral laws 
 by which the universe is governed, can be in no other 
 manner explained. Grant that God spake, and all is 
 revealed. Deny it, and all is mystery. Grant that 
 God spake, and there is one miracle ; deny it, and 
 there are ten thousand. 
 
 Now, in the examination of evidence, there is no 
 religion whatever. It is a mere matter of science, 
 and it is to be decided according to the laws of science. 
 In answer to what we have said, therefore, it will not be 
 sufficient to laugh at religion, nor rail at enthusiasm. If 
 a man disbelieves what we have here attempted to 
 prove, let him show a reason for disbelieving it. Let 
 him either show a fallacy in our reasonings, or else 
 allow our conclusion. If he will do neither, let him 
 confess that he does not believe, though he cannot 
 tell why he does not, and thus that he waives the 
 jurisdiction of reason, and puts himself on a level with 
 the enthusiasts whom he so much derides. 
 
 So much, then, for the evidence that the author of 
 the material system around us, the supreme and ever 
 blessed God, is the author of the system of religion 
 contained in the Holy Scriptures. There are just as 
 conclusive reasons for believing that it will universally 
 prevail. Its prevalence is foretold in every variety of 
 form ; it is interwoven with the principles of the 
 system itself. 
 
 11 
 
118 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 The first promise after man's apostacy, " it shall 
 bruise thy head," foretold enigmatically all the glory 
 that we look for. In later ages it was revealed without 
 a figure. As I live, all the earth shall be filled with 
 the glory of the Lord, was the promise of Jehovah to 
 Moses. Prophet after prophet, rapt in holy vision, 
 foresaw the coming triumphs of the Redeemer, and 
 rejoiced in the approaching subjection to his universal 
 reign. " Ask of me, and I will give thee the Heathen 
 for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
 earth for thy possession. Out of Zion shall go forth 
 the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. 
 And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and 
 their spears into pruning hooks ; nation shall no more 
 lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war 
 any more." The same thing is taught by our Saviour 
 in precept and in parable, and is abundantly to be 
 inferred from the prayer which he hath taught us. In 
 all the writings of the apostles, it is so frequently 
 alluded to, that to mention every passage in which it 
 is either asserted or taken for granted, would occupy 
 all the time which is set apart for the remainder of 
 this discourse. 
 
 But why need I mention particular passages. The 
 very system itself presupposes its universal extension. 
 If God had interfered at all in the promulgation of 
 the Gospel, every word of that Gospel is true. A 
 taint of guiltiness hath overspread our whole race. 
 This world is in rebellion against the eternal God. 
 Jesus Christ has appeared in our nature, by a mani- 
 festation of infinite love, to win back our affection, 
 and, by the offering up of Himself, to render consistent 
 
OF THE REDEEMER. 119 
 
 with holiness our reconcih'ation to God. He came to 
 reclaim a lost world from its wanderings ; to subdue 
 to obedience this revolted province of Jehovah's 
 empire j and to give indubitable assurance that all 
 this would yet be triumphantly accomplished. He, 
 whom, on the holy mount, the Father, from the 
 excellent glory, declared to be his well beloved Son, 
 expired on the cross. And truly as there is a God 
 in heaven, this world shall yet be redeemed. This 
 earth, which has been moistened with a Saviour's 
 blood, shall yet become his universal possession ; for 
 it bears upon its solid surface the seal to the irrevocable 
 covenant. The misery of sin, which Jesus Christ 
 came to do away, shall cease ; and from every nation 
 and people under the whole heaven shall ascend the 
 universal shout, Salvation to Him that sitteth upon the 
 throne, and to the Lamb forever ! 
 
 III. Thirdly. The elements of society have been 
 so combined as manifestly to tend to such a result as 
 revelation has predicted. 
 
 The nature of the proof in this case is as follows. 
 It is taken for granted, that men are endowed with 
 various desires essential to their existence in its present 
 form. jNIany of these desires can be gratified only in 
 that state of society in which not a part only but the 
 whole obey the social laws which the Creator has 
 established. Now, it can be shown, conclusively, 
 that these laws are essentially the same as those 
 revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hence, 
 w^ien every man finds it for his own interest that 
 himself and all other men should universally obey the 
 precepts of the Gospel, it is evident that the love of 
 
120 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 happiness essential to our sensitive nature, must in the 
 end ensure their universal reception. 
 
 1 will endeavor to illustrate the principle on which 
 this argument rests, hy an allusion to the laws which 
 regulate the accumulation of national wealth. 
 
 The various suhstances of which this earth is com- 
 posed are all designed for the benefit of man. Everyone 
 of them possesses some quality by which it is capable 
 of gratifying some human desire. But that quality must 
 first be discovered, and the substance in which it resides 
 must be modified by the hand of industry, before it can 
 answer the purpose for which it was designed. As 
 soon as it has been thus modified, it becomes an article 
 of wealth. And nations and individuals are denomi- 
 nated rich, just in proportion to tlie number and the 
 value of the articles which they possess, thus adapted 
 to gratify the desires of man. 
 
 We say that, in order to the production of wealth, 
 the substances of nature must be modified by the 
 hand of industry. Before, however, this can be 
 done, the means must be discovered for giving it the 
 desired modification. Man has in himself no power 
 to modify matter, except to the very small amount of 
 his muscular strength. By his intellectual ability, 
 however, he can discover and put in operation agents 
 that will produce the effects which he desires. To 
 illustrate what I mean, take the manufacture of sugar. 
 The sweetness, which resides in the cane, must first 
 be discovered, or the vegetable, though of itself intrin- 
 sically valuable, would be useless. This is the work 
 of mind. Again, man. has no organs by which he can 
 transform the juice into sugar, and unless it be thus 
 
OF THE REDEEMKK. 121 
 
 transformed, his former discovery is useless. He is, 
 however, endowed with faculties, by which he can dis- 
 cover certain qualities in fire and iron, which will ena- 
 ble industry to produce the required result. This again 
 is the work of mind. The principle here illustrated 
 is universal. It applies to the production of wealth, 
 or objects for the gratification of desire every where. 
 And hence results the universal law, that, just in pro- 
 portion as the human mind is most successfully stimu- 
 lated to discovery and invention, and the body inured 
 to vigorous labor, will the wealth of a nation increase, 
 and it is not possible that it should increase in any 
 other manner. 
 
 Now it has been found, by the experience of ages, 
 that the strongest stimulant which can possibly be 
 applied to the productive energies both of body and 
 of mind, is to allow every man to employ his whole 
 power, physical and intellectual, in such manner as he 
 chooses, if he do not so employ it as to interfere with 
 the correspondent occupations of his neighbor. In 
 other words, it has been found that nations grow rich 
 and happy, just in proportion as every man, magistrate, 
 and citizen, estimates every other man's happiness as 
 dearly as his own ; that is to say, when every man 
 obeys the universal law of human action contained in 
 the Scripture, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
 self." This is the reason why justice blesses a nation 
 in plenty, while injustice curses it with want. This is 
 the reason why so many nations on the earth, with 
 meagre and stinted physical advantages, abound in the 
 comforts and even the luxuries of life, while regions of 
 exhaustless fertility, under Mahometan or Papal des- 
 11* 
 
122 THK CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 potism, live from century to century on the brink of 
 starvation. Thus is it that the Christian reHgion has 
 frequently, in a few years, done more to promote the 
 progress of civilization, than all other means united 
 have ever done, in many generations. 
 
 But this is not all. That a nation may grow rich, 
 not only is it necessary that industry be exerted ; be- 
 side this, the instruments with which it may work, and 
 the material on which it is to be employed, in other 
 vi^ords, capital, must be accumulated. If, whatever is 
 produced be immediately consumed on the gratification 
 of the passions, not only are the means of future accu- 
 mulation annihilated, but the power of the agent for 
 labor is lessened, and hence must result an accelerated 
 tendency to poverty. Capital can be accumulated 
 only by self-denial, by the government of the passions, 
 by investing all that portion of the results of industry, 
 which is not needed for our temperate enjoyment, in 
 some such manner as shall benefit the condition of our 
 fellow-men. Now, this is just the discipline for which 
 the Gospel prepares mankind. Its first lesson is self- 
 denial. Except a man deny himself, he cannot be my 
 disciple. At the very outset, then, it prescribes the 
 entire subjugation of the passions, the very basis of all 
 frugality. Another of its lessons is, the necessity of 
 individual and universal industry. " This we com- 
 manded you, that if any man would not work neither 
 shall he eat." Thus, while inculcating, as religious 
 duties, industry and frugality, the Gospel teaches the 
 soundest and most valuable lessons in the science of 
 political economy. That nations, as well as individu- 
 als, can grow rich on no other principles, is as evident 
 
OF THE REDEEM KR. 123 
 
 as demonstration. And, on the other hand, that a 
 nation, practising the industry and frugality ol' the 
 Gospel, must hecome wealthy, that is, must abound in 
 all that is requisite to satisfy virtuous desire, is equally 
 incontestable. Thus we see how closely is connected 
 the prevalence of religion with the j)rosperity of an 
 individual nation. 
 
 Besides, where every individual accumulates wealth, 
 the nation must accumulate it, and, hence, such a 
 nation must have an annual amount of produce to 
 offer in the markets of the world. But where shall 
 she offer it. An indolent and profligate people, with 
 imperfect skill and scanty capital, will have nothing to 
 offer in return. It is not that they do not want the 
 results of your labor and frugality, but that they have 
 nothing wherewith to purchase them. A degraded 
 and vicious people can never be valuable customers ; 
 for they must always be very limited consumers. To 
 be aware of the force of these considerations, compare 
 our exports to a Heathen, with those to a Christian 
 nation ; or those to a Protestant, with those to a 
 Catholic nation ; or those to the island of Great Britain, 
 with those to the fertile and thickly peopled shores of 
 the Mediterranean. 
 
 Thus you see that not only is it for the interest of 
 every man that his fellow-men should obey the pre- 
 cepts of the Gospel, it is also for the interest of every 
 nation that every otlier nation should obey them. So 
 thoroughly is universal philanthropy interwoven with 
 the social system of this world. Thus clearly has 
 God made the happiness of my fellow-men necessary 
 to my own. An indolent, ignorant, and badly gov- 
 
124 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 erned nation is a pecuniary injury, as well as a disgrace, 
 to every other nation on earth, and the soundest 
 principles of political wisdom would teach us all to 
 make an effort to reclaim it. Our own interest, and 
 the interest of man every where, are, by the ordinance 
 of the Creator, one. Benevolence is always the 
 greatest sagacity. Hence, if we would render a 
 nation a profitable customer, the surest means for 
 accomplishing our object is, to furnish it with the 
 Bible, the only certain means of intellectual and moral 
 improvement. 
 
 To illustrate the truth of these remarks, allow me 
 to refer you for a moment to the history of the Afiican 
 slave trade. The whole slave coast, with a wide 
 extent of intei'ior, is fertile in all the productions of a 
 tropical climate. Few poitions of the earth would 
 yield more abundantly, if submitted to the hand of 
 industry, renden-d skillful by education. And yet, 
 what does that vast region export besides a few cargoes 
 of gums and ivory, and some thousands of human 
 bodies. It is almost a wilderness, and is becoming 
 every year more desolate. What does it consume 
 besides a few cargoes of trinkets and coarse cutlery, 
 scarcely as much as one respectable manufacturing 
 village would easily furnish. J ask you, now, what 
 would have been tiie result, if, instead of murder and 
 pillage, we had sent to them the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, and the civilization which always follow? in its 
 train. Why, that whole region would have been now 
 as thickly peopled as these United States. That coast 
 would have been studded with cities, those rivers 
 would have been lined with villasies ; the whole terri- 
 
OF THE REDEEMER. 125 
 
 toiy, at this moment, blooming like the garden of 
 Eden, would have been loaded with the abundance of 
 harvest, and filled with the abodes of civilized man. 
 There is not a workshop, in Europe or America, 
 whose fabrics Africa would not have purchased, nor a 
 man in Christendom who would not have been, at 
 this very day, the happier for her productions. You 
 see, then, from this individual case, how intimately 
 connected is our interest with our duty. You see 
 how our own happiness is interwoven with that of 
 eveiy brother of the family of man. You see that 
 the best desires of the human heart must, in the end, 
 lead us to choose for ourselves, and to offer to others, 
 the moral laws of the New Testament ; for, in no 
 other manner, can those desires be so fully gratified. 
 Another illustration may be taken from a reference 
 to the awful miseries which war has, from the earliest 
 ages, inflicted upon the human race. This calamity is, 
 as you know, the immediate result of the gratification 
 of human passion. It can never cease, until men are 
 universally governed by moral principle. Estimate, 
 if you can, the amount of national distress, which it 
 has brought upon Europe for the last hundred 
 years. And, here, you must remember that all 
 the sums taken to support armies and navies, and 
 all the property wasted, and all the interest upon the 
 debt thus accumulated, is so much capital taken from 
 the shop of the mechanic, or the warehouse of the 
 merchant, or the granary of the husbandman ; capital 
 which would otherwise have gone on increasing for- 
 ever at the rate of compound interest. The wealth 
 consumed in wars on the continent, for the last 
 
126 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 hundred years, if it had been suffered thus to accu- 
 mulate in peace, would have made every acre of 
 Europe a garden, and every individual comparatively 
 rich. And, had the principles of the Gospel univer- 
 sally prevailed, it would have thus accumulated. 
 Look at the lesson which Great Britain alone teaches. 
 Every political change wrings from her starving popula- 
 tion a universal groan of distress, at this moment almost 
 intolerable. But, now, add together the principle and 
 annual interest of her national debt, for both of them 
 have been taken from the caphal of the people, and 
 compute what would be their amount at compound 
 interest. All this has been spent in war and bloodshed. 
 Had it been accumulated by the arts of peace, to the 
 present moment, it would be sufficient to confer edu- 
 cation, and refinement, and abundance, upon the 
 poorest subject of the realm. 
 
 Now all this, in the progress of society, will we believe 
 become evident to every man. It will be universally and 
 clearly seen, that men can neither attain the happiness 
 of which the present state is susceptible, nor even 
 escape the miseries which now press so heavily upon 
 them, but by obeying the precepts of the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ. Hence we say that the elements of 
 society are so combined as to tend lo such a result as 
 Revelation has predicted. 
 
 Let us now recapitulate the argument which we 
 have pursued. 
 
 1. We have endeavored to show, that there is the 
 same reason to believe that the Bible will be universally 
 read, as there is to believe that any other book will be 
 universally read, which elevates the conceptions and 
 
OF THE REDEEMER. 127 
 
 gratifies the taste. There Is the same reason to believe 
 that it will be obeyed, as there is to believe that any other 
 precepts will be obeyed, that afford permanent relief 
 to a universal and otherwise immitigable anguish. 
 
 2. There is reason to believe, that the attributes 
 of the Supreme Creator are responsible for its success. 
 He has seen fit to connect, indissolubly, the proof of it 
 with the principles on which all evidence of every sort 
 rests. Either he is not the author of the ordinary 
 events which take place around us, or he is also the 
 author of the extraordinary events which were un- 
 questionably connected with the promulgation of the 
 Gospel. He is as much responsible, in the one 
 case as in the other, for the belief which right reason 
 teaches us. And if the Gospel be true, Jesus Christ 
 must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet. 
 
 3. The desire for improvement in his condition, 
 which animates every man, can be gratified only by 
 obeying the social laws which the Creator has estab- 
 lished. These laws are the precepts of the New 
 Testament. As the progress of knowledge reveals, 
 more and more clearly, the indissoluble connexion 
 between the moral and the physical laws of nature, 
 the very desire of happiness will teach men, as nations 
 and individuals, the wisdom of taking, as the rules of 
 their conduct, the precepts of the Saviour. Now, 
 what men clearly perceive to be their interest, it is 
 reasonable to suppose that they wnll do. 
 
 Again, The connexion which this subject holds 
 with the evidences of the truth of the Bible are various 
 and important. Each of the topics which we have dTs- 
 cussed furnishes a separate and distinct medium of proof. 
 
128 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 1. It is not beyond the power of human reason to 
 affirm, in general, what the human mind can and what 
 it cannot accomplish. There is no instance on record, 
 that I remember, in which any human being has been 
 many centuries in advance of his age. On the con- 
 trary, it has been evident that, by the general progress 
 of society, the most remarkable discoveries must soon 
 have been made by others, if they had not been made 
 by the individuals whom they now distinguish. Nay, 
 so remarkably is this the fact, that many of the most 
 extraordinary discoveries have been'made by several 
 persons, in different countries, at the same time. But 
 here is a case in which a few men, in general, illiterate, 
 and by nothing else but moral character distinguished 
 from the lower class of the nation, to which they be- 
 longed, have promulgated a system of moral trudi, not 
 only in advance of their age, but the profoundest wis- 
 dom of the present day cannot tell how much it is in 
 advance of our own. The most accurate survey of 
 human relations has not yet demonstrated the truth of 
 a single moral law, which is not found within these 
 pages. The infinitely diversified relations of society 
 have not yet given rise to a single moral question, 
 which is not there solved. Age after age attempts in 
 vain to discover a radical cure for some form of social 
 misery, and when the cure is at last discovered, it is 
 found to be the very same as Jesus Christ and his apos- 
 tles, nearly two thousand years ago, taught. Now I 
 say, that there is nothing parallel to this in the whole 
 history of the human mind. It as far transcends any 
 thing that has been elsewhere seen, of the ordinary, or 
 extraordinary exhibitions of intellectual power, as 
 
OF THE REDEEMER. 129 
 
 carrying away the gates of Gaza, or overthrowing the 
 pillars of a mighty temple, transcends the ordinary 
 exhibitions of muscular strength. Thus, exclusively 
 of all proof from miracles, I see not how the acknowl- 
 edged facts can be accounted for, without the admission 
 of divine interposition. And, if God have interposed 
 at all in the case, the whole system is true. 
 
 2. We are all aware that all our knowledge of 
 external objects, as well as of past events, comes 
 through the medium of evidence. By the evidence 
 of my senses, I know that there is a tree before me. 
 By the evidence of testimony, I know that Rome was 
 built. Overturn the principles of evidence, and there 
 is, at once, an end to all science and to all history. 
 No man could know any thing farther than that he 
 existed, and that he thought. Now, it has pleased 
 God so to interweave the proof of his miraculous inter- 
 position, in the promulgation of religion, with the very 
 principles of evidence, that he who denies it must 
 deny either the evidence of sense or that of testimony. 
 Hence, his argument must undermine the whole fabric 
 of our knowledge of the past and of the absent. And 
 thus it is radically and unquestionably subversive of 
 itself. It proceeds upon the supposition that the 
 events in question cannot be true, because they are 
 contrary to the course of nature. But this very 
 course of nature can be established only upon the 
 principles of evidence which the objection has already 
 denied, and hence the very fabric of the objection, 
 by its own showing, crumbles into dust. Thus 
 would infidelity, by an argument embosoming within 
 itself its own manifest refutation, annihilate knowledge, 
 12 
 
130 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 
 
 dissipate science, and render it impossible, on the very 
 principles of our nature, that either should ever have 
 even the shadow of an existence. 
 
 3. It can neither be denied that man is a material 
 agent, and subject to the laws of matter, nor that the 
 author of these laws is the Supreme Governor of the 
 universe. It is equally undeniable, that man is a 
 moral agent, subject also to moral laws, and that the 
 author of these laws is the same supreme Divinity. If 
 a moral law of this world be discovered, it is as certain 
 that God ordained it, as that he ordained the laws of 
 galvanism or of electricity. And, hence, the book 
 which contains these laws is clearly God's word, and 
 fully and universally binding upon the conscience. 
 Now, that the New Testament does contain the 
 moral laws which were ordained for this system, 
 is already clearly demonstrable. For nothing is 
 the progress of science more remarkable, than for 
 the flood of light which it is pouring upon this subject. 
 Every moral and ev^ery social experiment, that 
 has ever been made, bears witness to the same 
 truth. And, hence, from its very adaptation to the 
 social nature of man, the New Testament is evidently 
 the law of God, and obligatory upon the conscience. 
 Here then, by another and distinct medium of proof, 
 do we arrive at the conclusion that the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ is the sure word of prophecy. 
 
 Christian brethren, you see how abundant is the 
 evidence on which the word of our salvation rests. 
 God has so interwoven it with the very principles of 
 science, that all knowledge must be overthrown, ere 
 the foundation of our hope can be undermined. Nay, 
 
OF THE REDEEMER. 131 
 
 he has so constructed the world, that every thing we 
 see and every thing we read of, bear testimony to the 
 truth of revelation. Let us, then, in all the confidence 
 of men who know that they have not followed cun- 
 ningly devised fables, urge upon our fellow-men the 
 excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, 
 Affectionately and zealously, yet meekly, let us instruct 
 those that oppose themselves, that peradventure God 
 may give tliem repentance to the acknowledging of 
 the truth. And, above all, let us show, by lives of 
 consistent piety, and charity, that the religion which 
 we profess has its proper effect upon our own souls. 
 This is an argument which moves the moral as well 
 as intellectual nature of man, and it has thus far been 
 always irresistible. 
 
 L^pon those who disbelieve the evidence of revelation, 
 we would urge a single consideration. Friends and 
 fellow-citizens ; we have endeavored to set before you, 
 in meekness, and with reason, some of the arguments 
 which convince us, that our religion is from God, and 
 that it will ultimately prevail. What we urge has cer^ 
 tainly the appearance of truth. It is most unreasonable 
 for you to turn from it without examination. With 
 the sincerest desires for your present and your future 
 welfare, we respectfully request you patiently, candidly, 
 and thoroughly, to examine the subject. Having done 
 this, we cease. The responsibility of your eternal 
 destiny is in your own hands, and with devout prayers 
 that God may lead you to a kno^iiedge of himself, 
 there do we leave it. Amen. * 
 
 * Note E. 
 
ENCOURAGEMENTS 
 
 RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 
 
 MATTHEW VI. 10. 
 
 THY KINGDOM COME. 
 
 The cause of Sabbath Schools, my brethren, at 
 the present day, and before such an audience as this, 
 needs no advocate. If there be a God, a heaven, 
 and a hell ; if man be immortal and capable of 
 religion, and if his present existence be probationary; 
 if he be a sinner, and if there be but one way of 
 salvation ; and if youth be the season in which moral 
 cultivation may be most successfully bestowed ; then, 
 surely, the importance of inculcating upon the young 
 the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, may be 
 taken for granted. Supposing these truths to be 
 admitted, we shall therefore proreed to another 
 branch of the general subject, which this occasion 
 suggests, and invffe your attention to an illustration of 
 some of the encouragements, which the present state 
 of society offers, to an effort for the universal diffusion 
 of Christianity. 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 133 
 
 It is the general misfortune of man, to be wise a 
 century too late. We look back with astonishment 
 upon those means for guiding the destinies of our race, 
 which preceding generations have enjoyed ; and we see 
 how, in the possession of our present knowledge, we 
 might then hav^e lived gloriously. We forget that no 
 man lives to purpose, who does not live for posterity. 
 Should I then be so happy as to direct your views 
 only for a few years forward ; should the Spirit of all 
 wisdom teach each one of us the responsibleness which 
 rests upon the men of the passing generation ; we 
 shall, through eternity, bless God, that He has per- 
 mitted us to assemble at this time to deliberate upon 
 the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
 
 It will be convenient to my purpose, to commence 
 this discussion by a brief allusion to the nature of the 
 Reformation by Luther. You have all been accus- 
 tomed to consider this, as by far the most interesting 
 portion of the history of man, since the time of the 
 Apostles. In many respects it is so. Its results, 
 although daily multiplying, are already incalculable. 
 The fabric of ancient society began then to crumble, 
 and a more beauteous edifice to arise from amid its 
 ruins. Beside this, there is much of the moral 
 picturesque with which every prospect is crowded. 
 An imaginative man kindles into enthusiasm at the 
 recital of evevy transaction. The leaders, on both 
 sides, were men of consummate ability, and of revo- 
 lutionary energy. The fiercest passions of the human 
 heart, in an age almost ignorant of law, stimulated 
 them to contention unto death. Hence the whole 
 period presents an almost unbroken succession of 
 12* 
 
134 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 battles and sieges ; of foreign war and intestine com- 
 motion ; of brutal persecution, and of dignified en- 
 durance ; and all this is rendered yet more impressive 
 by the frequent vision of racks, and dungeons, of 
 tortin-e, and exile ; of the assassin's dagger, and the 
 martyr's stake. It need not then seem surprising, if 
 this strong appeal to the imagination somewhat bewil- 
 der the reason, and if the impressive circumstances 
 attendant upon the change, too much divert our 
 attention from the nature of the change itself. These 
 violent commotions, like friction in machinery, rather 
 disclose the nature of the materials and the amount of 
 the resistance, than either the direction of the force, 
 or the celerity of the movement. 
 
 But let us now, for a moment, draw aside these 
 attendant circumstances, and in what light does the 
 Reformation present itself to our view ? Simply as an 
 ej)0ch in which the creation of new forces changed 
 the relations which had previously existed between the 
 elements of society. A new and most powerful order 
 of men arose suddenly into being, and institutions, 
 cemented by the lapse of ages, required no inconsid- 
 erable modification to meet the unexpected exigency. 
 In the midst of all this, a new moral impulse was 
 communicated to society, which rendered these 
 changes beneficial to man, and perpetuated the 
 blessings which they conferred to the present gen- 
 eration. 
 
 To illustrate this very briefly — You may be aware 
 that at about the period of the Reformation, great 
 changes were wrought in the physical condition of 
 man. The discovery of America, and of a passage 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 135 
 
 to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and also of 
 the mariner's compass, opened exhaustless fountains 
 of wealth to commerce and manufactures. Labor 
 became, of course, vastly more valuable, and artisans 
 became possessed of the means of independence. 
 Hence a new order of men, a middling class, was 
 created. Power, and wealth, and education, were 
 placed within the reach of a vastly greater number. 
 The moral centre of gravity settled towards the base 
 of the social cone. The rod of feudal vassalage was 
 broken, and men were first acknowledged to possess 
 rights, which they did not derive from hereditary 
 succession. 
 
 Beside this, the invention of the printing press 
 furnished, at the same time, new means for intellectual 
 culture. This astonishing instrument multiplies in- 
 definitely the power of thought. It transfers the 
 sceptre of empire from matter to mind. It enables 
 genius to multiply, to any extent, the copies of its 
 own conceptions. Hence the facilities for intellectual 
 cultivation were abundantly bestowed upon this new 
 order of men, to which commerce and manufactures 
 had given birth. 
 
 But above all, it pleased God to raise up, in the 
 persons of the reformers, men of a character equal to 
 the crisis. They were men who counted not their 
 lives dear unto them, when a moral change was to be 
 effected. In despite of every thing appalling in the 
 form of opposition, they studied, they argued, they 
 preached, they wrote, they translated, they printed, 
 they employed for the promotion of true religion, all 
 those means which the progress of society had placed 
 
136 ENCOUK A CEMENTS TO 
 
 within their power. They thus gave the impression 
 of Christianity to the changes which were going 
 forward ; and that their labors formed by far the most 
 important Hnk in the chain of events which is denom- 
 inated the Reformation, may be evident from the fact, 
 that no where, but in Protestant countries, have the 
 blessings, resulting from the social changes to which 
 we have alluded, been fully realized. Catholic coun- 
 tries have been comparatively unimproved, except 
 where their condition has been changed by the influ- 
 ence of Protestantism in their vicinity. 
 
 These few remarks are, we presume, sufficient to 
 show you the importance of moral effort at the crisis 
 of a social revolution. But, if we mistake not, 
 physical and intellectual changes, very similar to those 
 which characterized the Reformation, are, at this 
 moment, going forward in the midst of us. It re- 
 mains for the men of the present generation to say 
 whether these changes shall receive a corresponding 
 moral impression. 
 
 I. Important changes have of late taken place in 
 the physical condiiion of man. 
 
 The natural wealth of every man, consists in his 
 power to labor. Tliis, every man in a greater or less 
 degree, possesses. The less numerous class, in addi- 
 tion to the power to labor, possesses, also, a portion 
 of capital. Hence, as labor becomes more valuable, 
 every laboring man becomes richer ; that is, he is 
 able to command a larger amount of objects, which 
 may gratify his desires. But this change is principally 
 in favor of the more numerous classes. Capital, the 
 wealth of the rich man, remains comparatively station- 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 137 
 
 ary; whilst labor, the wealth of the poor man, rises in 
 value. Thus the natural tendency of the progress of 
 society is, to abolish poverty from the earth. 
 
 That labor is, in fact, becoming more valuable ; 
 that is, that it is better paid, is evident from a com- 
 parison of the condition of the laboring classes now, 
 with their condition a few years since. Almost every 
 man among us may, if he will, command the means 
 of a very comfortable livelihood. An industrious and 
 virtuous artisan may provide for his family, advantages, 
 which a few years since were considered attainable 
 only by those above the level of mediocrity. The 
 cause of this change may be easily stated. Labor is 
 valuable to the employer in proportion to the amount 
 of results that it will accomplish. Now it is well 
 known, that, within the last fifty years, increased skill 
 has rendered human labor vastly more productive 
 than it ever was before. A greater amount of the 
 product of his labor may, therefore, be reserved to 
 the operative, whilst the capitalist receives at the same 
 time a larger interest upon his investment. 
 
 It is interesting, also, to observe the manner in 
 which this increased value has been given to human 
 labor. In some cases, division of labor has enabled 
 one man to do as much as could otherwise be done 
 by two hundred. In other, and more numerous 
 cases, a still more gratifying result has been produced; 
 by the increased skill with which science has taught 
 us to employ those qualities and relations with which 
 the all-merciful God has seen fit to endow the universe 
 around us. The most important of these are, the 
 gravitating power of water, and the expansive force of 
 
138 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 Steam. It is by a most beautiful adaptation of the 
 former, that you, in this city,* employ a little waterfall, 
 without cessation, and almost without cost, to carry 
 the means of cleanliness and health to every family 
 within your borders. In various other parts of our 
 country, you may behold a single individual, by means 
 of machinery connected with a similar waterfall, 
 executing, with the utmost perfection, what could not 
 otherwise, in the same time, be performed by many 
 hundreds. 
 
 But specially am I astonished at contemplating the 
 results of steam, that new power which the last half 
 century has placed within the control of man. 
 Whether we consider the massiveness of its strength, 
 or the facility of its adaptation, we are equally over- 
 whelmed at the results which it promises to accomplish 
 for society. Probably half a million of men could 
 not propel a boat two hundred miles, with the speed 
 given to it by a dozen workmen with a powerful 
 engine. On the Liverpool and Manchester rail road, 
 two men, with a locomotive engine, could easily do 
 the work of a thousand, with a speed five or six times 
 as great as human strength could, at its greatest effort, 
 perform. Beside this, there can be but very little 
 doubt, that steam will, at least in Great Britain, super- 
 sede the employment of brutes for draft labor, and 
 thus enable the same extent of land to sustain more 
 than double its present number of human beings. 
 The same kind of result is in all cases produced, 
 either by the introduction of valuable machinery, or 
 by improvement in the means of internal or external 
 * Philadelphia. 
 
R i: LI G r O U S E F F O R T. 1 39 
 
 coiTiinunication. The instances which 1 have selected 
 are intended merely as specimens of a class of agents 
 which Providence has within a few years taught us to 
 employ, for the improvement of our condition. It 
 ought also to be distinctly borne in mind, that probably 
 only a very small number of the most important of 
 these has yet been discovered ; and that, of those 
 which have been discovered, the application is yet but 
 in its infancy. — Sufficient, I trust, has been said to 
 illustrate the obvious tendency of improvements in the 
 arts, and to show how utterly incalculable are the 
 benefits which they have evidently in reserve for us. 
 The manner in which all these changes affect the 
 laboring classes, may be thus briefly stated. The 
 comforts of life are procurable only by human labor. 
 If then, by means of improvement in the arts, the 
 labor of the human race is able to produce this year, 
 twice as large an amount of the comforts of life, as 
 was produced last year, then every man will have 
 twice as much to enjoy. He will, therefore, be this 
 year in circumstances as comfortable as those of a 
 man of twice his wealth the year before. With the 
 labor of last year he may earn twice the amount of 
 comfort, or he may possess the former amount of 
 comfort with half the amount of labor. A little re- 
 flection will, I think, teach any one, that these are 
 precisely the results to which the movements of society 
 are tending. It will, I think, also be evident, that 
 the forces are similar to those exerted upon the con- 
 dition of man, at the time of the Reformation, except 
 that they affect more permanently, and to a greater 
 degree, a much larger portion of the community. 
 
140 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 The immediate effect of these changes upon the 
 condition of the more numerous classes of society 
 must be evident. They place within the power of 
 every man a larger share of enjoyment, and a greater 
 portion of leisure. They thus give to every man, not 
 only more time for intellectual cultivation, but, also, 
 the means for improving that time with increased 
 advantage. And, if they do not render a man better 
 educated himself, they render him sensible of his own 
 deficiency, and awaken in him the desire, and furnish 
 the means of gratifying it, of bestowing education upon 
 his children. And hence, although the modes of 
 education should undergo no improvement, there must 
 result a more widely extended demand for mental 
 improvement, and a more perfect and more powerful 
 intellectual development. 
 
 But secondly ; the means for cultivating the human 
 mind are in a course of rapid improvement. Time 
 will allow me only to allude to a very few considera- 
 tions connected with this branch of the subject. 
 
 The object of education is becoming better under- 
 stood. It has, in many places, ceased to be consid- 
 ered enough to infuse into the pupil certain sentences, 
 or even certain ideas, which sometime before had 
 been infused into the instructer. It begins to be 
 admitted, that education consists in so cultivating the 
 mind, as to render it a more powerful, and more exact 
 instrument for the acquisition, the propagation, and 
 the discovery of truth, and a more certain guide for 
 the regulation of conduct. Hence, it is now frequently 
 conceded that education may be a science by itself, 
 regulated by laws which require special study, and in 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 141 
 
 tlie practical application of which, something more 
 than the lowest degree of intelligence, ma}'^ be at least 
 convenient. A higher degree of talent will thus be 
 called to this profession, in every one of its branches. 
 Division of labor will produce the same beneficial 
 results as in every other department of industry. And 
 hence, as the object becomes better understood, as l.'igh- 
 er talent is engaged to promote it, and as that talent is 
 employed under greater advantages, we may expect, 
 in the rising and the succeeding generations, a more 
 perfect mental development than the world has yet any 
 where seen. 
 
 Again ; it has, within a few years, been discovered 
 that education may be commenced much earlier in 
 the life of a human being than was before considered 
 practicable. Who would have supposed, unless he 
 had seen it, that any thing valuable could have been 
 communicated to an infant of only two or three years 
 old ? Specially, who would have supposed that the 
 memory, the judgment, the understanding, and the 
 conscience of so young a child were already so per- 
 fectly formed and so susceptible of improvement ? It 
 has thus been demonstrated, that a very valuable 
 education, an education which shall comprise instruc- 
 tion in the elements of many of the most important 
 sciences, may be acquired, before a child is old 
 enough to be profitably employed in musular labor, 
 and even while the care of it would be expensive to 
 the parent. It has thus been made the interest of 
 every one in the neighborhood of an Infant School, to 
 give his children at least so much education as may 
 be communicated there. And if I do not much mis- 
 13 
 
142 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 take, the instruction now given to infants, in these 
 invaluable nurseries, is more philosophical, and does 
 more towards establishing correct intellectual and 
 moral habits, than was attainable, when I was a boy, 
 by children of twelve or fourteen years of age, in 
 grammar schools of no contemptible estimation. 
 
 Allow me also to suggest an improvement which, 
 though not yet in practice, must soon follow in the 
 train of the others of which I have spoken. I allude 
 to the application of the science of education to the 
 teaching of the mechanic arts. At present, a boy 
 spends frequently seven years in acquiring a trade. 
 His instructer, though a good practical artist, is wholly 
 unacquainted with the business of teaching. Few 
 persons can doubt that a man, who, with a competent 
 knowledge of the art, should devote himself exclusively 
 to teaching it, might, in a (ew months, communicate 
 as much skill as is now communicated in as many 
 years. The result would be, in the end, far greater 
 excellency of workmanship ; and, what is still better, 
 much more time for obtaining an education might be 
 allowed to young men before they devoted themselves 
 to the employments of life. 
 
 From these facts, the tendency of the present 
 movements of society is obvious. It is, to furnish 
 more leisure than formerly to the operative classes of 
 society, to furnish them more extensively with the 
 means of education, and to render that education 
 better. They must, from the very nature of things, 
 become both positively and relatively far richer, and 
 much better informed, than they have ever been 
 before. Now, as social power is in the ratio of intel- 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 143 
 
 ligence and wealth ; the astonishing progress of the 
 more niimerous classes, in both these respects, must 
 be at present producing more radical changes in the 
 fabric of society than were witnessed even at the period 
 of the Protestant Reformation. 
 
 But these changes are going forward with accelerated 
 rapidity in our own country. With profuse liberality, 
 a bountiful Providence has scattered over our territory 
 all the means for the rapid accumulation of wealth. 
 Land, rich and unexhausted, adapted to the production 
 of every article of convenience and luxury, stretches 
 through every variety of climate. To peculiar natural 
 advantages of internal communication, we add still 
 greater capabilities of artificial improvement. The 
 amount of our unappropriated water-power is incalcu- 
 lable ; and in regions where this is less abundant, 
 inexhaustible beds of fuel offer every facility for the 
 employment of that incomparable laborer, steam. 
 
 This country, also, presents peculiar facilities for 
 intellectual development. The political institutions 
 of other countries rather retard than accelerate the 
 progress of mental cultivation. With us, the absence 
 of all legalized hereditary barriers between the differ- 
 ent classes of society, presents to every man a powerful 
 inducement to improve himself, and especially his 
 children, to the utmost. In other countries, the forms 
 of government being unyielding, they do not readily 
 accommodate themselves to a change in the relations 
 of society. Ours are constructed with the express 
 design of being modified, whenever a change in the 
 relations of the social elements shall require it. The 
 history of our country since the adoption of the federal 
 
144 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 constitution, has furnished abundant proof of the truth 
 of these remarks. Every change in the form of the 
 State governments has been from a less to a more 
 popular form. This at least shows, first, that the 
 power is passing from the hands of the less numerous, 
 to those of the more numerous classes of society ; 
 and, secondly, that there is nothing in the nature of 
 our institutions to prevent its thus passing. It is our 
 duty to provide that it be wielded by intelligence and 
 virtue. 
 
 I hope that sufficient has been said, to show that 
 the period is rapidly advancing, when all, but espe- 
 cially the more numerous classes of society, will enjoy 
 niuch more leisure for reflection, will be furnished 
 with a vastly greater amount of knowledge, both of 
 facts and of principles, and will be educated to use 
 those facts and principles with far greater accuracy, 
 and with far better success. 
 
 II. Let us proceed briefly to consider the encour- 
 agements which these facts present, to an effort for 
 the universal diffusion of Christianity. 
 
 1. The increase of wealth, and especially the 
 consequent increase of leisure, among the more 
 numerous classes, is in many respects greatly favorable 
 to the progress of religion. Moderate labor invigo- 
 rates, excessive labor enfeebles, the intellectual 
 faculties. He, whose existence is measured by 
 unbroken periods of either slavish toil, or profound 
 sleep, soon sinks down in passive subjection to the 
 laws of his animal nature. Lighten his load, and 
 his intellect regains its elasticity ; he rises to the region 
 of thought, breathes the atmosphere of reason, rejoices 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 145 
 
 in the discovery of truth, and feels himself a denizen 
 of the universe of mind. 
 
 Again. The progress of education is rendering the 
 human understanding a more successful instrument 
 for the investigation of the laws of nature, both in 
 matter and in mind. Hence has the progress of 
 discovery been so rapid during the last half century; 
 and we believe that the work has but barely com- 
 menced. ^Ve apprehend that the boldest imagination 
 has never yet conceived of the exactitude and the 
 extent of that knowledge which we shall acquire, both 
 of the qualities and the relations of the universe around 
 us ; and of the skill to which we shall yet attain, in 
 subjecting them all to the gratification of human want, 
 and the alleviation of human wo. Now, we believe 
 that God made this universe ; that he created every 
 particle of matter, and impressed upon it its various 
 qualities. We believe that this same Being, also, 
 created mind, and inspired it with its moral and intel- 
 lectual capacities ; and we believe that the attributes 
 of matter and the capacities of mind are all formed to 
 harmonize with the moral laws contained in his holy 
 oracles ; so that in the end there shall not be found, 
 throughout this wide universe, a straggling atom which 
 does not yield up its illustration to the truth of revela- 
 tion. Thus, to use the words of Foster, " Religion, 
 standing up in grand parallel with an infinite variety 
 of things, receives from all their testimony and homage, 
 and speaks a voice which is echoed by creation." 
 
 Thus far, every discovery of science and every 
 invention in the arts have uttered their voice in favor 
 of the Bible. Who can contemplate the relation of 
 13* 
 
146 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 the various forces which move a steam engine, and 
 the laws by which they operate, without seeing that 
 all was devised, by Infinite wisdom, for just such a 
 being, physical and intellectual, as man, to accomplish 
 just such purposes as Infinite goodness had intended ? 
 Who can contemplate the social circumstances under 
 which man enjoys the greatest amount of happiness, 
 without being convinced that the very constitution of 
 man requires obedience to precisely such precepts as 
 are contained in the Bible ; that man is rewarded 
 and punished on the principles which are there incul- 
 cated ; in other words, that the moral system of the 
 Bible is the moral system of the universe. A striking 
 illustration of the truth of the general principle to 
 which I refer, may be found in the history of political 
 economy. This science has been, to say the least, 
 most successfully cultivated by men who had no 
 belief in the Christian religion. And yet, reasoning 
 from unquestionable facts in the history of man, they 
 have incontrovertibiy proved that the precepts of Jesus 
 Christ, in all their simplicity, point out the only rules 
 of conduct, in obedience to which, either nations or 
 individuals can become either rich or happy. So far 
 as science has gone, then, every new truth in physics 
 or in morals has furnished a new argument for the 
 authenticity of revelation. Thus will it be to the end. 
 Philosophy herself will at last show the principles of 
 the religion of Jesus Christ so legibly written on every 
 thing else which the Creator's hand has formed, that 
 it will be as impossible to deny the truth of the 
 Scriptures as the law of gravitation. 
 
 Besides, not only does the present state of society 
 
RELIGIOirs EFI-'OKT. 147 
 
 promise that vastly more of these laws will be known, 
 and their moral connexions traced ; it is also rendered 
 evident that the knowledge of them will be more 
 widely disseminated. Improvement in wealth,, and in 
 the science of education, will render what is now 
 considered erudition, common to the humblest member 
 of the community. Thus the facts, on which may be 
 constructed the most incontestable arguments in Aivor 
 of religion, will be found in abundance in the mind of 
 every man. Thus the media of proof are multiplied 
 without number. Though ignorance be the mother 
 of superstition, knowledge is the parent of devotion. 
 Take any man whose soul has not been brutalized by 
 animal indulgence, nor his judgment radically distorted 
 by incurable prejudice ; open his eyes upon the 
 universe as it actually is, with all its at present undis- 
 covered variety of incomparable contrivances, and tell 
 me, could he ever afterwards be made an atheist ? Or 
 let him remark, through the history of ages, the conse- 
 quences resulting to individuals and nations, from 
 different courses of moral conduct, and could he ever 
 afterwards be persuaded that the Deity neither had 
 made nor would enforce the distinction between 
 virtue and vice? Or, let him ask himself upon 
 what principle, more than any other, it is neces- 
 sary to act, if he would secure to himself any 
 valuable result for the life that now is, and he 
 will come to the conclusion, that in the things of 
 this world, as well as of the other, success can 
 only be expected from the exercise of faith. Nor 
 is this all. A well regulated mind not only knows 
 that it is so, but it is at every moment reminded of it. 
 
148 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 Every thing speaks to such a man of God, and God 
 speaks to liim in every thing. 
 
 Nor is this all. Not only does the improved 
 development of the human faculties furnish new 
 proofs of the truth of revelation ; it also renders the 
 mind more susceptible of their influence. It is the 
 business of education to deliver us from the tyranny 
 of prejudice and passion, and subject us to the gov- 
 ernment of reason. Mind thus becomes a more 
 delicate, a more powerful, and a more certain instru- 
 ment. It yields to nothing but evidence ; hut before 
 evidence, it bows down in reverential homage. Thus, 
 effect upon mind may perhaps at last be calculated 
 with almost scientific precision. Now it is to this 
 very training of the intellectual faculties that the 
 progress of improvement in education promises to 
 conduct mankind ; so much more favorable is the 
 mind of the hearer becoming, to the production of 
 moral effect. 
 
 But we hope that this system of changes is not to 
 be limited even here. We believe that improvement 
 in intellectual science, but above all, more elevated 
 piety, and more ardent devotion, will yet confer some 
 new powers of suasion on the Christian teacher. 
 Every one must be sensible, that the Gospel is an instru- 
 ment which has never been wielded wiih its legitimate 
 effect, since the time of the Apostles. May we not hope 
 that there are forms of illustration at present untried, 
 that there are modes of appeal as yet unattempted, 
 which, with an efficacy more certain than we anywhere 
 now witness, will arouse the slumbering conscience, 
 and lead the awakened sinner to the cross of Christ. 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 149 
 
 Christian Brethren, estimate, if you can, the 
 importance of these facts. Consider that every law 
 of matter, or of mind, presents a separate argument in 
 favor of religion ; that the providence of God is 
 multiplying, with a rapidity beyond precedent, both 
 the number and the power of such arguments ; that 
 all classes of men are becoming more deeply imbued 
 with a knowledge of them ; and that this knowledge, 
 from the improved discipline of the faculties, must 
 produce a more certain, and more salutary efiect ; 
 and then consider how the press is enabling every 
 man to exert his whole moral and intellectual power 
 upon the thoughts and opinions of mankind, and you 
 will surely say, that never have there been presented 
 so many nor so great encouragements for a universal 
 effort to bring the whole of Christendom under sub- 
 jection to Jesus Christ. The prediction seems already 
 fulfilled, " the sons of strangers shall come bending 
 unto thee." Following in the train of every art, and 
 every science, infidel philosophy herself is beheld 
 presenting her offering at the feet of the Redeemer. 
 Every thing waits for us to n^.ove forward and take 
 possession of the inheritance, which Messiah has 
 purchased with his own most precious blood. 
 
 There are, however, a few circumstances of en- 
 couragement peculiar to the condition of this country, 
 to which I may be permitted for a moment to advert. 
 
 1. The proportion of truly religious persons is 
 greater in this than in any country in Christendom. 
 Perhaps it would not be too much to assert, that both 
 their intelligence and their opportunity for leisure are 
 comparatively greater than fall to the lot of Christians 
 
150 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 in any other nation. I hope that it may, also, with 
 truth be added, that notwithstanding the multiplicity 
 of our sects, a greater degree of good fellowship, in 
 promoting the eternal welfare of men, is discoverable 
 here, than has been commonly witnessed, at least in 
 the latter ages of the Cliristian church. 
 
 2. We enjoy perfect civ^l and religious freedom. 
 Every man may originate as powerful trains of thought 
 as he is able, may give them as wide a circulation as 
 he chooses, and may use all other suitable means for 
 giving them influence over the minds of others. 
 
 3. Public opinion is, as yet, more than usually 
 friendly to religion. This land was first peopled by 
 men who came here that they might enjoy " freedom 
 to worship God ;" and tlius they proved themselves 
 worthy of being the Fathers of an Empire. Our 
 institutions, at their very commencement, received the 
 impression of Christianity. The name, and the 
 example, of the Puritans, are yet held in hallowed 
 recollection. We are enjoying at this moment, the 
 rich blessings purchased by their labors and their 
 prayers. Our nation, wicked though it be, is not yet 
 cursed with the sin of having deliberately rejected the 
 offer of the Gospel. Our soil is unstained with the 
 blood of the saints. We may hope, then, that our 
 eyes have not yet been smitten with avenging blindness. 
 In carrying forward her conquests, we may then hope, 
 that the church of God has less opposition to encounter 
 here, than she has met with elsewhere. 
 
 4. But it deserves specially to be remarked, that 
 God has, in a peculiar manner, blessed the efforts 
 which have been made in this country to check the 
 
w 
 
 KELIGIOL'S EFFORT. 151 
 
 increase of vice, and jDiomote the diffusion of piety. 
 In illustration of this remark, I will not at present refer 
 to the astonishing success which has attended the 
 labors of the Bible, the Sabbath School, and the Tract 
 Societies. 1 will only mention two facts, which, 
 though not more important than those which I omit, 
 allow of being presented with greater brevity. The 
 first, is the effect which has been produced by the 
 union of good men, for the promotion of temperance. 
 I believe that but four years have elapsed since this 
 benevolent effort commenced. Already has it saved 
 from worse than mere destruction several millions of 
 the national capital ; it has reclaimed thousands of 
 families, from what otherwise must have been inevita- 
 ble ruin; it has taught hundreds of thousands successful 
 resistance to perilous temptation ; it is purifying the 
 atmosphere, which so soon must have poisoned the 
 rising generation, and its wide-spreading influence 
 begins to be felt in every State and County, nay, I 
 would hope, in every Town throughout the Union. 
 Travellers from the east, and from the west, from the 
 north, and from the south, tell us that an amendment 
 is universally perceptible. The records of various 
 religious denominations bear testimony to the same 
 encouraging fact. We ourselves have witnessed that 
 in stage coaches, and in steam boats, in public houses, 
 and in private parlors, temperance is becoming more 
 and more the habit of the peo])le. The very traffic in 
 ardent spirits is far from being entirely reputable ; 
 and there is reason to hope, that in a very {qv^ 
 years more, this detestable leprosy may be banished 
 from the land. 
 
152 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 More especially, however, would I refer to the fact, 
 that those seasons of special attention to the salvation 
 of the soul, commonly denominated revivals of religion, 
 and produced, as we believe, by the special influences 
 of the Holy Spirit, have been multiplied among us, to 
 a far greater degree than has ever before been known 
 in any age or country. Almost every denomination, 
 professing to be Christian, has, of late years, been 
 greatly augmented in numbers, and strongly excited 
 to religious effort, in consequence of such seasons. 
 Specially have these effects been visible among the 
 young. Sabbath Schools, and Bible Classes, have, 
 in a peculiar manner, been filled with that solemnity, 
 which, turning the soul from the hot pursuit of pleas- 
 ure and of sin, leads it to serious reflection, to un- 
 feigned repentance, to faith in Jesus Christ, and to 
 permanent and universal reformation. Now it matters 
 not what theory we adopt in respect to this subject. 
 We are all willing to be influenced by facts. The fact, 
 then, we think, cannot be questioned, that events 
 called revivals of religion are becoming very common 
 among us, and that where they occur most frequently, 
 a larger portion of the people become active and 
 zealous religionists ; and if this be granted, it is 
 sufficient for our argument. 
 
 Behold then. Christian Brethren, the encouragement 
 before us. We are citizens of a country whose un- 
 trodden soil was moistened by the tears, and conse- 
 crated by the prayers, of persecuted saints ; whose 
 earliest institutions v/ere formed under the auspices of 
 the Bible, where every man may pray as much, and 
 live as holily, as he will ; where every man may 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 153 
 
 circulate, as widely as he pleases, the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, and as eloquently as he is able, urge his fellow 
 citizens to obey it ; and where God has been pleased 
 to honor with his special benediction, every effort 
 which has been made to arrest the progress of vice, 
 and to increase the influence of religion. What can 
 we ask for more ? Why stand we here all the day 
 idle ? We see how glorious a success has attended 
 our present feeble and imperfect efforts. They have 
 as yet been almost nothing in comparison with the 
 ability of the Christian church in this country. How 
 few of us have even approached the point of self- 
 denial in effort, and surely it is only at this point that 
 real benevolence begins. Let us estimate what is 
 our solemn and unquestionable duty. Let us look at 
 the wonderful success with which God has crowned 
 our exertions, and I think we shall arrive at the conclu- 
 sion, that with a corresponding degree of success upon 
 no greater efforts, for the promotion of religion, than are 
 palpably within our power, a revival of piety may be 
 witnessed in every neighborhood throughout the land; 
 the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be 
 made to regulate the detail of individual and national 
 intercourse ; the high praises of God may be heard 
 from every habitation ; and perhaps, before even the 
 youth of the rising generation be gathered to their 
 fathers, there may burst forth upon these highly favored 
 States, the light of the Millennial Glory. What is to 
 prevent it ? Let any man reflect upon the subject, 
 and then answer. My brethren, I speak deliberately. 
 I do believe that the option, under God, is put into 
 14 
 
154 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 our hands.* It is for us to say whether the present 
 religious movement shall be onward, until it terminate 
 in the universal triumph of Messiah, or whether all 
 shall go back again, and the generations to come after 
 us shall sufier for ages the divine indignation, for our 
 neglect of the Gospel of the grace of God. The 
 church has for two thousand years been praying, 
 " Thy kingdom come." Jesus Christ is saying unto 
 us, " It shall come, if you desire it." 
 
 Such, then, are some of the encouragements which 
 the providence of God presents for attempting the 
 universal promulgation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 Motives equally strong may also be drawn from the 
 results, which must of necessity ensue, if we prove 
 unworthy of the high destiny which is now set before 
 us. To these, however, time will allow me only very 
 briefly to allude. 
 
 In no case does God array himself in more avenging 
 majesty, than when he resents the misimprovement 
 of unusual blessings, or the neglect of signal opportu- 
 nities for usefulness. " Curse ye Meroz," saith the 
 angel of the Lord, " curse ye bitterly, the inhabitants 
 thereof, — because they came not to the help of the 
 Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." 
 " And when Jesus was come near, he beheld the city 
 [Jerusalem] and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst 
 known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things 
 which belong to thy peace, — but now they are hidden 
 from thine eyes; for the days come in which thine 
 enemies shall lay thee even with the ground, and 
 thy children within thee, and shall not leave thee 
 * Note F. 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 165 
 
 one stone upon another, because thou knewest not 
 the time of thy visitation." 
 
 The spirit of these warnings applies with emphatic 
 force to the church at the present day. With regard 
 to society at large, it is evident that the changes which 
 have commenced, must either result in the universal 
 diffusion of the principles of religious knowledge and 
 civil liberty, or in the establishment of a more firmly 
 rivetted system of slavery, than the world hath yet 
 beheld. The philosophy of Christianity is now gen- 
 erally well understood. Her points of contact with 
 the human heart are discovered. So far as human 
 sagacity can discover it, the secret of her great 
 strength is revealed. Her enemies are rallying, and 
 mean to regain the ground, which they lost at the 
 Reformation. Their resources are immense, and 
 their wisdom has been gained in that best of all 
 school?, the school of reverses. Combining all their 
 forces, and, with skill worthy of a better cause, 
 cidcipuije, tljclr weapons to tlie present stale of society, 
 they are preparing for one mighty, one universal onset. 
 Christianity cannot long maintain her present position. 
 Delay will be defeat. She must instantly seize the 
 vantage ground, and march onward, universally 
 triumphant, or be driv^en again for ages to the dens 
 and caves of the earth. Which shall she do ? This 
 question, it remains for the men of the present gener- 
 ation to answer. 
 
 The period within which this question must be 
 decided may, in other countries, be prolonged ; not 
 so, however, in this country. Other governments 
 may be kept stable amid political commotion, by 
 
156 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 balancing the interests and passions of one class of 
 the community against those of another. With us, 
 there is but one class, the people. Hence, our 
 institutions can only be supported while the people 
 are restrained by moral principle. We have provided 
 no checks to the turbulence of passion : we have 
 raised no barriers against the encroachments of a 
 tyrannical majority. Hence, the very forms which 
 we so much admire, are at any moment liable to 
 become an intolerable nuisance, the instruments of 
 ultimate and remediless oppression. Now, I do not 
 know that history furnishes us with reason to believe 
 that man can be brought under subjection to moral 
 government, in any other way than by the inculcation 
 of principles, such as are delivered in the New 
 Testament. You see then, that the church of Christ 
 is the only hope of our country. 
 
 I will not here ask, whether any tiling has ever 
 transpired within your recollection, in the history of 
 
 our republic, at which a thoug,lllful innn may tromblo. 
 
 I will not ask, whether, when the most momentous 
 questions are at stake, it be customary to address the 
 passions, or the reason and conscience of our fellow 
 citizens. I will neither ask, whether he would not be 
 considered a novice, who was credulous enough to 
 believe a poUtician honest, nor whether an utter disre- 
 gard to truth be not avowed without a blush, as the 
 principle on which are conducted many of the presses, 
 which politicians support. I will not ask, whether 
 the most infamous want of principle, hath always 
 obstructed the advancement of him, who hath made 
 his yell heard in the deafening clamor of electioneering 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 157 
 
 Strife. Nor will 1 ask, whether there be not men 
 deeply learned in the history of human affairs, who, 
 overlooking the moral power that resides in the religion 
 of Jesus Christ, have not already doubted whether 
 such institutions as ours can long be perpetuated. I 
 refer to these things. Christian brethren, to remind 
 you how inevitable is the result, if it be not arrested 
 by the redeeming influences of Christianity. It is 
 time you were aware of the fact, that even now, 
 not a moment is to be lost. When the statesman 
 trembles for the republic, then it is time for the 
 Christian to act. 
 
 You see, then, ihat unless prevented by the diffusion 
 of religious principle, the wreck of our civil liberties 
 is inevitable. But in the present state of society, civil 
 and religious liberty must perish together. Then 
 must ensue ages of darkness, more appalling than 
 aught which this world, in the gloomiest periods of 
 her history, hath yet witnessed. What form of misery 
 will brood over this now happy land, 1 pretend not 
 to foresee. I cannot tell, whether these solemn 
 temples will become the resort of muttering monks, or 
 of infidel bacchanalians. I know not, whether our 
 children will worship a relic, and pray to a saint, — or 
 deny the existence of God, and proclaim that death 
 is an eternal sleep. I should rather fear, that neither 
 of these woes would fill up the measure of our cup of 
 trembling ; but that some strange ministration of wrath 
 more terrific than eye hath seen, or ear heard, 
 or the heart of man conceived, was yet treasured 
 up among the hidden things of the Almighty, to be 
 exhausted in vengeance upon the iniquities of a 
 14* 
 
158 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 people, who so signally knew not the day of their 
 merciful visitation. 
 
 Fathers and Brethren ! you behold the result to 
 which we have been led. It is for us to decide whether 
 the moral light, which has just begun to dawn, shall 
 ascend to meridian glory ; or whether for ages it shall 
 be extinguished in darkness. It is for us to say, 
 whether this nation shall first welcome the coming 
 of JMessiah, and rejoice in the earliest subjection to 
 his reign ; or bear for ages the awful weight of divine 
 indignation, for having, under such aggravated cir- 
 cumstances, rejected the offered mercy of God's well 
 beloved Son. 
 
 Men, Brethren, and Fathers, what shall we do ? 
 Shall the kingdom of Christ coine, or shall it not come ? 
 
 But before you answer this question, it is proper 
 that I inform you what the answer involves. 
 
 The kingdom of Christ will not come, unless an 
 effort be made on the part of the church, more intense 
 and more universal, than any which later ages have 
 seen. Litde doth it become me to speak in the 
 language of a reformer. Yet you will, I trust, pardon 
 me, if I, with diffidence, suggest some changes, which 
 must take place ere we can be prepared for the crisis 
 before us. 
 
 In general, then, I would remark, that the providence 
 of God calls loudly upon religious men, to be more 
 deeply and thoroughly religious. 
 
 Too commonly now, the character of religionist is 
 merged in the character of statesman, or lawyer, or 
 physician, or merchant, or tradesman, or even of man 
 or woman of fashion. I blush while I speak of it, but 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 159 
 
 it is true ; this age beholds fashionable disciples of a 
 crucified Jesus. All this must, we think, be altered. 
 If religion be any thing, it is every thing. If the 
 Bible be not a fable, it is meet that every other 
 distinction of a Christian be merged in that of relig- 
 ionist. Our private history, the arrangements of our 
 business, the discipline of our families, our intercourse 
 with society, must show that we do really care very 
 little about every thing else, if we can only promote 
 the growth of vital piety in our own souls, and in the 
 souls of those around us. 
 
 But to be somewhat more particular. New efforts 
 are required of ministers of the Gospel. The times 
 seem to demand that our lives be much more laborious 
 than formerly. We must labor more abundantly in 
 preparation for the pulpit; we must preach more in 
 season, and out of season ; we must visit our people 
 more frequently, and more religiously ; we must 
 exhort more fervently j and thus make our moral 
 influence more universally and more deeply felt upon 
 all classes, but specially upon the young. If it be 
 said, that clergymen are, generally, as laborious as 
 their health will admit, we may grant it; but still, we 
 would ask, might they not frequently obtain better 
 health? Every one of us, surely, might understand 
 and obey the laws of his animal economy. If we 
 would do this, we should less frequently complain 
 of ill health. Besides, who of us, with the firmest 
 health, has ever accomplished half the labor of Baxter, 
 or Payson, and they were invalids through life ? 
 
 It will be necessary that our efforts be more syste- 
 matic. We act so much at random, that the labors 
 
160 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 of one day interfere with those of another, and thus 
 much invaluable time is lost. Who that has had the 
 least experience in the ministry, does not see to how 
 much better purpose he would have lived, had he 
 resolutely set about doing one thing at a time, and 
 doing that thing thoroughly. Should every one of us 
 survey the field which God has placed before him, 
 and begin now to direct those influences, which, ten 
 years hence, will be called into operation ; and should 
 we thus labor year after year upon the best plan that 
 prayerful consideration will enable us to devise, 
 would not our lives be spent to vastly better effect ? 
 
 Again. The approaching crisis will demand a 
 greater amount of intellectual vigor. The work will 
 call for strong arms, and for very many of them. 
 Ministers will find it necessary to devote themselves, 
 more exclusively, to severe studies, to original thinking, 
 and to every sort of discipline, which may render the 
 mind a more efficient instrument for swaying the 
 opinions of men. Perhaps it will not be amiss to add, 
 that the present state of society seems specially to 
 demand of us, a more profound acquaintance with the 
 evidences of revelation ; with the various connexions 
 which God has established between moral laws, and 
 the laws of the universe about us ; and above all, an 
 intimate familiarity with the unadulterated oracles 
 of divine truth, if possible, in the languages in which 
 they were originally written. 
 
 But more than any thing else do we need improve- 
 ment in personal piety, in the experience of religion 
 in our own souls. We must approach nearer to the 
 luminary, if we would reflect more of his light. 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 161 
 
 Nothing but ardent love to God, and unshaken trust 
 in his promises, will animate us amid the labors to 
 which the necessities of the church will call us. In 
 the absence of these, we have no reason to expect 
 that the influence of the Holy Spirit will attend upon 
 our efforts, without which, they would be as unable 
 to excite a holy volition, as to create a world. When 
 ministers of Christ thus labor for Christ, thus love 
 Him, and thus trust in Him, then may we hope to see 
 the blessings of the day of Pentecost descend upon 
 our American churches. 
 
 But the principles which apply to a minister, apply, 
 also, to every Christian man. I add, then, secondly, 
 the necessities of the church require new efforts of 
 laymen. A religious man, every whei'e, and at all 
 times, must be a religionist. 
 
 It is necessary that Christians begin to use their 
 property as stewards. The principles of the Gospel 
 must be carried into the business of our every day's 
 expenditurt;. >Ve mu«t sacrifice to Christ «>iir Iovr of 
 pleasure, of ostentation, and of accumulation ; or we 
 must cease to pray, "Thy kingdom come." I see 
 men professing godliness, spending their property 
 profusely, in obedience to all the calls of a world that 
 knows not God ; or else hoarding it up, with miserly 
 avarice, to ruin the souls of the rising generation ; 
 but I confess, 1 do not see how they will answer for it 
 " to the Judge of quick and dead." 
 
 The cause of Christ requires of laymen a far 
 greater amount of personal exertion. Suppose ye, that 
 in apostolic times, the claims of religion would have 
 required of a disciple, nothing more than a small 
 
162 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 portion of his income ? No ; when the time was 
 come for the church to be enlarged, they that were 
 scattered abroad, went every where preaching the 
 word. Now we do not say, that you are required to 
 be preachers j but we do say, that religion requires 
 you to consider the promotion of piety in the hearts 
 of men as of more importance than every thing else. 
 The management of the religious charities of the day 
 belongs to you. It is now done principally by the 
 clergy. Its tendency is to render them secular. It 
 makes them men of executive energy, rather than of 
 deep thought, and commanding eloquence. The 
 cause would gain much by a division of labor. 
 Brethren, you are called upon to come forward and 
 relieve. us from this service. But yet more; every 
 man who knows the value of the soul, may speak of 
 its value to his neighbor. Any man of ordinary 
 abilities, who feels the love of Christ, may give profit- 
 able religious instruction to youth and children. The 
 promotion of piety, in thp h<=cxi ly of others, should 
 enter as much mto every man's daily arrangements, 
 as the care of the body that perisheth. When this 
 spirit shall have become universal, something will 
 be done. 
 
 Do you say, that you have not the requisite infor- 
 mation ? I ask, does it require much information, to 
 remind men that they are going to the judgment seat 
 of Christ? But, I say again, why have you not 
 information ? That intellect is by far the most valua- 
 ble, as well as the most improveable possession, with 
 which God has entrusted you ; why have you not 
 rendered it a better instrument, to serve Him? 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 163 
 
 Every Christian, in such a country as this, ought to 
 be a well-informed man. 
 
 And lastly, as I said before, the cause of Christ 
 requires of private Christians, as well as of clergymen, 
 deeper humility, more fervent piety, and a life of closer 
 communion with God. Your money and labors, as 
 well as our studies and preaching, will be despised, 
 unless they be the offering of holy hearts. All, all 
 are utterly valueless, unless the Spirit descend upon 
 us from on high. Our alms will be as water spilled 
 upon the ground, unless our souls are inflamed with 
 the love of Christ, and our hearts are temples for the 
 residence of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 You see, then, what is required of us. I ask again, 
 Christian brethren, are you ready for the effort ? 
 Shall the kingdom of Christ come, or shall it not 
 come ? You have seen the option which the provi- 
 dence of God has set before us. You have seen, so 
 far as ourselves are concerned, on what that option is 
 suspended. VV' hat will you do ? 1 put the question 
 to the understanding, and the conscience of every 
 man. Do you not believe, that by such an effort as I 
 have suggested, the liberties of this country may be 
 secured, and that, without it, there is every reason 
 to fear that they will be irrecoverably lost ? Do you 
 not believe, that, by such an effort, thousands of souls 
 will be saved from eternal perdition, and that, 
 without it, those souls will not be saved ? Do you 
 not believe, that, if such an effort were made in entire 
 dependence on the Spirit of God, this country would 
 be subjected to Jesus Christ, that his kingdom would 
 come, and his will be done throughout our land; 
 
164 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 
 
 and that, if it be not made, there is every reason to 
 fear, that His kingdom will not come for ages ? Do 
 you not believe, that there is not a moment to be lost, 
 but that every thing depends upon the men of the pres- 
 ent generation ? You are then in possession of all the 
 facts necessary to a decision. You stand in the 
 presence of Him, vi^ho died to redeem a world lying 
 in wickedness, and at whose bar you must meet, 
 again, the resolution of the present moment. In the 
 presence of that Saviour, redeemed sinners, what 
 will ye do ? 
 
 Time will barely suffer me to allude, in the briefest 
 manner, to that species of religious effort which has 
 given occasion to this address. You cannot, however, 
 have failed to observe, that if ever the Gospel is 
 universally to prevail, it is by some such means as 
 this, under God, that its triumph will be achieved. 
 By furnishing employment for talent of every descrip- 
 tion, the Sabbath School multiplies, almost indefinitely, 
 the amount of benevolent effort, and awakens through- 
 out every class of society the dormant spirit of Chris- 
 tian philanthropy. It renders every teacher a student 
 of the Bible ; and thus, in the most interesting manner, 
 brings divine truth into immediate contact with the 
 understanding and the conscience. All this it does 
 to the teacher. But, beside all this, the Sabbath 
 School is imbuing what will, twenty years hence, be 
 the active population of this country, with the princi- 
 ples of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is teaching 
 that class of the community, into whose hands so soon 
 the destinies of this country will fall, the precepts of 
 inviolable justice, and eternal truth. But more than 
 
RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 105 
 
 all, it is implanting in the bosoms of millions of im- 
 mortal souls, " that knowledge which is able to make 
 them wise unto salvation, througli the faith that is in 
 Christ Jesus." How transcendently glorious are the 
 privileges before us ! Who will not embark in this 
 holy enterprise ? 
 
 One remark more, and I have done. I behold be- 
 fore me, the congregated wisdom of a most illustrious 
 branch of the Christian church.* We are assembled 
 in the midst of a city, renowned throughout the world 
 for its deeds of mercy. The effects of our decisions 
 may be felt in the remotest hamlet in the land. To 
 us is offered the high honor of commencing this work, 
 in a manner that shall give the cheering promise 
 of its successful completion ; and of awakening this 
 new world to welcome the 6rst beams of the Sun of 
 Righteousness. 
 
 Men, Brethren, and Fathers ! suffer me, in the 
 name of the omniscient Saviour, to ask, what will you 
 do ? Let every minister of the cross here ask himself, 
 why, even during my own life time, should not the 
 millennium commence in my congregation } Here 
 then, on the altar of God, let us offer ourselves up 
 anew, and in the strength of Christ resolve, that we 
 will henceforward live with direct reference to the 
 immediate coming of his kingdom. Professional nien, 
 before you rest to-night, will ye dedicate that intellect, 
 w^ith Avhich God has endowed you, with all the means 
 of influence which it can command, to the service of 
 your Redeemer? Men of wealth, as ye retire from 
 
 * The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States, was then in session in Philadelphia. 
 
 15 
 
166 RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 
 
 this place, will ye collect the title deeds of that 
 property, which Providence hath lent you, and write 
 upon them all, " Holiness to the Lord ?" A thousand 
 times have we said that we would do all this. Let 
 the Spirit witness with our spirits, that we do it now, 
 in view of the judgment seat of Christ. Christian 
 men and women, in the Sabbath School, in the Bible 
 Class, and by the use of all the means which God has 
 placed in our power, let us labor to bring this world 
 into immediate subjection to the Redeemer — or let 
 us cease to pray "Thy kingdom come." May God 
 enable us to act worthily : and to his name shall be 
 the glory in Christ. Amen. 
 
MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 ROMANS VIII. 3, 4. 
 
 FOR WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO, IN THAT IT WAS 
 WEAK THROUGH THE FLESH, GOD SENDING HIS OWN SON 
 IN THE LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH, AND FOR SIN, CON- 
 DEMNED SIN IN THE FLESH ; THAT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS 
 OF THE LAW MIGHT BE FULFILLED IN US, WHO WALK 
 NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Without detaining you, my brethren, by a formal 
 introduction, I remark, at once, that my object in 
 this discourse is tvA-o-fold. I shall endeavor, first, to 
 illustrate the meaning of the text ; and, secondly, to 
 exhibit some of its applications to our belief and to 
 our practice. 
 
 I. I shall endeavor to illustrate the meaning of 
 the text. In order to do this with the greater perspi- 
 cuity, it will be convenient to consider, 1. What it is 
 that the law could not do ; 2. The reason why the 
 law could not do it ; 3. The remedy suggested j and 
 4. The result of the application of that remedy. 
 
168 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 1. What is it that "the law could not do?" The 
 meaning of this phrase is, I think, evident from the 
 latter part of the passage. We are informed that 
 " God sent his Son" to do " what the law could not 
 do ;" that is, " condemn or destroy the power of sin, 
 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in 
 us." By the term " righteousness of the law" here, 
 the same, I suppose, is meant as in the twenty-sixth 
 verse of the second chapter of this epistle, where, it is 
 said, " if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of 
 the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for 
 circumcision." Here, the words "righteousness of the 
 law" mean "the righteous precepts of the law," so that 
 the meaning is, " if the Gentiles keep the righteous 
 precepts of the law, shall they not be as favorably es- 
 teemed of God as if thev were Jews ?" So, in the 
 present instance, I suppose the words, " that the 
 righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us," to 
 mean " that we might keep or fulfil the righteous 
 precepts of the law." What the law could not do, 
 therefore, is " to enable us to keep its own righteous 
 precepts." This is what the text represents us as in 
 some sense enabled to do by the Gospel. That this 
 is the meaning indicated by the context, will also be 
 evident from the next consideration. 
 
 2. What is the reason why the law could not en- 
 able us to keep its own righteous precepts ? The 
 apostle answers, "It was weak through the flesh." 
 Let us proceed to examine this affirmation. 
 
 Every man, who has reflected at all upon the work- 
 ings of his own moral nature, must be conscious of 
 the existence of a faculty within him, which distin- 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 16 
 
 guishes, more or less perfectly, between right and 
 wrong in human action ; and which authoritatively 
 prompts to the doing of the one, and dissuades from 
 the doing of the other. It is what is frequently called 
 the moral sense or natural conscience, and the apostle 
 frequently refers to it as instigating the heathen in the 
 first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. Again, 
 every man must have had innumerable occasions to 
 observe that this conscience, thus dictating to him 
 his obligation to obey the law of God, is opposed by 
 the appetites and passions of the human heart. These 
 two contrary principles are referred to in the preced- 
 ing chapter, under different names. The natural 
 conscience is called "the inner man," "the law of 
 ray mind," "I," or "I myself." Our corrupt appe- 
 tites and passions are termed " sin," " the law of 
 sin," "the law in my members," and, sometimes, 
 as in this case, " the flesh." Now the apostle asserts 
 that in the present state of human nature, while con- 
 science, in coincidence with the law of God, com- 
 ' mands one thing, and our corrupt propensities, in op- 
 position to the law of God, command another thing, 
 we, that is, mankind, all men, obey our passions, and 
 disobey God. To use his own language, " The law 
 of sin that is in our members, wars against the law 
 of our minds, and brings us into captivity to the law 
 of sin that is in our members." This ascendency of 
 our corrupt propensities over our conscience becomes 
 habitual and established, so that we go on, from day 
 to day and from year to year, doing what we know 
 we ought not to do, and leaving undone what we 
 know we ought to do. We have no disposition to 
 15* 
 
170 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 obey the law of God, and hence, so far as obedience 
 to that law and respect for the authority of the Law- 
 giver are concerned, we are, in the language of the 
 Scripture, "dead in trespasses and sins;" that is, we 
 are, by nature, in no wise animated by the spirit of 
 obedience. 
 
 Now the apostle declares that such being the moral 
 character of man by nature, the law being thus 
 rendered weak, that is, ineifectual by the flesh, it is 
 unable to produce in us obedience; it has no power 
 to overcome the ungovernable appetites and passions 
 of the human heart. For, as you may observe, the 
 case stood exactly thus. The man admits the holi- 
 ness of the law, he acknowledges that he ought to 
 obey it, he knows the nature of the penalty, and is 
 aware that he is in danger of suffering it, but still he 
 will not obey. , He is willing to risk all, rather than 
 relinquish the pleasures of sin. And such does the 
 Bible declare to be the state of all men by nature. 
 Tiiey know their duty, but they do it not. 
 
 In such a case as this, what can the law do ? It 
 can make known the will of God, but the sinner has 
 already known and has resolved to resist it. It can 
 reveal the terrors of the penalty, but the sinner has 
 determined to enjoy the pleasures of sin, although it 
 cost his eternal ruin. What effect could civil law 
 have upon a man who had deliberately resolved to 
 disobey, all the penalty to the contrary notwithstand- 
 ing ? The law would here be weak through the flesh, 
 that is, through, or in consequence of, or in compari- 
 son with, the power of his corruptions. Besides, God 
 requires not merely the sinner's doings, but the sin- 
 
OF THE ATONEMEx\T. 171 
 
 ner's love. The terrors of the law can never awaken 
 love. They can never touch the sinner's heart. 
 They can never implant any new principle, and, with- 
 out a new principle, there can be no obedience. 
 Here then, again, is the law weak through the flesh, 
 and so far as the law is concerned, the state of man 
 is hopeless. 
 
 3. We proceed to consider the remedy spoken of 
 in the text. " God sent his own Son in the likeness 
 of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the 
 flesh." The term, "likeness of sinful flesh," means, 
 " the form of sinful human nature." The phrase 
 " for sin " is a contraction for that of " offering for 
 sin." We find the same expression used in Psalm 
 40 : 6, and quoted by St. Paul, Hebrews 10 : G. "In 
 burnt offerings and offerings for sin, Thou hast no 
 pleasure." The remedy, then, for our hopeless case 
 is, that God has sent his Son, in the likeness of sinful 
 human nature, as an offering for sin. 
 
 It is here proper to remark an important distinction 
 in the scriptural representations of this subject. The 
 Bible, if I have not mistaken its meaning, speaks of 
 the sacrifice of Christ as designed to have a two-fold 
 effect. First, it is revealed to us as a propitiation, or 
 as that which renders it consistent with justice that 
 God should be propitious to sinners ; as that which 
 removes the obstacles, which on the part of Divine 
 holiness existed to our pardon. In this view, Christ 
 is spoken of as "the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 the sins of the world," as " the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world," as " He who died for our 
 sins," and " He by whose stripes we are healed." 
 
172 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 But I think that the offering up of Christ is also pre- 
 sented in another light, namely, as having special ref- 
 erence, not to God, but to man ; and as distinctly 
 adapted to transform man into new obedience. Man 
 is represented as alienated in his affections from God, 
 and his moral powers are declared to be enfeebled 
 and utterly enslaved by his sinful propensities. There 
 was needed some manifestation on the part of God, 
 not of wrath, that could not do it, but of love, to 
 awaken a correspondent emotion on the part of man. 
 There was needed some moral exhibition which should 
 bear directly upon the conscience, which, appealing 
 to every sentiment of gratitude, should call into new 
 life man's moral powers, and which, disenthralling 
 them from the bondage in which they had been held, 
 should give them a victory over the sin that dwelleth 
 in him. Now, this is precisely what is done by the 
 offering up of Christ. God so loved the world, that he 
 gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
 in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 Thus it is that Christ crucified, though to the Jews a 
 stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, is yet 
 to them that believe, Christ the power of God, and 
 Christ the wisdom of God. Hence is the cross of 
 Christ so often spoken of as the grand means both of 
 converting and of sanctifying the world. Thus you 
 see how the death of Christ is the grand centre of the 
 whole system, the only means whereby the law of 
 God could be magnified, the only means by which 
 the enmity of our hearts can be slain. 
 
 It is to this second design of the death of Christ, 
 that I suppose the apostle to allude in the words of the 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 173 
 
 text. In the third and fourth chapters of this epistle, 
 he had abundantly shown that the death of Christ is 
 the only meritorious cause of our justification before 
 God. He here speaks of this event as the means of 
 our personal delivery from the poiver of sin. This, 
 then, is the moral remedy wliich the text presents for 
 our helpless and hopeless state by nature. 
 
 4. The text speaks of the effects of the application 
 of this remedy, " to condemn sin in the flesh, that the 
 righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." By 
 " condemning sin in the flesh," is meant destroying 
 the power of our sinful propensities over us. I have 
 already spoken of the power of the flesh, that is, of 
 the dominion, which by nature our lusts and appetites 
 exercise over the moral powers of the soul. Now, 
 when a manifestation is made to a man of the love of 
 God in the sacrifice of Christ, a new energy is diffused 
 through all his moral powers ; he bursts loose from the 
 fetters which bound him, saying, what fruit have we 
 in those things whereof we are now ashamed, for the 
 end of these things is death ? And thus, the power of 
 sin over us being broken, and it having no more the 
 dominion over us that it once had, but the dominion 
 being transferred to our new man, we are created in 
 righteousness and true holiness. Thus, walking, not 
 in obedience to the flesh, but to the Spirit, we are 
 enabled to fulfil the righteous precepls of the law, in 
 a manner such as, by all the terrors of the law, we 
 never could have been made to do. 
 
 When, however, I thus speak of a Christian's fulfil- 
 ment of the law, 1 do not speak of a sinless fulfilment 
 of it. 1 do, however, speak of an actual, visible pre- 
 
174 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 dominance of the disposition to obey the law of God, 
 over the disposition to obey our sinful passions and 
 appetites. The Bible always supposes the best per- 
 sonal righteousness of good men to be imperfect, both 
 from intellectual darkness and moral frailty. It views 
 pious men as liable to sin, as frequently sinning, and 
 as at all times needing the guardian influences of the 
 -Holy Spirit. But, notwithstanding all this, it does 
 steadfastly assert, that the disposition to obey God is 
 the predominating principle in a Christian man. 
 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves ser- 
 vants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey, 
 whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righ- 
 teousness ? And again saith the apostle in the words 
 succeeding those of the text. For they that are after 
 the flesh do mind, that is, affect, desire, are pleased tvith, 
 the things of the flesh ; and they that are after the 
 Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary here to add, that I speak of 
 this obedience, neither as a meritorious cause of justi- 
 fication, nor as any cause of justification whatever. 
 It is in the Scriptures abundantly declared, as I have 
 before remarked, that the death of Christ is the only 
 cause of our justification. I speak of it and of the 
 necessity of it to our salvation, as a fact which God has 
 revealed, without in this place connecting it with any 
 thing else. The disposition to obey the will of God, so 
 far as he knows it, is the controlling disposition of a 
 Christian. In this sense, therefore, is the righteousness 
 of the law fulfilled in him. And the apostle abundantly 
 shows, in the sixth chapter of this epistle, that, if this 
 be not the case with us, we are no Christians. 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 175 
 
 II. Some important views of divine truth seem 
 intimately connected with the preceding discussion. 
 To these, permit me, in the second place, to direct 
 your attention. 
 
 1. The sentiment of the text presents us with the 
 striking contrast between the condition of the race of 
 man under the law and his condition under the Gospel. 
 
 The law reveals the will of God, with its reward 
 and its penalty. Upon every one who obeyed it, it 
 would have conferred an unalterable title to the favor 
 of God. But having been broken, as we have shown, 
 and being, from the very nature of the Lawgiver, im- 
 mutable, it could now do no more than premonish us 
 of the wrath to come. And yet more, in consequence 
 of breaking it, an effect is produced upon our own 
 moral nature. A disposition to break it habitually, 
 and a love for what it forbids, have obtained a fatal 
 ascendency over us. The very fountain of our obe- 
 dience has thus become corrupt. We love sin, and 
 we do not love God. The law therefore can do noth- 
 ing but foretell our doom. Now, we know that what 
 things soever the law saith, it saith to those that are 
 under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and 
 all the world may become guilty before God. There- 
 fore, by the deeds of the law shall no -flesh be justified 
 in His sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 
 Considered in respect to the law, therefore, there re- 
 mained for our race nothing but the fearful looking 
 for of judgment, and of fiery indignation, which must 
 devour the adversary. Thus are we shut up unto 
 the faith. 
 
 Now, the Gospel presents the only way of escape 
 
176 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 for US in this otlierwise hopeless case. It exhibits 
 a provision made to meet both of these exigencies. 
 In the first place, we are assured that, by the sacrifice 
 of Christ, the law is magnified and made honorable. 
 God can now be just, and the justifier of him that be- 
 lieveth. But were this all, the work would still be 
 imperfect. Of what use would be pardon to one still 
 under the dominion of sin, and the slave of every 
 guilty passion and unholy lust. There is still a neces- 
 sity for some provision which shall awaken man to 
 righteousness, and deliver him from the thraldom of 
 his sinful propensities. And, behold, all this is done 
 in the Gospel. The glorious manifestation of his love 
 to man, which God has made in the atonement by 
 Jesus Christ, when beheld by faith, that is, when con- 
 templated exactly as it is, subdues the rebellious spirit 
 and softens the heart into contrition. Against such 
 love as this, when seen exactly as it is, the man can 
 hold out no longer. For the first time in his life, he 
 feels that he does not want to sin any more against 
 such infinite goodness, and compassion, and holiness. 
 The breath of spiritual life is breathed into him. He 
 puts forth the first successful resistance to the sin that 
 dwelleth in him. He is made free from sin, and is 
 become the servant of God. Henceforth, he has his 
 fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. If 
 any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things 
 are passed away, behold, all things are become new. 
 Let it not be said that by these remarks we exclude 
 the necessity of the operation of the Holy Spirit. 
 Exactly the contrary. The Scriptures represent the 
 Holy Spirit as the efficient agent of every thing good 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 177 
 
 within us, and they also refer us to the means by 
 which this agency is accomplished. Thus saith the 
 Saviour, Sanctify them by thy truth. It is said, He, 
 that is, the Comforter, shall take of the things of 
 mine, and show them unto you. Now it is these very 
 things of Christ, specially the truth of his atonement 
 for sin, and of pardon through his sacrifice, which the 
 Holy Spirit uses, as the means of working a renewing 
 and sanctifying effect upon the soul. 
 
 You see, then, that, under the law, our whole race 
 was doomed to unmitigated wrath ; for it is written, 
 cursed is he that continueth not in all the things writ- 
 ten in the book of the law to do them. On the con- 
 trary, the Gospel proclaims that the law is now 
 magnified and made honorable, and to our whole race 
 it declares that, though all have sinned and come short 
 of the glory of God, yet we may now all be justified 
 freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in 
 Christ Jesus. The law was utterly unable to create 
 within us any power either to obey its precepts, or to 
 gain a victory over the sin that had enslaved us. 
 Hence, under the law we were lying in utter moral 
 helplessness, dead in trespasses and sins. The Gos- 
 pel, on the contrary, spreads before the whole human 
 race the sovereign remedy for their disease. As 
 jNIoses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so is 
 the Son of Man lifted up, that whosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The 
 very fact which it reveals, when suitably contemplated, 
 infuses into tlie soul a moral vigor by which it rises 
 superior to the thraldom of its lusts, and stands forth 
 in all the loveliness and all the dignity of a new 
 16 
 
178 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 creature in Christ Jesns. If the Son shall make yoii; 
 free, ye shall be free indeed. 
 
 You see, then, how emphatically is it true that all 
 things are ready. Salvation is now as hee to the 
 human race as condemnation. If any man perish 
 now, he has no one to blame but himself. The 
 throne of God is now a mercy seat. God is recon- 
 ciling the world unto himself, not imputing their tres- 
 passes unto them. I Jesus have sent mine angel to 
 testify unto you these things in the churches. I am 
 the root and offspring of David, and the bright and 
 morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, come. 
 And let him that heareth say, come. And let him 
 that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him 
 come and take of the water of life freely. 
 
 I cannot conclude this topic of the discourse with- 
 out one other remark. From what has been said, I 
 think it must be already obvious that all this change in 
 the nature of our relations with God ; all this transition 
 from a state of hopeless condemnation, to a state in 
 which reconciliation with God is full, free and abun- 
 dant, all this possibility of pardon and sanctification 
 comes through the death, sufferings and mediation of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. I have mentioned the condi- 
 tion in which the Bible represents us to be, considered 
 simply in relation to the law. Now, the race of man 
 either is in this state of helpless sin and condemnation, 
 or it is not. If it be, then there is no hope for any of 
 our race, and nothing awaits us but the blackness of 
 darkness forever. But if the race of man be not in 
 this state of helpless condemnation, if there be any 
 way of salvation for us which does not depend upon 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 179 
 
 the perfection of our own righteousness, whence has 
 arisen ihe change? The attributes of God have not 
 fahered. The law of God has not been abrogated. 
 The character of sin has not changed. No other 
 event but the sacrifice of Christ has occurred, which 
 could have affected our relations with God. All 
 things else remain as they were from' the beginning. 
 Here then is the only hope of ruined, lost man. If 
 God have not sent his Son as a sin offering, the con- 
 dition of our race is utterly and absolutely hopeless. 
 But it is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 
 God hath set forth Christ Jesus to be a propitiation, 
 through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness 
 (clemency) in the remission of sins that are past, through 
 the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at this time, 
 his righteousness, that He might be just and thejustifier 
 of him that believeth in Jesus. 
 
 Secondly. The sentiment of the text and the 
 doctrines connected with it, illustrate, with sufficient 
 clearness, the distinction between preaching the law 
 and preaching the Gospel. 
 
 To preach the law is to proclaim the rule which 
 God has given for our conduct, with its reward and its 
 penalty. And it matters not in what manner this is 
 done; if the precept alone be the burden of our 
 preaching, we are ministers of the law. We may set 
 it forth enforced by all the terrors of the eternal 
 judgment, or by the milder motives derived from 
 present interest and cultivated taste ; we may sternly 
 expound the immutable moral precept, or we may 
 eloquently descant upon its philosophy, and exhibit its 
 
180 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 coincidence v/ith the universe around us ; from amid 
 the thunderings and lightnings of Sinai, we may utter 
 the commandments of Moses, or from the top of OHvet, 
 repeat the sermon of Jesus Christ ; if the character- 
 istic trait of our preaching be merely the practice of 
 the precept, we are strictly and truly ministers of the 
 law. All this might have been done, and done equally 
 well, had Jesus Christ never appeared to do away sin 
 by the sacrifice of himself. 
 
 On the contrary, the characteristic trait of the 
 preaching of the Gospel consists, not in merely in- 
 forming us of our danger, but in making this informa- 
 tion subsidiary to an exhibition of the great plan of 
 salvation by Christ. And yet more, it not only in- 
 forms us what we must do, it also habitually presents 
 before us that stupendous exhibition of the love of 
 God, which is specially designed to create within 
 us a desire to obey. To preach the Gospel is 
 not merely to offer to every creature the salva- 
 tion which Christ has purchased, but also to present 
 the love of God in sending his Son, and the love of 
 Christ in dying for us, and the astonishing benefits 
 which he offers to confer upon us, as well as the awful 
 condemnation from which he offers to rescue us, as 
 the motives which should urge us to accept of this 
 salvation. Unless we do this, we may be skilful 
 expounders of the law, we may be good ethical phi- 
 losophers, but, are we preachers of the Gospel ? 
 
 Nor let it be said that, by thus preaching the Gos- 
 pel, we set aside the law and open the door to licen- 
 tiousness. It is not so, if we preach the Gospel as 
 Paul preached it. No one ever more strenuously 
 
OF THE ATOXEMEiVT. 181 
 
 asserted ilie doctrine of justification through the merits 
 of anotiier ; and surely no one more solemnly or more 
 intrepidly proclaimed the absolute necessity of personal 
 holiness to every one who hoped to be justi6ed. 
 Besides, the law may evidently be preached without 
 preaching the Gospel ; but the reverse of this is not 
 true. The law makes a part of the Gospel, but the 
 Gospel makes no part of the law. The Gospel tells 
 us how we may be saved from the curse of the law ; 
 it must, therefore, tell us what that curse is, and what 
 will be the consequences if we are not saved from it. 
 You may tell a man of his danger, without telling him 
 how to avoid it; but you can scarcely tell him how to 
 avoid a danger, without telling him what the danger is. 
 
 And thirdly. Hence you see why the ministers of 
 Christ should be preachers of the Gospel, in distinction 
 from being preachers of the law. 1st. Christ has not 
 commissioned us as preachers of the law, but as 
 preachers of the Gospel. 2d. Only by preaching the 
 Gospel can we hope to produce the great end which 
 our ministry has in view. 
 
 1. Christ has not commissioned us as preachers of 
 the law, but as preachers of the Gospel. The law 
 has but two announcements. He that doeth these things 
 shall live by them; and. Cursed is every man that contin- 
 ueth not in all things written in the book of the law to 
 do them. The righteousness that is of faith, on the 
 contrary, speaketh on this wise; the word is nigh thee, 
 even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that if thou shalt 
 confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt he- 
 lieve in thine heart that God hath raised him fiom the 
 dead, ihou shalt be saved. For the Scripture sailh, 
 16* 
 
182 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 whosoevej- beUeveth on him shall not be ashamed. And 
 thus, in the words of oni- ascending Redeemer, we are 
 commissioned. Go ye into all the world, and preach 
 the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and 
 is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall 
 be damned. Now then, said the apostle, we are am- 
 bassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you 
 by us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled ■ 
 unto God. Such, then, being our glorious privilege, 
 such our message of surpassing mercy, shall we ex- 
 change the ministration of the Spirit for the ministration 
 of death; the ministration of righteousness, (clemency) 
 for the ministration of condemnation. 
 
 2. As I have said, nothing but the preaching of 
 the Gospel can accomplish the object which the min- 
 ister of Christ has in view. 
 
 The object of the teacher of religion is, by the pro- 
 duction of a moral change and by the cultivation of 
 holiness in the soul, to prepare men for heaven. 
 These effects will be produced, as we awaken or 
 increase in men, hatred to sin, and love to God. 
 
 Hatred to sin. The law can do no more than pro- 
 claim the guilt and set before us the penalty of trans- 
 gression. It may terrify us with the consequences of 
 sin, but it can work no change in the affections. It 
 may occasionally restrain us from the commission of 
 sin, but it has no power to render sin itself odious; 
 and, until this be done, the moral nature of the man is 
 unchanged. The Gospel, on the contrary, whilst it 
 asserts that the law is holy and the commandment 
 holy, and just, and good, presents to us the spectacle 
 of the Son of God offering himself up as a propitiation 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 183 
 
 for our sins. It tells us that the Word who was ia 
 the beginning with God ; who was God, without whom 
 was not any thing made that was made, assumed our 
 nature, bore our infirmities, received the stroke that 
 must have smitten us to perdition, and thus by his own 
 blood obtained eternal redemption for us. Before, 
 we saw the evil of sin only in the terrors of the penalty 
 with which it threatened us ; now, we see it in the 
 fact, that nothing less than such an atonen)ent, and by 
 such an High Priest, could have rendered our ransom 
 possible. If any thing can, with emphasis, exhibit to 
 us the odiousness of sin, it is the spectacle of such a 
 Saviour suftering, that sinners, such as we, might hope 
 for pardon. 
 
 Equally powerful is the Gospel, in awakening and 
 exciting our love to God. The law reveals Jehovah 
 in all the majesty, but also in all the terrors of justice. 
 He is holy, and just, and good ; but all that holiness, 
 and justice, and goodness are set in array against me, 
 for I am a rebel against him. The Gospel, on the 
 contrary, represents all tliese attributes magnified, 
 while, as a returning penitent, I may be pardoned. 
 God is reconciling the world unto himself by Christ 
 Jesus, not imputing their trespasses unto them. It is 
 God, the King eternal, immortal and invisible, having 
 given up his well beloved Son unto the death for us; 
 and having removed every obstacle on his part to our 
 pardon, and having sent his Spirit to renew and sanctify 
 us, after all this, humbling himself to conform to our 
 weakness, to use our language, and by every motive 
 which the most moving tenderness could suggest, 
 beseeching us to accept of the pardon and the eternal 
 
184 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 life which He had so dearly purchased for us ; and 
 
 when rejected, insulted and despised, again and again 
 
 beseeching us, in the accents of the most affectionate 
 
 endearment, and with all the yearning of an aggrieved 
 
 parent, saying unto us, Return, ye backsliding children, 
 
 for I am married unto you. How shall I give thee 
 
 up, Ephraim, how shall I deliver thee, Israel, how 
 
 shall I make thee as Admah, how shall I set thee as 
 
 Zeboim ? Mine heart is turned within me, my repent- 
 
 ings are kindled together. Ah, my brethren, it is 
 
 such exhibitions as these that soften the heart into 
 
 contrition, and draw out the soul in gratitude to God. 
 
 When all this is contemplated in simple verity, not 
 
 even the rebellious spirit of man can withstand it. He 
 
 is melted into repentance. He cannot any more sin 
 
 against such holy, aggrieved, abused, infinite long 
 
 suffering. The love of God is shed abroad in his 
 
 heart, through the Holy Ghost that is given him. 
 
 Truly, my brethren, the moral power of the Bible 
 
 resides in the simple, earnest, affectionate exhibition 
 
 of the love of God in the cross of Jesus Christ. To 
 
 this the apostle Paul alludes, in his memorable prayer 
 
 for his beloved brethren at Ephesus. For this cause, 
 
 I bow my knees unto the God and Father of our Lord 
 
 Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and 
 
 earth is named, that He would give you, according to 
 
 the riches of his glory, to be strengthened vi^ith might 
 
 by his Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell 
 
 in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and 
 
 grounded in love, may be able to comprehend, with 
 
 all saints, what is the length, and the breadth, and the 
 
 depth, and the height, and to know the love of Christ 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 185 
 
 that passelh knowledge, that ye might be filled with 
 all the fullness of God. 
 
 Not only is it thus evident from the nature of 
 the human mind, that the exhibition of the love of 
 God in the sacrifice of Christ, is the means best 
 adapted to produce moral transformation, it is equally 
 evident from the New Testament, that this is the means 
 specially designed by God for this very purpose. To 
 establish this point, a very few passages will suffice. 
 
 2 Cor. 5 :21. For he hath made him to be sin (a 
 sin offering) for us, who himself knew no sin, that we 
 might be made the righteousness of God (righteous 
 before God) through him. 
 
 1 Peter, 2 :24. Who himself bare our sins in his 
 own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, 
 should live unto righteousness ; by whose stripes ye 
 are healed. For ye were as sheep going astray, but 
 are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of 
 your souls. Col. 1 : 22, 23. And you who were some- 
 times alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked 
 works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of 
 his flesh through death (by dying in our nature), to 
 present you holy and unblauieable and unreproveable in 
 his sight. Thus also in the words of the text, which 
 I will give here in their natural order, that the sen- 
 timent which they contain may be more clearly seen. 
 God sent his Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, as a 
 sin offering, to do what the law could not do (inasmuch 
 as it was weak through the flesh,) that is, destroy the 
 power of sin in the flesh, so that we, who walk not 
 after the flesh but after the Spirit, might fulfil the 
 righteous precepts of the law. 
 
186 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 On these passages, 1 need not enlarge. They 
 however present, in a few words, what the Scriptures 
 elsewhere abundantly confirm, that the sacrifice of 
 Christ is the great cause, not only of our justification, 
 but also of our sanctification. This, then, is the exhi- 
 bition which God would have us present before men, 
 in order to accomplish his most merciful purpose. 
 
 Again, the preaching of the Gospel, or of pardon 
 by the death of Christ, is the means which, above 
 every other, God has always blest for accomplishing 
 the great end of the Christian ministry. 
 
 It was so in the times of the apostles. You all 
 know the success which attended their ministry. 
 Thousands were converted by the preaching of a 
 single sermon. Cities and Provinces wexe made 
 obedient to the faith, until, within a {e\Y years after 
 the death of Christ, multitudes of converts filled every 
 part of the Roman empire. And what was the distin- 
 guishing feature of their preaching? Repent, said 
 Peter, on the day of Pentecost, and be baptized, every 
 one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re- 
 mission of sins, for the promise is unto you and your 
 children, and to all that are afar off. But let the 
 apostle to the Gentiles answer for the rest. We preach 
 Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and 
 to the Greeks foolishness, but to you who are called, 
 both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and 
 Christ the wisdom of God. Again, saith he, I, breth- 
 ren, when I came to you, came not with excellency 
 of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testi- 
 mony of God ; for I determined not to know any thing 
 among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
 
OF THE ATOXEMEXT. 187 
 
 Paul was an erudite man. He was an eloquent man. 
 He was a most acute and profound logician. Splendid 
 opportunity for the exercise of all these talents might 
 have been found, in enforcing the ethics of the Gospel, 
 and from them he might have brought many a con- 
 vincing demonstration to bear upon the conscien- 
 ces of the learned and accomplished citizens of 
 Corinth. And more than this. The author of the 
 epistle to the Romans was formed by nature to cope 
 with the ablest of the Heathen Philosophers. In 
 possession of the superior advantages for moral reason- 
 hig which Christianity had conferred upon him, there 
 was not one of them, whom in the fair field of argu- 
 ment, he could not have met and vanquished. All 
 this he could have done. But none of this did he do. 
 The subject of his preaching was not even Jesus 
 Christ in his meekness, or his wisdom, or his sublimity, 
 or his eloquence, but it was Jesus Christ and him 
 crucified. And this was his theme every where. He 
 was full of it on every occasion. We know what was 
 the effect of his preaching thus, and we have reason 
 to believe that his success would have been very differ- 
 ent, had that preaching been different. 
 
 Nor has the case altered from that day to this. 
 The heart of man is still the same, and what was pow- 
 erful to affect it then, will be powerful to affect it now. 
 Whether among civilized or among savage men, the 
 result has been every where the same. Whenever 
 and wherever the love of God in Christ Jesus has 
 been preached in simplicity and sincerity, then and 
 there have been produced the most salutary effects 
 upon the moral character of man. I know not how I 
 
188 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 can in any other way illustrate this remark so appro- 
 priately, as by referring to the experience of the 
 Moravian Missionaries, as it has been, of late, elo- 
 quently set before you by a distinguished clergyman* 
 of this city. 
 
 " For five years after the Moravian Mission to 
 Greenland was established, the missionaries confined 
 themselves to teaching the heathen the ' being and 
 character of God, the creation of the world, the fall 
 of man, and the requirements of the divine law.' And 
 what was the result of this teaching, after it had been 
 continued with an assiduity, fidelity and patience which 
 have never been surpassed? Why nothing, absolutely 
 nothing. The Brethren were reviled, insulted, pelted 
 with stones, their goods were seized, shattered to 
 pieces, and they were even threatened with death. 
 
 " About the close of this period, some Southlanders 
 happened to visit the Brethren, as one of them was 
 writing out a fair copy of a translation of the Gospel. 
 They were curious to know what was in the book, 
 and on hearing read the history of Christ's agony in 
 the garden, one of the savages, named Kaiarnak, step- 
 ped up to the table, and, in an earnest, affecting man- 
 ner, said. How was that? Tell me it once more, for 
 I also would fain be saved. These words, the like 
 of which the missionary had never heard from the lips 
 of a Greenlander, penetrated his whole soul, so that 
 the tears rolled down his cheeks, while he gave an 
 account of the life and death of Christ, and of the 
 plan of salvation through him, describing with more 
 
 * Rev. Dr. Wisner, in his Sermon before the Society for propa- 
 gating the Gospel, pp. 19, 22. 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 189 
 
 than ordinary force and energy, bis sufferings in the 
 garden and on the cross. The savages listened with 
 fixed attention ; some of them requested that they 
 might be taught to pray, and when the missionaries 
 did pray with them, they repeated their expressions 
 so that they miglit not forget them. — And on leaving, 
 they said they would come again and hear of those 
 things. And from that period, Kaiarnak made fre- 
 quent visits to the Brethren, and at length took up his 
 residence with them; and after about a year, giving a 
 satisfactory evidence of a work of grace on his heart, 
 he was received into tlie church. 
 
 " As yet, however, the missionaries had made no 
 definite change in their method of instructing the peo- 
 ple. Soon Kaiarnak left them, to return to his coun- 
 trymen in the south. After about a year's absence, 
 he returned, to their unspeakable joy, bringing with 
 him a brother and his family, and saying that all that 
 he had heard from the missionaries he had made 
 known to his countrymen." He had thus, by merely 
 relating what he had known, become a more successful 
 preacher than his teachers. They saw the import of 
 his admonition. " They henceforth directed the at- 
 tention of their people, in the first instance, to Christ 
 Jesus, his incarnation, his life, and especially his suf- 
 ferings and death." And this method of preaching 
 was attended with -immediate success. — Sa}' they, 
 "It illuminated their darkened understandings, melted 
 their stubborn hearts, and kindled in their cold, icy 
 breasts the flame of spiritual life." — The news of this 
 change in their mode of preaching, and of the different 
 effect which resulted from it, were soon made known 
 17 
 
190 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 among the missionary stations, and corresponding con- 
 sequences ensued. — And now the recorded testimony 
 of these indefatigable and most successful laborers in 
 converting the heathen is, that experience has taught 
 them, that in attempting to propagate Christianity 
 among the heathen, litde is effected by beginning with 
 the principles of natural religion, as the existence of 
 God, the perfection of his nature, or the duties of 
 morality, in order to prepare them for receiving the 
 Gospel, and that after many years' trial in different 
 countries, and under every variety of circumstances, 
 they have found that the simple testimony of the suf- 
 ferings and death of Christ, delivered by a missionary 
 possessed of an experienced sense of his love, is the 
 most certain and the most effectual method of con- 
 verting the heathen."* 
 
 " And now, listen to the individual testimony of one 
 of their most remarkable converts. He was a North 
 American Indian. ' When the missionary came to 
 his tribe, he was,' says the history, ' the greatest 
 drunkard in the whole town; he was quite outrageous 
 in sin, and had even rendered himself a cripple by his 
 debaucheries. But soon he was remarkably and per- 
 manendy changed. The drunkard had learned to be 
 sober ; and the man who was as savage as a bear had 
 become as mild and peaceful as a lamb. He after- 
 wards gave the Brethren the following simple and in- 
 
 * Brown's History of Missions, pp. 107, 109. "It is proper, 
 however, to remark, that tlioiigh the brethren make the death oi' 
 Christ the grand subject of their preaching to the Heathen, they 
 by no means confine their instruction to this particular point. 
 There is no part of divine truth, whether of a doctrinal or practical 
 nature, but what they endeavor by degrees to instil into the minds 
 of their converts." 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 191 
 
 structive account of his conversion. * I,' said he, ' have 
 been a heathen, and have grown old among the heath- 
 en, therefore, I know how the heathen think. — Once 
 a preacher came and began to tell us that there was a 
 God. We answered him, saying, Dost thou think us 
 so ignorant as not to know that. Go back to the place 
 from whence thou earnest. Then another preacher 
 came to us and began to say. You must not steal, nor 
 he, nor get drunk. To him we answered, thou fool, 
 dost thou think that we do not know that. Learn, 
 first, thyself, and then teach thine own people to leave 
 off these practices ; for who steal, or lie, or are more 
 drunken than the white men? Thus we dismissed 
 him. After some time, brother Ranch, (the Moravian 
 Missionary) came into my hut and sat down by me. 
 He then spoke to me as follows. I am come to you 
 in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth. He 
 sends me to let you know that he will make you happy, 
 and deliver you from that misery in which you at 
 present lie. For this purpose, he became a man, 
 gave his life a ransom, and shed his blood for you. 
 When he had finished his discourse, he laid down on 
 a board, fatigued with his journey, and fell into a 
 sound sleep. I then thought, what kind of a man is 
 this ? There he sleeps, I might kill him and throw 
 him into the wood and who would regard it ? But 
 this gives him no care or concern. At the same time, 
 I could not forget his words. They constantly recur- 
 red to my mind. Even when I slept, I dreamed of 
 the blood which Christ shed for us. I found this to be 
 something very different from what I had ever heard 
 before, and I interpreted brother Ranch's words to 
 
192 THE MORAL EFFICACY 
 
 the Other Indians. Thus, through the grace of God, 
 an avvakenuig began amongst us.' Brethren, preach 
 Christ our Saviour, his sufferings and death, if you 
 would have your words gain entrance among the 
 heathen." 
 
 So numerous and so cogent, my brethren, are the 
 reasons why a religious teacher under the New Testa- 
 ment should be a preacher of the Gospel, and not 
 a preacher of the law. It only remains that I close 
 this already protracted discussion by two brief re- 
 flections. 
 
 1. The text declares that Jesus came to do for 
 us what the law could not do ; "destroy the power of 
 sin within us, that w^e might fulfil the righteous pre- 
 cepts of the law." All of us who have professed the 
 Christian religion suppose ourselves in a state of sal- 
 vation, that is, that we have a valid title to the bles- 
 sings purchased by the death of Christ. Now, the 
 text declares that if this title be valid, the reigning 
 power of sin is destroyed, and that we do, in sincerity, 
 keep the righteous precepts of the law. Here then 
 is a sure test of our Christianity, How is it with 
 us ? Let us bring our lives to this test. When our 
 passions command one thing and God commands 
 another, which do we obey ? When the love of the 
 world commands one thing, and the love of Christ 
 commands another, which do we obey ? When pride 
 commands one thing, and God commands another, 
 which do we obey ? When the love of ease commands 
 one thing, and the love of souls commands another, 
 which do we obey ? When the love of human applause 
 commands one thing, and Christ commands another, 
 
OF THE ATONEMENT. 193 
 
 which do we obey ? Brethren, it is from the answers 
 to such questions as these that we may learn whether 
 we are or are not interested in the blessings purchased 
 by the offering up of Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. Brethren in the ministry, are we not in danger 
 of losing sight of the practical importance of these 
 truths. While we steadfastly believe in Jesus Christ 
 and in Him crucified, may we not be preachers of the 
 law. There is a beauty and a symmetry in the ethics 
 of the Gospel, there is an adaptedness to the situation 
 and wants of man in all the moral laws of God, which 
 afford a most delightful and profitable field for intel- 
 lectual research, and which may frequently enable us 
 to surround our discourses with all the splendor of a 
 moral demonstration. We may thus awaken inquiry 
 and silence objection ; we may establish much that is 
 true, and put to shame much that is false ; and, so far 
 as it goes, all this is well. But let us remember that 
 if this be all; if the distinguishing feature of our 
 preaching be the ethics of the Gospel, the system of 
 duties revealed in the Bible, then the distinguishing 
 feature of it is not Jesus Christ and Him crucified ; 
 and we are not in this sense preachers of the Gospel. 
 And I make this remark the more willingly, because 
 this age is considered by many persons in a peculiar 
 sense intellectual, and the simple epithet intellectual^ 
 is, as a term of commendation, made to stand, in re- 
 ligious matters, for very much more than it is worth. 
 Hence we are liable, unconsciously, to find ourselves 
 presenting habitually those truths which address the 
 understanding in the place of those which address the 
 conscience, and of presenting those which address the 
 17* 
 
194 THE ATONEMENT EFFICACIOUS. 
 
 conscience rather as matters of controversy than as 
 motives to hohness. May God grant that none of us 
 may ever err in this manner. But, in simplicity and 
 sincerity, without the fear of man but in the fear of 
 God, without wavering and without controversy, may 
 we all determine to know nothing among men, but 
 Jesus Christ and Him crucified, Amen. 
 
ELEVATED ATTAINMENTS IN PIETY 
 
 ESSENTIAL TO A 
 
 SUCCESSFUL STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 ACTS VI. 4. 
 
 BUT WE WILL GIVE OURSELVES CONTINUALLY TO PRATER, 
 AND TO THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD. 
 
 The duties specially appropriate to the clerical 
 office, are either those of seclusion, or those of pub- 
 licity. Those of the first class are performed in the 
 study ; they are the processes of intellection and of 
 conscience, which must be carried on alone in the 
 secret chambers of a man's own bosom, or in abstracted 
 communion with inspired and uninspired understand- 
 ing, or in working out the materials thus acquired, into 
 the means for practical effect. Those of the second 
 class, are the results of what has thus gone before, 
 and are witnessed when the intellect and the conscience 
 of the clergyman come into contact with the intellect 
 and the conscience of the men who are about him. 
 It is to the first of this class of duties that the apostle 
 Paul refers, when he instructs Timothy to meditate 
 
196 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 upon these things, to give himself wholly to them ; 
 and to the second, when, in another place, he adds, 
 Preach the word ; be instant in season, and out of sea- 
 son ; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering 
 and doctrine. In the words of the text, they are both 
 connected together. We will give ourselves continually 
 to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 
 
 And yet more ; not only are these the duties of a 
 minister of Jesus Christ ; the context would lead us 
 to infer that, in as far as he is a minister of Jesus 
 Christ, they are his whole duties. The apostles w^ould 
 not allow themselves to be diverted from this their 
 appropriate business, even by the pressing call to ad- 
 minister the charities of the church. They considered 
 that, if they were set apart to the care of the spiritual 
 interests of man, this was of itself an all-engrossing 
 trust. How far this example is obligatory upon us in 
 the present age of the church, we will not, on this oc- 
 casion, pretend to decide. We will only remark, that 
 the moral interests of any congregation seem abundantly 
 sufficient to occupy to the full the talents of any single 
 individual ; and it may well become a matter of serious 
 inquiry, whether those interests, surely more important 
 than any other, must not suffer, if the time of a cler- 
 gyman be distracted by the multifarious avocations 
 which concern the general interests of religion. And 
 if it be asked how these general interests are to be 
 promoted, unless they be sustained by the active 
 service of the minister of the Gospel, we answer, the 
 passage from which the text is taken, directs us to the 
 course to be pursued. Wherefore, brethren, look ye 
 out among you seven Ihen, of honest report, full of 
 
MINISTERIAL PIETY. 197 
 
 the Holy Ghost, and of wisdom, whom we may appoint 
 over this business. The remedy must come from the 
 laity. Each one must give not only his money, but 
 his personal service, to the cause of Christ, that the 
 minister may be consecrated to the duties of his more 
 immediate function. • 
 
 But, to recur again to the remark with which we 
 commenced ; the duties of a clergyman are those of 
 seclusion, and those of publicity. It is to some con- 
 siderations connected with the first of these, namely, 
 his duties of preparation for his public ministration, to 
 which we would, on this occasion, invite your attention. 
 And the object which we have specially in view, will 
 be, to illustrate the connexion which subsists between 
 high attainments in personal piety, and the successful 
 preparation for ministerial duty. And, after having 
 thus restricted ourselves, we shall be obliged to select 
 a few from the various topics which press upon our 
 attention, and to discuss even these with a brevity ill 
 suited to their importance. 
 
 It is hardly necessary that I commence with re- 
 minding you of the great diversity of moral acquisition 
 which exists among those whom we hope to be relig- 
 ious men. We frequently observe a piety which 
 touches, with inconstant hand, the commoner affections 
 of the soul ; and its notes are, as might be expected, 
 fitful and discordant. It rules, but by seasons, the 
 movements of the understanding, and controls but im- 
 perfectly, the decisions of the conscience. Hence, 
 we see it connected with very inadequate ideas of the 
 requirements of the law of God; we behold it in the 
 indulgence of many a bias which a more elevated 
 
198 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 piety would have corrected, and in the omission of 
 many a duty, which a more thorough piety would have 
 fulfilled. So mixed and associated is it with all that 
 is variable in the natural temperament, as frequently 
 to render it doubtful whether it be at all of the opera- 
 tion of God. And then, again, the charity, which 
 covereth a multitude of sins, teaches us to hope that, 
 amid so much that is wrong, there may be something 
 that is right. After all, we are, in many cases, obliged 
 to suspend any opinion concerning it, and leave the 
 case to Him that judgeth righteously. I surely need 
 not remark, that this is not the standard of moral at- 
 tainment appropriate for him who is to be an example 
 to believers in all things. 
 
 Again, there is another type of piety which has its 
 place amid the graver powers of the soul. It regulates 
 more steadily the will, subdues more powerfully the 
 desires, and produces, within the limit of its range, a 
 far more consistent moral exhibition than that of which 
 we have just spoken. Convince the man whom it 
 distinguishes, what is right, and though you may regret 
 that it is so hard to convince him, yet, having done 
 this, you may be sure that he will act accordingly. 
 Now all this is well ; but what is not so well is, that 
 his progress in the path of duty has more of the mo- 
 notony of a moving machine, than the buoyant elasticity 
 of delighted life. He does what is right, and does it, 
 we trust, from the heart ; but he does not do it with 
 the heart. And yet, this man, so quiescent in religion, 
 will be kindled into animation by political discussion. 
 That imagination, so languid when looking forward 
 into eternity, will be powerfully enough excited by 
 
MINISTERIAL PIETY. 199 
 
 the visions of poetry. That it is religion, we have 
 reason to hope, for it makes sacrifices for God, and its 
 moral energy rises with the pressure that is laid upon 
 it ; but that it is very imperfect religion, there is as 
 little reason to doubt. Its affections are dull, torpid, 
 and inactive. It has little to do with deep felt awe, 
 with holy reverence, with ardent love, or with un- 
 quenchable desire after communion with God. We 
 fear that the Saviour would direct to it the rebuke 
 which he formerly uttered against the church at Eph- 
 esus : " I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy pa- 
 tience, and how thou canst not bear them which are 
 evil, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my 
 name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted ; never- 
 theless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou 
 hast left thy first love." You will anticipate me, in 
 saying, that neither is this the piety which should sat- 
 isfy the desires of a minister of Christ. 
 
 But there is yet another degree of moral attainment, 
 far transcending all that we see in the ordinary exhibi- 
 tions of religious character. It is one which exempli- 
 fies that saying of the Apostle : If any man be in 
 Christ, there is a new creation ; old things are passed 
 away, behold, all things are become new. Not only 
 does it withhold from the doing of wrong and incite to 
 the doing of right, but it awakes to vigorous action, 
 and imbues with a Heaven-born energy, every power 
 of the soul. In honest and unexaggerated simplicity, 
 it raises the affections from things on the earth, and 
 fixes them upon things in heaven, and breathes forth 
 the desires which it has created in such language as 
 this : As the hart panteth for the water-brook, so 
 
200 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirst- 
 etli for God, yea, the livuig God ; when shall I arise 
 and appear before God ? It is a piety which is seen 
 in unfeigned humility, in heart searching repentance, 
 in active faith, in animated hope, in habitual self-denials, 
 in victories over the world, in fervent charity, in love 
 to the souls, and, also, to the bodies of men; — it is 
 nourished by fervent prayer, by near communion with 
 God, by habitual contemplations of the perfections of 
 the uncreated Holy One, and by a fixed respect to 
 Heaven, and hell, and judgment, and eternity, and all 
 that the Bible has revealed concerning the things which 
 are not seen. Such was evidently the piety of Apos- 
 tles, and martyrs, and confessors, in the primitive ages 
 of the church. Such, in later days, has been the 
 piety of Baxter and of Leighton, of Pascal and of 
 Fenelon, of Brainerd and of Pearce, of Martyn and 
 of Payson. It is this degree of piety which should be, 
 if I may so speak, the professional aim of the min- 
 ister of the Gospel ; and it is this of which we would 
 now Illustrate the effects in the various departments of 
 his retired and unseen labor. 
 
 In illustrating the importance of this temper of heart 
 to ministerial study, we shall endeavor to show its 
 effect upon the original powers of the mind ; upon the 
 application of those powers to the investigation of 
 divine truth ; and, lastly, upon the ability to enforce 
 that truth upon the consciences of men. 
 
 I. Let us then, first, consider the effect of 
 
 ARDENT PIETY UPON THE ORIGINAL FACULTIES OF 
 THE MIND. 
 
 It concentrates ihe'ir exertions. 
 
MIXISTERIAL PIETY. 201 
 
 The ray which falls upon this world from the Sun 
 of Righteousness, is constant and invariable. Where 
 once its light and shade have fallen, there they remain 
 unchangeable for ever. He who looks upon the 
 world through this medium, cannot be deluded by the 
 fantastic and unsubstantial looming of sublunary glory. 
 He sees his object clearly, and he marks with intuitive 
 accuracy the line which is drawn around- every thing 
 irrelative to it. With his end thus clearly in view, he 
 is not led astray by those bewildering pursuits in which 
 the exertions of other men are so lamentably frittered 
 away. Every thing presents itself to him in its true 
 color and its real dimensions, and day after day it 
 appears invariably the same. Whilst the decisions of 
 a less religious man are balancing between this world 
 and the next, between present ease and future glory, 
 he has already decided ; for he has asked, how will it 
 appear at the judgment seat of Christ ? Hence, every 
 power being moved by one principle, and directed to 
 one object, he stands a pre-eminent exemplification of 
 simplicity of purpose. 
 
 In the next place, ardent piety excites the original 
 powers of the mind to vigorous and continued action. 
 
 To a thoughtful mind there is scarcely a more 
 melancholy picture of man, than that which is presented 
 by the comparison of what he'is, with what he might 
 have been. It is humiliating to think, even for a mo- 
 ment, upon the endowments of a human soul, and then 
 to think of what, among the myriads of our race, is 
 the amount of individual accomplishment. When we 
 have said that a unit has been added and a unit has 
 been taken away from the sum of human existence, it 
 18 
 
202 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 would seem as though we had told all, that, to hcHriao 
 eye, was important hi the life of millions of our race. 
 And if we ascend to the walks of educated, or even of 
 professional life, how deplorable is the spectacle I 
 We see, in the majority of instances, scarcely the en- 
 deavor after distinguished excellence, or, at best, the 
 casual, half formed resolution, successful after long 
 periods of iiKictivity, if successful at all, rather by ac- 
 cident than by power ; but more frequently sinking to 
 the grave in pitiable and yet patient oblivion. And 
 those who succeed well devote but a small portion of 
 their time to intellectual labor. The productions of 
 genius are perhaps more frequently than otherwise the 
 results of mighty, but transient effort, following, and 
 again to be succeeded by, long intervals of inaction. 
 Whilst we rejoice at what is done, we sigh to reflect 
 how much that was possible, is left undone. O, had 
 that intellect wrought thus powerfully, without ceasing, 
 how stupendous would have been the result of its ulti- 
 mate effort, how gloriously would it have dispelled the 
 darkness of ignorance, and how widely would it have 
 poured the light of truth upon the intellect of man ! 
 
 Now, against this malady of our race, the pressure 
 of this vis inei-tice. of our fallen nature, ardent piety is 
 surely the best preservative. It teaches a man the full 
 weight of those obligations which bind him to the God 
 who made him, and to the Saviour who redeemed 
 him. It teaches him that every intellectual power is 
 a most precious talent, and every moment of time an 
 invaluable treasure, and that God hath required him 
 to improve them to the uttermost. He cannot be 
 idle, nay, he cannot be frivolous, without being sinful, 
 
 1 
 
M I X I S T E R I A I. P I E T Y. 203 
 
 and he cannot be- sinful without grieving the God 
 whom he loves. Every principle which animates his 
 bosom, teaches him to put forth every energy in the 
 cause of Christ, that so he may finish his course with 
 joy, and the ministry which he has received of the 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 And beside this, the motives which influence him 
 are such as call forth his powers to the uttermost. 
 His own soul is at stake. The slothful servant was 
 cast out, not because he had wasted his Lord's money, 
 but because he had not improved it. The souls of 
 other men are at stake. Eternal interests, the desti- 
 nies of his people, tremendous thought ! are connected, 
 most intimately connected, with his exertions. He 
 would secure for himself and for them, salvation from 
 a doom, in comparison with which all that can be con- 
 ceived of sublunary infelicity dwindles to a point ; and 
 the bliss which he would attain is such, that every 
 thing earthly sustains to it only the relation of finite to 
 infinity. The frown of God awes him. The favor of 
 God animates him. The love of Christ constrains 
 him. He looks abroad over the wide field of seen 
 and unseen being, and every thing urges him to stren- 
 uous, to agonizing labor. From time and from eternity, 
 from things present and from things to come, l^rom 
 death and from judgment, from heaven and from hell, 
 a voice addresses him, saying, Whatsoever thy hand 
 findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is no 
 knowledge, nor work, nor device, in the grave. 
 
 And yet, again, the subjects on which a man of deep 
 devotion loves best to meditate, are preeminently 
 adapted to impart vigor and expansiveness to every 
 
204 JI I X I S T E U I A L PIETY. 
 
 power of the soul. Such a man has to do, not with 
 things which are seen, which are temporal, but with 
 things that are not seen, which are eternal. He ex- 
 patiates not over this little limited sphere of tangible 
 materialism, but over that glorious region of uncreated 
 purity, which revelation discloses to the eye of faith. 
 The perfections of God ; the illustrations of his ever 
 acting power ; the transcendent combinations of his 
 unfathomable wisdom ; the awful exhibitions of his 
 spotless holiness; the affecting dlsp'ays of his incon- 
 ceivable love ; the mysteries of providence and of re- 
 demption, and all the various aspects in which these are 
 presented, by aught that has been seen in the visible, 
 or revealed in the invisible world ; these are the sub- 
 jects of his reverential meditation. Tell me now, 
 whether there be any other man, whose contemplations 
 are so adapted to mental elevation, as those of the 
 humble believer in Jesus. I pass by the worshippers 
 of pleasure and of gain. I entreat you, compare the 
 daily intellectual occupations of an habitually devout 
 man, with even the investigations of the philosopher, 
 the researches of the historian, or the calculations of 
 the politician, and tell me which is most worthy the 
 capacities of man. It was by habitually meditating 
 upon the subjects which I have mentioned, that proph- 
 ets and apostles, though unlearned and illiterate men, 
 poured over the oracles which they delivered, the 
 resplendent lustre of an unearthly eloquence. And 
 thus the English Homer, drinking deeply from the 
 sacred fountains, and filling his soul with the concep- 
 tions of revelation, bore away the palm of genius from 
 classic antiquity, and stands, confessed, the sublimest 
 
MrXIt^TEUIAL PIETY. 205 
 
 of uninspired men. If, then, we desire to cultivate 
 the faculties with which God has endowed us ; if we 
 would gird ourselves for vigorous and successful men- 
 tal exertion, while we bless the Father of our spirits 
 who hath thus connected together our intellectual and 
 moral improvement, let us give ourselves to the dili- 
 gent study of the sacred Scriptures, and to high and 
 intimate communion with the uncreated Holy One. 
 
 But this intellect, in a minister of Christ, is to be 
 applied to a particular purpose, the investigation of 
 divine truth. His business is to teach men the will of 
 God, That will is revealed in the holy Oracles j and 
 it is to be known by diligently applying to the study 
 of them, whatever of intellectual or moral power the 
 man may possess. Let us, then, in the next place, 
 inquire what assistance ardent piety will render him 
 in the investigation of divine truth. 
 
 II. The great obstacle to progress, in every de- 
 partment of science, has always been the pride of the 
 human intellect. In physics, when men, instead of 
 inquiring what were the facts, were engrossed in the 
 framing of theories, and the constructing of arguments 
 a priori, the result was such as might have been ex- 
 })ected. Each succeeding age demolished the labors 
 of its predecessor, and the last was as far off from truth 
 as any that had gone before it. There was but one 
 avenue to light, and this avenue having been closed 
 up by the arrogance of man, the finest intellects of our 
 race groped about, age after age, in darkness which 
 might be felt. And, let it be ever remembered, that, 
 from this thick darkness of ages, it was humility 
 which first delivered us. When Philosophy, falsely 
 18* 
 
206 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 SO called, would draw near unto Nature, not to hear 
 what she taught, but to dictate to her what she ought 
 to teach. Nature, enwrapping herself in the unearthly 
 dignity of her own mysterious invisibility, sate afar 
 off, in lofty, unbroken silence. But so soon as man 
 approached, in childlike simplicity, and fell at her 
 feet in the spirit of reverent attention, then, and not 
 till then, did she put aside the darkness which sur- 
 rounded her, and reveal those mysteries which had 
 been hidden from the foundation of the world. And, 
 since the commencement of the true philosophy, the 
 progress of man in knowledge has been in the exact 
 ratio of his unfeigned humility. That man is the 
 soundest philosopher, who, with the most unpretending 
 deference, is most patiently watching the phenomena 
 about him, and who is most willing to confess his ig- 
 norance, as soon as he has arrived at the limit where 
 Nature spreads the veil over her processes, and where 
 fact furnishes no further information. 
 
 Thus also has it been in theology. The Bible is, 
 in morals, what the visible and tangible world is in 
 physics, a storehouse of ultimate facts. Upon the 
 subjects of which it treats, there is not, nor without a 
 new revelation can there be, any knowledge beyond 
 or aside from what it teaches. And yet more ; to the 
 men who have approached it in the lofty consciousness 
 of their own wisdom, it has always remained, and the 
 veracity of its Author is pledged that it ever shall re- 
 main, a sealed book. The man may construct a 
 system, and it may be ingenious, and learned, and 
 able, and eloquent ; and he may show very clearly, 
 at least to his disciples, what the Bible ought to say; 
 
MINISTERIAL PIETY. 207 
 
 nay, more, what, in his opinion, it must of necessity 
 say, and he may persuade many a one that it hath 
 said it. But all this while he hath heard nothing but 
 the echo of his own voice ; the oracle itself hath not 
 yet spoken. He hath not adv^anced a single hair's 
 breadth in knowledge of the word of God ; for 
 God resisteth the proud, but showeth grace unto the 
 humble. And that man is making the greatest progress 
 in the knowledge of the Bible, who is humbly and pa- 
 tiently applying his investigations to the law and to the 
 testimony, firmly, and yet calmly resolved not to be- 
 lieve any thing which it does not teach, and yet to 
 believe all that it does leach, to the veriest jot, and to 
 the veriest tittle. God himself hath promised that he 
 will instruct such a man. The meek will He guide 
 in judgment; the meek will He teach his way. 
 
 Now, this very disposition, of so much importance 
 in this sort of investigation, is precisely that which 
 ardent piety implants in the bosom of the student. .It 
 fills him with an all-pervading Conviction of the utter 
 incomprehensibleness of the wisdom of God, and of 
 the exceeding blindness of a creature of yesterday. 
 It teaches him his entire inability to decide, anriori, 
 upon the manner in which the Deity shall exercise 
 the high prerogative of manifesting his own perfections. 
 He dares neither prescribe what God must reveal, 
 nor what God must do. The only question is, what 
 hath God said, and what hath God done ; and, this 
 being answered, he knows of no question beyond it. 
 When he approaches the oracle of God, it is to utter 
 the awe-stricken supplication of the infant prophet, 
 speak. Lord, for thy servant heareth. Now the ve- 
 
208 M I X I S T E R I A T. P I R T Y. 
 
 racity of God is pledged, that he who thus looks to 
 him for instruction, though a wayfaring man, and a 
 fool, shall not err. Though the Lord be high, yet 
 hath he respect unto the lowly ; but the proud he 
 knovveth afar off.- I thank thee, O Father, Lord of 
 heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things 
 from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 
 unto babes ; ev^en so, Father, for so it seenieth good 
 in thy sight. 
 
 And here it would not be well to pass over the 
 fact, that the New Testament has clearly revealed an 
 intimate connexion which God has established be- 
 tween practical obedience to the divine will, and 
 theoretical knowledge of it. Christ lias assured us, 
 that moral light will be given to us, just in proportion 
 as we improve the light Avhich we enjoy. To him 
 that hath, or that improveth that which he hath, shall 
 be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him 
 that liath not, shall be taken away even that which he 
 seemeth to have. You see, then, that by virtue of 
 this law of God's dispensation, the most religious man 
 must be the most successful student. Whosoever 
 will do his will, said the Saviour, he shall know of 
 the doctrine. 
 
 And, beside this, there is, accompanying high at- 
 tainments in piety, a delicacy of moral tact, which is, 
 in its very nature, one of the surest safeguards against 
 error. The more perfectly a man's heart is in har- 
 mony with the true spirit of the revelation, and the 
 less there is about him which its lofty purity would 
 condemn, the more readily will he seize upon its sense, 
 amid all the learned variety of conflicting interpreta- 
 
MINISTERIAL PIETY. 209 
 
 tions. The meaning which the hohness of its Author 
 intended, the temper of hohness in the good man's 
 heart intuitively discovers. And thus, other things 
 being equal, nay, frequently when other things are 
 not equal, the most devout man will be the best inter- 
 preter. And thus do we find that error in theology 
 has originated, not so much in weakness of the 
 head, as in pravity of the heart. And thus, also, 
 do we know, that many men, holding the noiseless 
 tenor of their way in the uneducated walks of an un- 
 registered and unenumerated ministry, desthute of the 
 help of libraries, and ignorant of the name and of the 
 being of commentators and scholiasts, and lexicograph- 
 ers and interpreters, guided only by the dictates of 
 common sense, illuminated by a sanctified conscience, 
 are deeply acquainted with the revealed will of God, 
 are mighty in bringing the truth to bear upon the con- 
 sciences of men, and are abundantly successful in 
 winning souls unto salvation. 
 
 Again, it is of importance to remark, that every 
 composition derives its form and pressure from the 
 peculiar feeling with which the writer was at the mo- 
 ment imbued. Upon a shade of meaning, which this 
 peculiar feeling gives to a word, the very point of an 
 illustration, or the gist of an argument, not unfrequently 
 turns. Now, it is evident, that unless there be in the 
 reader a sympathy with the writer, the finest passage 
 may be unfelt and unintelligible. You all have heard 
 of the mathematician, who, for want of this poetic 
 sympathy, after reading the Paradise Lost, shut up 
 the book, with the question, what does it prove ? 
 
 Now, all this applies with peculiar emphasis to the 
 
210 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 authors of the sacred Scriptures. No men ever wrote 
 under the impulse of stronger excitement. Their 
 souls were burning with love to God, and their imag- 
 inations were exalted by supernatural conceptions of 
 the ineffable glory. It is only in proportion as we 
 sympathize with their moral feeling, that we shall enter 
 into the spirit of the oracles which they have delivered. 
 To illustrate this by a single case, you may form some 
 conception of the intensity of feeling, and of the fullness 
 of blessing, with which such a man as David would 
 utter the exclamation, O Lord, thou art my God ! 
 Now, you can easily perceive that a whole psalm, or 
 a whole passage, might derive its meaning and signifi- 
 cancy, from the overwhelming gratitude with which 
 he appropriated Jehovah to himself, as his God. To 
 an undevout man, you see, at once, how all that was 
 peculiar to the sentiment would be unintelligible. 
 And thus it is evident, that just as we approach to the 
 standard of the writers' piety, shall we comprehend 
 the scope of their reasonings, and feel the pertinency 
 of their exhortations. 
 
 1 cannot dismiss this branch of the subject, without 
 adverting to one other topic of yet deeper interest. 
 You know that before our Saviour ascended, he 
 promised to send the Holy Spirit to dwell with his 
 disciples, and bring all things to their remembrance. 
 And we believe, that this same Holy Spirit, by whose 
 teachings the men of God wrote, is, though in a less 
 degree, granted to those who study the Bible with 
 humility and prayer, to enlighten their understandings, 
 to elevate their affections, and to impress its sacred 
 truths upon their will, and upon their conscience. 
 
MINISTERIAL PIETY. 211 
 
 And this assistance is most abundantly granted to the 
 most holy men. Let us, then, without ceasing, lift up 
 our hearts to that Spirit, " who, before all temples, 
 doth prefer the upright heart and pure ; that what in 
 us is dark, he would illumine, what is low, he would 
 raise and support ;" or, in the language of that prayer, 
 which the Spirit himself indited, let us bow our knees 
 unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom 
 the whole family in heaven and earth is named ; that 
 he would grant us, according to the riches of his glory, 
 to be strengthed with might by his Spirit in the inner 
 man ; that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith ; 
 that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be 
 able, with all saints, to comprehend what is the length, 
 and breadth, and depth, and height, and to know the 
 love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may 
 be filled with all the fidlness of God. 
 
 But, su])posing this knowledge to be acquired, the 
 next duty of a minister is, to prepare in his closet to 
 bring it to bear upon the consciences of men. Let 
 us, in the last place, inquire, what assistance ardent 
 piety will afford him, in the performance of this part 
 of his labor. 
 
 III. The advantages of ardent ])Iety may be shown, 
 in this respect, first, in the variety of illustration with 
 which it furnishes a preacher. The mind of man, by 
 the principles of its constitution, associates every thing 
 with that which occupies the place of its master passion. 
 It was said by Johnson, concerning the author of the 
 Seasons, " that man could not see those two candles 
 burning, without combining them with a poetic image." 
 And it is to this power of apt analogy, this facility of 
 
212 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 associating the idea which it would convey, with some- 
 thing grand or beautiful in nature, or in sentiment, that 
 poetry owes its fascination, and eloquence its eftect. 
 And thus is it with him who would be a persuasive 
 preacher of the Gospel. He must catch the fleeting 
 manners as they rise, and make even the airy nothings, 
 with which men trifle, teach them a lesson of instr.uc- 
 tion'. He must seize upon the innumerable analogies 
 which subsist between the various departments of the 
 divine government, and, through this attractive medium, 
 convey to the heart, and impress upon the conscience, 
 the truths which shall make men wise unto salvation. 
 
 And this power, also, will high attainments in piety 
 confer upon a minister. The relations between God 
 and man being the continual subject of his meditation, 
 he will associate them with every thing which he sees 
 in the universe around him. The beautiful and the 
 terrific in nature, the manners of men, the relations of 
 society, the dispensations of Providence, all will furnish 
 him with some illustration in morals, some vehicle by 
 which he may convey truth to the consciences of men. 
 
 Again, elevated attainments in piety invest a man 
 with a power over the conscience, which nothing else 
 can confer. 
 
 As in water, face answereth to face, so the heart of 
 man to man. He who sees moral relations clearly, 
 can illustrate them clearly, and may make men to un- 
 derstand them. If, however, he possess nothing else 
 than clearness of understanding, he will affect nothing 
 but their understanding. They will hear, and see, 
 but they will not feel. He must deeply feel what he 
 inculcates, or he will not make them feel it. What ! 
 
MIXISTEEIAL PIETY. 213 
 
 Can a man, who is himself frequently evercomo with 
 temptation, urge upon others the importance of holi- 
 ness ? Can he, who has but sliglit and imperfect 
 views of the heinousness of sin, make other men feel 
 the plague of their own hearts ? Can he, whose 
 thoughts are mostly upon the things of time, arouse 
 other men to think upon the things of eternity ? No, 
 brethren, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
 speaketh. Unless our own consciences be habitually 
 awake, we cannot expect to arouse the consciences of 
 others. 
 
 Here, then, I fear, my brethren, is one reason why 
 our ministrations produce so little effect upon others. 
 It is because we feel these ministrations so feebly our- 
 selves. Were we more frequently in the spirit of 
 Isaiah, when he saw the Lord upon a throne, high and 
 lifted up, and fell prostrate before the Holy One, our 
 exhortations would not fall powerless from our lips, 
 nor our hearers go away thoughtless, when we told 
 them of the terrors of the judgment seat of Christ. 
 Our only help is in growing better ; in striving to im- 
 press a deeper conviction of the truth upon our own 
 consciences, and to obtain a greater conformity to the 
 law of God in our own hearts. Just in proportion as 
 we are deliv^ered from the power of sin, shall we see 
 its utter odiousness. Just in proportion as we are in- 
 flamed with love to God, shall we see the justice of 
 his requirements, and with clearness and pungency 
 press them home upon the moral sense of man. 
 
 And, lastly, ardent piety conduces to ministerial 
 effect, by the desire of effect which it inspires. 
 
 In morals, as in intellect, will is power. Determi- 
 19 
 
214 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 nation supplies the means for carrying itself forward 
 into result. Other things being equal, that man will 
 most certainly convince us, who is most desirous to 
 convince us. 
 
 Now, this desire of effect, nothing but ardent piety 
 will supply. Sectarian zeal will not do it ; the love 
 of popularity will not do it; the desire of professional 
 emolument will not do it ; or, should any of them 
 commence, none of them can sustain it. A thousand 
 circumstances may baffle expectation, or disappoint 
 hope, and leave the man motiveless and motionless, 
 a burden to the ministry, and the reproach of his 
 profession. 
 
 He must have, what nothing but ardent piety will 
 give him, an intense desire for the salvation of souls. 
 Let him be warmed to ecstacy with the love of God ; 
 let his home be in eternity ; let the full weight of 
 Heaven be enjoyed, and hell to be endured, rest upon 
 him ; let him estimate the full value of a soul, and 
 habitually remember that souls are committed to his 
 charge, and he cannot but speak with effect. Every 
 thing about him will bear the impression of religion. 
 He will be at no loss to know the times and occasions 
 for inculcating his message. His hearers will catch 
 the temper with which he is imbued. God will de- 
 scend with the influences of his Spirit. Both minister 
 and people will be men of prayer, and full of the Holy 
 Ghost; and much people will be added to the Lord. 
 
 Two very brief reflections will complete this dis- 
 course. 
 
 1st. I surely need not say what is the instruction 
 which we, who minister at the altar, should derive 
 
MINISTERIAL PIETY. 215 
 
 from this subject. It teaches us that we, whose busi- 
 ness is the moral improvement of man, should make 
 our own moral improvement the first, pre-eminently 
 the first, object of our attention. While we seek for 
 the knowledge which this world can give, and seek 
 for it earnestly and industriously, let us not, in our 
 love for learning, mistake the means for the end. Let 
 us not, while we are burnishing the weapon, palsy the 
 arm by which it is to be wielded. Let us seek to be 
 examples, principally in penitence, in faith, in self- 
 denial, in humility, in heavenly mindedness. These, 
 if we have nothing else, will make us ministers who 
 will be approved of God. Without these, all other 
 preparation will be useless. And these are the attri- 
 butes which will, most surely, give us that success 
 W'hich we desire ; they will make us able ministers of 
 the New Testament, not of the word but of the Spirit. 
 2d. To all of us the subject presents another lesson 
 of instruction. It teaches us what we should most 
 earnestly desire, and most devoutly pray for, on behalf 
 of the ministers of the Cross. It is that they may be 
 men of prayer, and full of the Holy Ghost. If they 
 be such men, the church of God will prosper, whatever 
 may betide her. If they be not, there may be the 
 form of godliness, there may be the splendour of rank, 
 and the pride of influence, and tlie parade of learning ; 
 but Ichabod is written on the gates of our Zion, for 
 the glory is departed. Her moral power exists not. 
 Let us, then, without ceasing, pray that the Holy Spirit 
 may be poured out abundantly on the ministers of re- 
 ligion ; that they may be very holy men ; that God 
 
216 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 
 
 would clothe his priests with salvation j that his saints 
 may shout aloud for joy. 
 
 The discussion of the subject is finished. I trust, 
 however, that you will bear with me, while I allude, 
 very briefly, to the circumstances under which we are 
 this evening assembled. 
 
 This occasion is, in a degree unusual even to such 
 services, interesting to myself. On this spot I first 
 heard proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My 
 parents are among the earliest members of this church. 
 The first minister whom I remember, was the imme- 
 diate predecessor of the present pastor of this parent 
 church, and the father of the candidate for the office 
 of the ministry in that which has just been constituted. 
 Many years have elapsed since I waited upon the in- 
 structions of that venerable man. Since then, 1 have 
 seen many meek, many holy, many humble, many 
 able, many peace-making, ministers of the New Tes- 
 tament, — but I have yet seen no one that has remind- 
 ed me of John Williams. 
 
 To every one of you is this a moment of thrilling 
 interest. This ancient church, and her beloved pastor, 
 are about to part with many of their brethren, endeared 
 to them by every tie of Christian afFecliou. Already 
 has the parting hand been given ; and now, for the 
 first time, do you recognise the fact, that you are not, 
 in all respects, one. You have, this evening, united 
 in setting over those who leave you, as their pastor, a 
 brother beloved both for his own, and for his father's 
 sake. It is not division. It is not separation. It is 
 only impressing your own image again upon another 
 portion of the Christian church, that they may, in 
 
MINISTERIAL PIETY. 217 
 
 another place, more brightly show forth the praises of 
 Him who hath called them. 
 
 To this newly constituted church, and the pastor 
 who is now to be set over them in the Lord, this is 
 also an occasion of peculiar interest. You go, breth- 
 ren, to raise the standard of the Cross in another part 
 of this city. The tears, the hopes, the prayers of 
 your brethren, go with you. Go, and make known to 
 your dying fellow men, Jesus Christ, and him cruci- 
 fied. Go, relying on his Holy Spirit, to make that 
 message effectual to the conversion of sinners, and the 
 edification of saints. Go, and cultivate the meekness, 
 the charity, the benevolence, the self-denial, the purity 
 of the blessed Gospel, and the Saviour himself shall 
 go with you. The eyes of your brethren, of the 
 churches, of the Redeemer, are upon you. See that 
 ye walk worthy of the vocation with which ye are 
 called, unto all well pleasing. And now, may the 
 God of peace, that brought again from the dead our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 
 through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make 
 you perfect in every good work, to do his will, work- 
 ing in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, 
 through Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and 
 ever. Amen. 
 
 19* 
 
ABUSE OF THE LMAGINATION. 
 
 JEREMIAH IV. 14. 
 
 HOW LOMG SHALL THY VAIN THOUGHTS LODGE WITHIN 
 THEE ? 
 
 Imagination is the faculty by which we combine 
 the ideas which we hav^e ah-eady acquired. As the 
 memory retains the various images of beauty, or 
 grandeur, or desirableness, which the eye hath seen, 
 or the ear heard, so the imagination associates them 
 with aught to which we have attached the ideas of love- 
 liness, or sublimity, or happiness. By means of it, the 
 orator clothes his argument in all the drapery of elo- 
 quence ; and the poet, roaming from earth to heaven, 
 surrounds the commonest thoughts with new and irre- 
 sistible attraction, and gives to airy nothings a local 
 habitation and a name. Nay more, the noblest exer- 
 tions of this faculty are seen in the writings of those 
 men, who spake as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost. Touched by fire from the altar, the imagina- 
 tion of Job and of David, of Isaiah and of St. John 
 kindled into unearthly effulgence. Their conceptions 
 
THE IM AGIN ATIOX. 219 
 
 were exalted to unapproachable grandeur, and their 
 very language bore witness to the God who spake by 
 them. 
 
 But not to orators, and poets, and prophets, and 
 apostles, are the workings of this facult}- confined. It 
 happens that there are various ideas of wealth, and 
 power, and influence, and respectability, and ease, and 
 leisure, which exercise over man a most bewitching 
 fascination. And there is a being, above all others, 
 with whom he desires that all these ideas should be 
 associated. I surely need not tell you that this being 
 is every man's own individual self. Now as it is much 
 easier to imagine ourselves in the quiet possession of 
 all that is desirable, than it is to put forth the labor 
 and endure the self-denial necessary for the attaining 
 of it, it comes to pass that t!.e life of most men is 
 passed in an ideal world, in thinking about what they 
 are going to be, and what they are going to do, or 
 upon what, under circumstances different from the 
 present, they assuredly would be and assuredly would 
 do. It is the sin of our nature. It is the folly and 
 the crime not of one man, but of all men, of the young 
 and the old, the learned and the ignorant, the infant 
 and the grandsire ; and, therefore, well might the 
 prophet address not only to the Jews of his own age, 
 but also to every one of us to-day, the despairing 
 question in the text, How long shall thy vain thoughts 
 lodge within thee ? 
 
 If we would be sensible how general is the applica- 
 tion of this remonstrance, we have only to turn over a 
 few pages in the book of our own history, or reflect 
 at the present moment upon the movements within our 
 
220 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 own bosoms, or observe even with candor the thoughts 
 and the actions of others. Every thing will teach us 
 how universal is the prevalence of this moral disease. 
 Every thing will lead us to that appropriate but most 
 solemn reflection of the psalmist, Surely every man 
 walketh in a vain show ; surely they are disquieted in 
 vain. It will be well if with him we are brought to 
 the pious conclusion. Now, Lord, what wait I for? my 
 hope is in thee. 
 
 Infancy hath not ceased, before the restless workings 
 of this faculty are seen in all their mischievous devel- 
 opment. Observe your own little girl in the nursery, 
 surrounded by her toys and her dolls. Mark how her 
 step, though tottering, hath learned the air of a mistress, 
 and how that tongue, yet lisping, hath caught the ac- 
 cent of command. Hearken to her dialogue with her 
 mute wooden companion, and see how she rejoices in 
 her conscious superiority. When her mind has be- 
 come enkindled with the visions of its own fancy, you 
 may observe how she is dressing up some gay scene 
 of future happiness, in which she is to act by far the 
 most conspicuous part. And, O now, were she a 
 little older, or a little taller, or had one other dress, or 
 one more beautiful toy, how loftily would she then 
 carry herself, and how full would be the cup of her 
 joy ! And if she muse yet farther into futurity, she 
 is thinking about houses, and wealth, and domestics, 
 and equipages, and she is sagely conjecturing how 
 she will act when all these things are hers. Thus is 
 her soul just entered upon being, bewildered in its 
 own deceivings, and feeding its own vanity with the 
 foolish fictions of an infantile imagination. 
 
THE IMAGINATIOX. 221 
 
 Or you may look upon yon little boy, sauntering 
 along in his errand, gazing at every show window, 
 and admiring every passing equipage, and wondering 
 at every dwelling of opulence and splendor which he 
 beholds, and which seems to him inhabited by beings 
 with whom he would hardly dare to speak. What 
 is it that occupies his thoughts and retards his steps, as 
 he slowly moves on in his appointed duty? Ah! he 
 is thinking what he would do, were he as strong as 
 Samson, or were his arm as mighty as the giant's of 
 whom he has read in his story book. If this were 
 the case, how fearlessly would he move through these 
 streets by day, yes and by night too, and how should 
 all the men and the boys tremble at his frown. Or it 
 may be, he is thinking what he would do if he were 
 rich. If he should now find a purse of gold, or if in 
 some of his rambles he should stumble, as some one, 
 of whom he has read, did once stumble, upon a mine 
 of silver or a heap of diamonds; how would he then 
 put to shame all the magnificence which he here 
 beholds about him ! O if this were once to happen, 
 how much richer should be his house, how much more 
 splendid his equipage, how much more numerous his 
 retinue, and how would he stupify all the boys and all 
 the men of his acquaintance with his gorgeous exhi- 
 bitions of incalculable wealth ! Or, if the sound of 
 martial music falls upon his ear, and a military show 
 passes before him, another form of power is added to 
 the list of his many accomplishments. He is thinking 
 how he would order these men, were he only their 
 captain, and how promptly these thousands should move 
 at his well pronounced word of uncontrollable command. 
 
222 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 Thus early do we become the slaves of our own 
 imaginations. So soon do we learn to forget the 
 present and the actual, and to meditate only upon the 
 doubtful and the impossible. Instead of thinking what 
 he is, he is thinking of what he might be. O if he 
 were this, or if he were that; and thus are the intel- 
 lects of the very infant bewildered and beclouded in 
 this misty atmosphere of all-pervading ifs. 
 
 You may smile at this picture. Or perhaps you 
 blush to think how vain were the imaginations which 
 lodged within you, some ten, or twenty, or thirty years 
 since. But let us remember, that this is only one leaf 
 taken from the book of human nature ; and that all 
 the rest present only the same impression upon the 
 same materials ; they exhibit only countless repetitions 
 of the same letters, though differently arranged, and 
 perhaps in the latter part of the volume, less easily 
 understood. 
 
 These same children, who have been thus led away 
 by the deceitful imaginations of infancy, only grow up 
 to riper years, to have the same deceptions repeated upon 
 them in other and more melancholy forms. They are 
 still children, though of a larger bulk, and a more ex- 
 tended observation. What is it that fills the sleeping, 
 aye, and the waking dreams of the young man, who, hav- 
 ing collected all his means and ventured them all in his 
 first experiment, is beginning to push his way through 
 the world unassisted and alone ? What is it that oc- 
 cupies his solitary musings, as soon as the pressure of 
 business is suspended, and the current of his thoughts 
 is suffered to move onward in its accustomed channels ? 
 Is he now thinking of what is around him ?■ Is he 
 
T II R I M A G r .\ A T I o \. 223 
 
 reflecting upon his own actual, matter of fact condition, 
 upon what he now is, and what doth in reality become 
 him ? Is he looking into his own bosom, with the 
 Iiumble and homely endeavor to be acquainted with 
 that being, within him, whom he seems to love so well, 
 but of whom it must be confessed he hath as yet ob- 
 tained so very scanty a knowledge ? Is he thinking 
 of his defects, and how they may be corrected ; or 
 of his ignorance, and how it may be dispelled ? And 
 above all, is this immortal being reflecting that he has 
 a soul, which must be saved or lost ; a soul that must 
 be pardoned, here on earth, or dwell hereafter in 
 misery unutterable and forever ? Is he putting home 
 to himself the question. How shall I please that infinite 
 Being in whose hands T now am and I ever after shall 
 be ; and liow shall I obtain an interest in the mercy of 
 that Saviour who died to redeem me? Ah no ! he is 
 thinking of none of this. The present, the certain, 
 the inevitable, are all too tame to interest him. The 
 future, the doubtful, the improbable, can alone satisfy 
 the greedy appetite of his diseased imagination. He 
 is musing upon the splendors which one day are to 
 encircle his name, in the walks of mercantile life. 
 His soul is roaming abroad over the wide and invisible 
 future, and there she seems to behold visions of opu- 
 lence, and luxury, and reputation, and power, glorious 
 as aught that the heart of man can wish for. He 
 kindles with the vividness of his own fancies. He 
 beholds his name respected in every country, his ships 
 floating on every sea, and the control of the market 
 vested in his signature. Or has he entei'ed upon a 
 profession. The slow steps by which other men have 
 
224 TilE ABUSE OP 
 
 arisen, he overleaps at once. Juries hang upon his 
 lips, courts bow to his decisions, and a listening senate 
 is wielded at his will. O if this were only so, should 
 he thus succeed, he surprises himself with thinking 
 how triumphantly he would surprise the world. And 
 thus it happens, that he who hath spent months of his 
 life in meditating how he would act, and what he 
 would do, under circumstances in which neither he 
 nor any other man ever was, or ever will be placed, 
 has never spent a single hour in reflecting what he is, 
 where he is going, what he ought to do, for this pres- 
 ent which he sees, or for that infinite of future, which 
 truly as God lives he most assuredly shall see. 
 
 Now to all these dreamers of gay dreams, we would 
 make one or two very plain remarks. It is most 
 manifest that you are spendingyour time to no manner 
 of purpose. Common sense will inform you that 
 these circumstances, for which you are making so 
 ample an imaginary preparation, never will occur. In 
 the mean time, what you ought to do is neglected and 
 forgotten. The very energies, without the aid of 
 which, in this busy, bustling world, you never can 
 succeed, are frittered away and wasted upon that 
 which can contribute nothing whatever to your suc- 
 cess. You would surely think that man a lunatic, who 
 should spend his time in reflecting what he would do 
 if he inhabited the moon. Are there not very many 
 just such lunatics every where about us ? 
 
 But suppose that at some future time, your imagi- 
 nations should, by some strange coincidence, become 
 facts. Of what use, I pray you, would then be all 
 your present dreams about them. You remember 
 
THE I MAG IX ATI OX. 225 
 
 how useless were the anticipations of your childhood, 
 concerning the situation which you now occupy. Such 
 are your present anticipations concerning all that is to 
 come. The way in which to be qualified for a differ- 
 ent situation, is to fill with reputation that in which 
 you are. It is surely belter for a man to spend one 
 hour in preparing for the duties of to-day, than to 
 spend a month in dreaming how he will act ten years 
 hence, in circumstances under which neither he nor 
 any other man ever will be placed. 
 
 And again, this very exercise of the imagination, 
 besides being thus useless, is the cause and the sure 
 precursor of failure. It wastes those energies which 
 cannot be spared. It does more. The mind comes 
 back vitiated from these gay visions, and all her calcu- 
 lations respecting the present are tinged with their col- 
 oring of falsehood. This is, after all, a matter-of-fact 
 world ; and you can succeed in it only by being a 
 matter-of-fact man. If you be any thing else, it will 
 move on upon principles diametrically the reverse of 
 yours ; and time will assuredly stamp upon all your 
 projects, the mark of utter and helpless disappointment. 
 Happy will it be if, somewhere in that vast space 
 which intervenes between your high raised hopes, and 
 the dull, plain reality, you do not fall into the gulf of 
 remediless and inextricable bankruptcy. And still 
 happier will it be, if these gay visions do not dance 
 before you until they be rebuked away by the solemn 
 realities of your last half hour, and there remain before 
 you nothing but the dread prospect of the judgment 
 seat of Christ, a Saviour neglected, and an undone 
 eternity. 
 
 20 
 
226 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 Age, I know, has some power to take off the glare 
 from these visions of the fancy. Disappointment and 
 affliction do, in some degree, discover to our view the 
 real character of the world, at least in so far as it 
 respects ourselves. The man becomes at last con- 
 vinced that he was not designed for those splendid 
 destinies which he had marked out for himself, and 
 settles down in tolerable contentment, to look in his 
 own case for what is practicable. But have vain 
 thoughts yet ceased to lodge within him ? Ah no ! 
 He is only transferring to his children his claim to that 
 heritage, which he had once hoped to enter upon him- 
 self. He is now building visionary fabrics for the son 
 that is to come after him. Though he have failed, 
 yet his son may surely succeed. Though circumstan- 
 ces of education or of connexions did not favor him, 
 they may yet favor his offspring. Though he have 
 not yet reached the height to which he aspired, yet 
 his son may reach it by rising upon his shoulders. 
 Though he be not the pinnacle of the family edifice, 
 it will be something at least to have been the founda- 
 tion stone. And then in his solitary musings he pur- 
 sues the boy of his hopes through all the changes of 
 education, of entrance upon business, and of profes- 
 sional success, until, full of his own conceptions, and 
 rejoicing in what is to be some twenty years hence, the 
 exulting parent feels already the conscious pride which 
 shall dilate his bosom, when, pointing to the man whom 
 all men admire, he shall say to the passer by, that is 
 my son. Now what is deplorable in all this is, that 
 these splendid anticipations are sowing the seeds of 
 their own discomfiture. For it is surely natural to 
 
THE IMAGINATION. 227 
 
 suppose, that the child for whom all these unusual 
 destinies are in reserve, needs not the ceaseless watch- 
 ing over, nor the multiplied restraints under which 
 other men's children must of course be brought up. 
 This parent hath never reflected that that child hath 
 within him many an evil propensity, which if uncor- 
 rected will assuredly accomplish his ruin. He hath 
 never yet learned, in daily prayer, to commend the 
 temporal interests of that child to the God who can 
 alone fulfil his desires. Still less hath he ever taught 
 that child the way of salvation, or prayed that God 
 would make him a pious man, and prepare them both 
 for that day when they shall both stand before the 
 judgment seat of Christ. Happy will it be, if the 
 future history of that child, the defects of whose edu- 
 cation these very visions have fostered, do not reveal 
 a tale of utter dissoluteness ; yes ! happy will it be, 
 if this very idol do not bring down the gray hairs of 
 its doting parent with sorrow to the grave. 
 
 Thus do we with agonizing grasp cling not to the 
 realities of life, but to its unsubstantial phantasies. 
 Thus is it that, when the phantasies of our own age 
 have vanished away, we grasp after those of the gen- 
 eration tliat is to come after us. Thus is it that these 
 gay visions not only shut out from our view the truth, 
 and lead to hopeless disappointment in the life that 
 now is, they also shut out the truth, and plunge us 
 in remediless disappointment for the world that is to 
 come. 
 
 II. This leads us to remark, that from this very 
 principle many of our moral delusions derive their 
 danger and their efficacy. 
 
228 THEABUSEOF 
 
 There are certain facts respecting the spirit that is 
 within us, and certain doctrines concerning the world 
 which that spirit will very soon enter, which among 
 men who believe the Bible are very universally re- 
 ceived. It is, for instance, very generally believed 
 that the soul of man is immortal ; that it will enter at 
 death upon a mode of being very different from the 
 present ; that man is a sinner ; that that other will be 
 a world of rewards and punishments ; that we must 
 all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to be 
 judged according to the deeds of the body; that there 
 will be then a separation between the countless myriads 
 of our race, and that the one part will go away into ever- 
 lasting life, and the other part into everlasting punish- 
 ment; and that from the decision of that day there shall 
 be no appeal forever. Now it is not in the power 
 of amusement, or business, or ambition, entirely to 
 exclude these overwhelming ideas from the mind of 
 man. There are moments when even the gayest of 
 the gay are at a stand, when pleasure has satiated, 
 when the voice of sensibility is unmusical, when the 
 soul looks loathingly over all the allurements of fashion, 
 and of sense, and in indignant sadness turns back upon 
 her thoughtless murderer, and asks, Is this all for 
 which the eternal God hath made me? Conscience 
 at such a moment will also regain a transitory power, 
 and she will ask, whether there may not be something 
 sinful as well as weak in having lived in vain ; and 
 then there will arise the appalling idea of standing 
 without a lineament of the character of Heaven upon 
 her, before the Judge as well as the Father of this 
 whole universe. Every thing teaches him that some 
 
THE IMAGINATION. 229 
 
 moral transformation must be effected before a sinner 
 can endure the scrutiny of that meeting in peace. Con- 
 science, reason, and revelation, conspire in declaring, 
 Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom 
 of God ; and if any man be a Christian, there is a new 
 creation. Every thing urges him to secure the 
 crown of eternal life, now while it is the accepted 
 time, now while it is the day of salvation. The mon- 
 itory voice from without and from within, saith unto 
 him, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy 
 might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge 
 in the grave. 
 
 And when a man's conscience hath been thus by 
 the mercy of God awakened, what, I pray you, doth 
 he do ? Do you find him inquiring of his religious 
 teacher. What must I do to be saved ? Do you see 
 him at once employed in honest, diligent and sol- 
 emn inquiry into the moral condition of his own heart, 
 and the nature of those obligations which exist between 
 him and his Maker? Do you find him with his Bible 
 in his closet, holding communion with his God ? O 
 no ! with all the realities of death and judgment before 
 him, you cannot persuade him to do that, which it is 
 his indispensable duty to do, to-day. No, he is think- 
 ing how surely he will give to these subjects their full 
 share of attention at some day which he is yet to see, 
 or when the sickness unto death hath laid its hand 
 upon him ; or he is thinking what he would do if his 
 affairs were differently arranged. If he were a little 
 younger, or a little older, a little richer, or a little 
 more at leisure, or had somewhat different feelings 
 upon the subject, he would then surmount every ob- 
 20* 
 
230 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 stacle, and lay hold upon everlasting life. Satisfied 
 with the goodness of his resolution, he turns again to 
 the vanities of life, and conscience again slumbers. 
 Again he is aroused, and again he is beguiled by the 
 visions of to-morrow. At length, death steps in between 
 this man and his to-morrow, and he passes in an instant 
 from a world of fancy to an eternity of fact. 
 
 And if, through the goodness of God, such a man 
 should become permanently interested on the subject 
 of his eternal welfare, and anxious above all things to 
 be reconciled unto God, it will be strange if this same 
 habit do not still pursue him. Jesus Christ is saying 
 to such an one, Come unto me, all ye that are weary 
 and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. If any 
 man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. For as 
 Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so was 
 the Son of Man lifted up, that whosoever believeth on 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life. But 
 instead of doing this, he is thinking perhaps how he 
 would do it if the circumstances of his former life had 
 been different, if he had been more religiously edu- 
 cated, or if he had been less so, or if these ideas had 
 been impressed upon him more vividly, or at some 
 other period of his life. If in town, he would be in 
 the country ; if in the country, he would be in town ; 
 for a wounded spirit who can bear ? He would be any 
 vi^here, he would be every where, but just with his 
 own heart, and doing the very thing which God this 
 present moment requires him to do. Thus he may 
 be kept, month after month, from the peace which piety 
 sheds abroad in the soul, in consequence of this long es- 
 tablished habit of looking away from his own heart,instead 
 
THE IMAGINATION. 231 
 
 of looking into it. And that peace which passeth un- 
 derstanding, he never will enjoy, until, from the inmost 
 recesses of a contrite heart, he shall say, in present, 
 humble sincerity, with a penitent of other days, Lord, 
 what wilt thou have me to do ? 
 
 Nor are the men among us, who profess to be 
 religious, exempted from the deserved application of 
 the question of the text. The Bible is the statute 
 book of Jehovah. In it he teaches us by precept and 
 by example, how he would have us live. Now he 
 who professes religion, declares that he believes all this, 
 and he promises that he will obey it. It might then 
 surely be expected that such a man would be found 
 diligently studying the book, and daily laboring to 
 bring every thought and word and action into con- 
 formity to it. It might surely be expected, that in 
 the lives of such men we should see the habitual ex- 
 emplification of that humility, and charity, and self- 
 denial, and benevolence, and forbearance, and heavenly 
 mindedness, which that book inculcates, and without 
 which it assures us that we cannot be saved. But 
 do we see all this ? Alas ! I fear that among many 
 professors of every name, real, actual religion is very 
 much a thing that is yet to be. Instead of being de- 
 vout and practically pious men, under the circum- 
 stances in which they are, they are thinking how 
 devout and pious they would be under circumstances 
 exceedingly dissimilar. If they were older, or if they 
 were younger, if they were married, or if they were 
 single, if the mechanic were a merchant, or the mer- 
 chant a mechanic, or if either were in a profes- 
 sion, or rich, or at leisure, how zealously would they 
 
232 THE ABUSE OP 
 
 labor, and how holily would they live. Thus the time 
 which is wasted in thinking how well they would live 
 in another station, is sufficient, if well employed, to 
 ensure their living well in their own. Nor is this all ; 
 we fear that many a man is judging of his religious 
 character not by what it is, but by what, under other 
 circumstances, he persuades himself that it would be. 
 Here there is a danger lest the mistake be fatal. God 
 will judge him according to what he hath done, and 
 not according to what he hath not done, hut only 
 thought of. Many will say unto me, at that day. Lord, 
 Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy 
 name done many wonderful works, to whom I will 
 say, I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work 
 iniquity. 
 
 And now, I pray you, is it not mournful that so 
 much of this short life, a life on which depends all 
 that is momentous in eternity, should thus be spent in 
 an imaginary, unreal, and fictitious world. It were 
 surely bad enough for an immortal being to rivet his 
 affections, and consume his energies upon a world that 
 now is. But is it not passing folly to rivet them upon 
 a world that is not, and that never will be ? Yet such 
 is the folly of our nature ! You see the men around 
 you ; alas ! I fear those men are your very selves, 
 preparing for events which shall never happen, rejoic- 
 ing in prospects which you will never see, triumphing 
 over dangers which you will never meet, and laying 
 to your souls the flattering unction of moral approba- 
 tion for acting as you never did act, and as God 
 knoweth, that were it in your power you never would 
 act. And all this is going on, while what is present 
 
THE IMAGINATION. 233 
 
 and actual is forgotten, and what is immediate, urgent 
 duty, of course is left forever undone. And yet more j 
 what is uncertain of the future seems to attract you 
 the most strongly, nay its very uncertainty, and its very 
 worthlessness seem to make you cleave to it the closer. 
 What God hath said of the future is most assuredly 
 true ; but from the disclosures which he hath made you 
 resolutely turn away, and choose rather to wander 
 among the baseless visions of your own distempered 
 fancy. 
 
 And now, in conclusion, allow me to suggest a few 
 considerations in addition to what has been said, to 
 persuade you to restrain the exercise, and control the 
 excesses of this much abused faculty. 
 
 1. It is wasting time, the most inestimable treasure 
 that God has given you. It is so wasting it as to ren- 
 der you utterly unprepared for all that is before you. 
 What would you think of the man who spent whole 
 days in dreaming, or in drunkenness? And what 
 ought we to think of him, who spends his days and 
 nights in musing over scenes of unreal and impossible 
 existence, and gazing upon the empty creations of a 
 diseased imagination ? 
 
 2. It is at variance with the first principles of 
 Jehovah's government. The future is among those 
 secret things which belong unto God. To dream 
 about it as we do, is to intrude into things which we 
 have not seen, being vainly puffed up with our fleshly 
 mind. The language of Scripture to each one of us 
 is, Do thy duty to-day, and Providence will take 
 thought for the future. W^e exactly reverse it. We 
 neglect our duty to-day, apd take upon ourselves 
 
234. THE ABUSE OF 
 
 the charge of the future: We let go that which He 
 hath placed in our power, and grasp after that which 
 he hath not committed even to the angels of heaven. 
 We thus wither at the root the virtues of faith, and 
 obedience, and submission, and foster the vices of 
 unbelief, of pride, and of discontent, of arrogance, 
 and presumption. We place ourselves in that attitude 
 on which God hath ever frowned ; for God resisteth 
 the proud, but showeth grace unto the humble. 
 
 3. The habit of which we have spoken, clothes 
 the world with borrowed fascinations, and teaches it 
 with more certainty to delude us. The world as it 
 really is, is intended to read to us many an instructive 
 lesson, and to impress most deeply every sentiment 
 of revelation. It is in fact a world of vicissitude, of 
 trial, of sorrow, of much and of frequent affliction. A 
 world in which " Death reigns" must surely be all 
 this. God made it so, that we might aspire higher. 
 He has written upon it in legible characters, Arise and 
 depart, for this is not your rest, because it is polluted. 
 Now against all this lesson we are shutting our eyes, 
 and closing our ears. Inasmuch as he has made the 
 real world such as it is, we are determined to have 
 another world of our own creation, where his hand is 
 not seen, and where his voice is not heard, and on 
 which his lessons are not inscribed. Thus do we 
 make good the truth of that saying, Light is come 
 into the world, and ye have loved darkness rather than 
 light. Thus are ye giving to the world, already too 
 strong foryou, additional power, power which God nev- 
 er gave it; and in despite of Providence, in despite of 
 revelation, are ye rivetting those chains which it hath cast 
 
THE I.AfAGIXATIOX. 235 
 
 around you, and whilst every moment drawing nearer 
 to the judgment seat, are rendering your own condem- 
 nation yet more fearfully inevitable. 
 
 Finally. The Bible is God's statute book, and he 
 surely meant it to be obeyed, and he hath enforced the 
 obedience to it by most fearful and inevitable sanctions. . 
 And if we do not obey it, it matters not how we 
 account for that disobedience. Whether we have 
 walked in the ways of profligacy, or worshipped at the 
 shrine of pleasure, or have dreamed away our lives in 
 promises of amendment, the fact remains unaltered, that 
 we have been disobedient, and we shall meet the doom 
 of that servant, who knew his Lord's will and did it 
 not. And here there is not a moment to be lost. 
 Death is at the door, and as the tree falleth so it shall lie. 
 Let us then in manners and in morals, obey to-day 
 the voice of Providence and of God. Let us seek 
 first the kingdom of God. Let the wicked now for- 
 sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 
 and turn unto the Lord, instead of promising to do so. 
 Behold 7101V is the accepted time, now^ and not to- 
 morrow, is the day of salvation. Amen. 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 JOB XXIX. 11, 12, 13. 
 
 WHEJJ THE EAR HEARD ME, THEN IT BLESSED ME J ASV 
 WHEN THE EYK SAW ME, THEN IT BORE WitNESS UNTO 
 ME ; BECAUSE I DELIVERED THE POOR WHEN HE CRIED, 
 THE FATHERLESS, AND HIM THAT HAD NONE TO HELP 
 HIM. THE BLESSING OF HI31 THAT WAS READY TO PERISH 
 CAME UPON ME, AND I CAUSED THE WIDOw's HEART TO 
 SING FOR JOY. 
 
 We have assembled, this evening, my brethren, to 
 discharge one of the most deh'ghtful duties of our holy 
 religion. The stern obligations of truth and of justice, 
 not unfrequently compel us to inflict additional pain 
 upon an already unhappy fellow mortal. Not so the re- 
 quirements of charity. While obeying her commands, 
 we are in the very act rewarded. We diffuse unmin- 
 gled happiness among the recipients of our benevolence ; 
 and that happiness is reflected back again upon us at 
 every exhibition of the bliss which we have created, 
 or of the gratitude which we have deserved. 
 
 Not only is this a most pleasing, it is also a most 
 solemn duty. We have met together, this evening, 
 to render unto God an account of our stewardship. 
 We are in the presence of Him who hath said, Thou 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 237 
 
 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Each one of us 
 will have an opportunity of declaring, and each one 
 of us will declare, what respect he hath to this com- 
 mandment, by which he must he judged. A record 
 of this evening's transactions will be made concerning 
 every one of us, and we must individually meet it, at 
 that day, when the friend of the friendless shall de- 
 scend in flaming fire to judge every man according to 
 his works. 
 
 In view of these considerations, I am fully aware, 
 that I might properly set before you the bearings which 
 this evening's decision will have upon your eternal 
 destiny. I might assure you, that God will most righ- 
 teously inquire into the use that you have made of the 
 talent which he has given you, and I might illustrate 
 how he will hold you strictly responsible both for the 
 happiness which you might have produced, and the evil 
 which you might have prevented. I might set before you 
 the danger of riches, and show you in how many ways 
 they become the obstacles to our salvation, and furnish 
 at once the instrument of our destruction, and the evi- 
 dence that it has been accomplished. Or I might set 
 before you the terrors of the judgment, when every 
 one of us shall give an account of himself unto God, 
 and when He that sittelh upon the throne will announce, 
 Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the least 
 of these, ye have not done it unto me ; and when, 
 unto covetous men, as well as unto liars and idolaters, 
 he will say, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
 prepared for the devil and his angels. 
 
 With this brief allusion, we shall, however, at 
 present dismiss these solemn considerations. Our 
 21 
 
238 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 object, this evening, will be merely to present betore 
 you some arguments to enforce the duty of charity, 
 drawn entirely from the relations of the present life. 
 You all desire to secure your own happiness, to promote 
 your own interests, and to act worthily of that rank 
 which you hold as memhers of God's intelligent creation. 
 To show you that these objects can best be accom- 
 plished by a life of benevolence, is all that we propose 
 in the present discourse. 
 
 And here, at the commencement of this discussion, 
 I scarcely need remind you, how universally you are 
 at present engaged in the pursuit of wealth. Most 
 probably, I do not address a single individual, who is 
 not directly or indirectly devoting to pecuniary acqui- 
 sition, by far the greater part of his time, his talent, 
 nay, of his very being. A suitable degree of attention 
 to this object, is consistent with the first principles of 
 our nature. Wealth is power. It is an important 
 instrument for the production of effect. Nor is this 
 attention inconsistent with the precepts of religion. 
 We are commanded by revelation to be diligent in 
 business ; and he that careth not for his own house, is 
 declared to have denied the faith. 
 
 The results of this diligence are also visible among us. 
 Every year, nay, every day, is bearing testimony to 
 the blessing of God upon the labor of your hands. 
 Each returning season adds its successive portion to 
 your property, and thus places under your control 
 accumulated means of happiness. The question to 
 be considered, this evening, is, How may you most 
 wisely expend that wealth which you have acquired, 
 or are acquiring ? 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 239 
 
 That jDoition of your property, which is not con- 
 sumed in procuring the necessities and conveniences 
 of life, must be expended in one of the two following 
 ways : either in securing the means o/*personal grati- 
 fication, or else m^??'o?rao^/«^^^e WELFARE OF OTHERS. 
 Under the first mode of expenditure, may be compre- 
 hended all those appropriations of property by which 
 it is devoted to sensual enjoyment, to the luxuries of 
 the table, of dress, of equipage, of furniture, and indeed 
 to all that which serves merely to pamper the appe- 
 tites, gratify the indolence, or feed the vanity of this 
 body that perisheth. It is also thus employed when 
 it ministers to covetousness ; as for example, when 
 it is used merely as the means of further acquisition^ 
 With these there may be combined various other 
 modes of expenditure, according to the character, 
 the age, and the passions of the individual. The love 
 of distinction, the love of power, the love of ease, may 
 each call for its portion out of our annual income ; 
 but of all of them the object is evidently and exclu- 
 sively OMr own personal grntificaiion, without any visi- 
 ble regard to the weal or the wo of our brethren of the 
 human race. 
 
 On the contrary, every man may, if he will, say to 
 the all-grasping spirit of selfishness within him. Thus 
 far shalt thou come, and no farlher ; and in the ex- 
 penditure of his property, and the occupation of his 
 time, think not merely of his own things, but also of 
 the things of others. We thus act, when we banish 
 from our tables the superfluities of life, that we may 
 have wherewith to feed the widow and the fatherless. 
 We thus act, when we deny ourselves of the costliness, 
 
240 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 of dress, of furniture, or of equipage, that we may- 
 minister to the houseless children of poverty and 
 neglect. But many of you may taste richly of the 
 pleasures of benevolence, without even these self- 
 denials. I add, therefore, that we may accomplish 
 most signally the work of benevolence, if we will prefer 
 the solid glory of living usefully, to the empty name of 
 having died rich; if, instead of adding, with an eager- 
 ness that never can be satisfied, to a property already 
 sufficient for all our reasonable wants, we limit our 
 desires, and consecrate the accumulations of our income 
 to the well-being of our brethren. Beside relieving 
 the physical, we may still more abundantly relieve the 
 intellectual and moral misery of our race. We may 
 pour the light of science upon the neighborhoods of 
 poverty and ignorance, and raise from obscurity that 
 genius, which shall make its power felt upon the doings 
 of mankind ; or we may move 4lie press, that mighty 
 lever which sustains the spirit of the age, and, spreading 
 abroad those exhibitions of truth by which public 
 opinion is gained over to virtue, behold the effect which 
 we have produced upon the collected mass of universal 
 man. And still more, by such appropriations of wealth, 
 we may disseminate the principles of that religion by 
 which this whole world is yet to be reclaimed from 
 misery and sin, and teach its people, and nations, and 
 languages, to send back again to heaven that song 
 which heaven itself hath taught us. Glory be to God 
 in the highest, on earth peace, and good will to men. 
 Such are the two very different modes, in which 
 wealth may be employed. I ask, in the first place, 
 
MOTIVES TO DENEFICENCE. 241 
 
 I. Which mode of expenditure will conduce most to 
 our happiness ? 
 
 Here it is scarcely necessary that I remind you, 
 that we live under the government of an all wise, all 
 powerful, and most merciful Creator. His dispensa- 
 tions towards us in nature, and providence, and re- 
 demption, abundantly manifest that he most of all de- 
 sires the happiness of men, whom he has condescended 
 to designate as his children. And lest from our igno- 
 rance or blindness, we should err in the pursuit of it, 
 he has been pleased to give us directions vthich we 
 denominate his laws. In exact correspondence with 
 these laws, he has framed the whole system of things 
 of which we form a part, and hath scattered happiness 
 every where within the pathway of obedience, and 
 misery and disappointment every where without it. 
 His faithfulness is as unwavering as his providence is 
 universal, or his power omnipotent. We cannot con- 
 tend against God, nor render that good which he hath 
 constituted evil. Our inquiry, how may we best pro- 
 mote our own happiness, is, therefore, at once reduced 
 to this, What hath God commanded ? 
 
 His commands on the subject before us are such 
 as these : Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
 Be ye merciful, even as your Father who is in heaven 
 is merciful. Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy 
 poor brother, to thy poor and needy in thy land. To 
 do good and to communicate, forget not ; for with such 
 sacrifices God is well pleased. Or if we were to sum 
 up the teachings of revelation in one general precept, 
 it would be this. Man may find happiness, not ia 
 ministering to himself, but in ministering unto others. 
 21* 
 
242 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 He that, heedless of the woes of others, seeks only 
 self gratification, shall be inevitably disappointed. He 
 that, regardless of himself, seeks for the welfare of 
 others, shall be an hundred fold rewarded. He that 
 seeketh his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life 
 shall find it. Here then we have the decision of that 
 good Being, whose tender mercies have followed us, 
 untired and unexhausted, through all the long years of 
 our waywardness and folly; who so loved us, that he 
 gave up his own Son to the death for us, and though 
 I could see no farther, I would trust him. I know 
 that his desire for my welfare hath dictated his com- 
 mandment, and, therefore, that my happiness canbestbe 
 promoted by promoting the happiness of my brethren. 
 
 But we may go still farther. Not only hath God by 
 his law made benevolence necessary to our happiness, 
 he hath impressed that same necessity upon us in the act 
 of our creation. The mysterious being, man, is, as you 
 know, made up of a material, an intellectual, and a 
 moral nature. By means of the first, he is connected 
 with the visible universe around him. The second 
 judges of truth and error, of beauty and deformity, of 
 sublimity and meanness. It is his moral nature alone 
 which judges of right and wrong, which renders him 
 amenable to moral law, and connects him with the 
 various orders of being that are above him. It is 
 evident that his happiness must be found in the cuhi- 
 vation of one or another of these parts of his nature. 
 
 And here I will not insult you, by attempting to 
 prove, that the happiness of man has but little con- 
 nexion either with the gratifications of sense, or with 
 devotion to that ceaseless round of frivolity, which the 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 243 
 
 children of thoughtlessness call amusement. Alas ! 
 This is the fatal soil where grow, in rank luxuriance, 
 ennui, disappointment, malice, despair, and suicide. 
 Nor is it less evident, that intellectual cultivation can- 
 not secure the happiness of man. To this truth, the 
 names of Savage, of Chatterton, of Rousseau, of Burns, 
 and Byron, bear melancholy testimony. It is, then, 
 only in the cultivation of his moral powers, that the 
 happiness of man may with certainty be attained. 
 Those pleasures alone are enduring, which result from 
 obedience to the will of our INIaker, and which approx- 
 imate us more and more nearly to tiie moral image of 
 our Father who is in heaven. And it is in works of 
 charity, by way of eminence, that he hath commanded 
 us to imitate him. Be ye therefore merciful, even as 
 your Father in heaven is merciful. Here then is the 
 solid basis on which alone the happiness of a creature 
 can rest ; all others are shifting as the tempest-tossed 
 sand. 
 
 Here is firm footing, here is solid rock ; 
 This can snpport us; all is sea beside; 
 Sinks under us, bestorins, and then devours. 
 His hand the cood man fastens in the skies, 
 And bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl. 
 
 Let it not be said, that here I am speaking theory. 
 You are men of observation, and to your own obser- 
 vation I appeal, and ask, whether I do not speak 
 truth. You have lived long enough to know what 
 riches, and sensuality, and gaiety, and intellect can do, 
 and I ask you now for your own unbiassed verdict. 
 Hath gold ever yet erected a palace from which care 
 has been excluded, or hath it devised a portion which 
 
244 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 could relieve the heart-ache ? Or, I ask, is there one 
 of you so base that he doth not despise the sensualist, 
 or so simple, that he doth not piiy the children of the 
 song and the dance ? Is not that man yet in his in- 
 fancy, who hath not already said of laughter, it is mad- 
 ness, and of mirth, what doeth it ? And yet more, 
 were 1 to ask you, this evening, to point out to me 
 the happiest human being whom you have ever known, 
 there is not one of you who would not pass over, 
 without a thought, the distinctions made by wealth and 
 poverty, learning and ignorance, fashion and obscurity, 
 prosperity and adversity, and direct ine to the humble 
 and benevolent disciple of Jesus Christ, who, following 
 the example of his Master, was going about doing 
 good, and who laid his head on his pillow at the close 
 of every day, in the glorious consciousness, that he 
 had not lived in vain. And tell me, ye men of feeling 
 and of sympathy, ye whose hearts are not corroded 
 by unhallowed love of gold, and whose souls are not 
 steeped in brutish sensuality, is there any form of words, 
 derived from the language of earth, so expressive of 
 the fullness of joy, as those which I have read to you 
 as the foundation of this discourse? O what is the 
 madness of pleasure, the glitter of wealth, the splendor 
 of intellect, to the bliss of that man, who, looking 
 abroad upon the happiness which he himself hath cre- 
 ated, can say with the patriarch of Uz, When the ear 
 heard me, then it blessed me ; and when the eye saw 
 me, then it bear witness unto me ; because 1 delivered 
 the poor when he cried, the fatherless, and him that had 
 none to help him. The blessing of hini that was 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 245 
 
 ready to perish, came upon me, and I caused the 
 widow's heart to sing for joy. 
 
 II. But secondly. 1 behold before me many men 
 who are desirous of distinction, of power, of influence, or 
 oi' that, by what name soever it be called, which will 
 enable you to sway the decisions of the community, 
 and give to your own arm the strength of a collected 
 population. Listen to us, then, while we show you, 
 that benevolence is for your interest. Here, distinction 
 may be purchased without opposition, enjoyed without 
 envy, and surrendered without regret. Here, influence 
 may be acquired without sacrifice of principle, and 
 retained without consciousness of guilt. 
 
 The foundation of that power which ye all desire, 
 must be laid, as you are aware, in the good opinion 
 of your fellow citizens. Tell us then, ye men, who 
 believe yourselves initiated into the secretsof a profound 
 sagacity, hath there been any surer, or more honorable, 
 or more direct way to gain that good opinion, than in 
 truth and in honesty to deserve it ? We will tell you 
 a secret more valuable than any which ye have ever 
 yet learned ; and which your prying but purblind in^ 
 genuity hath never yet discovered. That skill on 
 which ye so much boast yourselves, consists in 
 merely giving to your own selfishness the appearance of 
 that very philanthropy which ye so much despise. A 
 power which ye do not understand, is, by combinations 
 which ye cannot counteract, daily stripping off" your 
 disguises, and consigning you to merited neglect. 
 Other actors will succeed you, themselves to be in turn 
 unmasked, and to follow you into oblivion. And hence 
 the ceaseless agitations of the political world. 
 
246 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 Suffer us then to tell you now, for it will be too late 
 when you learn it from experience, that this same 
 feeling, which shuts out other men from your sympa- 
 thies, shuts you out equally from theirs. The adroit- 
 ness of management will not always avail, and you 
 will yet find yourselves impotent and friendless, iso- 
 lated, and alone. The substantial regard of the com- 
 munity is to be purchased only by doing that covimu- 
 nity good. You must love your fellow men, or they 
 will not love you back again ; and ye cannot have the 
 pearl unless ye will pay the price. Love yourselves 
 less, and ye shall accomplish your own purposes 
 better. Be in fact what you would have us believe 
 you to be. Employ that time, that wealth, and those 
 talents, in honest, pains-taking, matter-of-fact be- 
 nevolence, which you now employ in maintaining the 
 mere appearance of it, and you shall obtain a power 
 of which no party revolution can deprive you ; your 
 life shall be honored by your country's gratitude, and 
 your tomb shall be hallowed by a nation's tears. Give, 
 and it shall be given unto you ; good measure, pressed 
 down, and shaken together, and running over, shall 
 men give into your bosoms. For with the same 
 measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to 
 you again. 
 
 But, while on this part of my subject, I have another 
 consideration to urge. I appeal to your desire for 
 earthly immortality. 
 
 The secluded peasant carves his name on the tree 
 which hath sheltered him from the summer's shower. 
 The passing tourist scratches his initials on the rock 
 upon which he hath gazed. And thus the traveller, 
 
MOTIVES TO DENEFICENCE. 247 
 
 on the journey of life, would fain leave some memo- 
 rial, which shall convince the crowd which shall come 
 after him, that his name stood for something that was 
 worthy of the character of man. 
 
 For who, to dull forgetfiilness a prey, 
 This pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned, 
 Left the warm precincts of the tlieerru! day. 
 Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind 1 
 
 This desire so universal, so natural to man^ revela- 
 tion hath no where forbidden. Let it only be directed 
 to proper objects, and she cherishes it. But how 
 shall wealth purchase this much coveted remembrance ? 
 Is it by pampering these bodies, on which the earth 
 worm so soon shall revel ? Is it by hoarding up 
 treasures, which our children shall squander in 
 thoughtless extravagance ? Is it by building habita- 
 tions, which the men who shall come after us, will 
 level with the dust? O it is pitiful, to behold how 
 quickly the memory of him, who boasteth himself in 
 his riches, is forgotten ! In the very scramble for his 
 wealth, of which he himself hath set the example, his 
 name and his character are trampled under foot ! Thus, 
 O my God, dost thou pour avenging blindness over 
 the eyes of selfish men, and make their own iniquitous 
 passions the executioners of thy righteous retribution. 
 
 Do you ask, then, how shall wealth acquire for you, 
 remembrance upon earth ? We ansv/er, write your 
 history in deeds of mercy, and your memory shall live. 
 So long as there are sick to be visited, or naked to 
 be clothed, or ignorant to be taught, or vicious to be 
 reclaimed, or heathen to be converted, you have it in 
 your power to secure to yourself a name, which shall 
 
248 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 shine with still increasing lustre, when that of con- 
 querors and heroes shall long since hav^e been forgotten. 
 The righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance. 
 The pride of learning, neglected by an advancing age, 
 sinks with its authors into oblivion. The wreath of 
 the victor withers, but the wreath of the philanthropist 
 shall bloom forever. The glory of Napoleon, mighti- 
 est of the mighty though he were, is fast fading away, 
 and year after year is rapidly erasing the lines which 
 he drew upon the destinies of Europe. The glory of 
 Robert Raikes is every year growing brighter, for its 
 record is written in the moral history of man. The 
 one, like the flaming meteor, glared wildly at Austerlhz; 
 it sunk at St. Helena, and the light which marked 
 its track is quickly evanishing in darkness. The other, 
 rose mildly as the morning sun, and it is yet rising. 
 Ages will elapse ere it reaches its meridian. There, 
 fixed, like the sun of Joshua, it shall hang high in mid- 
 heaven, until the judgment trumpet shall announce 
 that the warfare is accomplished, and the victory is 
 won, and we shall reign forever and ever. 
 
 III. I proceed to the third argument, and ask, which 
 mode of living is most consistent with the dignity of 
 your nature. 
 
 When I contemplate this subject in this light, I look 
 around upon this assembly with unaffected awe. I 
 behold every individual of you, animated by a soul, 
 that finds her peers among the seraphim in light. I 
 know that that soul is endowed with a taste, formed 
 to appreciate the loveliness of aught that God has 
 formed, with an understanding capable of grasping 
 whatever is finite of knowledge, with an imagination 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 249 
 
 which may stretch its untired wing wherever the finger 
 of God hath left the traces of his power, and with a 
 conscience formed to dwell forever in the presence of 
 the Holy One, while, throughout interminable ages, it 
 is approaching nearer and nearer to the fountain of 
 uncreated excellence ; and that upon each one of tliese 
 attributes is impressed the awful seal of immortality. 
 But, greatly as I admire these mysterious powers, 
 when separately considered, I am yet more astonished 
 at the capacity for eftect with which they have en- 
 dowed the being in whom they are concentrated. I 
 look back upon the history of ages gone by, and am 
 amazed at the changes which a single mind hath fre- 
 quently wrought upon the destinies of man, yes, and 
 a mind, differing in no one respect, from that of any 
 one of yours, only in that it acted. I behold before me 
 a mass of intellectual power, which, were it exerted 
 in a suitable direction, and to its utmost limit, might 
 send abroad a flood of moral influence, which should 
 grow broader and deeper as it rolled down through 
 successive generations, until its efliects had been felt 
 by every dweller upon earth, and every brother of our 
 race had rejoiced that we had lived. 
 
 For whatever else then God may have designed us, 
 one thing is certain, he designed us for the production 
 of effect ; and it is no less certain, that in the produc- 
 tion of effect, we act most worthily of the dignity of 
 our nature. The man whom God hath endowed with 
 such powers, deserves worse than contempt, who shall 
 consign them to inaction. He is faithless to himself. 
 He is faithless to his species. He is faithless to his 
 God. The only question then is, in what direction 
 22 
 
250 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 can these powers be most favorably and most suc- 
 cessfully exerted. 
 
 And here I will not trifle even with you, ye children 
 of the present age, so much as to ask, whether the 
 probationary history of such a being should be written, 
 amid the roar of dinner tables, the frivolity of a ball 
 room, or the trickery of the exchange. Nor will I 
 ask, whether such capacities should be narrowed down 
 to the raking together of gold, or the piling together 
 of mortar and brick. I will remark at once, that the 
 answer to the question, In what manner may the pow- 
 ers of such a being be most worthily exerted, seems, 
 from a single consideration, sufficiently obvious. God 
 hath placed each of us in a world, abounding on every 
 side with physical, and intellectual, and moral evil. He 
 hath endowed us with wonderful attributes ; but these 
 attributes are most wonderftdin their ability to do away 
 this evil. In this direction therefore can they be most 
 successfully exerted; for thus does their exertion pro- 
 duce the greatest and most permanent effect. Thus then, 
 can we act most worthily of our incomparable nature. 
 
 I have said, that in works of benevolence, human 
 exertion produces the greatest and the most permanent 
 effect. History is filled with illustrations of the truth 
 of this remark. The world has for nearly two thou- 
 sand years been filled with the fame of Julius Caesar. 
 He was the master spirit of his age ; and strongly was 
 that age agitated by the workings of his genius. But 
 what traces hath he left upon the ages that have come 
 after him ? In what is the world now the better, or 
 the worse, for his having lived ? You and I would 
 have been as wise and as happy, though his fame and 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 251 
 
 his achievements had never passed the limits of Biun- 
 dusium. But it is not so with the labors of the apostle 
 of the Gentiles. The efiect of his life is seen in the 
 revolution of a world from Paganism to Christianity. 
 Every thing we behold around us, which distinguishes 
 us from the savage Britons, bears witness to the 
 changes, w'hich, through the power of the Gospel, he 
 has wrought in the destinies of man. Of Charles V. 
 I have read much, but 1 see nothing on the face of 
 society that reminds me of his existence. But this 
 solemn temple, the liberty to worship God within its 
 consecrated walls, the civil freedom of our common- 
 wealth, and of our country, and all that career of im- 
 provement on which the age hath entered, all, all of 
 it does homage to the name of Martin Luther. 
 Such examples as these, and history is full of them, 
 teach us, that in the work of benevolence, man may 
 act most worthily of his high destination. They teach 
 us, moreover, that this is the cause, and the only cause, 
 to the success of which the omnipotence of God is 
 pledged, and which therefore, though every other 
 should fail, shall infallibly succeed. But w^e are not 
 left to conjecture on this subject. Jehovah himself 
 hath promised that vice and misery shall yet be done 
 away from our world, and that it shall be done away 
 by human effort ; and, planting on Calvary the cross of 
 his well beloved Son, he hath left to the universe 
 the all-suflicient guarantee, that the work shall yet be 
 fully and triumphantly accomplished. 
 
 Thus evident is it, from the constitution under 
 which we are placed, as well as from the excellence 
 of our own endowments, that the dignity of our being 
 
252 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 calls US to philanthropic effort. We derive an addi- 
 tional ai'gLiment, from a contemplation of the employ- 
 ments of superior orders of intelligences. 
 
 Revelation informs us, that there are creatures en- 
 dowed with powers more exalted than our own , 
 creatures who have never sinned, and who draw near 
 to that hallowed, uncreated light where sits enthroned 
 the King Eternal. Of these employments, we know 
 but little J but we know enough to be assured that 
 they are mainly the works of benevolence. Are they 
 not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to 
 those who are heirs of salvation ? Of their visits to 
 our earth, rarely have we been conscious; for this dull 
 veil of materialism hides them from our sight. But 
 at times, this veil has been withdrawn, and then, I pray 
 you, where do we behold them ? They are seen 
 watching over the lonely pillow of a sleeping patriarch, 
 protecting in the hour of his devotion a persecuted 
 prophet, visiting in prison the apostle of the Jews, 
 communing in the hour of his peril with the apostle of 
 the Gentiles, and ministering in the desert and in the 
 garden unto Him, who was a man of sorrows and 
 acquainted with grief. Such are the places of their 
 choicest visitation. Is it not seemly for us to follow 
 their example ? 
 
 But we may learn our duty from more awful examples. 
 The Deity hath revealed himself mainly to us as a God 
 of benevolence. I read in his word, much of his 
 wisdom, of his power, of his omnipresence; but I read 
 more of his compassion. These other attributes are 
 but handmaids to his mercy, for God is love. In the 
 material world, infinite as are the exhibitions of his 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 253 
 
 incomparable skill, that skill is ever subservient to the 
 happiness of sensitive being. Throughout the sor- 
 rowful history of this apostate world, we have beheld 
 him, every where, so overruling the vicissitudes of 
 nations, and the movements of society, as to hasten 
 onward the reign of righteousness and peace. The 
 design of the work of redemption is summed up in 
 this one word, God so loved the world, that he sent 
 his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 might not perish. We tremble at his power. We 
 stand in awe of his omniscience. We fall prostrate 
 before his purity. But tell me, if there be aught of 
 his doings, that fills us with so adoring a veneration, 
 as when we behold the high and lofty One, stooping 
 from the high and holy place, to feed the hungry, to 
 clothe the naked, to counsel the ignorant, to be the 
 Father to the fatherless, the Judge of the widow, to 
 comfort the cast down, to speak peace to the penitent, 
 and, drawing near to the lowly couch of the humblest 
 of his children, to whisper in the ear of the departing 
 spirit. Fear not, I am with thee ; be not dismayed, I 
 am thy God ; I w'ill strengthen thee, I will help thee ; 
 yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
 righteousness. Brethren, let us learn a lesson of 
 mercy of our Father who is in heaven. Be ye follow- 
 ers, imitators, of God, as dear children. 
 
 But there is another example of equal authority, 
 and of yet more affecting application. You will all 
 anticipate that to which I allude. Deity himself hath 
 been an inhabitant of our world. The Word was 
 God, and dwelt among us. He came hither on an 
 errand of benevolence. He came to seek and to save 
 22* 
 
254 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 that which was lost. He who was the brightness of 
 the Father's glory was bruised for our iniquities ; he 
 was wounded for our transgressions ; the chastisement 
 by which our peace was effected was upon him, and 
 by his stripes we are healed. Strange was the errand 
 which brought him hither, and yet more strange, the 
 manner in which that errand was accomplished. For 
 where when on earth was the Son of God to be found? 
 Upholding all things by the word of his power, 
 was he seen in the palaces of princes ? Sharing the 
 councils of eternity, was he found in the cabinets of 
 statesmen ? The high possessor of heaven and earth, 
 did he aspire after the society of the honorable and 
 the rich ? Ah ! disciple of Jesus Christ, thy Master, 
 was not little enough for this world's greatness. I 
 blush for thee while I speak it. Thy Redeemer was 
 found a houseless philanthropist, travelling on foot 
 from village to village, over the most despised province 
 of the Roman empire. His associates were fishermen 
 and publicans, and a few poor women who ministered 
 to him of their substance. He was to be seen feeding 
 the hungry, giving sight to the blind, and health to the 
 diseased, at the bedside of the sick, comforting the 
 cast down, binding up the broken in heart, and 
 preaching the Gospel to the poor. His history on 
 earth is thus briefly summed up by the pen of inspira- 
 tion, He went about doing good. Thus hath God 
 taught us how he himself would live were he such an 
 one as we. Brethren, you see this part of my subject 
 is exhausted. I can say no more. 
 
 You will all bear me witness, ray hearers, that 
 throughout this discourse I have addressed myself 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 255 
 
 plainly and exclusively to your sober judgment. I 
 have reasoned from no principles but those which you 
 all admit ; from no facts but those with which you are 
 intimately acquainted. I have stated every thing 
 fairly and coolly, and, so far as I know, have stated 
 every thing precisely as it is. Sensible, however, of 
 the fallacy of human reasonings, I am desirous of 
 bringing all that I have said to some decisive test, so 
 that you yourselves may judge whether any thing false, 
 or any thing exaggerated, has been alleged on this 
 subject. Such a test I consider to be the views you 
 will entertain respecting a life of benevolence, when 
 you draw near to eternity. In this light let us now 
 consider it. 
 
 The hour is rapidly approaching, my friends, when 
 each one of us shall not only know that he must die, 
 but shall feel that he is dying. I will suppose this 
 hour to arrive under circumstances most favorable for 
 forming a correct and unbiassed estimate of the value 
 of every earthly possession. I will suppose you in as 
 full possession of your reason as you are at this mo- 
 ment. I will suppose all uncertainty respecting the 
 event to be done away, that medical skill has announced 
 the hour of your decease, and that you already feel 
 that indescribable something, which assures you that 
 the soul is already breaking loose from her tabernacle 
 of clay. I will suppose, moreover, that you have some 
 adequate conceptions of the strictness of the law by 
 which you must be judged, of the holiness of the 
 Being before whom you must stand, of the unutterable 
 bliss in reserve for the righteous, and of the unuttera- 
 ble agonies which await the wicked, I will also 
 
256 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 suppose you to be perfectly aware, that the time far 
 repentance is past ; and that all which now remains 
 for you, is, to ascertain from the facts of your past his- 
 tory, whether, your life has or has not been spent in 
 preparation for eternity. At that solemn moment, 
 every power of thought within you will be concentrated 
 upon the question. Am I a disciple of Jesus Christ? 
 The soul asks, and the holy oracle answers. Unless a 
 man deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow 
 me, he cannot be my disciple. The dying man calls 
 up in review the days and weeks and months and 
 years that are past ; and in an agony demands of 
 each, Have I denied myself, have I taken up my 
 cross, have I followed Christ ? Ah, who can describe 
 the despair of him, who, from one and from all of 
 them, receives the stern, the all-deciding answer, No. 
 The die is cast. But who can tell the horrors of 
 the coming interval ! Terrified at the gulf before 
 her, the soul looks back upon the past ; but all is filled 
 with horrible visions. Power, rank, applause, learning, 
 all have bidden her adieu in the hour of her calamity, 
 and have left her to her Judge. Her very amusements 
 have turned traitors, and accuse her of self destruction. 
 The card table, the theatre, the ball room, speak now 
 only of murdered time and wasted opportunity. That 
 pampered body, that vacant mind, those ungoverned 
 passions, that hoarded gold, all declare that she 
 hath lived unto herself. Behind all is condemna- 
 tion ; before her, naught is seen but the terrific efful- 
 gence of the long suffering, most merciful, but abused, 
 insulted, thrice holy Lord God Almighty. Speech 
 fails ; but the glare of those sightless eyeballs tells, 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 257 
 
 that the spirit seeth visions which language cannot 
 utter. An unearthly groan, and all is still. The 
 affrighted ghost, in all the horrors of self condemna- 
 tion, stands before her Judge. 
 
 But, blessed be God, there are other death beds 
 than these. 1 will suppose a Christian man, also in 
 the full possession of his reason, to be drawing near 
 to eternity. And let me tell thee, hearer, that neither 
 the belief nor the disbelief of a particular creed, nor 
 the remembrance of gleams of joy and moments of 
 despair, nor the assurance of conversion some twenty 
 years since, nor yet the utter denial of the necessity 
 of conversion, will sustain thee in that solemn moment. 
 Then, unless ye be sunk into fatal apathy, will ye look 
 back upon your past life with as trembling an anxiety, 
 as the dying sinner who is gasping by the side of you. 
 Then will ye call upon the years gone by, for facts 
 to bear witness that ye are the disciples of Him, that 
 justifieth the ungodly. Then, more precious than the 
 gold of Ophir will be the remembrance of unapplauded 
 charities, of self-denying effort, of the ignorant instruct- 
 ed, the sick visited, the mourner consoled, the wicked 
 amended, the cup of cold water given to a disciple, nay, 
 of aught which shall prove, that deaf to the voice of 
 pleasure, or of ease, or of ambition, or of gold, the soul 
 hath habitually asked. Lord, what wilt thou have me 
 to do ? and hath done it. The Spirit witnesseth with the 
 spirit of the dying man that he is born of God. Look- 
 ing steadfastly into eternity, the language of holy tri- 
 umph quivers on his lips. I have fought a good fight; 
 I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith ; 
 and henceforth is reserved for me, a crown of right- 
 
258 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 eousness, which God, the righteous Judge, shall give 
 me at that day. 
 
 There is an interval.- Ministering spirits whisper 
 peace to the departing soul. The countenance of the 
 dying saint beams with ineffable glory. The earthly 
 house of her tabernacle is dissolved, and the free spirit, 
 having washed her robes and made them white in the 
 blood of the Lamb, is bowing with angel and archangel 
 before the throne of the Holy One. 
 
 My brethren, I have done. 1 have endeavoured 
 honestly to set before you the considerations which 
 seem to me to have a bearing upon the question before 
 us. Though I am pleading the cause of benevolence, 
 yet God is my witness, that love to your souls hath 
 taught me to speak as I have done. 
 
 It now remains that each one of you should apply 
 this subject to himself. In the presence of God, the 
 Judge of all, I ask you this evening, how will you 
 hereafter live ? Will you spend your wealth in minis- 
 tering to your pleasures and your pride, or in creating 
 happiness among your brethren ? Will you live and 
 die, and be forgotten, like the brutes that perish ? or 
 will you embalm your memory in the gratitude of a 
 world which you have made better ? Will ye so use 
 the treasures which God hath given you, that they shall 
 witness against you at the last day, or will ye so use 
 them, that, when ye die, ye shall be received into 
 everlasting habitations ? Who of you is on the Lord's 
 side ? Who ? The answer that you have given will 
 be recorded on high. 
 
 But I will not ask you. I behold you already re- 
 solved on deeds of benevolence. Let every one of 
 
MOTIVES TO BENEFICEXCE. 259 
 
 US then put forth his hand to the work. Let us make 
 one decided, universal effort, to banish misery and 
 vice from this highly favored metropoHs. Aye, let us 
 ennoble it by our labors of philanthropy. And let us 
 not cease, until it shall be distinction proud enough 
 for any common man, that he drew his first breath in 
 the city of the pilgrims. 
 
 But it is time that I adverted to the more immediate 
 purpose for which we have this evening assembled. 
 The Howard Benevolent Society requests your aid, 
 and they have made it my duty to spread their case 
 before you. I will solicit your attention only while I 
 do so with all possible brevity. 
 
 Allow me to mention at the beginning, that I speak 
 on this subject from my own personal knowledge. 
 When I undertook this service, I well knew that you 
 would expect from me something more than vague, 
 every day report. I therefore determined to examine 
 for myself, for I dared to tell you only what I knew 
 to be indubitable fact. 1 therefore requested one of 
 their most benevolent associates to show me in what 
 labors the society was engaged. He cheerfully com- 
 plied, and a part of several days was devoted to this 
 work of investigation. Its results I am happy to lay 
 before you. 
 
 We went to a garret, where a family of friendless 
 foreigners, who had been driven by misfortune from 
 the land of their nativity, were huddled around their 
 remaining embers. There I heard that this society 
 had saved these parents from sinking into despair, and 
 had rescued their children from ignorance and vice. 
 We groped our way through dark and lonely passages, 
 
260 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 where nothing hut poverty or mercy would venture, 
 and I saw how childless, decrepit age, was looking 
 to him for defence against hunger, and cold, and 
 nakedness. He led me to a crowded and smoky 
 chamber, where, stretched on a bed of sickness, lay a 
 husband and a father, whose honest and manly face 
 was worthy of the age, as he was of the country, of 
 William Wallace. His children, excepting those now 
 in helpless infancy, had been swept away by death. 
 His vessels had been stranded on our coast, and one of 
 them was wrecked in our own bay. Of all his prop- 
 erty, the only thing left him, as he himself informed us, 
 was his family Bible ; and excepting that bold fore- 
 head, that commanding eye, and the well bred tones 
 of that faltering voice, it was the only thing in the 
 apartment which reminded us of better days. I there 
 learned how this Society had stepped in, between this 
 family and absolute starvation, and how it was, at this 
 moment, holding them up from sinking into the grave. 
 We went to the chamber of many a widow, and every 
 where did I find that the manager of this Society was 
 received as the harbinger of joy. We visited one, 
 whose prospects had been fair, and whose eye beamed 
 with as much intelligence as that of any one of you 
 who now hears me ; yes, and it beamed with piety 
 too. The husband of her youth had been prematurely 
 snatched away. For a while she cheerfully and hap- 
 pily supported, by her own labor, her little fatherless 
 children. At length, consumption marked her for his 
 victim. Still she yielded not. For the sake of her 
 two little ones, she long maintained the unequal con- 
 flict with both poverty and disease. At last, nature 
 
MOTIVES TO BEXEFICEXCE. 2G1 
 
 sunk beneath the struggle. It was then that this soci- 
 ety came to her rescue. But for their aid, she and 
 her children must have died. I marked how her 
 countenance brightened, as the friend who accom|3a- 
 nied me entered. I was touched by the sympathy 
 with which he inquired concerning her wants, and 
 no'fess so with the trembling confidence with which 
 she looked up to this society for the protection of these 
 children, who, as she w^as too well aware, were soon 
 to become orphans. He would have taken me further, 
 but I felt it to be needless. I knew that I had only 
 to state what I had already seen, of the deeds of these 
 benevolent men, to render it certain that you would 
 not allow their plea to pass by you unregarded. 
 
 It is to carry forward such works of mercy, that 
 they ask your assistance. They need, in the first 
 place, your personal services. The duties of this 
 charity occupy time ; for this society mean to act 
 with discrimination. They relieve no applicant, 
 except after personal examination of the nature of 
 the case. The labor falls heavily upon them, and 
 though they do not repine, they ask for more co- 
 adjutors, that thus their charity may be more widely 
 extended. 
 
 They ask for your pecuniary aid. Their treasury 
 is exhausted. They already give their time. They 
 give liberally of their money. But they cannot meet 
 the demands upon their benevolence, for their means 
 are limited. As a last resource, they appeal to your 
 liberality ; I know that you will not suffer such an 
 appeal to be made to you in vain. 
 
 And now, I entreat each one of you, in the solitude 
 23 
 
262 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 
 
 of his own bosom, to decide now how much he wili 
 cast into the sacred treasury. We ask you, ye men 
 of weahh, who, a few days since, when consternation 
 sat on every countenance, trembled lest the earnings 
 of a whole life time should be lost in the crash of 
 universal bankruptcy, how large a tribute of gratitude 
 do ye owe to that God, who has saved you from rtrtn ? 
 We ask you, ye men of letters, counsellors, physicians, 
 ministers of the altar, how large a portion of your 
 income is due to the sacred purpose of rescuing 
 parents from absolute starvation, and their children 
 from ignorance and vice? We ask you, men of labor, 
 who, rich in health, are able yet to bid defiance to 
 poverty, what will ye give to your brethren, whom 
 sickness has deprived of their only means of support ? 
 We ask you, mothers and daughters, what token of 
 sympathy will ye this evening extend to the lone, 
 sinking, despairing widow, and to her helpless little 
 ones? O let each of us prove himself worthy of the 
 brotherhood of man. 
 
 But I know that you will act worthily. Your former 
 deeds of mercy are already recorded. Msj the event 
 show that ye have improved in charity and piety, by 
 the moral cultivation of another year. May ye so use 
 the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, ye 
 may be received into everlasting habitations. May 
 God grant it for Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
OBJECTIONS 
 
 DOCTRINE OF CHRIST CRUCIFIED CONSIDERED. 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS, I. 22-24. 
 
 FOR THE JEWS REQUIRE A SIGX, AND THE GREEKS SEEK 
 AFTER WISDOM ; BUT WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED, 
 UNTO THE JEWS A STUMBLING BLOCK, AND TO THE 
 GREEKS FOOLISHNESS ; BUT UNTO THEM THAT ARE 
 CALLED, BOTH JEWS AND GREEKS, CHRIST THE POWER 
 OF GOD, AND THE WISDOM OF GOD. 
 
 Thr word Christ signifies the anointed one. It is 
 precisely equivalent to the word Messiah, one of the 
 most august forms of designation which the Hebrew 
 language contains. Crucifixion was a mode of capital 
 punishment, inflicted only upon criminals of the lowest 
 rank and the most aggravated turpitude. Hence the 
 words, Christ crucified, signify the Messiah, or the 
 anointed one, suffering a most painful and ignominious 
 death. 
 
 We are informed by the Apostle in the text, that 
 the doctrine expressed by these words met with 
 universal opposition. The Jews, as a nation, rejected 
 
264 THE PRE A C H I N C, OF 
 
 it. The Messiah, whom Paul preached, took prece- 
 dence of Moses. By fulfilling, he claimed to have 
 abrogated, the ceremonial law; and asserting plenary 
 authority over the conscience, he enforced, with un- 
 precedented strictness, every precept of the moral 
 law. To men, perfectly assured of the validity of 
 their hereditary claim to eternal life, he declared. 
 Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
 dom of God. And yet more, this n)an who asserted 
 his claim to such authority, was the son of a carpenter; 
 he had lived in what was to the great world, obscurity, 
 and he had died upon the cross, as a common male- 
 factor. I need go into no farther explanation, in 
 order to illustrate to you how much is meant in the 
 text by the expression, Christ crucified, to the Jews 
 a stumbling block. 
 
 And to the Greeks it was foolishness. The Greeks 
 were at this period, and they had been for ages pre- 
 vious, the leading thinkers of the world. They 
 thought much and they thought acutely, but it is 
 deeply to be regretted that they thought proudly. 
 Disdaining to be instructed by the various and ever 
 changing forms of being which they beheld around 
 them, and unacquainted with the real powers and uses 
 of the human understanding, they supposed that all 
 pure and universal truth might be excogitated by the 
 solitary workings of an isolated mind. They thus, at 
 the very outset, turned their backs upon earth, sea, 
 sky, upon the solid sphere beneath them, and the 
 gorgeous canopy of heaven above them, where every 
 thing that the eye sees unfolds a law of the universe, 
 and every thing that the ear hears whispers pure truth 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 2G5 
 
 to the humbly inquiring philosopher. If then, in the 
 pride of their hearts, they sUghted the lessons which 
 the finger of God hath inscribed in lines of beauty 
 and of grandeur on all this wide creation, you can 
 conceive, better than I can describe, how they would 
 despise a system of moral law promulgated by a Jew, 
 a name always odious ; nay, by a Jew distinguished 
 neither by rank nor learning, and who had, at the 
 hands of his own countrymen, suffered the death of a 
 common felon. Language furnishes us with no modes 
 of expression at all adequate to convey even a feeble 
 notion of the implacable and contemptuous indignation 
 with which a thoroughly bred disciple of Zeno, Plato, 
 or Aristotle, would look both upon the claim of Jesus 
 of Nazareth to supreme authority in morals, and upon 
 the revelation which he might profess to make re- 
 specting the much talked of but yet unseen world. 
 When, before the Areopagus, Paul preached the 
 resurrection of the dead, some mocked. 
 
 Now there never was a mind on which this sort of 
 treatment would inflict more acute suffering, than on 
 that of the apostle Paul. Though a man of firm, he 
 was also a man of sensitive nerves. And thus it was, 
 that the preaching of the Gospel was to him a source 
 of what he denominates a continued crucifixion. He 
 had continual heaviness and great sorrow of heart for 
 his brethren, and yet they considered him as their most 
 implacable enemy. He understood the law of Moses 
 vastly better than they, and by the doctrine which he 
 taught, was in fact establishing it; and yet, he knew 
 that they all considered him as the great subverter, 
 both of the law and of the prophets. Constituted by 
 23* 
 
266 THE PREACHING OP 
 
 nature with a lofty and delicate sense of personal 
 character, and conscious before God of the unsullied 
 rectitude of his conduct, he yet beheld his name cast 
 out every where as evil, himself denounced as the 
 ofFscouring of all things, and hunted from place to 
 place as a miscreant, whom justice should not suffer 
 another day to live. -We which live, says, he with 
 touching simplicity, we which live, are always deliver- 
 ed unto death, for Jesus' sake. If objections to a 
 man's principles were ever made the occasion of most 
 ferocious attack upon his person and character, such 
 was the fact in the case of the Apostle of the Gentiles. 
 Nor was this all. The apostle Paul was an erudite 
 man. His mind, by natuue acute, independent, and 
 original, Vv'as thoroughly versed in the learning of the 
 schools. He had doubtless measured intellectual 
 strength at Tarsus, a city renowned for its philosophers, 
 with the ablest logicians of tliat disputatious age, and 
 had borne off the honors from many a hard fought 
 intellectual field. He knew his own power, and his 
 contemporaries knew it. They had foreseen the rep- 
 utation whicli awaited him while pursuing his favorite 
 sciences. They knew of no literary or scientific em- 
 inence to which such talents, directed by such energy, 
 might not aspire. And the Apostle was perfectly 
 aware of the ineffable disdain with which they must 
 behold him, leaving the walks of the academy, which 
 he might tread without a rival, to consort with fisher- 
 men, to become a wandering outcast, and, forgetful 
 of Plato and Aristotle, to go about proclaiming, to 
 every one whom he met, a story about a crucified 
 Jew, whom he affirmed to have come to life again. 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 267 
 
 Now the Apostle had both the sagacity to perceive, 
 and liie sensibility to feel, the precise nature of his posi- 
 tion. Hence his life was a tissue of most aggravated 
 mortifications. This is what he means by the expres- 
 sions, I am crucified with Christ ; I am crucified to 
 the world, and the world is crucified to me. No 
 forms of expression can denote a more painful self- 
 devotion, than that to which the Apostle in these words 
 declares that he was led, by his resolute determination, 
 to preach Christ crucified. 
 
 And all this suflering, it seems as if he might, if he 
 had chosen, have avoided. With a slight modification 
 of his doctrines, he might have escaped comparatively 
 unharmed. Had he insisted but a little less upon the 
 supreme authority of Jesus Christ, had he been willing 
 to combine the law and the Gospel together as a way 
 of salvation, or to be silent respecting the peculiar 
 character of the death of Christ, or even to give to 
 his death a less important place in the system which 
 he preached, he would not have found it difficult to 
 make the Gospel sufhciendy palatable to a large 
 portion of his Hebrew brethren. Or if, on the other 
 hand, he had met the Sophists of Athens and of Tar- 
 sus upon their own ground, and discoursed at large 
 upon the dignity of human nature ; or had he ex- 
 patiated upon the ethics of the Gospel, without either 
 asserting its authority, or revealing the character 
 and claims, the humiliation and exaltation of its author, 
 I presume that they would have been willing to listen 
 to him with all polite and decorous attention. 
 
 But the apostle Paul would do nothing of all this. 
 He would not vary a hair's breadth from the simple 
 
268 THE PREACHING OP 
 
 preaching of the Gospel of Christ, even in its most 
 offensive peculiarity. Nay, this very peculiarity he 
 made the most prominent theme of his discourses. 
 For I delivered unlo you, said he to the Corinthians, 
 I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also re- 
 ceived, how that Christ died for our sins, according 
 to the Scriptures. Nay, to place the subject in the 
 strongest light possible, he declares, And I, brethren, 
 when I came unto you, determined not to know any 
 thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
 Such we know to have been his determination every 
 where, even unto the end. 
 
 This exposition of the words of the text teaches us 
 two very important facts ; first, that, at the time of the 
 Apostle, objections were very generally urged against 
 the doctrine of Christ crucified ; and secondly, that 
 the apostle did not consider that these objections con- 
 stituted any reason why he should not preach Christ 
 crucified. 
 
 The Jews and the Greeks, in the times of the 
 Apostles, were not very dissimilar from the men of 
 this present time. Those dispositions which would 
 lead men to reject a system of moral truth in any one 
 age, would be very likely to produce a similar result 
 in every other age. And thus, in fact, do we find it. 
 Now, as formerly, there are objections made to the 
 doctrine of Christ crucified ; but now, as formerly, 
 these objections present no valid reason why this doc- 
 trine should not be preached. It is to the illustration 
 of these two assertions, that I shall, in the remainder 
 of this discourse, direct your attention. 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 269 
 
 I. There are many objections which may be urged 
 against the doctrine of Christ crucified. 
 
 Tiie phrase, Christ crucified, or the anointed, the 
 Messiah crucified, as I have ah'eadj^ suggested, is in- 
 tended to combine together the two ideas of the exalted 
 nature and the deep inmiiliation of Christ Jesus. It 
 is thus designed to denote the two leading features of 
 the plan of redemption, which he came upon earth to 
 accomplish. Some of the most important facts alluded 
 to in these terms, I suppose to be the following. The 
 whole race of man, in consequence of the sin of our 
 first parents, having become sinners, and being thus 
 exposed to the punishment denounced against sin. He, 
 who w^as in the beginning with God, who was God, 
 by whom all things were made, became flesh, that is, 
 took upon him our nature; he died for our sins ac- 
 cording to the Scriptures ; by his death, or expiatory 
 sacrifice, the obstacles to our pardon arising from the 
 justice of God are removed, so that God can now be 
 just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in 
 Jesus. Hence pardon and eternal life can be freely 
 offered to all mankind ; for God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- 
 eth on him should not peiish, but have everlasting 
 life. And in confirmation of the truth of all this, the 
 Messiah was raised from the dead, he ascended into 
 heaven, whence he will one day come to judge both 
 the quick and the dead. 
 
 To this doctrine, a variety of objections have in 
 different ages been made. They may all, however, 
 be reduced to two classes ; first, those which are de- 
 rived from the nature of the doctrine itself; and 
 
270 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 secondly, those which are drawn from the sacred 
 Scriptures. By the first class of objections, it is 
 intended to show that such doctrines could not be 
 true ; by the second, that they are not revealed to 
 us from God. If is to the first of these classes 
 of objections that the Apostle refers in the text, and 
 it is to this that we shall principally direct your atten- 
 tion in the subsequent remarks. 
 
 A {e\v of these objections I shall very briefly 
 enumerate. 
 
 1. An objection is urged against what is here 
 asserted respecting the original nature of Him, who is 
 the author of our salvation. We suppose the doctrine 
 of Christ crucified to assert of the Being, who took 
 upon him our nature, that he was with God, and was 
 God. Now it is said, that such a mode of existence 
 as that asserted by these words, is inconceivable and 
 impossible; and that to maintain it is absurd. 
 
 2. Supposing the original dignity of the Messiah 
 to have been such as we assert, an objection is raised 
 on an exactly contrary ground. It is said, that the 
 little affairs of such a world as this, are beneath such 
 notice of its Creator. Specially is it said, to be in- 
 credible that He, who was in the beginning with God, 
 and who was God, by whom all things were made, 
 should come to this insignificant province of his do- 
 minions, and take upon himself such a nature, endure 
 such a life, and sufl;er such a death. And it deserves 
 to be remarked, that this objection has seemed to 
 receive additional weight in later years from the 
 knowledge of the vastness of the universe, as it has 
 been revealed to us by the discoveries of modern 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 271 
 
 astronomy. And hence it is, that this very consider- 
 ation has frequently sta^^ered, at the outset, many a 
 serious inquirer after theological truth. 
 
 3. Another ohjection has been urged against 
 the doctrine, which asserts the union of the divine 
 and human natures in the person of the IMessiah. 
 Such a union is declared to be impossible. It is urged 
 that if this union exist, then the knowledge of the 
 being must be at the sajne time finite and infinite; that 
 either the atonement must be made simply by man, or 
 that God must be a sufferer ; and thus that the asser- 
 tion, in what light soever it be viewed, is replete with 
 contradictions. 
 
 4. Another objection is made against that part of 
 this doctrine, which asserts the fact of the substitution 
 of the IMessiah. It is said, that it would be unjust for 
 the innocent to suffer for the guilty ; that to suppose 
 God to require such a sacrifice, and to be willing to 
 be reconciled to sinners upon no other terms, is to 
 represent Him as an arbitrary sovereign, who delights 
 in the misery of sensitive being. 
 
 5. Again, it is said, that granting the facts to be as 
 we have stated them, yet all this would fall very far 
 short of an atonement for sin. It is asked, how could 
 any being, in so short a time, endure the misery to 
 which we assert that the whole race of man was 
 throughout eternity exposed. And, it is said, that 
 unless this misery be endured, there is in fact no 
 atonement made, and that, upon our own principles, the 
 law has never yet been satisfied. 
 
 These are some of the a priori objections most 
 commonly urged against the doctrine of Christ cruci- 
 
272 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 fied. I do not pretend to mention them all, nor to 
 state at length the arguments by which they are sup- 
 ported. I present them principally as specimens of a 
 class ; and I am conscious of no intention to select 
 them unfairly, or to stale them incorrectly. To ex- 
 hibit them more at large, would not comport with the 
 design which I have in view ; specially as I presume 
 most of you to be already sufficiently acquainted with 
 them to render it unnecessary. 
 
 II. I proceed to remark, secondly, that these ob- 
 jections seem not to present any valid reason why the 
 doctrine of Christ crucified should not be preached. 
 The considerations which lead us to this opinion will 
 now be briefly staled. 
 
 1. The objections themselves seem to us unphilo- 
 sophical. 
 
 They proceed upon an erroneous estimate of the 
 powers of the human understanding. They suppose 
 us capable of deciding, by our own knowledge, upon 
 such subjects as the mode of the existence of the 
 Deity ; the nature and the extent of those relations 
 which exist between man and his fellow creatures, 
 and man and his Creator; the evil and the just desert 
 of sin ; the number of modes of possible existence; the 
 abstract nature of holiness in the Deity, and the ways 
 in which that holiness can and cannot be exhibited 
 before the created universe. Now it really docs not 
 seem as though any very deep reflection were neces- 
 sary, in order to convince a thoughtful man that such 
 subjects as these are utterly beyond the reach of the 
 most highly gifted human intellect. 
 
 But again, supposing us to be able to decide as 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED, 273 
 
 well upon these subjects, as upon any of the affairs of 
 the present life, still, objections such as we have men- 
 tioned, would seem to us unphilosophical. The doc- 
 trines referred to by the terms, Christ crucified, are 
 merely statements of certain facts, such as that man 
 has done one thing, and that God has done another, 
 and for purposes which are also stated to be made 
 known. Now these are all matters of fact, and are 
 to be judged of simply and solely by evidence. Rea- 
 sonings from our preconceived opinions, or from our 
 notions of the fitness of things, can have no place here. 
 The only question to be asked, in such a case, is, 
 what is the evidence ? and when the answer to this 
 question is given, all our other modes of reasoning bow 
 down to it in entire submission. And, whenever a 
 question of fact is thus settled by evidence, there it 
 rests, and there it must rest forever, until the evidence 
 itself can be invalidated. It can never be unsettled, by 
 reasonings drawn from any other soin'ce. The error 
 which we wish to expose, is similar to that which 
 would be committed in a court of justice, if, instead 
 of inquiring of competent witnesses whether a deed 
 ivas done, we were to spend our time in arguing, at 
 large and in general, whether such a deed could be or 
 ivouM, be done. Such is the case here. The ques- 
 tions are questions of fact ; Has such a personage as 
 Jesus Christ existed ? Is there reason to believe that 
 he was a messenger from Heaven, and has he revealed 
 to us the facts concerning himself which are compre- 
 hended under the terms, Christ crucified ? Now these 
 questions are surely not to be decided by reasoning 
 about what God could do, and what God could not do, 
 24 
 
274 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 but by an appeal to the evidence in tlie case, for the pur- 
 pose of determining what has been done. . And because 
 all the objections which we have been consitlering, are 
 manifestly at variance with this fundamental principle, 
 therefore do we assert them to be unphilosophical. 
 
 II. We consider that these objections present no 
 valid reason why the doctrine of Christ crucified 
 should not be preached, because we verily believe, 
 the facts on which the doctrine rests to have been 
 proved. 
 
 To enter into this argument at large, would here be 
 out of place. I shall only so far allude to the promi- 
 nent points of the discussion as to show that, in preach- 
 ing Christ crucified, we do not mean to decline, in 
 behalf of our system, the most searching investigation. 
 
 1. It is, I suppose, to be taken for granted, that if the 
 facts recorded in the New Testament respecting the 
 life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ 
 can be proved, then Jesus Christ was, without question, 
 a messenger from Heaven, whatever he revealed is 
 true, and whatever he commanded is obligatory upon 
 the conscience ; and also, that, if what is recorded con- 
 cerning the Apostles be proved, then, whatever they 
 have delivered is both true and obligatory upon the 
 conscience. 
 
 2. There also is such a science as the science of 
 evidence. By this I mean, that there are certain laws 
 by which we may distinguish what is proved from what 
 is not proved. That which, in accordance with these 
 laws, is proved, is matter of knowledge, and we may 
 rely upon it with the same assurance as we rely upon 
 our knowledge acquired in any other manner. That 
 
 i 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 275 
 
 which, according to these laws, is not proved, may he 
 false, or doubtful, or in various degrees probable, but 
 it can never be any thing more than mere matter of 
 opinion. It cannot he believed. It cannot enter into 
 the material of our knowledge. 
 
 Now we do verily believe, that the facts recorded in 
 the evangelical history, are susceptible of being fully 
 proved, according to the laws ofthe science of evidence. 
 We are willing to submit these facts to the most rigid 
 and scientific scrutiny, and to abide the issue. They 
 have been from the beginning abundantly attacked, 
 and every attack has been triumphantly repelled. 
 They have been a hundred times and in a hundred 
 ways proved, and the proofs have never been invali- 
 dated. Nay, we go further, and add, that they never 
 will be invalidated, without undermining the founda- 
 tions on which all history rests, and by which all our 
 knowledge both ofthe past and the absent is substan- 
 tiated. 
 
 Now, these facts being thus established, and we 
 believing them to he true, we also believe that Jesus 
 Christ and his apostles were inspired by God to re- 
 veal to us his will, and, therefore, we rely upon what- 
 ever they taught us as ultimate truth in morals. 
 
 Again. There is such a science as the science of 
 interpretation. That is, when a sentence is correctly 
 written in any language, there are laws by which it is 
 possible for one who understands that language, to 
 ascertain, with certainty, the meaning which the 
 writer intended to convey. Were it not for the 
 existence of such a science, statutes would be nu- 
 gatory, treaties a Ynockery, and all the records of 
 
276 THE PtlEACHING OF 
 
 the past as valueless to us as the scrawling of a 
 maniac. 
 
 Again ; we suppose that, when God speaks to men, 
 he speaks as men speak, and subjects his communica- 
 tions to the ordinary laws of the science of interpre- 
 tation. And, therefore, we believe that that sense of 
 the Scriptures which is settled by these laws, is the 
 true sense, and that it conveys the very idea which 
 God intended to convey to us and to all men. Having 
 thus ascertained this sense, we pretend not to go any 
 farther. We use our reason in deciding whether or 
 not a document be from God, and in deciding upon 
 the meaning of what it contains. This is the true 
 field for the exercise of human reason. Having thus 
 ascertained what God has revealed, our only remain- 
 ing duties are faith and obedience. 
 
 Now, we do believe that the New Testament does 
 declare, and that explicitly, and not by inference, the 
 identical truths which are comprised under the terms, 
 Christ crucified. We suppose them not only to be 
 revealed in so many words, but to be interwoven with 
 every other revealed doctrine. We perceive the 
 whole system of revealed religion tinctured with tl)e 
 idea of an expiatory sacrifice for sin, and incapable of 
 being sustained without it. We also suppose it to be 
 revealed, that the whole of the Mosaic economy was 
 merely a series of rites instituted to teach, by symbols, 
 this grand truth, which the New Testament teaches by 
 language. Such is our belief; and we are willing to 
 submit it to the decisions of fair, honest, rigid, search- 
 ing, thorough-going criticism, and, as we said before, 
 we are willing to abide the issue. Entertaining these 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 277 
 
 views, and supposing them to be sustained by such 
 authority, it may well be supposed that we feel obliged 
 to preach Christ crucified ; whatever objections drawn 
 from the preconceived notions of men, are urged to 
 the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 III. I remark, in the third place, these objections 
 present no valid reason why we should not preach Christ 
 crucified; for they are in no manner inconsistent with 
 the supposition, that the doctrines in question are true. 
 
 1 . These objections are precisely such as we should 
 expect to arise, were the doctrine of Christ crucified 
 true. 
 
 Were the Deity to reveal to us any fact concerning 
 the mode of his existence, it is natural to suppose that 
 such fact would be to us utterly inexplicable. ' From 
 the necessity of the case, it must be entirely beyond 
 the range of our analogies ; for what two things can 
 be so radically unlike, as the mode of existence in 
 created and uncreated being ? 
 
 Again, supposing that God should resolve to make 
 to his creatures a manifestation of his mercy and con- 
 descension, would it be surprising if this manifestation 
 should as far transcend our conceptions, as that of his 
 other attributes, his wisdom, his power, or his eternity ? 
 
 Again, when the moral law, the law on which de- 
 pends the happiness of the universe, was broken, if some 
 peculiar effort of infinite wisdom were put forth to devise 
 a plan by which we might be saved, and the honor of 
 the law at the same time vindicated, it is natural to 
 suppose that this plan would embrace in its detail 
 much that we cannot trace, and proceed upon princi- 
 ples which belong to a vastly wider generalization than 
 24* 
 
278 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 we are able to comprehend. We say, therefore, that 
 were these doctrines true, it is natural to suppose that 
 they should involve much which to man, in his present 
 state, must be utterly inexplicable. All that we are 
 surprised at is, that any thing of this sort should, by 
 any well regulated mind, be regarded in the nature of 
 an objection. 
 
 2. And, secondly, these very objections may be 
 made, with equal force, against much which is uni- 
 versally allowed to be incontrovertible fact. 
 
 For instance, it is objected, as we have just remark- 
 ed, that the mode of existence of the Deity, which the 
 doctrine of Christ crucified reveals, involves the as- 
 sertion of facis which we know not how to reconcile 
 with each other. Now the same objection might be 
 made, for aught we can see, against almost any mode 
 of existence in nature. Who can explain the mode 
 of existence of man, in such manner as to show how 
 the various facts which may be asserted respecting his 
 material and immaterial nature can be reconciled with 
 each other ? And yet does any man, on this account, 
 doubt whether or not he have a material and an imma- 
 terial nature ? Now, if such be the fact, respecting 
 things created, how much more respecting the uncre- 
 ated Jehovah ! 
 
 Again, it is objected in substance, for in fact it 
 amounts to no more than this, that the moral perfec- 
 tions of Deity are manifested in the doctrine of Christ 
 crucified, in a manner utterly unlike to any thing that 
 we could have anticipated. But, let us remember 
 that the same objection has always been made against 
 every discovery of a mode in which God manifests 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 279 
 
 his natural perfections. As tiie heavens are high 
 above (he earth, so are His thoughts above our 
 thoughts, and His ways above our ways. JMan has 
 ahvays been expecting things to be exactly as they 
 were not to be, and this incessanUy lalse expectation, 
 more than any thing else, has ahvays retarded the 
 progress of philosophy. The Catholic church decided 
 that God would not make the earth revolve around the 
 sun, but this did not change the laws of the solar sys- 
 tem. If, then, essentially the same objections which 
 are urged against the doctiine of Christ crucified may 
 be urged with equal force against other doctrines 
 which are universally believed, these objections surely 
 present no reason why we should not both believe and 
 promulgate it. And yet more, if the very same ob- 
 jections are made against this doctiine as are made 
 against incontrovertible truth, these very objections 
 would furnish ground for an analogical argument, that 
 the very doctrine in question was also true, 
 
 IV. We preach Christ crucified notwithstanding 
 these objections, because we perceive its fundamental 
 principles to be in perfect harmony with the highest 
 and most general laws of God's moral government. 
 
 To confirm this assertion at large would far trans- 
 cend the limits which can be allotted to it here. A 
 few illustrations of the general position is all that can 
 be attempted. 
 
 1. The notion of substitution is one of those ulti- 
 mate ideas on which the doctrine denominated, Christ 
 crucified rests. Now, what is objected to, in this 
 idea, is, that it supposes one person to suffer or to 
 enjoy, in consequence of actions in which he himself 
 
280 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 had no agency. Now if any one will reflect, he will 
 easily be convinced that this is a universal law of our 
 present constitution. Who had any agency in forming 
 the character of his parents ? and yet whose pres- 
 ent happiness or misery is not vitally affected by it ? 
 Who of us had any agency in the toils and privations, 
 the sufferings and dangers, the wisdom and the piety 
 of the Puritans ? and yet who of us is not at this mo- 
 ment reaping, in rich abundance, that harvest of which 
 the Puritans sowed the seed ? What man now living 
 had any agency in the introduction of the slave trade? 
 and yet what man now living is not the less happy in 
 consequence of this traflic in human blood ? Now in 
 harmony with this universal law of our present consti- 
 tution, tbe Bible asserts that our whole race became 
 sinners in consequence of the sin of Adam. Thus, 
 the ruin of our wbole race seemed inevitable. It was 
 then tbat the Son of God appeared in our nature; and 
 as the second Adam, availing himself of the very 
 principle by which our destruction had been accom- 
 plished, made an atonement for our sins, and opened 
 for us a way to everlasting life. Or, to express the 
 same idea in the words of the Apostle, ^s by the 
 offence of one, judgment came upon all men to con- 
 demnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the 
 free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 
 Now all this seems to us manifestly in harmony with 
 that universal law, by which every individual of our 
 race suffers and enjoys, in consequence of the good or 
 ill conduct of every other. 
 
 Take another illustration. The doctrine of the 
 union of the human and divine natures in one person, 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 281 
 
 though mysterious, is in harmony with that other mys- 
 terious connexion which exists between each one of 
 us and our Creator. We are actually dependent upon 
 him for every power, both physical and spiritual. In 
 Him we live, and move, and have our being. I know 
 not that it is possible to conceive of the production of 
 a single change, without the exertion of his agency ; 
 and yet every one of us is a separate, and distinct, 
 and entirely accountable individual. What can be 
 more inscrutable than this connexion, which actually 
 exists between us and our Creator ? How is it that 
 we are at the same time dependent upon God, and 
 still independent of Him ? Now I do not in the least 
 assert that the connexion between Deity and humanity 
 in the person of the Messiah was of the same nature 
 as that which exists between every one of us and God. 
 I believe the very opposite. This, however, I do 
 assert ; It is unreasonable to object to one mode of 
 connexion, because it is incomprehensible, while every 
 thought, every volition, nay, the very act of mind by 
 which the objection is made, discloses another mode 
 of connexion, which every man must allow to be also 
 incomprehensible. 
 
 Once more. The doctrine of Christ crucified as- 
 serts that our salvation depends entirely upon the 
 principle of faith. Now supposing this to be true, it 
 is manifestly in perfect harmony with one of the fun- 
 damental laws of the moral universe. A few words 
 will suffice to render this evident. Faith, in its most 
 generic sense, is a disposition of mind to act in con- 
 formity to our relations to the unseen, the absent, and 
 the future, just as though they were visible and present. 
 
282 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 Now every thoughtful man must be fully aware that, 
 in the affairs of the present life, success depends more 
 upon acting in obedience to this principle than to any 
 other. Here is, in fact, the dividing line between 
 wisdom and folly. Now in religion, faith, in its most 
 generic sense, is the application of this principle to 
 our relations to God. It is a disposition to act in 
 conformity to our relations to God, as though always 
 and in all his perfections he were immediately present 
 to us. And more especially, faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ is a disposition of mind to act in conformity to 
 our relations towards him as our Saviour from sin, as 
 though, in all his holiness and condescension, he 
 were every moment before us. Laying aside every 
 weight, saith the Apostle, and the sin that doth so 
 easily beset us, let us run with patience the race that 
 is set before us, looking unto Jesus. You see then, 
 generally, how perfectly in harmony with the elemen- 
 tary laws of the moral universe, are these elementary 
 ideas of the system in question. 
 
 V. Another reason why, notwithstanding the ob- 
 jections which may be made against it, we preach the 
 doctrine of Christ crucified, is, that it has always been 
 effectual to accomplish the object which we have in 
 view, the moral renovation of man. 
 
 This subject has been so frequently set before you 
 by the advocates of missions, that a bare allusion to a 
 few prominent facts will be sufficient for our present 
 purpose. 
 
 The earliest exhibition of the moral power of these 
 doctrines was seen during the period of their first 
 promulgation. At this time, this system of religion 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 283 
 
 had every thing on eartli to encounter. The whole 
 Jewish polity, and the whole Roman power were its 
 irreconcileahle foes. It could only succeed by over- 
 turning the very institutions of social and domestic life ; 
 for these had derived their form and pressure from a 
 selfish, cruel, and licentious religion. The very trades 
 and occupations of life enlisted men in strenuous op- 
 position to it, from the days of Demetrius, the silver- 
 smith of Ephesus, onward. Yet it every where 
 triumphed. It pervaded the Roman empire, devel- 
 oped the principles of right, purified domestic manners, 
 cultivated a spirit of universal charity, and taught men 
 to triumph over this present world, by fixing their 
 hopes upon a city which hath foundations, whose 
 builder and maker is God. Thus commenced a new 
 and distinct era in the history of man. 
 
 Very much the same may be said of the second 
 great period of the development of the power of the 
 Gospel, the Protestant Reformation. It delivered the 
 human mind, a second time, from a most aj)palling 
 tyranny. From a debasing and frivolous sensuality, 
 it again raised man to the high purpose and the un- 
 daunted energy of him who is living for eternity. 
 Wherever it entered, it again changed the hearts of 
 individuals, and imbued them with the love of whatso- 
 ever things are pure, and peaceable, and lovely, and 
 of good report. Going onward from thence, it has 
 ever since been spreading its conquests over man as 
 a society. As these conquests have been extended, 
 people have become free, and governments at the 
 same time stable. And hence it is to the promulga- 
 tion of these very doctrines that we trace the origin of 
 
284 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 every civil, and intellectual, and moral blessing which 
 we now enjoy. For, let it be remembered, that the 
 very doctrines for which Luther specially and most 
 earnestly contended were those of the sole efficacy of 
 the atonement, and justification only by faith in the 
 merits of a crucified Redeemer. 
 
 Nor have later times been wanting in examples of 
 the moral power of the doctrines of the cross. Within 
 our own age, the Gospel has been sent to the most 
 ferocious and degraded savages, and its success has 
 fairly challenged the admiration of the world. It has 
 formed the only ingredient of blessing which has been 
 mingled in the cup which we have prepared for our 
 aboriginal brethren in the West. Wherever it has 
 gone, it has turned men from darkness unto light, and 
 from the power of Satan unto God. Civilization, and 
 the arts, equal rights, and security of property, have 
 followed in its train. And all these have been the 
 consequences of preaching the doctrine of a crucified 
 Messiah. For we are not aware that these moral 
 transformations have followed the establishment of 
 Catholic missions; and of Protestants, those only who 
 believe in these doctrines, have, so far as we know, 
 made the experiment of promulgating their sentiments 
 among the heathen. 
 
 As philanthropists, therefore, and as practical men, 
 it seems to us wise, in despite of all objections, to 
 employ an agent, which so admirably accomplishes the 
 purpose which we have in view. As philosophers also, 
 we cannot escape the conclusion, that there must be 
 something radically true in a moral system, which in- 
 variably produces results so triumphantly right. 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 285 
 
 VI. Lastly. We insist upon the preaching of 
 Christ crucified, because it is the only nnoral system 
 which has ever proved effectual for the reformation 
 of men. 
 
 1. The various forms of Pagan religion do not 
 deserve to be dignified even with the appellation of 
 moral failures. From the time when the earliest 
 record of Polytheism was entrusted to history, to the 
 present day of Vishnu, Juggernaut and Gaudama, the 
 dark places of the earth have been filled with the hab- 
 itations of ignorance, cruelty, and licentiousness. 
 
 The ethical systems of the heathen philosophers, 
 when viewed in this light, were utter and absolute 
 failures. They contained elaborate discussions upon 
 disputed questions in morals, sometimes acute, some- 
 times eloquent, though very frequently puerile; but when 
 or where were they ever known to turn men from sin 
 to holiness, or to virtue from vice? When did they 
 ever prompt to such an enterprise ? These very sys- 
 tems embosomed within themselves the elements of a 
 twofold failure. First, they inspired their converts 
 with no disposition to endure self-denials in the pro- 
 mulgation of their principles, and, secondly, these 
 principles were utterly destitute of any power by 
 which a human soul might be morally transformed. 
 
 The system of Judaism was also a decided failure. 
 It did, we grant, reveal the law of God with clearness. 
 It pointed by types and shadows to the way of recon- 
 ciliation. It was enforced by the repeated messages 
 of prophets and seers, who spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost. Still, the people and the priests 
 grew worse instead of better. Age after age beheld 
 25 
 
286 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 them becoming more and more corrupt, until, at last, 
 the prophet declared that, on account of their wicked- 
 ness, the name of God was blasphemed among the 
 Heathen. This total failure of the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion as a means of the moral reformation of the Jews, 
 is repeatedly alluded to both in the Old and the New 
 Testaments. Thus it is said in the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews, For if the first covenant had been faultless, 
 there should no place have been sought for the second. 
 But finding fault with them, he saith. Behold the days 
 come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new cove- 
 nant with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah. 
 Not according to my covenant which I made with 
 their fathers, which covenant they broke, and 1 re- 
 garded them not, saith the Lord ; but this is the cov- 
 enant that I will make, — I will put my laws in their 
 mind, and write them in their hearts, and I will be to 
 them a God, and they shall be to me a people. 
 
 Since the first promulgation of the doctrine of 
 Christ crucified, various modifications of it have, as 
 we conceive, been preached in its place. These have 
 all failed of accomplishing the moral reformation of man. 
 
 Romanism retaining the doctrine of the depravity 
 of man, excluded that of justification by faith in the 
 merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, and substituted in its 
 room the notion of a pardon through the merits of the 
 church, to be administered solely and exclusively by 
 the priesthood. It is merely history to state, that no 
 system of religion, either before or since, has ever 
 been justly responsible for such universality and 
 atrocity of guilt ; or has ever crushed the human race 
 with so remorseless and desolating a tyranny. 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 287 
 
 Romanism is replete with a terrific energy to evil. 
 The other modifications of what we consider the doc- 
 trine of Christ crucified, seem, on the contrary, to 
 fail from their own innate moral imbecility. Take 
 away the doctrine of the atonement, still retaining the 
 authority of revelation, and what have we but Judaism, 
 nay, Judaism deprived of its gorgeous and not inope- 
 rative means of appealing to the imagination? a system 
 which, when in all its glory, proved utterly unable to 
 control an age much more controllable than the pres- 
 ent. Take away the supreme authority of revelation, 
 and decide upon what the Bible shall teach, by the 
 liglit of human reason, and what have we but the re- 
 ligion of nature, the systems of the Grecian schools, 
 the teachings of pagan philosophers? Of the failure 
 of these it is hardly proper to speak, as they never 
 possessed sufHcient energy to attempt the moral refor- 
 mation, even of the communities in which they origi- 
 nated. Or, if we deny that the desert and the punish- 
 ment of sin are such as they are represented to be in 
 the doctrine of Christ crucified, we find ourselves at 
 variance with all moral analogies, and with the most 
 demonstrable principles of ethics ; it will be well 
 if we do not plunge at ot^tSf into the grossest epicuri- 
 anism, and surrender up mankind without any con- 
 trolling power, to the headlong goadings of ungovern- 
 able passion. 
 
 Again ; while we retain in theory the doctrine of 
 Christ crucified, we may utterly neglect to preach it. 
 Thus we may easily find a variety of propositions, 
 which express, what we suppose to be of necessity 
 either the antecedents or the consequents of the facts 
 
288 THE PREACHING OP 
 
 of the Gospel ; and we may promulgate them with 
 the acuteness of schoolmen and the resolution of mar- 
 tyrs. The doctrine of the cross may thus become an 
 admirable occasion for the acquisition of intellectual 
 discipline. But what are the effects of all this labor? 
 Sinners are no longer converted, spii'itual apathy over- 
 spreads the church, and ihe still small voice of the 
 Spirit is unheeded amid the din of angry polemics. 
 
 Or we may err from the simplicity of the truth in 
 an opposite manner. Instead of preaching the Gospel 
 as it is, we may select particular portions of it, and 
 use them as the groundwork of an appeal to the im- 
 agination and the sensitiveness of men. We may 
 thus create violent agitation, excessive joy, intense 
 activity; but they quickly pass away, and leave behind 
 them no vestige of the fruits of the Spirit. Just as 
 we forsake the preaching of the doctrines of the cross 
 in their unadulterated simplicity, will the permanent 
 effects of our ministrations decrease, until, w!)ilst we 
 may produce all the excitement of tragedy, we leave 
 at last quite as transient an impression. 
 
 Here I am aware that I shall be met by the question, 
 Is not good done by all these modes of exhibiting 
 what are supposed to be t^hs of religion? 1 answer, 
 yes. They all exhibit some truth, and all truth is 
 valuable. But I ask, what then ? Do they accomplish 
 the good, which the Gospel was intended to accom- 
 plish ? If not, it is to no purpose to allege that they 
 do good. The Gospel is too valuable to be used to 
 accomplish any other good than that for which God 
 specially designed it. A dwelling house if consumed 
 might be very useful for ashes ; but this would be a 
 
CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 289 
 
 very insufficient reason for setting it on fire. It has 
 other more important uses to accomplish. An Israelite 
 in the wilderness (lying by the bite of the fiery serpents, 
 might have been relieved by a draught of water, or, if 
 you please, it would have done him good ; but how 
 much better would it have been to direct his eyes to 
 the brazen symbol, and thus cure at once both the 
 thirst itself and also the disease in which that thirst 
 originated. 
 
 I have thus endeavored to show, that notwithstand- 
 ing the objections which are made to the preaching of 
 Christ crucified, we feel justified in preaching it. 
 1st. Because we consider these objections themselves 
 to be unphilosophical. 2d. Because we believe the 
 doctrines thus denominated to be true. 3d. Because 
 the objections themselves are entirely in harmony with 
 the supposition that the doctrine is true. 4th. Because 
 the elementary truths of this doctrine are in har- 
 mony with the elementary laws of the present moral 
 constitution. 5th. Because the promulgation of them 
 has ever been effectual in accomplishing the moral 
 reformation of men. And 6th. Every other moral 
 system has utterly failed in the attempt to produce 
 this result. I hasten to conclude this already pro- 
 tracted discussion by a few brief remarks. 
 
 From the above considerations it will be readily 
 perceived, that objections, drawn from what we may 
 consider the nature of things, are misapplied when 
 urged against the facts which claim to be revealed in 
 the Scriptures. The only questions to be discussed 
 are, first, Are the Scriptures true? and, secondly, What 
 do the Scriptures teach ? The one question is to be 
 25* 
 
290 THE PREACHING OF 
 
 answered by the science of evidence, and the other 
 by the science of interpretation. Here is the ground 
 and the only ground for argument. To these points 
 let the disbeliever in these doctrines direct his attacks, 
 and these points let the believer be prepared to defend. 
 When this shall have been done, we may hope to see this 
 controversy brought to a definite and decisive issue. 
 
 2. Let us who profess to believe the doctrine of 
 Christ crucified preach it every where, on all occasions, 
 and under all circumstances. This doctrine and this 
 only possesses that divine energy by which men are 
 to be converted unto God. We may be considered 
 illiberal, prejudiced, obtuse of intellect ; but let us not 
 be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power 
 of God unto salvation. We believe it to be truth, and 
 if it be truth it is great and must prevail. With kind- 
 ness and charity, and yet in simplicity and fidelity, let 
 us resolve to know nothing among men but Jesus 
 Christ and him crucified. 
 
 3. Nor in all this is there any sectarianism. We 
 believe these doctrines to be true, and suppose our- 
 selves able to show them to be so. We esteem them 
 vitally important to the temporal and to the eternal 
 interests of men. As intelligent beings, we have a 
 right to promulgate them as widely as we choose, and 
 to convince of their truth as many as we are able. 
 It will be sectarianism whenever we underrate the 
 talents, disparage the motives, curtail the influence, or 
 violate in the slightest manner the rights of those who 
 differ from us. But if we do none of this, it is no 
 sectarianism by fair argument to give to our sentiments 
 all the influence in our power. We cheerfully concede 
 
CHRIST ORUCIFIED. 291 
 
 to Others the right which we claim for ourselves. If 
 our claim be allowed, we rejoice; but if not, we must 
 be pardoned if, as we suppose in obedience to God, we 
 still preach Christ and him crucified. 
 
 I close by expressing my devout hope that these 
 doctrines, in all their power and all their efficacy, may 
 ever be preached within these consecrated walls. 
 May my brother who is now to be set over you in the 
 Lord, always delight to make the doctrines of a cru- 
 cified Messiah the sum and the substance of his min- 
 istrations. May you all be so blest as to receive 
 them in love, and to become doers of the word, and 
 not hearers only; and may this whole congregation be 
 given unto their pastor, as the seals of his ministry in 
 the day of the Lord Jesus. Amen. 
 
DISCOURSE ON EDUCATION. 
 
 In the long train of her joyous anniversaries, New 
 England has yet beheld none more illustrious than 
 this. We have assembled to-day, not to proclaim 
 how well our fathers have done, but to inquire how 
 we may enable their sons to do belter. We meet, 
 not for the purposes of empty pageant, nor yet of 
 national rejoicing ; but to deliberate upon the most suc- 
 cessful means for cultivating, to its highest perfection, 
 that invaluable amount of intellect, which Divine 
 Providence has committed to our charge. We have 
 come up hither to the city of the Pilgrims, to ask how 
 we may render their children most worthy of their an- 
 cestors, and most pleasing to their God. We meet to 
 give to each other the right hand of fellowship, in 
 carrying forward this all-important work, and here to 
 leave our professional pledge, that, if the succeeding 
 generation do not act worthily, the guilt shall not rest 
 upon those who are now the Instructers of New 
 England. 
 
DISCOURSE ON EDUCATION, 293 
 
 Well am I aware that the occasion is worthy of the 
 choicest effort of the highest talent in the land. Sin- 
 cerely do I regret, that upon such talent the duty of 
 addressing you this day had not devolved. ]Much do 
 I also regret, that sudden indisposition has deprived 
 me of that lime which had been set apart to meet the 
 demands of the present occasion, and that I am only 
 able to offer for your consideration such reflections as 
 have been snatched from the most contracted leisure, 
 and gleaned amid the hurried hours of languid conva- 
 lescence. But I bring, as an offering to the cause of 
 Education, a mind deeply penetrated with a conviction 
 of its surpassing importance, and enthusiastically ardent 
 in anticipating the glory of its ultimate results. I 
 know, then, that I may liberally presume upon your 
 candor, while I rise to address those, to very many 
 of whom it were far more beseeming that I humbly 
 listened. 
 
 The subject which I have chosen for our mutual 
 improvement, is, the object of intellectual ed- 
 ucation; AND the manner IN WHICH THAT OBJECT 
 IS TO BE ATTAINED. 
 
 1. It hath pleased Almighty God to place us under 
 a constitution of universal law. •By this we mean, 
 that nothing, either in the physical, intellectual, or 
 moral world, is in any proper sense contingent. 
 Every event is preceded by its regular antecedents, 
 and followed by its regular consequents ; and hence 
 is formed that endless chain of cause and effect which 
 binds together the innumerable changes which are 
 taking place every where around us. 
 
 When we speak of this system as subjected to uni- 
 
294 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 versal law, we mean all this ; but this is not all that we 
 mean. The term law, in a higher sense, is applied to 
 beings endowed with conscience and will, and there is 
 then attached to it the idea of rewards and punishments. 
 It is used in this sense to signify a constitution so ar- 
 ranged, that one course of action shall be inevitably 
 productive of happiness, and another course shall be 
 inevitably productive of misery. Now, in this higher 
 sense, is it strictly and universally true, that we are 
 placed under a constitution of law. Every action 
 which we perform, is as truly amenable as inert matter, 
 to the great principles of the government of the uni- 
 verse, and every action is chained to the consequences 
 which the Creator has affixed to it, as unalterably as 
 any sequence of cause and effect in physics. And 
 thus, with equal eloquence and truth, the venerable 
 Hooker has said, * Of Law, there can be no less ac- 
 knowledged, than that her seat is the bosom of God, 
 her voice the harmony of the world ; all things in 
 heaven and earth do her homage ; the very least as 
 feeling her care, and the very greatest as not exempted 
 from her power ; both angels and men and creatures of 
 what condition soever, though each in different sort and 
 manner, yet all witiln uniform consent, admiring her as 
 the mother of their peace and joy.' 
 
 Such a constitution having been established by a 
 perfectly wise Creator, it may well be supposed that it 
 will remain unchangeable. His laws will not be altered 
 for our convenience. We may obey them or disobey 
 them, we may see them or not see them, we may be 
 wise or unwise ; but they will be rigidly and unalterably 
 
EDUCATION. 295 
 
 enforced. Thus must it e\er be, until we have the 
 power to resist the strength of omnipotence. 
 
 Again ; it is sufficiently evident that the veiy con- 
 stitution which God has established, is, with infinite 
 wisdom and benevolence, devised for just such a being, 
 physical, intellectual, and moral, as man. By obedi- 
 ence to the laws of God, man may be as happy as his 
 present state will allow. Misery is always the result 
 of a violation of some of the laws which the Creator 
 has established. Hence, our great business here, is, 
 to know and obey the laws of our Creator. 
 
 That part of man by which we know, and, in the 
 most important sense, obey the laws of the Creator, is 
 called MIND. I use the word in its general sense, to 
 signify, not merely a substance, not matter, capable of 
 intellection, but one also capable of willing, and to 
 which is attached the responsibility of right and wrong 
 in human action. It is one of the laws of this substance, 
 that increased power for the acquisition of knowledge, 
 and a more universal disposition to obedience, may be 
 the result either of the action of one individual upon 
 another, or, of the well-directed efforts of the individual 
 mind upon itself. 
 
 Without some knowledge of the laws of nature, it is 
 evident that man would immediately perish. But it is 
 possible for him to have only so much knowledge of 
 them as will barely keep generation after generation in 
 existence, without either adding anything to the stock 
 of intellectual acquisition, or subjecting to his use any 
 of the various agents which a bountiful Providence has 
 everywhere scattered around, for the supply of his 
 wants and the relief of his necessities. Such was the 
 
296 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 case with the Aborigines of our country, and such had 
 it been for centuries. Such, also, with but very few 
 and insignificant exceptions, is the case in Mohammedan 
 and Pagan countries. The sources of their happiness 
 are few and interrupted ; those of their misery, muki- 
 phed and perpetual. 
 
 Looking upon such nations as these, we should in- 
 voluntarily exclaim. What a waste of being, what a loss 
 of happiness, do we behold ! Here are intelligent 
 creatures, placed under a constitution devised by Infinite 
 Wisdom for the purpose of promoting their happiness. 
 The very penalties which they suffer, are so many 
 proofs of the divine goodness — mere monitions to direct 
 them in the paths of obedience. And beside this, they 
 are endowed with a mind perfectly formed to investigate 
 and discover these laws, and to derive its highest plea- 
 sure from obeying them. Yet that mind, from want of 
 culture, has become useless. It achieves no conquests. 
 It removes no infelicities. Here, then, must the rem- 
 edy be applied. This immaterial part must be excited 
 to exertion, and must be trained to obedience. Just 
 so soon as this process is commenced, a nation begins 
 to emerge from the savage, and to enter upon the civ- 
 ilized state. Just in proportion to the freedom and the 
 energy with which the powers of the mind are devel- 
 oped, and to the philosophical humility with which they 
 are exercised, does a people advance in clvirizatlon. 
 Just in proportion as a people is placed under contrary 
 influences, Is Its movement retrograde. 
 
 Education Is that science wlilch teaches us how to 
 foster these energies of mind. In kw words, I would 
 say, the object of the science of Education, is, to render 
 
 I 
 
EDUCATION. 297 
 
 mind the fittest possible instrument for discovering, 
 APPLYING, and OBEYING, the laws under which God 
 has placed the universe. 
 
 That all this is necessary, in order to carry forward 
 the human species to the degree of happiness which it 
 is destined, at some time or other, to attain, may be 
 easily shown. 
 
 The laws of the universe must be discovered. Until 
 they are discovered, we shall be continually violating 
 them, and suffering the penalty, without either possibil- 
 ity of rescue or hope of alleviation. Hence the multi- 
 tude of bitter woes which ignorance inflicts upon a 
 people. Hence the interest which every man should 
 take in the progress of knowledge. Who can tell how 
 countless are the infelicities which have been banished 
 from the world, by the discovery of the simple law that 
 a magnetized needle, when fi-eely suspended, will point 
 to the north and south ! 
 
 Nor is it suflicient that a law be discovered. Its 
 relations to other laws must be ascertained, and the 
 means devised by which it may be made to answer the 
 purposes of human want. This is called application, 
 or invention. The law of the expansive power of 
 steam was discovered by the Marquis of Worcester, in 
 1663. It remained, however, for the inventive genius 
 of Watt and Fulton, more than a century afterwards, 
 to render it subservient to the happiness of man. From 
 want of skill in a single branch of this department of 
 mental labor, the human race has frequently been kept 
 back for ages. The ancients, for instance, came very 
 near to the invention of the printing press. Thus has 
 it been with several other of the most valuable inven- 
 26 
 
298 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 tions. It makes a thoughtful man sad, at the present 
 day, to observe how many of the most important agents 
 of nature we are obhged to expose to the gaze of lec- 
 ture-rooms, without being able to reveal a single prac- 
 tical purpose for which they were created. 
 
 But this is not all. A man may know a law of his 
 Creator, and understand its application ; but if he do 
 not ohcy it, he will neither reap the reward, nor escape 
 the penalty, which the Creator has annexed to it. 
 Here we enter, at once, into the mysterious region of 
 human will, of motive, and of conscience. To examine 
 it at present, is not my design. I will only remark, 
 that some great improvement is necessary in this part 
 of our nature, before we can ever reap the benefits of 
 the present constitution of the universe. I do not think 
 that any philosopher can escape the conviction, that 
 when important truth is the subject of inquiry, we 
 neither possess the candor of judgment, nor the humility 
 of obedience, which befits the relations existing between 
 a creature and his Creator. In proof of this, it is suf- 
 ficient to refer to well know facts. Galileo suffered 
 the vengeance of the Inquisition, for declaring the sun 
 to be the centre of the planetary system ! How slow 
 were the learned in adopting the discoveries of Harvey, 
 or of Newton ! Still more visible is this obstinacy, 
 when the application of a moral law is clearly discover- 
 ed. Though supported by incontrovertible argument, 
 how slowly have the principles of religious toleration 
 gained foothold even in the civilized world ! After the 
 slave trade had been proved contrary to every principle 
 both of reason and of conscience, and at variance with 
 every law of the Creator, for nearly twenty years did 
 
EDUCATION. 299 
 
 Clarkson and his associates labor, before they could 
 obtain the act for its abolition. And, to take an illus- 
 tration from nearer home, — how coolly do we look on 
 and behold lands, held by imquestionable charter from 
 Almighty God, in defiance of an hundi-ed treaties by 
 w^iich the faith of this country has been pledged, — in 
 violation of everv^ acknowledged law, human and divine, 
 wrested from a people, by whose forbearance, a century 
 ago, our fathers were permitted to exist ! I speak 
 not the language of party. I eschew and abhor it ; 
 but ' I speak with the freedom of history, and, I hope, 
 without oti'ence.' These examples are sufficient at 
 least to show us, that the mind of man is not, at pres- 
 ent, the fittest instrument possible for obeying the laws 
 of his Creator, and that th.ere is need, therefore, of that 
 science, which shall teach him to become such an in- 
 strument. 
 
 The question which next arises, is this : — Can these 
 things be taught ? Is it practicable, by any processes 
 which man can devise, to render mind a fitter instru- 
 ment for discovering, applying and obeying the laws of 
 his Creator ? We shall proceed, in the next place, to 
 show that all this is practicable. 
 
 1 . It is practicable to train the mind to greater 
 skill in discovery. A few facts will render this suffi- 
 ciently evident. 
 
 It will not be denied that some modes of thinking 
 are better adapted to the discovery of truth than others. 
 Those trains of thought which follow the order of cause 
 and effect, premises and conclusion, or, in general, 
 what is considered the order of the understanding, are 
 surely more likely to result in discovery, than those 
 
300 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 which follow the order of the casual relations, as of 
 time, place, resemblance and contrast, or, as it is com- 
 monly called, the order of the imagination. Discovery 
 is the fruit of patient tliovight, and not of impetuous 
 combination. Now it must be evident that mind, di- 
 rected in the train of the understanding, will be a fir 
 better instrument of discovery than if under the guid- 
 ance of the imagination. And it is evident tliat the 
 one mode of thinking may be as well cultivated as the 
 other, or as any mode whatsoever. And hence has 
 arisen the mighty effect which Bacon produced upon 
 the world. He allured men from the weaving of day- 
 dreams, to the employment of their reason. Just in 
 proportion as we acquire skill in the use of our reason, 
 will be the progress of truth. 
 
 Again ; there can be no doubt that, in consequence 
 of the teaching of Bacon, or, in other words, in conse- 
 quence of improvement in education, the human mind 
 has, in fact, become a vastly more skilful instrument of 
 discovery than ever it was before. In proof of this, I 
 do not refer merely to the fact, that more power has 
 been gained over the agents of nature, and that they 
 have been made to yield a greater amount of human 
 happiness to the human race, within the last one Jnm- 
 dred years, than for ten times that period before. This, 
 of itself, would be sufficient to show an abundant 
 increase of intellectual activity. 1 would also refer to 
 the fact that several of the most remarkable discoveries 
 have been made by different men at the same time. 
 This would seem to show, that mind in the aggregate 
 was moving forward, and that everything with which 
 we are now acquainted must soon have been discovered, 
 
EDUCATION. 301 
 
 even if it had eluded the sagacity of tliose who were 
 fortunate enough to observ^e it. Tliis shows that the 
 power of discovery has ah'eady been in some degree 
 increased by education. What has been so auspiciously 
 begun, can surely be carried to far greater perfection. 
 
 Again ; if we inquire what are those attributes of 
 mind on which discovery mainly depends, I think we 
 shall find ihem to be, patient observation, acute dis- 
 crimination, and cautious induction. Such were the 
 intellectual traits of Newton, that prince of modern 
 philosophers. Now it is evident that these attributes 
 can be cultivated, as well as those of taste or imagina- 
 tion. Hence, it seems as evident that the mind may 
 be trained to discov^ery, that is, that mind may be so 
 disciplined as to be able to ascertain the particular laws 
 of any individual substance, as that any other thing 
 may be done. 
 
 2. By application, or invention, I mean the con- 
 triving of those combinations by which the already 
 discovered laws of the universe, may be rendered 
 available to the happiness of man. It is possible to 
 render the mind a fitter instrument for the accomplish- 
 ment of this purpose. 
 
 In proof of this remark, I may refer you to the two 
 considerations to which I have just adverted ; namely, 
 that some trains of thought are more productive of 
 invention than others, and that, by following those 
 trains, greater progress has, within a k\v years, been 
 made in invention, than within ten times that period 
 before. 
 
 It is proper, however, to remark, that the qualities 
 of mind on which invention depends, are somewhat 
 26* 
 
302 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 dissimilar from those necessary to discovery. Invention 
 depends upon accuracy of knowledge in detail, as well 
 as in general, and a facility for seizing upon distant and 
 frequently recondite relations. Discovery has more to 
 do with the simple quality, invention with the complex 
 connexions. Discovery views truth in the ahstract ; 
 invention views it, either in connexion with other truth, 
 or in its relation to other beings. Hence has it so fre- 
 quently taken place, that philosophers have been unable 
 to avail themselves of their own discoveries ; or, in 
 other words, that the powers of discovery and of in- 
 vention are so seldom combined in the same individ- 
 ual. In one thing, however, they agree. Both de- 
 pend upon powers of mind capable of cultivation ; and, 
 therefore, both are susceptible of receiving benefit 
 beyond any assignable degree, by the progress of edu- 
 cation. 
 
 3. The mind may be rendered a fitter instrument 
 for obeying the laws of the universe. This will be 
 accomplished, when men, first, are better acquainted 
 with the laws of the universe, and secondly, when they 
 are better disposed to obey them. That both of these 
 may be accomplished, scarcely needs illustration. 
 
 For, first, I surely need not consume your time to 
 prove, that a much greater amount of knowledge of 
 the laws of the universe might be communicated in a 
 specified time, than is communicated at present. Im- 
 provement in this respect depends upon two facts; — 
 first, greater skill may be acquired in teaching ; and 
 second, the natural progress of the sciences is towards 
 simplification. As they are improved, the more proxi- 
 mate relations of things are discovered, the media are 
 
EDUCATION. 303 
 
 rendered clearer, and the steps in the illustration of 
 truth less numerous. The more a man knows of the 
 laws of his Creator, the more perfect may be his obe- 
 dience. 
 
 And, secondly, those dispositions which oppose our 
 obedience, may be corrected. Candor may be made 
 to take the place of prejudice, and envy may be ex- 
 changed for a generous love of truth. A good teacher 
 frequently produces this result now. And that the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ does present a most surprising 
 cure for those dispositions, which oppose the progress 
 of truth, and interfere with our obedience to the moral 
 laws of our being, no one, who, at the present day, 
 looks upon the human race with the eye of a philoso- 
 pher, can with any semblance of candor venture to 
 deny. 
 
 It would not be difficult, did time permit, by an 
 examination of the various laws, physical, intellectual, 
 and moral, under which we are placed, to show that 
 the principles which I have been endeavouring to illus- 
 trate, are universal, and apply to every possible action 
 of the most eventful life. It could thus be made to 
 appear, that all the happiness of man is derived from 
 discovering, applying, or obeying the laws of his 
 Creator, and that all his misery is the result of igno- 
 rance or disobedience ; and, hence, that the good of 
 the species can be pennanently promoted, and pemia- 
 nently promoted only, by the accomplishment of that 
 whichi have stated to be the object of education. 
 
 I have thus far endeavoured to show, from our situa- 
 tion as just such creatures, namely, creatures subject to 
 laws of which we come into the world ignorant, and 
 
304 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 laws which can only be known by a muid possessed of 
 acquired power, that there is, in our present state, the 
 need of such a science as that of education. 1 have 
 endeavoured to show what is its object, and also to 
 show that that object may be accomplished. I will 
 now take leave of this part of the subject, with a few 
 remarks upon the relation which this science sustains 
 to other sciences. 
 
 1. If the remarks already made have the least 
 foundation in truth, we do not err in claiming for edu- 
 tion the rank of a distinct science. It has its distinct 
 subject, its distinct object, and is governed by its own 
 laws. And, moreover, it has, like other sciences, its 
 corresponding art, — the art of teaching. Now if this 
 be so, we would ask how any man should understand 
 this science, any more than that of mathematics or 
 astronomy, without ever having studied it, or having 
 even thought about it ? If there be any such art as 
 the art of teaching, we ask how it comes to pass that a 
 man shall be considered fully qualified to exercise it, 
 without a day's practice, when a similar attempt in any 
 other art would expose him to ridicule ? Henceforth, 
 I pray you, let the ridicule be somewhat more justly 
 distributed. 
 
 2. The connexions of this science are more exten- 
 sive than those of any other. Almost any one of the 
 other sciences may flourish independently of the rest. 
 Rhetoric may be carried to high perfection, whilst the 
 mathematics are in their infancy. Physical science 
 may advance, whilst the science of interpretation is 
 stationary. No science, however, can be independent 
 of the science of education. By education their tri- 
 
EDUCATIOiV. 305 
 
 uniphs are made known ; by education alone can their 
 triumphs be multiplied. 
 
 Hence, thirdly, it is upon education that the progress 
 of all other sciences depends. A science is a compila- 
 tion of the laws of the universe on one particular sub- 
 ject. Its progress is marked by the number of these 
 laws which it reveals, and the multiplicity of their rela- 
 tions which it unfolds. Now we have before shown, 
 that the number of laws which are discovered, will be 
 in proportion to the skill of mind, the instrument which 
 is to discover them. Hence, just in proportion to the 
 progress of the science of education, will be the power 
 which man obtains over nature, the extent of his 
 knowledge of the laws of the universe, and the abun- 
 dance of means of happiness which he enjoys. 
 
 If tliis be so, it would not seem arrogant to claim for 
 education the rank of the most important of the sci- 
 ences, excepting only the science of morals. And, 
 hence, we infer, that il presents subjects vast enough, 
 and interests gi-ave enough, to task the highest effort of 
 the most gifted intellect, in the full vigor of its powers. 
 Is it not so ? If it be so, on what principle of common 
 sense is it, that a man is considered good enough for a 
 teacher, because he has most satisfactorily proved him- 
 self good for no one thing else ? Why is it, that the 
 utter want of sufficient health to exercise any other 
 profession, is frequently the only reason why a man 
 should be thrust into this, which requires more active 
 mental labor in the discharge of its duties, than any 
 other profession whatsoever ? Alas ! it is not by 
 teachers such as these, that the intellectual power of a 
 people is to be created. To hear a scholar say a les- 
 
306 DISCOUESE ON 
 
 son, is not to educate him. He who is not ahle to 
 leave his mark upon a pupil, never ought to have a 
 pupil. Let it never be forgotten, that, in the thrice 
 resplendent days of the intellectual glory of Greece, 
 teachers were in her high places. Isocrates, Plato, 
 Zeno, and Aristotle were, without question, stars of the 
 first magnitude, in that matchless constellation, which 
 still surrounds with undiminished effulgence the name 
 of the city of Minerva. 
 
 And lastly, if the science of education be thus im- 
 portant, is it not worthy of public patronage ? Knowl- 
 edge of every sort is valuable to a community, very far 
 beyond what it costs to produce it. Hence it is for the 
 interest of every man to furnish establishments by which 
 knowledge can be increased. Of the manner in which 
 this should be afforded, it belongs to political economists 
 to treat. Let me suggest only a very few hints on the 
 subject. Books are the repositories of the learning of 
 past ages. Longer time than that of an individual's 
 life, and greater wealth than falls to the lot of teachers, 
 are required to collect them in numbers sufficient for 
 extensive usefulness. The same may be said of in- 
 struments for philosophical research. Let these be 
 furnished, and furnished amply. Let your instructors 
 have the use of them, if you please, gratuitously ; and 
 if you do not please, not gratuitously, and then, on the 
 principles which govern all other labor, let every teach- 
 er, like every other man, take care of himself. Give 
 to every man prominent and distinct individuality. 
 Remove all the useless barriers which shelter him from 
 the full and direct effect of public opinion. Let it be 
 supposed, that, by becoming a teacher, he has not lost 
 
EDUCATION. 307 
 
 all pretensions to common sense ; but that he may 
 possibly know as much a!)out his own business as those, 
 who, by confession, know nothing at all al)out it. In 
 a word, make teaching the business of men, and you 
 will have men to do the business of teaching. I know 
 not tiiat the cause of education, so far as teachers are 
 concerned, requires any other patronage. 
 
 I come now to the second part of the subject, which, 
 I am aware, it becomes me to treat with all possible 
 brevity. 
 
 II. In what manner shall mind be rendered a fitter 
 instrument to answer the purposes of its creation ? 
 
 To answer this question, let us go back a little. We 
 have shown that the present constitution of things is 
 constructed for man, and that man is constructed for 
 the present constitution. As n:iind, then, is the instru- 
 ment by which he avails himself of the laws of that 
 constitution, it may be supposed that it was endowed 
 with all the powers necessary to render it subservient 
 to his best interests. Were it possible, therefore, it 
 would be useless to attempt to give it any additional 
 faculties. All that is possible, is, either to cultivate in 
 the most perfect manner those faculties which exist, or 
 to vary their relations to each other. In other words, 
 to cultivate to the utmost the original faculties of the 
 mind, is to render it the fittest possible instmment for 
 discovering, applying, and obeying the laws of its crea- 
 tion . 
 
 This is, however, an ansv.er to tlie question in the 
 abstract, and without any regard to tin^.e. But the 
 question to us, is not an abstract question ; it has regard 
 to time. That is to say, we do not ask simply what 
 
308 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 is the best mode of cultivating mind, but what is the 
 best mode of doing it now, when so many ages have 
 elapsed, and so many of the laws of the universe have 
 been discovered. Much knowledge has already been 
 acquired by the human race, and this knowledge is to 
 be communicated to the pupil. 
 
 All this every one sees, at first glance, to be true. 
 Nearly all the time spent in pupilage, under the most 
 favourable circumstances, is in fact employed in the 
 acquisition of those laws which have been already dis- 
 covered. Without a knowledge of them, education 
 would be almost useless. Without it, there could 
 evidently be no progressive improvement of the species. 
 Education, considered in this light alone, has very 
 many and very important ends to accomplish. It is 
 desirable that the pupil should be taught thoroughly ; 
 that is, that he should have as exact and definite a 
 knowledge as possible of the law and of its relations. 
 It is desirable that he be taught permanently ; that is, 
 that the truth communicated be so associated with his 
 other knowledge, that the lapse of time will not easily 
 erase it from his memory. It is important, also, that 
 no more time be consumed in the process than is abso- 
 lutely necessary. He who occupies two years in 
 teaching what might as well with a little more industry 
 be taught in one year, does a far greater injury than 
 he would do by simply abridging his pupil's life by a 
 year. He not only abstracts from his pupil's acquisi- 
 tion that year's improvement, but all the knowledge 
 which would have been the fruit of it for the remainder 
 of his being. 
 
 If, then, all that portion of our time which is devoted 
 
EDUCATION. 309 
 
 to education must be occupied in acquiring the laws ol" 
 the universe, how shall opportunity be afforded for 
 cultivating the original powers of the mind ? 
 
 I answer, an all-wise Creator has provided for this 
 necessity of our intellectual nature. His laws, in this, 
 as in every other case, are in full and perfect harmony. 
 
 For, first, the original powers of the mind are culti- 
 vated by use. This law, I believe, prevails in respect 
 to all our j)owers, physical, intellectual, and moral. 
 But improvement results from the use of each several 
 faculty. The improvement of the memory does not, 
 of necessity, strengthen the power of discrimination ; 
 nor does the improvement of logical acuteness, of neces- 
 sity, add sensibility to the taste. The law on this sub- 
 ject seems to be, that every several faculty is strength- 
 ened and rendered more perfect, exactly in proportion 
 as it is subjected to habitual and active exercise. 
 
 And, secondly, it will be found that the secret of 
 teaching most thoroughly, permanently, and in the 
 shortest time ; that is, of giving to the pupil in a given 
 time the greatest amount of knowledge, consists in so 
 teaching as to give the most active exercise to the orig- 
 inal faculties of the mind. So that it is perfectly true, 
 that if you w^ish so to teach as to make the mind the 
 fittest possible institmient for discovering, applying, and 
 obeying the laws of the Creator, you would so teach 
 as to give to the mind the greatest amount of knowledge ; 
 and, on the contrary, if you wished so to teach as to 
 give to a pupil, in a given time, the greatest amount of 
 knowledge, you would so teach as to render his mind 
 the fittest instrument for discovering, applying, and 
 obeying the laws of its Creator. 
 27 
 
310 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 I do not forget that the discussion of the practical 
 business of teaching is, on this occasion, committed to 
 other hands. You will, however, I trust, allow me to 
 suggest here, one or two principles which seem to me 
 common to all teaching, and which are in their nature 
 calculated to produce the results to which I have referred. 
 
 1. Let a pupil understand every thing which we 
 design to teach him. If he cannot understand a thing 
 this year, it was not designed by his Creator that he 
 should learn it this year. But let it not be forgotten, 
 that precisely here is seen the power of a skilful teacher. 
 It is his business to make a pupil, if possible, understand. 
 Very few things are incapable of being understood, if 
 they be reduced to their ultimate elements. Hence 
 the reason why the power of accurate and natural anal- 
 ysis is so invaluable to a teacher. By simplification 
 and patience, it is astonishing to observe how easily 
 abstruse subjects may be brought within the grasp of 
 the faculties even of children. Let a teacher, then, 
 first understand a subject himself. Let him know that 
 he understands it. Let him reduce it to its natural 
 divisions and its simplest elements. And then, let him 
 see that his pupils understand it. This is the first step. 
 
 2. I vrould reconnnend the frequent repetition of 
 whatever lias been acquired. For want of this, an 
 almost incalculable amount of invaluable time is annually 
 wasted. Who of us has not forgotten far more than 
 all which he at present knows ? What is understood 
 to-day, may v.ith pleasure be reviewed to-morrow. If 
 it be frequently reviewed, it will be associated with all 
 our other knowledge, and be thoroughly engraven on 
 the memory. If it be laid aside for a month, it will be 
 
EDUCATION. 311 
 
 almost as difficult to recover it as to acquire a new truth ; 
 and it will be, moreover, destitute of the interest derived 
 from novelty. If this be the case with us generally, I 
 need not say how peculiarly the remark applies to the 
 young. 
 
 But lastly, and above all, let me insist upon the im- 
 portance of the universal practice of every thing that is 
 leanicd. No matter whether it be a rule in arithmetic, 
 or a rule in grammar, a principle in rhetoric, or a the- 
 orem in the mathematics ; as soon as it is learned and 
 understood, let it be put into practice. Let exercises 
 be so devised as to make the pupil familiar with its 
 application. Let him construct exercises himself. 
 Let him not leave them, until he knows that he under- 
 stands both the law and its application, and is able to 
 make use of it freely and without assistance. The mind 
 never will derive power in any other way. Nor will 
 it, in any other way, attain to the dignity of certain, 
 and pi'actical science. 
 
 So far as we have gone, then, we have endeavored 
 to show that the business of a teacher is, so to commu- 
 nicate knowledge as most constantly and vigorously to 
 exercise the original faculties of the mind. In this 
 manner, he will both convey the greatest amount of 
 instruction, and create the largest amount of mental 
 power. 
 
 I intended to confirm these remarks, by a reference 
 to the modes of teaching some of the most important 
 branches of science. But I fear that I should exhaust 
 your patience, and also that I might anticipate what 
 will be much better illustrated by those who will come 
 after me. I shall, therefore, conclude by applying these 
 
312 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 considerations to the elucidation of some subjects of 
 general importance. 
 
 1. If tliese remarks be true, tliey show us in what 
 manner text books ought to be constructed. They 
 should contain a clear exhibition of the subject; its limits 
 and relations. They should be arranged after the most 
 perfect method, so that the pupil may easily survey the 
 subject in all its ramifications ; and should be furnished 
 with examples for practice to illustrate every principle 
 which they contain. It should be the design of the 
 author to make such a book as could neitlier be studied 
 unless the pupil understood it, nor taught unless the 
 instructer understood it. Such books, in every depart- 
 ment, are, if I mistake not, very greatly needed. 
 
 If this be true, what are we to think of many of those 
 school books which are beginning to be very much in 
 vogue amongst us? There first appears, perhaps, an 
 abridgement of a scientific text book. Then, lest 
 neither instructer nor pupil should be able to understand 
 it, without assistance, a copious analysis oF each page, 
 or chapter, or section, is added in a second and im- 
 proved edition. Then, lest, after all, the instructer 
 should not know what questions should be asked, a 
 copious list of these is added to a third and still more 
 improved edition. The design of this sort of work 
 seems to be to reduce all mental exercise to a mere 
 act of the memory, and then to render the necessity 
 even for the use of this faculty as small as may be pos- 
 sible. Carry the principle but a little farther, and an 
 automaton would answer every purpose exactly as well 
 as an instructer. Let us put away all these miserable 
 helps, as fast as possible, I pray you. Let us never 
 
EDUCATION. 313 
 
 forget tliat the business of an instructer begins where 
 the office of a book ends. It is the action of mind 
 upon mind, exciting, awakening, showing by example 
 the power of reasoning and the scope of generahzation, 
 and rendering it impossible that the pupil should not 
 think ; this is the noble and the ennobling duty of an 
 instructer. 
 
 2. These remarks will enable us to coiTect an error 
 which of late has done very much evil to the science of 
 education. Some years since, 1 know not when, it 
 was supposed, or it is said that it was supposed, that 
 the whole business of education was to store the mind 
 with facts. Dugald Stewart, I believe, somewhere 
 remarks, that the business of education, on the contrary, 
 is to cultivate the original faculties. Hence the con- 
 clusion was drawn that it mattered not what you taught, 
 since the great business was to strengthen the faculties. 
 Now this conclusion has afforded to the teacher a most 
 convenient support against the pressure of almost every 
 manner of attack. If you taught a boy rhetoric, and 
 he could not write English, it has become sufficient to 
 say that the grand object was, not to teach the stiiicture 
 of sentences, but to strengthen the faculties. If you 
 taught him the mathematics, and he did not understand 
 the Rule of Three, and could not tell you how to 
 measure the height of his village steeple, it was all no 
 matter — the object was to strengthen his faculties. If, 
 after six or seven years of study of the languages, he 
 had no more taste for the classics than for Sanscrit, and 
 sold his books to the highest bidder, resolved never 
 again to look into them, it was all no matter, — he had 
 been studying, to strengthen his faculties, while by this 
 27* 
 
314 DISCOURSE OX 
 
 very process his faculties have been enfeebled almost to 
 annihilation. 
 
 Now, if I mistake not, all this reasonin^j is false, even 
 to absurdity. Granting that the improvement of the 
 faculties is the most important business of instruction, it 
 does not follow that it is the only business. What ! 
 will a man tell me that it is of no consequence whether 
 or not I know the laws of that universe to which I be- 
 long ? Will he insult me, by pretending to teach them 
 to me in such a manner that I shall, in the end, know 
 notliing about them ? Are such the results to which 
 the science of education leads ? Will a man pretend 
 to illuminate me by thrusting himself, year after year, 
 exactly in my sunshine ? No ; if a man profess to 
 teach me a law of my Creator, let him make the thing 
 plain, let him teach me to remember it, and accustom 
 me to apply it. Otherwise, let him stand out of the 
 way, and allow me to do it for myself. 
 
 .But this doctrine is yet more false ; for even if it be 
 true, that it matters not what is taught, it by no means 
 follows that it is no matter hoiv it is taught. The doc- 
 trine in question, however, supposes that the faculties 
 are to be somehow strengthened by ' going over,' as it 
 is called, a book or a science, without any regard to 
 the manner in Vi hich the task is accomplislied. The 
 faculties are strengthened by the use of the faculties ; 
 but this doctrine has been quoted to shield a mode of 
 teaching, in which they are not used at all ; and Irence 
 has arisen a great amount of teaching, which has had 
 very little effect, either in communicating knowledge, 
 or giving efficiency to mind. 
 
 Let us, then, come to the truth of the question. It 
 
EDUCATION, 315 
 
 is important what I study ; for it is important whether 
 or not I know the laws of my being, and it is important 
 that I so study them, that they shall be of use to me. 
 It is also important that my intellectual faculties be im- 
 proved, and therefore important that an instructer do 
 not so employ my time as to render tiiem less efficient. 
 
 3. Closely connected with these remarks is the 
 question, which has of late been so much agitated, re- 
 specting the study of the ancient languages and the 
 mathematics. On the one part, it is urged that the 
 study of the languages is intended to cultivate the taste 
 and the imagination, and that of the mathematics to 
 cultivate the understanding. On the other part, it is 
 denied that these effects are produced ; and it is asserted 
 that the time spent in the study of them is wasted. 
 Examples, as may be supposed, are adduced in abun- 
 dance on both sides ; but I do not know that the question 
 is at all decided. Let us see whether any thing that 
 we have said will throw any light upon it. 
 
 I think it can be conclusively proved, that the classics 
 could be so taught as to give additional acuteness to 
 the discrimination, more delicate sensibility to the taste, 
 and more overflowing richness to the unagination. So 
 much as this, must, we think, be admitted. If, then, 
 it be the fact that these effects are not produced, — and 
 I think we must admit that they are not, in any such 
 degree as might reasonably be expected, — should we 
 not conclude that the fault is not in tha classics, but in 
 our teaching ? Would not teaching them better be the 
 sure way of silencing the clamor against them ? 
 
 I will frankly confess that I am sad, when I reflect 
 upon the condition of the study of the languages among 
 
316 DISCOURSE ON 
 
 US. We spend frequently six or seven years in reading 
 Latin and Greek, and yet who of us writes, — still more, 
 who of us speaks them with facility ? I am sure there 
 must be something wrong in the mode of our teaching, 
 or we should accomplish more. That cannot be skil- 
 fully done, which, at so great an expense of time, pro- 
 duces so very slender a result. Milton affirms, that 
 what in his time was acquired in six or seven years, 
 might have been easily acquired in one. I fear that 
 we have not greatly improved since. 
 
 Again, we very properly defend the study of the 
 languages on the ground that they cultivate the taste, 
 the imagination, and the judgment. But is there any 
 magic in the name of a classic ? Can we improve a 
 boy's mind merely by teaching him to render, with all 
 clumsiness, a sentence from another language into his 
 own ? Can the faculties of which we have spoken, be 
 improved, when not one of them is ever called into 
 action ? No. When the classics are so taught as to 
 cultivate the taste and give vigor to the imagination, — 
 when all that is splendid and beautiful in the works of 
 the ancient masters, is breathed into the conceptions of 
 our youth, — when the delicate wit of Flaccus tinges 
 their conversation, and the splendid oratory of TuUy, 
 or the irresistible eloquence of Demostlienes is felt in 
 the senate and at the bar — -I do not say that even then 
 we may not find even something more worthy of being 
 studied ; — but we shall then be prepared, with a better 
 knowledge of the facts, to decide upon the merits of 
 the classics. The same remarks may apply, though 
 perhaps with diminished force, to the study of the math- 
 ematics. If, on the one hand, it b© objected that this 
 
EDUCATION. 317 
 
 kind of study does not give that energy to the powers 
 of reasoning whicli has frequently been expected, it 
 may, on the other hand, be fairly questioned whether 
 it be correctly taught. The mathematics address the 
 understanding. But they may be so taught as mainly 
 to exercise the memory. If they be so taught, we 
 shall look in vain for the anticipated result. I suppose 
 that a student, after having been taught one class of geo- 
 metrical principles, should as much be required to com- 
 bine them in the forms of original demonstration, as that 
 he who has been taught a rule of arithmetic should be 
 required to put it into various and diversified practice. It 
 is thus alone, that we shall acquire that 5-jva;.'is avaXvTw.y], 
 the mathematical power which the Greeks considered 
 of more value tlian the possession of any number of 
 problems. When the mathematics shall be thus taught, 
 1 think there will cease to be any question, whether 
 they add acuteness, vigor and originality to the mind. 
 
 I have thus endeavored, very briefly, to exhibit the 
 object of education, and to illustrate the nature of the 
 means by uliich that object is to be accomplished. I 
 fear that I have already exhausted your patience. I will, 
 therefore, barely detain you with two additional remarks. 
 
 1. To the members of this Convention allow me to 
 say, Gentlemen, you have chosen a noble profession. 
 What though it do not confer upon us wealth? — it 
 confers upon us a higher boon, the privilege of being 
 useful. What though it lead not to the falsely named 
 heights of political eminence? — it leads us to what is 
 far better, the sources of real power ; for it renders in- 
 tellectual ability necessary to our success. I do verily 
 believe that nothing so cultivates the powers of a man's 
 
318 DISCOURSE ON EDUCATION. 
 
 own mind like thorough, generous, liberal, and indefati- 
 gable teaching. But our profession has rewards, rich 
 rewards, pecuhar to itself. What can be more delightful 
 to a philanthropic mind, than to behold intellectual 
 power increased a hundred fold by our exertions, talent 
 developed by our assiduity, passions eradicated by our 
 counsel, and a multitude of men pouring abroad over 
 society the lustre of a virtuous example, and becoming 
 meet to be inheritors with the saints in light — and all 
 in consequence of the direction which we have given 
 to them in youth ? I ask again, what profession has 
 any higher rewards ? 
 
 Again, we at this day are in a manner the pioneers 
 in this work in this country. Education, as a science, 
 has scarcely yet been naturalized among us. Radical 
 improvement in the means of education is an idea that 
 seems but lately to have entered into men's minds. It 
 becomes us to act worthily of our station. Let us by 
 all the means in our power second the efforts and the 
 wishes of the public. Let us see that the first steps in 
 this course are taken wisely. Tliis country ought to 
 be the best educated on the face of the earth. By the 
 blessing of Heaven, we can do much towards the making 
 of it so. God helping us, then, let us make our mark 
 on the rising generation. 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF ANALOGY. 
 
 ^Vjxjra^ri civai ra avoi roii kutoi. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Society, — 
 
 It was not without unfeigned reluctance, that I 
 complied with the request to appear before you on 
 the present occasion. Do not, however, suppose that 
 I for a moment distrusted either your candor or your 
 forbearance. Full well was I assured, that you would 
 look with indulgence upon the humblest attempt to 
 advance the science or to adorn the literature of our 
 country. My reluctance proceeded from a different 
 source. Accustomed to the investigation of abstract 
 truth, I feared lest the train of my reflections should 
 seem too far removed from the ordinary walks of 
 literary life. I however remembered that general 
 truth is, in its nature, abstracted, and no where could 
 I expect that such truth would meet with more devoted 
 
320 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 admirers than in a Society, whose only object is the 
 cultivation of letters. Besides, I have thought that, by 
 giving to these annual discourses the tinge of our 
 different professional pursuits, we should enlarge the 
 field from which subjects for discussion may be select- 
 ed, and secure as great a degree of variety as the 
 occasion may demand. 
 
 Influenced by these considerations, I venture to 
 request your attention to some remarks which I shall 
 offer upon the philosophy of analogy; a subject, 
 which, so far as I have been able to discover, has not 
 yet attracted the particular notice of any writer in our 
 language. This neglect is at least somewhat remark- 
 able, for I know of none which stands more intimately 
 connected, both with the improvement of science, and 
 the progress of discovery. May we not, then, hope 
 that by exploring a field, which has been so long 
 overlooked, we may find something to reward our 
 search, which has thus far escaped the notice of more 
 able inquirers. 
 
 The most obvious thought that meets us, when we 
 reflect upon the intellectual relation which man sustains 
 to the universe around him, is, that he commences 
 his existence entirely destitute of knowledge. He is, 
 however, so constituted, that knowledge must inevitably 
 result from the elements of which his intellectual char- 
 acter is composed, and from the circumstances under 
 which those elements are placed. Thus, we find him 
 endowed with a universal appetite for knowledge, 
 which, by a law of his nature, grows by what it feeds 
 on. Again, we find man surrounded by a universe, 
 in all respects corresponding to this mental appetite, 
 
OF ANALOGY. 321 
 
 and adapted, at the same moment, both to gratify and 
 to stimulate inquiry. Knowledge, however, is ac- 
 quired, neither by this appetite, nor by its relation to 
 this universe. Alan is, therefore, endowed also with 
 faculties, by the exercise of which he is able to dis- 
 cover that truth by which his desires are gratified and 
 his intellectual happiness created. 
 
 If we consider the subject somewhat more atten- 
 tively, we not only perceive that the universe is spread 
 around us to stimulate our love of truth, but we may 
 also discover the mode in which the successive devel- 
 opments of truth are addressed to the ever-growing 
 faculties- of an immortal spirit. It may not be un- 
 profitable to occupy a few moments in illustrating this 
 position. 
 
 The first ste[) in the progress of knowledge is, the 
 observation of facts, that is, that certain things exist, 
 and that certain changes are taking place in therh. 
 This information we derive at first entirely from the 
 senses. 
 
 But, it is found that these changes, or, as they are 
 technically called, phenomena, do not take place at 
 random, but in the order of a succession, at first dimly, 
 but, by close inspection, more clearly, seen. The 
 order of this succession is next noted, and this forms 
 the first conception of a law of nature. Subsequent 
 observation and more accurate experiments determine 
 more of the circumstances actually connected with 
 this law of succession, disengage from it that which is 
 accidental, extend its dominion to other changes placed 
 by the Author of nature under its control, and thus a 
 nearer and nearer approximation is made to pure and 
 28 
 
322' THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 unchangeable truth. Thus, in mechanics, we learn, 
 first, the fact that bodies, under certain circumstances, 
 without any impulse change their place. Pursuing 
 our investigations lurther, we learn under what circum- 
 stances and in what direction alone this motion or 
 change of place occurs; we ascertain the various facts 
 or laws which pertain to the motion itself, and extend, 
 as far as we are able, our knowledge of the objects to 
 Avhich these laws apply. Thus also, by knowing the 
 laws which goverii any particular class of objects, we 
 preclude the necessity of innumerable experiments, 
 and are enabled to predict, under given circumstances, 
 what, throughout the material universe, will be the 
 certain result. 
 
 Again, between the laws which govern different 
 classes of objects, there are found to exist various points 
 of coincidence. These points of coincidence, and 
 the circumstances under which they occur, are also 
 objects of knowledge. They form laws of a higher 
 class, or rnorc general laws, by which tlie less general 
 laws themselves are governed. Thus, I mentioned 
 that tlie law by which the attraction of gravity Ojierates, 
 is discovered. The laws by which the attraction of 
 magnetism, and that of electricity operate, have also 
 been discovered, and these laws are found to coincide, 
 and hence we derive a general laiv of attraction, ap- 
 plying lo gravity, magnetism, electricity, and probably 
 to all kinds of attraction throughout the universe. 
 
 But it is evident that the progress of human knowl- 
 edge is not here arrested. These general laws may 
 be subject to others yet more general. Again, corres- 
 pondences may be discovered between these and others 
 
OF ANALOGY. 323 
 
 yet more general. Thus, at every step of our pro- 
 gress, we are enabled to predict not only an infinity 
 of changes, but also an infinity of laws by which those 
 changes are governed. Thus, I have spoken of tlie 
 general law of attraction governing the laws of gravi- 
 tation, electricity, and magnetism. This law of attrac- 
 tion may yet be found subject to some more general 
 law, which governs both attraction and repulsion, and 
 every species of motion. Again, these more general 
 laws of motion may be connected with those of light, 
 and a multitude of other classes of laws not yet dis- 
 covered. And so on to infinity. 
 
 But it is still to be observed that not only is human 
 knowledge thus continually extending, it is moreover 
 evident that a tendencij to universal extension has 
 been impressed upon it by its Creator. For we find 
 that a law, when legitimately established, is never 
 known to vary. Some unexplained deviation is, how- 
 ever, frequently discovered in the mode of its operation. 
 This, by the constitution of the human mind, leads to 
 more extensive investigation. Investigation shows that 
 the language of nature had been misinterpreted, and 
 that every discrepancy vanishes, by adopting a wider 
 generalization and admitting a more universal philo- 
 sophical principle. Thus, to refer to the case of 
 gravity, it was at first found that some bodies rose in- 
 stead of falling in the air, and hence there seemed an 
 exception to the law which before appeared established. 
 More accurate experiment, however, proved that the 
 air itself gravitated to the earth, and thus not oidy the 
 exception was explained, but a wider universality was 
 given to the general law than had been before conceded 
 
324 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 to it. Thus, also, in chemistry, Lavoisier considered 
 oxygen the only supporter of combustion. To this 
 law there seemed some curious anomalies. It was 
 reserved for the genius of Sir Humphrey Davy to dis- 
 cover another supporter, and thus not only to arrive 
 at a principle of wider application, but also to unfold 
 the universal truth that the whole matter of our earth 
 is composed of but two classes of substances, com- 
 bustibles and supporters of combustion. Thus, the 
 tendency of mind is, in its very nature, upward. Thus, 
 that intellect, which, at the beginning, the Almighty 
 formed in his own image, was made to soar with un- 
 tiring wing towards the Author of her being, while 
 with an eye that never blenches, she gazes without 
 ceasing upon that holy, uncreated light in which He 
 sits pavilioned. 
 
 Such then is the nature of that love of knowledge 
 which the Creator hath made an element of our intel- 
 lectual being, and such the objects which He hath 
 spread around to employ and to ennoble it. 
 
 But you will at once perceive that this desire, and 
 these objects, might exist in connexion forever, and 
 that, were there no other elements in our intellectual 
 constitution, no knowledge would ever be the result. 
 The simple desire to know, never discovers truth, and 
 of course never produces knowledge. Truth, the 
 most valuable of treasures, is to be attained only by 
 labor. The pearl may be had, but the price must be 
 paid for it. Like every other acquisition, it is also 
 the result of the employment of means. And, unless 
 the means be employed, the result must not be 
 expected. 
 
OF ANALOG V. 325 
 
 To illustrate this by a single consideration. All the 
 various laws which I have mentioned as the objects of 
 knowledge, evidently exist. But they are not mani- 
 fest, simply by inspection. They do not lie every 
 where on the surface. The changes of the universe 
 are every where going on ; but they are seen only as 
 results. The laws which regulate them can be known 
 only by patient analysis and careful generalization. 
 Thus also the relations of quantity have always existed ; 
 but how many ages of research have been required to 
 develop them as they are now displayed in the science 
 of mathematics! The same is true of mechanics, of 
 astronomy, of chemistry, and of all the other sciences. 
 There are two processes of thought by which this 
 knowledge may be acquired ; the one demonstration, 
 the other induction. Demonstration proceeds from 
 self-evident principles to the most complicated relations. 
 Its sphere is the science of quantity, and, within that 
 sphere, its dominion is absolute. To quantity, and 
 whatever may be brought within the grasp of quantity, 
 its empire is however limited. It is by the use of this 
 instrument that the mathematicians have shed so re- 
 splendent a flood of light upon mechanics, optics, 
 astronomy and motion. 
 
 The other process is induction. By means of this, 
 we commence with individual instances, and, by com- 
 parison and classification, arrive at laws more and 
 more general. This instrument is used in all the 
 sciences not within the province of the mathematics, 
 and even to many of these it forms the basis of their 
 reasonings. The difference between these two pro- 
 cesses is this. The one proceeds fi-om self-evident 
 28* 
 
326 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 truth to its necessary results ; the other from known 
 effects to tlieir actual antecedents. Such are the 
 modes of intellectual labor, by which alone human 
 knowledge is extended. The whole universe is spread 
 out before us, and we are constituted with an irre- 
 pressible desire to know the laws by which it is regu- 
 lated. The means are placed in our power, by the 
 exercise of which, this desire is gratified. When we 
 ask of nature a question, she points us to this beauteous 
 earth, that heaving ocean, and yon measureless ex- 
 panse, and, in the living characters which are there 
 inscribed, bids us read her answer. But that answer 
 must be decyphered by the exercise of the faculties 
 which she herself hath given us. In the forms of 
 demonstration and induction alone can these faculties 
 be used to decypher it. 
 
 If now we consider the answer which is thus ob- 
 tained, we shall observe in it several things well worthy 
 of our attention. 
 
 And first. The answer is always strictly limited to 
 the question proposed. We interrogate nature, and 
 she replies to that interrogation alone. I do not mean 
 to assert, that accidental discoveries are not frequently 
 made. But the very mode in which they are made 
 confirms the truth of my remark. Suppose that a 
 philosopher wished to know the nature of colors, but 
 that he pursued a course of experiment which taught 
 the gravity of the air, the result of his experiment 
 would be the answer to the question ; Has the air 
 weight ? This, therefore, would be the real question 
 which he was asking, and to this question the answer 
 would be definite. But as the inquirer had another 
 
OF AXALOGY. 327 
 
 question in his mind, the chances are ahnost infinite to 
 one that he would not understand the answer which 
 he received. 
 
 Secondly. The answer of nature in every case is 
 confined to eitlier an affirmative or a negative. The 
 inquirer asks, and she simply replies, it is, or, it is not. 
 If he inquires how, she is invariably silent. He must 
 put the particular case, and then, when he has inter- 
 preted her answer, he will find it always positive and 
 determinate. It, however, as I have said, never goes 
 beyond a simple yea or nay. This is the case with 
 the longest and most complicated as well as with the 
 simplest and most expeditious processes of investiga- 
 tion. 
 
 Third. The negative characters of nature's lan- 
 guage are frequently as difficult to interpret as the 
 affirmative. Both also are alike destitute of meaning 
 until the answer is decyphered. Hence the collected 
 sagacity of the world might toil for ages to interpret a 
 single answer of nature, and find at last that it con- 
 tained nothing else than the single monosyllable, no. 
 
 From a comparison of these obvious facts, it is evi- 
 dent that were we possessed of no other means of dis- 
 covery than the strict exercise of the reasoning faculties, 
 the progress of knowledge would be merely accidental. 
 To speak with exactness, demonstration and induction 
 never discover a law of nature ; they only show 
 whether a law has or has not been discovered.* And 
 as truth is one, and error infinite, it is manifest that, 
 were we in possession of no other means of advance- 
 ment, we might weary ourselves forever in interpreting 
 * Note G, 
 
328 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 the answers of nature, and find, in the end, that we 
 had only taken a few from an infinity of possibiHties 
 of error. 
 
 That all this is true will, 1 think, be evident from 
 facts within the knowledge of all of us. A cursory 
 survey of the history of the human mind will convince 
 us, that progress in the discovery of the laws of nature 
 has not been in proportion to the improvement of our 
 skill in the use of the instruments of investigation. 
 The Hindoos are said to have been acquainted with 
 algebra, in a very remote age, and even in an early 
 period of their history to have discovered the Binomial 
 Theorem ; but what achievements over nature have 
 they transmitted to us? The Arabians learned algebra 
 probably from the Hindoos; but how have the Arabi- 
 ans enlarged the sphere of human knowledge ? The 
 Greeks made distinguished progress in geometry ; 
 their processes in this science may even now be used 
 with advantage ; Sir Isaac Newton himself acknowl- 
 edges them his masters ; but their processes are almost 
 all that has come down to us. Their applications of 
 these processes to the advancement of truth were rare 
 and trivial. The ages emphatically denominated dark 
 were distinguished for a subtilty of logic which has 
 never been surpassed, and yet they carried human 
 knowledge backward. Skill in the use of the instru- 
 ments of proof can never, therefore, of itself, insure 
 the progress of discovery. 
 
 Beside skill in interpreting the answer of nature, 
 man must also then acquire skill in asking of her the 
 question. There is needed a science, which, standing 
 on the confines of what is known, shall point out the 
 
OF ANALOGY. 329 
 
 direction in which truth probably lies, in the region 
 that is unknown. This, when it has assumed a defi- 
 nite form, will be the science of analogy. 
 
 You observe that I speak of the science of analogy, 
 as something which is yet to be. It does not now 
 exist, but it must exist soon. He who shall create it 
 will descend to posterity with a glory in nowise inferior 
 to that of Bacon or of Newton. He who would com- 
 plete such a work must be acquainted with the whole 
 circle of the sciences, and be familiar with their histo- 
 ry ; he must examine and analyze all the circumstan- 
 ces of every important discovery, and, from the facts 
 thus developed, point out the laws by which is gov- 
 erned the yet unexplained process of original investi- 
 gation. When God shall have sent that Genius upon 
 earth who was born to accomplish this mighty labor, 
 then, one of the greatest obstacles will have been 
 removed to our acquiring an unlimited control over 
 all the agents of nature. 
 
 But passing this part of the subject, I remark that, 
 whenever the laws of such a science shall have been 
 discovered, I think that they will be found to rest upon 
 the two following self-evident principles. 
 
 First. A part of any system which is the work of 
 an intelligent agent, is similar, so far as the principles 
 which it involves are concerned, to the whole of that 
 system. 
 
 And, secondly. The work of an intelligent and 
 moral being must bear, in all its lineaments, the traces 
 of the character of its Author. And, hence, he will 
 use analogy the most skilfully who is most thoroughly 
 imbued with the spirit of the system, and at the same 
 
330 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 time most deeply penetrated with a conviction of the 
 attributes of the First Cause of all things. 
 
 To illustrate this by a single remark. Suppose I 
 should present before you one of the paintings of 
 Raphael, and, covering by far the greater part of it 
 with a screen, ask you to proceed with the work and 
 designate where the next lines should be drawn. It 
 is evident that no one but a painter need even make 
 the attempt ; and of painters, he would be the most 
 likely to succeed, who had become best acquainted 
 with the genius of Raphael, and had most thoroughly 
 meditated upon the manner in which that genius had 
 displayed itself in the work before him. So, of the 
 system of the universe we see but a part. All the 
 rest is hidden from our view. He will, however, 
 most readily discover where the next lines are drawn, 
 who is most thoroughly acquainted with the character 
 of the Author, and who has observed, with the great- 
 est accuracy, the manner in which that character is 
 displayed, in that portion of the system which he has 
 condescended to reveal to us.* 
 
 All this is confirmed by the successive efforts of 
 mind which resulted in the greatest of Sir Isaac 
 Newton's discoveries. " As he sat alone in his gar- 
 den," says Dr. Pemberton, " he fell into a speculation 
 on the power of gravity. That, as this power sensibly 
 diminished at the remotest distances from the centre 
 of the earth to which we can rise, it appeared to him 
 reasonable, to conclude that this power must extend 
 much farther than was usually thought. Why not as 
 high as the moon, said he to himself, and if so, her 
 * Note H. 
 
OF ANALOGY, 331 
 
 motion must be influenced by it ; perhaps she is 
 retained in her orbit thereby. And if ti)e moon be 
 retained in lier orbit by the force of gravity, no doubt 
 the primary planets are carried round the sun by the 
 like power."* I think it self-evident, that this first 
 germ of the system of the universe would never have 
 been suggested to any man whose mind had not been 
 filled with exalted views of the greatness of the Cre- 
 ator, and who had not diligently contemplated the 
 mode in which those attributes were displayed in that 
 part of his works which science had already discovered 
 to us. 
 
 And if this distinction be just, it will lead us to 
 divide philosophers- into, those who have been eminent 
 for attainment in those sciences which are instruments 
 of investigation ; and those, who, to these acquisitions, 
 have added unusual skill in foretelling where these 
 instruments could with the greatest success be applied. 
 Among the ancients, probably Aristode belonged to 
 the former, and Pythagoras and Archimedes to the 
 latter class. Among the moderns, I think that infidel 
 philosophers generally will be found to have distin- 
 guished themselves by the accurate use of the sciences, 
 and Christian philosophers by the additional glory of 
 foretelling when and how the sciences may be used. 
 I am not aware that infidelity hath presented to the 
 world any discoveries to be compared with those of 
 Boyle and Pascal, and Bacon and Newton, or of 
 Locke, and Milton, and Butler. 
 
 And here I may be allowed to suggest that, often 
 as the . character of Newton has been the theme of 
 
 * Preface to account of Sir I. Newton's Discoveries. 
 
332 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 admiration, it has seemed to me that the most dis- 
 tinctive element of his greatness has commonly escaped 
 the notice of his eulogists. It was neither in mathe- 
 matical skill nor in mathematical invention, that he so 
 far surpassed his contemporaries ; for in both these 
 respects, he divided the palm with Huygens, and 
 Kepler, and Leibnitz. It is in the wide sweep of his 
 far-reaching analogy, distinguished alike by its humil- 
 ity and its boldness, that he has left the philosophers 
 of all previous and all subsequent ages so immeasura- 
 bly behind him. Delighted with his modesty and 
 reciprocating his confidence, nature held communion 
 with him as with a favorite son ; to him she unveiled 
 her most recondite mysteries j to' him she revealed 
 the secret of her most subtile transformations, and then 
 taking him by the hand, she walked with him abroad 
 over the wide expanse of universal being. 
 
 Thus much concerning the nature of analogy. I 
 come next to speak of its practical applications and 
 the sources of its improvement. 
 
 The applications of analogy to the sciences have 
 been already in part considered. Some additional 
 illustrations of this part of the subject may, however, 
 be worthy of our attention. 
 
 I have already shown that the use of analogy, in 
 extending the dominion of knowledge, is to teach us 
 in what direction we should apply the instruments of 
 discovery. I have alluded to the skill with which it 
 was employed by Newton, and how wonderfully it 
 contributed to the unparalleled result which crowned 
 his indefatigable labor. Every one must, I think, be 
 persuaded that without it, his success would have been 
 
OF ANALOGY. 333 
 
 in no manner distinguished from that of the other em- 
 inent men by whom he was surrounded. And hence 
 we see that, just in proportion as the science of analogy- 
 is perfected, will the useless intellectual labor of the 
 human race be diminished. Discovery will cease to 
 be the creature of accident, but, like the other opera- 
 tions of the human soul, bow submissively to the 
 dominion of Law. 
 
 Beside teaching us how to interrogate nature, anal- 
 ogy will also instruct us in the best method of inter- 
 preting her answer. I have said that the instruments 
 used by the understanding for the eviction of truth are 
 demonstration and induction. But the forms in which 
 these instruments may be used are various. Demon- 
 stration may be conducted by different processes, and 
 the modes of induction in chemistry, optics, and phi- 
 losophy, already numerous, are multiplying with un- 
 exampled rapidity. Now it is evidently in the power 
 of analogy, to select that process which is most likely 
 to furnish the particular solution of which. the philoso- 
 pher is in search. Thus every one must perceive how 
 greatly a judicious classification of the modes of proof 
 in the various sciences, and of the results which have 
 emanated from each, would tend to facilitate the pro- 
 gress of discovery. 
 
 Again, analogy may be used with great success to 
 rebuke erroneous reasonings from either correct or 
 incorrect general principles. Human pride and human 
 indolence have always been strongly averse to the 
 sure but tardy process of reasoning by induction. 
 Hence men have been much more prone to tell how 
 a phenomenon must be, than to find out how it is. 
 29 
 
334 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 At the head of this sect, stands Descartes, who sup- 
 posed himself capable of proving the existence and 
 qualities of all things from the simple proposition, I 
 think, therefore, I exist. The reasonings of the an- 
 cient philosophers proceeded very much upon the 
 same principles. Now it is evident that demonstrations 
 of this kind, if they are true, must be in their nature 
 universal. They are otherwise entirely nugatory. 
 They attempt to show, not that the fact in question 
 does, but that it must, or, not that it does not, but that 
 it cannot exist. Here then they are met at the outset 
 by the analogical reasoner. He presents a case from 
 actual existence, in which the same principles are in- 
 volved as the objector denies to be under some cir- 
 cumstances possible, and asks the unanswerable ques- 
 tion, why should not the range of these principles be 
 universal? Thus, supposing an Atheist to assert that 
 there is no God, and therefore that there can be 
 neither future existence nor any state of rewards and 
 punishments, the argument from analogy would be 
 sufficient, of itself, to overwhelm him with confusion. 
 For, granting his assertion that there is no God, yet 
 it is evident that we now exist, and he can show no 
 reason why we should not, in another state, continue 
 to exist ; and still more if, as is evidently the case, 
 we are rewarded and punished for our actions now, 
 while, as he asserts there is no God, there is no reason 
 why we should not be so rewarded and punished, 
 although there were no God, to all eternity. 
 
 And, once more, the argument from analogy is not 
 only capable of answering objections, on moral sub- 
 jects, it is sufficient moreover to establish a very 
 
OF ANALOGY. 335 
 
 definite probability. Moral truth is in its nature im- 
 mutable, for it stands in unchangeable relation to the 
 attributes of the Eternal God. If, therefore, it can 
 be shown that He has ever admitted, in his dealings 
 with any race of his creatures, a given moral principle, 
 it is at once proved that that principle is right, and that 
 there is no moral reason why it should not be admitted 
 in the dealings of God with that race of beings at any 
 other time. And yet more, I think that a pledge is 
 hereby given to the universe, that that principle will 
 never be retracted, but that it will remain forever un- 
 changeable. Were it otherwise, the Divine Govern- 
 ment would be a government not of law but of caprice. 
 And thus the whole moral constitution in our present 
 state, so far as it has been illustrated, is found to bear 
 its willing testimony to the antecedent probability of 
 revelation. It is upon these indisputable truths, that 
 Butler has reared his immortal work, a work which 
 has done more to promote the discovery and establish 
 the truth of ethical philosophy, than any uninspired 
 treatise in any age or language. 
 
 The applications of analogy to the fine arts must 
 ah-eady have suggested themselves to you ; they will, 
 therefore, require only a passing illustration. 
 
 The intellectual exertion on which the fine arts 
 depend consist of a combined effort of imagination 
 and taste. How closely connected are the analogies 
 of science with those of the iniagination will easily be 
 seen. In the analogies of science, we commence 
 widi a single cause, and search throughout the uni- 
 verse for effects which may be brought under its do- 
 minion. In the analogies of the imagination, we 
 
336 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 commence with an effect, and range throughout all 
 that the muid hath conceived, in quest of causes which 
 produce a similar effect. It is thus that we are enabled 
 to enrobe the deductions of the understanding with 
 aught that creation can present of beautj^ or of 
 grandeur. 
 
 The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, 
 
 Glances from heaven to earth, from eaith to heaven, 
 
 And, as Imagination pictures forth 
 
 The forms of tilings unknown, the poet's pen 
 
 Turns them to shape, and gives to airy nothings 
 
 A local habitation and a name. 
 
 Thus we perceive that the effort of Newton, carry- 
 ing out by analogy the principle of gravitation to the 
 utmost verge of the material creation, was strikingly 
 analogous to that of Milton in his Allegro or Penseroso, 
 looking through all that the eye hath seen or the 
 heart imagined, in search of images of gaiety or of 
 sadness. 
 
 Nor is the philosophy of taste substantially dissimi- 
 lar. Taste is the sensibility of our nature to the 
 various forms of beauty which the Creator hath spread 
 with such profusion around us. He who made the 
 mind for beauty, also made beauty for the mind. He 
 hath penciled it upon the spangled meadow and on 
 the burnished cloud. He hath chiseled it in the gi- 
 gantic majesty of the cedar of Lebanon, and in the 
 trembling loveliness of the tendril which twines around 
 its branches. In obedience to its laws, He hath taught 
 the linnet to flutter in the grove, and the planets to 
 revolve in their pathway through the heavens. We 
 hear it in the purling brook and in the thundering 
 cataract, and we perceive it yet more legibly inscribed 
 
OF ANALOGY. 337 
 
 upon all those social and moral qualities in the exer- 
 cise of which our IVIaker hath intended that we should 
 be forever approaching nearer and nearer to the ex- 
 haustless source of uncreated excellence. • These are 
 the models which nature presents for the contemplation 
 of the Artist; and, just in [)roportion to liis power of 
 detecting among her complicated forms the simple 
 elements of loveliness, and of combining them accord- 
 ing to the examples which she herself has set before 
 him, will he fill the vacant canvass with images of 
 beauty, and animate the dull cold marble with breath- 
 ing intelligence. It is this communion with nature, 
 which endows the artist with what Lord Chatham has 
 so well denominated the prophetic eye of taste, and 
 which has left the Belvidere Apollo, and theMedicean 
 Venus, the temple on the Ilyssus, and the temple of 
 Minerva, to illustrate to all coming generations what 
 genius can accomplish. We see thus that in taste, as 
 in all the original operations of the human mind, it is 
 the sublimest attribute of intelligence to see things as 
 they are. 
 
 Allow me, in the last place, to direct your attention 
 to the sources from which may be expected the im- 
 provement of analogy. 
 
 We may expect the science of analogy to improve 
 from the greater accuracy of human hiowledge. I 
 have already alluded to the fact, that discovery pro- 
 ceeds by observing a particular law in an individual 
 instance, and then by analogy extending the dominion 
 of that law to the infinitely greater instances within 
 the reach of our observation. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that the elements with which 
 29* 
 
338 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 we commence must be strictly and purely true, or our 
 seemingly just anticipations will be invariably disap- 
 pointed. This may be exemplified by an incident 
 which occDrred in the progress of Sir I. Newton's 
 discoveries. " In his investigation of the question, 
 whether the force of gravity were sufficient to keep 
 the moon in her orbit, he used as the basis of his cal- 
 culations, the then common estimate, that sixty English 
 miles were contained in one degree of the latitude of 
 the earth. But as this is a very faulty supposition, 
 his computation did not answer expectation: whence 
 he concluded that some other cause must at least join 
 with the action of the power of gravity on the moon. 
 On this account he laid aside for that time any thoughts 
 on that matter. It was not until some years had 
 elapsed and a more accurate admeasurement of the 
 earth had been effected, that he resumed the subject; 
 and, as soon as he introduced the true estimate into 
 the element of his reasonings, he immediately ascer- 
 tained, what he had formerly anticipated, that the 
 moon is held in her orbit by the power of gravitation 
 alone."* Of so great importance is pure and unadul- 
 terated truth, in every thing which claims to be ele- 
 mentary in our knowledge. 
 
 How greatly the science of analogy must be im- 
 proved by increasing the extent of human knowledge, 
 I scarcely need remind you. It is manifest that every 
 new law which is discovered throws light upon some 
 other law, and also points to some more general prin- 
 ciple, by which, it, and the class to which it belongs, 
 are governed. That this is true, is evident from the 
 
 * Dr. Pemberton's Preface to Sir I. Newton's Discoveries. 
 
OF ANALOGY. 339 
 
 fact, that in those periods, in which science has ad- 
 vanced with the greatest rapidity, the same discovery- 
 has frequently been made, by several individuals, at 
 the same time. This teaches us that the laws then 
 discovered had pointed out the next step in discovery, 
 and thus that talent common lo many was able to ac- 
 complish what the highest endowments in intellect had 
 previously found to be impossible. 
 
 And yet more. I have alluded to a knowledge of 
 the spirit of the system, as far as it has been inves- 
 tigated, as of the greatest importance in promoting the 
 science of analogy. But it is evident that this knowl- 
 edge can be perfected only in proportion as the system 
 itself in its various relations is discovered. Every 
 step in our progress gives us a wider range of obser- 
 vation, and enables us to induce our general principles 
 from a more extensive comparison of facts. It is thus 
 also, that from an attentive contemplation of the pro- 
 gress of the system, we are enabled to perceive the 
 result to which the whole is tending, the modes of 
 operation by which that result is produced, and the 
 various circumstances, physical, intellectual, and 
 moral, by which the advancement of knowledge is 
 either accelerated or retarded. Thus, if you will 
 allow me to allude to an illustration which J have used 
 before, if a painting were placed before you, of which 
 the larger portion was covered, and you were requested 
 to complete the work of a Titian, or a Raphael, it is 
 evident that no one would be able to succeed, unless 
 he had attentively studied the nature of the work and 
 the character of the artist. But it is evident also, 
 that just in proportion as the work advanced, and 
 
340 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 portion after portion of the screen was removed, just 
 in that proportion would the difficulty of completing 
 the whole diminish. We should see, more and more 
 clearly, the end which the artist had in view, and we 
 should learn the modes of expression which he was 
 accustomed to employ, until the sight of a single 
 feature would enahle us to delineate the entire coun- 
 tenance of which it formed a part, and a single prom- 
 inent figure would suggest to us the expression and 
 design ol' an animated group. 
 
 Again, it is evident that, in attempting to delineate 
 such a painting as 1 have described, it would be nat- 
 ural for us to acquire, by all the means in our power, 
 as accurate an acquaintance as was possible with the 
 character of its author. If a history of his life, and a 
 delineation of his habits could be obtained, we should 
 derive the greatest advantage from contemplating them 
 witli the profoundest attention. And specially if there 
 could be obtained a specimen of his work on a more 
 exalted subject, on which he had expended his pro- 
 foundest skill, and which he had finished with extra- 
 ordinary care, of the advantage of meditating on such 
 a picture, we should be insane if we did not incessantly 
 avail ourselves. 
 
 . This leads me to observe that we may anticipate 
 the greatest improvement in the science of analogy 
 from the progress of our race in the knowledge of the 
 character of God. Beside the works which he hath 
 created for our instruction, he hath condescended to 
 make himself known to us in a written revelation. 
 Here he hath taught us the infinity of his power, the 
 unsearchableness of his wisdom, the boundlessness of 
 
OF ANALOGY. 341 
 
 his omnipresence, the tenderness of his compassion, 
 and the purity of his holiness. Now, it is evident that 
 the system of things around us must all have heen 
 constructed in accordance with the conceptions of so 
 ineffably glorious an intelligence. But to such a being 
 as this we are infinitely dissimilar. Compared with 
 the attributes of the Eternal, our knowledge, and 
 power, and goodness are but the shadow of a name. 
 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his 
 ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our 
 thoughts. So long, then, as we measure his works 
 by our conceptions, is it wonderful if we are lost in 
 inextricable darkness, and weary ourselves in asking 
 of nature questions to which the indignant answer is 
 invariably, no ! It is only when, in the profoundest 
 humility, we acknowledge our own ignorance, and 
 look to the Father of lights for wisdom, it is only 
 when, bursting free from the littleness of our own 
 limited conceptions, we lose ourselves in the vastness 
 of the Creator's infinity, that we can rise to the height 
 of this great argument, and point out the path of dis- 
 covery to coming generations. While men, measuring 
 the universe by the standard of their own narrow con- 
 ceptions, and surveying all things through the distem- 
 pered medium of their own puerile vanity, placed the 
 earth in the centre of the system, and supposed sun, 
 moon, and stars to revolve daily around it, the science 
 of astronomy stood still, and age after age groped 
 about in almost rayless darkness. It was only when 
 humility had taught us how small a space we occupied 
 in the boundlessness of creation, and raised us to a 
 conception of the plan of the Eternal, that light broke 
 
342 THE PHILOSOPHY 
 
 in, like the morning star, upon our midnight, and a 
 beauteous universe rose out of void and formless chaos. 
 
 And, yet more, the Book of Revelation contains 
 the only delineation which we possess of the com- 
 mencement, prosecution, and completion of one of the 
 designs of Deity. It is the work of man's restoration 
 to purity and happiness. We may here detect the 
 benevolence which actuates the Almighty, the modes 
 which he adopts to carry that benevolence into effect, 
 the manner in which his infinite wisdom directs all 
 things to the accomplishment of his merciful purposes, 
 and how, in despite of apparently insurmountable ob- 
 stacles, he by the simplest means makes all events 
 conspire to a perfect and triumphant consummation. 
 
 Now when we compare the system of man's re- 
 demption with the system of the material universe, we 
 shall find them, in many respects, analogous. Both 
 are the conceptions of the same infinite Deity. Both 
 are designed to promote the happiness of man. They 
 differ only in this, that the one is adapted to his phys- 
 ical, the other to his moral wants. It would, therefore, 
 be totally unlike any of the other works of God, if 
 that system, of which the outline of the whole is 
 known, did not shed abundant light upon those por- 
 tions of the other system which yet remain unknown. 
 And to ihis must be added another consideration. It 
 cannot have escaped the attention of any thinking 
 mind, that the progress of every science, since the 
 revival of letters, has served to shed new light upon 
 the Book of Revelation. Geography has borne witness 
 to the truth of its delineations, the discovery and in- 
 terpretation of ancient writings have illustrated its an- 
 
OF ANALOGY. 343 
 
 tiquilies, political econoiny has confirmed the truth of 
 its ethics, while intellectual philosophy is establishing 
 the science of testimony, and fixing the principles of 
 interpretation. And all this is evidently but in its 
 very commencement. Who can foresee the glory of 
 the result, when the full blaze of every science shall 
 be concentrated upon the page of everlasting Truth, 
 and thence reflected, with undiminished effulgence, 
 upon the upward path of baptized philosophy.* 
 
 And lastly. As the constitution under which we 
 are placed is a moral government, God bestows his 
 richest blessings in strict accordance with the moral 
 character of his creatures. May we not hope, then, 
 that w ith the improvement of our race in piety, he will 
 invigorate our powers of discovery ; and specially, 
 that that " Spirit, who above all temples does prefer 
 the upright heart and pure," will be sent to instruct 
 us ; that "what is dark in us he will illumine, what is 
 low raise and support." Then, at last, every obstacle 
 to our progress in knowledge and virtue having been 
 removed, we shall enter upon that career of improve- 
 ment for which we were originally designed by our 
 Creator. Then-, as at the beginning, shall God look 
 upon all the works which he hath made, and behold all 
 will be again good. Then shall the morning stars 
 sing together, and all the sons of God shout aloud for 
 
 joy- 
 
 * Note I. 
 
ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Several years have now elapsed, since the evils of 
 Intemperance were first set before us in the language 
 of plain, graphic, forcible eloquence. Repeatedly, 
 since that time, has your attention been directed to this 
 subject, by the most gifted of our fellow citizens, in 
 each of the learned professions. It has, within a few 
 years, attracted the attention, not only of this country, 
 but that of many countries of Europe. The civilized 
 world is beginning to inquire into both the extent and 
 the effects of this most alarming evil. . The results of 
 these inquiries are now spread before us, and a visible 
 check has been already given to this most terrific form 
 of misery and vice. 
 
 Under these circumstances, then, are we assembled 
 this evening. We do not come to ask, whether such 
 an evil exists. This is granted. We do not come to 
 ask whether it threatens destruction to every form of 
 human happiness. This also is granted. We do not 
 come to inquire whether this evil can be corrected. 
 
ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 345 
 
 The evidence is satisfactory that it can be. The 
 question before us now is, what shall we do, to eradi- 
 cate this vice from this town* and from this State ? To 
 look at an evil, to mourn over it, to ask whether it can 
 be corrected, is not enough. It becomes us to ask, 
 has not the time come to strike one effectual blow, and 
 to banish this vice from among us altogether ? 
 
 It shall be my endeavor this evening to lead }'0ur 
 reflections to a decision upon this question. And, in 
 order that we may decide with the better imderstand- 
 ing, I shall attempt briefly to illustrate the individual, 
 the SOCIAL, and the economical effects of Intemper- 
 ance. 
 
 First, The effects of Intemperance on the indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 A single portion of alcohol, in any form whatever, 
 adds force and frequency to the pulse, increases the 
 heat of the skin, excites the imagination, inflames the 
 passions, and gives a momentary buoyancy to the spir- 
 its. This is soon followed by lassitude, depression, 
 torpor, and debility. These latter effects render the 
 appetite for repeated stimulants more imperative. And 
 hence it is, that he who once commences drinking, is 
 preparing his physical system to render him the slave 
 of drinking. He who drinks at eleven o'clock will 
 need still more to drink at one o'clock, and then again 
 at four and at six o'clock, and, at last, before breakfast. 
 By this time he has become a dioinkard. Tlius, from 
 the very nature of the case, the only infallible preven- 
 tive of intemperance is total abstinence. 
 
 We see, from the effects of a single portion of alco- 
 
 * Providence, R. I. 
 
 30 
 
346 ADDRESS ON 
 
 hol, that it must fail to perforin every promise which it 
 makes to the drinker. Wine is a mocker. It -is taken 
 to increase muscular strength, it produces muscular 
 dehility. It is taken to produce animal heat, it pro- 
 duces permanent chilliness. It is taken to elevate the 
 spirits, it invariably depresses them. ' Look not thou 
 on the wine when it is- red, when it giveth his color in 
 the cup, when it moveth itself aright ; at the last, it 
 biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.' 
 
 Such are the immediate effects of a single act of 
 indulgence, and such the powerful tendency which that 
 indulgence has to become habitual. Its effects upon 
 the physical system are then most alarming. These 
 however have been, with so much ability, lately set 
 before you, by a distinguished gentleman of this town, 
 of the medical profession,* that a bare allusion to them 
 will be sufficient for my purpose. It is found that the 
 invariable effect of the use of ardent spirits is to destroy 
 the appetite, and to paralyze the action of the whole 
 alimentary canal. The stomach becomes inflamed and 
 corrugated. The liver is either enlarged or indurated. 
 The action of the heart becomes weak and irregular. 
 The hlood becomes dark-colored and deficient in vital- 
 ity. The hrain is found hardened, and its cavities in 
 some cases actually filled with diluted alcohol. The 
 sTcin becomes red, inflamed, and disposed to ulceration. 
 The muscles are weak and trembling. The eyes suf- 
 fused, watery, and rolling, so that a drinker cannot look 
 you in the fiice. The breath is nauseous and alcoholic. 
 The voice is guttural, and frequently tremulous, as 
 though a palsy had stiffened the roots of the tongue. 
 ^ Usher Parsons, M. D. 
 
TEMPERA X C E. 347 
 
 The hand shakes like an aspen leaf. Every iliino- 
 shows that the vital powers are laltering, and that the 
 moment is not far off when they will fail altogether. 
 
 And these indications are soon, very soon, fulfilled. 
 It is scarcely possible to express how feeble is the hold 
 which the drunkard has upon the principle of life. Let 
 him only fracture a limb, the consequence is death. 
 Let a fever seize him, and he perishes a maniac. Let 
 pulmonary disease attack him, and he dies without a 
 struggle. Let the atmosphere become heated but a 
 few degrees above the ordinary temperature of a sum- 
 mer's day, and he falls dead in the street. Let the 
 cold exceed the ordinary severity of winter, and he 
 freezes by the road side or even while asleep in his bed. 
 Let a wasting epidemic sweep over the land, and it 
 hurries the drunkards into eternity by thousands. We 
 are told that the cholera, that most alarming of all the 
 maladies which the history of man has recorded, selects 
 its subjects from the class of the intemperate, and that 
 when it has marked its victim, it hurries him in a few^ mo- 
 ments to inevitable destruction. O, should this mgst ter- 
 rific of all the scourges of the Almighty pass across the 
 Atlantic, and ziiove in judgment over America, as it has 
 already moved over Asia, and the greater part of Eu- 
 rope, who can tell how fearfully great would be the 
 number of its slain ; or, how indiscriminately it would 
 here, as elsewhere, smite the high as well as the low 
 places of society with sudden devastation ! Like the 
 flying roll which the prophet saw, it is the curse of 
 God going forth over all the earth, entering into every 
 house, and unfolding the doom of every family, sparing 
 neither age nor sex, rank nor station, parent nor child, 
 
348 ADDRESS ON 
 
 but marking every intemperate man and woman for 
 instant, agonizing, strange, and horrible death. 
 
 These are some of the physical effects of Intemper- 
 ance upon the individual. Turn now to its intel- 
 lectual, and MORAL effects. 
 
 Every one must be convinced, that the condition of 
 mind and body best adapted to intellectual energy, must 
 be that in which, free from all excitement, and all 
 prejudice, and all dullness, in the clear light of reason, 
 we can perceive things as they are. This state of 
 mind is to be procured by exercise and temperance, 
 and it is one of the choicest rewards which they confer 
 upon man. The intellect, however, is liable to become 
 beclouded by disease. Every one knows the effect of 
 a paroxysm of fever, how at one time the mind is 
 goaded and wearied with its own imaginings, and how 
 at another it sinks down into dull, sleepy torpor. Of 
 what intellectual labor is a man, thus afflicted, capable ? 
 How would you pity him who was obliged to transact 
 his business, in the wild deUrium of an inflammatory, 
 or in the heavy stupor of a typhous fever ; and, how 
 well should you suppose that that man's business would 
 be transacted ? It is commonly thought, that Napoleon 
 lost all the advantages which he might have gained by 
 the battle of Moscow, in consequence of a paroxysm 
 of fever, which palsied his energies and beclouded his 
 conceptions, and thus disabled him from comprehending 
 the entire nature of his situation, and giving to the work 
 of death the fearful energy of his usual combinations. 
 
 Now the effects of intemperance upon the intellect, 
 are just as certain and as destructive as the effects of 
 disease ; and, instead of being temporary, they are per- 
 
TEMPERANCE. 349 
 
 manent. The states of mind which drinking produces 
 are three. The first is that of feverish excitement, in 
 which a man's imagination is aroused, his hopes are 
 bright, his prospects are inviting, his risks are nothing, 
 his success is sure. 
 
 The second state is that of entire nervous exhaustion, 
 in which every thing looks gloomily, every prospect 
 appeal's disastrous, every chance seems against him, 
 and he sinks down in deep, sad, hopeless despondency. 
 The thiid state is that, in which the mind ceases to 
 be affected by these frequent transitions, and settles 
 down into a moody, stupid vacuity, in which all distant 
 objects affect a man slightly ; he is forgetful, morose, 
 displeased w'ith himself, and, by consequence, displeas- 
 ed with every being around him. 
 
 Now I surely need not say to you that neither of 
 these states of mind is suitable to the best exercise of 
 the human intellect. In every one of them, the man 
 is under the influence of a partial, a self-inflicted, but, 
 to all practical purposes, real insanity. If he be a 
 merchant, he will make foolish bargains. If a lawyer, 
 he will make foolish speeches. He will, in the first 
 state, err by excess, and in the second, err by defect. 
 At last, sinking down into the third state of dull, muddy 
 abstraction, he will lose all talent for business, frittering 
 away his time in doing what need not be done, and 
 leaving the very thing undone that a most imperative 
 necessity calls upon him to do. He neglects his friends, 
 abuses his customers, until, day after day, he sits soli- 
 tary in his deserted place of trade, holding communion 
 with no other form of existence than his bottle and his 
 glass. O ! it is most affecting to think how many 
 30* 
 
350 ADDRESS ON 
 
 there are among us, who, for weeks and months to- 
 gether, do not enjoy a single hour's exercise of sober, 
 healthy thinking, and its natural result, fair, unbiassed, 
 clear sighted common sense. Hence they complain 
 that the times are hard, that business is unprofitable, 
 that their friends are forsaking them, that every thing 
 which they attempt fails of success, or, as they express 
 it, that they always have bad luck ; while every one 
 but themselves knov/s that all their misfortunes spring 
 from the one reiterated cause, drink, drink, drink. 
 
 Nor are the moral effects of Intemperance less 
 deplorable. 
 
 In adjusting the nicely arranged system of man's 
 immaterial nature, it is abundantly evident, that his 
 passions and appetites were designed to be subjected 
 implicitly to reason and to conscience. From the want 
 of this subjection all his misery arises, and, just in pro- 
 portion to the perfection in which it is established, does 
 he advance in happiness and virtue. But it unfortu- 
 nately is found that in all men, in their present state, 
 the power of the passions is by far too great for the 
 controlling influence of that guardianship to which they 
 should be subjected. Hence it is found necessary to 
 strengthen the influence of reason and conscience by 
 all the concurring aids of law, of interest, of public 
 opinion, and also by all the tremendous sanctions of 
 religion. And even all these are frequently found in- 
 sufficient to overcome the power of turbulent, vindictive, 
 and malicious passions, and of earthly, brutal, and 
 sensual lust. 
 
 Now it is found that nothing has the power to in- 
 flame these passions, already too strong for the control 
 
TEMPERANCE. 351 
 
 of their possessor, like the use of ardent spirits. Noth- 
 ing also, has the power, in an equal degree, to silence 
 the monitions of reason, and drown the voice of con- 
 science, and thus to surrender the man up, the headlong 
 victim of fierce and remorseless sensuality. 
 
 Let a bear bereaved of her whelps meet a man, said 
 Solomon, rather than a fool in his folly. An intem- 
 perate man is frenzied at the suspicion of an insult, he 
 is outrageous at the appearance of opposition, he con- 
 strues ev-ery thing into an offence, and at an offence he 
 is implacable. He is revengeful unto death, at the 
 least indignity ; while his appetites are aroused to 
 ungovernable strength by the remotest prospect of 
 gi-atification. He is dangerous as a ferocious beast, and 
 our -only security is to flee from him, or to cham him. 
 I ask, what is there to prevent any man, thus bereft of 
 reason and conscience, and surrendered for the time to 
 the dominion of passion and appetite, from committing 
 any crime which the circumstances around him may 
 suggest ? 
 
 Such is the moral effect of the excitement of intem- 
 perance. But when this first stage has passed away, 
 the second is scarcely more enviable. The man is 
 now as likely to commit crime from utter hopelessness 
 as he was before from frenzied impetuosity. The 
 horror of his situation now bursts upon him in all its 
 reaUty. Poverty, want, disgrace, the misery which he 
 has brought upon himself, his family, his friends, all 
 stand before him in the most aggravated forms, rendered 
 yet more appalling by the consciousness that he has 
 lost all power of resistance, and that all the energies of 
 self-government are prostrated within him. He has 
 
352 ADDRESS ON 
 
 not moral power to resist the temptation which is de- 
 stroying him, and he has sufficient intellect left to 
 comprehend the full nature of that destruction. He 
 has no physical vigor left to resume his former course 
 of healthy and active employment. The contest within 
 him becomes at last a scene of unmitigated anguish. 
 He will do any thing rather than bear it. He will fly 
 to any thing rather than suffer it. Hence you find such 
 men the frequenters of gambling houses, the associates, 
 partakers, and instruments of thieves, and, not unfre- 
 quently, do you find them ending their days by self- 
 inflicted murder. 
 
 Such are some of the efiiects of intemperance upon 
 the individual. I have delayed longer upon this part 
 of the subject, as with it the other parts are intimately 
 connected. I will now briefly allude, in the next place, 
 to the SOCIAL eftects of this alarming vice. 
 
 I will here illustrate its effects, first, upon our do- 
 mestic, secondly, upon our civil relations. 
 
 And if you would mark the misery which this vice 
 infuses into the cup of domestic happiness, go with me 
 to one of those nurseries of crime, a common tippling 
 shop, and there behold collected till midnight, the 
 Fathers, the Husbands, the Sons, and the Brothers of 
 a neighborhood. Bear witness to the stench and the 
 filthiness around them. Hearken to the oaths, the 
 obscenity, and the ferocity of their conversation. Ob- 
 serve their idiot laugh ; record the vulgar jest with 
 which they are delighted, and tell me what potent 
 sorcery has so transformed these men, that, for this 
 loathsome den, they should forego all the delights of 
 an innocent and lovely fireside. 
 
TEMPERANCE. 353 
 
 But let us follow some of them home from the scene 
 of their debauch. There is a young man whose accent, 
 and gait, and dress, bespeak the communion which he 
 once has held with something better than all this. He 
 is an only son. On him, the hopes of parents and of 
 sisters have centered. Every nerve of that family has 
 been strained to giv^e to that intellect, of which tiiey all 
 were proud, ev^ery opportunity for the choicest cultiva- 
 tion. They have denied themselves, that nothing 
 should be wanting to enable him to enter his profession 
 under every advantage. They gloried in his talents, 
 they exulted in the first buddings of his youthful prom- 
 ise, and they were looking forward to the time when 
 every labor should be repaid, and every self-denial 
 rewarded, by the joys of that hour, when he should 
 stand forth in all the blaze of well earned and indisput- 
 able professional pre-eminence. Alas, these visions 
 are less bright than once they were ! 
 
 Enter that family circle. Behold those aged parents 
 surrounded by children lovely and beloved. Within 
 that circle reign peace, virtue, intelligence, and refine- 
 ment. The evening has been spent in animated 
 discussion, in harmless pleasantry, and in the sweet 
 interchange of afi:ectionate endearment. There is one 
 who used to share all this, who was the centre of this 
 circle. Why is he not here'? Do professional engage- 
 ments of late so estrange him from home ? The hour 
 of devotion has arrived. They kneel before their 
 Father and their God. A voice that used to mingle 
 in their praises is absent. An hour rolls away. Where 
 now has all that cheerfulness fled ? Why does every 
 effort to rally sink them deeper in despondency ? Why 
 
354 ADDRE-SS ON 
 
 do those parents look so wistfully around, and why do 
 they start at the sound of every footstep ? Another 
 hour has gone. That lengthened peal is too much for a 
 mother's endurance. She can conceal the well known 
 cause no longer. The question which no one answers 
 is wrung from her lips, where, oh where, is my son ? 
 
 The step of that son and brother is heard. The 
 door is opened. He staggers in before them, and is 
 stretched out at their feet, in all the loathsomeness of 
 beastly intoxication. 
 
 But yonder is a father, and a husband. Let us fol- 
 low him to that house, no longer a home, where a 
 lonely and heart broken wife sits cowering over the 
 embers, and with her half starv^ed offspring, awaits with 
 trembling the noise of his approach. Look at that 
 woman. She was once a lovely and an honored bride, 
 and she united her destinies with one who was then 
 every way worthy of her affection. Look at those 
 haggard and neglected children. They have tasted 
 the sweets of competency, and have heard the soft 
 accents of a father's love. And now look at that 
 bloated and loathsome wretch, holding fast to the half 
 opened door, at whose howl this whole group trembles. 
 He was the object of that woman's love. He was the 
 father of those helpless little ones. But do not yet 
 curse him. He was once as far removed from all this, 
 as any one of you who now hear me. He once loved 
 that wife, and doated on those children. The recollec- 
 tion of these things has already enkindled the fires of 
 hell in his bosom. The mark of Cain is upon him, 
 and his punishment is even now greater than he can 
 bear. But how came this fair fabric of happiness 
 
TEMPERANCE. 355 
 
 ci-usbed to so hopeless, so remediless a min ? How 
 came this father, this maii of honest worth, and of af- 
 fectionate sympathies, thus transformed into an abhorred 
 and self-abhorring fiend ? Ah ! 1 need not say that 
 there is but one cause sufficient to work so thorough, 
 so awful a transformation. It is this moral suicide of 
 which I have been speaking. 
 
 You may shudder at this representation, and pity 
 and abhor the victim of this vice. But those eighteen 
 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, sup- 
 pose ye that they were sinners, above all men that 
 dwelt in Jemsalem, because they suffered such things ? 
 Suppose ye that this man, thus debased and degraded, 
 is the only one that is ruining his soul and destroying 
 his family by indulgence in this sin ? Far, very far 
 from it. The guilt lies at the door of many a man not 
 yet sunk so low in degradation. The young man who 
 every morning must walk abroad for his accustomed 
 beverage, or who now and then spends an evening in a 
 tippling cellar, or v,ho occasionally rides away from 
 town to indulge more covertly in excesses than would 
 be possible at home, the man who by drinking impairs 
 his memory and fosters that petulance which drives his 
 customers away from him, yes, and the reputable citi- 
 zen, who is now and then brought home by his com- 
 panions fi-orn the social club, and with quiet secrecy 
 put to rest for the night, upon each and upon all of 
 them does this condemnation rest. ' Unless ye repent, 
 ye shall all likewise perish.' 
 
 It will not be necessary that I detain you long in 
 referring to the effects which intemperance produces 
 upon our civil relations. 
 
356 ADDRESS ON 
 
 Society is constituted upon the principle, that every 
 man's passions are to be restrained within such limits, 
 that they shall not interfere with the happiness of his 
 neighbours. To restrain them within these limits, laws 
 are enacted and penalties enforced. When the passions 
 of men are Indulged beyond this limit, we call it crime, 
 and punish it accordingly. And every one must im- 
 mediately perceive that to allow of the indulgence of 
 passion, without this restriction, would be radically 
 subversive of the first principles of society. 
 
 Now from what I have already said of the effects of 
 spirituous liquors in exciting the passions, and destroying 
 the influence of reason and of conscience, it is at once 
 evident that intemperance must be a fruitful source of 
 every violation of our civil relations. Those acquainted 
 with Courts of Justice have abundantly testified that 
 such is the fact. Or, to appeal to every one's knowl- 
 edge of human nature, How rarely do we see a man 
 who, when perfectly sober, would break open a store ? 
 Yet who is there, habituated to intemperance, that 
 might not easily be wrought upon to do it ? How 
 rarely do we find a man who, when sober, would delib- 
 erately imbrue his hands in his brother's blood ? But 
 who is there, when intoxicated, that might not, at any 
 time perpetrate murder ? But I appeal to fact. 
 
 Judge Hale, after twenty years' experience, declared : 
 That if all the murders, and manslaughters, and burg- 
 laries, and robberies, and riots, and tumults, and rapes, 
 and other great enormities which had been committed 
 within that time, were divided into five parts, four of 
 them would be found to have been the result of Intem- 
 perance. 
 
TEMPERANCE. 357 
 
 The Sheriff of London and Middlesex has said, that 
 the evil which lies at the root of all other evils is that 
 especially of drinking ardent spirits ; that he had so 
 long been in the habit of hearing criminals refer all 
 their misery to this, that he had ceased to ask the cause 
 of their ruin, so universally was it effected by spirituous 
 liquors. 
 
 Mr. Poinder, in a late examination before the British 
 House of Commons, testified, that from facts ^^hich 
 have fallen under his own observation, he was persuaded 
 that in all trials for murder, with few if with any ex- 
 ceptions, it would appear on investigation, that the 
 criminal had, in the first instance, deliv^ered up his mind 
 to the brutalizing effects of spirituous liquors. 
 
 At a late meeting of the London Temperance Soci- 
 ety, the Solicitor General for Ireland remarked that a 
 condemned criminal had stated, that the plan adopted 
 in the commission of murder was, to get hold of some 
 man fond of liquor, and having taken him to a public 
 house, having there made him high in spirits, to reveal 
 gradually the plan laid for robbery and murder, and 
 then prevail on him to execute the fatal deed. First, 
 hints would be thrown out, and then more explicit 
 statements would be made, and he who at first shud- 
 dered at the very thought of crime, would ultimately 
 yield to the effects of liquor and persuasion, and con- 
 sent to do the deadly act proposed to him.* 
 
 But why need I go abroad for instances, when our 
 
 own town has so lately witnessed all that is terrific in 
 
 the violation of ci\il order, and all that is melancholy 
 
 in the sad necessity of arresting that violation by the 
 
 * In the last Report of the American Temperance Society. 
 
 31 
 
358 ADDRESS ON 
 
 shedding of human blood ? Far be it from me to at- 
 tempt the description of a scene from which we turn 
 away with sorrow and with shame. Yet let me ask 
 you, when the quiet of this beautiful town was disturbed 
 by the shouts of a lawless and infuriated mob ; when 
 you heard the shrieks of affright, and the roar of exul- 
 tation, mingled with the crash of falling habitations ; 
 when you heard the voice of the magistracy drowned 
 amid the yells of bitter execration ; when the air \\as 
 rent with oaths, and obscenity, and blasphemy, which 
 fell upon the ear of the shuddering listener even in the 
 remotest suburbs of the town ; when you heard at last 
 the sharp peal of musquetry, followed by that awful 
 stillness, which was interrupted only by the long drawn 
 sigh and the gurgling death-groan; tell me, my fellow 
 citizens, was there a single act in all that sad, sad trag- 
 edy, which did not most solemnly admonish us, of the 
 suicidal effects upon society, of an unrestricted use of 
 intoxicating liquors ? It was all the deed of rum. 
 
 On this part of the subject I feel that 1 need not 
 longer detain you. I will proceed to consider the 
 ECONOMICAL effccts of tlic usc of intoxicatlug liquors. 
 
 I ask, then, who is the gainer by this vice? — If 
 there be a gain, it must be made either by the buyer 
 or the seller. 
 
 Is the huyer the gainer ? 
 
 It is abundantly proved, by the testimony of the most 
 skilful physicians, that the use of ardent spirits is, to say 
 the best of it, productive of no benefit to man. What- 
 ever, therefore, is spent in this manner, is money spent 
 without yielding any return. But money, expended 
 without yielding any return, might as well be thrown 
 
TEMPERANCE. 359 
 
 away. On the most favourable supposition, therefore, 
 the buyer is no more the gainer than he would be if 
 he daily cast the money which he spends in drinking 
 into mid ocean. 
 
 But this is by far too favourable a supposition. It 
 would be infinitely better for him were he so to cast it 
 away, just as it would be better for a man to throw 
 away his money, than to buy with it a torch to set fire 
 to his own dwelling. The drunkard gives his money 
 for a poison which takes away the power as well as the 
 desire to labor ; which so stupifies the intellect that 
 the very labor done is profitless ; which takes away 
 every stimulant to honorable exertion ; which in a few 
 years reduces the body to helpless decrepitude, and 
 invariably consigns it to an early grave ; which teaches 
 a family a lesson of profligacy and vice, and brings 
 them up in habits of indolence and expense. That 
 can be no gain to a man which changes health to sick- 
 ness, industry to indolence, frugality to expensiveness, 
 cheerfulness to gloom, competence to poverty, inde- 
 pendence to beggary, and the joys of a happy fireside 
 to the misery of an almshouse. 
 
 I ask, in the second place, is the seller the gainer ? 
 
 Here I need only advert to a principle of economy, 
 so simple that a cliild may understand it, in order to 
 render this whole subject entirely plain. The seller 
 never paits with any thing without an equivalent. He 
 would never grow rich by giving his property away. 
 This equivalent must be procured by the buyer, or else 
 he cannot purchase. The buyer can procure it only 
 as the result, direct or indirect, of labor. Whatever, 
 therefore, enables the buyer to labor more, or to labor 
 
360 ADDRESS ON 
 
 to better advantage, will enable him to huy more and 
 to pay better ; whatever, on the contrary, disables him 
 from labor, or renders that labor less valuable, obliges 
 him to buy less, and to pay less punctually. — Now all 
 this is, I think, as evident as language can make it. I 
 ask, then, whether a seller can be the gainer by dispos- 
 ing of that which must every day diminish the power 
 of his customers to labor, and thus take away, and at 
 last destroy altogether, their ability to purchase. 
 
 To place the subject in a practical light. Suppose 
 yourself to be situated m a pleasant, healthy, and frugal 
 neighborhood, and to have a good and permanent circle 
 of custom. Would it be for your advantage for some 
 one to come and sell a drug, which should poison the 
 families in that neighborhood ? Would it be for your 
 advantage, if he should inoculate them with the plague 
 or the small pox, and thus drive away your neighbors, 
 and so terrify the town that none but paupers Avould 
 ever come and live near you again ?' Would it be for 
 your advantage for some one to come and introduce 
 leprosy among your customers, thus consigning them 
 to long years of uselessness, during which you must 
 support them, and leaving to you the cl)argS of 
 supporting their leprous families ? I ask then, is it for 
 your advantage to do this yourself 9 Are you not en- 
 tailing upon them all these evils, by selling ardent 
 spirits ? I ask then, how can you by such a business 
 be a gainer ? 
 
 But to bring this to a plain case. I will suppose 
 you a retail dealer, and that you gain an honest liveli- 
 hood by supplying your neighbors with the various 
 articles necessary for domestic consumption. I will 
 
TEMPERANCE. 361 
 
 suppose you to have among your customers, two fami- 
 lies, in the same business, each containing the same 
 number of individuals. They are now in every respect 
 upon an equality, both being supported by labor, and 
 both growing richer by frugality. — Suppose that one 
 family begins to use twenty cents worth of ardent spirits 
 daily, and continues to do so for ten years to come ; the 
 other family abstains fi-om the use of ardent spirits alto- 
 gether. Compare the results, and inquire which of 
 them, during this period, will prove to be your most 
 profitable customer. 
 
 Twenty cents a day is seventy-three dollars a year. 
 This annual sum, at simple interest, amounts in ten 
 years to about one thousand dollars. This is no trifle 
 to be subtracted from the earnings of a laboring man. 
 But pursue the history of this family. In two or three 
 years, the man becomes diseased. He is frequently 
 affected wnth rheumatism, and cold, and fever, and 
 headach, and cannot perform his accustomed labor. 
 He does not find employment as readily as fonnerly, 
 and in a year or two more he complains that the times 
 have become hard. He is often destitute of fuel and 
 of provisions, and finds difficulty in meeting his pay- 
 ments with punctuality. His children are badly clad, 
 and his house is in bad repair. Presently, as a neces- 
 sary consequence, sickness ensues, and the cost of 
 medical attendance is added to his other expenses. 
 Things thus go on worse and worse, until, before the 
 ten years have elapsed, he has been frequently arrested, 
 his business is destroyed, he is in debt to every one 
 who u-ill trust him, and at last, his family is broken up, 
 his children are scattered, and most probably are va^a- 
 31* 
 
362 ADDRESS ON 
 
 bonds, and you find his name on your catalogue of bad 
 debtors, with a sum set against it sufficient to over-bal- 
 ance all the profits of his last five years' custom. 
 
 Now take the case of the family that does not drink. 
 The money spent by their neighbors in drinking is suf- 
 ficient, in ten years, to buy a house, and if placed at 
 interest, would pay the rent of one. By health, and 
 frugality, and industry, their means increase every year, 
 and are thus becoming every year the instrument of 
 more rapid accumulation. As their ability to purchase 
 increases, they become every year more and more 
 extensive purchasers ; and as their character rises in 
 public estimation, they will certainly be better pay-mas- 
 ters. Their children grow up habituated to frugality 
 and industry, and find their faculties daily expanded by 
 enjoying the blessings of a good education. They are 
 soon advantageously settled in life, and the happiness 
 of home attracts them to their own neigborhood. You 
 have thus a family of increasing competence for your 
 customers, and all their younger branches growing up 
 to become your customers, your acquaintances, your 
 friends. 
 
 I ask, which of these two families is your preferable 
 customer ? By which of these two, at the end of ten 
 years, will you have been the greater gainer ? Now, 
 by arresting extensively the sale of ardent spirits, in a 
 moral, well instructed community like our own, almost 
 all the families around you will be like the latter which 
 I have described. By the use of spirituous liquors, a 
 very great proportion of them will be made like the 
 former. I ask then, is the seller the gainer by the use 
 of ardent spirits ? 
 
TEMPERANCE. 3G3 
 
 But, it will be said, that these remarks apply merely 
 to the retailer. Is not the wholesale trade profitable ? 
 I answer, how can the wholesale dealer be paid, but 
 by the produce of the labor of the community. What- 
 ever diminishes that labor, or renders it less productiv^e, 
 diminishes the ability of the laborers to consume, and 
 renders them worse customers. What merchant would 
 not rather supply with the articles of living, a rich than 
 a poor district ; a temperate than an intemperate town ? 
 Let the wholesale dealer then remember, that every 
 cask of ardent spirits which he sends into the district 
 from which his custom comes, annihilates forever a 
 large portion of the power which that district possesses 
 to purchase flour, and sugar, and tea, and coffee, and 
 all the other necessaries and luxuries of life. — And 
 yet more ; if this trade be thus unprofitable to the 
 dealer in ardent spirits himself, how much more de- 
 structive must it be to the manufacturer, and to all who 
 are engaged in those branches of industry which furnish 
 us with apparel ? The dealer in spirits loses much, 
 but has some prospect of gain. The manufacturer 
 suffers from the diminution of consumption, produced 
 by the sale of liquor, and has not even the shadow of 
 an equivalent. 
 
 But once more. The unprofitableness of the use of 
 ardent spirits is capable of numerical demonstration. 
 It is computed that the annual consumption of ardent 
 spirits in this country equals seventy-two millions of 
 gallons, at sixty-six and two-thirds cents per gallon, or 
 forty-eight millions of dollars. Now of this forty-eight 
 millions, it cannot be supposed that more than half is 
 profit to the seller. But it is calculated by Judge 
 
364 ADDRESS ON 
 
 Cranch, of Washington, a most competent authority, 
 that the annual loss to this country by the use of ardent 
 spirits, amounts to ninety-four millions of dollars. If 
 from this we subtract the gain of what is sold, or twen- 
 ty-four millions of dollars, it will leave seventy millions 
 of dollars loss to the whole, for every twenty-four mill- 
 ions gain from the use of intoxicating liquors. But if 
 we reflect that those w^ho gain this twenty-four millions 
 would gain more by abandoning the trade altogether, 
 and selling something else, which is the fact, it is clear 
 that the whole ninety-four millions of dollars is fairly 
 charged to us for our indulgence in this vice.* 
 
 I ask then, who is the gainer by the use of ardent 
 spirits ? Is the buyer the gainer ? No. Is the retail 
 dealer ? No. Is the wholesale dealer ? No. No 
 one is gainer. We are all losers. It is a vice by 
 which we are all growing poorer. 
 
 I come then, in the last place, to consider the prac- 
 tical question which arises on this subject. Is the 
 
 TRADE IN ARDENT SPIRITS RIGHT ? 
 
 Here allow me to offer two suggestions. 
 
 First. I stand here to condemn no man, but to set 
 before you all, the truth, so far as 1 can discover it, 
 upon a question of duty. That many excellent and 
 worthy men are engaged in this trade, I do not doubt. 
 Far be it from me to detract in the least from their 
 reputation for excellence. They may never have 
 thought seriously on this subject. They may not have 
 been allowed sufficient time to decide upon a question 
 involving a large portion of their business. What the 
 particular moral state of any man's mind is, on a subject 
 * Report of the Am. Temperance Society. 
 
TEMPERANCE. 365 
 
 like this, I pretend not to decide, nor ought any one 
 else to be forward to decide upon it. Yet this is no 
 reason why the moral nature of the act should not be 
 fully and clearly set forth. Upon this subject we have 
 been all of us either in the right or in the wrong. 
 Neither supposition will afford sufficient reason why 
 the nature of our actions should not be examined. A 
 good man may do wrong, but a good man will always 
 listen with candor to any one who will show him how 
 he may do right. 
 
 Secondly. I do not stand up here to inquire into 
 the rectitude of any particular branch of this trade, but 
 into the rectitude of the whole trade itself. I have to 
 do with wholesale as well as with retail dealers. If it 
 be wrong to sell a little, it seems to me that it must also 
 be wrong to sell a great deal. If it be \^Tong to be 
 accessary to the destruction of one neighborhood, it 
 seems to me that it must be WTong to be accessary to 
 the destruction of a great many neighborhoods. I 
 reason here as we do about the slave trade. If it 
 be wrong to import one slave, it is wrong to import a 
 cargo. 
 
 I ask then the candid attention of my fellow citizens 
 to the following questions. 
 
 First. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
 from that which is spreading disease, and poverty, and 
 premature death throughout my neighborhood ? How 
 would it be in any similar case ? Would it be right 
 for me to derive my living from selling poison, or from 
 propagatmg plague, or leprosy around me ? 
 
 Second. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
 from that which is debasing the minds and ruining the 
 
366 ADDRESS ON 
 
 souls of my neighbors ? How would it be in any other 
 case ? Would it be right for me to derive my living 
 from the sale of a drug which produced misery or 
 madness, or from the sale of obscene books which ex- 
 cited the passions, and brutalized the minds, and ruined 
 the souls of my fellow men ? 
 
 Third. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
 from that which destroys forever the happiness of the 
 domestic circle, — which is filling the land with women 
 and children in a condition far more deplorable than 
 that of widows and orphans ? 
 
 Fourth. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
 from that which is known to be the cause of nine-tenths 
 of all the crimes which are perpetrated against society ? 
 
 Fifth. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
 from that which brings upon society nine-tenths of all 
 the pauperism wliich exists, and which the rest of the 
 community are obliged to pay for ? 
 
 Sixth. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
 from that which accomplishes all these at once, and 
 which does it without ceasing ? 
 
 Do you say that you do not know that the liquor 
 which you sell will produce these results ? Do you 
 not know that nine hundred and ninety-nine gallons 
 produce these effects for one which is used innocently ? 
 I ask, then, 
 
 Seventh. Would it be right for me to sell poison 
 on the ground that there was one chance in a thousand 
 that the purchaser would not die of it ? 
 
 Eighth. Do you say that you are not responsible 
 for the acts of your neighbor ? Is this clearly so ? Is 
 not he who knowingly furnishes a murderer with a 
 
TEMPERANCE. 3G7 
 
 weapon, considered an accomplice ? Is not he who 
 navigates a slave ship considered a pirate ? On this 
 subject, however, I will take the liberty to introduce 
 an anecdote, which will show at once the awful nature 
 of this trade, and also the manner in which the respon- 
 sibility which it involves affects the conscience of a 
 child. A deacon of a Christian church was in the 
 habit of selling rum to one of his customers, a man 
 habitually intemperate. The wife of the dmnkard 
 besought the deacon, for her own sake and for the 
 sake of her children, not to sell liquor to her husband, 
 for that she and her children could not endure his 
 treatment. At last, this husband and father went home 
 drunk one night from the deacon's store, and murdered 
 his wife. One of the deacon's children, hearing of 
 this murder and the circumstances, said to his father, 
 * Father, do you not think that, in the day of judgment, 
 you will have to answer for that murder ?' Such was 
 the decision of the child. Can any of us gainsay it ?* 
 
 If these things be so, and that they are so, who can 
 dispute, I ask you, my respected fellow citizens, what 
 is to be done ? Let me ask, is not this traffic alto- 
 gether wTong ? Why, then, should we not altogether 
 abandon it ? 
 
 I do believe that to do so would be a vast pecuniary 
 gain, and an unspeakable moral benefit to this town 
 and to this State. Let this town set the example, and 
 thus prove to the world that we have derived a lesson 
 of instruction from our late solemn visitation, and that 
 we mean in earnest to prevent its recurrence. Hus- 
 bands and fathers, what is your reply ? 
 
 * Last Rep. of the Am. Temperance Society. 
 
368 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Who of US will from this day abandon this traffic ? 
 Who of us will purchase no more spirituous Uquors ? 
 Who of us will enter into an agreement to commence 
 the coming year with an entire abandonment of the 
 trade in intoxicating liquors ? I know of no reason 
 why, in a very few days, we may not witness this town 
 purified from this iniquity. 
 
 If any man think otherwise and choose to continue 
 it, I have but one word to say. My brother, when 
 you order a cargo of intoxicating drink, think how 
 much misery you are importing into the community. 
 As you store it up, think how many curses you are 
 heaping together against yourself. As you roll it out 
 of your warehouse, think how many families each cask 
 will ruin. Let your thoughts then revert to your own 
 fii-eside, to your wife, and to your little ones ; look 
 upward to Him who judgeth righteously, and ask your- 
 self, my brother. Is this right ? 
 
NOTES. 
 
 Appendix to the Second Edition of "Discourses on 
 THE Duties of an American Citizen.". 
 
 Since the publication of the first edition of these Discourses, 
 a few ideas have been suggested to the Author, which, rather 
 than alter the text, he begs leave to throw together in the 
 form of an Appendix. 
 
 1. Several oftheliteraryjournals in which the "Discourses" 
 have been very kindly noticed, have intimated, that the reflec- 
 tions upon the Catholic church are somewhat illiberal. If this 
 be so, no one would regret it more sincerely than the author. 
 He can only say, that he has for some time past reflected with 
 deep interest upon every thing, which in the course of his 
 reading has seemed to throw any light upon the policy of that 
 branch of the Christian community. No man reveres more 
 sincerely than himself, the memory of very many members of 
 that church. Pascal, Fenelon, and a host of other catholics, 
 have done honor to human nature. But after granting all this, 
 the author has been driven to the opinions concerning the 
 general design of the Holy See, which are expressed in the 
 Discourses. He thinks he may say, that if he has erred, he 
 has erred honestly, and has been peculiarly unfortunate in the 
 sources from which he has derived his information. If it be 
 said that the views which he has taken be such as were only 
 correct two or three centuries ago, he would refer to " White's 
 Letters from Spain," to the late Papal bulls, and to the facts 
 on this subject which are constantly going the round of our 
 daily journals. And finally, if he be wrong, he can say sin- 
 cerely, he will be grateful to any one who will direct him to 
 the facts which may serve to correct his error. 
 32 
 
370 NOTES. 
 
 2. There are, however, a few topics, in the Discourses, 
 of which the bearing may possibly be rendered more correct 
 by some explanatory remarks. 
 
 It is perhaps asserted too strongly, that a republican form 
 of government is essential to civil liberty. Now if liberty be 
 really " liberty to speak and think and to influence other minds 
 to the full extent of the individual's power," the example of 
 England is sufficient to convince us that this may be enjoyed 
 under a monarchical government. No where is a public opin- 
 ion more perfectly formed ; and scarcely in our own govern- 
 ment is it more implicitly obeyed. It would be, perhaps, more 
 correct to say, that republican institutions are the most con- 
 genial to civil liberty ; that unless they enter some way or 
 other into the form of the government, civil liberty will not 
 long be maintained, and that every government in which 
 public opinion is formed, is gradually approximating towards 
 them. So far as we now see, republican institutions seem 
 best adapted to human nature in its most improved state. In 
 the farther progress of mind, what other forms may be devised, 
 or what different forms other states of society may require, 
 cannot possibly be known. The present is pre-eminently an 
 age of experiment, and centuries must roll away before the 
 full result of any one of them can be definitely ascertained. 
 It is therefore evident, that we need great caution in deciding 
 abstractedly upon any thing, which relates to the present rap- 
 idly changing aspects of human character. 
 
 The Author intended, in revising the first edition for the 
 press, to have made some remarks upon the position which 
 Great Britain at present occupies in regard to the question of 
 civil and religious liberty. He had indeed prepared something 
 on the subject,,but was deterred from inserting it, partly from 
 the fear of prolonging the discussion, and partly from the fact, 
 that if the influence of Great Britain were considered at all as 
 it deserved, it would not only have enlarged, but materially 
 have changed, the field of remark. His object waste illustrate 
 some of the duties of an American citizen, and to the consid- 
 eration of this he felt himself somewhat restricted. He would 
 only say here, that most evidently the cause of civil and re- 
 ligious liberty is a cause common to both countries. Great 
 Britain is evidently pledged to the support of free institutions ; 
 
NOTES. 371 
 
 and if ever they are systematically attacked, the burden of 
 their defence must rest on her equally witli ourselves. And 
 surely we could not desire a more noble alliance. In no 
 country is public sentiment more disinterested or more honor- 
 able. Perhaps in none is the progress of improvement more 
 equable and more rapid. Her counsels are directed by a, man 
 worthy to be the successor of the first Earl of Chatham, and 
 whose title to the proudest eminence in the political world is, 
 that in the opinion of the wise and good of every nation he 
 honestly deserves it. These things surely augur well for the 
 cause of freedom and of man. 
 
 In closing tliis hasty article, the Author feels it his duty to 
 add, that for whatever in it is worthy of notice, he is indebted 
 to the friendly remarks of a gentleman of his own profession 
 in this city, whose opinions are respected wherever the English 
 language is spoken, and whose name, were it mentioned in 
 this connexion, would give to this feeble effort to do good, a 
 value far greater than any to which it would otherwise be 
 entitled. 
 
 (A.) Page 43. 
 In confirmation of these remarks, it may not be amiss to 
 state the following facts. The Gentleman's Magazine was, 
 until about thirty years since, almost the only extensively 
 circulated periodical pamphlet in Great Britain. In this de- 
 partment of literature are now numbered. The Edinburgh and 
 Quarterly Reviews ; Westminster Review ; Blackwood's, The 
 Scotsman's, Monthly, New Monthly, Gentleman's, and Sport- 
 ing Magazines ; The Christian Observer; Eclectric Review; 
 Universal Review ; The Etonian ; The Oxonian ; Ackerman's 
 Repository ; Retrospective Review ; London Magazine ; 
 Baldwin's Magazine ; The Churchman ; Evangelical Maga- 
 zine ; Mechanic's Magazine ; The Literary Chronicle ; Lite- 
 rary Gazette ; The Kaleidoscope ; Newcastle Magazine ; 
 British Critic ; Pamphleteer ; Classical Journal ; Christian 
 Guardian ; Cottager's Magazine ; Farmer's Magazine ; Sunday 
 School Magazine ; European Magazine ; Imperial Magazine ; 
 Literary Magnet ; Knight's Quarterly Magazine ; four Botan- 
 ical Journals, monthly ; three of genera] science, quarterly ; 
 
372 NOTES. 
 
 besides several other scientific and professional periodical 
 works. Some of these are ably edited, and most of them well 
 supported. The largest works print from five to fourteen 
 thousand copies. 
 
 Upon the eight morning and six evening papers in London, 
 there are no less than 150 literary gentlemen employed, at an 
 expense of £1000 per week ; for workmen, £1500 per week ; 
 and £1500 more for the literary labors of the weekly and semi- 
 weekly papers. There are on an average, ^50 provincial 
 papers. 300,000 papers are ordinarily printed in London 
 weekly, and 200,000 in the country ; total, 500,000. The 
 whole amount of the expenses of the British newspaper press 
 is estimated at £721,266 per annum. The total number of 
 newspaper stamps issued in Great Britain, for the year 1821, 
 was 24,779,786. 
 
 From these facts we may form some idea of the demand for 
 information in Great Britain. But one other fact may convince 
 us that the number of readers very far exceeds the number of 
 printed papers. " It is there a custom for carriers to set out in 
 all directions daily, and let papers out to customers, for a few 
 moments to each, as they proceed, until night ; so that a 
 hundred persons may read or rather glance over the same 
 paper for a penny each." 
 
 " There are but few papers published in the departments of 
 France ; but those in the metropolis, publish an enormous 
 number. The Constitutionel publishes 19,000; the Journal 
 des Debats, 14,000, and the other papers from that to 5,000." 
 It is probable that the ratio of improvement in many nations 
 on the continent of Europe is not very far beneath that of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 (B.) Page 64. 
 
 " The following are a few of the subjects of the political 
 essays of the Censor (a periodical paper published at Buenos 
 Ayres) in 1817: An explanation of the Constitution of the 
 United States, and highly praised — The Lancastrian System 
 of Education — On the causes of the prosperity of the United 
 States — Milton's essay on the liberty of the press — A review 
 of the work of the late President Adams on the American 
 Constitutions, and a recommendation of checks and balances, 
 continued through several numbers, and abounding with much 
 
NOTES. 373 
 
 useful information for the people — Brief notice of the life of 
 James Monroe, President of the United States — Examination 
 of the federative system — On the trial by Jury — On popular 
 elections — On the effect of enlightened productions on the 
 condition of mankind — An analysis of the several State con- 
 stitutions of the Union, &c. 
 
 " There are in circulation, Spanish translations of many of 
 our best revolutionary writings. The most common are two 
 miscellaneous volumes, one, containing Paine's common sense 
 and rights of man, and declarationof Independence, several of 
 our constitutions, and General Washington's farewell address. 
 The other is an abridged history of the United States, down 
 to the year 1810, with a good explanation of the nature of our 
 political institutions, accompanied with a translation of Mr. 
 Jefferson's inaugural speech, and other State papers. I believe 
 these have been read by nearly all who can read, and have 
 produced a most extravagant admiration of the United States, 
 at the same time, accompanied with something like des- 
 pair." — Breckenridge's South America, Vol. II. pp.213, 214. 
 
 [From Professor Everett's Oration at Plymoutli.J 
 
 (C.) Page 70. 
 
 In illustration of these remarks, it may be interesting to 
 state the following facts. " Not one of the eleven new States 
 has been admitted into the Union without provision in its con- 
 stitution for Schools, Academies, Colleges, and Universities. 
 In most of the original States large sums in money are appro- 
 priated to education. And they claim a share in the great 
 landed investments which are mortgaged to it in the new 
 States. Reckoning those contributions, federal and local, it 
 may be asserted, that nearly as much as the whole national 
 expenditure of the United States is set apart by the laws for 
 enlightening the people. Besides more than half a million at 
 public schools, there are considerably more than 3000 under- 
 graduates matriculated at the various colleges and universities 
 authorized to confer academical degrees." — IngersolVs Oration 
 before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
 
 It is, however, evident, from the returns of the State of New 
 York alone, that the above estimate of Mr. Ingersoll is vastly 
 below the truth. Governor Clinton in his late message states, 
 
374 NOTES. 
 
 that " the number of children taught in our common schools 
 during; the last year, exceeds 400,000 ; and is probably inore 
 than one fourth of our xvhole population. The students in the 
 incorporated academies amount to 2,(i83 ; and in the Colleges 
 to 755." It is very rare to find a person born in New England, 
 who cannot both read and write. The late Judge Reeve, of 
 the Supreme Court of Connecticut, declared, that in the whole 
 of his professional practice, he had found but three persons in 
 that State who could not sign their names, and that all of them 
 were foreigners. 
 
 (D.) Page 71. 
 
 " A republican government is certainly most congenial with 
 the nature, most propitious to the welfare, and most conducive 
 to the dignity of our species. Man becomes degraded in pro- 
 portion as he loses the right of self-government. Every effort 
 ought therefore to be made to fortify our free institutions, and 
 the great bulwark of security is to be formed in education ; 
 the culture of the heart and the head ; the diffusion of knotvledge, 
 piety, and morality. A virtuous and enlightened man can 
 never submit to degradation, and a virtuous and enlightened 
 people will never breathe in the atmosphere of slavery. Upon 
 education, then, we must rely for the purity, the preservation, 
 and the perpetuation of Republican government. In this 
 sacred cause, we cannot exercise too much liberality. It is 
 identified with our best interests in this world, and with our 
 best destinies in the world to come." — Gov. Clinton^s last 
 Message. 
 
 (E.) Page 131. 
 
 To the argument in the preceding sermon, it has been ob- 
 jected, that the author has not considered the obstacle to the 
 triumph of the Gospel, arising from that depravity of the human 
 heart, which can only be overcome by the agency of the Spirit 
 of God. To this objection, the answer is briefly as follows. 
 The argument is addressed either to believers, or unbelievers. 
 To the Christian, the declaration of God in the Scriptures, 
 that the whole world shall be converted, is a full and sufficient 
 warrant for entire belief. Those on the contrary who do not 
 believe the Bible, cannot urge, as an objection, such a sort of 
 depravity, for this is a doctrine of that revelation, whose autlior- 
 
NOTES. 375 
 
 ity they utterly disclaim. Or, if they urge it as an objection 
 drawn from books which we believe, we are, by all the rules 
 of reasoning allowed to meet them with a statement of the 
 revealed doctrine of the sovereign and efficacious influences 
 of the Holy Spirit, which is abundantly sufficient to overcome 
 all the obstacles arising from the opposition of a sinner's heart. 
 As, therefore, the very mention of the objection, brings with 
 it its own antidote, it was not in the body of the discourse 
 brought into the account. 
 
 (F.) Page 154. 
 The author hopes that this remark, and those of a simOar 
 kind which may occur throughout the discourse, will not lead 
 to the conclusion, that he entertains any unwarrantable notions 
 on the subject of human agency. On this point, his opinions 
 have long been fixed. He most confidently believes that all 
 power, efficiency, real causation in the universe, is the work 
 of God, and God alone ; and that what is considered causation 
 in man, is merely stated antecedency, yet a sort of stated an- 
 tecedency which alloA's of wide range for motive, and to 
 which all the language applied to it in the Holy Scriptures 
 and elsewhere, is strictly appropriate, or suited to the nature 
 of the thing. It seems, also, to him, too obvious for even re- 
 mark, that the agency or causation of the creature, and of the 
 Creator, are so essentially dissimilar, that there is really no 
 danger of their interference with each other; and therefore, 
 that urging a creature to labor a great deal, is no more likely 
 to infringe upon the prerogative of the Creator, than urging 
 him not to labor at all. 
 
 (G.) Page 327. 
 It was remarked by Lord Bacon, Mathesin, philosophiam 
 naturalem terminare debere, non generare aut procreare. It 
 is the office of the mathematics to determine truth in natural 
 philosophy, not to create or produce it. See Maclaurin's pre- 
 face to his View of Sir Isaac JVewton''s Philosophy, p. 36, 8vo. 
 
 (H.) Page 330. 
 A man conversant with physics and chemistry is much more 
 likely than a stranger to these studies to form probable con- 
 jectures concerning those laws of nature which yet remain to 
 
376 NOTES. 
 
 be explained. There is a certain character or style (if I may 
 use the expression) in the operations of Divine Wisdom ; 
 something which every where announces, amidst an infinite 
 variety of detail, an inimitable unity and harmony of design ; 
 and in the perception of which, philosophical sagacity and 
 genius seems chiefly to consist. It is this which bestows a 
 value so inestimable upon the genius of Newton. Steivarfs 
 Philosophy, Vol. 2, p. 223. Boston. 1821. 
 
 (I.) Page 343. 
 I shall only add to what has been now stated on the head of 
 analogy,- that the numberless references and dependencies 
 between the material and the moral worlds, exhibited within 
 the narrow sphere of our observation on this globe, encourage 
 and even authorize us to conclude, that they both form parts 
 of one and the same plan ; a conclusion congenial to the best 
 and noblest principles of our nature, and which all the discov- 
 eries of genuine science unite in confirming. Nothing, indeed, 
 could be more inconsistent with that irresistible disposition 
 which prompts every philosophical inquirer to argue from the 
 known to the unknown, than to suppose that, while all the 
 different bodies which compose the maienaZ universe are man- 
 ifestly related to each other, as patis of a connected ivhole, the 
 moral events which happen on our planet are quite insulated ; 
 and that the rational beings who inhabit it, and for whom we 
 may reasonably presume it was brought into existence, have 
 no relation whatever to other intelligent and moral natures. 
 The presumption unquestionably is, that there is one great 
 moral system corresponding to the material system, and that 
 the connexions which we at present trace so distinctly among 
 the sensible objects composing the one, are exhibited as so 
 many intimations of some vast scheme, comprehending all the 
 beings who compose the other. In this argument, as well as 
 in numberless others which analogy suggests in favor of our 
 future prospects, the evidence is precisely of the same sort 
 with that whiclifirst encouraged Newton to extend his physical 
 speculations beyond the limits of the earth. Ibid. pp. 234-5. 
 
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