PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICHL SEMINHRY 
 
 BY 
 
 JWps. flle^tander Ppoudfit. 
 
 BX 9178 .B43 S4 1828 
 Beecher, Lyman, 1775-1863. 
 Sermons delivered on various 
 occasions 
 
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SERMONS 
 
 
 DEIilVERED ON 
 
 VARIOUS OCCASIONS, 
 
 LYMAN BEECHER, D. D. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 T. R. MARVIN, 32, CONGRESS STREET. 
 
 SOLD BY CROCKER & BREWSTER, HILLIARD, GRAY AND COMPANY, 
 
 JAMES L.ORING, AND PIERCE & WILLIAMS, BOSTON. 
 
 JONATHAN LEAVITT, NEW-YORK. 
 
 1828. 
 

 ^ ^ 
 i'%>> .' 
 
 DISTRICT OF JIASSACHUSETTS to wit : 
 
 District Clerk's Office. 
 Be it remembered, that on the twenty sixth day of March, A. D. 1828, in 
 the fifty second Year of the Independence of the United States of America, 
 Theophilus R. Marvin, of the said District, has deposited in this Office the 
 Title of a BooIj, the Right whereof he claims as Proprietor, in the Words 
 following, to wit : 
 
 Sermons delivered on various occasions, by Lyman Beecher, D. D. 
 In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " An 
 Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and 
 books, to the autliors and proprietors of such copies, during the times tlierein men- 
 tioned :" and also to an Act entitled " An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, 
 An Act for the encouragement of learning, \jy securing the copies of maps, charts 
 and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein 
 mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving 
 and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 i\srt \^T r» A via S Clerk of the District 
 JNO. W. DAVIS, ^ of Massachusetts. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ^' 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 The Government of God Desirable. — A Sermon 
 delivered at Newark, N. J. October, 1808, 
 during the session of the Synod of New York 
 and New Jersey, 
 
 Page. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 The Remedy for Duelling. — A Sermon delivered 
 before the Presbytery of Long Island, at the 
 opening of their session at Aquebogue, April 
 16, 1806, 30 
 
 ' SERMON III. 
 A Reformation of Morals Practicable and Indis- 
 pensable. — A Sermon delivered at New Haven, 
 Conn, on the evening of October 27, 1812, . . 68 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 The Building of Waste Places. — A Sermon deliver- 
 ed at Wolcott, Conn. September 21, 1814, at the 
 Installation of the Rev. John Keyes, to the 
 Pastoral care of the Church in that place, . . . 103 
 
 SERMON V. 
 / The Bible a Code of Laws. — A Sermon delivered in 
 Park Street Church, Boston, September 3, 1817, 
 at the ordination of Mr. Sereno Edwards Dwight, 
 as Pastor of that Church ; and of Messrs. Eli- 
 sha P. Swift, Allen Graves, John Nichols, Levi 
 Parsons, and Daniel Buttrick, as Missionaries 
 to the Heathen, 138 
 
IV 
 
 Page. 
 SERMON VI. 
 The Design, Rights, and Duties of Local Church- 
 es. — A Sermon delivered at the Installation of 
 the Rev. Elias Cornelius, as Associate Pastor of 
 the Tabernacle Church in Salem, Mass. July 
 21, 1819, 182 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 The Faith once delivered to the Saints. — A Ser- 
 mon delivered at Worcester, Mass. October 15, 
 1823, at the ordination of the Rev. Loammi 
 Ives Hoadly, to the Pastoral office over the 
 Calvinistic Church and Society in that place, . . 217 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 Resources of the Adversary and Means of their 
 Destruction. — A Sermon preached October 12, 
 1827, before the American Board of Missions, 
 at New York, 267 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 The Memory of our Fathers. — A Sermon delivered 
 at Plymouth, on the twenty-second of December, 
 1827, 293 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Reply to the Review of Dr. Beecher's Sermon deliv- 
 ered at Worcester, Mass. October 15, 1823, . . 319 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD DESIRABLE. 
 
 Matthew, vi. 10. 
 
 Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. 
 
 In- this passage we are instructed to pray, that the world 
 may be governed, and not abandoned to the miseries of 
 unrestrained sin ; that God himself would govern, and not 
 another ; and that God would administer the government of 
 the world, in all respects according to his own pleasure. The 
 passage is a formal surrender to God, of power and dominion 
 over the earth, as entire as his dominion is in heaven. The 
 petition, therefore, " thy will be done," contains the doctrine, 
 
 That it is greatly to be desired that god should 
 
 GOVERN the world, A?JD DISPOSE OF MEN, IN ALL RESPECTS, 
 ENTIRELY ACCORDING TO 'HIS OWN PLEASURE. 
 
 The truth of this doctrine is so manifest, that it would seem 
 to rank itself in the number of self-evident propositions, 
 incapable of proof clearer than its own light, had not expe- 
 rience taught, that of all truths, it is the most universally and 
 bitterly controverted. Plain as it is, it has occasioned more 
 argument than any other doctrine, and by argument merely, 
 has gained fewer proselytes : for, it is one of those contro- 
 
versies in which the heart decides wholly, and argument, 
 strong or feeble, is alike ineffectual. 
 
 This consideration would present, in the threshold, a hope- 
 less impediment to further progress, did we not know also, 
 that arguments a thousand times repeated, and as often 
 resisted, may at length become mighty through God, to the 
 casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth 
 itself against the knowledge of God. I shall, therefore, 
 suggest several considerations to confirm this most obvious 
 truth, that it is desirable that God should govern the world 
 entirely according to his own good pleasure. 
 
 First. It is desirable that God should govern the world, 
 ' and dispose of all events, according to his pleasure, because 
 he knows perfectly in ivhnt manner it is best that the world 
 \ should be governed. 
 
 The best way of disposing of men and their concerns, is 
 that which will most effectually illustrate the glory of God. 
 The glory of God is the sun of the- moral universe, the light 
 and life of his kingdom. All the blessedness of the intelligent 
 creation arises, and ever will arise, from the manifestation 
 and apprehension of the glory of God. It was to manifest 
 this glory, that the worlds were created. It was, that there 
 might be creatures to behold and enjoy God, that his domin- 
 ions were peopled with intelligent beings. And it is, that his 
 holy subjects may see and enjoy him, that he upholds and 
 •governs the universe. The entire importance of our world, 
 therefore, and of men and their concerns, is relative, and is 
 great or small, only, as we are made to illustrate the glory of 
 God. How this important end shall be most effectually 
 accomplished, none but himself is able to determine. He, 
 only, knows how so to order things, as that the existence of 
 every being, and every event, shall answer the purpose of its 
 creation, and from the rolling of a world, to the fall of a 
 sparrow, shall conspire to increase the exhibitions of the 
 divine character, and expand the joy of the holy universe. 
 
 An inferior intelligence at the helm of government, might 
 
 »Jii>>. 
 
conceive very desirable purposes of benevolence, and still be 
 at a loss as to the means most fit and effectual to accomplish 
 them. But with God, there is no such deficiency. In him, 
 the knowledge which discovered the end, iHscovers also, with 
 unerring wisdom, the most appropriate means to bring it to 
 pass. He is wise in heart ; he hath established the world by 
 his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his discretion. 
 And is he not wise enough to be intrusted with the govern- 
 ment of the world ? Who then shall be his counsellor ? Who 
 shall supply the deficiencies of his skill ? Oh the presumption 
 of vain man ! and oh the depths both of the wisdom and 
 knowledge of God ! 
 
 Secondly. It is desirable that God should govern the 
 world according to his own pleasure, because he is entirely 
 able to execute his purposes. 
 
 \A wise politician perceives, often, both the end and the 
 means, and is still unable to bring to pass his couiisels, 
 because the means, though wise, are beyond his control. 
 But God is as able to execute, as he is to plan./ Having 
 chosen the end, and selected the means, his counsels stand. 
 He is the Lord God omnipotent. The whole universe is a 
 storehouse of means, and w"hen he speaks, every intelligence 
 and every atom flies to execute his pleasure. The omnipo- 
 tence of God in giving efficacy to his government, inspires 
 and perpetuates the ecstacy of heaven. " And a voice came 
 out from the throne, saying. Praise our God. And I heard 
 as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of 
 many waters, and as the voice of many thunderings, saying, 
 Alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." What will 
 that man do in heaven, who is afraid and reluctant to commit 
 to Ged the government of the earth ? And what will become 
 of those who, unable to frustrate his counsels, murmur and 
 rebel against his providence ? 
 
 Thirdly, "-^t is desirable that God should govern the world 
 according to his pleasure, because the pleasure of God is 
 always good.^ 
 
8 
 
 The angels who kept not their first estate, and many 
 wicked men, have great knowledge, and skill, and power : 
 and yet, on these accounts, are only the more terrible ; 
 because they empley these mighty faculties to do evil. And 
 the government of God, were he a being of malevolence, 
 armed as he is with skill and power, would justly fill the 
 universe with dismay. But as it is, brethren, " let not your 
 hearts be troubled." With God there is no perversion of 
 attributes. He is as good, as he is wise and powerful. God 
 is love ! Love is that glory of God which he has underta- 
 ken to express to his intelligent creation in his works. The 
 sole object of the government of God, from beginning to 
 end, is, to express his benevolence. His eternal decrees, of 
 which so many are afraid, are nothing but the plan which 
 God has devised, to express his benevolence, and to make 
 his kingdom as vast and as blessed as his own infinite good- 
 ness desires. It was to show his glory, to express, in action, 
 his benevolence, that he created all the worlds that roll, and 
 rejoice, and speak his name, through the regions of space. 
 It is to accomplish the same blessed design, that he upholds 
 and governs every being, and directs every event, causing 
 every movement, in every world, to fall in, in its appointed 
 time and place, and to unite in promoting the grand result — 
 the glory of God, and the highest good of his kingdom. 
 And is there a mortal, who, from this great system of blessed 
 government, would wish this earth to be an exception .'' 
 What sort of beings must those be, who are afraid of a 
 government, administered by infinite benevolence to express, 
 so far as it can be expressed, the infinite goodness of God. 
 1 repeat the question — What kind of characters must those 
 be, who feel as if they had good reason to fear a government, 
 the sole object of which is, to express the immeasurable 
 goodness of God ! 
 
 Fourthly. Jt is greatly to be desired that God should 
 govern the world according to his pleasure, because it is his 
 pleasure to rule as a moral governor^\^ 
 
 ( 
 
9 
 
 A moral government, is a government exercised over 
 accountable beings ; a government of laws, and administered 
 by motives. 
 
 The importance of such a government below, is manifest 
 from the consideration, that it is in his moral government, 
 chiefly, that the glory of God is displayed. 
 
 The superintendence of an empty world, or a world of 
 mere animals, would not exhibit, at all, the moral character 
 of God. The glory of God, shining in his law, could never 
 be made manifest, and the brighter glory of God, as dis- 
 played in the Gospel, must remain forever hid. And all that 
 happiness of which we are capable, as moral beings, the 
 joys of religion below, and the boundless joys of heaven 
 above, would be extinguished, in a moment, by the suspen- 
 sion of the divine moral government. 
 
 Will any pretend that the Almighty cannot maintain a 
 moral government on earth, if he governs according to his 
 own pleasure .'' Can he wield the elements, and control, at 
 his pleasure, every work of his hands but just the mind of 
 man ? Is the most noble work of God, that which is the 
 most worthy of attention, and in reference to which, all 
 beside is upheld and governed, itself wholly unmanageable ? 
 
 Has omnipotence framed minds, which, the moment they 
 are made, escape from l^is hands, and defy the control of 
 their maker ? Has the Almighty erected a moral kingdom 
 which he cannot govern, without destroying its moral nature ? 
 Can he only watch, and mend, and rectify, the lawless 
 wanderings of mind f Has he filled the earth with untamed 
 und untamable spirits, whose wickedness and rebellion he 
 can merely remedy, but cannot control ? Does he superin- 
 tend a world of madmen, full of darkness and disorder, 
 cheered and blessed by no internal pervading government of 
 his own ? Are we bound to submit to all events, as parts of 
 the holy providence of God ; and yet, is there actually no 
 hand of God controlling the movements of the moral world .'' 
 But if the Almighty can, and if he does, govern the earth as 
 
10 
 
 a part of his moral kingdom, is there any method of govern- 
 ment more safe and wise, than that which pleases God ? 
 Can there be a better government ? We may safely pray, 
 then, " Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven," without 
 fearing at all, the loss of moral agency ; for all the glory of 
 God, in his Law and Gospel, and all the eternal manifesta- 
 tions of glory to principalities and powers in heavenly places, 
 depend wholly upon the- fact, that men, though living under 
 the government of God, and controlled according to his 
 pleasure, are still, entirely free, and accountable for all the 
 deeds done in the body. There could be no justice in pun- 
 ishment, no condescension, no wisdom, no mercy in the 
 glorious Gospel, did not the government of God, though 
 administered according to his pleasure, include and insure 
 the accountable agency of the creature. 
 
 Seeing, therefore, that all the glory of God which he ever 
 proposes to manifest to the intelligent creation, is to be made 
 known by the church, and is to shine in the face of Jesus 
 Christ, and is to depend upon the perfect consistency of the 
 moral government of God with human freedom, we have 
 boundless assurance, that, among his absolute, immutable, 
 eternal purposes, one, and a leading one, is, so to govern 
 the w^orld according to his counsels, that, if men sin, there 
 shall be complete desert of punishnient, and boundless mercy 
 in their redemption. 
 
 Fifthly. <^It is greatly to be desired that God should rule in 
 the earth according to his pleasure, because it is his pleasure 
 to govern the world in mercy, by Jesus Christ. ^> 
 
 The government is in the hand of a Mediator, by whom 
 God is reconcihng the world to himself, not imputing their 
 trespasses to them that believe. Mercy is the bestowment 
 of pardon and favor upon the sinful and undeserving. 
 Now mankind are so eminently sinful, that no government, 
 but one administered in infinite mercy, could afford the least 
 consolation. Had any being, but the God of mercy, sat 
 upon the throne, or any will but his will prevailed, there 
 
11 
 
 would have been no plan of redemption, and no purposes of 
 election, to perplex and alarm the wicked. There would 
 have been but one decree, and that would have been de- 
 struction to the whole race of man. Are any reluctant, to 
 be entirely in the hands of God ? Are they afraid to trust 
 him to dispose of soul and body, for time and for eternity ^ 
 Let them surrender their mercies then, and go out naked, 
 from that government which feeds, protects, and comforts 
 them. Let them give up their Bibles, and relinquish the 
 means of grace, and the hopes of glory, and descend and 
 make their bed in hell, where they have, long since, deserved 
 to be, and where they long since would have been, if God 
 had not governed the world according to his own good 
 pleasure. If they would escape the evils which they fear 
 from the hand of God, let them abandon the blessings they 
 receive from it, and they will soon discover, whether the ab- 
 solute dominion of God, and their dependence upon him, be, 
 in reality, a ground of murmuring and alarm. Our only 
 hope of heaven, arises from being entirely in the hands of 
 God. Our destruction could not be made more certain 
 than it would be, were we to be given up to our own dispo- 
 sal, or to the disposal of any being but God. Would sinful 
 mortals change their own hearts ^ Could the combined uni- 
 verse, without God, change the depraved affections of men .'' 
 Surely then, we have cause for unceasing joy, that we are in 
 the hands of God, seeing he is a God of mercy, and has de- 
 creed to rule in mercy, and actually is administering the 
 government of the world, in mercy by Jesus Christ. 
 
 We have nothing to fear from the entire dominion of God, 
 which we should not have cause equally to fear, as outcasts 
 from the divine government ; but we have every thing to hope, 
 while he rules the earth according to his most merciful 
 pleasure. The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the 
 multitude of the isles be glad. It is of the Lord's mercies 
 that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 
 
 Sixthly.^ It is greatly to be desired that God should dispose 
 
12 
 
 of mankind according to his pleasure, because, if he does sOy 
 it is certain that there will be no injustice done to any one.^ 
 
 He will do no injustice to his holy kingdom, by any whom 
 he saves. He will bring none to heaven, who are not holy 
 and prepared for heaven. He will bring none there, in any 
 way not consistent with his perfections, and the best good of 
 his kingdom : none, in any way but that prescribed in the 
 Gospel, the way of faith in Jesus Christ, of repentance for sin, 
 and of good works as the constituted fruit and evidence of 
 faith. 
 
 Earthly monarchs have their favorites, whom, if guilty of 
 a violation of the laws, they will, often, interpose to save, 
 although the welfare of the kingdom requires their punish- 
 ment. But God has no such favorites : he is no respecter of 
 persons : he spared not the angels : and upon the earth, 
 distinctions of intellect, or wealth, or honor, will have no 
 effect ; he only that believeth, shall be saved. 
 
 The great and the learned, shall not be obtruded upon 
 heaven without holiness, because they are great or learned ; 
 and the humble and contrite, shall not be excluded, because 
 they are poor, or ignorant, or obscure. God has provided a 
 way for all men to return to him. He has opened the door 
 of their prison, and set open before them a door of admission 
 into the kingdom of his dear Son ; and commanded, and 
 entreated them to abandon their dreary abode, and come into 
 the glorious liberty of the sons of God. But all, with one 
 consent, refuse to comply. Each prefers his own loathsome 
 dwelling, to the building of God, and chooses, steadfastly, 
 the darkness of his own dungeon, to the light of God's king- 
 dom. But, as God has determined that the redemption of 
 his Son shall not be unavailing through human obstinacy; so 
 he hath chosen, in Christ, multitudes wdiich no man can 
 number, that they should be holy and without blame before 
 him in love. And, in bringing these sons and daughters to 
 glory, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the 
 truth, he will introduce not one, whom all the inhabitants of 
 
13 
 
 heaven will not hail joyfully, as the companion of their glory. 
 And if God does in the earth just as he pleases, he will make 
 willing, and obedient, and bring to heaven, just those persons 
 who it was most desirable should come. And he will bring 
 just as many obstinate rebels to abandon their prison, and 
 enter cheerfully his kingdom, as infinite wisdom, goodness, 
 and mercy, sees fit and desires. He will not mar his glory, 
 or the happiness of his kingdom, by bringing in too many, 
 nor by shutting out too many. His redeemed kingdom, as to 
 the number and the persons who compose it, and the happi- 
 ness included in it, will be such as shall be wholly satisfactory 
 to God, and to every subject of his kingdom. 
 
 And if God governs according to his pleasure, he will do 
 no injustice to his impenitent enemies. He will send to 
 misery, no harmless animals without souls ; no mere ma- 
 chines : none who have done, or even attempted to do, as 
 well as they could. He will leave to walk in their own way, 
 none who do not deserve to be left ; and punish none for 
 walking in it, who did not walk therein knowingly, delibe- 
 rately, and with wilful obstinacy. He will give up to death 
 none who did not choose death, and choose it with as entire 
 freedom as himself chooses holiness ; and who did not 
 deserve eternal punishment, as truly as himself deserves 
 eternal praise. He will send to hell none who are not oppos- 
 ed to him, and to holiness, and to heaven. None who are 
 not, by voluntary sin and rebellion, unfitted for heaven and 
 fitted for destruction, as eminently as saints are prepared for 
 glory. He w'ill consign to perdition no poor, feeble, inoffen- 
 sive beings, sacrificing one innocent creature to increase the 
 happiness of another. He will cause the punishment of the 
 wicked to illustrate his glory, and thus, indirectly, to promote 
 the happiness of heaven. But God will not illumine heaven 
 with his glory, and fill it with praise, by sacrificing helpless, 
 unoffending creatures to eternal torment ; nor will he doom to 
 hell, one whom he will not convince also, that he deserves to 
 
 go thither. The justice of God, in the condemnation of the 
 3 
 
14 
 
 impenitent, will be as unquestionable, as his infinite mercy 
 will be, in the salvation of the redeemed. 
 
 If the will of God is done on earth, among men, there will 
 be no more injustice done to the inhabitants of the earth, than 
 there is done to the blessed .in heaven. Was it ever known 
 — Did any ever complain — Was it ever conceived, that God 
 was a tyrant, in heaven f Why then should we question the 
 justice of his government on earth ? Is he not the same God 
 below, as above ? Are not all his attributes equally employ- 
 ed .'' Does he not govern for the same end, and will not his 
 government below conspire to promote the same joyful end, 
 as his government above ? 
 
 Finally />Jt is greatly to be desired, that God should govern 
 the world according to his pleasure, because his own injinite 
 blessedness, as welT as the happiness of his kingdom, depends 
 upon his working all things according to the counsel of his 
 own will. ^ 
 
 Could the Almighty be prevented from expressing the 
 benevolence of his nature, according to his purposes, his 
 present boundless blessedness would become the pain of 
 unsratified desire. God is love, and his happiness consists 
 in the exercise and expression of it, according to his own 
 eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus before the 
 world began. It is therefore declared, " The Lord hath 
 made ail things for himself," that is, to express and gratify 
 his infinite benevolence. The moral excellence of God does 
 not consist in quiescent love, but in love active, bursting forth 
 and abounding. Nor does the divine happiness arise from the 
 contemplation of idle perfections ; but from perfections, which 
 comprehend boundless capacity and activity to do good. 
 
 From what has been said, we may be led to contemplate 
 with satisfaction, the infinite blessedness of God. 
 
 God is love ! This is a disposition, of all others, the most 
 happy in its own nature. He is perfect in love ; there is, 
 therefore, in his happiness no alloy. His love is infinite ; and, 
 
15 
 
 of course, his blessedness is unbounded. \( the httle holiness 
 existing in good men, though balanced by remaining sin, 
 occasions, at times, unutterable joy ; how blessed must God 
 be, who is perfectly and infinitely holy ?^ It is to be remem- 
 bered, also, that the benevolence of God is, at all times, 
 perfectly gratified. The universe which God has created 
 and upholds, including what he has done, and what he will 
 yet do, will be brought into a condition which will satisfy 
 his infinite benevolence. The great plan of government 
 which God has chosen, and which his power and wisdom will 
 execute, will embrace as much good as is in the nature of 
 things possible. He is not, like erring man, straitened or 
 perplexed, through lack of knowledge or power. There is, 
 in his plan, no defect, and in its Execution, no failure. God, 
 therefore, is infinitely happy, in his holiness, and in the ex- 
 pression of it w^hich it pleases him to make. 
 ^^The revolt of angels, jhe fall of man, and the miseries of 
 sin, do not, for a moment, interrupt the blessedness of God. 
 They were not, to him, unexpected events, starting up sud- 
 denly, while the Watchman of Israel slumbered. They were 
 foreseen by God, as clearly as any other events of his govern- 
 ment, and have occasioned neither perplexity nor dismay. 
 With infinite complacency, he beholds still, his unshaken 
 counsels, and with almighty hand, rolls on his undisturbed 
 decrees. Surrounded by unnumbered millions, created by 
 his hand, and upheld by his power, and made happy in the 
 contemplation of his glory, he shines forth, God over all 
 blessed forever. VAVhat an object of joyful contemplation 
 then, is the blessedness of God ! It is infinite : his boundless 
 capacity is full. It is eternal : he is God blessed forever. 
 The happiness of the created universe is but a drop, a drop 
 to the mighty ocean of divine enjoyment. How delightful s 
 the tiiought, that in God there is such an immensity of joy, 
 beyond the reach of vicissitude. When we look around us 
 below, a melancholy sensation pervades the mind. What 
 miserable creatures ! W^hat a wretched world I But when, 
 
16 
 
 from this scene of darkness and misery, we look up to the 
 throne of God, and behold him, high above the darkness and 
 the miseries of sin, dwelling in light inaccessible and full of 
 glory, the prospect brightens. If a few rebels, who refuse to 
 love him and participate in his munificence, are groping in 
 darkness on his footstool, God is light, and in him there is no 
 darkness at all. / 
 
 Secondly. How vast may we conceive to be the sum of 
 created good which is comprehended in the kingdom of God. 
 
 It will satisfy infinite benevolence. If all the good might 
 exist, which angels and men could conceive, it would be 
 nothing, compared with the enjoyment which God will 
 actually communicate and uphold. The happiness which 
 God will communicate will' be worthy of himself. It will 
 illustrate, so far as a created system can illustrate, the power, 
 and wisdom, and goodness, of God. How vast and blessed 
 then, must that kingdom be, which God erects as an expres- 
 sion of his glory, and in which he dwells and reigns, to prove 
 by experiment, his capacity to govern and to bless the 
 universe. 
 
 This kingdom of God, so vast and so full of joy, is still 
 destined to increase. God will never be idle. He will 
 never have communicated, actually, infinite blessedness. 
 His work will continue to grow under his hand, and his 
 kingdom to expand around him in capacity and joy. O how 
 great is God ! How glorious will his works be ! A fountain, 
 ever flowing, and never exhausted, pouring out streams of 
 blessedness to fill unnumbered fountains around him, each to 
 eternity becoming more capacious, and yet the whole bearing 
 no proportion to the uncreated source ! 
 
 It seems to be the imagination of some, that the kingdom 
 of darkness will be as populous and as vast, as the kingdom 
 of light, and that happiness and misery, of equal dimensions, 
 will expand, side by side, to all eternity. But, blessed be 
 God, it is a mere imagination, totally unsupported by reason 
 or revelation. Who ever heard of a prison that occupied 
 
17/ 
 
 one half of the territories of a kingdom ; and who can believe 
 that the universe, which was called into being, and is up- 
 held and governed, to express the goodness of God, will 
 contain as much misery as happiness ? How could the 
 government of God be celebrated with such raptures in 
 heaven, if it filled with dismay and ruin half the universe ! 
 How vast soever, therefore, the kingdom of darkness may be 
 in itself considered, it is certainly nothing but the prison of 
 the universe, and small, compared to the realms of light and 
 glory. The misery of that unholy community, whose exile 
 from heaven is as voluntary as it is just, when the eye is fixed 
 upon that only, fills the soul with trembhng ; but when, from 
 this dreadful exhibition of sin, and display of justice, we 
 raise the adoring eye to God, reigning throughout his bound- 
 less dominions, and rejoicing in their joy, the world of misery 
 shrinks to a point, and the wailings of the damned die away, 
 and are lost in the song of praise.* 
 
 Thirdly. From what has been said, we may perceive 
 wherein consists the exceeding sinfulness of sin. 
 
 vT'he evil of sin does not consist in overt acts merely, nor\ 
 in the misery which it actually occasions in time. The evil 
 of sin is to be sought in its own nature ; and is to be estimat- 
 ed, by the effects it would produce, if armed with power to 
 express itself. 7 Considered in this point of view, it is a de- 
 liberate, total, and obstinate dissent from the government of 
 God. As a temper of mind, it is enmity against God, and 
 hostility to his law and his entire government. God is the 
 soul of his kingdom, and it is his purpose to make the happi- 
 ness of every member of that kingdom to consist in love to 
 
 * I am aware that Calvinists are represented as believing', and teaching-, the 
 monstrous doctrine that infants are damned, and that hell is doubtless paved with 
 their bones. But having passed the age of fifty, and been conversant for thirty years ' 
 with the most approved Calvinistic writers, and personally acquainted with many of 
 the most distinguished Calvinistic divines in New-England, and in the middle and 
 southern and western States, I must say, that I have never seen or heard of any 
 book which contained such a sentiment, nor a man, minister or layman, who 
 believed or taught it. And I feel authorised to say. that Calvinists, as a body, are £« 
 far from teachmg the doctrine of infant damnation, as any of those who falsely 
 accuse them. And I would earnestly and affectionately recommend to all persons, 
 who have been accustomed to propagate this slander, that they commit to memory, 
 without delay, the ninth commandment, which is, " Thou shalt not bear false-witness 
 against thy neighbor." — Note to the Seventh Edition, printed in 1827. / 
 
18 
 
 him, and to his holy family. ; Sin rejects God as an object 
 of affection, and sets up a se|)arate, and opposite, and un- 
 worthy interest. The temper of sin, and the temper of God, 
 are opposite. The plans of sin, and the plans of God, are 
 opposite. If the purposes of sin go into operation, the pur- 
 poses of God are defeated. I If sin succeeds, the kingdom 
 of God fails. And, that sin does not succeed, is owing to 
 nothing but want of power and skill. If its mahgnant nature, 
 as it exists in men and devils, could be fully expressed in ac- 
 tion, it would dethrone the God of heaven, abolish his law, 
 overturn his government, extinguish the joy of God and of 
 the universe, and fill the mighty void with everlasting wo. 
 It is a wandering star, which will not obey the impulse of 
 the sun, and which, if able, would blot out the sun, and 
 leave to blackness of darkness every other luminary, that 
 it miglit roll above the mighty ruin, eclipsed by no superior 
 lustre. 
 
 Such is the selfish, malignant enmity to God, which reigns 
 in the hearts of the children of disobedience. Such, by 
 nature, is that carnal mind, which is not subject to the law of 
 God, neither indeed can be. Nothing but its own imbecility, 
 prevents it from being an evil as great, in fact, as it is in 
 nature and tendency. Let benevolence abandon the throne 
 of the universe, and let sin ascend and take possession of the 
 treasures of knowledge and power, and reign to express its 
 own nature in action, as God reigns to express his love, and 
 it would soon dismay the universe with demonstrations of its 
 evil nature. 
 
 Fourthly. What has been said concerning the character 
 and government of God, may enable us to perceive wherein 
 consists the glory of the Gospel. 
 
 The Gospel is not, as some have imagined, an expedient to 
 set aside a holy, just, and good law, in order to substitute an 
 inferior one, brought down more nearly to the depraved in- 
 clinations of men. God did not send his Son, to betray his 
 government, and compromise with rebels, by repealing the 
 
19 
 
 law which offended them. He sent his Son, to vindicate and 
 to establish this law, to redeem mankind from the curse, and 
 to bring them back to the obedience of the same law from 
 which they had revolted. 
 
 It is the glory of the Gospel that it upholds the moral 
 law and moral government of God, and brings back and re- 
 conciles to his holy dominion, millions and millions of apostate 
 creatures. 
 
 Fifthly. Those who are opposed to the decrees of God, 
 and to his sovereignty as displayed in the salvation of sinners, 
 are enemies to God.* 
 
 They are unwilling that his will should be done in earth as 
 it is in heaven, for the decrees of God are nothing but his 
 choice, as to the manner in which he will govern his own 
 kingdom. He did not enter upon his government to learn 
 wisdom by experience. Before they were yet formed, his 
 vast dominion lay open to his view, and before he took the 
 reins of created empire, he saw in what manner it became 
 him to govern. His ways are everlasting. Known unto 
 God, are all his works from the beginning. To be opposed 
 to the decrees of God, therefore, is to be unwilling that God 
 should have any choice concerning the government of the 
 world. And can those be willing that God should govern 
 the world entirely according to his pleasure, who object to 
 his having any pleasure upon the subject ? To object to the 
 choice of God, with respect to the management of the world, 
 because it is eternal, is to object to the existence of God. 
 A God of eternal knowledge, without an eternal will or 
 choice, would be a God without moral character. 
 
 To suppose that God did not know what events would 
 exist in his kingdom, is to divest him of omniscience. To 
 suppose that he did know, and did not care, had no choice, 
 no purpose, is to blot out his benevolence, to nullify his 
 
 * I do not say that all who speak ag-ainst the universal government of God, and his 
 holy sovereignly in the salvation of men, are in heart opposed to these precious 
 doctrines. God is their Judge, and knows perfectly when bitterness and sneer is the 
 result of real enmity, and wiien also, of ignorance, or prejudice, or simple misap- 
 prehension. 
 
20 
 
 wisdom, And convert his power into infinite indolence. To 
 suppose that he did know, and choose, and decree, and that 
 events do not accord with his purposes, is to suppose that 
 God has made a world which he cannot govern : has under- 
 taken a work too vast : has begun to build, but is not able to 
 finish. But to suppose that God did, from the beginning, 
 behold all things open and naked before him, and that he did 
 choose, with unerring w'isdom and infinite goodness, how to 
 govern his empire, and yet, to find a heart, and head, and 
 tongue, continually employed in opposing this great and 
 blessed truth, is demonstration of enmity to God and his 
 government. 
 
 To object to the choice of God because it is immutable, is 
 to cavil against that which constitutes its consummating 
 excellence. Caprice is a most alarming feature in a bad 
 government, but in a government absolutely perfect, none, 
 surely, can object to its immutability but those who, if able, 
 would alter it for the worse. 
 
 To say, that if God always knew how to govern so as to 
 display his glory, and bless his kingdom, and always chooses 
 thus to govern, there can be, therefore, no accountable 
 agency in the conduct of his creatures, is to deny the possi- 
 bility of a moral government, to contradict the express testi- 
 mony of God, and this, too, at the expense of common sense, 
 and the actual experience of every subject of his moral gov- 
 ernment on earth. 
 
 Sixthly. From the character of God and the nature of his 
 government, as explained in this discourse, may be inferred 
 the nature and necessity of unconditional submission to God. 
 
 Unconditional submission is an entire surrender of the soul 
 to God, to be disposed of according to his pleasure, occa- 
 sioned by confidence in his character as God. 
 
 There are many who would trust the Almighty to regulate 
 the rolling of worlds, and to rule in the armies of heaven, just 
 as he pleases ; and devils they would consign to his disposal, 
 without the least hesitation ; and their own nation, if they 
 
21 
 
 were sure that God would dispose of it according to their 
 pleasure : even their own temporal concerns they would risk 
 in the hands of God, could they know that all things would 
 work together for their good : their souls, also, they would 
 cheerfully trust to his disposal, for the world to come, if God 
 would stipulate, at all events, to make them happy. 
 
 And to what does all this amount ? Truly, that they care 
 much about their own happiness, and their own will, but 
 nothing at all about the will of God, and the welfare of his 
 kingdom. He may decree, and execute his decrees, in 
 heaven, and may turn its inhabitants into machines, or uphold 
 their freedom as he pleases ; and apostate spirits are relin- 
 quished to their doom, wliether just or unjust. It is only 
 when the government of God descends to particulars, and 
 draws near and enters their own selfish inclosures, and claims 
 a right to dispose of them, and extends its influence to the 
 unseen world, that selfishness and fear take the alarm. Has 
 God determined how to dispose of my soul ? Ah ! that alters 
 the case. If he can, consistently with freedom, govern 
 angels and devils and nations, how can he govern individuals ? 
 How can he dispose of me according to his eternal purpose, 
 and I be free ? Here reason, all-penetrating, and all-com- 
 prehensive, becomes weak ; the clouds begin to collect, and 
 the understanding, veiled by the darkness of the heart, " can 
 find no end, in wandering mazes lost." 
 
 But if God has purposes of mercy in reserve for the sinner, 
 
 he is convinced at length of his sin, and finds himself in an 
 
 evil case. He reforms, prays, weeps, resolves, and re-resolves, 
 
 regardless of the righteousness of Christ, and intent only to 
 
 establish a righteousness of his own. But through all his 
 
 windings, sin cleaves to him, and the law, with its fearful 
 
 curse, pursues him. Whither shall he flee ? What shall he 
 
 do .'' A rebel heart, that will not bow, fills him with despair. 
 
 An angry God, who will not clear the guilty, fills him with 
 
 terror. His strength is gone, his resources fail, his mouth 
 
 is stopped. With restless anxietv, or wild amazement, he 
 4 
 
22 
 
 surveys the gloomy prospect. At length, amidst the wander- 
 ings of despair, the character of God meets his eye. It is 
 new, it is amiable, and full of glory. Forgetful of danger, he 
 turns aside to behold this great sight, and while he gazes, 
 new affections awake in his soul, inspiring new confidence in 
 God, and in his holy government. Now, God appears quali- 
 fied to govern, and now, he is willing that he should govern, 
 and willing himself to be in the hands of God, to be disposed 
 of according to his pleasure. What is the occasion of this 
 change ? Has the divine character changed ? There is no 
 variableness with God. Did he then misapprehend the 
 divine character ? Was all this glory visible before ? Or 
 has a revelation of new truth been granted ? There has been 
 no new revelation. The character now admired, is the same 
 which just before appeared so gloomy and terrible. What 
 then, has produced this alteration ? Has a vision of angels 
 appeared, to announce that God is reconciled ? Has some 
 sudden light burst upon him, in token of forgiveness f Has 
 Christ been seen upon the cross, beckoning the sinner to come 
 to him ? Has heaven been thrown open to his admiring 
 eyes ? Have enrapturing sounds of music stolen upon the 
 ear, to entrance the soul ? Has some text of scripture been 
 sent to whisper that his sins are forgiven, though no repent- 
 ance, nor faith, nor love, has dawned in his soul ? And does 
 he now submit, because God has given him assurance of 
 personal safety ? None of these. Considerations of personal 
 safety, are, at the time, out of the question. It is the uncre- 
 ated, essential excellence of God, sliining in upon the heart, 
 which chains the attention, fixes the adoring eye, and fills the 
 soul with love, and peace, and joy ; and the act of submission 
 is past, before the' subject begins to reflect upon his altered 
 views, with dawning hope of personal redemption.* 
 
 * I pretend not to exhibit, in tlie above outline of experience, all the varieties of 
 exercise through which the convinced pass; nor to intimate, that every person is 
 attentive always to interpret ibe language of his heart, or able, in every instance, to 
 specify the exact time when he ceased to contend, and gave up the power and 
 dominion unto God. The act of submission is doubtless, instantaneous, and in nature 
 such as has been described, though the evidence of the change, to the subject of it, 
 may be gradual. 
 
23 
 
 Tlie change produced tlien, is the effect of Ijencvolcnce, 
 raising the affections of the soul from the world, and rest- 
 ing them upon God. Holiness is now most ardently loved. 
 This is seen to dwell in God and his kingdom, and to 
 be upheld and perfected by his moral government. It is 
 the treasure of the soul, and all the attributes of God stand 
 pledged to protect it. The solicitude, therefore, is not, 
 merely what will become of me, but what, O Lord, will 
 become of thy glory, and the glory of thy kingdom ? And 
 in the character of God, these inquiries are satisfactorily 
 answered. If God be glorified, and his kingdom upheld and 
 made happy, the soul is satisfied. There is nothing else to 
 be anxious about ; for individual happiness is included in the 
 general good, as the drop is included in the ocean. 
 
 It is by surrounding himself with benevolent intelligences, 
 who find all their joy in love to himself and his kingdom, and 
 by manifesting himself to them, that God upholds the happi- 
 ness of heaven. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all 
 thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself, is the sweet attracting 
 power, that draws the holy universe to God, and unites to 
 each other, every member of his great family. But men have 
 rejected God and his kingdom, as objects of supreme love, 
 and contracted and lowered down their affections, to rest 
 solely on selfish and worldly objects, so that in every sinner, 
 we behold God and his kingdom set at nought, and self set 
 up, and loved, and sought, instead of God, and the universal 
 good. 
 
 Hence the wicked find no consolation, and can see no 
 security, in the character of God, or in the rectitude of his 
 government, because these secure the happiness of those 
 only who are in the kingdom of God. The multiplication of 
 assurances, therefore, that God will do right, will glorify him- 
 self, will bless his holy family, affords no consolation, inspires 
 no confidence, because it insures that which they care nothing 
 about, and leaves awfully exposed the only thing which they 
 do care about. 
 
24 
 
 The character of God Insures security and happiness to the 
 repenting sinner in his kingdom, but it affords no security, no 
 happiness, to the impenitent sinner, out of his kingdom, and 
 this is the reason why the wicked are so much afraid of God. 
 It is not because they really think that God will act unworthy 
 of himself; they do not suspect the rectitude of his govern- 
 ment. They do not question, whether God will glorify him- 
 self, and surround himself with a joyful, holy kingdom. The 
 sole difficulty is, that the character of God affords no guaran- 
 tee of safety and happiness, to those who are out of his king- 
 dom, and in hostile array against it. Now the only remedy 
 which God proposes, and wliich can be proposed, is, for the 
 sinner to give up himself, as the object of supreme love, and 
 transfer his perverted affections to God, their proper object. 
 This the sinner refuses to do. He persists in separating him- 
 self from God, and still demands that God should give him 
 some pledge of safety, not in his kingdom, but while he con- 
 tinues in opposition to it, and lives in voluntary exile. With 
 such desires, God never complies. All his creatures, who will 
 place their affections on him, and seek happiness in the way 
 which he provides, shall be happy. They shall find in God, 
 all that immortal minds can desire. But God will not extend 
 his favors beyond the limits of his holy kingdom. If tiie 
 wicked, ^^ho have departed from God, will not, by Jesus 
 Christ, return to him, they must die. Benevolence is the 
 only disposition capable of happiness, and selfishness is inhe- 
 rent misery. 
 
 But raise your immortal desires, and fix them upon God, 
 and let your contracted souls expand with benevolent affec- 
 tions to his holy kingdom, and you have, in the character of 
 God, infinite security. Is your joy inspired by the per- 
 fections of God .^ They are immutable and eternal. Does 
 your happiness arise from the manifestation of his glory .'' 
 Behold, he is rearing a kingdom, in which his glory is to 
 shine as the sun forever. All things are working together 
 for your good, because they are all contributing to brighten 
 
25 
 
 that glory of God, in which your good consists. Do you 
 rejoice in the happiness of his kingdom ? It is everlasting. 
 Do you confide in the government of God, because in his per- 
 fections you behold a j)erfect security of its joyful results ? 
 Your confidence is well placed. Th.e counsel of God shall 
 stand. His kingdom shall rise majestic around him, and 
 shout and rejoice in the blaze of his glory forever. 
 
 Seventhly. The sinner who dies in his sins, is the voluntary 
 cause of his own destruction. 
 
 The decrees of God do not comjiel him to sin, and election, 
 when he has sinned, does not shut him out of heaven. He is 
 voluntary in his departure from God, he is voluntary in loving 
 the creature more than God, and he is voluntary in refusing 
 to return to God by Jesus Christ. A complete atonement 
 has been made for all his sins, and a free pardon is offered, 
 if he will repent. But he will not repent. Christ is able and 
 willing to save him if he will come to him, but he will not 
 come. Aversion to God and his government caused his 
 departure, and the same aversion prevents his return by Jesus 
 Christ. God has built an eternal prison, and the sinner fits 
 himself for it, and goes there of his own accord, in spite of 
 all the restraints which God has laid upon him, and all the 
 obstructions by which he has blocked up the way to ruin. 
 God has done every thing, but just to exert almighty power, 
 yet he will not turn. He will die ! ! He shuts his eyes ; he 
 stops his ears ; and casts behind him Bibles, and Sabbaths, 
 and prayers, and exhortations, and entreaties ; he treads 
 under foot the blood of the covenant, and does despite to the 
 Spirit of grace ; and, through a host of opposing means, and 
 while God, and angels, and men, are entreating him to stop, 
 he forces his way down to ruin. 
 
 As the conclusion of this discourse, I would therefore ex- 
 postulate with those of you, who, to this time, have persisted 
 in your alienation from God. As an ambassador of Jesus 
 Christ, and as though God by me did intreat, I pray you, 
 in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. What de- 
 
26 
 
 feet is there in his character, that you should not love him ? 
 What odious attribute to justify aversion ? What iniquity in 
 his law to occasion revolt ? What tyranny in his government 
 to justify insurrection ? Why have you rebelled ? And, 
 seeing you may return, why do you refuse to return ? What 
 cause have you to distrust and oppose the government of 
 God ? Why are you displeased that he should display his 
 power, and wisdom, and goodness, and justice, and mercy, 
 in a plan of government known and approved from eternity ? 
 What difference does it make to you whether God chose from 
 eternity how to govern, or chooses from day to day ? Would 
 infinite wisdom and goodness choose, at one time, what they 
 would reject at another ? Would not the daily counsels of 
 God correspond exactly with his eternal purpose f What 
 right have you to dictate to the Almighty, or to say to him, 
 what doest thou ? You know that he will glorify himself and 
 bless his holy kingdom, and will render to you, even should 
 he destroy you, perfect justice according to your deeds. 
 Why then are you so restless in his hands ? Why so jealous 
 and fearful, that if a door of escape were opened, you would 
 abandon forever his holy dominion ? Did you ever hear that 
 the Almighty erred in judgment ? Do the angels of heaven 
 alarm you with complainings ? Can you adduce an instance 
 in which God has done you injustice ? Whence, then, this 
 opposition ? But you say (I know what is in your hearts) ' I 
 am afraid God has determined to send me to hell.' And if 
 he has, do you not think you will deserve to be sent thither i* 
 If he has, do you expect to avert the calamity by contending 
 with your Maker ? Would you turn back the arm of his 
 power ? Would you wrest the sceptre from his hand ? 
 Would you tarnish the glory of his name, and extinguish the 
 joy of his kingdom, to rescue yourself from deserved punish- 
 ment ? 
 
 But ' is it my duty to be willing to be damned .^' It is your 
 duty to love the Lord your God whh all your heart, and soul, 
 and mind, and strength, and to confide in his government. 
 
27 
 
 and to be willing that he should dispose of you forever, just 
 as he pleases. Do you think such submission synonymous 
 with damnation ? It is as different as heaven is from hell. 
 It is the temper of heaven, and }our present rebellious 
 temper is the temper of those who are lost. But ' is it my 
 duty to be wilHng to be a sinner, and go to hell, and be sinful 
 and miserable to all eternity ?' No ; it is your willingness to 
 be a sinner, which is now preparing you for hell, and leading 
 you, step by step, to destruction. And should you ever enter 
 the abodes of darkness, it will be your voluntary wickedness 
 which will perpetuate your misery. God does not compel 
 nor command any of his creatures to sin, or to be willing to 
 sin, either in this world or the world to come. He forbids 
 your choice of sin. He commands you to repent, and by 
 Jesus Christ to return and hve. He commands you to 
 choose, not hell, but heaven, swearing by himself that he hath 
 no pleasure in your death, and entreating, " turn ye, turn ye, 
 for why will you die." But if, in the face of prohibitions, 
 and threatenings, and entreaties, you will choose death, and 
 treasure up wrath until you are fitted for destruction, you will 
 then, if sent to hell, have no cause to complain of your allot- 
 ment, nor any right to dissent from your sentence of condem- 
 nation ; and your conscience, whatever your heart may say, 
 never will dissent. 
 
 This day, then, if you will hear his voice, harden not your 
 hearts. Repent, immediately ; return and worship, and bow 
 down, and kneel before the Lord your Maker. It is not 
 tears, and feigned prayers, and heartless resolutions, that can 
 appease your God. You are alienated from God, and you 
 must be reconciled. It is hopeless to contend with God ; 
 you cannot conquer, you cannot escape, you cannot endure 
 his displeasure, and yet you must submit or fall under it for- 
 ever. — You are opposing that kingdom, by which the glory of 
 God is to be illustrated and his creation blessed. If God 
 were indifferent to his glory, or indifferent to the good of his 
 kingdom, you might hope to profit from his neutrality. But 
 
28 
 
 God is not indifferent. His whole immense mind is awake 
 to the subject, and glows with intense desire, and unwavering 
 determination to effect his purpose, and all the resources of 
 his power, and wisdom, and knowledge, stand prepared to 
 overturn his enemies. The government of God is indeed 
 terrible to you, not because it is unjust, but because it is just, 
 and you oppose it. It is rolled on by the hand of omnipo- 
 tence, with all the ardor of infinite benevolence, and you 
 have arisen up to stop its progress ; and there is no alterna- 
 tive but to submit, and unite, and go on with God, or be 
 crushed by his power, and consumed by the fierceness of his 
 wrath. With such hearts of alienation, are you prepared to 
 meet your God ? Is death hasting to overtake you ? Is the 
 grave opening to receive you, and will it close forever upon 
 your glory f Is the trump of God preparing to sound, 
 and will it call you forth to the resurrection of damnation ? 
 Is there pardon, and will you not accept it f Are there 
 boundless realms of light, and will you live in eternal exile ? 
 Is there a glorious God, and will you never love him ? Is 
 there but one prison in the universe, and will you make that 
 your everlasting abode ? Go, listen to the song of praise. — 
 Go forth, and look upon the miseries of the lost, hear their 
 waillngs, and behold the smoke of their torment. Is this the 
 society which you choose instead of heaven, and these the 
 employments In which you would spend the ages of eternity ? 
 Is there one of you who has laid aside the hope of heaven, 
 one who has resolved to wage eternal war with God ? Why 
 then do you continue the work of ruin ? . Have you not sins 
 enough to answer for ? Have not your souls stood long 
 enough in jeopardy ? Every moment you are multiplying 
 provocations against heaven. Every moment you are despis- 
 ing the riches of the goodness of God. Every moment 
 justice pleads, with louder importunity, " cut them down ;" 
 and mercy, with feebler voice, " spare them a little longer." 
 The voice of mercy will soon be heard no more. The 
 patience of God will not wait forever. His Spirit will not 
 
29 
 
 always strive. A hand's breadth only is between you and the 
 grave. If you have any work to do, it must be done quickly, 
 for death is at tiie door. This day perverted, may be the 
 last you will ever see. This moment, your sun may be casting 
 its last beams upon the mountains. Or should you live, this 
 day may close the period of divine influence. This dis- 
 course neglected, may be the last by which God will ever 
 expostulate with you in mercy. 
 
 By all the joys, then, of immortality, and by all the sorrows 
 of eternal death ; by all the mercies of God, and by all the 
 terrors of his wrath, I beseech you, be ye reconciled to God. 
 Submit to him, and he will rule for his own glory, and you 
 shall behold his glory and rejoice in it forever. But rebel, 
 and still he will reign, still he will bless his kingdom, but he 
 will exclude you, forever, from its holy joys. 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 THE REMEDY FOR DUELLING. 
 
 Isaiah, lix. 14, 15. 
 
 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afai" off: for 
 truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. 
 
 The people of Israel, when this passage was written, 
 had become exceedingly corrupt, and were sinking under the 
 pressure of fearful judgments. 
 
 But although they are hardened in sin, they are not insen- 
 sible to misery ; and though regardless of God as their 
 benefactor, they murmur and tremble before him as the 
 author of their calamities. 
 
 They admit, indeed, their sinfulness, but suppose that they 
 have made already a sufficient atonement for it. It is not 
 for sending judgments, therefore, that they impeach the Al- 
 mighty, but for continuing them. Not because he is just, 
 but because he has no mercy. " Wherefore have we fasted, 
 (say they) and thou seest not — have we afflicted our soul, 
 and thou takesl no knowledge." 
 
 The majesty of heaven condescends to reply. He de- 
 clares their sin to be the cause of his judgments ; and their 
 hypocrisy and impenitence, the ground of their continu- 
 ance. 
 
31 
 
 The sins which brought down the judgments of heaven 
 were, it appears, national sins. As individuals they were 
 guilty, and each had contributed to augment the national 
 stock. But of all classes, their rulers and men of wealth 
 and eminence had been the most liberal contributers. Their 
 private character was abominable, and their public character 
 was no better. They perverted justice — their feet ran to 
 evil — their hands were defiled with blood. Their thoughts 
 were thoughts of iniquity ; wasting and destruction were in 
 their paths. 
 
 The profligate example of rulers has at all times a perni- 
 cious influence. It had in the present case. Conspicuous by 
 its elevation, and surrounded by the fascinations of honor, it 
 ensnared the young, emboldened the timid, and called har- 
 dened villains from their dark retreats. A tremendous scene 
 ensued — a scene of impurity, intrigue, jealousy, violence and 
 murder. And there was none to help. All bonds were sun- 
 dered — the foundations were destroyed. " None called for 
 justice." The oppressed did not, because they despaired of 
 her aid ; and the wicked did not, because they were too 
 guilty to trust to her decisions. 
 
 Doubtless in the humble walks of life, there were some 
 who had escaped this contagion of bad example, and who, 
 had they been united and courageous, might have set bounds 
 to these evils ; but they neglected to make exertion, they 
 were dismayed, and gave up the cause of God without an 
 effort. 
 
 1 have no conception that this state of the Jewish nation, 
 is, in general, a correct portrait of our own. But are there 
 no points of resemblance .'' I allude now only to the conduct 
 of such of our rulers and men of eminence, as denominate 
 themselves men of honor ; and who, despising tlie laws of 
 their country and their God, adjust with weapons of death 
 their private quarrels. To such, the character ascribed to 
 the Jewish rulers is afFectingly applicable. Their hands are 
 full of blood ; and wasting and destruction are in their paths. 
 
32 
 
 I allude also to the impunity with which, in a community 
 nominally christian, and under the eye of the law, these 
 deeds of violence are committed. With respect to the 
 punishment of even murder, committed in a duel, "judgment 
 is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: truth 
 is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter." 
 
 It may be added, that, as among the Jews, \he people, who 
 by the influence of public sentiment might have limited the 
 evils of their day, remained inactive ; so the great body of 
 this nation, although they abhor the crime of dueUing, remain 
 inactive spectators of the wide-wasting evil. 
 
 But, it will be demanded, ' how can the people prevent 
 duelling.^ Already laws are enacted, With severe penalties; 
 besides this what can we do ,'" You can rescue these laws 
 from contempt, by securing their prompt execution. Do 
 you demand how f By W'ithholding your suffrage from 
 every man whose hands are stained with blood, or who has 
 been directly or indirectly concerned in a duel ; and by 
 intrusting to men of fair moral character, and moral principle, 
 the making and execution of your laws. 
 
 It will therefore be the object of this discourse, to suggest 
 and illustrate the reasons which should induce every man to 
 withhold his vote from any person who has fought, or aided 
 in fighting, a duel. 
 
 1. The elevation of duellists to power, is a practice in 
 direct opposition to the precepts of the christian religion. 
 
 Civil government is a divine ordinance. The particular 
 form, is left to the discretion of men ; but the character of 
 rulers, God has himself prescribed. They must be just 
 men. Such as fear God — a terror to evil doers, and a 
 praise to them that do ivell. Do duellists answer to tliis 
 description ? Are they just men ? Do they fear God ^ 
 Look at their law of honor. It constitutes the party judge 
 in his own cause, and executor of his own sentence. Its 
 precepts, like those of Draco, are written in blood. Death, 
 or exposure to it, is its lightest penalty ; and this, with un- 
 
33 
 
 relenting severity, is inflicted for the most trifling offence, 
 as well as for the most enormous crime ; and as often per- 
 haps upon the innocent, as upon the guilty. 
 
 When arrested by the fatal challenge, no plea of reverence 
 for God, of respect for human law, of conscience, of inno- 
 cency, absence of anger, actual friendship, affection to 
 parents, wife or children, the hope of heaven or fear of hell, 
 is for one moment admitted. All obligations are cancelled ; 
 all ties are burst asunder ; all consequences are disregarded. 
 " Nor justice nor mercy may interpose, to mitigate the rigors 
 of the controversy. The peaceable must fight the quarrel- 
 some — the rich man, the bankrupt — the father of a family, 
 the libertine — the son of many hopes, the worthless prodi- 
 gal." It is a law which inculcates no virtue, and which 
 prohibits no crime, if it be honorably committed. It tolerates 
 adultery, blasphemy, intemperance, revenge, and murder. 
 Thou shalt kill, is its first and great command, and too 
 much conscience to obey it, is the only unpardonable sin. 
 The obedient subjects of a law so impious, so unmerciful 
 and unjust, God hath denounced as unfit to govern men. 
 They are disfranchised by heaven. But, 
 
 2. The duellist is a murderer : and, were there no sen- 
 tence of exclusion from civil power contained in the word of 
 God, the abhorrence of murder should exclude from confi- 
 dence these men of blood. 
 
 " Murder (says Blackstone) is committed, when a person 
 of sound memory and discretion, killeth any reasonable 
 creature in being, with malice aforethought, either express 
 or implied. Express malice is, when one, with a sedate de- 
 liberate mind, and formed design, doth kill another. This 
 takes in the case of deliberate duelling, where both parties 
 meet avowedly with an intent to murder." — And a greater 
 than Blackstone has said : " If a man smite Ms neighbor 
 with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer. 
 And if he smite him with a hand weapon of wood, where- 
 with he may die, and he die, he is a murderer. And if he 
 
34 
 
 thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by lying of wait that 
 he die, or in enmity smite him with his hand that he die, 
 he that smote him shall surely be put to death, for he is a 
 murderer." The laws of the several States have also spo- 
 ken on this subject, and in perfect accordance with reason 
 and the word of God, declare the taking of life in a duel to 
 be murder. The appointed punishment of murder is death. 
 God who defines the crime, has himself specified the penalty. 
 " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be 
 shed. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The 
 avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer. Moreover 
 ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer which 
 is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. He 
 shall flee to the pit ; let no man stay him." 
 
 These denunciations of the word of God are peremptory, 
 and are to this moment in full force. The law violated by 
 the murderer is a moral law. The cancelling of Jewish 
 ceremonies has not affected it. The penally is the penalty 
 of a moral law, and the obligation to inflict it is universal and 
 immutable. Shall we then dare to rise up in the face of 
 heaven, and turn judgment away backward ? Shall we 
 snatch from the dungeon and the gallows the victims of jus- 
 tice, to invest them with power, and adorn them with dignity 
 and honor ? 
 
 But every duellist, it will perhaps be said, is not a murder- 
 er, inasmuch as death is not always the consequence of fight- 
 ing. The death of the victim is, I know, necessary to justify 
 the infliction of the penalty in its full extent. But is a crime 
 never committed, until it becomes so palpable that the law 
 can take hold of it ? 1 do not hesitate to say, that every 
 duellist is a murderer, for he has said so himself. He has 
 avowed as his own, principles of murder ; he tells you that, 
 if occasion calls, and his skill be sufficient, he will murder. 
 And, when insulted or challenged he has stood forth in the 
 field of combat, and aimed the deadly weapon, and through 
 want of skill only, or through fear and trembling, has failed 
 
35 
 
 to prostrate his victim, is he therefore not a murderer ? Is 
 the professed robber who fails in his attempt, therefore not a 
 robber ? Ts the assassin because his thrust was not deadly, 
 therefore not an assassin ? 
 
 3. A regard to the public safety, as well as respect to the 
 authority of God, and an abhorrence of murder, should with- 
 hold the suffrage of the community from the duelhst. 
 
 When we intrust life and liberty and property in the hands 
 of men, we desire some pledge of their fidelity. But what 
 pledge can the duellist give ? His religious principle is noth- 
 ing — his moral principle is nothing. His honor is our only 
 security. But is this sufficient? Are the temptations of 
 power so feeble, is the public and private interest so insepa- 
 rable, are the opportunities of fraud so few, that amid the 
 projects of ambition, the cravings of avarice, and the conflicts 
 of party, there is no need of conscience to guarantee the 
 integrity of rulers ? The law of honor, were hs maxims 
 obeyed perfectly, would afford no security. " It. is a system 
 of rules constructed by people of fashion, and calculated to 
 facilitate their intercourse with one another, and for no other 
 purpose."* It is the guardian of honorable men only. The 
 public good is out of the question — right and wrong are terms 
 unknown in this code. Its sole object is to enable unprinci- 
 pled men to live together with politeness and good humor ; 
 men, whom neither the laws of their country, nor the retribu- 
 tions of eternity, can restrain from acts of mutual outrage ; 
 and who, by the expectation of instant death — by the pistol at 
 the breast — must be restrained from unchristian provocation, 
 and drilled into good behaviour. It is for the interest of this 
 noble portion of the human race that honor legislates. But 
 for the common people, the ignoble vulgar, it has no concern. 
 They, it seems, have no honor j or if they have, laws and 
 courts, and fines, and constables, may suffice to take care 
 of it. 
 
 Hence the honor of a duelling legislator does not restrain 
 him in the least from innumerable crimes, which affect the 
 
 * Paley's Philosopby. 
 
36 
 
 peace of society. He may contemn the Saviour of men, 
 and hate and oppose the rehgion of his country. He 
 may be a Julian in bitterness, and by swearing cause the 
 earth to mourn : in passion a whirlwind ; in cruelty to ten- 
 ants, to servants, and to his family, a tiger. He may be a 
 gambler, a prodigal, a fornicator, an adulterer, a drunkard, 
 a murderer, and not violate the laws of honor. Nay, honor 
 not only tolerates crimes, but in many instances it is the 
 direct and only temptation to crime. 
 
 What has torn yonder wretches from the embraces of their 
 wives and their children, and driven them to the field of 
 blood — to the confines of hell ? What nerves those arms, 
 rising to sport with life and heaven ? It is honor — the pledge 
 of patriotism — the evidence of rectitude ! Ah, it is done ! — 
 The blood streams, and the victim welters on the ground. 
 And see the victor coward running from the field, and for 
 a few days, like Cain, a fugitive and vagabond, until the first 
 burst of indignation has passed, and the hand of time has 
 soothed the outraged sensibility of the community ; then pub- 
 licly, and as if to add insult to injustice, returning to offer his 
 services, and to pledge his honor, that your lives and your 
 rights shall be safe in his hand. Nor is this j^ie only case 
 where honor becomes the temptation to crime ; it operates in 
 all cases where the maxims of this infernal combination have 
 attached disgrace to the performance of duty, and honor to 
 the perpetration of iniquity. And beside the crimes which 
 honor tolerates, and the scarcely inferior number which it 
 enjoins, there are a variety of cases where it will not restrain 
 from treacheries confessedly dishonorable. 
 
 What security can a mere man of honor give that he will 
 not betray our interest in every case where it can be done 
 without detection ? What shall secure us when the price 
 of perfidy is so high, as to compensate for the disgrace of an 
 honorable sale ?* What, where attachment to the public 
 
 * A prime minister of England, after much experience, said that every man had 
 his price : — and appHed to men who have no fear of God before them — who have no 
 pledge of rectitude but " wliat will the world think of ine 1" the justice of his 
 opinion cannot reasonably be doubted. 
 
37 
 
 good would sacrifice popularity ? For in this case the more 
 tender his regard to reputation, and dread of disgrace, the 
 more certainly will he abandon the public good, and pursue 
 his private interest. What also, when he may follow a multi- 
 tude to do evil, and annihilate his disgrace by dividing it 
 with many ? What, when his reputation is already gone, 
 before his terra of service, or his ability to do mischief ex- 
 pires f What, in those numberless cases, where imagined 
 ingratitude on the part of the people shall impel wounded 
 pride to an honorable revenge ? What, where the disgrace of 
 poverty, as often happens, is more dreaded than the disgrace 
 of a dishonest act ? 
 
 I know it is said, that a man's principles and his private 
 character are nothing to us. If his ability be adequate, and 
 his politics correct, and his public conduct as yet irreproach- 
 able, this is sufficient. But are you prepared to be the 
 dupes of such wild absurdity ? According to this sentiment, 
 a man may set his mouth against the heavens — he may be a 
 drunkard in the intervals of official duty, a prodigal, a tyrant, 
 a mere savage in his family, and still be trumpeted by un- 
 principled politicians and electioneering hand-bills, as the 
 great champion of liberty, the very Atlas on whose shoulders 
 rests the destiny of his country. But what is a man's politi- 
 cal creed, what is his past conformity to your wishes, when 
 his profligate private life demonstrates tiiat he is prepared to 
 betray you the first moment he shall find it for his interest ? 
 Dispense with moral principle and private virtue, and all is 
 gone. You can find no substitute ; honor is a cobweb, and 
 patriotism an empty name in the hour of trial. The single 
 circumstance, that neither the interest nor the reputation of 
 the duellist will come in competition with your interest, 
 is your only security that, if able, he will not sport with 
 your liberties as wantonly as he has sported with, or is pre- 
 pared to sport with, the life of his neighbor. Admit, that 
 there are instances, in which men destitute of principle have 
 
 acted with integrity in public stations ; can you tell me how 
 6 
 
38 
 
 many thousands have betrayed their trust for want of it ? 
 These are exempt cases — the persons did not happen to be 
 tempted. But do you desire no better pledge of rectitude 
 than the mere absence of temptation ? — Will you confide in 
 thieves and swindlers to legislate, because two in a thousand, 
 though utterly unprincipled, may have found it for their in- 
 terest not to cheat you ? It is in trying emergencies, when 
 the price of perfidy is high, and temptation imperious, that 
 unprincipled men are weighed in the balance and found 
 wanting. And will you appoint cowards and traitors to com- 
 mand your armies, because they might answer in time of 
 peace ; or intrust your lives to quacks in medicine, because 
 under slight indispositions, they might suffice to administer 
 herb-drink ^ Why does this lingeriaig confidence in the 
 duellist still survive the extinction of moral principle ^ One 
 crime of equal magnitude in any other case, would decide 
 his fate forever. The failing merchant, convicted of dis- 
 honesty, is recorded a knave ; the receipt of a bribe by a 
 judge, is irrevocable infamy ; perjury cancels forever all 
 confidence ; the thief solicits in vain the public suffrage ; the 
 highway robber can find none to exercise charity, none to 
 palliate his crime ; and the common murderer, might he 
 live, would be doomed to linger out a life of disgusting 
 infamy. But the duellist, who in cold blood, or with bitter 
 malice and burning rage murders his neighbor, can find 
 enough to exercise charity and palliate his crime : a whole 
 state, a whole nation, to testify by their votes that they 
 consider it nothing. 
 
 But alas ! the duellist, frail man, is overcome by tempta- 
 tion. He has peculiar sensibilities, habits of education, and 
 modes of thinking, which in this one case led him astray, 
 without inferring at all a general deficiency of principle, 
 religious or moral. 
 
 In plain language, because the duellist is educated a duel- 
 list, the crime of wilful murder in him is very small, and is 
 consistent with religious and moral principle. If men, then. 
 
39 
 
 are only educated to thieving, assassination and robbery — 
 if, by habit and false reasoning, they are so familiarised to 
 crime as to rob, and steal, and destroy life without much 
 consciousness of guilt, then, indeed, they are very honest men, 
 and are fit to superintend the affairs of the nation. 
 
 But were it admitted — did we even know that some one 
 duellist was in fact a man of principle, and overcome by 
 stress of temptation only, would it be proper to confide in 
 him as a legislator ? Would you, had his crime been com- 
 mon murder, an act of robbery or perjury, though you knew 
 he had been surprised or thrust into it by powerful tempta- 
 tion ? Would it not manifest him, if not unprincipled, at 
 least too feeble and flexible to stand before the numerous 
 and powerful temptations to which his situation would expose 
 him ? A coward may be an honest man, but certainly a 
 coward should not be intrusted with the command of armies. 
 Besides, this lightly passing over crimes of the deepest dye, I 
 may even say, this rewarding them with the profits and hon- 
 ors of the state, confounds in the public mind the distinctions 
 between virtue and vice, and weakens that abhorrence of 
 crime, which is the guardian of public morality. Elevate 
 swindlers to office, and who shall guarantee the integrity of 
 the common people .'' Elevate adulterers, and who will 
 punish incontinence ? Elevate murderers, and who will be 
 the avengers of blood ^ 
 
 But, waving all moral considerations, what security have 
 we that the duellist will not, if intrusted with our liberties, 
 desert us in the hour of danger? What security can we have, 
 when it is in the power of every factious rival who can shoot 
 strait, to compel him to the field ; and by destroying his life, 
 to derange, perhaps to annihilate, the government f" What if 
 Washington, in the crisis of our fate, had fallen in a duel ^ 
 What if the Governors, the Senators, the Judges of the 
 States were so infatuated with the madness of honor, that in 
 the moment of peril we could have no other secui'ity of their 
 constancy, than that no person should tempt them to hazard 
 tlieir lives and put in jeopardy their country .'' 
 
? 40 
 
 I 
 
 4. The system of duelling is a system of despotism, tend- 
 ing directly and powerfully to the destruction of civil 
 liberty. 
 
 A free government is a government of laws made by the 
 people for the protection of life, reputation, and property. 
 A despotic government is where life and all its blessings are 
 subject to the caprice of an individual. Those maxims and 
 practices, therefore, which remove life, reputation, and pro- 
 perty, from under the protection of law, and subject them to 
 the caprice of an individual, are the essence of despotism. 
 Nor is it material whether this is done by open violence, or 
 by the application of unlawful motives which as effectually 
 answer the purpose. Every man conforming to the laws of 
 his country, has a right to the peaceable enjoyment of life 
 and all its immunities. Nor has any individual a right, di- 
 rectly or indirectly to interrupt this enjoyment. No man has 
 a right to tempt his neighbor to renounce the protection of 
 law, and much less to punish him with heavy penalties for 
 refusing to do it.* But tliis is precisely the despotic privi- 
 lege which duellists have arrogated to themselves. The man 
 who refuses a challenge, so far as their accursed influence 
 extends, is out-lawed — is branded with infamy and exposed 
 to perpetual insult. But what has he done ? He has feared 
 to offend his God ; and under trying temptations to the con- 
 trary, has bowed submissive to the laws of his country ! and 
 for this he is punished — substantially punished, in a free 
 country, without trial, without law, nay, even in opposition 
 to law ! 
 
 If the despotic principles of duelling terminated in theory, 
 they might excite our compassion as mere distempers of 
 the brain ; but their practical influence is powerful and fatal, 
 as inimical to our rights in fact, as it is in theory ; tending 
 directly and powerfully to the destruction of civil liberty. 
 
 Equal laws are essential to civil liberty ; but equal laws are 
 far from satisfying the elevated claims of duellists. That 
 
 ■ Hence, the mere snulmg of a ehalleii'^e is punishable hy law. 
 
41 
 
 protection which the law affords to them in common with 
 others, they despise. They must have more — a right to 
 decide upon, and to redress their own grievances. ' When 
 we please,' (say they,) ' we will avail ourselves of the law ; 
 and when we please, we will legislate for ourselves. For the 
 vulgar, the.dull forms of law may suffice ; but for a reputa- 
 tion so sacred, and for feelings so refined and sensitive as 
 ours, they are vastly inadequate. Nor shall they restrain 
 our hand from the vindication of our honor, or protect the 
 WTCtch who shall presume to impeach it.' Is this liberty and 
 equality .'* Are these gentlemen, indeed, so greatly superior 
 to the people.'' Is their reputation so much more important ? 
 Are their feelings so much more sacred ? Is pain more 
 painful to them, or self-government less their duty than ours ? 
 Must we bear all injuries which the law cannot redress ? 
 Must we stifle our resentments, or, if we vent them in acts ol 
 murder, swing upon the gallows ; while they with impunity 
 express their indignation, and satiate with blood a revengeful 
 spirit ? 
 
 But education, it is said, has inspired these men with sen- 
 sibilities peculiar to themselves, for which the cold process of 
 iaw has made no provision. So has the education of the 
 savage given him peculiar feelings, for the gratification of 
 which, the dilatory forms of law are equally inadequate. 
 But will you let the savage loose with tomahawk and scalp- 
 ing-knife, because educational feelings can find no consolation 
 in the regular administration of justice ? The feelings for 
 which the law makes no provision, are feelings for which it 
 ought not to provide — ungodly feelings — the haughtiness of 
 pride and relentless revenge, and which, instead of a dispen- 
 sation for indulgence, deserve the chastisement of scorpions. 
 To reduce such unruly spirits, the law should brandish its 
 glittering sword, and utter all its thunders. Nothing is need- 
 ful to make legal redress as adequate to duellists as to us, 
 but habits of self-government. And are they not under the 
 same obligation that we are to acquire these habits .'' And if 
 
42 
 
 they will not take the trouble to govern their temper — if they 
 will not encounter, that self-denial which the laws of God and 
 man inculcate — if they will be savages in a civilized land, let 
 them be treated as savages. And when they murder, elevate 
 them to the gallows, and not to posts of honor. 
 
 The administration of justice ought, above all things, to be 
 impartial. The rich and the honorable ought to be equally 
 liable to punishment for their crimes with the poor ; and, 
 according to their desert, punished with equal severity. But 
 while duellists bear sway, this can never be. It is a fact, 
 that the man who steals a shilling is more liable to detection, 
 and more sure to be punished, than the man who in a duel 
 murders his neighbor. Is this equal ? Shall petty thefts 
 excite indignation and be punished with severity, while mur- 
 derers with bold impunity walk on every side i' 
 
 A sacred regard to law is indispensable to the existence of 
 a mild government. In proportion as obedience ceases to 
 be voluntary, and the contempt of law becomes common, 
 must the nerves of government be strengthened until it be- 
 comes in essence, if not in name, a monarchy. We must 
 have protection ; and the more numerous and daring the 
 enemy, the more power must be delegated to subdue and 
 control them. That contempt of law, therefore, which is 
 manifested by the duellist, is a blow at the vitals of liberty. 
 It is the more deadly, because, from the genius of our gov- 
 ernment, the example has a peculiar influence. In despotic 
 governments the example of the legislator may not be so 
 pernicious. Chains, dungeons, racks and gibbets, may keep 
 the people in their place, although their rulers should give 
 themselves a license to sin. Viewed also at such an ab- 
 ject distance, the example loses much of its power. But 
 under the mild government of a republic, there is no such 
 distance between the rulers and the ruled, and no such terrific 
 restraints to deter from the imitation of their example. To 
 elevate to office therefore, duellists, the deliberate contemners 
 of law, is to place their example in the most conspicuous 
 
43 
 
 point of view, and to clothe it with most woful efficacy to 
 destroy pubhc virtue. Select for your rulers men of profli- 
 gate example, who contemn the religion and despise the laws 
 of their country, and they need not conspire to introduce 
 despotism ; you will yourselves introduce it — you will flee to 
 it, as the damned will flee in the day of judgment to rocks 
 and mountains, to shield you from the operation of more in- 
 tolerable evils. 
 
 The tendency of duelling to restrain liberty of speech and 
 of the press, is also direct and powerful. The people have 
 a right to investigate the conduct of rulers, and to scrutinize 
 the character of candidates for office ; and as the private and 
 moral character of a man is the truest index, it becomes 
 them to be particular on 1,his point. But who will speak on 
 this subject, who will publish, when the duellist stands 
 before him with pistol at the breast ? If a few, duellists 
 themselves, and mad with ambition, will brave the danger, 
 how many are there who will not ? And what aggravates 
 the restraint, the more unprincipled and vile the man, and 
 the greater the need of speaking, the greater the danger of 
 unveiling his enormity. While bent upon promotion, and 
 desperate in his course, he is prepared to seal in death the 
 lip that shall publish his infamy. What should we think of a 
 law that forbade the people to speak of the immoralities of 
 candidates for office — which made death the penalty of 
 transgression, and which produced annually as many deaths 
 as this nefarious system of duelling ? We. should not endure 
 it a moment ; if Congress were to sanction by a law the 
 maxims of duelling, it would produce a revolution. And will 
 you bear encroachments upon liberty from lawless indi- 
 viduals, which you would not bear a moment from the 
 government itself.'' Would you spurn from your confidence 
 legislators who should make such laws, and will you by your 
 votes clothe with legislative power individuals, who in con- 
 tempt of law, do the same thing ? 
 
 Nor let any imagine that the influence of this engine of 
 
44 
 
 despotism is small ; it is powerful already, and is every year 
 becoming more so, as duelling increases ; and God only 
 knows where its influence will end. The actual encroach- 
 ments of Britain, when we first began to resist them, were 
 not one half so alarming as the encroachments of duellists. 
 To have been parallel, she must have executed wantonly, 
 without judge or jury, as many as have fallen in duels. 
 What sensations would such conduct have excited ? Had 
 it depended on our votes merely, would England have 
 continued to legislate ? And shall lawless despots at this 
 day perform what all the fleets and armies of England could 
 not? 
 
 Duelling in its operation exposes to additional risk and 
 danger those who would rise to usefulness and fame in civil 
 hfe. With what views can a christian parent look to the 
 law as a profession for his son, where, if he rise to fame, he 
 must join the phalanx of murder, or if he refuse, experience 
 their united influence against him ? If the road to Wash- 
 ington was beset with robbers — if they sacrificed yearly as 
 many as are now^ slain in duels, could the wretches live un- 
 molested ? Their crimes notorious, could they mingle in 
 society ? Could they boast of their prowess, and glory in 
 their shame f Could they enjoy the confidence of the peo- 
 ple, and receive their suffrages, and be made the guardians 
 of civil liberty ? 
 
 The inconsistency of voting for duellists is glaring. To 
 profess attachment to liberty, and vote for men whose prin- 
 ciples and whose practices are alike hostile to liberty — to 
 contend for equal laws, and clothe W'ith power those who 
 despise them — to enact law^s, and intrust their execution to 
 men who are the first to break them, is a farce too ridiculous 
 to be acted by freemen. In voting for the duellist, we pa- 
 tronize a criminal whom, in our law, we have doomed to 
 die. With one hand we erect the gallows, and with the 
 other rescue the victim ; at one breath declare him unfit 
 to live, and the next constitute him the guardian of our 
 
45 
 
 rights. Cancel, I beseech you, the laws against duelling — 
 annihilate your criminal code — level to the ground your 
 prisons, and restore to the sweets of society, and embraces 
 of charity, their more innocent victims. Be consistent. If 
 you tolerate one set of villains, tolerate them all ; if murder 
 does not stagger your confidence, let it not waver at inferior 
 crimes. 
 
 In our prayers, we request that God would bestow upon 
 us good rulers ; just men, ruling in the fear of God. 
 But by voting for duellists we demonstrate the insincerity of 
 such prayers — for when, by the providence of God, it is left 
 to our choice whom we will have, we vote for murderers. 
 Unless therefore, we would continue to mock God by 
 hypocritical prayers, we must cease praying for good men, 
 or we must cease to patronize men of blood. Do we not 
 pray also for the preservation of liberty, and the continuance 
 of national prosperity ? And do we not know that good 
 rulers are the chosen instruments of the divine blessing ; 
 and that when God would chastise a people, unprincipled 
 rulers are the rod of his anger ? When therefore, the selec- 
 tion of rulers is left to ourselves, shall we disregard his 
 chosen instruments of mercy, and expect his blessing ,'* 
 Shall we put into his hand the rod of his anger, and expect 
 to escape chastisement ? 
 
 To vote for the duellist is to assist in the prostration of 
 justice, and indirectly, to encourage the crime of duelling. 
 
 Laws in republics depend for their prompt execution, 
 upon a correct and efficient ])ablic sentiment. The highway 
 robber need not publish his daring exploits in a newspaper 
 to attract notice. A common indignation glows in the public 
 mind — in all directions the son of violence is pursued, and 
 when arrested and convicted, is sure to die. In several 
 districts of the United States, a murder committed in a duel 
 would excite equal exertion to detect the murderer, wiio, on 
 detection, would be equally sure to die. The great officers 
 of government, and other influential characters, dare not, if 
 7 
 
46 
 
 disposed, connive at the crime. The public indignation, 
 like a high swollen river, would sweep away any one who 
 should presume to turn aside, or obstruct its course. But 
 in other parts of the land, the frequency of the crime and 
 its immemorial iuipunity has deadened the public feeHng. 
 Many disapprove, but do not sufficiently abhor the crime ; 
 they are sorry, but are not indignant. They wish the offi- 
 cers of government would execute the law, but do not compel 
 them to do it. Duellists are apprised of this debilitated 
 state of public feeling, and are therefore not afraid to contra- 
 vene the feeble public will. It is not a torrent, unmanagea- 
 ble and dreadful, but a puny stream which they dare to op- 
 pose, and which they have learned to manage. 
 
 When therefore, a murder is committed in a duel, imme- 
 diately a great bustle is made. The culprit is arrested, or is 
 io be arrested — but, alas ! he cannot be found ; or if found, 
 alas ! there are no witnesses ; or if there are witnesses, alas ! ■ 
 the indictment is defective, and this is the last we hear of it. 
 The first effect of public indignation is a little feared. Justice 
 may not as yet be "turned backward" without some little 
 manoeuvering ; and this blustering is made just to amuse 
 until the first emotion subsides ; and when the danger is over, 
 the sword of justice drawn only to deceive, is returned to its 
 scabbard. The criminal creeps from his hiding place, tri- 
 umphs in his guih, and if insulted, fights again. We blame 
 our rulers, but by whom are such men made rulers, and by 
 whose negligence are they emboldened to wink at this most 
 accursed sin f Were the officers of justice men of moral 
 principle, who really abhorred duelling and desired to put a 
 stop to it, would the laws be tlius inefficacious .'* Would it 
 be so difficult to make a law that should fasten upon the cul- 
 prit — so difficult to arrest, convict, and execute ? Is there 
 any such difficulty in bringing to justice the thief, the robber, 
 and the common murderer ? I tell you nay ; the traitor is 
 in the citadel ; we have ourselves put him there, knowing also 
 that he would let the criminal go ; of course, we are acces- 
 
47 
 
 sary to his escape and to the prostration of justice, as really, 
 as if with our own hands we unbarred and threw open the 
 gates of his prison. Indeed, by removing the only restraints 
 which duellists can feel, we indirectly encourage the crime. 
 By appointing them to legislate, we remove all fear of legal 
 punishment — all fear of pecuniary loss — all fear of disgrace. 
 We say to the aspiring politician, ' be of good courage, and 
 avenge yourself; it shall be no slain upon your character, 
 no impediment to your promotion. We have made a law, 
 indeed, but we mean nothing by it. If you please not to 
 destroy your fellow men, we shall be glad ; but if you do 
 please to destroy them, it shall not have the weight of a straw 
 to prevent your elevation.' By removing, in this way, all 
 restraints from the commission of the crime, we encourage 
 it, though indirectly, yet really and effectually, as if we 
 rewarded the culprit from the public treasury. Nay, by 
 elevating to important stations men whose hands are stained 
 with blood, we do little less than reward them for their 
 crimes ; and it has been asserted, and by men long conver- 
 sant in the affairs of state, that the fighting of a duel is a 
 passport to honor. 
 
 The contempt with which duellists treat the opinions and 
 feelings of the community, is a reason why we should cease 
 to confide in them. • 
 
 The people, whatever men of honor may think of them, 
 constitute the strength, the virtue, and glory of the nation ; 
 and their opinions and wishes demand respect from those 
 who legislate for them. The feelings of the great body of 
 the people are decidedly opposed to duelling. This is mani- 
 fest from the laws on this subject, and from the fact that the 
 mass of the people discard those notions of Gothic honor, 
 and rest satisfied with that protection and redress which the 
 laws afford. It is but a handful of men only, compared with 
 the whole, that uphold this bloody system. That which by 
 duellists is denominated public opinion, and which constitutes 
 the dire necessity of spiUing each other's blood, is the opinion 
 
48 
 
 of duellists only — the opinion of not more than one in a 
 thousand of the inhabitants of the nation. But the opinion of 
 this handful is, by those who compose it, deemed of far 
 greater consequence than the opinion and feelings of the 
 great mass of the people. Duellists well know our aversion 
 to their crimes, our grief at their conduct, and our desires to 
 wipe off this disgrace of a christian land. But little do they 
 care for our opinions or our feelings. They move in a sphere 
 too much above us, to let themselves down to the standard of 
 our conceptions, or to give themselves concern about our 
 desires or aversions. When an election is depending, when 
 they need our votes to gratify their ambition, or satiate their 
 avarice, then indeed they sympathise most tenderly with the 
 people. The people are every thing ; their wishes are 
 sacred, and their voice is the voice of God. But let this 
 end be accomplished, and a challenge or an insult be given ; 
 and neither liberty, nor patriotism, nor the voice of the 
 people, nor the voice of God, can avail to deter them from 
 deeds the most barbarous and despotic. Shall we then vote 
 for men who treat with contempt our opinions and our feel- 
 ings, who basely prostrate our laws, when we have nothing 
 to bestow ; and who again creep through all the dirty wind- 
 ings of hypocrisy, wlien their promotion depends on our will ? 
 Wliat are all their professions of patriotism, contradicted by 
 their conduct.^ And shall they deceive us still? Let them 
 plead for hberty with the tongue of men and angels, and 
 adore her cause with the fervor of seraphs, they are hypo- 
 crites — mere sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. 
 
 Withhold the public suffrage from the duellist, and the 
 practice of fighting duels will speedily cease. 
 
 Two causes will insure this effect. 
 
 1. When duellists are expelled from all legislative in- 
 fluence, the law against this crime will be promptly executed. 
 Duelling does not prevail now because the penalty of law is 
 inadequate, but because it is never inflicted ; and so long 
 as dueUists retain the confidence of the people, and are 
 
clothed with power, it never will be inflicted. We might 
 as reasonably expect horse-jockies, gamblers, and thieves, 
 it* intrusted with government, to execute the laws against 
 themselves ; as that duellists in office will give efficacy to 
 the laws against duelling. 
 
 But let men who in this respect betray the confidence 
 reposed in them — who not only fight duels themselves, but 
 have pleasure in those that do the same, be driven fi"om 
 their stations, and their places supplied with men of firmness 
 and principle, and the end is accomplished. The penahies 
 of the law, uniformly and faithfully apphed, will prevent 
 duelling ; and to insure this, nothing is necessary but to 
 expel traitors, and substitute rulers of a decided character — 
 men who, partaking of the public sentiment, will attempt in 
 earnest to give to that sentiment, as expressed in the law, 
 its entire efficacy. 
 
 2. The withholding our suffi'age from duellists will tend 
 to annihilate the practice, by arraying the public opinion 
 against it in such a manner, that the real, unavoidable dis- 
 grace of fighting, will be greater than that of refusing to 
 fight. 
 
 The reason why men of honor (falsely so called) pay 
 homage to the law of honor, is because the maxims of this 
 ghastly code are among a certain class of men assumed as 
 their opinion, which opinion is made to affect in a sensible 
 manner, those who presume to disregard it. The opinion of 
 the great mass of the people is also just as well known, but 
 with this important difference, that it inflicts no penalty on 
 those who disregard it. It is vague, feeble, and inefficacious. 
 But let the opinion of society on the subject of duelling be 
 collected, combined, and expressed in the votes of the 
 people, and it will operate most sensibly upon that class of 
 men who now most despise it. It will involve a penalty 
 which they cannot but feel, and which they cannot evade. 
 No defect in the Jaw — no absconding of witnesses — no flaw 
 in the indictment — no connivance of the great, can come to 
 
50 
 
 their assistance in this dilemma. If they will violate our 
 laws, they shall not be intrusted with power. If they will 
 murder, we will invest with power men who will punish 
 them. In this way we cut the sinews of duelling, and bind 
 to good behavior by the motive which before impelled to the 
 crime. The opinion of the people, that which is in fact 
 public opinion, becomes prominent, assumes influence, and 
 overwhelms the absurd opinions of bloody men. Motives 
 of compassion and of justice, both demand this expression 
 of public sentiment. These honorable men admit the sin 
 and the folly of their deeds. They disclaim all motives of 
 revenge or hatred. Their only plea is necessity ; and the 
 only necessity is the imperious mandate of public opinion. 
 They even lament that such a state of things should exist ; 
 but while it does exist, they must fight or encounter disgrace. 
 Is it not our duty then to undeceive these deluded men, and 
 to rescue from death these reluctant martyrs of honor? 
 Must they be haunted all their days, and be driven to despe- 
 ration by a mere spectre of the imagination — by a public 
 opinion which has no being .'' Are we not bound to teach 
 them their mistake, if it be such, and to wrest from their 
 hands this mere pretence, if it be no more ? 
 
 Withholding the public suffrage from duellists, is the only 
 method in which there is the least prospect of arresting the 
 practice of duelling. 
 
 We may reason, and ridicule, and lament, and remonstrate, 
 and threaten, and legislate, and multiply penalties, and the 
 evil will still progress. Environed by the subtilties of law 
 and shielded by the perverted patronage of men in office, 
 regardless of our grief and fearless of our indignation, they 
 will laugh at our zeal and defy our efforts. There is no way 
 to deal with these men, but to make them feel their depen- 
 dence on the people ; and no way to effect this, but to take 
 the punishment of their crimes into our own hands. Our 
 conscience must be the judge, and we must.ourselves convict, 
 and fine, and disgrace them at the polls. Here, and no 
 
51 
 
 where beside, will our voice be heard, and our will become 
 law. 
 
 The evils justly to be apprehended from the continuance 
 of duelling, call loudly upon us to awake in earnest to this 
 subject, and apply with vigor the proposed remedy. 
 
 It every year robs our country of men qualified (this epi- 
 demic madness excepted) for extensive usefulness. It cuts 
 down our young men, and fills the land with widows and 
 with orphans. The tax is too heavy ; the victims ofTered to 
 Moloch are too numerous. Might the evil however, be 
 confined to its present limits, it would be less intolerable ; but 
 we have no ground to indulge such a hope. In Europe, 
 where duelling originated, the great inequality of rank 
 has usually prevented the practice from descending to the 
 common walks of life. It is there the unenvied privilege 
 of gre£ft men to kill one another. But in our own country 
 there is no such barrier. The genius of our government 
 has inspired every man with a spirit of independence 
 and self-importance — a spirit desirable when duly regulated, 
 but dreadful when perverted, and, in young men especially, 
 very liable to be perverted. We are all honorable men ; and 
 if the laws of the land are insufficient to protect the reputa- 
 tion of one man, they are equally defective to all. If the 
 military officer, the civil officer and the lawyer must take 
 the protection of their reputation into their own hands, so 
 may the merchant, the merchant's clerk, the gentleman, 
 and the gentleman's son ; so may the mechanic, the farmer, 
 and the planter. And they not only may, but they will 
 do it, if an end be not put to this lawless practice. The 
 horrid evil will nof be confined to cities; it will breakout 
 in the country. It will stalk through our towns and deso- 
 late our villages. Let not these anticipations be deemed 
 chimerical ; they are legitimate inferences from the known 
 principles of the human mind and the peculiar situation of 
 our country; and they. are justified also by experience. 
 The mad example of Charles V. and Francis I. king of 
 
52 
 
 France, descended like a mighty torrent from the highest 
 elevations of rank, down to the humble vale of private life. 
 Through all Europe the pulse of honor began to throb, and 
 all orders of men caught the fever. The nobleman and the 
 nobleman's servant, the general and the common soldier, the 
 IsLwyer, the merchant, the tailor, and the hair-dresser, be- 
 came suddenly inflated with the inspirations of honor. The 
 forms of law were disregarded ; every man became his own 
 judge, his own protector and avenger, until, in this crusade of 
 honor the earth smoked with the blood of its miserable in- 
 habitants. " Much of the best blood in Christendom was 
 shed, many useful lives sacrificed, and at some periods war 
 itself hath hardly been more destructive than these private 
 contests of honor."* 
 
 In our own country and by a similar infatuation, duelling 
 is steadily progressing ; the example of great men ar^ rulers 
 is sweeping all before it, and is bending its destroying course 
 to the vale of common life. Instances have come to my 
 knowledge of challenges giv^en by those whom our grand- 
 fathers would have called boys, to adjust by weapons of 
 death their hasty disputes. Already, and far remcJte from 
 cities, does the vapor ot honor begin to swell with fancied 
 importance many a stripling — leading him to threaten, what, 
 as yet, he has not courage to perform. This shows what 
 effect the frequency of the crime, and the impunity attending 
 it, is beginning to have upon youthful minds. The leaven 
 has begun to operate ; and if no stop be put to it, the time is 
 not distant when every petty quarrel of hot-headed young 
 men must be adjusted by powder and ball. In the southern 
 and western States such events are already frequent. The 
 youth extensively are enrolled on the lists of honor, and are 
 bound to attack and defend according to its rules. Expert- 
 ness in firing the pistol is a qualification of indispensable 
 attainment ; and the sabbath is often devoted to the most 
 christian employment of learning ta shoot expertly. 
 
 * Russeirs Modern Europe. 
 
63 
 
 The genius of our government favors also, not only the 
 descent of the practice, but multiplies to an unlimited extent, 
 the occasions of duelling. Political disputes are the usual 
 provocation. These display their influence through every 
 class of society. As our country increases in wealth, luxury 
 and vice ; as parties multiply and become ardent, these 
 controversies will naturally become more keen and vindic- 
 tive, until duelling will become a common alternative ; until 
 elections shall turn, not on the merits of the candidate, but 
 on his superior skill in aiming the pistol to destroy his com- 
 petitor. I have been assured, that already, in certain parts 
 of our union, duelling is not an unknown expedient to 
 secure an election, by removing out of the way a rival can- 
 didate. Indeed, in the city of New York, and in a public 
 paper, it has been declared, that at a certain period there 
 was a systematic scheme formed to take off by duelling 
 certain leading characters of one political party, by some of 
 the leading characters of another political party. The fact 
 asserted is in itself by no means incredible ; it is a natural con- 
 sequence of duelling — just what might be expected ; and the 
 duels which took place about that time, and the characters 
 engaged, clothe the subject with an air of high probability. 
 
 Nor are the immediate efl'ects of duelling the only conse- 
 quences to be dreaded. The impunity attending the crime, 
 the confidence reposed in duellists, and the honors bestowed 
 upon them, contribute to diminish in the public mind the 
 guilt of crimes generally. There is a relationship in crimes 
 which renders familiarity with one, a harbinger to familiarity 
 with another. The wretch who has destroyed two or three 
 fellow-creatures in a duel, will feel little compunction at any 
 crime. Nor can the moral sensibilities of a people familiar- 
 ised to murder in duels, and accustomed to look upon crim- 
 inals of this description with confidence and respect, be pre- 
 served in full strength in reference to other crimes. Duelling, 
 therefore, while it destroys directly its thousands, destroys 
 by its depraving influence its tens of thousands. 
 8 
 
64 
 
 The present may be the only lime in which it shall be 
 practicable to suppress this great evil. 
 
 The practice of duelling is rapidly progressing, dissemi- 
 nating its infection, and deadening the public sensibility. 
 The effect already is great and alarming. If not so, why 
 does the crime shrink before the stern justice of New England, 
 and rear its guilty head in New York, and stalk with bolder 
 front as you pass onward to the South. If the effect is not 
 great, why this distinction in crimes of the same class — why 
 so alive to the guilt of robbery, assassination, and murder of 
 one kind, and so dead to the guilt of duelling f If the effect 
 of duelling upon the public mind is not great, why is it that 
 murder can be committed in open day ; the crime be made 
 notorious, nay, proclaimed in the newspaper, and the mur- 
 derer remain unmolested in his dwelling ? Why does he 
 not flee f Why are not rewards offered by those autho- 
 rised by the laws, and expresses hastened in all directions 
 to arrest and bring to justice the guilty fugitive ? Because 
 no one is enough shocked at his crime to make these 
 exertions. Because, if such measures were taken, the public 
 mind would awake from its torpor — duelling would become 
 a disgraceful crime, and the criminal would be lost to himself 
 and to his country. He could neither be Governor nor 
 Senator nor Judge. He would be exiled from public favor, 
 immured in a dungeon, transported to the gallows, and 
 launched into eternity. If the prevalence of duelling has 
 not, and to an awful degree, affected the public mind, why 
 such a number of half apologists for the crime ; and how can 
 we so patiently hear, and candidly weigh, and almost admit 
 their arguments ? Could you hear with equal patience 
 assassination justified, though (as it well might be) by argu- 
 ments equally conclusive ? Why is it, if this deadly evil has 
 not already palsied the feelings of the community, that even 
 the members of our churches have heretofore, with so little 
 hesitation, v^oted for men of blood ? Is Christianity compati- 
 ble with murder ? Can you patronise the murderer by 
 
55 
 
 granting him your suffrage, and not become a partaker in his 
 sin ? Admit as the mildest, and as in general the true con- 
 struction, that this has been done by christians ignorantly, not 
 knowing often that those for whom they voted were duellists, 
 or inconsiderately, not realizing the enormity of the crime — 
 why did they not know — why did they not consider ? The 
 reason is obvious — 
 
 " Vice is a monster of so frightful mein. 
 As, to be hated, needs but to be seen ; 
 Yet, seen too oft, familiar with her face. 
 We first endure, then pity, then embrace." 
 
 This is precisely our alarming state. We have sunk 
 through all these grades of moral degradation. We endure, 
 we pity, we embrace murderers. And what will be next ? 
 A total apathy to crime. 
 
 What is done, therefore, must be done quickly. Let 
 the maxims of duelling once break out, and spread in the 
 country, and infect the rising generation ; let the just abhor- 
 rence of the community be a little more effaced by the 
 growing frequency of the crime, and we are undone. There 
 will be no place to make a stand. Our liberties will be lost — 
 our bands will become brass, and our fetters iron — no man's 
 life will be safe — the laws of the land will be a nullity — every 
 man must tremble, and walk softly, and speak softly, lest he 
 implicate his neighbor's honor, and put in jeopardy his own 
 life ; and duelling will become as common, as irremediable, 
 and as little thought of, as assassination is in Spain, in Italy, 
 and South America. 
 
 Then, indeed, will the descriptions of the pro])het be hor- 
 ribly realised. Judgment will he turned aioay backivard — 
 justice ivill stand afar off — truth ivill fall in the street, and 
 equity be unable to enter. Yea, truth ivill fail, and he that 
 departeth from evil, will make himself a prey. None will 
 call for justice — revenge and murder will be the order of the 
 day. We shall grope for the wall as the blind — we shall 
 stumble at noon day as in the night — we shall be in desolate, 
 places as dead men. 
 
66 
 
 Shall we sit and calmly await the approach of these evils ? 
 Shall we bow our neck to the yoke ? Shall we thrust our 
 hands into the manacles preparing for them ? What if these 
 evils may not be realized in our day — have we no regard 
 to posterity f What if every man, woman and child may 
 not fall in a duel — is there nothing to be dreaded from the 
 sword, or pestilence, or famine, because they do not extir- 
 pate our race ? 
 
 The facihty with which, in the way proposed, this evil 
 may be suppressed, will render us forever inexcusable — will 
 constitute us partakers in the sin, if we do not make the 
 attempt. 
 
 There are, indeed, many duellists in our land, and many 
 half-apologists for the crime, from whom no aid is to be 
 expected. There are many too unprincipled, and others 
 too indolent, to be engaged by considerations of duty : and 
 there are some, and even professors of religion, whose strong 
 party prejudices, and political attachments to duellists, will 
 be liable to steel them against conviction, or impel them to 
 make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. But after 
 all these deductions, there are yet remaining multitudes, 
 thousands and thousands, whose abhorrence of duelling 
 though diminished by the frequency of the crime, is still 
 sufficient to overwhelm its abettors with infamy. Nothing 
 is necessary to awaken and embody in one formidable 
 phalanx of opposition the great mass of our plain and honest 
 people, but to place the crime in its horrid aspect and 
 fearful connexions, full before them. Only let them see, 
 and they will feel — let them feel, and they will act — will 
 hurl indignant, every duellist whom they have elevated from 
 his eminence, and consign to merited infamy every one who 
 shall solicit their favor. Nor is it impracticable thus to 
 exhibit the subject. Ministers of different denominations, 
 all united, would be able to effect it perfectly. Let each, 
 in his appointed sphere, make due exertion to enlighten his 
 flock, and the fire of indignation would soon begin to blaze 
 
57 
 
 through all the nation. And if beside such exertions, furtlier 
 efforts should be needful, the newspaper, the magazine, and 
 tract, may be enlisted as auxiliaries. 
 
 Nor can any reasonably object to such conduct on the 
 part of ministers ; nor will any one probably attempt it, who 
 does not for himself or some favorite, fear the consequences. 
 Our obligations are most solemn to lift up our voice, and to 
 put forth our exertions against this sin. Our God calls to 
 us from heaven — the damned call to us from hell — the blood 
 of murdered victims from the ground lifts up its voice and 
 mingles with the cry of the widow and the fatherless — the 
 example of our Saviour, of the prophets, of the apostles, 
 forbids us to be silent, or inactive. 
 
 It is in vain to cry out " priest-craft," or " pohlical 
 preaching ;" these watch-words will not answer here. The 
 crime we oppose is pecuhar to no party ; it is common to 
 all. It is a crime too horrid to be palliated, too threat- 
 ening to be longer endured in officers of government. Any 
 political effect would be the consequence merely, not 
 the object of our exertions. It would also be small and 
 momentary ; but, should it be great, such effect ought not to 
 bring censure upon us, or alter the course of our duty. If 
 we may not denounce duelling, because men of political 
 eminence are guilty of the crime ; because the enlightening 
 of the consciences of our people would affect an election ; 
 every crime would soon find a sanctuary in the example 
 of some great politician. Our mouths would be shut — we 
 might not whisper the guilt of crimes, lest by awakening 
 your consciences, it should produce some political effect. 
 
 It is practicable then, and it is the duty of ministers to 
 direct the attention of their people, and arouse their just 
 indignation towards criminals of this description. Nor will 
 it be difficult for the people, once awake and engaged, to 
 effect their purpose. 
 
 If only the members of christian churches become deci- 
 ded in their opposition to duelling, it will produce a sensation 
 
58 
 
 through the land. The votes of professing christians of 
 different denominations are too numerous and important to 
 be thrown away. — And will not the churches awake ? Will 
 professors of religion, a religion commanding " love to 
 enemies," and breathing " peace on earth and good will to 
 men," uphold deliberately, and encourage by their suffrage 
 the practice of duelling ? On this ground only, a formidable 
 stand may be made. 
 
 But the churches will not be left to stand alone. In 
 every part of the nation there are multitudes, conscientious 
 and patriotic, whose zealous co-operation may be expected. 
 Voluntary associations may be formed ; correspondences 
 may be established ; and a concert of action secured. And 
 even should the contest be more arduous ; if, in the tempest 
 of an election all these exertions should seem to be swept 
 away, and religion, and conscience, and patriotism, to be 
 lost in the delirium of passion ; are there not in every 
 church, and in every congregation, a chosen {ew who would 
 brave the storm ; whom no sophistry could deceive, no 
 influence bend, and no passion move from their purpose ? 
 Are there not in every parish, at least ten righteous persons, 
 to avert the curse of heaven and commence a reformation ? 
 But ten persons in every congregation in the land, would 
 constitute a weight of influence ultimately decisive. In a 
 government like ours, where a State is often almost equally 
 divided, a few thousand votes are too precious to be lost. 
 When, therefore, it comes once to be known that the fighting 
 of a duel is a serious blot upon the character of a candidate, 
 and that in every district and in every town, there are con- 
 siderate and conscientious people who will not vote for him, 
 parties will not risk their cause upon the shoulders of such 
 men ; duellists will become unpopular candidates ; and those 
 will be selected, who shall merit, and insure your suffrage. 
 
 Even this county of Suffolk* is able, if disposed, to throw 
 into the scale an important weight of influence against du- 
 
 * The reader will recollect thai this discourse was delivered in Suffolk county, 
 State of New-York. 
 
59 
 
 elling. It is one of the oldest counties in the State, extensive, 
 populous, united, and distinguished by its veneration for 
 religion, its strong attachment to liberty, and the honest and 
 peaceable deportment of its inhabitants. It embraces few, 
 if any duellists or friends of duelling. ]\Iinisters, magistrates, 
 and people — all, it is presumed, think alike on this subject. 
 And beside these advantages, it has often, in contested 
 elections been looked to, and may often again be, as holding 
 in some measure the balance of the State. With these 
 advantages, it may speak and be heard. Let it be known 
 that even one county will not uphold despotism and murder, 
 and the names of despots and murderers will no longer 
 disgrace your tickets of suffrage. The fighting of a duel will 
 become a disgrace — a millstone about the neck of aspiring 
 ambition. 
 
 You have often lamented the prevalence of duelling, but 
 have not known how, as individuals, to do any thing to arrest 
 the evil. Now, you perceive what you can do. The reme- 
 dy is before you, it is simple, and easy, and certain ; and 
 if you do not apply it, if you continue to vote for duellists 
 and thus to uphold the crime, you are partakers in the sin, 
 and accountable for all the evils which will ensue, and which 
 you may now so easily prevent. 
 
 Finally, the appointment of duellists to office will justly 
 offend the Most High, and assuredly call down upon us the 
 judgments of heaven. 
 
 Duelling is a great national sin; -with the exception of a 
 small section of the union, the whole land is defiled with 
 blood. From the lakes of the north to the plains of Georgia 
 is heard the voice of lamentation and wo ; the cries of the 
 widow and "the fatherless. This work of desolation is per- 
 formed often by men in office — by the appointed guardians 
 of life and liberty. On the floor of Congress, challenges 
 have been threatened, if not given ; and thus powder and ball 
 have been introduced as the auxiliaries of deliberation and 
 argument. Oh, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the 
 
60 
 
 streets of Askelon ! Alas ! it is too late to conceal our infamy ; 
 the sun hath shined on our guilt, and the eye of God with 
 brighter beams surveys the whole. He beholds and he will 
 punish. His quiver is full of arrows, his sword is impatient 
 of confinement ; ten thousand plagues stand ready to exe- 
 cute his wrath ; conflagration, tempest, earthquake, war, 
 famine and pestilence wait his command only to cleanse the 
 land from blood ; to involve in one common ruin, both the 
 murderer and those who tolerate his crimes. Atheists may 
 scoff, but there is a God — a God who governs the earth in 
 righteousness — an avenger of crimes — the supporter and 
 destroyer of nations. And as clay is in the hand of the pot- 
 ter, so are the nations of the earth in the hand of God. At 
 what instant he speaks concerning a nation, to pluck /jp, to 
 pull down, and destroy it ; if that nation repent, God will 
 avert the impending judgment. And at what instant he shall 
 speak concerning a nation, to build and to plant it, if it do 
 evil in his sight, he will arrest the inteiided blessing and send 
 forth judgments in its stead. Be not deceived — the greater 
 our present mercies and seeming security, the greater is the 
 guilt of our rebellion, and the more certain, swift, and awful, 
 will be our calamity. We are murderers, a nation of mur- 
 derers, while we tolerate and reward the perpetrators of the 
 crime. And shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord ? 
 Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? 
 
 But, it will be said, especially in cases of contested elections, 
 if you refuse to vote for this man because he is a duellist, his 
 opponent, a worse man will come in. 
 
 A worse man cannot come in. The duellist is a murderer ; 
 and is a man's difference from you in political opinion more 
 criminal than murder.^ And will you vote for a» murderer, a 
 despot, proud, haughty and revengeful, to keep out another 
 man, perhaps equally qualified and of a fair fame, merely 
 because he thinks not in politics exactly as you do ? To 
 what will such bigotry lead ? There will soon be no crime 
 too gross to be overlooked by party men ; and no criminal 
 
61 
 
 too loathsome and desperate to float into office on the tide 
 of party. When the violence of competition rises so high in 
 our country, as to lead parties in their struggles for victory 
 to tread down the laws of God, disregarding entirely the 
 moral characters of candidates for office ; if their being on 
 our side will sanctify their crimes, and push them reeking 
 with blood into office ; the time is not distant when we shall 
 have no liberties to protect. Such a people are too wicked 
 to be free, and God will curse them, by leaving them to eat of 
 the fruit of their way. 
 
 But suppose the opponent of the duellist, beside his politi- 
 cal heresy, to be a bad man also, and guilty of the same 
 crime ? If I do not vote for the man on my side in politics, 
 will not this be helping his antagonist, and will not this be as 
 bad as if I voted directly t No. You are accountable for 
 your own conduct only. If other people put into office a bad 
 man, whom you could not keep out but by voting for one 
 equally bad, for their conduct you are not accountable. It 
 is certainly a different thing whether a vile man comes into 
 power by your agency directly, or in spite of it. But 
 suppose the duellist, in all respects excepting this crime, 
 is a better man than his opponent, of two evils may we 
 not choose the least ? Yes, of two natural evils you may ; 
 if you must lose a finger or an arm, cut off the finger ; 
 but of two sinful things you may choose neither ; and there- 
 fore, you may not vote for one bad man, a murderer, 
 to keep out another bad man, though even a worse one. 
 It is to do evil, that good may come ; and of all who do 
 this the apostle declares, " their damnation is just." What 
 must we do then in those cases where the character of 
 the candidates are such, as that it would be sinful to 
 vote for either of them .'' Vote for neither, and in future 
 you will not be insulted by such candidates for suffi-age. 
 Let those who stand behind the curtain and move the 
 springs, know that you have consciences, and that you will 
 9 
 
62 
 
 be guided by them ; and they will take care that you shall 
 not be compelled to throw away your votes. 
 
 But perhaps the liberties of our country are at stake — 
 might we not for once, and on such an emergency, vote for a 
 duellist ? The same song has been sung at every election 
 these twenty years, and by each party. It is an electioneering 
 trick to excite your fears, to awaken your prejudices, to 
 inflame your passions, to overpower your consciences, and to 
 get your vote whether right or wrong. 
 
 But suppose your liberties are in danger ; if they are so 
 far gone, as to depend on the election Of one man, and that 
 man a tyrant — a murderer — they are gone irretrievably. 
 Beside the absurdity of appointing a murderer to protect life, 
 and a despot to protect liberty, it is to be remembered that 
 God is our only efficient protector. Men are merely instru- 
 ments ; but will God bless such instruments, selected in 
 contempt of his authority, and rescued from the sword of 
 his justice f All attempts to avert perdition by means at 
 war with the precepts of heaven, will prove abortive ; you 
 hatch the cockatrice egg, and weave the web of the spider. 
 If your liberties are in danger, reform — pray — and call to 
 your aid men of rectitude, men of clean hands, whose coun- 
 sels God may be expected to bless. 
 
 ' But it is difficult to know in all cases who are good 
 men.' True ; and will you therefore vote for those whom 
 you know to be bad men ^ Rather discard those whom you 
 know to be bad, and scrutinize critically the characters 
 of those who profess to be good, and after your utmost care, 
 you will be sufficiently exposed to deception. 
 
 But the reply is ever at hand, ' If they will fight, let them 
 fight and kill each other ; the sooner we get rid of them the 
 better.' And are you prepared to intrust your lives and all 
 dear to you, to such men ; to men whom you confess to be 
 a nuisance, and whose death would be a public blessing ? 
 Beside, there is no such thing as killing all ; the example 
 of the duellist is a wide-spreading contagion. Every duel 
 
63 
 
 that is fought insph-es twenty, perhaps an hundred, with the 
 same accursed frenzy ; and the blood of duelHsts is the 
 seed of dueUing, as really, as the blood of the martyrs was 
 the seed of the church. 
 
 * But why so inveterate against duelling in particular ?' 
 Because, at present, it is a great and alarming national sin ; 
 because no other crime with such shameless effrontery, bids 
 defiance to the laws of God and man ; because no other 
 crime is so palliated, justified, and with such impunity sanc- 
 tioned by the example of the great ; and, of course, no other 
 crime has so alarming an aspect upon the principles of our 
 young men, and the moral sensibilities of our country. I 
 may add, that no other description of criminals, if they escape 
 with impunity, may publish their crimes, glory in their 
 shame, and still be rewarded with the confidence and honors 
 of their country. — The crisis is an awful one ; and this 
 apathy to a crime of the deepest dye, is a prelude of ap- 
 proaching death. But, though there is a peculiar reason for 
 attempting to arouse the listless attention of the publicto this 
 sin, there are decisive objections to the appointment to office 
 of any immoral man. The prodigal, the drunkard, the 
 profane, the Sabbath-breaker, the adulterer, the gambler, 
 are all disqualified to act as legislators ; and no man with 
 an enlightened conscience, can vote for them. 
 
 ' But if we are so critical in our scrutiny of character, wo 
 shall never be able to find men duly qualified to manage our 
 affairs.' Most humiliating confession ! But how has it 
 come to pass (if true) that so many public characters arc 
 immoral men ? It is because we, the people, have not even 
 requested them to behave better. We have never made it 
 necessary for them to be moral. We have told them, and 
 we have told our youth who are rising to active life, that 
 private character is a useless thing, as it respects the attain- 
 ment of our suffrage. We have told them, that, if they 
 pleased, they might associate for drunkenness and midnigiit 
 revelry, pour contempt upon the institutions of religion, 
 
64 
 
 neglect the worship of God, and spend the Sabbath in 
 gambling and intemperance, and still be esteemed hallowed 
 patriots. If it be true, that a strict scrutiny of character would 
 exile from office many who now fill public stations, it is our 
 criminal negligence that has brought this to pass. But the 
 inference, that setting up moral character as a test would 
 leave us destitute of proper candidates, is groundless — it is 
 the very way to multiply them. Let it once be made known, 
 that a fair private character is indispensable to the attain- 
 ment of public suffrage, and reformations will take place. 
 And besides this, our young men will be growing up to 
 habits of virtue under the guardian influence of this restraint. 
 At first, you may encounter a little self-denial, by dismissing 
 men of irregular lives in whom you have been accustomed 
 to confide. But their places will soon be supplied by an 
 host of men of fair fame, and better qualified to serve their 
 country. 
 
 But, allowing that a proper exercise of suffrage would 
 restrain from the practice of fighting duels all actually con- 
 cerned, or expecting to be concerned in civil life 5 how 
 should this reclaim those who have no such expectation, and 
 are no way affected by the votes of the people ? How 
 would it restrain military and naval officers, men usually 
 the most addicted to the crime ? 
 
 Ans. 1. The prospect of success, though an encourage- 
 ment, is not the chief ground of obligation to withhold our 
 votes from duellists. It is sinful to vote for them, even 
 though withholding our votes would not reclaim an individual. 
 
 2. If the method proposed would reclaim even men im- 
 mediately concerned, or expecting to be concerned in gov- 
 ernment, the good effected would be great. Laws do much 
 good, although they do not entire!}^ extinguish crimes. 
 
 3. The example of men in civil life, subtracted from the 
 support of this crime and arrayed against it, would render 
 the practice dishonorable among gentlemen of every de- 
 scription. Military officers are citizens, as well as officers ; 
 
65 
 
 and that conduct which is deemed disgraceful by gentlemen 
 in civil life, will soon be felt to be such, and will be abandon- 
 ed by military and naval officers. And were such an effect 
 less certain, it might be made certain by the exercise of that 
 discretion which the civil ruler possesses in the appointment 
 of officers. Let our legislators cease to fight duels, and 
 desire to extinguish the practice of duelling, and they would 
 soon fill the army and the navy with commanders, who would 
 be disposed, and able, to second their views. 
 
 And now let me ask you solemnly ; with these considera- 
 tions in view, will you persist in your attachment to these 
 guilty men ? Will you any longer, either deliberately or 
 thoughtlessly vote for them ? Will you renounce allegiance 
 to your Maker, and cast the Bible behind your back ? Will 
 you confide in men, void of the fear of God and destitute of 
 moral principle ? Will you intrust life to murderers, and 
 liberty to despots ? Are you patriots, and will you consti- 
 tute those legislators, who despise you, and despise equal 
 laws, and wage war with the eternal principles of justice ? 
 Are you christians, and, by upholding duellists, will you de- 
 luge the land with blood, and fill it with widows and with 
 orphans ? Will you aid in the prostration of justice — in the 
 escape of criminals — in the extinction of liberty ? Will you 
 place in the chair of state — in the senate — or on the bench 
 of justice, men who, if able, would murder you for speaking 
 truth ? Shall your elections turn on expert shooting, and 
 your deliberative bodies become an host of armed men ? 
 Will you destroy public morality by tolerating, yea, by re- 
 warding the most infamous crimes ? Will you teach your 
 children that there is no guilt in murder ? Will you instruct 
 them to think lightly of duelling, and train them up to de- 
 stroy or be destroyed in the bloody field ? Will you be- 
 stow your suffi-age, when you know that by withholding 
 it you may arrest this deadly evil — when this too is the 
 only way in which it can be done, and when the present is 
 
66 
 
 perhaps the only period in which resistance can avail — 
 when the remedy is so easy, so entirely in your power ; 
 and when God, if you do not punish these guilty men, 
 will most inevitably punish you ? 
 
 If the widows and the orphans, which this wasting evil 
 has created and is yearly multiplying might all stand before 
 you, could you witness their tears, or listen to their details of 
 anguish ? Should they point to the murderers of their 
 fathers, their husbands, and their children, and lift up their 
 voice, and implore your aid to arrest an evil which had made 
 them desolate, could you disregard their cry ? Before 
 their eyes could you approach the poll, and patronize by your 
 vote the destroyers of their peace ? Had you beheld a dying 
 father conveyed bleeding and agonizing to his distracted 
 family, had you heard their piercing shrieks and witnessed 
 their frantic agony ; would you reward the savage man who 
 had plunged them in distress ? Had the duellist destroyed 
 your neighbor — had your own father been killed by the man 
 who solicits your suffrage — had j^our son, laid low by his 
 hand, been brought to your door pale in death and welter- 
 ing in blood — would you then think the crime a small one ? 
 Would you honor with your confidence, and elevate to 
 power by your vote, the guilty monster ? And what would 
 you think of your neighbors, if, regardless of your agony, 
 they should reward him ? And yet, such scenes of unut- 
 terable anguish are multiplied every year. Every year the 
 dueUist is cutting down the neighbor of somebody. Every 
 year, and many times in the year, a father is brought dead 
 or dying to his family, or a son laid breathless at the feet 
 of his parents ; and every year you are patronizing by your 
 votes the men who commit these crimes, and looking with 
 cold indifference upon, and even mocking, the sorrows of 
 your neighbor. Beware — I admonish you to beware, and 
 especially such of you as have promising sons preparing for 
 active life, lest, having no feeling for the sorrows of another, 
 you be called to weep for your own sorrow ; lest your sons 
 
67 
 
 fall by the hand of the very murderer for whom you vote, or 
 by the hand of some one whom his example has trained to 
 the work of blood. 
 
 With such considerations before you, why do you wish 
 to vote for such men ? What have they done for you, what 
 can they do, that better men cannot as happily accomplish ? 
 And will you incur all this guilt, and hazard all these con- 
 sequences for nothing ? Have you no religion, no con- 
 science, no love to your country, no attachment to liberty, 
 no humanity, no sympathy, no regard to your own welfare 
 in this life, and no fear of consequences in the life to come ? 
 Oh, my countrymen, awake ! Awake to crimes which are 
 your disgrace — to miseries which know not a limit — to 
 judgments which will make you desolate. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 A REFORMATION OF MORALS PRACTICABLE AND INDIS- 
 PENSABLE. 
 
 EzEKiEL, xxxiii. 10. 
 
 Therefore, thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel ; thus ye 
 speak, saying, if our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine 
 away in them, how should we then live ? 
 
 At the time this direction was given to the prophet, the 
 nation of Israel had become very wicked, and were suffering 
 in captivity the punishment of their sins ; and yet they did 
 not reform. They affected to doubt whether, if they did 
 reform, the Most High would pardon them ; and if he would, 
 it would afford them no consolation, for reformation, they 
 insisted, had become hopeless. " Our transgressions and 
 our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should 
 we then live .'"' The burden has increased, until we are 
 crushed beneath it — the disease has progressed, until it has 
 become incurable. 
 
 They were correct in the inference that if they did not 
 reform they must die ; but they erred lamentably in the 
 conclusion that reformation was hopeless. 
 
 To wipe off such an aspersion from his character, and to 
 banish from the minds of his people such desponding appre- 
 
69 
 
 hensions, the Most High condescends to expostulate with 
 them. Have T any pleasure in the death of him that dieth ? 
 Is it my fault, that nations are wicked ? Do I constrain them 
 to sin, or prevent their reformation ? As I live, saith the 
 Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but 
 that the wicked turn from his way and live : " turn ye, turn 
 ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of 
 Israel ?" 
 
 We are brought, therefore, by the text and its connexions, 
 to the doctrine. 
 
 That a w'ork of reformation, in a time of great 
 
 MORAL declension, IS A DIFFICULT, BUT BY NO MEANS 
 AN IMPRACTICABLE WORK. » 
 
 In the illustration of this doctrine, it is proposed to con- 
 sider, 
 
 I. Some of the difficulties, which may be expected to 
 impede a work of reformation. 
 
 II. Show that such a work is, notwithstanding, entirely 
 practicable. 
 
 III. Consider some of the ways, in which it may be suc- 
 cessfully attempted. And 
 
 IV. The motives to immediate exertion. 
 
 With respect to the difficulties which may be expected to 
 attend a work of reformation, one obvious impediment will 
 be found in "the number and character of those who must 
 be immediately affected by such a work. 
 
 The sons of Belial, in a time of declension, are numerous 
 and daring. Emboldened by impunity, they have declared 
 themselves independent both of God and man, and are 
 leagued by a common interest and a common feeling, to 
 defend their usurped immunities. The_y are watchful and 
 zealous ; and the moment an effort is made to execute the 
 10 
 
70 
 
 laws, every mouth is open against the work ; and their 
 clamors, and sneers, and threatenings, and hes, like the 
 croakings of Egypt, fill the land. 
 
 This direct opposition, may be expected to receive from 
 various sources collateral aid. In this wicked world, where 
 the love of money is the root of evil, there are not a few who 
 traffic in the souls and bodies of men. Not immoral always, 
 in their own conduct, they thrive by the vices of other men ; 
 and may be tempted to resist a reformation which would 
 dry up these impure sources of revenue. They would not 
 justify intemperance, nor the means of promoting it ; but 
 pretexts are never wanting to conceal the real motives of 
 men, and justify opposhion to whatever they deem inconsist- 
 ent with their interest. Though reformation, therefore, 
 might be admitted to be desirable, either the motives of 
 those who make the attempt, or the means by which they 
 make it, will always be wrong ; and it will be impossible 
 ever to devise a right way, till their interest is on the other 
 side. In many cases, it is to be hoped, that integrity would 
 get the victory over cupidity ; but in many more, it is to be 
 feared, that avarice, secretly or openly, would send recruits 
 to the standard of opposition. 
 
 This phalanx may receive some augmentation from those, 
 whose pride may be wounded through the medium of their 
 unhappy relatives. They could endure to see them live in 
 infamy, and die in despair, while they shrink from the im- 
 agined disgrace of applying a remedy which may rescue 
 the victim, or limit the influence of his pestilent example. 
 How long shall it be, ere men will learn that sm is infamy, 
 and that reformation is glory and honor ! 
 
 To the preceding, must be added the opposition of all the 
 timid, falsely called, peace makers. 
 
 They lament bitterly the prevailing evils of the day, and 
 multiply predictions of divine judgments and speedy ruin ; 
 but if a voice be raised, or a finger be lifted to attempt a 
 reformation, they ar^ in a tremor lest the peace of society be 
 
71 
 
 invaded. Their maxim would seem to be, ' better to die 
 in sin, if we may but die quietly, than to purchase life and 
 honor by contending for them.' If men will be wicked, let 
 them be wicked, if they will but be peaceable. But the 
 mischief is, men freed from restraint will be wicked, and will 
 not be peaceable. No method can be devised more ef- 
 fectual to destroy the peace of society, than tamely to give 
 up the laws to conciliate the favor of the flagitious. Like 
 the tribute paid by the degenerate Romans to purchase 
 peace of the northern barbarians, every concession will in- 
 crease the demand, and render resistance more hopeless. 
 
 Another class of men will encamp very near the enemy, 
 through mere love of ease. 
 
 They would have no objection that vice should be sup- 
 pressed and good morals promoted, if these events would 
 come to pass of their own accord ; but, when the question is 
 asked, ' What must be done r" this talk of action is a 
 terrific thing ; and if, in their panic, they go not over to the 
 enemy, it is only because the enemy also demands courage 
 and enterprize. In this dilemma, it is judged expedient to 
 put in requisition the resources of wisdom, and gravely to 
 caution against rashness, and innovation, and zeal without 
 knowledge, until all about them are persuaded that the 
 safest, and wisest, and easiest way, is to do nothing. 
 
 There is another class of men, not too indolent, but too 
 exclusively occupied with schemes of personal enterprise, to 
 bestow their time or labor upon plans which regard only the 
 general good. 
 
 If their fields bring forth abundantly, if their profession be 
 lucrative, if they can buy, and sell, and get gain, it is enough. 
 Society must take care of itself. Distant consequences are 
 not regarded, and generations to come must provide for 
 their own safety. The stream of business hurries them on 
 without the leisure of a moment, or an anxious thought 
 concerning the general welfare. 
 
 Another impediment to be apprehended when the work 
 
72 
 
 of reformation is attempted, is found in the large territory of 
 neutral ground, which, on such occasions, is often very 
 populous. 
 
 Many would engage in the enterprise cheerfully, were 
 they quite certain it could be done with perfect safety. 
 But perhaps it may injure their interest, or affect their 
 popularity. They take their stand therefore, on this safe 
 middle ground — tliey will not oppose the work, for perhaps 
 it may be popular ; and they will not help the work, for 
 perhaps it may be unpopular. They wait therefore, till 
 they perceive whether Israel or Anialek prevail, and then, 
 with much self complacency, fall in on the popular side. 
 This neutral territory is especially large in a republican 
 government, where so much emolument and the gratification 
 of so much ambition depend upon the suffrages of the 
 people. It requires no deep investigation to make it mani- 
 fest to the candidate for suffrage, that if he lend his influence 
 to prevent travelling on the sabbath, the sabbath-breaker 
 will not vote for him ; if he lay his hand upon tippling sho|)s 
 and drunkards, the whole suffrage of those who are impli- 
 cated will be turned against him. Hence, many who should 
 be a terror to evil doers, will bear the sword in vain. They 
 will persuade themselves that theirs is a peculiar case ; and 
 that it is not best for them to volunteer in the work of 
 reformation. 
 
 To reduce the power of this temptation, it may be laid 
 down as a maxim, that when the toleration of crimes be- 
 comes the price of public suffrage, when the people will not 
 endure the restraint of righteous laws, but will reward mag- 
 istrates who violate their oath and suffer them to sin with 
 impunity, and when magistrates will sell their consciences 
 and the public good for a little brief authority, then the 
 public suffrage is of but little value, for the day of hberty is 
 drawing to a close, and the night of despotism is at hand. 
 The people are prepared to become slaves ; and the flagi- 
 tious to usurp the government, and rule them with a rod of 
 
73 
 
 iron. No compact formed by man is more unhallowed or 
 pernicious, than this tacit compact between rulers and the 
 people to dispense with the laws, and tolerate crimes. 
 
 In the midst of these difficulties, there are not a few who 
 greatly magnify them by despondency. Like die captive 
 Israelites, they sit down, and fold their hands, and sigh, and 
 weep, and wish that something might be done, but inculcate 
 unceasingly the disheartening prediction, that nothing can be 
 done. " Jt is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof ; 
 and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great 
 stature. And. there ive saw the giants, the sons of Anak, 
 xohich come of the giants ; and we were in our own sight as 
 grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." Because the 
 work cannot be done at once, they conclude that it can 
 never be done. Because all that might be desirable cannot, 
 perhaps ever, be obtained, they conclude that nothing can 
 be obtained. Talk of reformation, and the whole nation 
 with all its crimes rises up before them, and fills them with 
 dismay and despair. It seems never to have occurred to 
 them, that if we cannot do great good, it is best to do a little ; 
 and that, by accomplishing with persevering industry all 
 that is practicable, the ultimate amount may be great, sur- 
 passing expectation. 
 
 There is yet another class of people who by no means 
 despair of deliverance, but they have no conception that 
 human exertion will be of much avail. ' If we are delivered, 
 God must deliver us, and we must pray and wait, till it 
 shall please him to come and save us.' But, upon this 
 principle we may pray and wait forever, and the Lord 
 will not come. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of 
 ineans, and though the excellency of the power belongs 
 to him exclusively, human instrumentality is indispensable. 
 
 It is by no means improbable that some may be aroused 
 to oppose any special efforts at reformation, merely from their 
 novelty. It is lamentable that such efforts should be a novelty 
 in a world, where they are always so necessary to keep 
 
74 
 
 back the encroachments of vice — but so it is. If the exer- 
 tions, however good and proper, have not been made before, 
 it seems to be with some a vahd reason why they never should 
 be made. — ' What new thing is this ? Did our fathers ever do 
 so f They had not the same occasion. But because they did 
 not make special efforts to repel an enemy which did not 
 assail tliem, shall we neglect to resist an enemy which is 
 pouring in like a flood, and threatening to sweep us away ? 
 There are some who look with cold philosophic eye upon 
 the progress of crimes, as a part of that great course of 
 events which will roll on resistless in spite of human en- 
 deavor. And we know, that the genius of the government, 
 the progress of science, and the refinement of wealth and 
 luxury, wnll draw after them a train of consequences which 
 no human efforts can prevent. But are these consequences 
 evil only ? Are not certain vices left behind in the rude 
 age, and certain virtues produced by the age of refine- 
 ment ? If there be greater facilities of committing crimes, 
 are there not also increased facilities of preventing them ? 
 And if the balance be, on the whole, against us, is this an 
 argument that w-e can do nothing ; or only that we should 
 double our diligence as dangers increase ? Because nations 
 have not resisted this tide of human events, does it follow 
 that it cannot be resisted ? May not the deleterious causes 
 be modified and counteracted, and their results delayed, 
 if not averted ? Will the christian religion and its insti- 
 tutions exert no saving influence in our favor ? Because 
 Greece and Rome who had not this precious system, per- 
 ished by their vices, is it certain that nations must perish 
 now, who experience its preserving influence ? We have 
 seen w'hat idols can do, and we have before us the results 
 of atheism. Let us now, with double diligence water the 
 tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations ; and not 
 despair of its restoring influence, till the experiment has been 
 faithfully made and has failed. 
 
 But not a few, after all, it may be feared, will stand aloof 
 
75 
 
 from the work of reformation, from the persuasion that we 
 are in no danger. ' The world is no worse than it ahvays has 
 been, and this pretence of growing wickedness, is only a 
 song of alarm sung by superstition, from age to age.' Surely 
 then, if we may credit testimony, the world has been 
 uniformly bad enough to make reformation desirable ; and 
 if, without special efforts, it has been stationary, the pros- 
 pect of improvement by exertion is bright, and we are 
 utterly inexcusable if we do not make the attempt. 
 
 But is it true that nations do not decline ? Whence then 
 the punishment of the Israelites for this sin, and vvhence 
 the maxim we have just combatted, that they must and will 
 decline ? Were the morals of the Roman empire as good 
 when it was sold at auction, as at any antecedent period ? 
 Was the age of Charles the Second in England as favorable 
 to virtue, as any preceding age ? Did the late war produce 
 in our own land, no change for the worse ? Are the morals 
 of New England as pure now, as they ever have been ? Is 
 the God of heaven as universally worshipped in the family ? 
 Are children as much accustomed to subordination, and as 
 faithfully instructed in religion ? Are the laws against immo- 
 rality as faithfully executed, and the occasions for their 
 interference as few, as at any former period ? Has there 
 •been no increase of slander, falsehood, and perjury ? Is the 
 sabbath day remembered and kept holy, with its ancient 
 strictness? Did our fathers journey, and labor in the field, 
 and visit, and ride out for amusement on that holy day, and 
 do these things with impunity ? Has there been no increase 
 of intemperance ? Was there consumed, in the days of our 
 fathers, the proportion of five gallons of ardent spirits for 
 every man, woman, and child in the land ; and at an ex- 
 pense, more than sufficient to support the Gospel, the civil 
 government, and every school and literary institution ? Did 
 our fathers tolerate tippling-shops all over the land, and enrich 
 merchants and beggar their families, by mortgaging their 
 estates to pay the expenses of intemperance ? Did the ardent 
 
76 
 
 spirits consumed by laborers amount, not unfrequently, to 
 almost half the price of their labor ; and did they faint often 
 ere the day was past, and fail before the summer was ended, 
 and die of intemperance in the midst of their days? It is 
 capable of demonstration, that the vigor of our countrymen, 
 the amount of productive labor and their morals, are declin- 
 ing together under the influence of this destructive sin. 
 
 We are to show 
 
 II. That notwithstanding all these impediments, a refor- 
 mation is entirely practicable. 
 
 If it were not practicable, why should it be commanded, 
 and disobedience be followed with fearful punishment? Shall 
 not the judge of all the earth do right ? Are not all his 
 requisitions according to what a man hath, and not according 
 to what he hath not ? The commands of God are the 
 measure and the evidence of human ability. He is not an 
 hard master, reaping where he has not sowed, and gathering 
 where he has not strawed. The way of the Lord is not 
 unequal — he never demands of men the performance of 
 impossibilities. We conclude therefore, that reformation is 
 practicable, because it is the unceasing demand of heaven, 
 that nations, as well as individuals, do turn from their evil 
 ways. 
 
 But facts corroborate theory. Reformations great and 
 difficult, have been achieved. Such was the reformation 
 from Popery begun by Luther. Who, before the event, would 
 have conceived it possible, that an individual could awake 
 half of Europe from the slumber of ages, and shed upon the 
 nations that light, which is shining more and more to the 
 perfect day. 
 
 The abolition of the slave trade in England, and in our 
 own country, is a memorable exhibition of what may be done 
 by well directed, persevering efforts. The inhuman traffic 
 was sanctioned by custom, defended by argument, and, 
 still more powerfully, by a vast monied capital embarked in 
 
77 
 
 the trade. It is not yet fifty years since this first effort was 
 made, and now the victory is won. Who produced this 
 mighty revolution ? A few men at first hfted up their voice, 
 and were reinforced by others, till the immortal work was 
 done. 
 
 A thousandth part of the study, and exertion, and expense, 
 and suffering, endured to achieve our independence, would 
 be sufficient with the divine blessing, to preserve our morals 
 and perpetuate our liberties for ever. Should a foreign foe 
 inv^ade us, there would be no despondency ; every pulse 
 would beat high, and every arm would be strong. It is only 
 when criminals demand the surrender of our laws and institu- 
 tions, that all faces gather paleness and all hearts are faint. 
 Men, who would fly to the field of battle to rescue their 
 country from shame, tremble at the song of the drunkard, 
 and flee, panic struck, before the army of the aliens. 
 
 But we have facts to produce, facts, more decisive than a 
 thousand arguments, to prove that such reformation as we 
 need is practicable. 
 
 Desperate as the state of the Jews was in their own estima- 
 tion, they were reformed, and did not at that time, pine 
 away and die in their sins. And never, perhaps, was such a 
 work attended with circumstances of greater difficulty. The 
 whole order of God's worship had been superseded by 
 the captivity, and was again to be restored. Many of the 
 people had contracted unlawful marriages ; and husbands 
 and wives were to be separated, and parents and children. 
 Some had been in the habit of treading the wine press on 
 the sabbath day, and bringing in slieaves, and wine, and 
 grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens. The people 
 held also constant intercourse with Syrian merchants, who 
 came into their city on the sabbath and traded with them. 
 But great as were the difficulties, Nehemiah and Ezra and 
 the elders of the land undertook, and by the help of God 
 accomplished the work of reformation. 
 
 Other efforts of the same kind have been crowned with 
 11 
 
78 
 
 similar success. A society was established in London about 
 the year 1697, to suppress vice by promoting the execution , 
 of the laws. The mora) state of the city and nation at that 
 time, and the success of their association, are thus described 
 by a respectable historian : 
 
 " It is well known, to our shame, that profane swearing 
 and cursing, drunkenness, and open lewdness and profana- 
 tion of the Lord's day have been committed with great im- 
 punity, and without control, without either shame, or fear of 
 laws, so that they were seen and heard at noon day, and in 
 the open streets. Debauchery had diffused itself through the 
 whole body of the nation, till, at last, our morals were so cor- 
 rupted, that virtue and vice had with too many changed 
 their names. It is was reckoned breeding, to swear — gal- 
 lantry, to be lewd — good humor, to be drunk — and wit, to 
 despise serious things. In this state of things, reformation 
 was indeed talked of as an excellent thing, but vice was 
 looked upon as too formidable an enemy to be provoked ; 
 and public reformation was thought to be so difficult a thing, 
 that those who gave it very good words, thought it not safe to 
 set about it. When things were in^ this dismal, and almost 
 desperate state, it came into the hearts of five or six private 
 gentlemen to engage in this hazardous enterprise. This was 
 such an undertaking, as might well be expected soon to alarm 
 the enemy, and which the patrons of vice would attempt to 
 defeat, before any progress could be made — and so it 
 proved. The champions of debauchery put themselves in 
 array to defend their infamous liberties, to ridicule, to de- 
 fame, and to oppose this design. And others, whom iu 
 charity we could not look upon as enemies, were forward to 
 censure these attempts as the fruit of an imprudent zeal. 
 But notwithstanding a furious opposition from adversaries, 
 and the unkind neutrality of friends, these gentlemen not 
 only held their ground, but made advances into the territory 
 of the enemy. The society, commencing with five or six, 
 soon embraced numbers and persons of eminence in every 
 
79 
 
 station. In imitation of this society and for the same pur- 
 pose, other societies were formed in every part of the city, 
 and among the sober of ahnost every profession and occupa- 
 tion. Beside these, there were about- thirty-nine rehgious 
 societies in and about London, who, among other objects, 
 made that of reformation a prominent one. 
 
 " The effects of these combinations were favorable be- 
 yond the most sanguine expectation. From their vigilance 
 and promptitude the growing vices of the day were checked, 
 insomuch, that it was soon found difficult to detect a single 
 criminal in the streets and markets, where, a little before, 
 horrid oaths, curses, and imprecations might be heard, day 
 and night. Multitudes of drunkards, profaners of the Lord's 
 day, besides hundreds of disorderly houses, were brought to 
 justice, and such open vices suppressed. Nor were the 
 good effects of these associations limited to the city. They 
 soon extended to most of the principal towns and cities of the 
 nation, to Scotland and L-eland ; so that a great part of the 
 kingdom have been awakened in some measure to a sense 
 of duty, and thereby a very hopeful progress is made 
 towards a general reformation." 
 
 Similar societies have been formed in England, at different 
 times, ever since. Li 1802, a very respectable society of 
 the above description was established in London. It expe- 
 rienced, at first, most virulent opposition, but has completely 
 surmoujited every obstacle, and now commands fear, and 
 respect, and gratitude. Such has been its influence in pre- 
 venting crimes, that at one annual meeting the number of 
 convictions reported was an hundred and seventy-eight, at 
 the next, only seventy. As it respects the observation of the 
 sabbath particularly, the whole city of London exhibits, to a 
 considerable degree, a new face. A vast number of shops 
 which used to be open on that day, are closed. The butch- 
 ers of several markets have thanked the society for com- 
 pelling them to an act which they find productive of so 
 much comfort to themselves ; and have even associated 
 
80 
 
 to secure that triumph, which the labors of the society 
 had won. 
 
 Their useful and disinterested labors have received the 
 commendation and thanks of the Lord Chief Justice, of 
 more than one of the judges, and of a variety of magistrates. 
 We desire also to bring our gift to their altar, ( says the 
 Christian Observer, from which work we have taken this ac- 
 count,) and to add the feeble testimony of our opinion, 
 that this society deserves well of its countiy. 
 
 In this country, about the year 1760, a society was formed 
 in the State of Maryland, to aid the civil magistrate in the 
 execution of the laws. And so well, it is said, did the so- 
 ciety succeed, as to induce numbers in different States to 
 imitate their example. From that time to the present simi- 
 lar associations have been formed in various places, as exi- 
 gencies have demanded, and widi good effect, whenever 
 their exertions have been made with prudence and decision. 
 
 We consider the fact, therefore, as now established, that 
 reformation in a season of prevailing moral declension, is 
 entirely practicable. And if it be so, it is a glorious fact, 
 shedding light upon the darkness of the present day. 
 
 We are to consider 
 
 III. Some of the ways, in which this great work may be 
 successfully attempted. 
 
 And doubtless, in the first place, the public attention must 
 be called to this subject, and the public mind must be im- 
 pressed with a proper sense of danger, and of the necessity 
 of reformation. 
 
 From various causes, nations are prone to sleep over the 
 dangers of moral depravation, till their destruction comes 
 upon them. A small portion only of the whole mass of 
 crimes is seen at any one point. A few tippling shops are 
 observed in a particular place, empoverishing families, and 
 rearing up drunkards, but it is not considered that thou- 
 sands, with like pestilential influence, are at work all over 
 
81 
 
 the land, training up recruits to hunt down law and order. 
 A few instances are witnessed of needless travelling, or 
 lahor, or amusement on the sabhath, which excite a mo- 
 mentary alarm. But it is not considered that a vast army, 
 probably three millions of people, are assailing at the same 
 time this great bulwark of christian lands. 
 
 The progress of declension is also so gradual, as to 
 attract from day to day but little notice, or excite but little 
 alarm. Now this slow but certain approximation of the 
 community to destruction must be made manifest. The 
 whole army of conspirators against law and order, and the 
 shame, and the bondage, and the wo, which they are pre- 
 paring for us, must be brought out and arrayed before the 
 public eye. 
 
 This exposition of public guilt and danger is the appro- 
 priate work of Gospel ministers. They are watchmen set 
 upon the walls of Zion to descry and announce the ap- 
 proach of danger. And if, through sloth, or worldly 
 avocations, or fear of man, they blow not the trumpet at 
 the approach of the enemy, and the people perish, the 
 blood of the slain will the Lord require at their hands. 
 Civil magistrates are also ministers of God, attending con- 
 tinually upon this very thing. It is their exclusive work, 
 " to see to it, that the commonwealth receives no detri- 
 ment." Indeed, every man is bound to be vigilant, and 
 firm, and unceasing, in this great vfork. And by sermons, 
 and conversation, and tracts, and newspapers, and maga- 
 zines, and legislative aid, the point may be gained. The 
 public attention may be called up to the subject, and just 
 apprehensions of danger may be excited ; and when this 
 fs done, the greatest danger is past — the work is half ac- 
 complished. 
 
 The next thing to be attempted, is the reformation of the 
 better part of the community. 
 
 In a time of general declension, some who are compara- 
 tively virtuous, perhaps professedly pious, yield insensibly 
 
82 
 
 to the influence of bad example. Habits are formed, and 
 practices are allowed, which none would indulge in better 
 days but the openly vicious. Each says of his own indul- 
 gence, " Is it not a little one .f*" But the aggregate guilt 
 is great ; and the aggregate demoralizing influence of such 
 license in such persons, is dreadful. It annihilates the in- 
 fluence of their good example ; tempts the inexperienced to 
 enter, and the hardened to go on, in the downward road ; 
 and renders all eff()rts to save them unavailing. If we 
 would attempt therefore, successfully, the work of reforma- 
 tion, we must make the experiment first upon ourselves. 
 We must cease to do evil, and learn to do well, that with 
 pure hands and clear vision, we may be qualified to reclaim 
 others. If our liberty, even in things lawful, should become 
 a stumbling block to the weak or the wicked, it may be no 
 superfluous benevolence to forego gratifications innocent in 
 themselves, that we may avoid the appearance of evil, and 
 cut off occasion of reproach from all whom our exertions 
 may provoke to desire occasion. 
 
 The next thing dem.anding attention, is the religious educa- 
 tion of the rising generation. 
 
 When the subject of reformation is proposed, multitudes 
 turn their eyes to places of the greatest depravation, and to 
 criminals of the most abandoned character, and because 
 these strong holds cannot be carried, and these sons of Belial 
 reformed, they conclude that nothing can be done. But 
 reformation is not the work of a day, and, if the strong holds 
 of vice cannot be stormed, there is still a silent, certain way 
 of reformation. Immoral men do not live forever ; and if 
 good heed be taken that they draw no new recruits from our 
 families, death will achieve for us a speedy victory. We 
 may stand still, and see the salvation of God. Death will 
 lay low the sons of Auak, and a generation of another spirit 
 will occupy without resistance their fortified places. 
 
 From various causes the ancient discipline of the family 
 has been extensively neglected. Children have neither 
 
been governed nor instructed in religion, as they were 
 in the days of our fathers. The imported discovery that 
 human nature is too good to be made better by discipline, 
 that children are enticed from the right way by religious 
 instruction, and driven from it by the rod, and kept in 
 thraldom by the conspiracy of priests and legislators, has 
 united not a few in the noble experiment of emancipating 
 the world by the help of an irreligious, ungoverned pro- 
 geny. The indolent have rejoiced in the discovery that our 
 fathers were fools and bigots, and have cheerfully let loose 
 their children to help on the glorious work, while thousands 
 of families, having heard from their teachers, or believing in 
 spite of them, that morality will suffice both for earth and 
 heaven, and not doubting that morahty will flourish without 
 religion, have either not reared the family altar, or have put out 
 the sacred fire, and laid aside together the rod and the Bible 
 as superfluous auxiliaries in the education of children. From 
 the school too, with pious regard for its sacred honors, the 
 Bible has been withdrawn, lest, by a too familiar knowledge 
 of its contents, children should learn to despise it ; as if igno- 
 rance were the mother of devotion, and the efficacy of 
 laws depended upon their not being understood. With 
 similar benign wisdom has not only the rod, but govern- 
 ment, and catechetical instruction, and a regard to the 
 moral conduct of children been exiled from the school. 
 These sagacious counsels emerging from beneath, were 
 heedlessly adopted by many as the wisdom from above, until 
 their result began to disclose their different origin. For it 
 came to pass in many places, that the school instead of a 
 nursery of piety, became often a place of temptation, where 
 children, forgetting the scanty instruction of the family, 
 learned insubordination by indulgence and impiety, and 
 immorality, by the example of those who were permitted to 
 sin with impunity. The consequence has been, that on all 
 sides our ancient insthutions are assailed, and our venerable 
 habits and usages are passing away. 
 
84 
 
 To retrieve these mischiefs of negligence and folly, a 
 general effort must be made to restore our ancient system 
 of education. There must be concert, new zeal, and special 
 exertion ; and let no man predict that the holy enterprise 
 cannot succeed. Because we have listened to the syren 
 song of vain philosophy, and floated listlessly down the 
 stream till the precipice appears, shall we despair to row 
 back when danger inspires courage, and calls aloud for a 
 common eflbrt ? 
 
 Our fathers were not fools ; they were as far from it as 
 modem philosophers are from wisdom. Their fundamental 
 maxim was, that man is desperately wicked, and cannot be 
 qualified for good membership in society, without the influ- 
 ence of moral restraint. With great diligence therefore, 
 they availed themselves of the laws and institutions of reve- 
 lation, as embodying the most correct instruction and the 
 most powerful moral restraint. The word of God was daily 
 read, and his worship celebrated in the family and in the 
 school, and children were trained up under the eye oi 
 Jehovah. In this great work, pastors and churches and 
 magistrates co-operated. And what moral restraint could 
 not accomplish, was secured by parental authority and the 
 coercion of the law. The success of these efforts corres- 
 ponded with the wisdom of the system adopted, and the 
 fidelity with which it was reduced to practice. Our fathers 
 established and, for a great while preserved the most per- 
 fect state of society, probably, that has ever existed in this 
 fallen world. 
 
 The same causes will still produce the same effects, and 
 no other causes will produce them. New England can 
 only retain her pre-eminence, by upholding those institutions 
 and habits which produced it. Divested of these, like 
 Samson shorn of his locks, she will become as weak and 
 as contemptible as any other land. But let the family and 
 the school be organized and ordered according to the ancient 
 pattern ; let parents, and schoolmasters, and pastors, and 
 
85 
 
 churches, and magistrates, do their duty, and all will be 
 well. The crown of glory will return, and the most fine 
 gold will shine again in all its ancient lustre. 
 
 But w^ must here state more particularly, the indispen- 
 sable necessity of executing promptly the laws against im- 
 morality. 
 
 Much may be done in the way of prevention ; but, in a 
 free government, moral suasion and coercion must be united. 
 If children be not religiously educated, and accustomed in 
 early life to subordination, the laws will fail in the unequal 
 contest of subduing tigers to their yoke. But if the influ- 
 ence of education and habit be not confirmed and guarded 
 by the supervening influence of law, this salutary restraint 
 will be swept away by the overpowering force of human 
 depravity. To retrieve therefore our declension, it is in- 
 dispensable, not only that new fidelity pervade the family, 
 the school, and the church of God, but that the laws 
 against immorality be restored to their ancient vigor. Laws 
 unexecuted are worse than nothing ; mere phantoms, which 
 excite increased audacity, when the vain fears subside which 
 they have inspired. If the stream must have its course, 
 it is better not to oppose obstructions which will only 
 increase its fury, and extend the desolation when they are 
 swept away. 
 
 But in a season of great moral declension, how shall we 
 raise from the dust neglected laws, and give to them life 
 and vigor? The muhiplication of new prohibitions and 
 penalties will not avail, for the evil to be redressed is the 
 non-execution of laws already competent, if executed, to our 
 protection. Shall the government itself stand forth the 
 watchful guardian of its own laws ? Too often it may lack 
 the inclination, and it will always be too much occupied by 
 other concerns, to exercise the minute agency that is requisite. 
 
 Shall the work then be delegated to a subordinate magis- 
 tracy .'' The neglect of official duty is the very evil for 
 which we now seek a remedy. Shall individuals then, 
 12 
 
86 
 
 volunteer their assistance ? It is possible, that they may 
 sometimes experience a rebuke from the magistrate to 
 whose aid they come. The workers of iniquity also, will 
 conspire constantly to hunt them down ; while thousands of 
 prudent well wishers to the public morals will look on and 
 see them sacrificed, pitying their rashness, and blessing 
 themselves, that they were wise enough to stand aloof from 
 enterprises of so much danger. 
 
 Direct evils compel men to execute the law, while crimes 
 full of deadly consequences are suffered to prevail with im- 
 punity. With relentless zeal the sword pursues the fugitive 
 thief and murderer, and no city of refuge affords them a 
 sanctuary ; while thousands devote themselves to the work of 
 training up thieves and murderers, and in open day cut the 
 moral ties which bind them, and let them loose upon society. 
 And yet the sword sleeps ; and judgment is turned away 
 backward ; and justice standeth afar off; while truth is fallen 
 in the street, and equity cannot enter. 
 
 To secure then, the execution of the laws against immoral- 
 ity in a time of prevailing moral declension, an influence is 
 needed distinct from that of the government, independent 
 of popular suffrage, superior in potency to individual efforts, 
 and competent to enlist and preserve the public opinion on 
 the side of law and order. 
 
 This most desirable influence as we have before observed, 
 has been found in local voluntary associations of the wise 
 and the good, to aid the civil magistrate in the execution of 
 the laws. These associations are eminently adapted to an- 
 swer their intended purpose. They awaken the public atten- 
 tion, and by the sermons, the reports, and the conversation 
 they occasion, diffuse much moral instruction ; they com- 
 bine the wisdom and influence of all who desire to prevent 
 crimes, and uphold peace and good order in society ; they 
 have great influence to form correctly the public opinion, and 
 to render the violation of the law disgraceful, as well as 
 dangerous ; they teach the virtuous part of the community 
 
87 
 
 their strength, and accustom them to act, as well as' to wish 
 and to pray ; they constitute a sort of disciplined moral 
 militia, prepared to act upon every emergency, and repel 
 every encroachment upon the liberties and morals of the 
 State. By their numbers, they embolden the timid, and 
 intimidate the enemy ; and in every conflict, the responsibil- 
 ity being divided among many, is not feared. By this aux- 
 iliary band the hands of the magistrate are strengthened, 
 the laws are rescued from contempt, the land is purified, 
 the anger of the Lord is turned away, and his blessing and 
 protection restored. 
 
 If, beside these local associations, a more extended concert 
 of wise and good men could be formed, to devise ways and 
 means of suppressing vice and guarding the public morals, 
 to collect facts and extend information, and, in a thousand 
 nameless ways, to exert a salutary general influence, it 
 would seem to complete a system of exertion, which, we 
 might hope, would retrieve what we have lost, and perpetuate 
 forever civil and religious institutions. Associations of this 
 general nature for the promotion of the arts and sciences, 
 have exerted a powerful influence with great success ; and 
 no reason, it is presumed, can be given, why the cause of 
 morals may not be equally benefitted by similar associations. 
 
 Finally ; To counteract the prevalent declension, and raise 
 the standard of public morals, it is peculiarly necessary to 
 preserve indissoluble the connexion between sin and shame. 
 
 A sense of shame will deter multitudes from the commis- 
 sion of crimes, whom conscience alone would not deter. 
 Happily, in New England, immorality of every description 
 has from the beginning been associated with disgrace. But 
 the prevalence of wickedness in high places, and the growing 
 frequency of crimes have at length paralized the public sen- 
 sibility, and lightened the tax of shame. Hence, criminals 
 whom our fathers would have abhorred, have been first 
 " endured, then pitied, then embraced." This compromise 
 with crimes if persisted in, will undo us. Let the profligate 
 
88 
 
 be received with complacency into virtuous society, and 
 enjoy without impediment the suffrage of the community, and 
 the pnbhc conscience will be seared as with a hot iron ; the 
 distinctions between right and wrong will disappear ; the 
 wicked, openmouthed, will walk on every side, and tread 
 down with impunity the remnants of law and order. If we 
 would reform the land we must return therefore to the stern 
 virtue of our ancestors, and lay the whole tax of shame upon 
 the dissolute and immoral. • 
 
 Let this circumspection concerning moral character attend 
 us in the selection of schoolmasters to instruct our children ; 
 of subordinate magistrates to manage the concerns of the 
 town, and to execute the laws of the State ; and in selecting 
 the members of our State and National Legislatures ; and we 
 shall soon experience the good effects of our caution. But 
 disregard this single consideration, and clothe with power 
 irreligious and immoral men, and we cannot stop the preva- 
 lence of crimes. From the bad eminence to which we 
 exalt the wicked, the flood of iniquity will roll down upon 
 us, and the judgments of God will follow and sweep us 
 away. 
 
 IV. We are to consider some of the motives which should 
 animate the wise and the good to make immediate and vigo- 
 rous exertion for the reformation of morals, and the preser- 
 vation of our laws and institutions. 
 
 And certainly, the importance of the interest in jeopardy 
 demands our first and most serious regard. 
 
 If we consider only the temporal prosperity of the nation, 
 the interest is tlie most important earthly interest that ever 
 called forth the enterprise of man. No other portion of the 
 human race ever commenced a national existence as we 
 commenced ours. Our very beginning was civilized, learned, 
 and pious. The sagacious eye of our ancestors looked far 
 down the vale of time. Their benevolence laid foundations, 
 and reared superstructures, for the accommodation of distant 
 
89 
 
 generations. Through peril, and tears, and blood, they 
 j)rocured the inheritance, which, with many prayers, they 
 bequeathed unto us. It has descended in 'an unbroken line. 
 It is now in our possession impaired indeed by our folly, 
 perverted and abused, but still the richest inheritance which 
 the mercy of God continues to the troubled earth. Nowhere 
 beside, if you search the world over, will you find so much 
 real liberty ; so much equality ; so much personal safety, and 
 temporal prosperity ; so general an extension of useful know- 
 ledge ; so much religious instruction ; so much moral res- 
 traint ; and so much divine mercy, to make these blessings 
 the power of God, and the wisdom of God unto salvation. 
 Shall we throw away this precious bequest ? Shall we sur- 
 render our laws and liberties, our religion and morals, our 
 social and domestic blessings, to the first invader f Shall 
 we despair and die of fear, without an effort to avert our 
 doom ? What folly ! what infatuation ! what madness to do 
 so ! With what indignation, could indignation be in heaven, 
 would our fathers look down upon the deed. W^ith what 
 lamentation, could tears be in heaven, would they weep over 
 it. With what loud voices, could they speak to us from 
 heaven, would they beseech their degenerate children to put 
 their trust in God, and contend earnestly for those precious 
 institutions and laws for which they toiled and bled. 
 
 2. If we do not awake and engage vigorously in the work 
 of reformation, it will soon be too late. 
 
 Though reformation be always practicable if a people are 
 disposed to reform, there is a point of degradation from 
 which neither individuals nor nations are disposed to arise, 
 and from which the JMost High is seldom disposed to raise 
 them. When irreligion and vice shall have contaminated the 
 mass of the people, when the majority, emancipated from 
 civil and moral restraint shall be disposed to set aside the 
 laws and institutions and habits of their fathers, then indeed 
 it may be feared that our transgressions and our sins will be 
 upon us, and that we shall pine away and die in them. The 
 
90 
 
 means of preservation passing into other hands, will become 
 tlie means of destruction. Talents, and official influence, and 
 the power of legislation, and all the resources of the State 
 may be perverted to demolish our institutions, laws and 
 usages, until every vestige of ancient wisdom and prosperity 
 is gone. 
 
 To this state of things we are hastening, and, if no effort 
 be made to stop our progress, the sun in his course is not 
 more resistless than our doom. Our vices are digging the 
 grave of our liberties, and preparing to entomb our glory. 
 We may sleep, but the work goes on. We may despise 
 admonition, but our destruction slumbereth not. Travelling, 
 and worldly labor, and visiting, and amusement on the sab- 
 bath, will neither produce nor preserve such a state of society, 
 as the conscientious observance of the sabbath has helped to 
 produce and preserve ; the enormous consumption of ardent 
 spirits in our land will produce neither bodies nor minds like 
 those which were the offspring of temperance and virtue. 
 The neglect of family government, and family prayer, and the 
 religious education of children, will not produce such freemen 
 as were formed by early habits of subordination, and the 
 constant influence of the fear of God ; the neglect of official 
 duty in magistrates to execute the laws, will not produce the 
 same effects, which were produced by the vigilance and 
 fidelity of our fathers, to restrain and punish crimes. 
 
 Our institutions, civil and religious, have out-hved that 
 domestic discipline and official vigilance in magistrates to 
 execute the laws which rendered obedience easy and ha- 
 bitual. The laws now are beginning to operate extensively 
 upon necks unaccustomed to the yoke, and when they shall 
 become irksome to the majority, their execution will become 
 impracticable. To this situation we are already reduced in 
 some districts of the land. Drunkards reel through the 
 streets, day after day, and year after year, with entire impu- 
 nity. Profane swearing is heard, and even by magistrates, 
 as though they heard it not. Efforts to stop travelling on the 
 
91 
 
 sabbath, have in all places become feeble, and in many- 
 places, they have wholly ceased. Informing officers complain 
 that magistrates will not regard their informations, and that 
 the public sentiment will not bear them out in executing the 
 laws ; and conscientious men who dare not violate an oath, 
 have begun to refuse the office. The only proper characters 
 to sustain it, the only men who can retrieve our declining 
 state, are driven into the back ground, and their places filled 
 with men of easy conscience, who will either do nothing, or 
 by their own example help on the ruin. The public con- 
 science is becoming callous by the frequency and impunity 
 of crimes. The sin of violating the sabbath is becoming in 
 the public estimation a little sin, and the shame of it, nothing. 
 The disgrace is divided among so many, that none regard it. 
 The sabbath is trodden down by a host of men, whom shame 
 alone, in better days, would have deterred entirely from this 
 sin. In the mean time, many, who lament these evils are 
 augmenting them by predicting that all is lost, encouraging 
 the enemy, and weakening the hands of the wise and good. 
 But truly, we do stand on the confines of destruction. The 
 mass is changing. We are becoming another people. Our 
 habits have held us, long after those moral causes which 
 formed them have in a great degree ceased to operate. 
 These habits, at length, are giving way. So many hands 
 have so long been employed to pull away foundations, and so 
 few to repair the breaches, that the building totters. So 
 much enterprise has been displayed in removing obstructions 
 from the current of human depravity, and so little to restore 
 them, that the stream at length is beginning to run. It may 
 be stopped now, but it will soon become deep, and broad, 
 and rapid, and irresistible. 
 
 The crisis then has come. By the people of this genera- 
 tion, by ourselves probably, the amazing question is to be 
 decided, whether the inheritance of our fathers shall be 
 preserved, or thrown away — whether our sabbaths shall be a 
 delight, or a loathing — whether the taverns on that holy day, 
 
92 
 
 shall be crowded with drunkards, or the sanctuary of God 
 with humble worshippers — whether riot and profanity shall 
 fill our streets, and poverty our dwellings, and convicts our 
 jails, and violence our land ; or whether industry, and tempe- 
 rance, and righteousness, shall be the stability of our times — 
 whether mild laws shall receive the cheerful submission of 
 freemen, or the iron rod of a tyrant compel the trembling 
 homage of slaves. Be not deceived. Human nature in this 
 nation is like human nature every where. All actual differ- 
 ence in our favor is adventitious, and the result of our laws, 
 institutions, and habits. It is a moral injluence which, with 
 the blessing of God, has formed a state of society so eminent- 
 ly desirable. The same influence which has formed it, is 
 indispensable to its preservation. The rocks and hills of 
 New England will remain till the last conflagration ; but, let 
 the sabbath be profaned with impunity," the worship of God 
 be abandoned, the government and religious instruction of 
 children be neglected, and the streams of intemperance be 
 permitted to flow, and her glory will depart. The wall of 
 fire will no more surround her, and the munition of rocks 
 will no longer be her defence. But, 
 
 3. If we do neglect our duty, and suffer our laws and 
 institutions to go down, we give them up forever. It is easy 
 to relax, easy to retreat, but impossible, when the abomina- 
 tion of desolation has once passed over, to rear again the 
 prostrate altars, and gather again the fragments, and build 
 up the ruins of demolished institutions. Neither we nor 
 our children shall ever see another New England, if this be 
 destroyed. All is lost irretrievably when the landmarks are 
 once removed, and the bands which now hold us are once 
 broken. Such institutions, and such a state of society, can 
 be established only by such men as our fathers were, and in 
 such circumstances as they were. They could not have 
 made a New England in Holland. Tliey made the attempt 
 but failed. Nowhere could they have succeeded, but in a 
 wilderness ; where they gave the jyrecepts, and set the example. 
 
93 
 
 and made, and executed the laivs. By vigilance, and prayer, 
 and exertion, we may defend these institutions, retrieve much 
 of what we have lost, and perpetuate a better state of society 
 than can elsewhere be made by the art of man. But, let 
 the enemy come in like a flood, and overturn, and overturn, 
 and no place will be found for repentance, though it be 
 sought carefully with tears. 
 
 4. If we give up our laws and institutions, our guilt and 
 misery will be very great. 
 
 We shall become slaves, and slaves to the worst of mas- 
 ters. The profane and the profligate, men of corrupt minds, 
 and to every good work reprobate, will be exalted to pollute 
 us by their example, to distract us by their folly, and im- 
 poverish us by fraud and rapine. Let loose from wholesome 
 restraint, and taught to sin by the example of the great, a 
 scene most horrid to be conceived, but more dreadful to be 
 experienced, will ensue. No people are more fitted to de- 
 struction, if they go to destruction, than we ourselves. All 
 the daring enterprise of our countrymen emancipated from 
 moral restraint, will become the desperate daring of unre- 
 strained sin. Should we break the bands of Christ, and cast 
 his cords from us, and begin the work of self-destruction, it 
 will be urged on with a malignant enterprise which has no 
 parallel in the annals of time ; and be attended with miseries, 
 such as the sun has never looked upon. 
 
 The hand that overturns our laws and altars is the hand 
 of death unbarring the gate of Pandemonium, and letting 
 loose upon our land the crimes and the miseries of hell. Even 
 if the Most High should stand aloof, and cast not a single in- 
 gredient into our cup of trembling, it would seem to be full 
 of superlative wo. But he will not stand aloof. As we 
 shall have begun an open controversy with him, he will 
 contend openly with us ; and never, since the earth stood,- 
 has it been so fearful a thing for nations to fall into the hands 
 of the living God. The day of vengeance is in his heart — 
 the day of judgment has come — the great earthquake which 
 13 
 
94 
 
 is to sink Babylon is shaking the nations, and the waves of 
 the mighty commotion are dashing upon every shore. Is 
 this, then, a time to remove foundations, when the earth itself 
 is shaken ? Is this a time to forfeit the protection of God, 
 when the hearts of men are failing them for fear, and for 
 looking after those things which are coming on the earth ? 
 Is this a time to run upon his neck, and tlie thick bosses of 
 his buckler, when the nations are drinking bipod, and 
 fainting, and passing away in his wrath ? Is this ia time to 
 throw away the shield of faith, when his arrows are drunk 
 with the blood of the slain ; to cut from the anchor of hope, 
 when the clouds are collecting, and the sea and the waves 
 are roaring, and thunders are uttering their voices, and 
 lightnings blazing in the heavens, and the great hail is 
 falling from heaven upon men, and every mountain, sea, 
 and island is fleeing in dismay from the face of an incensed 
 God? 
 
 5. The judgments of God which we feel, and those which 
 impend, call for immediate repentance and reformation. Our 
 country has never seen such a day as this.* By our sins we 
 are fitted to destruction. God has begun in earnest, his 
 work, his strange work, of national desolation. For many 
 years the ordinary gains of industry have, to a great extent, 
 been cut off. The counsels of the nation have by one part 
 of it been deemed infatuation, and by the otlier part oracular 
 wisdom ; while the action and reaction of parties have 
 shaken our institutions to their foundations, debased our 
 morals, and awakened animosities which expose us to dis- 
 memberment and all the horrors of civil war. But for all 
 this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched 
 out still. On our seaboard, are the alarms and the plagues 
 of war. On our frontiers is heard the trumpet of alarm 
 mingling with the war-whoop of the savage, and the cries 
 and dying groans of murdered families. In the south, a 
 volcano whose raging fires and murmuring thunders have 
 
 * 1812. 
 
95 
 
 long* been suppressed, is now with loud admonition threat- 
 ening an eruption. In the midst of these calamities the 
 angel of God has received commission to unsheaih his 
 sword, and extend far and wide the work of death. The 
 little child and the blooming youth, the husband and the 
 wife, men of talents and usefulness, the ministers of the 
 sanctuary and the members of the church of God, bow 
 before the stroke, and sink to the grave. That dreadful 
 tempest, the sound of vvhicli, till late, was heard only from 
 afar as it was borne across the Atlantic, has at length begun 
 to beat upon us, and those mighty burnings, the smoke of 
 which we have hitherto beheld from afar, have begun in our 
 nation their devouring course. Nothing can avert the tem- 
 pest, and nothing can extinguish our burning, but repentance 
 and reformation ; for it is the tempest of the wrath of God, 
 and the fire of his indignation. 
 
 6. Our advantages to achieve a reformation of morals are 
 great, and will render our guilt and punishment propor- 
 tionably aggravated, if we neglect to avail ourselves of 
 them. 
 
 We are not yet undone. The harvest is not past ; the 
 summer is not ended. There is yet remaining much health 
 and strength, in many parts of our land. This State especial- 
 ly, is by its laws thoroughly furnished to every good work. 
 Let our laws be executed, and we may live for ever. Nor 
 is their execution to be despaired of. In every town in the 
 State the majority of the population are decidedly opposed, 
 it is believed, to those immoral practices which our laws 
 condemn. And in most towns and societies, it is a small 
 minority who corrupt with impunity the public morals. Let 
 the friends of virtue, then, express their opinions, and unite 
 their influence, and the laws can be executed. Crimes will 
 become disgraceful, and the non-execution of the laws more 
 hazardous to popularity than their faithful execution. The 
 friends of good morals and good government, have it yet in 
 their power to create a public opinion which nothing can 
 
96 
 
 resist.* The wicked are bold in appearance, but the'f are 
 cowards at heart ; their threats and boasting are loud, but 
 they are " vox et preterea nihil. "f God is against them — 
 their own consciences are against them — the laws are against 
 them — and let only the public opinion be arrayed against 
 them, and five shall chase a thousand, and an hundred 
 shall put ten thousand to flight. 
 
 It is not as if we were called upon to make new laws, and 
 establish usages unknown before. We make no innovation. 
 We embark in no novel experiment. We set up no new 
 standard of morals. We encroach upon no man's liberty. 
 We lord it over no man's conscience. We stand upon the 
 defensive merely. We contend for our altars and our fire- 
 sides. We rally around the standard which our fathers 
 reared, and our motto is, ' the inheritance which they 
 
 BEQUEATHED, NO MAN SHALL TAKE FROM US.' The CXCCU- 
 
 tive, legislative, and judicial departments of the government 
 are in the hands of men, who, we doubt not, will lend to the 
 work of reformation their example, their prayers, their 
 weight of character, official influence, and their active co- 
 operation. And will not the clergy, and christian churches 
 of all denominations array themselves on the side of good 
 morals and the laws ? Will they not like a band of brothers, 
 and terrible to the wicked as an army with banners, contend 
 earnestly for the precepts of the Gospel ? -If with such 
 means of self preservation, we pine away and die in our 
 sins, we shall deserve to die ; and our death will be dreadful. 
 
 7. But, were our. advantages fewer- -than they are, the 
 Lord will be on our side and will bless us, if we repent and 
 endeavor to do our duty. 
 
 He commands us to repent and reform, and what lie 
 commands his people to do, he will help them to accomplish 
 if they make the attempt. He has promised to help them. 
 
 * The writer has lived to see that a new moral power must be applied by sabbath 
 schools, revivals of relijjion, and bible, tract, and missionary societies, before immo- 
 ralities in a popular govenimeiil can be suppressed by law. 
 t Mere noise and nothing' else. 
 
97 
 
 He always has given efficacy, more or less, to the faithful 
 exertions of men to do good. At the present time, in a 
 peculiar manner does he smile upon every essay to do good. 
 Not a finger is lifted in vain in any righteous cause, the 
 result of every enterprise surpasses expectation, the grain 
 of mustard becomes a tree, the little leaven leavens the 
 lump. The voice of providence now is, " In the morning 
 sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand, for 
 this and that shall both prosi)er." The God in whose help 
 we confide is also our fathers' God, who remembers mercy to 
 the thousandth generation of them that fear him, and keep 
 his commandments. Within the broad circumference of this 
 covenant we stand, and neither kw nor obscure are the 
 indications of his mercy in the midst of wrath. 
 
 8. The work of reformation is already, it may be hoped, 
 auspiciously begun. 
 
 Though in some things there is a fearful declension of 
 morals, which, if not arrested, will inevitably destroy us ; 
 yet, it ought to be gratefully acknowledged, that, in some 
 respects, our moral state has for a considerable period been 
 growing better. The progress of civilization and religion 
 has softened the manners of the people, and banished to a 
 great extent, that violence of passion which ended in broils 
 and lawsuits. Those indecencies also, which too often pol- 
 luted the intercourse of the sexes, and warred upon the best 
 interests of society, have, to a great extent, given place to 
 habits of refinement and virtue. Though at this time there 
 be heresies, that they which are approved may be manifest ; 
 there has never been in this State, perhaps never in the nation, 
 a more extensive prevalence of evangehcal doctrine. Great 
 efforts have been made also, and with signal success, to raise 
 up a learned and pious ministry for the churches, from 
 which, in time, a great reforming influence may be expected : 
 for the morals of a nation will ever hold a close alliance with 
 the talents and learning, the piety and orthodoxy, of its 
 clergy. The number of pious persons has, in the course of 
 
98 
 
 fifteen years, been greatly increased, and has been attend- 
 ed with a more than correspondent increase of prayer. 
 Those local weekly associations for prayer which are now 
 spread over our land, are, most of them, of comparatively 
 recent origin. 
 
 In perfect accordance with this increased spirit of prayer, 
 has been the effusion of the Holy. Spirit in the revival of 
 religion. These revivals have been numerous, great, and 
 glorious ; and, blessed be God, they still prevail. Their 
 reforming influence has been salutary beyond expression. 
 Wherever they have existed, they have raised up the founda- 
 tions of many generations. They have done more than all 
 other causes to arrest our general decline, and are this 
 moment turning back the captivity of our land. The 
 churches under their renovating influence, are beginning to 
 maintain a more eflicient discipline, and to superintend with 
 more fidelity the religious education of their baptized children. 
 The principles of infidel philosophy with respect to civil 
 government, and the government and religious education of 
 children, have it is hoped had their day, and are retiring 
 to their own place, succeeded happily, by the maxims of 
 revelation and common sense. 
 
 The missionary spirit which is beginning to pervade our 
 land, promises also, an auspicious reforming influence. It 
 teaches us to appreciate more justly our own religious privi- 
 leges, and calls off the hearts of thousands from political and 
 sectarian bickerings, to unite them in one glorious enterprise 
 of love. Who, but the Lord our God, has created that ex- 
 tensive and simultaneous predisposition in the public mind, to 
 favor a work of reformation ? Who, in this day of clouds 
 and tempest, has opened the eyes of the people to recognise 
 their dependence upon God, and his avenging hand in the 
 judgments which they feel, and turned their hearts to seek 
 him to an unusual extent, by fasting, and humiliation, and 
 prayer ? Who, indeed, has poured ort upon our land, a 
 spirit of reformation as real, if not yet as universal, as the 
 
99 
 
 spirit of missions ? .'The fact* is manifest from the zeal of 
 individuals, the reviving fidelity of magistrates in various 
 places, the addresses of ecclesiastical bodies, and the for- 
 mation of general and local associations to suppress crimes, 
 and support the laws and institutions of our land.* 
 
 The Most High, then, has begun to help us. While his 
 judgments are abroad, the nation is beginning to learn righte- 
 ousness. These favorable circumstances do hy no means 
 supersede the necessity of special exertion ; but they are 
 joyful pledges that our labor shall not be in vain in the Lord. 
 They are his providential voice, announcing that he is waiting 
 to be gracious ; and that, if we " hearken to him, he will 
 soon subdue our enemies, and turn his hand against our 
 adversaries; that the haters of the Lord -shall submit them- 
 selves unto him, but that our time shall endure forever." 
 Therefore, 
 
 9. If we endure a little longer, the resources of the millen- 
 nial day will come to our aid. 
 
 Many are the prophetic signs which declare the rapid ap- 
 proach of that day. Babylon the great is fallen. The false 
 Prophet is hastening to perdition. That wicked one hath 
 appeared, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his 
 mouth and the brightness of his coming. The day of his 
 vengeance is wasting the earth. The last vial of the wrath 
 of God is running. The angel having the everlasting Gospel 
 to preach to men, has begun his flight ; and, with trumpet 
 
 * A society was formed in Boston, on the 3tli of Februar}', 1813, entitled " The 
 Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance.'' The object of tiie 
 society is stated to be, " to discountenance and suppress the too frequent use of 
 ardent spirits, and its kindred vices, profanoness, and gaming-; and to encourage 
 and promote temperance, and general morality. With a view to this object, the 
 society will recommend the institution of au.xiliary societies in different pans of the 
 commonvvealti) ; and hold correspondence with other societies which may be insti- 
 tuted for the same general object. 
 
 " Besides the usual officers of a society, there is a board of counsel consisting of 
 eight persons, which is to act as the executive of the society, to make communica- 
 tions to the auxiliary societies, and to receiie communications from ihem ; to 
 collect, combine, and digest facts, and general information, relating to the purposes 
 of the society ; to devise ways and means for the furtherance of these purposes ; to 
 apply the society's funds according to direction ; and, al each annual meeting, lo 
 report to the society their doings, a digest of the facts, and general infojination 
 which ihey may have collected, and such measures as they may juda;e si/!table (or 
 the society to adopt and pursue. They shall hold stated quarterly meetings." 
 —Panoplistfor February, 1813. pp. 418, 419, 420. 
 
100 
 
 sounding long, and waxing loi>d, is calling to the nations to 
 look unto Jesus and be saved. Soon will the responsive 
 song be heard from every nation, and kindred , and tongue, 
 and people, as the voice of a great multitude, and as the 
 voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, 
 saying ; allelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 
 
 On the confines of such a day, shall we despair ? While 
 its blessed light is beginning to shine, shall we give up our 
 laws and institutions, and sink down to the darkness and 
 torments of the bottomless pit f 
 
 10. But considerations, before which the kingdoms of this 
 world fade and are forgotten, call us to instant exertion in 
 the work of reformation. 
 
 Every one of us must stand before the judgment seat of 
 Christ. Every one of us, as a friend, or an enemy, shall 
 live under his government forever. We shall drink of the 
 river of pleasure, or of the cup of trembling. We shall sing 
 the song of Moses and the Lamb, or lift up our cries with the 
 smoke of our torment. The institutions in danger, are the 
 institutions of heaven, provided to aid us in fleeing from the 
 wrath to come. The laws to be preserved, are laws which 
 have lent their congenial influence to the immortal work of 
 saving sinners. The welfare of millions through eternity, 
 depends, under God, upon their preservation. 
 
 Ye parents — which of your children can you give up to the 
 miseries of a profligate life, and the pangs of an impenitent 
 death ? Which, undone by your example, or negligence and 
 foil)', are you prepared to meet on the left hand of your 
 Judge .'' Which, if by a miracle of mercy you should ascend 
 to heaven, can you leave behind, to go away into everlasting 
 punishment ? Call around you the dear children whom God 
 has given you, and look them o'er and o'er, and, if among 
 them all you cannot find a victim to sacrifice, awake, and 
 with all diligence uphold those institutions which the good 
 shepherd has provided to protect and save them. 
 
 My fathers and brethren, who minister at the altar — the 
 
\ 
 
 101 
 
 time is short. We must soon meet our people at the bar of 
 God ; should we meet any of them undone by our example, 
 or sloth, or unbelief, dreadful will be the interview ! Shall 
 we not lift up our voice as a trumpet, and do quickly, and 
 with all our might, what our hands find to do ? 
 
 Ye magistrates of a christian land, ye ministers of God 
 for good — the people of this land, alarmed by the prevalence 
 of crimes and by the judgments of God, look up to you for 
 protection. By the glories and terrors of the judgment day, 
 by the joys of heaven and the miseries of hell they beseech 
 you, as the ministers of God, to save them and their children 
 from the dangers of this untoward generation. 
 
 Ye men of wealth and influence — will ye not help in this 
 great attempt to reform and save our land ? Are not these 
 distinctions, talents, for the employment of which you must 
 give an account to God ; and can you employ them better, 
 than to consecrate them to the service of your generation by 
 the will of God ? 
 
 Let me entreat those unhappy men who haste to be rich by 
 unlawful means, who thrive by the vices and ruin of their fel- 
 low men, to consider their end. How dreadful to you will 
 be the day of death ! How intolerable, the day of judgment ! 
 How many broken hearted widows, and fatherless children, 
 will then lift up their voices to testify against you. How 
 many of the lost spirits will ascend from the world of wo, to 
 cry out against you, as the wretches who ministered to their 
 lusts, and fitted them for destruction. In vain will you plead 
 that if you had not done the murderous deed, other men 
 would have done it ; or that, if you had not destroyed them, 
 they had still destroyed themselves. If other men had done 
 the deed, they, and not you, would answer for it; if they had 
 destroyed themselves without your agency, their blood would 
 be upon their own heads. But as you contributed voluntarily 
 to their destruction, you will be holden as partakers in their 
 sin, and their blood will be required at your hands. Why, then, 
 
 14 
 / 
 
102 
 
 will you traffic in the souls and bodies of men, and barter 
 away your souls for the gains of a momentary life ? 
 
 To conclude. Let me entreat the unhappy men who are 
 the special objects of legal restraint, to cease from their evil 
 ways, and, by voluntary reformation, supersede the necessity 
 of coercion and punishment. Why will you die ? What 
 fearful thing is there in heaven, which makes you flee" from 
 that world ? What fascinating object in hell, that excites 
 such frenzied exertion to burst every band, and overleap 
 every mound, and force your way downward to the cham- 
 bers of death ? Stop, I beseech you, and repent, and Jesus 
 Christ shall blot out your sins, and remember your transgres- 
 sions no more. Stop, and the host who follow your steps 
 shall turn, and take hold on the path of life. Stop, and the 
 wide waste of sin shall cease, and the song of angels shall 
 be heard again ; " Glory to God in the highest ; on earth 
 peace, good will to men." Stop, and instead of wailing with 
 the lost, you shall join the multitudes which no man can 
 number, in the ascription of blessing, and honor, and glory, 
 and power, to him that sitteth on the throne, and to the 
 Lamb, forever and ever. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 THE BUILDING OF WASTE PLACES. 
 
 Isaiah, Ixi. 4. 
 
 And they shall huild the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desola- 
 tions, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many gene- 
 rations. 
 
 The text predicts the civil and religious order which 
 should succeed the restoration of the tribes from Babylon. 
 During that long exile, many fields lay untilled, and many 
 cities without inhabitant — their walls broken down. The 
 temple and the synagogues of the nation lay, also, in ruins. 
 But " they shall build," saith the prophet, " the old wastes." 
 The fields shall be tilled — the cities inhabited — the temple 
 rebuilt — and the worship of God restored. 
 
 The prediction has unquestionably a reference also to the 
 latter day, and announces that great spiritual change which 
 awaits the nations made desolate by sin. In all lands the 
 wastes shall be builded — the wastes of paganism — the wastes 
 of mahometanism — the wastes of popery — the wastes of 
 atheism and heresy. The accomplishment of this universal 
 restoration will include the raising up of decayed churches, 
 as well as the planting of new ones, and will be accomplished, 
 doubtless, by the charities and benevolent exertions of those 
 
104 
 
 religious communities, which are blessed with the institutions 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 The waste places of Connecticut, and the duty of building 
 them, will be the subject of consideration in this discourse.* 
 That there are desolations in this State, will not be question- 
 ed by any minutely acquainted with our circumstances. 
 Not a few societies have ceased to hear those doctrines of 
 the Gospel, by the instrumentality' of which the Spirit of God 
 awakens, converts, and sanctifies men. A number of churches 
 have become feeble, and, by hard struggling, prolong from 
 year to year the enjoyment of divine institutions ; while 
 some have long since fallen, and are now lying in utter 
 desolation. 
 
 The building of these wastes will include the propagation 
 of the truth, the communication of strength to the feeble, and 
 the restoration of fallen societies to the order of the Gospel. 
 
 In the illustration of the subject it is proposed to consider, 
 
 I. The causes of these desolations. 
 
 II. The means of restoring them. 
 
 III. The motives to immediate exertion for that purpose. 
 
 The immediate causes are, evidently, the difference of 
 religious sentiment and worship which prevails, connected 
 with a criminal indifference to the institutions of the Gospel. 
 
 There is not, in the State, a town or parish unable to 
 support the Gospel constantly, and with ease, provided all the 
 families in the limits of each were of one heart and of one 
 way to serve the Lord. But the property, in many societies, 
 is divided between three or four different denominations, 
 beside a part, which the love of money and indifference to 
 the Gospel wholly withdraw from the support of divine insti- 
 tutions. The consequence is, the decline, and in some cases, 
 the entire subversion of that religious order which our fathers 
 established. 
 
 * The remarks applied lo this Stale, are, with slight modification, applicable to 
 New England generally ; but it is thought best to preserve the local references. 
 
105 
 
 But by what causes has this change in the religious opinions 
 and habits of the people been accomplished f The fa- 
 thers of Connecticut came here on purpose to establish and 
 perpetuate that religious order, which is, still, the prevailing 
 order in the State. They were united in their views of 
 doctrine and discipline, were strongly attached to the religious 
 order they had established, and, with singular wisdom, pro- 
 vided for its perpetuity. Believing godliness to be profitable 
 to the life that now is, and ignorance and irrellgion to be 
 crimes against the State, they required by law every society 
 to support the Gospel, and every family to contribute its pro- 
 portion, and to attend statedly upon its ministrations. In the 
 formation of a new settlement, even if it consisted of not more 
 than twenty families, a minister, a meeting-house, and a 
 school-house, were deemed as indispensable as their own 
 dwellings. Thus organized, for more than a century Zion 
 was a city compactly builded ; and friends and foes might, 
 with different emotions, " go round about her, and tell her 
 towers, and mark her bulwarks, and consider her palaces." 
 By what causes, then, have these changes been accomplish- 
 ed ? The most efficacious are, doubtless, remote ; have 
 operated silently and slowly, and produced their results at 
 periods so distant, as almost to elude observation. 
 
 In bringing them into view, no unkind feelings are indulged 
 towards Christians of other denominations, and nothing dis- 
 respectful or injurious is intended ; the importance of the 
 subject requires the investigation to be conducted with the 
 verity T)f the historian, and the fidelity of the surgeon, who 
 wounds only to heal. 
 
 A remote cause of our present wastes is to be found in a 
 very great declension of vital piety in the churches, which 
 took place many years ago. For more than one hundred 
 years, the pastors and churches of Connecticut were strictly 
 evangelical ; but at length, different views concerning doc- 
 trine began to prevail. This was occasioned by an alarming 
 suspension for many years, of the special influence of the 
 
106 
 
 Spirit, and by the expedients of human wisdom to replenish 
 the churches without the agency of God. One effect of this 
 decHne was, the introduction into the ministry of men, who 
 probably had never experienced the power of divine grace 
 on their hearts, and who, of course, would be prepared by 
 native feeling to oppose the doctrines of the Gospel. From 
 such, nothing better could be expected than a cold, formal, 
 unfaithful, unproductive ministry, and a gradual approxima- 
 tion to another Gospel. Those precious truths which are 
 the power of God to salvation, were first omitted, and at 
 length openly opposed. The consequence was, that " the 
 love of many waxed cold, and the ways of Zion mourned, 
 because few came to her solemn feasts." Alarmed at the 
 declining numbers of the church, and the corresponding 
 increase of the unbaptized, our fathers, with pious intent 
 doubtless, but with a most unwarrantable distrust of God and 
 dependence on human wisdom, introduced what has since 
 been denominated the half-way covenant. According to the 
 provisions of this anomaly in religion, persons of a regular 
 deportment, though destitute of piety, might be considered 
 as church members, and offer their children in baptism, 
 without coming to the sacramental supper; for which, piety 
 was still deemed indispensable. The effect was, that owning 
 the covenant as it was called, became a common, thoughtless 
 ceremony ; and baptism was extended to all who had either 
 sufficient regard to fashion or to self-righteous doings to ask 
 it for themselves or for their children. As to the promises 
 of educating children in the fear of the Lord, and submitting 
 to the discipline of the church, on the one hand, or of 
 watchful care on the other, they were alike disregarded both 
 by those who exacted, and by those who made them. 
 Others, alarmed by the same declension of numbers in the 
 visible church, and leaning equally to their own under- 
 standing to provide a remedy, discovered, as they imagined, 
 that grace is not necessary to the participation of either 
 ordinance ; that there is but one covenant, the condition of 
 
107 
 
 which might be moral sincerity, and that the sacrament of 
 the supper, liice the preaching of the Gospel, might be num- 
 bered among the means of grace for the conversion of the 
 soul. With these views, the doors of the church were 
 thrown open, and all the congregation who could be, were 
 persuaded to come in. 
 
 These innovations in church order, though resisted by- 
 many and not introduced without considerable agitation, 
 became at length almost universal throughout New England. 
 The consequences were what might be expected, where 
 sinners are countenanced in drawing near to God with their 
 mouths, while their heart is removed far from him, and 
 their fear towards him is taught by the precepts of men ; 
 they were, the annihilation of church discipline, and the 
 prevalence of Arminian feelings and opinions, mingled with 
 the disjointed remains of evangelical doctrine. Without an 
 absolute rejection of the doctrines of grace, the preaching, 
 and the feeling, and the practice, to a great extent were, 
 " do and live.^^ Good works and the dilatory use of means 
 occupied the foreground, while the Holy Spirit waited at 
 humble distance, to accomplish the little which remained to 
 be done as the reward or promised consequence of antece- 
 dent well doing. So alarming had this declension of vital 
 piety become in the days of Cotton Mather, as to occasion 
 the memorable prediction, that in forty years, should it 
 progress as it had done, convulsions would ensue, in which 
 churches would be gathered out of churches ; — a prediction 
 afterwards signally verified. For in the year 1740, it 
 pleased the God of our fathers to visit the churches of New 
 England by the special influence of the Holy Spirit. But 
 this joyful event which commenced the restoration of evan- 
 gehcal doctrine and discipline, and planted the seeds of those 
 revivals which still prevail, was, through the weakness of 
 some and the wickedness of many, made the occasion of 
 evils which are felt to this day. — I allude to the opposition 
 which was made to this work of God by the unconverted, 
 
108 
 
 the formal and the timid j the prejudices it excited against a 
 learned ministry and the congregational order ; the intempe- 
 rate zeal it enkindled ; the separations it occasioned, which 
 rent many churches, and laid the foundation for that diversity 
 of religious opinion and worship, which has so unhappily en- 
 feehled some churches and hrought others to desolation. 
 
 Until these separations, which a proper zeal and prudence 
 on the part of the pastors might have easily prevented, the 
 ancient external order of the churches remained with but 
 little variation or prejudice against it. The inhabitants of 
 the same town or parish were of one denomination, and 
 w^orshipped together in the sanctuary which their fathers had 
 built. But now, driven from their ordinary course by a 
 repulsion so violent, the separatist became, for a season, 
 the subject of an enthusiasm which defied restraint and 
 despised order. In these new societies awoke that spirit of 
 proselytism which has outlived them, and those deeprooted 
 prejudices against a learned ministry, and those revilings of a 
 hireling priesthood and the standing order, and those com- 
 plaints of persecution, which have not wholly ceased to this 
 day. Built up however, by the zeal of an emergency, and 
 destined to ultimate decay, they were still prevented by a 
 strong aversion from coalescing with the regular churches, 
 and of course, laid the foundation, and furnished the materials 
 to build up the several denominations which now prevail in 
 the State. 
 
 A beginning having once been made — a small society of 
 whatever name being once established, various causes would 
 naturally contribute to perpetuate and enlarge it. All who 
 were fond of novelty and given to change, could now make 
 experiment how it would seem to worship God in some new 
 way ; and every one, who by any means, became dissatisfied 
 with his minister, or the deacon, or the church, or any 
 member of the society, could take a speedy revenge by 
 going to another denomination. The covetous, constrained 
 by law to pay, against their inclination, for the support of the 
 
109 
 
 Gospel, soon learned to plead a tender conscience, in order 
 to save their money, and joined themselves to the denomi- 
 nation which could help them on to heaven at the least 
 expense. 
 
 As another cause of debility and desolation, may be noted 
 the defections occasioned by the restoration of evangelical 
 doctrine and discipline. The revivals of 1740 were the 
 commencement of a reformation in this State, which has 
 brought the churches back to the doctrines and discipline of 
 our fathers. A change so great, however, and so contrary to 
 human depravity, fortified as it was by custom, was not to be 
 accomplished without resistance. Accustomed to the immu- 
 nities of the half way covenant, and pleased with this self- 
 righteous, dilatory method of preparation for heaven, the 
 unconverted were alarmed at the demands of immediate 
 repentance, and offended at the distinction which now began 
 to be made between the righteous and the wicked. It was 
 not till after nearly half a century of controversy, in the 
 progress of which many churches were shaken, and many 
 societies enfeebled, that the point became established, that a 
 credible profession of religion is indispensable to church 
 membership ; and that the seals of the covenant are to be 
 applied to none but the members of the visible church and 
 their children. , 
 
 Another cause of desolation, more limited in its operation, 
 but not less disastrous in its effects where it has operated, has 
 been, the timid policy of forbearing to preach plainly those 
 doctrines which offend, and of shrinking from a vigilant, effi- 
 cient discipline in the church, lest these things should inter- 
 rupt the peace, and endanger the stability of the congregation. 
 It has been called prudence ; but experience has shown it 
 to be a prudence, which, in the beginning, surrenders at 
 discretion to the enemy, to keep him quiet ; which substitutes 
 policy for duty, and relies on temporising expedients, instead 
 of the protection and blessing of God, in the fearless per- 
 formance of duty. The uniform effect has been, weak hands 
 lo 
 
110 
 
 and a faint heart to the minister ; the loss of personal useful- 
 ness, the suspension of divine influence, the decline of vital 
 piety, immorality and error in the church, and impiety and 
 licentiousness without ; until, at the death or dismission of 
 the pastor, the church has become almost extinct, and the 
 congregation is conducted to the verge of ruin. 
 
 A later cause of decline and desolation has been the in- 
 sidious influence of infidel philosophy. The mystery of 
 iniquity had, in Europe, been operating for a long time. The 
 unclean spirits had commenced their mission^o the kings of 
 the earth, to gather them together to the battle of the great 
 day of God Almighty. But when that mighty convulsion 
 took place which a second time burst' open the bottomless 
 pit, and spread darkness and dismay over Europe, every 
 gale brought to our shores contagion and death. Thousands, 
 at once, breathed the tainted air, and felt the fever kindle in 
 the brain. A paroxysm of moral madness and terrific inno- 
 vation ensued. In the phrensy of perverted vision, every foe 
 appeared a friend, and every friend a foe. No maxims were 
 deemed too wise to be abandoned, none too horrid to be 
 adopted ; no foundations too deep laid to be torn up, and no 
 superstructure too venerable to be torn down, that another, 
 such as, in Europe, they were rearing with bones and blood, 
 'might be built. As the institutions of Connecticut, however, 
 were built upon a rock, and were defended by thousands not 
 yet bereft of common sense and moral principle, a kw ex- 
 periments evinced that such foundations could be shaken 
 only by the slow progress of undermining. It remained, 
 therefore, to extend the mania till it should subtract from 
 their defence, and add to the host of assailants a number suffi- 
 cient to accomplish the work. With great feigned reverence, 
 therefore, were the Bible and catechetical instruction exiled 
 from the school. The polluted page of infidelity everywhere 
 met the eye, while its sneers and blasphemies assailed the 
 car. The specious argument of leaving children uninstruct- 
 ed, that they might at a riper age, choose their own religion 
 
Ill 
 
 without bias, gave leisure for depravity to mature its alienating 
 prejudices, for lies to extend their influence, and for vicious 
 habits to establish their unresisted dominion. The result was 
 a brood of infidels, and heretics, and profligates ; a generation 
 prepared to be carried about, as they have been, by every 
 wind of doctrine, and to assail, as they have done, our most 
 sacred institutions. 
 
 But the time at length arrived, when all the preceding 
 causes were enlisted as auxiliaries merely, and invested with 
 double potency, by political violence and alienation. 
 
 The origin and progress of these collisions of party need 
 not be traced, nor is it the object of this discourse to weigh 
 the contending parties in the scales of justice, to ascertain 
 their relative guilt, and measure out a retribution — a work 
 which belongs to God and the judgment of the great day. 
 But the effects of this unhappy controversy have been such 
 upon this once peaceful State, that the combatants on both 
 sides, have occasion to sit down and weep together over the 
 desolations which the conflict has occasioned : for it has been 
 keen and dreadful, and, like the varying conflict of battle, 
 has marred and trodden down whatever has stood within 
 the range of its commotion. On every field over which it 
 swept, abiding traces are left of its desolating career, families 
 divided, neighbors and friends fimbittered, ministers and people 
 alienated, churches divided, and the numbers of seceding 
 denominations multiplied, with all those bitter feelings which 
 contention and wounds are calculated to inspire. At the 
 present moment, there is scarcely an ecclesiastical society in 
 the State which has not experienced a diminution of its num- 
 bers, or a seceding denomination, which has not been estab- 
 lished or augmented by these political contentions. 
 
 To the preceding causes must be added, if we speak the 
 whole truth, the direct enterprise of religious denominations 
 to augment their numbers. 
 
 Feeling as all minorities ever have felt, and impatient to 
 exchange the inconveniences of weakness for the advantages 
 
112 
 
 attached to numbers, and confident, as all denominations are, 
 of being exactly right, a deceitful heart might easily mistake 
 the combined impulse of proselyting zeal and restless ambi- 
 tion, for unmingled zeal for the Lord of hosts ; and might 
 verily think that many things ought to be done to pull down 
 the standing order; which things, also, as the circumstances 
 of the times have favored, have been done. 
 
 The operation of all these causes has been greatly facil- 
 itated by the change made in the law for the support of the 
 Gospel, in order to accommodate it to the changes in rehgious 
 opinion which had gradually taken place in the State. It 
 was the fundamental maxim of the fathers of this State, that 
 the preaching of the Gospel is, in a civil point of view, a great 
 blessing to the community, for the support of which, all 
 should contribute according to their several abihty. This 
 law, while the inhabitants of the State were all of one religious 
 creed, was entirely efficacious, and secured to the people of 
 the State, at least, four times the amount of religious instruc- 
 tion which has ever been known to be the result of mere 
 voluntary associations for die support of the Gospel.* 
 
 * It has been said that the Gospel will support itself, and that civil laws have 
 nothing to do with the support of the Gospel. If it be meant that the Gospel will 
 exist in the world thougi) vie should neglect to support it in Connecticut, it is true ; 
 but if the meaning be, liiat God will continue to us a faithful ministry and bestow 
 his blessing upon it, though \v3 sliould withhold the means for its competent support, 
 it is not true. The certam continuance of the Gospel in the world, no more ensures 
 its continuance where the proper means are neglected, than the certain continuance 
 of seed time and harvest in the world, prove that the people of Connecticut may 
 neglect to plough and sow, and still expect an abundant harvest. 
 
 And with respect to the manner in which religious instruction shall be provided, 
 no plan has ever 3et been adopted so efl'ectual as legislative provisions, which shut 
 out individual discretion, and require every man to pay for the support of the Gospel 
 according to his properly. The experiment has been fairly made on our right hand 
 and on our left, of what may be expected from voluntary associations and contribu- 
 tions tor the support of divine institutions ; and the result is, that at least four times 
 more religious instruction is secured by legal provision, than has ever been provided 
 to any considerable extent by voluntary discretion. Even in this State, since the eva- 
 sion of the law has become practicable and common, the amount of religious instruc- 
 tion provided by themselves by that portion of our population who have reserved 
 to their own discretion what they will give, has dwindled in nearly the same pro- 
 portion. One sabbath in three is probaijl3' about the medium amount of religious 
 instruction which they think tit to provide for themselves or their families, or, to 
 use their own language, which the Gospel ' provides for iiself.' This too, is falling off, 
 in the face of a general, contrary example, and in spite of antecedent education and 
 habit. What then is to be expected from the next generation, and what is to be the 
 destiny of this State and its institutions, should an increasing portion of our population 
 grow up in such comparative ignorance? If any portion of the instruction which 
 God has provided for men is important, the whole is proportionably more important. 
 If one sabbath in throe is impoitant, each of die other two is equully important ; if 
 
113 
 
 But, at length, the multipHcation of other denominations 
 demanded such a modification of the law, as should permit 
 every man to worship God according to the dictates of his 
 conscience, and compel him to pay only for the support of 
 the Gospel in his own denomination. The practical effect 
 has been, to liberate all conscientious dissenters from sup- 
 porting a worship which they did not approve — which the 
 law intended ; and to liberate a much greater number with- 
 out conscience, from paying for the support of the Gospel 
 anywhere, and progressively to diminish the amount of re- 
 ligious instruction and moral influence in the State — a thing 
 which the law did not intend. While it accommodates the 
 conscientious feelings of ten, it accommodates the angry, 
 revengeful, avaricious, and irrehgious feelings of fifty ; and 
 threatens by a silent, constant operation, to undermine the 
 deep-laid foundations of our civil and religious order. 
 
 The vital principle of our system, that every man shall pay 
 according to his property for the support of religious instruc- 
 tion, as a pubhc civil benefit, and for the preservation of 
 morals and good order in the State, is gone. Every man 
 
 a total loss of sabbaths would be a calamity, the loss of two out of three is a calamity 
 of equal relative amount ; if two sabbaths' instruction lost is of no consequence, the 
 one sabbath enjoyed is of no consequence, and the sabbath itself is good for nothing. 
 Ho far as religious instruction on the sabbath is the cause of religious knowledge and 
 of moral habits, nothing can be anticipated but the increase of ignorance, and irre- 
 ligion, and immorality, in proportion to the decline of the means of instruction and 
 restraint. Nor is this all ; the families who have worship to attend only one sabbath 
 in three, will not attend that sabbath as punctually, as those who attend statedl}', upon 
 weekly instruction. Two sabbaths of indolence, and vagrancy of thought and con- 
 duct, will more than dissipate the instruction and etface the impression of the third. 
 No community and no family by observing only one sabbath in three, can hold their 
 own against the current of depravity and the power of temptation. 
 
 If these views are correct, it is deplorable to witness with what thoughtlessness and 
 disregard of consequences, men will cut themselves off, and cut off their families, and, 
 by consequence, successive generations of posterity, from at least two thirds the 
 amount of that religious instruction and restraint which God has provided to bless 
 them in time, and to qualify them lor heaven. All this would be lamentable, if the 
 remaining portion of instruction was as good in matter and manner, as the whole, 
 which they have abandoned. But in the fi^verish haste of revenge, or the narrowness 
 of avaricious savings, how little is thought of the importance of truth. Oh ! 'tis 
 enough to make angels weep, to see whole families of precious, inmiortal children, 
 unconscious of their doom, cut of3"al once by this rash act of a father from the hearing 
 of the truth, to famish by hearing nothing, or to be poisoned by hearing error. Oh! 
 how will such rash deeds appear in the day of judgment, when the wretched father, 
 undone by his folly, shall find himself surrounded by his family', ruined by his auger, 
 or destroyed by his parsimony ! How must their agony torture him, and their cries 
 harrow up his soul ! What imprecations from a long line of descendants, will assail 
 his ears, and what anguish wring his heart, while he goes away with them into ever- 
 lasting punishment, '' where iheir worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched I " 
 
114 
 
 who chooses to do it, withdraws, by a little management, his 
 whole tax from the support of the Gospel ; and the result is 
 lamentably manifest, in the muUiplication of feeble societies 
 and waste places. It has taught also the malicious and the 
 irreligious the art of breaking down societies, and multiplying 
 by design, our desolations. 
 
 The last cause which I shall mention is the remedy which 
 has too often been applied to rescue declining congregations and 
 raise waste places. The common policy has been, to settle a 
 minister upon an incompetent salary, with the expectation that 
 he will support himself, in part, by his own exertions ; and 
 the consequence, which might have been anticipated, has 
 usually been, that the habit of worldly care which necessity 
 began, becomes a habit of worldliness which, in some eases, 
 renders the ministry a secondary consideration. Gain is sub- 
 stituted for godliness, and preaching the Gospel becomes a 
 convenient auxiliary in the system of accumulating money. 
 The man has become a thriving farmer, an able school-mas- 
 ter, a sagacious speculator, but has long since ceased to be a 
 faithful minister of Jesus Christ. His thoughts, his heart, 
 his time, are devoted to secular pursuits, while with his lips 
 only, he deals out, one day in seven, cold commendations of 
 that religion whose interests he betrays. But the more com- 
 mon effect is, that his ministry embarrasses his worldly en- 
 terprise, and his worldly enterprise his ministry so much, 
 that both become comparatively unfruhful. He cannot pur- 
 sue his worldly business to the best advantage, because he is 
 a minister, and he cannot pursue the work of the m'inistry to 
 advantage, because he is a farmer ; the combined result is, a 
 bare support with a double tax of care, few books and no 
 leisure to read them, little time for study and that of little 
 value, from the impossibility of putting in requisition at a 
 moment's warning, the resources of a mind vexed with cease- 
 less perplexities, and long since a stranger to habits of study. 
 He laments his situation, longs to devote himself to his work, 
 hopes for better days, while every year brings new conviction 
 
115 
 
 that they will never come. In this unequal stfu2;c;le, hig 
 days of improvement pass away ; his mind is undisciplined, his 
 heart cold and formal, his sermons unpopular abroad and 
 irksome at home. . He neglects to visit his people, for he has 
 no time ; he neglects meetings for prayer, and the main 
 spring being removed, all the movements which are the life 
 of religion stop. In proportion also, as he does less for his 
 people, he loves them less, and their affection for him de- 
 clines in the same degree ;— and now sectarians, with flaming 
 zeal, break in upon his charge, and preach, and pray, and 
 visit, and do just those things to alienate his people, which 
 'ought to have been done to attach them to himself, and to 
 one another. Alarmed at this furious onset, he hurls from 
 the pulpit unavailing invectives against the foe, and makes 
 some feeble exertions to prevent a defection, which hard 
 names will only extend. But it is all too late — the kind 
 attention, by which he might once have bound his people to 
 himself forever, has been exhibited by a stranger, who has 
 stolen away their hearts by an irretrievable delusion. And 
 now, his little salary presses hard upon the diminished num- 
 ber of his people, is poorly paid, and operates as a constant 
 temptation to increased defection. Alarmed at their danger^ 
 his people complain that he does not visit them, and take 
 pains to hold the congregation together ; and he, in return, 
 complains that they have not enabled him to do it, by provid- 
 ing for him a competent support, or even by the punctual pay- 
 ment of the pittance stipulated. Complaint begets complaint, 
 and crimination begets crimination, until at length the crisis 
 arrives ; — his people, weakened by defections, can no longer 
 raise his little salary ; and he, by the most strenuous exer- 
 tions, cannot do without it. Of course a council is called, and 
 the pastoral relation is dissolved. Tiie pastor, in the decline 
 of life, with a large family, goes an exile to the wilderness, or 
 settles in some other declining church, to repeat the same ex- 
 periment, and, unless death prevents, to witness the same re- 
 sult. The society, which by a trifling additional effort might 
 
116 
 
 have commanded the whole time of their pastor, and become 
 yearly stronger ; have, by their injudicious parsimony, fritter- 
 ed away their strength and brought themselves to desolation — 
 have dug their own grave, and He down in it to awake no 
 more. One half the time of a minister who devotes his whole 
 time to his appropriate work, would be more efficacious to 
 build up a declining society, than all the scraps of time which 
 any man, compelled to support himself in part, can possibly 
 rescue from the toils and cares of worldly avocations. The 
 success of a minister depends much, under God, upon the 
 state of his mind and his heart — a mind disciplined by study, 
 and a heart warmed by action in his blessed work : a state of 
 mind and heart which cannot be preserved amid the distrac- 
 tions of care, and the din of business, and which cannot be 
 commanded for immediate use, the moment he sits down in 
 his study, or steps from the world into his pulpit. 
 
 It would be far better, where it can be done, that two fee- 
 ble societies should unite in the competent support of one 
 man, commanding between them, the whole time and all the 
 talents of their pastor, than to prolong in both, a ministry 
 without its appropriate duties and blessings, until both are 
 brought to desolation. 
 
 We are to consider 
 
 II. The means by which the wastes, in this State, may be 
 built. 
 
 And here, suffer me to suggest as a measure of great utility, 
 not to the desolate merely, but to all the churches, the occa- 
 sional itineration of the stated pastors within the hmits of 
 each association, and by exchanges into other associations, 
 and in different parts of the State. A ministry entirely mi- 
 gratory, though it possess some advantages, is defective, and 
 so also is a mhiistry wholly stationary. A system which 
 should retain all the benefits of stability, and at the same 
 time avail itself of the peculiar adv^antages of itineracy, would 
 approach, it is believed, nearest to perfection. But such a 
 
117 
 
 system might, with the utmost case, be established in this 
 State. Partial experiments have been made already, and 
 always with singularly happy effects. A religious enterprise 
 of this kind, breaks in upon the lethargy which is apt to 
 invade the mind too long conversant with the same place, 
 objects, and duties. It creates a more minute, and yet ex- 
 tended knowledge, of the state of the churches, and a stronger 
 interest in their welfare ; while it awakens to new zeal and 
 enterprise among their own people, both those who itinerate, 
 and those who are cheered by their coming.* 
 
 For the special benefit of destitute, feeble congregations, 
 a concert might be formed by ministers in the vicinity, which 
 should extend to them a course of parochial visits once or 
 twice a year ; to which might be added a stated lecture up- 
 held by concert, once a month, and, in many cases, every 
 week. Four ministers, by spending each one week in a 
 vacant congregation, might catechise all the schools, and visit 
 all the families, at least once a year ; and by preaching only 
 three lectures, each might convene the people twelve times a 
 year, to be instructed and cheered by the preaching of the 
 Gospel. How great would be the amount of instruction thus 
 communicated, and of religious and moral influence thus 
 exerted ? What confidence would it inspire in the pastors of 
 the churches ; what affection would it create, what gratitude 
 awaken, what opportunities to advise and what influence 
 would it give to ministers, to preserve and build up decayed 
 congregations ? How benign, especially upon the I'ising 
 generation, would be such gratuitous pastoral attentions ? 
 
 * Ilineralions oftlie aliove description, have been repeatedly practised in both the 
 associations of Litchfield county, and in ever}' instance have been attended by the 
 happiest effects. The revivals which prevailed in this county from the year 1798 to 
 1800, were, in many instances, begun, and in all, happily promoted by the blessing of 
 God upon such itinerations. In the State of New Jersey also, two seasons of exten- 
 sive revivals were begun by the blessing of God upon a similar system of special 
 enterprise. Two ministers liave in all cases been united in the same tour : and 
 latterly the churches have had previous notice of the commencement and continuance 
 of the tour, and have devoted a portion of time each evening, between the hours 
 of seven and eight, to a concert of secret praijer to God for his blessing upon the enter- 
 prise ; and not unfrequently, while they have been yet speaking, the answer has 
 been granted. In all cases the churches have been refreshed and animated by such 
 visits, and a more extensive attention produced, than would have been coinmamlcd 
 l)y ordinary lectures. 
 
 16 
 
118 
 
 How much impiety and immorality might be thus prevented ? 
 
 What new views communicated — what new desires awakened 
 — what new hopes excited — what new habits formed ? To 
 these instructions of the week, might be added stated supphes 
 for some time, on tlie sabbath, by the consent of surrounding 
 churches. Is there a church in the State blessed with a 
 stated ministry, which would not rejoice to impart the bread 
 of two sabbaths to a destitute sister church ; or a minister 
 who would not travel, once or twice a year, ten or twenty 
 miles, to supply a vacancy ? This measure alone would sen- 
 sibly cheer the wastes of Zion, without the least pecuniary 
 sacrifice, or any sacrifice, which would not more than repay 
 itself in the good done, and the satisfaction experienced in 
 doing it. 
 
 Another means of restoration may be found in the appoint- 
 ment of evangelists, whose whole time shall be devoted to 
 the preaching of the Gospel within the hmits of feeble and 
 destitute congregations. Their access to these wastes, and 
 their continuance in them, may be regulated by their own 
 discretion ; but unquestionably, the time of several evange- 
 lists might be as profitably employed in this State, as in any 
 region to which missionaries are sent. How much might 
 they do to cheer the pious, to encourage the desponding, to 
 remove misconceptions, to eradicate prejudices, to promote 
 revivals and the reformation of morals, and thus to prepare 
 the way for the established order of the Gospel 1 The im- 
 pulse thus given might suffice, in many cases, to produce a 
 speedy, spontaneous resurrection ; for of many a sister church, 
 w^e trust it may be said, " she is not dead but sleepeth." 
 
 To the labors of evangelists must probably be added in 
 some cases, a permanent, stated supply, until the work of re- 
 storation be consummated. It is a long continued action of 
 inauspicious causes that has occasioned desolations in certain 
 cases, and nothing but a stated, counteracting, salutary influ- 
 ence can build them up. 
 
 As to the means of supporting evangelists and stated sup- 
 
119 
 
 plies, a portion of the expense, and probably a portion annu- 
 ally increasing would be cheerfully borne by the people who 
 are blessed with these ministrations. For another item : — let 
 each association in the State open a treasury for the purpose, 
 and each church in the association cast into it one sacra- 
 mental contribution a year, enl?y:ged as it would readily be 
 for that purpose, and the amount would employ constantly 
 several evangelists, to cheer the wastes, and cause the heart of 
 the desolate to sing. This single measure would, ultimately, 
 though slowly, raise up the foundations of many generations. 
 It would command, however, but a small portion of the re- 
 sources which would readily be furnished, and would defer 
 needlessly a consummation so devoutly to be wished. A 
 general society might, therefore, be formed for the special 
 purpose of building up the wastes of the State, or, should it 
 be judged most expedient, the missionary society of the State 
 might be authorised to hold monies, and the several congre- 
 gations to make annual contributions for that purpose. The 
 manner may be a subject of deliberation at the proper time, 
 but that funds can be raised to help the desolate — that our 
 ruins can be built, and must be built, does not admit of a 
 doubt. In a few years, should no calamity defer the enter- 
 prise, every waste may be built; and the funds raised for this 
 purpose be consecrated to the benevolent work of building 
 the wastes of other States, and other lands. 
 
 To the preceding means may properly be added, for the 
 purpose of preservation, as well as restoration, the special 
 enterprise of ministers in the performance of pastoral duties. 
 
 This will include the particular regard of each pastor to 
 the wastes within his own limits. Many causes conspire to 
 interrupt the attention of distant villages and neighborhoods 
 to the public worship of God, and to introduce a relaxation 
 of religious and moral order. To counteract these effects of 
 local circumstances, occasional visits and the preaching of 
 lectures are indispensable. Such attention is an act of justice 
 to the distant districts of a congregation, who pay equally for 
 
120 
 
 the support of the Gospel, and cannot, without some such 
 attention, be made equally partakers of its blessings ; it con- 
 ciliates affection also, and binds the extremities of a congre- 
 gation to the sanctuary of their fathers, by stronger ligaments 
 than can otherwise be found. It is a means of preservation 
 too, which, if not employed by ourselves to unite, will infalli- 
 bly be employed by others to alienate and divide. Great 
 benefits have been found to accrue from weekly lectures in 
 different districts of the congregation. They contribute very 
 much to keep alive the attention of the people to the sub- 
 ject of religion, and afford to the pastor opportunity of becom- 
 ing more intimately acquainted with his flock, as well as of 
 approaching their consciences in a more plain and yet forcible 
 manner. Such assemblages of districts promote kind affec- 
 tions among themselves, accommodate the aged and the fee- 
 ble, and call up the attention of many to the subject of reli- 
 gion, and allure to the sanctuary of God many, who otherwise 
 might have slept away the day of grace. 
 
 We may not in this place omit to add pastoral visits, as 
 among the best of ministerial duties for the preservation of 
 the church. 
 
 There is no congregation where they may not, with pru- 
 dence, be introduced ; and usually, with the most ardent 
 approbation of the people. In their progress, the pastor 
 enters every family of his charge, the rich and the poor alike, 
 to pray with them, catechise the children, inquire after the 
 spiritual welfare of all, and to communicate such advice, ex- 
 hortation, or reproof, as the circumstances of each family 
 shall demand, and his own discretion dictate. Such visits 
 may, unquestionably, be ranked among the most efficacious 
 labors of a minister for the salvation of his people. They 
 increase greatly his affection for them. They make him ac- 
 quainted with the children of his charge, and furnish a 
 minuteness of information not otherwise to be obtained, and 
 without which, he could not be quahfied to give to every one 
 his portion in due season. They will occupy indeed, con- 
 
121 
 
 siderabic time ; but by furnishing a variety of interesting sub- 
 jects, and increased facilities of composition, they will redeem 
 as much time as they occupy. Any man will be able to 
 preach better on the sabbath, after visiting his people two 
 days in the week, than he would be, had his whole time been 
 devoted to study. He will then have an object while he 
 writes, and when he speaks, and will write and speak with an 
 animation, which nothing but a deep interest in his subject 
 can inspire. 
 
 To parochial visits, it Vv'ill be proper to add an efficient 
 system for the instruction of children and young people in 
 the doctrines and duties of religion. 
 
 It would seem proper, where the season will permit, that 
 the children of the cong 'egation (who ought all of them, as 
 far as possible, to attend public worship) be catechised by a 
 committee of the church, in the interval of public worship ; 
 and that stated catechetical examinations of all the children 
 of the congregation, be attended by the pastor and a com- 
 mittee of the church at least semiannually, and if practicable, 
 quarterly.* 
 
 It is also unspeakably important, that a system of religious 
 instruction adapted to the age and altered feelings of young 
 people be provided, to succeed the shorter catechism. In 
 most cases, the whole system of religious instruction by the 
 church and by parents ceases with the period of childhood. 
 
 A species of false shame renders young people reluctant to 
 repeat the catechism, it being regarded as a badge of child- 
 hood ; and no alternative being provided, they stay at home, 
 forget what they have learned, and efface by the dissipating 
 influence of levity, the serious impressions of early life. For 
 a long period, they escape from pastoral influence ; some 
 become irreligious and dissolute, and never return ; and none 
 return, until the Spirit of God revives the tender feelings of 
 childhood, and brings into the fold his wandering lambs. 
 
 * Since this was written, the system of sabbath schools has more than realised all 
 lliat at the lime had been asked or thought. 
 
122 
 
 A system of instruction is needed, dierefore, suited to the 
 nge and altered circumstances of youth, which shall prevent 
 their breaking the bands of Christ, and keep them unceas- 
 ingly, within the reach of exhortation and pastoral influence. 
 The period when their education has ordinarily ceased, is 
 precisely the period when it is most needed, when its influ- 
 ence for their conversion would be most hopeful, and their 
 emancipation from its restraint the most perilous.* 
 
 We have only to add to the list of means for the restora- 
 tion of decayed churches and congregations, earnest prayer 
 among the churches, for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 
 upon these desolations, and the revival of religion. It is by 
 revivals only, that the waste places in this State can be effec- 
 tually built up ; and all the preced''ng means are to be era- 
 ployed with a direct reference to a revival of religion. But 
 no means will avail without the special power of God to 
 render them effectual. The Lord God Almighty must build 
 the old wastes among us by a higR hand, and an outstretched 
 arm ; but for all this, will he be inquired of by the churches 
 to do it for them. And where the preceding course of exer- 
 tion is adopted, and followed by the united supphcations of 
 the churches for the blessing of God, with exultation we may 
 announce, " The time to favor Zion has come, for thy ser- 
 vants take pleasure in her stones and favor the dust thereof." 
 
 III. The motives to immediate exertion for the purpose of 
 building the old wastes, now claim our attention. 
 
 1. It is the duty of churches'to help decayed sister church- 
 es to rise. 
 
 Particular churches are not organized for their own edifi- 
 cation exclusively, but for mutual assistance and co-operation 
 in building up the Redeemer's kingdom. The Gospel re- 
 
 * This continued attention of young people to reliffious instruction, and this saluta- 
 ry access of their pastor to them, has been successfully accomplished, in some instan- 
 ces by youthful libraries and moral schools ; sometimes by stated lectures for the 
 exposition oftiie catechism ; and recently, perhaps in the highest degree, by means of 
 tiie Biblical Catechism of Mr. Wilbur, and the associations of young^people which it 
 has occasioned, lor the purpose of gaining an aciiuaintauce with the Bible. 
 
123 
 
 cognises no indopendent churches. All are the subjects of 
 one kingdom, to whose prosperity they are mutually devoted. 
 All are citizens of one city, assailed by a common enemy, 
 and associated for the common defence. All are members 
 of the same family, bound together by a common interest and 
 by common ties of blood. All are members of one body, 
 united in a common head, from which all the body knit to- 
 gether by joints and bands, and having nourishment ministered, 
 increaseth with the increase of God. There is a fellowship 
 of churches, which Jesus Christ has constituted, and relative 
 duties which he has enjoined. These duties are, sympathy 
 in joy and sorrow, counsel, admonition, and pecuniary aid, 
 as circumstances may require. It is not a matter of discre- 
 tion, then, whether the churches of Connecticut shall help 
 feeble sister churches. They are bound to do it. In be- 
 coming churches, they have assumed a relation to each other, 
 the duties of which are as plain and as indispensable, as the 
 duties of husband and wife, or parent and child. According 
 to our abihty, we that are strong are bound to help the feeble. 
 Is it our duty to minister to the hungry the bread that per- 
 isheth ; and can we be at liberty to withhold the bread of 
 life .'' Are we bound to do good unto all men as we have 
 opportunity ; and may we yet overlook .the 'household of 
 faith f Are the members of the same church bound to look, 
 not every man on his own things, but every man, also, on the 
 things of others ; and may churches contract themselves 
 within their own selfish circumference, regarding with a cold 
 heart and an unhelping hand, the necessities of other church- 
 es .'' If there be no love to God in the individual professor, 
 who hath this world's goods, and shutteth up his bowels of 
 compassion against a needy brother, can churches practice 
 towards churches the same hardhearted parsimony, and be 
 guiltless ; or must we draw the alarming inference, that the 
 love of God dwelleth not in churches, if they disregard the 
 afflictions of destitute churches and withhold the necessary 
 aid ? Is it our duty to send the Gospel to the destitute in the 
 
124 
 
 new settlSments in other States, and to the heathen in other 
 lands ; and can we be at liberty to witness, as idle spectators, 
 the extinction of sister churches, and the return of heathenism 
 at home ? 
 
 The primitive churches understood the relative duties of 
 churches as we have explained them. The whole primitive 
 church was one great association for charitable purposes, 
 and exerted for centuries, and in the midst of persecution, a 
 boundless enterprise to propagate the Gospel. They gave, 
 not to support preachers only, but to support preachers and 
 hearers also, whom persecution had made desolate. The 
 same sympathy and efficacious charity distinguished the 
 churches of the reformation ! And when our fathers came 
 to this land, they, being many members, were yet one body. 
 A strong sympathy made them partakers of each other's joys 
 and sorrows. " Then might be seen magistrates and minis- 
 ters together, in way of advice — Ministers and ministers 
 cleaving together in the way of communion — Churches and 
 churches together in way of consultation by greater and less 
 synods — ]Magistrates and ministers and their people together, 
 uniting hands and hearts in the common cause, breathing a 
 public spirit, and conspiring with holy zeal and vigor to ad- 
 vance the kingdom of Christ. O the uniting glory then 
 manifest ! Grace, ruling and ordering both rulers and people 
 under the glorious banners of true gospel holy love. Then 
 were colonies united, and courts united, magistrates united, 
 and ministers united, churches united, and plantations 
 united."* 
 
 The consociation of the churclies of this State in the year 
 1708, is an express recognition of the relation which church- 
 es bear to each other according to the Gospel, and a volun- 
 tary, imphed engagement to fulfil towards each other all 
 righteousness. Nor have the feeling or the duties of this 
 relation utterly ceased, but they are feeble and limited in 
 their practical influence. Sister churches have been overrun 
 
 * Church's Fast Sermon, page 14. 
 
125 
 
 with error — divided, broken down, and even annihilated ; 
 and nothing but good advice and good wishes has been inter- 
 posed. Instead of a general lamentation that a light in Is- 
 rael should be put out, it is not known to many churches, 
 that such calamities have come upon us. But they have 
 come. — There are grievous desolations in this State : societies 
 might be named, where the church is extinct, and the house 
 of God in ruins — the blasts of winter rave through it — the 
 flocks of summer find a shelter in it — the sabbath is a holi- 
 day — the authority of revelation has ceased with many, and, 
 by others, is employed to sanction doctrines not less destruc- 
 tive than atheism.- Preachers are patronised, whose object 
 is to keep the audience laughing, by ridiculing the ministers 
 and the doctrines of the Gospel. A revival of religion would 
 be regarded whh as virulent enmity, as Jews or Pagans re- 
 garded Christianity. There are districts as far from heaven, 
 and, (without help,) as hopeless of heaven, as the Pagans of 
 Hindostan or China. Will the churches sleep over such 
 ruins ? Can nothing be done to repair these desolations of 
 many generations ? 
 
 2. Unless these desolations are built, they will become 
 more desolate. 
 
 The heart of man is desperately wicked ; and, freed from 
 the restraints of religious instruction, will go on indefinitely 
 from bad to worse. Where the restraints of religion cease 
 to operate, the restraint of law will also be speedily unknown, 
 for the plain reason, that, in such communities, there will be 
 none to execute the laws. The result will be intejpperance, 
 profane swearing, gambling, idleness, poverty, hatred, vari- 
 ance, strife, disease and wo. 
 
 Were these temporal calamities the chief miseries of such 
 desolations, their claim upon our christian sympathy would 
 not be small. But these are only the beginnings of sorro\v. 
 The bondage of corruption, commencing here, will extend 
 through eternity. The career of iniquity, here begun, will 
 hold on its unobstructed course and never end. There is no 
 17 
 
126 
 
 bottom to the pit in which these wastes have begun to sink ; 
 no limit to the woes which are before them, and little hope 
 that they will ever escape. The aged die with the measure 
 of their iniquity full, and children are born to fill up the 
 measure of their fathers, until wrath to the uttermost, come 
 upon them. No revivals approach to burst the bands of 
 wickedness, and proclaim Uberty to the captive ; no day of 
 hope dawns, no ray of light breaks in. There is no rain, 
 neither any dew upon them from heaven, and no breath of 
 the Lord visits the bones, which are dry, very dry. Breth- 
 ren, is there no help ? Among all the churches in this State 
 dwelling at ease, is there no eye to pity, no arm to save f 
 
 3. If these waste places are not built, they will exert a 
 ])o\verful influence to create other wastes, and extend the 
 scene of desolation. 
 
 The inhabitants of neighboring towns exert no inconsidera- 
 ble influence upon each other. The good encourage the 
 good, and the bad countenance and strengthen the bad. By 
 means of intercourse, tli^ir opinions, views, and feelings are 
 interchanged ; the moral atmosphere of each is breathed by 
 the other, to an extent, which will sensibly afl^ect the moral 
 system of both. Beside, each waste, like Babel, will yearly 
 send out its host of emigrants, of many tongues ; — strangers 
 to the fear of the Lord, and furious in their opposition to our 
 civil and religious order, and prepared to exert, always a 
 pernicious, and sometimes, as circumstances favor, a fatal 
 influence upon the town or society in which they reside. 
 
 From these wastes also sally forth the infidel, seeking 
 whom he may devour ; — the universalist, to quiet profligates 
 in sin, and multiply their number j — the political empiric, to 
 augment his party ; — and the sectarian of every name, to 
 proselyte ; until a broad circumference around shall become 
 as divided, and weak, and dissolute, as Babel itself. Evil 
 communications corrupt good manners. Their word eateth 
 as doth a canker. A conflagration on the borders of a city 
 is not more to be dreaded, than a society bereft of the Gos- 
 
127 
 
 pel, emancipated from the fear of the Lord and self-destroyed, 
 is to be feared by neighbouring societies. Facts, lamentable 
 facts, may be found in this State, to justify these appre- 
 hensions. There are at this moment, waste places, which 
 exert precisely the kind of influence which we have ascribed 
 to them. 
 
 4. If the wastes among us are not built, they will under- 
 mine, ultimately, the civil and religious order of the State. 
 
 Our past unity and strength, in a civil point of view, has 
 been owing to the very extended and happy coincidence of 
 religious views and feelings in this Sf^te. Destroy this coin- 
 cidence, and you disseminate the causes of jealousy and 
 alienation, and multiply the difficulties of legislation. It was 
 the conflict of religious competition that brought Charles to 
 the block, and broke down for a time, the strong government 
 of England. And let the wastes in this State multiply, till 
 one third of the freemen shall care for no religion, a third 
 attach themselves to various seceding denominations, and a 
 remnant only, walk in the old way ; and\ .^le unity of our 
 councils and the vigor of our government would be gone. 
 The business of legislation would become a scene of intrigue 
 and competition, of religious and political ambition, of tem- 
 porising compromise, and bargain and sale. Each party 
 would soon have its ambitious leaders, who would kindle the 
 fire to warm themselves by, and cry persecution to seat 
 themselves in high places. Each party would be kept organ- 
 ised by demagogues for political use, and the fire of the State 
 would go up to heaven as the smoke of a great furnace, and 
 all our blessings would perish in the flames. But to such a 
 state of things the multiplication of waste places will inevitably 
 bring us. They are not warts merely, to mar the beauty of 
 the face ; but cancers corroding the heart's blood, and fasten- 
 ing their fibres upon the vitals. The religious and civil order 
 of this State commenced their existence together, and to- 
 gether they will live or expire. One was made for the other, 
 or rather one was made hy the other. Without the religious 
 
128 
 
 order, to form the conscience and establish the fear of the 
 Lord, our civil institutions which have stood almost two 
 centuries, could not have endured a year. Let the ancient 
 churches in this State, one after another, be broken down, 
 and the doctrines which have purified and cheered them 
 cease to be heard, and soon, Connecticut will be Connecticut 
 no more. Like Esau we may seek carefully, with tears, 
 what our folly has abandoned, but no repentance will re- 
 trieve our ruin. Our laws, habits, and manners are the re- 
 sult of our religion ; all other causes combined have not had 
 so much influence ; remove this master spring, and every 
 movement will stop — bid the soul depart, and that moment 
 will the body die. But who would risk the tremendous ex- 
 periment ? Have our religious institutions been so barren of 
 good to us, that we may lightly trifle them away in search 
 of better ; or is experimenting in religion so harmless a thing, 
 that if the right form does not come out of the fire, we can 
 restore the molten mass to its former uses ? No — let the 
 prevailing religious order of the State be once broken down, 
 and it is gone forever. What injustice would this be to the 
 dead ! It is not two hundred years since the forest waved 
 where our towns now stand, and the war whoop was echoed 
 from the heavens. To these abodes of desolation our fathers 
 came to plant these churches which now survive them, and to 
 transmit those doctrines which now enlighten them, and to 
 estabhsh, unfettered by European usage, those institutions 
 which might bless their posterity till the second coming of 
 our Lord : and God was with them. — They accomplished 
 their work and went to heaven, leaving to their posterity only 
 the labor of preserving what they had bequeathed. And 
 now shall we listen to the syren tongue of charity, inviting us 
 to substitute another order, and another Gospel f And shall 
 the cry of bigotry prevent our contending earnestly for their 
 preservation ? Shall the miner steadily pursue his work, 
 and foundations fail, and desolations multiply, and no alarm 
 be sounded, and no counteracting efforts be made ? How 
 
129 
 
 could we answer it to God should we do so ? How could 
 we look our fathers in the face, should we meet them in 
 heaven ? 
 
 5. The time past is more than sufficient to have neglected 
 our duty and slept over our dangers. For twenty years, a 
 combination of inauspicious influence has been exerted with- 
 out cessation upon the religious order of the State, with very 
 little systematic influence in the way of self-preservation. 
 We have trusted to our laws, to our habits, to the good sense 
 of the people ; and, in common times, these might have suf- 
 ficed. But on common times we have not fallen ; and, to 
 meet the change, common exertions are not sufficient. Other 
 rehgious denominations have not been inattentive to the in- 
 crease and preservation of their churches, while we, unad- 
 monished by circumstances, have kept on in the beaten track. 
 Indeed, we have for so long a time borne patiently every as- 
 sault, that to assail us is deemed a right, and resistance on 
 our part, even in self-defence, is deemed persecution. With 
 the loving speech of charity, and toleration, the onset is made 
 upon us ; but if we open our lips, if we lift a finger, if we do 
 not retreat, and abandon to strangers the heritage of our fa- 
 thers, if we do not even help them to destroy us, the heavens 
 are rent with the cry of bigotry and persecution. Is it not 
 time, then, to awake to our duty ; that, by a vigorous enter- 
 prise, we may retrieve what is past, and stop the progress of 
 decline ? The causes which have laid us waste, are, many of 
 them, still in operation, and without a special counteracting 
 influence, will not be confined to their present limits. Other 
 churches will become feeble, and the feeble desolate. Am- 
 bition, covetousness, irreligion, revenge, and false zeal, by 
 their continual droppings, will wear away, by piecemeal, our 
 firm foundations. The children of alienated families are 
 muhiplying, and their education, or want of it, are operating 
 ahke to change the character of the State. Their opinions, 
 their property, their example, and their suflxage, will have its 
 influence in every town and upon all our public concerns. 
 
130 
 
 changing silently, and to a fatal extent, tiie civil, the moral, 
 and the religious character of the State. 
 
 A few words in the application of this discourse may pro- 
 perly be addressed to the pastor elect. 
 
 My Brother, 
 
 From this discourse you perceive your duty to this 
 people, and to the church of God. To you, though an 
 earthen vessel, is committed that treasure which is able to 
 enrich them forever. Upon your fidelity, under God, will 
 depend their eternal destiny. To become faithful, you must 
 study. Neither talents nor piety will supersede the necessity 
 of application. The mind must be disciplined, or it will lose 
 its vigor ; it must receive, or it cannot communicate. Ser- 
 mons must be studied, or they will be common-place, point- 
 less compositions. Unstudied, written sermons, are as much 
 more intolerable than extemporary effusions, as methodical 
 dullness is more irksome than immethodical zeal — for as to 
 matter, both will hang in even scales. But study is not all ; 
 you must act. You must take care of the wastes in your own 
 limits. You must be instant in season and out of season, to 
 preach the Gospel to your people ; calling together, from 
 week to week, the different districts of your charge, to speak 
 to them the words of eternal hfe. To you is committed the 
 care of the lambs of this flock. Your discretion, and enter- 
 prise, and influence, will be the spring of that whole system 
 of rehgious education, which, under God, must determine 
 their character for time and eternity. You are to catechise 
 them, and to stimulate the church and every family in your 
 charge, to the work of religious education. It becomes you 
 to acquire, as you easily may do, an all-pervading influence 
 among your people, under which, they shall assume a charac- 
 ter and stabiHty, such as they ought to possess. That pru- 
 dence in a minister, which would avoid difficulties by doing 
 nothing, is pernicious. It is your duty to be active, and pru- 
 dent too. It is not enough that your charge grows no worse ; 
 
131 
 
 you must be sadly deficient, if, without special hindrances, 
 they do not grow better. But to gain this all-pervading in- 
 fluence, you must love your people, and secure to yourself a 
 reciprocal attachment ; and to do this you must be faithful to 
 them. You must know your flock, attend religious meetings, 
 pray by the bed of the sick, visit mourners, and go from 
 house to house, to teach them and to do them good. 
 
 Such, brother, is the work in which yoii are about to 
 engage. Do you shrink from such toil — such exclusive con* 
 secration to your work ? Have you much collateral business 
 of your own ; a literary field to cultivate' for fame ; a vine- 
 yard of your own to till, and flocks to tend, for fihhy lucre's 
 sake ? Now then is the time to stop, for it is better not to 
 vow, than to vow and not perform. If private christians can- 
 not serve God and mammon, much less can faithful ministers 
 of the Lord Jesus. But if your heart's desire is, to give 
 yourself wholly to the Lord, and to know nothing among your 
 people, save Jesus Christ and him crucified ; and if still, at 
 times, the cankering thought arise, what shall I eat, and what 
 shall I drink, and wherewithal shall I be clothed, then, bro- 
 ther, have faith in God. Behold the fowls of the air, for 
 they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet 
 your heavenly Father feedeth them. Trust then in the Lord, 
 and do good, and verily thou shalt be fed. For it is not 
 merely a duty enjoined upon others, that they wdiich preach 
 the Gospel shall hve of the Gospel, but a promise also given 
 to his ministers, w4iich Jesus will not fail to verify. Be faith- 
 ful, then, to God and to your people. Give them your time, 
 your talents, and your prayers. Let them know, from expe- 
 rience, the blessings of a faithful ministry ; and God, I doubt 
 not, will both inchne and enable them to take care of you. 
 
 You perceive, also, from what has been said, your duty to 
 the church of God generally. No minister liveth for his own 
 charge exclusively. An extended field hes open before him, 
 to be cultivated by the joint labors of pastors and churches. 
 To you with others, will appertain a friendly care of vacant 
 
132 
 
 chiu'ches and waste places. To you it belongs as a guardian 
 of the church, to attend statedly the several ecclesiastical 
 meetings of the church, that you may know her interest, and 
 afford your counsel and co-operation for the general good. 
 Indolence, or indifference, or worldly business, which pro- 
 duces a neglect of ecclesiastical meetings, and of enterprise 
 in the business of the church, will limit your influence to do 
 good, diminish your zeal to do good, and subtract essentially 
 from your stimulus to pastoral fidelity among your own people. 
 Nor is your eye, or heart, or hand to be confined to the nar- 
 row limits of an 'association. The State, the Nation, the 
 World demand your prayers, and charities, and enterprise. 
 Do you sink under such a weight ? It is enough to crush 
 an angel ; but through Christ, strengthening you, you can 
 do it all. 
 
 The church and congregation in this place, will now permit 
 a brief application of what has been said to themselves. 
 
 We have heard, friends and brethren, with great satisfac- 
 tion, of your high estimation of Gospel privileges, and of your 
 very laudable exertions to avert from yourselves and your 
 children the multiplied evils of becoming a waste place. 
 Upon principles of policy you have acted wisely. Upon 
 principles of the strictest economy you have acted a saving 
 part ; — for, had you fallen, the tax of your vices had been 
 more than four times the expense of supporting the Gospel. 
 The tax of intemperance, of litigation, and of sickness induced 
 by the excesses which prevail where the Gospel does not 
 restrain men, would grind you to the dust. " There is, that 
 withholdedi more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty ;" 
 and in no case is this proverb more strikingly verified, than 
 in those parsimonious calculations by which societies curtail 
 10 themselves the privileges of the Gospel. 
 
 You perceive, brethren, from the sketch given in this dis- 
 course, what your pastor is called to do ; and you cannot but 
 perceive that your best good demands that all of it should be 
 
133 
 
 done, and that to do the whole, will occupy every moment of 
 his time. If, in reality, you were unable to support him, so 
 that he might devote to your service his whole time ; in that 
 case, could no help be derived from other churches, after the 
 example of Paul, it might be his duty, by his own hands, to 
 minister to his necessities. But if the same wisdom guide 
 you which hitherto has seemed to prevail, you will see to it 
 that the necessity be real and not imaginary ; the result of a 
 natural and not a moral inability ; created by the providence 
 of God and not by that covetousness which is idolatry. As 
 much as in you lieth, you will see to it, that no avocations of 
 necessity divert him from those labors, which your best good 
 demands. 
 
 It is a sad mistake, too often countenanced by ministers 
 themselves, that small congregations are unable to support 
 the Gospel ; when the fact is, that no congregation is able to 
 do without the Gospel : for the tax of desolation is four times 
 as expensive as the tax which is requisite to support the in- 
 stitutions of religion. This is no fiction. Go to those socie- 
 ties, which have judged themselves unable to support the 
 Gospel ; — go to parents, and demand the items squandered 
 by their prodigal children, beside breaking their hearts by 
 their undutiful conduct. Go to the tavern on the sabbath- 
 day and on week days ; — attend the arbitrations, the courts, 
 the trainings, the horce-racings, and the midnight revels ; — 
 witness the decayed houses, fences, and tillage, the falling 
 school-house, and tattered children of barbarous manners ; 
 and then return to your own little paradise, and decide 
 whether you will exile the Gospel as too expensive to be sup- 
 ported. If you are too poor to support the Gospel, you are, 
 demonstrably, too poor to do «vithout it — if the one would 
 severely press you, the other would grind you to powder. 
 A few families may thrive in waste places, but it will be upon 
 the vices of the rest ; the greater portion will be poor, and 
 ignorant, and vicious. Do you demand how a poor people 
 can support the Gospel ? Let them first appreciate the priv- 
 18 
 
134 
 
 ilege according to its importance, and then let the father, and 
 the mother, and the son, and the daughter, and the servant, 
 lay, weekly, a light tax upon their pride, and another upon 
 appetite needlessly gratified ; and add to these savings another 
 item acquired by some special effort for the purpose ; and 
 another, as God shall have prospered their lawful industry, 
 and the result of the whole would be an abundant supply. 
 Any ten families of ordinary property, could better afford to 
 support the Gospel, than to do without it. When societies 
 calculate what they can afford to give for the support of the 
 Gospel, they go upon the supposition, that what they do give 
 is so much subtracted, annually, from the whole amount of 
 their incon-ie ; a supposition, which is utterly erroneous ; for, 
 in fact, as it respects the diminution of property, they give 
 nothing. The Gospel is not a debtor to those who support 
 it, but they are debtors to the Gospel. It does not subtract 
 from the property of a society, but adds to it more than it 
 takes away. It is God himself who has said, " honor the 
 Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thy 
 increase, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy 
 presses shall burst out with new wine." This duty of sup- 
 porting the worship of God has not ceased with the Jewish 
 dispensation, nor has this promise been repealed ; and the 
 whole providence of God to this day, has been a practical 
 confirmation of his faithfulness in its fulfilment. The Jews 
 often distrusted this assurance, and robbed God to save their 
 property ; but they were always reduced by the experiment. 
 They sowed much and brought in little, and when it was 
 gathered, God did blow upon it. The dew of heaven was 
 stayed, and the earth did not yield her increase. Ye are 
 cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole 
 nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there 
 may be m6at in mine house, and prove me now herewith, 
 saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of 
 heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be 
 room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer 
 
135 
 
 for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your 
 ground ; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the 
 time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts, and all nations 
 shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land, 
 saith the Lord of hosts.* 
 
 The same rule of administration is regarded still ; the 
 curse of heaven still fastens upon communities that despise 
 the Gospel, and neglect its support. Their decline in out- 
 ward prosperity, is notorious ; and their restoration is no less 
 manifest, when, convinced of their folly, they make a compe- 
 tent provision for the public worship of God. Nor is the fact 
 mysterious, or miraculous ; since the life of man, his health, 
 his wisdom to plan and strength to execute, the life and vigor 
 of his flocks and herds, every stalk of grain and every blade 
 of grass are in the hand of God. In ten thousand ways he 
 can add to, or subtract from your income. A fit of sickness, 
 a broken bone, a profligate child, a vexatious lawsuit, a dearth 
 or a flood, a murrain among your cattle or a blast on your 
 field, may cut off, at once, all your sacriligious savings ; 
 while his blessing can, in as many v^^ays, make you rich and 
 add no sorrow with it. You may give therefore, with an 
 unsparing hand, as exigencies demand, for the support of the 
 Gospel, and it shall be given unto you again, good measure, 
 pressed down, and shaken together, and running over. Your 
 cruise of oil shall not fail, and your barrel of meal shall not 
 v/aste. 
 
 My beloved brethren in the ministry, 
 Permit me to address to you also, a word of exhortation 
 on this interesting occasion. If the views we have taken in 
 this discourse are correct, have we not occasion to blush and 
 to tremble at our past deficiencies ? But what shall we do ? 
 Weary of our Master's work, or disheartened by past delin- 
 quency, shall we stop, and in despondency resign our com- 
 mission and abandon our work .'' Or shall we this day renew 
 
 * Malaclii, iii. 9, 10, 11, 12. 
 
136 
 
 our ordination vows, and go home to our people, resolving, in 
 the strength of the Redeemer, to do better for the time to 
 come ? Which of us could bear to leave our work as it is, 
 and go to judgment with the account of his stewardship ? 
 How many superfluous things have we done, wasting our 
 precious time ? How many important duties have we 
 neglected, putting in jeopardy the souls of our people ? How 
 often might we have spoken to edification, when we have 
 held our peace ? How many pastoral visits might we have 
 made, which we have not ? How many district lectures might 
 we have preached, which have not been heard ; how many 
 precious prayer meetings attended, which, through our negli- 
 gence, have had no existence ; and how feeble, in our socie- 
 ties, is the whole amount of our moral influence, compared 
 with what it might have been, had we done our duty with all 
 our might ? What shall we say, brethren ? Shall we seek 
 to Ughten the tax of guilt by denying the extent of our duty f 
 It is at our peril that we do it. The glory of God, the pros- 
 perity of the RedeePxier's kingdom, the ^velfare of souls, the 
 terrors of the Lord, the love of Jesus, and our own solemn 
 vows, — all demand at our hands, more than has been suggested 
 in this discourse. Twice have we given ourselves to the 
 Lord — once when he delivered us from the horrid pit, and 
 again when he counted us faithful, putting us into the min- 
 istry. The vows of God are upon us, and we cannot go 
 back. We must do our duty ; wo be to us if we do not 
 preach the Gospel, and fulfil its appropriate duties. Besides, 
 we live in a peculiar day. Exertions which once might 
 suffice to avert desolation, are not sufficient now. The law 
 which operated once to prevent the dissolution of congrega- 
 tions, can be evaded, and is evaded by every man, whose 
 impiety, or covetousness, or resentment, prompts him to do 
 it. Personal attachment to the minister is now the strongest 
 bond of union ; and to hold together by this bond, a society 
 of fallen men, demands no ordinary vigilance and fidelity. 
 Our predecessors might do less than their duty, and the 
 
137 
 
 primary impulse unresisted, would cause things to move on 
 in the right way. But now, the resistance is increased, and 
 the impelling forces diminished ; and nothing but an impulse 
 carefully and constantly applied, will keep things in their 
 proper course. 
 
 The necessity of study is not diminished, but the necessity 
 of action has greatly increased. Action is now the order of 
 the day ; for, beside the peculiar exigencies of our own 
 people, and the churches in this State, such a field of labor 
 is opening before us as the world never saw. Jesus is com- 
 ing quickly to take possession of the earth, and is now putting 
 in requisition the hearts, the thoughts, the time, and strength, 
 of all his ministers ; and which of us will not rejoice that it is 
 so, and give him all ? 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 THE BIBLE A CODE OF LAWS. 
 
 Psalm xix. 7, 8, 9, 10. 
 
 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul : the testimony of the 
 Lord is sure, making wise the simple : the statutes of the Lord are right, re- 
 joicing the heart : the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the 
 eyes : the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever : the judgments of the 
 Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than 
 gold, yea, than much fine gold : sweeter also than honey, and the honey 
 comb. 
 
 We have, in this Psalm, a concise account of the disco- 
 very of the glory of God, made by his works and by his word. 
 " The heavens declare his glory, and the firmament sho\veth 
 his handy work." But these disclosures of the heavens, 
 " whose line is gone out through all the earth, and their words 
 to the ends of the world," though they create obhgation, and 
 discover guilt, are not sufficient to restrain the depravity of 
 man, nor to disclose an atonement for him, nor to announce 
 terms of pardon, nor to sanctify the soul. 
 
 But the Law of the Lord is perfect. Adapted to the 
 exigencies of a lost world, it speaks on all those subjects on 
 which no speech is heard from the heavens, and is attended 
 with glorious efficacy. It converts the soul ; it makes wise 
 the simple ; it rejoices the heart ; it produces a fear of the 
 
139 
 
 Lord, which endures forever ; and to all who have felt its 
 sanctifying power, it is more precious than gold, and sweeter 
 than honey. 
 
 The text, then, teaches us to regard the word op 
 God as containing the laws of a moral government, 
 revealed for the illustration of his glory in the 
 salvation of man. 
 
 In discoursing upon this subject, it is proposed 
 
 I. To illustrate the nature of moral government ; and, 
 
 II. To show that the Scriptures are to be regarded as con- 
 taining a system of moral Laws, revealed to illustrate the 
 glory of God, in the salvation of man. 
 
 1. A moral government is the influence of law upon account- 
 ahlc creatures. It includes a law-giver, accountable subjects, 
 and laws intelligibly revealed, and administered with refe- 
 rence to reward and punishment. To accountability in the 
 subjects are requisite, — understanding, to perceive the rule 
 of action ; conscience, to feel moral obligation ; and the 
 faculty of choice in the view of motives. Understanding 
 to perceive the rule of action, does not constitute accountable 
 agency ; choice without the capacity of feeling obligation, 
 does not constitute accountable agency ; — but the faculty of 
 understandi^^g, and conscience, and choice united, do con- 
 stitute an accountable agent. The laws of God and man 
 recognise these properties of mind as the foundation of ac- 
 countability. — A statue is not accountable, for it has no 
 feculty of perception or choice ; an idiot is not, for, though 
 he may have the faculty of choice, he has no competent 
 understanding to perceive a moral rule, nor conscience to 
 feel moral obligation ; and a lunatic is not, because, though 
 he may have choice and conscience, he has not the unper- 
 verted exercise of his understanding. 
 
 The faculties, then, of understanding, conscience, and 
 choice, constitute an accountable agent. Their existence is 
 
140 
 
 as decisive evidence of free agency, as the five senses are of 
 the existence of the body ; and nothing is inconsistent with 
 free agency, or annihilates the evidence of its existence, which 
 does not destroy one or more of these facuhies of the mind. 
 
 Law, as the medium of moral government, includes pre- 
 cepts and sanctions intelligibly revealed. The precept is 
 directory ; it discloses what is to done. — The sanctions are 
 influential ; they present the motives to obedience included 
 in the comprehensive terms of reward and punishment. But, 
 to have influence, the precepts and the motives must be pre- 
 sented to the mind. The law in all its parts must be intelli- 
 gible, otherwise it is not a law. A law may be unknown, 
 and yet be obligatory, when the ignorance is voluntary ; but 
 never, when it is unavoidable. The influence of law as the 
 medium of moral government, is the influence of motives 
 upon accountable creatures ; and the effect of this influence 
 is always the actual exercise of free agency in choice or 
 action. The influence of motives cannot destroy free agen- 
 cy; for it is the influence of persuasion only, and results 
 only in choice, which, in the presence of understanding and 
 conscience, is free agency. If there were no objects of 
 preference or aversion exhibited to the mind, there could no 
 more be choice or free agency, than there could be vision 
 without external objects of sight. Direct irresistible impulse 
 moving the mind to action, would not be moral government ; 
 and if motives, in the view of which the mind chooses and 
 acts, were incompatible with free agency, accountability and 
 moral government would be impossible. 
 
 The administration of a moral government includes whatj 
 ever may be necessary to give efficacy to its laws. Its chief 
 influence is felt in" the cognizance it takes of the conduct of 
 subjects, and the evidence it affords of certain retribution 
 according to their deeds. In some points^ there is a coinci- 
 dence between natural and moral government ; and in others, 
 a difference. They agree in this fact, that the subjects of 
 each are influenced to act as they would not without govern- 
 
141 
 
 ment. To suppose complete exemption from any kind or 
 degree of influence from without, to be indispensable to free 
 agency, is at war with common sense, and daily observation, 
 and every man's own consciousness. What is family gov- 
 ernment, w^hat is civil government, what is temptation, 
 exhortation or persuasion ; and what are the influences of 
 the Holy Spirit, but the means, and the effectual means of 
 influencing the exercises of the human heart, and the conduct 
 of human life ? To deny the possibility of control by motives 
 without* destroying free agency, annihilates the moral govern- 
 ment of God, and is atheism. It shuts him out of the world 
 and out of the universe, as moral governor. It blots out his 
 laws as nugatory, emancipates every subject from his moral 
 influence, and leaves him not an inch of territory on earth or 
 in heaven, over which to sway the sceptre of legislation. He 
 must sit upon his throne as an idle spectator of all moral ex- 
 ercise and action, receiving no praise for what he has done 
 from saint or angel. " By the grace of God I am what I 
 am," must have been a falsehood when uttered upon earth ; 
 and a sentiment not to be repeated in heaven. 
 
 Natural and moral government may agree, also, as to the 
 certainty of their influence. It may be as certain that an 
 honest man will not steal, as if he was loaded with chains 
 and could not move a finger ; and it may be as certain that 
 an intemperate man will drink to excess when he has oppor- 
 tunity, as if the liquid were poured down his throat by irre- 
 sistible power. But they differ entirely as to their subjects, 
 and the manner of producing their results. Natural govern- 
 ment is direct, irresistible impulse. Moral government is 
 persuasion ; and the result of it is voluntary action in the view 
 of motives. 
 
 Free agency cannot be conceived to exist, and probably 
 
 cannot exist in any other manner than by the exhibition of 
 
 motives to voluntary agents, the result of which shall be 
 
 dioice and action. The precise idea of moral government, 
 
 19 
 
142 
 
 then, is the influence of law upon the affections and conduct 
 
 of intelligent accountable creatures. 
 
 II. I am to show that the Scriptures are to be regarded as 
 containing the laws of a moral government, revealed to illus- 
 trate the glory of God, in the salvation of man. 
 
 The glory of God is his whole character. The illustration 
 of his glory, is the exhibition of that character to intelligent 
 beings, as the object of supreme complacency and enjoyment. 
 The plan of redemption is the particular system of action 
 which the Most High has chosen as the medium of illustra- 
 tion ; and this plan includes the system of moral laws con- 
 tained in the Bible. That the Bible is to be regarded as 
 revealing a system of moral laws, is evident from many con- 
 siderations. The Most High has there expressly revealed 
 himself as a lawgiver. His power, wisdom, and goodness ; 
 his justice, mercy, and truth, are exhibited not as abstract 
 qualities, but as attributes illustrated by the laws and adminis- 
 tration of a moral government. Man, the subject of these laws, 
 possesses indisputably, all the properties of an accountable 
 agent, understanding, conscience, and the faculty of choice ; 
 and in the Scriptures, is recognised as accountable. Did 
 the Most High create all things to illustrate his glory ? It is 
 a glory which can be displayed only in the administration of 
 a moral government. How can justice be manifested where 
 there are no laws, and no accountable subjects .'' How can 
 mercy be displayed where there is no transgression ; or truth 
 be illustrated where there is no intelligent mind to witness the 
 accordance of declaration with fact, or of conduct with 
 promises .'* The Most High is expressly denominated king, 
 lawgiver, and judge. The legislative, judicial, and execu- 
 tive power are in the same hands ; and the Scriptures are 
 denominated the law of the Lord, his statutes, his command- 
 ments. The contents of the Bible illustrate Its character as 
 a revealed system of precepts and motives. There is tlie 
 moral law in ten commandments, and its summary import 
 
143 
 
 comprised in two ; and there is tlie Gospel, composed, no less 
 than the law, of precepts enforced by sanctions. As a rule of 
 life, it adopts the moral law ; but as a system of salvation, it 
 prescribes its own specific duties of repentance and faith, 
 enforced by its own most glorious and fearful sanctions. 
 Whatever instruction is contained in the Scriptures, historical 
 or biographical, is all directory as a precept, or influential as 
 a motive to obedience. All the institutions of the Bible have 
 for tlieir object, the preservation of truth in the mind, or the 
 impression of it upon the heart, as the means of restoring 
 men from sin to hohness. The day of judgment, as described 
 by our Saviour, consummates the evidence that the Bible is 
 to be regarded as embodying the laws of the divine moral 
 government below. On that day the graves open, and the 
 dead, small and great, stand before God, and are judged 
 according to the rule of action disclosed in the Bible, and the 
 deeds done in the body. 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 1 . If the Scriptures are to be regarded as containing the 
 laws of a moral government, revealed to illustrate the glory of 
 God in the salvation of man ; then undoubtedly they have, on 
 all subjects on which they speak, a determinate meaning. It 
 is the peculiar property of laws to be precise in their re- 
 quirements and sanctions. A law, which requires nothing 
 specific, is not a law. If it may mean, and does mean many 
 things, and yet no one thing in particular, it has no being. 
 
 If tlie Bible, in its precepts and doctrines, does not contain 
 a distinct and precise meaning, it contains no meaning ; it 
 gives no illustration of the glory of God, no account of his 
 will, of the state of man, of the character of the Saviour, or 
 of the terms of life. A blank book of as many pages might 
 as well have been sent down from heaven for reason to 
 scrawl its varied conjectures upon, as a Bible whose pages 
 are occupied with unmeaning or equivocal declarations. 
 
 2. If the Bible contain the laws of a moral government in 
 
144 
 
 the manner explained ; then it is possible to ascertain^ and to 
 know that we have ascertained^ its real meaning. It not only 
 contains a precise meaning, but one, which, being understood, 
 carries with it the evidence of its own correctness. It is often 
 alleged, that there are so many opinions concerning the 
 doctrines of the Bible, that no man can know that his own 
 belief is the true belief; and, on the ground of this supposed 
 inevitable uncertainty is founded the plea of universal charity 
 and liberality : sweet sounding words for universal indiffe- 
 rence or universal skepticism ! For who can be ardently 
 attached to uncertainty, or who can believe any revealed 
 truth with confidence, when his cardinal maxim is, that the 
 doctrines of the Bible are obscure and uncertain ^ But who 
 is this that libels his Maker as the author of an obscure and 
 useless system of legislation, which no subject can understand, 
 or, if he does, can have competent evidence of the fact ; — so 
 obscure, that they who discard it wholly are litde incom- 
 moded by the loss, and entitled to little less complacency, 
 than those who grope in vain after its bewildered dictates ; — 
 so obscure, that those who err are more entitled to pity than 
 to condemnation ; and afford as indubitable evidence oi fidelity 
 in examination, and sincerity in believing ivrong, as those do, 
 who, by mere accident, have stumbled on the truth without 
 the possibility of knowing it. 
 
 This is indeed a kind hearted system in its aspect upon 
 man, but how tremendous its reaction upon the character 
 of God. Why are his revealed statutes with their sanctions 
 so obscure .'' Because he could not make them intelligible ? 
 You impeach his wisdom. Why then are they so obscure .'* 
 Because he would not make them plain ? You impeach his 
 justice ; for he commands his truth to be loved and obeyed, — 
 an unjust demand, if its obscurity prevents the possibility 
 of understanding it. 
 
 But it is demanded ; how can you knoiv that your opinion, 
 among various conflicting opinions, is exclusively correct .'* 
 You may believe that you are right, but your neighbor be- 
 
145 
 
 lieves that he is right ; and you are both equally confident, 
 and both appeal to the Bible. If the question were, how can 
 I cause my neighbor to know that his opinion is incorrect and 
 mine true, I should admit, that the difficulty, in given cases, 
 may be utterly insurmountable. But to suppose, that, be- 
 cause I cannot make others perceive evidence which I per- 
 ceive, therefore, my perception brings with it to me, no 
 evidence of truth, implies that there is no such thing as moral 
 certainty derived from evidence ; and that the man who 
 believes a fact upon evidence, has in himself no better ground 
 of certainty, than the man who believes a fact without evi- 
 dence, or even against evidence : that a reality, actually seen 
 and felt to be such, affords to him who either sees or feels, 
 no higher evidence of its existence, than a fiction, supposed 
 to be a reality, affords of its actual existence. That is, a 
 thing which does not exist, may possess as high claims to be 
 recognized as a reality, as a real existence, supported by 
 evidence : for error in competition with truth, is, in fact, a 
 non-existence opposed to a reality. Now the man who holds 
 an erroneous opinion may be as confident of its truth, as the 
 man who believes the truth ; but is there, in the nature of 
 things, the same foundation for his confidence ? Has not 
 the man, who sees the truth and its evidence, knoivledge, 
 which the deceived man has not ? If you deny it, you deny 
 first principles ; you annihilate the efficacy of evidence as 
 the basis of knowledge, and introduce universal skepticism. 
 Every vagary of the imagination, and' every prejudice of 
 the heart, are as likely to be true, as points most clearly 
 proved. 
 
 But if the confidence in truth and falsehood be the same, 
 how can you be sure that you do see what you think you do ; 
 and that your opinion is not the mental deception ^ It is 
 the same question repeated, and I return the same answer — 
 I can know, if my opinion be correct, that it is so, because 
 evidence seen and felt creates a moral certainty ; because 
 reality affords evidence above fiction, and existence affords 
 
146 
 
 evidence above non-existence. How can fiction annihilate 
 realities ; and how can deception cancel the perceived evi- 
 dence of truth ? 
 
 If you would witness the folly of the maxim, that truth and 
 evidence afford no certainty amid conflicting opinions, reduce 
 it to practice. The man who dreams is as confident that he 
 is awake, as I am, who in reality am awake. Is it then 
 doubtful which is awake, and utterly impossible for rae to 
 decide whether I dream, or my neighbor ? The lunatic feels 
 as confident that he is a king, as the occupant of the throne. 
 The royal personage then must hold his thoughts in equilibrio ; 
 for here is belief opposed to belief, and confidence opposed 
 to confidence. Do you say that the man is insane ? But he 
 believes all except himself to be insane ; and who can tell 
 that any man is in his right mind, so long as there is a lunatic 
 upon earth to question it ? 
 
 Godwin taught, and many a robber has professed to be- 
 lieve, that private property is an encroachment upon the 
 rights of man. If your purse, then, should be demanded 
 upon the highway, you may not refuse ; for the robber be- 
 lieves his opinion about liberty and equality to be true, and 
 you believe yours to be true, and both are equally confident. 
 It is also a speculative opinion about which you differ, and 
 one concerning which great men have differed, and perhaps 
 always will differ. You need not reason with him, for, since 
 you cannot be sure that you are right, how can you expect 
 to make him know what you cannot know yourself^ and as 
 to the law of the land, it would be persecution, for a mere 
 matter of opinion, to appeal to that, even if you could. Be- 
 sides, how could a court and jury decide what is true amid 
 conflicting opinions on the subject ; and what right have they 
 authoritatively to decide and hind others by their decisions, 
 upon matters of mere speculation ? 
 
 But how shall a man help himself, who really and confi- 
 dently believes falsehood to be truth ? Just as other men in 
 other cases help themselves, who by folly or crime, have 
 
147 
 
 brought calamities upon themselves. How shall a man help 
 himself, who has wasted his property ? — perhaps he never will, 
 but will die a beggar. How shall a man- help himself, who 
 through negligence or crime has taken poison and fallen into 
 a lethargy ? — He may never awake : believing falsehood to 
 be truth may be a calamity irretrievable ; the man must 
 perish, if the error be a fundamental one, unless he renounce 
 it and embrace the truth ; and his case, in many instances, 
 may be nearly hopeless. Instead of its being a trivial matter 
 what our opinions are ; — it is easy, by the belief of error, to 
 place ourselves almost beyond the hope of heaven, even in 
 the very region of the shadow of death. What a man viay 
 do and ought to do, is one thing ; and what he unll do, may 
 be, fatally, a different thing. " Their eyes have they closed, 
 lest at any time they should see and be converted, and I 
 should heal them." 
 
 3. If the Bible contains a system of Divine L^ws, it is 
 easy to perceive the high importance of revealed truth. 
 
 It exhibits the divine character as the great object of reli- 
 gious affection. It embodies the precepts of the divine moral 
 government, prescribes the affections to be exercised, their 
 nature, object, and degree ', and the actions by which they 
 are to be expressed. It embodies all the motives by wiiich 
 God restrains his subjects from transgression, and excites 
 them to obedience. It exhibits the character of man as de- 
 praved and lost, and discloses by whom, and by what means, 
 an atonement has been made, and upon what terms pardon 
 may be obtained. It is the means employed by the Spirit of 
 God to awaken the sinner to a sense of his danger, and to 
 bring home to his heart a deep conviction of his guilt and 
 just condemnation. It is by the truth that the Spirit of God 
 converts the soul, and sanctifies the heart, and sheds abroad 
 the love of God, and awakens hope, and diffuses peace 
 and joy. 
 
 « • The truths of revelation are as important, as the illus- 
 tration of tlie glory of God, and the happiness «f the holy 
 
148 
 
 universe caused and perpetuated by their instrumentality 
 through all his dominions, and through eternity. In this 
 view of the subject, how irreverent the maxim, " JVo matter 
 what a man believes, provided his life be correct :" a maxim, 
 which abrogates the law of God in its claims upon the heart ; 
 annihilates the doctrine that intention decides the moral 
 nature of actions, and the doctrine that motives are the 
 means of moral government ; and reduces all obedience to 
 the mere mechanical movements of the body. No matter 
 whether a man believe or disbelieve the divine existence ; 
 whether he love or hate the Lord ; whether he trust in or 
 despise the Saviour ; whether he repent of his sins or remain 
 incorrigible ; whether his motives to action be good or bad : 
 if the mere motion of his lip, hand, and foot, be according to 
 rule, all is well. Is not this breaking the bands of Christ, 
 and casting away his cords ? Is it not saying to Jehovah, 
 " Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy 
 ways !" With equal irreverence, it is alleged to be of little 
 consequence what a man believes, provided he be sincere. 
 But what is sincerity ? It is simply believing as we profess 
 to believe ; and the unblushing avowal is, that the Bible is a 
 worthless book, no better than the Alcoran, or the fictions of 
 Paganism, or the superstitions of Popery. " No matter 
 what a man believes, provided he does believe it /" False- 
 hood, then, believed to be true, is just as pleasing to God, 
 and just as salutary in its influence upon man, as the com- 
 bined wisdom and goodness of God disclosed in his own 
 most holy code of revealed laws. 
 
 The merest fictions of the brain, or the most malignant 
 suggestions of a depraved heart, are as salutary as the laws 
 of God. What authority have you for this opinion ? Where 
 have you learned that Jehovah is regardless of his honor, 
 and the manifestation of his glory ; is regardless of his laws, 
 and their sanctions ; is regardless of man, and the object of 
 his affections, and the means of his salvation ? You have 
 not learned this from the Bible. You are an infidel, if you 
 
149 
 
 believe the maxim, that it is no matter what a man believes 
 provided he be sincere j and if you believe in no God but 
 such an one as this maxim supposes, you are an atheist. 
 The great end of all the works of Jehovah, according to the 
 Bible, is the manifestation of his true character to created 
 intelligences, as the source of everlasting love, and confi- 
 dence, and joy, and praise. — But this glory is not an object 
 of direct vision — it is manifested glory : and the system of 
 manifestation is the plan of redemption disclosed in the 
 Bible, and carried into effect by the Spirit of God, in giving 
 efficacy to revealed truth in the sauctification and salvation of 
 man. It is by the church, that he makes known to princi- 
 palities and powers, in heavenly places, the manifold wisdom 
 of God. Without just conceptions, then, of revealed truth, 
 the true character of God is not manifested, and cannot of 
 course become an object of affection, or source of joy. 
 Erroneous conceptions of revealed truth eclipse the glory of 
 God in its progress to enlighten and enrapture the universe. 
 They propagate falsehood concerning God, through all parts 
 of his dominions where they prevail, undermine confidence, 
 annihilate affection, and extinguish joy. They arrest the 
 work of redemption ; for moral influence is the influence by 
 which God redeems from sin, and revealed truth embodies 
 that influence. When that light has been wantonly extin- 
 guished, God will not sanctify men by the sparks of their 
 own kindling ; or hold those guiltless who have perpetrated 
 the deed. The Most High is not regardless of the opinions 
 his subjects form concerning him. He has given them the 
 means of forming just conceptions of his character ; and if 
 they wantonly libel their Maker to their own minds, or to 
 others, he will punish them. He is not indifferent what 
 objects we regard with supreme affection, and as our su- 
 preme good. He has exhibited his true character, and com- 
 manded us to love him ; and, if we pervert his character 
 and worship other gods, he will punish the idolatry. He is 
 not regardless of his own laws, nor of the moral influence by 
 20 
 
150 
 
 which he restrains and sanctifies. He has made them plain ; 
 and it is at our peril, if we falsify them, and break their force 
 upon our own minds, or the minds of others. " Wo unto 
 them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for 
 light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and 
 sweet for bitter." — " As they did not like to retain God in 
 their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind." 
 — " Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all 
 deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, be- 
 cause they received not the love of the truth, that they might 
 be saved : — And for this cause, God shall send them strong 
 delusions, that they should believe a lie, that they all might 
 be damned who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in 
 unrighteousness." Do these passages teach that it is of no 
 consequence what a man believes, provided he is sincere f 
 
 4. If the Scriptures contain a system of Divine Laws ; 
 then, in expounding their meaning, their supposed reasona- 
 bleness or unreasonableness is not the rule of interpretation. 
 
 It is the opinion of some, that the Scriptures were not in- 
 fallibly revealed in the beginning ; and that they have since 
 been modified by art and man's device, until what is divine 
 can be decided only by an appeal to reason. What is rea- 
 sonable on each page is to be received, and what is unrea- 
 sonable is to be rejected. The obvious meaning of the text, 
 according to the established rules of expounding other books, 
 is not to be regarded ; but what is reasonable, what the text 
 ought to say,- is the rule of interpretation. Every passage 
 must be tortured into a supposed conformity with reason ; or, 
 if too incorrigible to be thus accommodated, must be expung- 
 ed as an interpolation. 
 
 It is admitted, that, without the aid of reason, the Bible 
 could not be known to be the will of God, and could not be 
 understood. Reason is the faculty by which we perceive 
 and weigh the evidence of its inspiration, and by which we 
 perceive and expound its meaning. Reason is the judge of 
 evidence, whether the Bible be the word of God ; but that 
 
161 
 
 point decided, it is the judge of its meaning only according to 
 the common rules of exposition. Deciding whether a law be 
 reasonable or not, and deciding what the law is, are things 
 entirely distinct ; and the process of mind in each case is 
 equally distinct ; — the one is the business of the legislator, 
 the other is the business of the judge. In making laws, their 
 adaptation to public utility, their expediency, and equity, are 
 the subjects of inquiry ; and here the reasonableness or un- 
 reasonableness of a rule must decide whether it shall become 
 a law or not. But when the Judge on the bench is to ex- 
 pound this law, he has nothing to do with its policy, or utility, 
 or justice. He may not look abroad to ascertain its adapta- 
 tion to the public good, or admit evidence as to its effects ; 
 he is bound down rigidly to the duty of exposition. His eye 
 is confined to the letter, and the obvious meaning of the terms, 
 according to the usages of language. 
 
 But what is meant by the terms reasonable and unreason- 
 able, as the criterion of truth and falsehood ^ It cannot be, 
 what we should naturally expect God would do ; for who, 
 under the reign of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, 
 would have expected a world hke this — a world full of sin 
 and misery. It cannot be what is agreeable to our feelings 
 or coincident with our wishes, for we are depraved ; and the 
 feelings of traitors may as well be the criterion of rectitude 
 concerning human governments, as the feelings of the human 
 heart respecting the divine. 
 
 The appropriate meaning of the term reasonable, in its ap- 
 plication to the laws of God, is, the accordance of his laws 
 and administration with what is proper for God to do, in order 
 to display his glory to created minds, and secure from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting the greatest amount of created good. 
 
 But who, with finite mind and depraved heart, is competent 
 to test the revealed laws and administration of Jehovah by 
 this rule ? In order to decide, upon this vast scale, whether 
 the doctrines and duties of the Bible, and the facts it discloses 
 of divine administration are reasonable or not, the premises 
 
152 
 
 must be comprehended. God must be comprehended ; the 
 treasures of his power, the depths of his wisdom, the infinity 
 of his benevolence, his dominions must be comprehended ; 
 the greatest good must be known, and the most appropriate 
 means for its attainment. All his plans — the whole chain 
 of causes and effects throughout the universe and through 
 eternity, the effect of each alone, and of all combined, must 
 lie open and naked to the inspection of reason. Reason must 
 ascend the throne of God, and, from that high eminence, 
 dart its vision through eternity, and pervade with steadfast 
 view immensity, to decide whether the precepts and doc- 
 trines revealed in the Bible, come in their proper place, and 
 are wise and good in their connexion with the whole ; whe- 
 ther they will best illustrate the glory of God, and secure the 
 greatest amount of created good in a government which is to 
 endure forever. But is man competent to analyze such pre- 
 mises, to make such comparisons, to draw such conclusions ? 
 If God has not revealed intelligibly and infallibly the laws 
 of his government below, man cannot supply the defect. If 
 holy men of old spake not as the Holy Ghost gave them 
 utterance, but as their own falhble understandings dictated ; 
 and if, since that time, the sacred page has been so corrupted, 
 that exposition according to the ordinary import of language 
 fails to give the sense, then it cannot be disclosed ; and the 
 infidel is correct in his opinion that the light of nature is man's 
 only guide. The laws of God are lost — the Bible is gone 
 irrecoverably, until God himself shall give us a new edition, 
 purified by his own scrutiny, and stamped by his own infalli- 
 bility. 
 
 Apply these maxims concerning the fallibility of revelation 
 and the rule of interpretation, to the laws of this common- 
 wealth. The wisdom of your ablest men has been concen- 
 trated in a code of laws : but these laws, though perfect in 
 the conception of those who made them, were committed to 
 writing by scribes incompetent to the duty of making an exact 
 record, and the publication was intrusted without superin- 
 
153 
 
 tendence to incompetent workmen, who by their blunders, 
 honest indeed, but many and great, defaced and marred the 
 vohime : to which add, that at each new edition, every 
 criminal in the State had access to the press and modified the 
 types, to suit his sinister designs. What now is your civil 
 code ? — You have none. — The law is so blended with defect 
 and corruption, that no principles of legal exposition will extri- 
 cate the truth. What then shall be done ? Your wise men 
 consult and come to the profound conclusion, that such parts 
 only of the statute book as are reasonable, shall be received 
 as law ; that what is reasonable, each subject of the common- 
 wealth, being a reasonable creature, must decide for himself; 
 that the judges, in the dispensation of justice, shall first de- 
 cide what the law ought to be, and thence what it is ; and 
 that such parts of the statute book, as by critical torture, can- 
 not be conformed to these decisions, shall be expunged as the 
 errata of the press, or the interpolation of fraud. And thus 
 the book is purified, and every subject, and every judge is 
 invested with complete legislative power. Every man makes 
 the law for himself, and regulates the statute book by his own 
 enactments. 
 
 But is this the state of God's government below? Is the 
 statute book of Jehovah annihilated, and every man constitu- 
 ted his own lawgiver I The man who is competent to decide 
 in this extended view, what is reasonable, and how, in rela- 
 tion to the interests of the universe, the Bible ought to be 
 understood, is competent, without help from God, to make a 
 Bible. His intelligence is commensurate with that of Jeho- 
 vah, and, but for deficiency of power, he might sit upon the 
 throne of the universe, and legislate and administer as well 
 as He who now sits thereon. The mariner who can rectify 
 his disordered compass by his intuiiive knowledge of the 
 polai' direction, need not first rectify his compass, and 
 then obey its direction ; he may throw it overboard, and 
 without a luminary of heaven, amid storms, and waves. 
 
154 
 
 and darkness, may plough the ocean, guided only by the 
 light within. 
 
 5. From the account given of the Scriptures as containing 
 a system of moral laws, it appears that a mystery may be 
 an object of faith, and a motive to obedience. The idea of 
 a mystery in legislation, has been treated with contempt ; and 
 the belief of a mystery has been pronounced impossible. No 
 man, it is alleged, can be truly said to believe a proposition, 
 the terms of which hs cannot comprehend. Hence has 
 enianated the proud determination, to subject every doctrine 
 of Revelation to the scrutiny of reason ; and to believe no- 
 thing which exceeds the limits of individual comprehension. 
 
 Now it is conceded, that, in the precept of a law, mystery 
 can have no place ; it must be definite and plain. It is also 
 conceded, that no man can believe a proposition, the terms 
 of which he does not comprehend. But the mysteries of 
 revelation are not found among its precepts ; and the proposi- 
 tion which is the precise object of faith, is never uninteUigi- 
 ble, but is alwa5'S definite and plain. 
 
 A mystery is a fact, whose general nature is, in some 
 respects, declared intelligibly ; but whose particular manner 
 of existence is not declared, and cannot be comprehended. 
 The proposition which declares the mystery has respect 
 always to the general intelligible fact, and never to the unre- 
 vealed, incomprehensible mode of its existence. A mystery, 
 then, is an intelligible fact always involving unintelligible cir- 
 cumstances, which of course, cannot be objects of faith, in 
 any definite form. 
 
 Allow me to illustrate the subject by a few examples. God 
 is omnipresent. This proposition announces a mystery. The 
 general intelligible fact declared is, that there is no place 
 where God is not ; the mystery respects the particular man- 
 ner in which the divine Spirit pervades immensity. That the 
 dead are raised, is an intelligible proposition ; but " how are 
 the dead raised up, and with what bodies do they come," are 
 the attendant mysteries ; " It is raised a spiritual body." 
 
155 
 
 The intelligible proposition here is, that, at the resurrection, 
 the materials of the natural body are re-organized in a manner 
 wholly new, and better adapted to the exigencies of mind ; 
 but in what manner the spiritual body is organized, and how 
 it differs from the natural body, are the attendant unexplained 
 circumstances. 
 
 Take one more exam])le — the doctrine of the Trinity. 
 The Scriptures reveal that there is hut one God. They also 
 reveal a distinction in the manner of the divine existence, 
 which lays a foundation for mutual stipulations and distinct 
 agencies in the work of redemption ; which distinction is 
 expressed by the names Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Now 
 the proposition that there is but one God is intelligible. The 
 proposition, that there is a deviation in the manner of the 
 divine existence from the exact unity of created minds, is as 
 intelligible as if the nature of this deviation were subjected to 
 the analysis of reason, and brought within the limits of human 
 comprehension. That this deviation from the exact pattern 
 of unity as exhibited in the human 7nind is such, as, according 
 to the obvious language of the Bible, lays a foundation for 
 ascribing distinct names, attributes, exercises and actions, to 
 the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, is as intelligi- 
 ble a proposition as if the precise nature of this distinction 
 was unveiled to the scrutiny of the human understanding. 
 
 Will it be alleged, that, where distinction approaches so 
 nearly to absolute distinctness and independency of mind, 
 there can be no union that shall constitute one God ^ To 
 know this, you must be omniscient, and comprehend the 
 mode of the divine existence, and all possible modes of the 
 existence of Spirit. You must ascertain that there is but 
 one possible mode of intelligent existence, and that the pre- 
 cise mode of unity which appertains to the mind of man. 
 You must not only be unable to see how any other mode can 
 be, but you must be able to prove that it cannot be. But 
 are you competent to do this ^ How then do you know that 
 the divine Spirit does not exist ; and why undertake to de- 
 
156 
 
 cide that he cannot exist in such a manner, as illustrates all 
 that is declared of his unity as one God ; and all that is 
 implied in the distinction of names, and in the intellectual 
 and social intercourse, stipulations, and distinct agencies 
 recognized in the plan of redemption ? The whole force 
 of the objection against the resurrection of the body was, 
 how decomposed matter could be re-organized in a different 
 manner, and yet be the same body. The Apostle's answer is, 
 " thou fool," cannot he who organized the body at first, 
 organize it again ? And after all that heaven, and earth, 
 and sea have disclosed of his skill in the diversified organi- 
 zation of matter, do you presume to say that the materials 
 cannot be re-organized in a manner wholly new, and better 
 adapted to the exigencies of spirit f And to every one who 
 demands how the Supreme Intellect can be One, and, in any 
 sense. Three, according to plain scriptural declaration ; the 
 same answer may be given — " Thou fool," art thou om- 
 niscient ; dost thou comprehend all possible, and all actual 
 modes of spiritual existence ? Can there be no mind but 
 after the exact pattern of human intellect ; and dost thou see 
 it, and canst thou prove it ? Why then dost thou array thine 
 ignorance against Omniscience, and exalt thy pride of reason 
 above all that is called God f — There is no alternative but to 
 claim the infallibility of omniscience, and deny the possibility 
 of any distinction in the maimer of the divine existence 
 which shall lay a foundation for the language employed in 
 the Scriptures ; or to take the ground, that no fact can be 
 conceived to exist, or be proved to be a fact, whose mode of 
 existence is incomprehensible ; a position which destroys the 
 use of testimony, and the possibility of faith. For the use of 
 testimony is to establish the existence of facts, without re- 
 ference to their mode of existence ; but, according to this 
 maxim, facts cannot be conceived to exist in any form, unless 
 their specific mode of existence be also comprehended. The 
 evidence of their existence, therefore, is not testimony, but 
 some intuitive comprehension of the manner how they exist ; 
 
157 
 
 and the assent of the mind that they do exist, is not faith, 
 but intuition. Apply the maxim, and it will blot out the 
 universe ; for who can comprehend the fact of eternal un- 
 caused existence. The fact then is not to be admitted, and 
 thus we set aside the divine existence. Or if we admit a 
 single mystery, and recognize the being of God, still we can- 
 not take another step ; for how can spirit create or move 
 matter, or govern mind, and not destroy free agency ? It is 
 a mystery : therefore there is no created world, and no 
 moral government. The sun formed by chance, placed 
 himself in the centre ; and the surrounding orbs, self-moved, 
 began their ceaseless course. But how can this be ? It is 
 a mystery : — and therefore there is no sun and no revolving 
 system. A mystery then may be an object of faith ; for the 
 proposition which is the precise object of faith is always in- 
 telligible, though always implying the existence of unintel- 
 ligible circumstances. 
 
 Nor are mysteries useless in legislation as motives to 
 obedience. The divine omnipresence, though a mystery, is 
 among the most powerful motives to circumspect conduct. 
 And the resurrection of the body, and its mysterious change, 
 are urged by the Apostles as motives always to abound in the 
 work of the Lord. The doctrine of the Trinity pours upon 
 the world a flood of light. The peculiar mode of the divine 
 existence lies at the foundation of the plan of redemption, as 
 unfolded in the Bible ; and brings to view, as a motive to 
 obedience, an activity of benevolence on the part of God, a 
 strength of compassion, a depth of condescension, and a pro- 
 fusion of mercy and grace in alliance with justice and truth, 
 which no other exhibition of the mode of the divine existence 
 can give. It illustrates the riches of the goodness of God, 
 and awakens that love which is the fulfilling of the law, 
 and that repentance, and gratitude, and active obedience, 
 which the goodness of God, thus manifested, could alone 
 inspire. 
 
 6. If the Bible contain a system of divine laws, revealed 
 21 
 
158 
 
 and administered with reference to the salvation of man ; then 
 it is practicable to decide what are fundamental doctrines. 
 
 Those doctrines are fundamental, which are essential to 
 the influence of law as the means of moral government ; and 
 without which, God does not, ordinarily, renew and sanctify 
 the soul. The following have been usually denominated 
 fundamental doctrines. — The being of God ; the accounta- 
 bility of man ; a future state of reward and punishment with- 
 out end ; and a particular providence taking cognizance of 
 human conduct in reference to a future retribution. Are not 
 these fundamental ? Could the laws of God have any proper 
 influence without them ? Take away the lawgiver, or the 
 accountability of the subject, or the cognizance of crimes by 
 the judge, or future eternal punishment, and what influence 
 would the Scriptures have as a code of laws ? To allege, 
 that the remorse and natural evil attendant upon sinning are 
 the adequate and only punishment of transgression, is most 
 absurd. Do the natural evil and remorse attendant upon the 
 transgression of human laws supersede the necessity of any 
 other penalty ? Is the impure desire suppressed, or intempe- 
 rate thirst allayed, or covetousness dismayed, or the hand of 
 violence arrested, by the appalling influence of remorse ? It 
 is a sanction always inadequate, which the frequency of crime 
 diminishes, and the consummation of guilt annihilates. 
 
 The idea that gratitude will restrain without fear of punish- 
 ment, where the confidence of pardon precedes sanctification, 
 is at war wnth common sense. Try the experiment. Open 
 your prison doors, and turn out your convicts without coer- 
 cion or fear of punishment, to illustrate the reforming influence 
 of gratitude. The idea that future discipline for the good of 
 the offender constitutes the only future suffering, regards sin 
 as a disease, instead of a crime ; and hell as a merciful hos- 
 pital, instead of a place of punishment. But how suffering 
 in a prison with convicts old in sin shall work a reformation, 
 no past analogy seems to show. Prisons hav^e never been 
 famed in human governments for their reforming influence. 
 
159 
 
 The eternity of future punishment, considering the invisi- 
 bility and imagined distance of the retribution, and the stu- 
 pidity and madness of man, is indispensable. If the certain 
 fearful looking-for of fiery indignation without end, exerts an 
 influence too feeble to restrain from sin ; the prospect of a 
 limited, salutary discipline will have, comparatively, no influ- 
 ence. Nor is eternal punishment unjust, or disproportionate to 
 the crime. If the violation of the law in this world deserves 
 punishment, it will no less deserve it, though the crime be 
 perpetrated in another world ; for probation and hope are not 
 essential to free agency or accountability, and the incorrigi- 
 ble obstinacy of the rebel will not cancel the obligation of the 
 law. Endless wickedness will deserve, and will experience 
 endless punishment. The deeds done in the body will de- 
 termine the character, and shut out the hope of sanctifica- 
 tion. But rebellion will hold on its course unsubdued by 
 sufiering, and will be the meritorious cause of eternal pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 The above truths are essential to the moral influence of 
 legislation, generally. There are others, which are no less 
 essential to the Gospel as a system of moral influence, for 
 the restoration of man from sin to holiness. These are in- 
 dicated by the peculiar ends to be obtained by the Gospel. 
 If overt action and continuance in well-doing were all, sim- 
 ple reward and punishment might suffice. But man is a 
 sinner, — his heart is unholy, — and ne\t affections are de- 
 manded. Those truths, then, are fundamental, without 
 which the specific, evangelical affections can have no being. 
 To /ear, the exhibition of danger is necessary : to repent- 
 ance, the disclosure of guilt : to humility, of unworthiness : 
 to faith, of guilt and helplessness on the part of man, and 
 divine sufficiency and excellence on the part of the Saviour. 
 There is a uniformity of action in the natural and moral 
 world, from which the Most High does not depart ; and 
 which is the foundation of experimental knowledge, and 
 teaches the adaptation of means to ends. Fire does not 
 
160 
 
 drown ; and water does not burn ; and fear is not excited by 
 sentiments which exchide danger ; nor repentance, by those 
 which preclude guilt ; nor affectionate confidence, by those 
 which exclude dependence, or the reality of excellence in 
 the object. 
 
 According to the nature of the human mind, the doctrines 
 of the Trinity and the atonement, the entire unhohness of the 
 human heart, the necessity of a moral change by the special 
 agency of the Holy Spirit, and justification by the merits of 
 Christ through faith, are as essential to secure evangelical 
 affections, as fire to heat, or any natural cause to its appro- 
 priate effect. The entire unholiness of the heart is necessary 
 to beget just conceptions of guilt and danger; the necessity 
 of a moral change, to extinguish self-righteous hopes, and 
 occasion a sense of helplessness which shall render an 
 Almighty Saviour necessary ; the doctrine of the Trinity, as 
 ■ disclosing a Saviour, able to save, and altogether lovely^ 
 the doctrine of the atonement, to reconcile pardon with the 
 moral influence of legislation ; and justification by faith 
 instead of works, because justification by works cancels the 
 penalty of law, blotting out past crimes by subsequent good 
 deeds, giving the transgressor a license to sin with impunity 
 to-day if he will obey to-morrow, provided, his acts of obe- 
 dience shall equal his acts of disobedience. 
 
 That these doctrines are fundamental, is evident from the 
 violence with whicli* they have always been assailed. The 
 enemies of God know what most annoys them in his govern- 
 ment ; and the points assailed clearly indicate what is most 
 essential. The whole diversified assault has always been 
 directed against one or another of the doctrines which have 
 been named in this discourse as fundamental ; and has had 
 for its object, to set aside either the precept or the sanction 
 of law, and reconcile transgression with impunity. 
 
 One denies the being of the Lawgiver ; another discards 
 the statute book as a forgery; a third, subjects the laws of 
 Jehovah to the censorship of reason, and adds, and ex- 
 
161 
 
 punges, till he can believe without humility, obey without self- 
 denial, and disobey without fear of punishment : a fourth 
 saves himself the trouble of criticism by a catholic belief of 
 all the Bible contains, without the presumption or fatigue of 
 deciding what the precise meaning is : a fifth pleads the coer- 
 cion of the decrees of God, and denies accountability, and 
 hopes for impunity in sin. Some, however, deem it most ex- 
 pedient to explain away the precept of the law ; and therefore 
 tliey assert that, to love the Lord our God, does not imply 
 any sensible affection, any complacency or emotion of the 
 heart, but the rational religion of perception and intellectual 
 admiration ; and, that, by the heart is intended not the heart, 
 but the head. Others assail, with critical acumen, the^)en- 
 alty of the law. Punishment does not mean punishment, but 
 the greatest possible blessing which Almiglity God in the 
 riches of his grace can bestow, considering the omnipotence 
 and perverseness of man's free agency ; and eternal punish- 
 ment means a number of years, more or less, of most merci- 
 ful torment, as the disease shall prove more or less obstinate. 
 
 In like manner, the attributes of God are regarded in the 
 abstract, dissociated from every idea of legislation and ad- 
 ministration by reward or punishment. Goodness, is good 
 nature, even to weakness ; justice, is bestowing on men all 
 the good they deserve, without inflicting any punishment; and 
 mercy, is the indiscriminate pardon of those, whom it would 
 be malignant and unjust to condemn. The goodness of God 
 as a lawgiver, promoting the happiness of his subjects by holy 
 laws and an efficient administration of rewards and punish- 
 ments, is kept out of view. His character of lawgiver is an- 
 nihilated ; and his glory as moral governor is shut out from 
 the world, that man may sin without fear. 
 
 All representations of the character of man, at variance 
 with the account of his entire depravity, have for their object, 
 the evasion, in some way, of the precept or penalty of law. 
 One does it by pleading his inability to obey the law of God j 
 and while he continues in sin takes his refuge from punishment 
 
162 
 
 ia the justice of God. Another pleads not guilty, in man- 
 ner and form as the Scriptures allege. He denies that coin- 
 cidence of holiness in the heart with overt deeds is necessary 
 to constitute obedience; and pleads his good actions in arrest 
 of God's decision, that " there is none that doeth good, no 
 not one." He denies that the heart is desperately wicked. 
 If it were true of Mam a short space, the promise of a Sa- 
 viour made his heart better, and has made all hearts better : 
 and, if not yet very good, they are so good as not to need a 
 special change ; so good, that attention to the constituted 
 ibrms of religion duly administered will, by God's blessing, 
 without farther care or perception of change, make them 
 good enough ; as, when the seed is sown, sun and rain cause 
 vegetation and harvest, while the husbandman sleeps. No 
 supreme and perceptible love to God is recognized as obliga- 
 tory, no deep sense of guilt, no painful solicitude about futu- 
 rity, no immediate repentance or faith including holiness, and 
 no sin as being committed ; while repentance and faith are 
 deferred for the slow operation of forms, in making the sinner 
 better, by the unperceived grace of God. The Law with its 
 high claims upon the heart, and the Gospel with its holy re- 
 quisitions, are made to stand aloof; while the sinner, without 
 hohness, by dilatory effort, prepares himself to repent ; or by 
 lip service and hypocrisy, prevails on the Most High to give 
 him repentance unto life. The law and Gospel are thrust 
 aside, and the whole duty of man is epitomised in the short 
 sentence. Thou shalt sincerely use the means of grace as 
 faithfully as thou art willing to use them; and, by the grace of 
 God, through the merits of Christ, and thine own well-doing, 
 thou shalt be saved. In the same manner, are the terms of 
 pardon divested of holiness, to accommodate unholy hearts, 
 reluctant to obey, and fearful of punishment. Faith is intel- 
 lectual assent to revealed truth, without holiness, and too 
 often, without good works ; or it is believing that one is par- 
 doned when he is not, and knows he is not, in order that he 
 may be pardoned. It is any thing but the affectionate confi- 
 
163 
 
 dence of the heart in the Saviour, and the unconditional sur- 
 render of the soul to him. The rapid river in its haste to 
 the sea, is not more violent to sweep away obstructions, or 
 evade them, than the heart of man to remove or evade the 
 humbling demand of immediate love, repentance, and faith, 
 as the terms of pardon. • 
 
 But who are those that most bitterly inveigh against these 
 doctrines which we regard as fundamental.'* Ts it the most 
 serious, the most devout, temperate, chaste, and circumspect 
 class of men ? Is it, judging from their lives according to 
 the Bible, the righteous, or the wicked — the church of God, 
 or the world ? For the righteous, according to the Scriptures, 
 lov6 the truth, and the wicked are opposed to it. Now if 
 we find the most holy men, the most sedate, prayerful, and 
 exemplary people, leaguing against these fundamental doc- 
 trines, grieving at their prevalence, and trembling at their 
 effect in revivals of religion, and praying to God with tears 
 to check their prevalence ; we must abandon our confidence 
 in these doctrines as the true system. But if the atheist, the 
 deist, the profligate, the votary of pleasure, and the sons of 
 violence and lies, regard them with a common and almost 
 instinctive aversion ; then we must cleave to them, as receiv- 
 ing from the world the distinctive evidence of their truth. 
 They have always been charged with blasphemy, and with 
 leading to licentiousness ; and, if the charge be well founded, 
 doubtless the blasphemer and the impure have always been 
 their advocates. But what is the fact ? Are the irreligious 
 and profane, the licentious, the worldly, and the vain, the 
 advocates for the doctrines of total depravity, regeneration 
 by special grace, justification by faith, and eternal punish- 
 ment ? With scarce an exception, they have been open- 
 mouthed and bitter in their opposition, reviling both these 
 doctrines and those who preach them. From age to age, 
 they have been the song of the drunkard, and the standing 
 topic of profane cavil and vulgar abuse. If good men, 
 through misapprehension, have sometimes seemed to be op- 
 
164 
 
 posed to them, they have given evidence that the opposition 
 was only a seeming one ; while in reality their hearts were 
 in sweet accordance with them. There are, it must be con- 
 fessed, some whose moral conduct may not have been 
 profligate, who have given unquestionable evidence that the 
 leelings of their hearts, as to these doctrines, were in exact 
 accordance with those of the blasphemer and the profligate. 
 These conclusions concerning the doctrines which are funda- 
 mental, are however controverted ; we therefore appeal to a 
 tribunal- more infallible than our own judgment. 
 
 Those doctrines are fundamental, then, without whose in- 
 strumentality, God does not renew and sanctify the hearts of 
 men. 
 
 That man is unholy, and, without sanctification, unfit for 
 heaven, is certain. That God is the agent, and truth the 
 means of sanctification, is equally manifest ; and the fact, that 
 some men do experience a change in their affections, both as 
 to their moral nature and object, is as certain as any fact can 
 be made by testimony. The witnesses testify to their own 
 consciousness of such a change. Of this, they are as com- 
 petent judges, as of any thing appertaining to their own expe- 
 rience. The fact alleged is, that once, they loved the 
 world more than God, and that, from a given era more or 
 less determinate, they have regarded the Lord their God 
 with an interest and affection, wholly new in kind, and su- 
 perior in degree to their love for any other object; — that they 
 regard him whh a good will, and complacency, and confi- 
 dence, and gratitude, and joy, entirely unknown to them, 
 until they became the subjects of this special change. 
 The witnesses are an innumerable multitude. To the testi- 
 mony of the three thousand, renewed on the day of Pentecost, 
 mav be added the testimony of every intervening age, to this 
 day ; for there never was a time, even in the dark ages, when 
 the doctrine of regeneration by the special agency of the 
 Spirit was not confirmed by the testimony of those who pro- 
 fessed to have experienced this change. 
 
165 
 
 The capacity of the witnesses for judging correctly, allows 
 nothing to be subtracted from the weight of their testimony ; 
 for it has not been the feebler sex only, and children, nor 
 the poor and the ignorant merely ; but wen, aged, middle aged 
 and young, men of affluence, of refined manners, of strong 
 powers of intellect, of cool judgment, of firm fibre and un- 
 daunted courage, of extended knowledge and cultivated taste, 
 of antecedent moral and immoral habits, who have united 
 their testimony with multitudes of every other class of socie- 
 ty, and with the poor Hottentot and Esquimaux, declaring 
 that with them, old things had passed away, and all things 
 become new. 
 
 The credibility of the witnesses, as persons of veracity, 
 would not be questioned on any other subject. To this we 
 may add, that, before the alleged change, most of them con- 
 ducted as if they did not love supremely the Lord their God ; 
 and afterwards, to their dying day, and in the hour of death, 
 conducted in many respects, in a manner inexplicable upon 
 any other supposition than the reality of the alleged change. 
 It is surprising, that men as philosophers, do not believe in 
 the doctrine of regeneration, even though they had no confi- 
 dence in the testimony of the Bible ; for no fact in natural 
 philosophy, no phenomenon of mind is estabhshed by evi- 
 dence more satisfactory in its nature, than that which estab- 
 lishes the reality of a change of heart. No fact was ever 
 proved in a court of justice, by a thousandth part of the 
 evidence, which concentrates the testimony of milhons to the 
 fact of the actual renovation of the heart. 
 
 But do not the professed subjects of this change oftentimes 
 apostatize .'' Sometimes they do ; but more than ninety in 
 one hundred do not apostatize. U the apostacy of ten be 
 allowed in evidence against the reality of the change ; the 
 perseverance of ten balances the unfavorable evidence, and 
 leaves the unimpeached testimony of eighty competent wit- 
 nesses in favor of the reality of the change. Upon testimony 
 22 
 
166 
 
 thus circumstanced, what would be the decision in a court of 
 justice. 
 
 But it is alleged by some, that they have experienced all 
 that appertains to this change of heart, and know it to be 
 vain. That they may have experienced fear and trembling, 
 such as the faith of devils inspires ; and that these fears may 
 have been succeeded by composure and joy, such as the 
 hope of the hypocrite affords ; may be admitted. But 
 " what is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord ?" What is 
 the blade without root that withereth, to that which beareth 
 fruit ; — the plant, which our heavenly Father has planted, to 
 that which he taketh away because it is unfruitful ; — the lamp 
 without oil, that goeth out, to that which is replenished and 
 shines with growing light to the perfect day ? Is it incredible 
 that a heart, " deceitful above all things," should be deceiv- 
 ed ; or that a heart " desperately wicked," should find no 
 abiding pleasure in a religion which it professed, but did not 
 feel ? " They went out from us, but they were not of us ; 
 for, if they had been of us, doubtless they would have con- 
 tinued with us." It is not a new thing to resist the Holy 
 Ghost ; nor an impossible thing, nor, we fear, a rare event, by 
 stigmatizing the work of the Spirit, to commit a sin which 
 shall never be forgiven. May God grant that the lightness 
 with which some men treat their past convictions of sin and 
 fears of punishment, do not prove at last, the too sure indica- 
 tions of that hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, to 
 which, in his most tremendous displeasure, the blasphemed 
 Spirit gives up the incorrigible sinner. 
 
 This moral change then, an indvMiahle fact, and indis- 
 pensahle to salvation, is, according to the Scriptures, accom- 
 phshed by the power of God giving efhcacy to truth. Men 
 are begotten again by the Gospel, born of incorruptible seed 
 which is the word of God, and sanctified by the truth. 
 These blessed operations of the Spirit are experienced 
 sometimes in solitary instances, like single drops of rain in a 
 land of drought ; and sometimes multitudes, almost cotempo- 
 
167 
 
 raneously, become the subjects, first, of solicitude and con- 
 scious guilt, and afterwards of love, joy, and peace. 
 
 But it is also a matter of fact, and a tremendous fact it is, 
 that; so far as these glorious displays of the renovating grace 
 of God are accomplished by the instrumentality of preaching, 
 they are confined to the exhibitions of these doctrines, which 
 we have enumerated as fundamental. Where these are faith- 
 fully preached, the arm of the Lord is not always revealed in 
 revivals of religion ', though in that case, few ministers spend 
 their days without cheering interpositions of divine grace giv- 
 ing seals to their ministry. But where the doctrines of the 
 Trinity, the entire unholiness of man, the necessity of regene- 
 ration by special grace, the atonement, justification by faith, 
 and future eternal punishment are not preached, or are de- 
 nounced and ridiculed ; there the phenomena of revivals of 
 religion never exist, and solitary instances of regeneration are 
 comparatively unknown ; and where they do exist, they are 
 regarded as the effect of delusion, or as proofs of a disorder- 
 ed intellect, rather than as indications of a merciful, divine 
 interposition. The fact is unquestionable, and the statement 
 of it is not invidious, because it is a subject of exultation on 
 the part of those unhappy ministers who discard the above 
 doctrines, and whose people are the subjects of this melan- 
 choly exemption from the convincing and renewing operations 
 of the Holy Spirit. In such places, the light does not even 
 shine into darkness ; but all is as the valley of the shadow of 
 death. No jubilee trumpet is heard, announcing a release 
 from the bondage of corruption, and calling the slaves of sin 
 into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Such places 
 are not the hill of Zion, upon which descend the rain and the 
 dew of heaven ; but they are the mountains of Gilboa, upon 
 M'hich there is no rain, neither any dew. They are the val- 
 ley of vision, in which the bones are very many and very 
 dry, and no voice is heard proclaiming, " O ye dry bones, 
 hear the word of the Lord ;" and no prayer is made, 
 " Come, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they 
 
168 
 
 may live." No voice announces a spiritual resurrection ; 
 and no influence from above begins it. All is silent as the 
 grave, and motionless as death. 
 
 7. If the Scriptures contain a system of divine laws, 
 then the doctrine of the entire depravity of man is not incon- 
 sistent with free agency and accountability ; for depravity is 
 the voluntary transgression of the law, and the law is, " Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ;" and entire 
 depravity is the constant refusal to love, in this manner, the 
 Lord our God. It implies, not that men's hearts have no 
 kind sympathies, no social affections, or that these are sinful, 
 or that their actions are all contrary to rule ; but only, that 
 they have no holiness, no supreme love to God, and there- 
 fore, do not with the heart obey, but do, with the heart, vol- 
 untarily and constantly, disobey the law. The principle 
 assumed in the objection is, that if men will with the heart, 
 obey the law of God in part, then they are free agents, and 
 blameable for not obeying perfectly ; but if they violate the 
 law wilfully and wholly, so as not to love at all, then they are 
 not to blame. If a man regulates his temper according to 
 the Gospel one day, and the next, indulges malignant dispo- 
 sitions, he is a free agent, and liable to punishment ; but if 
 he exercise no right affections, and every imagination of his 
 heart be only evil, then the wrath of heaven must sleep, for 
 the man has become too wicked to he the subject of blame. 
 If a subject violate one half the laws of the land, he may be 
 justly punished ; but if he should press on and tread them 
 all under foot, ,his accountability expires, and he may bid 
 defiance to retribution. 
 
 8. The view we have taken of the Scriptures as con- 
 taining a system of divine laws, illustrates the obligation to 
 believe correctly and cordially, the fundamental doctrines of 
 the Bible, and the criminality of error on these subjects. 
 
 It is a favorite maxim of some, that men are not accounta- 
 ble for their opinions with respect to the doctrines of reve- 
 lation : — because, there is no specific command that this or 
 
169 
 
 that doctrine shall be believed : — because, they are so ob- 
 scurely revealed, that no blame can attach to the misun- 
 derstanding of them : — because, no one doctrine is absolutely 
 indispensable to salvation : — because, the doctrines of the 
 Bible are subjects of mere theoretical speculation, of no 
 practical influence : — and because, belief and disbelief are 
 not voluntary, but the mechanical and unavoidable result of 
 evidence, or want of evidence. 
 
 It is admitted, that there is no specific and formal com- 
 mand, that the doctrine of the Trinity, or total depravity, or 
 regeneration by special grace, or justification by faith, or 
 eternal future punishment, shall be believed ; for these come 
 under the head of motives ; and who ever heard of a special 
 enactment requiring subjects to believe the declarations of a 
 lawgiver, with respect to the motives to obedience ? The 
 obligation to understand and believe the doctrines of the Bible, 
 is involved in the nature of the Bible as a book of law. The 
 subjects of Jehovah are bound to understand the laws of his 
 government under which they live, and to believe his decla- 
 rations, without a special enactment and a subjoined penalty. 
 They are bound to understand the character of God, the 
 great object of religious affection and foundation of moral 
 obligation ; and to act with such a temper, and under the in- 
 fluence of such motives, as God has required. But a law is 
 never understood, whose precepts only are recognized, and 
 whose sanctions are unknown. The character of God is not 
 correctly and adequately disclosed, merely by the precepts of 
 his law ; and the motives to obedience, and the principles of 
 holy action are found no where but in the doctrines of reve- 
 lation. If men, as accountable creatures, are bound to act 
 as God commands, they are bound to understand those doc- 
 trines which disclose the principles and motives of action ; 
 and this the Scriptures, in general terms, do command ex- 
 pressly and often. The command is reiterated in various 
 forms to know the truth, a term comprehending the whole 
 revealed system : to love the truth, not a part, but the whole 
 
170 
 
 truth, which is the Word of God : and to obey the truth, which 
 is, to believe what God has revealed, and to do what God has 
 commanded, with the temper, and under the influence of the 
 motives which he has disclosed as principles of holy action. 
 
 To say, that the doctrines of the Bible are so obscurely 
 revealed as to supersede the possibility and the obligation of 
 understanding them, is blasphemy. It is ascribing to Jehovah, 
 folly, or injustice, or both. It is annihilating the Bible as a 
 system of moral law ; for precepts, without intelligible sanc- 
 tions, are not moral government. Government lies in the 
 motives revealed, and, if these cannot be understood, they 
 are not revealed, and God does not administer a moral 
 government except by the feeble impulse of the light of 
 nature : — and thus we land in infidelity. 
 
 The maxim, that no one doctrine of the Bible is absolutely 
 indispensable to salvation, and the inference thence drawn, 
 that truth is useless, and error innocent, is a sophism. It is 
 drawing general conclusions from particular premises. For 
 suppose, that the denial of any one doctrine, all the rest 
 being cordially believed, would not exile the soul from 
 heaven ; does it follow that the disbelief and rejection of the 
 whole system would not be fatal ? What if it be true, that 
 no one kind of nutriment is absolutely indispensable to human 
 life ; does it thence follow, that all nutrition may be safely 
 dispensed with ? What if no one poison be so active, but 
 that a very little may be received into the system consistently 
 with life ; does it thence follow that. poisons are harmless, are 
 nutritious, and may be safely employed as a substitute for 
 bread ? The fact is, that those who discard the doctrine of 
 the Trinity, discard, usually, every other fundamental doc- 
 trine. Their system is not merely different from, but 
 opposite to that denominated orthodox ; so that if one be 
 true, the other is false ; if one be sincere milk, the other is 
 poison. Nor does it follow, that, provided a real christian 
 might, without believing some particular doctrine, possibly 
 attain to heaven, he could therefore dispense with it without 
 
171 
 
 injury. Much less does it follow, that, because a christian 
 may not be absolutely destroyed by some erroneous opinion, 
 an impenitent sinner may safely adopt it. An error, which 
 may not suffice to destroy spiritual life in a believer, may be 
 decisive to prevent the commencement of it in the heart of an 
 impenitent sinner. Thousands may die an eternal death by 
 the influence of an error, under the operation of which, a 
 christian may possibly drag out a meager spiritual existence. 
 The opinion, that the doctrines of revelation are matters of 
 mere speculation, or of trivial practical influence, is a position 
 at variance with the principles of law, with the constitution of 
 the human mind, and with universal fact. It is not true of 
 the principles bf natural science, that they are mere matters 
 of speculation, and of no practical influence on man. It is 
 the practical influence of the sciences, which constitutes their 
 utility. They exert a powerful influence in the formation of 
 the human character, and the regulation of human conduct. 
 The whole course of the daily business of the world, moves 
 on by the illumination and potent energy of the sciences. 
 Much less is it a fact, that truth contained in moral laws, has 
 no influence. It is here, that the kind of truth is precisely 
 that which is most adapted to move free agents ; and comes 
 to the understanding, and conscience, and heart, with a de- 
 signed concentration of influence, surpassing all other influ- 
 ence but that of direct physical impulse. The whole motive 
 in legislation lies in the sanctions of law ; and these have 
 their influence through the medium of opinion. The motive 
 to obedience is, as the opinion concerning it is ; if that be 
 correct, the true motive is presented to the mind ; if incor- 
 rect, the intended motive is thrust aside, and another substi- 
 tuted. To say, that the doctrines of the Bible embodying 
 and presenting to the mind of man that moral influence by 
 which God governs him as a free agent and an accountable 
 creature, are mere abstract speculations, of no moral influ- 
 ence or practical eftect ; is charging God with incompetency 
 in legislation ; and disrobing him of his character of moral 
 
172 
 
 governor j and destroying the accountability of man ; and 
 blotting out the light of the glory of God, as it would other- 
 wise be displayed in his works of providence and grace. 
 But upon what authority is it alleged, that the doctrines of 
 the Bible have no practical influence f Does opinion in hu- 
 man governments, concerning the lawgiver and the sanctions 
 of law, exert no influence upon the character and conduct of 
 man ? Why then should the laws and sanctions of the gov- 
 ernment of Jehovah exert no influence, so that believing or 
 not believing its fundamental truths shall have no effect ? 
 Doctrines in religion do exert a powerful influence. Have 
 the doctrines of the Koran proved themselves idle theories, 
 of no practical influence ; or the doctrines of Paganism, or 
 the doctrines of Popery ? Have the doctrines of Calvin and 
 Arminius no effect, or precisely the same effect ? Why then 
 oppose the one, and eulogise the other, when both are equally 
 good or equally useless ? 
 
 No truth in legislation, human or divine, is merely specu- 
 lative ; however it may appear such. What can be, appa- 
 rently, more entirely speculative than the opinion of the 
 Gnostics, that all moral impurity lies in matter. But from 
 this opinion, as a fountain, Avowed the denial of the human 
 nature and death of Christ, of the resurrection of the body, 
 the celibacy of the clergy, the doctrine of penance and pur- 
 gatory, and the host of cruelties and fooleries which have 
 taxed and tormented the world. Travel over benighted 
 Asia, and witness the operation of the same opinion in the 
 ablutions of the Ganges, and the self-inflicted torture of de- 
 votees to subdue the sin, which is in matter, and render the 
 spirit pure and acceptable to the gods. That Mahomet is 
 the true prophet, is a speculative opinion ; but it has carried 
 fire and sword in its course, and ruled the nations with a rod 
 of iron, and dashed them in pieces as a potter's vessel. 
 That the Pope is the successor of Peter, and universal and 
 infallible bishop, is a matter of mere opinion ; but it is an 
 opinion which has immured the nations of Europe in a dun- 
 
173 
 
 geon, and bound them in chains, and ahiiost extinguished the 
 human intellect. That there is no God, that the end sanctions 
 the means, and that death is an eternal sleep, are mere 
 opinions ; but fire, and blood, and wailing, and gnashing of 
 teeth, have attended their march over desolated Europe. 
 Considering man as a mere animal, the atheists of the French 
 revolution destroyed his life with as little ceremony, as they 
 would crush an insect. The fact is, that among moral agents, 
 opinions respecting law and the sanctions of law, are princi- 
 ples of action ; and no great aberration from rectitude in prac- 
 tice can be named, with respect to public bodies or individu- 
 als, which is not caused or justified by some false opinion. 
 The opinion, that behef and disbelief are mechanical, to 
 the exclusion of all influence of the heart, of interest, passion, 
 and prejudice, is the consummation of folly. — Evidence may 
 be so powerful, as to render incredulity impossible ; and so 
 feeble, as to render belief impossible. But an entire tem- 
 perate zone lies between these two extremes, in which 
 inclination and aversion, passion and prejudice, exert as de- 
 cisive an influence upon the understanding, as evidence itself. 
 If not, whence the maxim, that no man may judge in his own 
 cause ? Is it because all men are dishonest ; or is it because 
 interest is known to pervert the judgment even of honest 
 men ? Whence all the unmeaning talk about sincerity, and 
 prejudice, and candor ? Who ever heard of a sincere, un- 
 prejudiced, candid pair of balances ? If the mind decides 
 by scruples and grains of evidence, as the scales are balanced 
 by weights, why may not the honest judge decide in his own 
 cause ? Can interest vary the weights in the balance ? How 
 can he help himself, though the weight of evidence should be 
 against his interest .'' The fact is notorious, that inclination 
 possesses a powerful influence over the judgment. Exami- 
 nation may be neglected on one side, and pushed on the 
 other. The evidence in favor of our choice may be dwelt 
 upon, and the eye be turned away from that which would 
 prove an unpleasant fact. It is practicable to suspend a de- 
 23 
 
174 
 
 cision, to resist conviction, to pervert arguments which prove 
 unwelcome truths, and even to forget them ; and to treasure 
 up for use those which favor conclusions which we love. 
 The demonstrations of Euclid, if their result had been the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, the total depravity of man, the ne- 
 cessity of regeneration, and future eternal punishments ; 
 would have produced as much diversity of opinion, and 
 brought upon his positions as much contempt, and upon his 
 book as much critical violence, as has been experienced by 
 the Bible. 
 
 Erroneous opinions are criminal, because they falsify the 
 divine character, and destroy the moral influence of the 
 divine law ; because they are always voluntary, the result of 
 criminal negligence to obtain correct knowledge, or of a 
 criminal resistance of evidence, or perversion of the under- 
 standing through the depravity of the heart ; and because the 
 belief of error is always associated with moral and criminal 
 affections. It is never a mere act of the understanding ; the 
 heart decides, and is never neutral. If a truth be rejected, 
 it is also hated ; if an error be embraced, it is also loved. 
 It is because men have no pleasure in the truth, but have 
 'pleasure in unrighteousness, that they are given over to be- 
 lieve a lie ; and are punished for believing it, with ever- 
 lasting destruction. The propagation of error is criminal, of 
 course, because it is destructive to the souls of men ; annihi- 
 lating the influence of the divine moral government, and the 
 means by which God is accustomed to renew the soul, and 
 without which he does not ordinarily exert his sanctifying 
 power. 
 
 9. In the view of what has been said, how momentous is 
 the responsibility of ministers of the Gospel ; and how aggra- 
 vated the destruction of those, who keep back the truth, or 
 inculcate falsehood. It is, as if a man, not content with his 
 own destruction by famine, should extend the desolation by 
 withholding nutrition from all around him ; or not content 
 with poisoning himself, should cast poison into all the foun- 
 
175 
 
 tains, putting in motion around him the waters of death. If 
 there be a place in the world of despair, of tenfold darkness, 
 where the wrath of the Almighty glows with augmented fury, 
 and whence, through eternity, are heard the loudest wailings, 
 ascending with the smoke of their torment : — in that place 1 
 shall expect to dwell, and there, my brethren, to lift up my 
 cry with yours, should we believe lies, and propagate deceits, 
 and avert from our people the sanctifying influence of the 
 Holy Spirit. — And if there be a class of men, upon whom 
 the fiercest malignity of the damned will be turned, and upon 
 whose heads universal imprecations will mingle with the wrath 
 of the Lamb, it will doubtless, my brethren, be ourselves ; if, 
 as blind guides, we lead to perdition our deluded hearers. 
 
 The present occasion requires that a more particular ap- 
 plication of this discourse be made to the Pastor Elect, and 
 to the Missionaries, who are about to be ordained to preach 
 the unsearchable riches of Christ among the Gentiles. 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE PASTOR ELECT. 
 
 My dear Brother, 
 
 With the consequences of unfaithfulness in view, you 
 are about to take the pastoral care of this church and 
 congregation. Their salvation, according to the laws of the 
 human mind and the constituted mode of divine operation, is 
 to be promoted or hindered by the instructions which you 
 give, and the pastoral duties which you perform or neglect. 
 But be not dismayed. The reward of fidelity is as glorious, 
 as the punishment of treachery is dreadful ; and with the 
 Bible in your hand, and Jesus Christ with you always, you 
 are thoroughly furnished, and can do all things. Your duty 
 is plain. It is to explain and enforce the laws of the divine 
 moral government, contained in the Bible. Receive then, 
 my brother, that holy book with implicit confidence, as in- 
 cluding your commission, and all you have to say. — Read it 
 daily as a part of your devotion, and study it as a part of 
 
176 
 
 your profession. — But remember that yours is the office of an 
 expositor of that divine book, and not of a legislator to revise 
 and modify its sacred pages. Be not wise in your own con- 
 ceit ; and dare not to be wise above what is written. Bring 
 to your aid, for the exposition of the Scriptures, the re- 
 sources of human learning ; but bring with these, a heart 
 humbled with a sense of its own deceitfulness and depravity, 
 and filled with strong desires and groanings that cannot be 
 uttered, for the illumination and guidance of the Spirit; re- 
 membering that ignorance and unsanctified knowledge alike 
 putFup, and subject to condemnation. 
 
 That you may understand the Scriptures, examine them 
 for yourself. Receive no opinions upon trust ; and allow no 
 man to dictate what you shall believe. But do not use this 
 your liberty as a cloak for rejecting the truth, and adopting 
 licentious opinions. Dare to think for yourself; and what you 
 think, dare to preach ; knowing that divine wisdom has reveal- 
 ed no superfluous truths, and that all Scripture is profitable. 
 
 Dare to think for yourself; but do not imagine that inde- 
 pendence can compensate for indolence, or ignorance, or 
 heresy, or hatred of the truth ; or that, to be independent, 
 you must of course despise antiquity, and differ from the vast 
 majority of the wise, and great, and good. 
 
 Dare to think for yourself. Let no creed bind you be- 
 cause it is reputed orthodox, until you perceive its agreement 
 with the Scriptures. But then, though every where spoken 
 against, adopt it ; remembering that the Bible may be 
 epitomized and its meaning retained, and your reverence for 
 creeds be only reverence for the Bible. 
 
 Dare to think for yourself; and do not imagine .that the 
 faithful avowal of truths to which the hearts of men are op- 
 posed, demands less courage, than the promulgation of errors 
 grateful to the feelings of human depravity. 
 
 Dare to think for yourself, but give to others the same 
 liberty ; and never raise the pusillanimous cry of intolerance, 
 because others will not think your opinions to be harmless, or 
 as correct and salutary as their own. 
 
177 
 
 Explain to your people the moral law, as demanding love 
 to God with all the heart ; and their entire depravity, as des- 
 titute of this holy love ; and their danger, as exposed justly 
 to eternal punishment. Explain to them the nature of re- 
 pentance, as the sorrow for sin which is inspired by love to 
 God ; and the nature of faith, as that confidence in the 
 Saviour which is the result of holy love. Knowing the ter- 
 rors of the Lord, and the love of Christ, set before them the 
 sorer punishment of which he shall be thought worthy, who 
 shall tread under foot the Son of God. When you have ex- 
 plained to your people the great duties of holy love, repen- 
 tance for sin, and faith in the Redeemer ; and have set 
 before them the motives, which God has revealed ; urge 
 them with all possible importunity to an immediate compli- 
 ance. Address them as free agents, without excuse for the 
 least deviation from the perfect law of God, or for one 
 moment's delay of repentance and faith. By the terrors of 
 the Lord exhort, and by the mercies of God, intreat them 
 instantly to be reconciled to God. Say unto them with 
 reiterated importunity — " Thus saith the Lord," whether they 
 will hear, or whether they will forbear ; and wash your 
 hands of their blood, and throw on them the tremendous 
 responsibility of self-destruction, if they will die. 
 
 Admit no excuse for impenitence, and no plea in mitigation 
 of guilt : no decree of God as having any influence to con- 
 strain them to sin, or render immediate repentance impossi- 
 ble : no doctrine of election or reprobation, as excluding 
 them from heaven against their wills, and driving them re- 
 luctantly to hell : no doctrine of total depravity, as destroying 
 free agency, and rendering transgression involuntary and un- 
 avoidable : no doctrine of regeneration by the special agency 
 of the Holy Spirit, as implying any inability in the sinner to 
 love, and repent, and believe, which does not consist wholly 
 in his refusal to obey the Most High. The searcher of hearts 
 perceives in these doctrines, no reason for modifying his de- 
 mands of perfect, immediate, and constant obedience, or for 
 
178 
 
 mitigating in any degree the penalty of disobedience, or for 
 relaxing the peremptoriness of command, or the earnestness 
 of entreaty. 
 
 But, my brother, whatever may be your attainments in 
 human science, your might in the Scriptures, your popularity 
 as a preacher, or your estimation in the affections of your 
 people ; let it all be counted loss, in comparison with their 
 actual conversion to God. Set your heart upon the great 
 blessing of a revival of religion. Desire it speedily and con- 
 stantly. Pray for it without ceasing, and sUr up the members 
 of your church to concentrate, on this point, the whole impor- 
 tunity of the prayer of faith. And live, and preach, and 
 pray, and act in such a manner, as shall lay the best founda- 
 tion to expect the blessing. 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 My beloved Brethren, 
 
 If the Bible contain the Laws of the Most High God, 
 for the restoration of man from sin to holiness ; then it is not 
 a superfluous labour to translate the Scriptures into the 
 various languages of the nations, nor a superfluous charity to 
 send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the heathen. 
 
 There are not a few, who seem to regard the heathen as 
 not accountable for their depravity of heart, or criminal for 
 their idolatry, and scarcely for their immoraUlies ; or as sub- 
 jected to inconvenience by their superstitions. They are the 
 guileless children of our common father, all afiectionately 
 striving to please him in ways, different indeed from those of 
 christian worship, but equally sincere, and equally well plea- 
 sing to God, and equally benign in their influence to make 
 men happy on earth, and to prepare them for heaven. What 
 need then of all this sympathy for the heathen, and of so 
 much exertion and expense to relieve those, whose circum- 
 stances, for time and eternity, are as eligible as ours .'' Why 
 should their reverence for the rehgion of their ancestors be 
 weakened, and their " elegant mythology" be stigmatized, 
 
179 
 
 and the Gospel be thrust into its place ? Is not God mei-ci- 
 ful ? Let Him then take care of the heathen.* 
 
 But whence are derived these conceptions of the moral 
 character and condition of the heathen ? Not from the 
 Bible — they are there all recognised as depraved ; all under 
 condemnation for their depravity of heart, and abominable 
 deeds ; all condemned for their idolatry, as the consummation 
 both of folly and guilt, the result not of filial affection for 
 God, but of enmity against him, and of a reprobate mind, to 
 which God has given them up, because they did not like to 
 retain him in their knowledge. The wrath of God is re- 
 vealed from heaven against them, and they are represented 
 as needing the Saviour, the Bible, the Sabbath, and the 
 preaching of the Gospel, for the same purpose, and in the 
 same degree that we need them. If the Gospel would be no 
 blessing to them, it is none to us. If their superstitions are 
 as salutary to them in their moral influence, as the Gospel 
 would be ; they would be as great a blessing to us, as the 
 Gospel is. 
 
 Make the exchange then, ye who profess such charity and 
 philanthropy towards the heathen. Give them your Bibles, 
 and pastors, and Sabbaths, and receive their idols, and 
 bramins, and religious rites. Demolish the temples of 
 Jehovah ; and roll through your streets the car of Juggernaut, 
 " besmeared with blood of human sacrifice," and covered 
 with emblems of pollution. Put out the Sun of Righteousness, 
 and bring back the darkness visible. Kindle up the fires 
 that shall consume annually, in a circumference of thirty 
 miles, two hundred and seventy five widows on the dead 
 bodies of their husbands, and leave behind thousands of 
 children, doubly orphans. Welcome to your shores the re- 
 ligion, which shall teach your children, when you are sick, to 
 lay you down by the cold river side to die ; and when their 
 mothers shall shrink from the glowing flame, with tlieir own 
 
 * " I would not lift a finger," said an infidel philosopher, " to convert to Christiani- 
 ty the whole Chinese empire." This in him was consistent. But what shall be 
 thought of those who profess to be christians, who will not lift a finger iu the great 
 effort now making to evangelize llie world ? 
 
180 
 
 hands to thrust them in. Welcome to your hearts a religion, 
 which shall teach you to entice your smiling children to the 
 waves, and plunge them in, to attract by their cries the 
 sympathy of strangers, or to perish and become the food of 
 alligators. Welcome to your hearts a religion, which, if sin 
 shall annoy, and the fear of punishment invade, will send you 
 to drink of the waters that lave your shores, and wash in 
 their flood, as your most effectual remedy. Fill your houses 
 with Indian gods, of brass, and wood, and stone j and blow 
 the trumpet of jubilee at your emancipation from the Gospel; 
 and shout before your idols, " These be thy gods, O Israel !" 
 Oh, what superfluous benevolence has the Father mani- 
 fested in giving his Son to die for those, whom the blood of 
 bulls and of goats might have saved, as well as the blood of 
 Jesus. What mere enthusiasm has actuated prophets and 
 apostles, in their efforts to transmit to other ages a book so 
 useless as the Bible, and. insthutions no better than the horrid 
 rites of pagan worship. When Jesus gave to the inspired 
 band their high commission, " Go ye out into all the earth, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature ;" why did they not 
 perceive the mistaken zeal of their master, and announce, in 
 anticipation of the discovery of later days, that the heathen 
 are holy enough without the Bible and the foohshness of 
 preaching, and save ages of toil, and rivers of blood. But 
 the heathen are not holy. Read the first chapter of the 
 Epistle to the Romans, and behold a portrait drawn by the 
 pen of inspiration. " Filled with all unrighteousness, forni- 
 cation, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, 
 murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers, backbiters, 
 haters of God, despheful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil 
 things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant 
 breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." 
 This is the result of that heathen mythology, so " elegant ;" 
 and these are those children of our common Father, so 
 sincere in their efforts to please him, and so pure, as not to 
 need to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Read the 
 
181 
 
 account of Buchanan, and you will perceive that the draw- 
 ing is, still, to the life. No pollution is washed away, no 
 stain of blood effaced, and no ray of light has fallen upon 
 the canvass to alleviate the gloom. Read your Bible, and 
 you will perceive that no change for the better is ever to be 
 expected, but from the diffusion of the Bible, and the preach- 
 ing of the Gospel. 
 
 My dear Brethren, the heathen are neither holy nor 
 happy. — They are depraved, and must be born again. — 
 They are ignorant, and must be instructed. — They are prof- 
 ligate, and must be reclaimed. — They are debased by their 
 superstitions, and must be raised. — They are tortured by 
 vain fears and useless penances, and must be relieved. — The 
 stern hearted god of this world rules them with an excrucia- 
 ting despotism ; and their groans, disregarded for ages, have 
 at length reached the heavens ; and the voice of the Almighty 
 has come dov/n from above, saying, "Whom shall I send, 
 and who will go for us .'"' and you, brethren, have answered, 
 *' Here are we, send us.'^ God has accepted your offer ; 
 and you are this day to be set apart, to carry the Bible and 
 to preach the Gospel, to the heathen. It is a great, but it is 
 also a glorious work ; and you are not alone. God is with 
 you : — Jesus Christ is with you : — the Holy Spirit is with 
 you : — the hearts of all the pious are with you : — our sub- 
 stance, we pledge for your support; and our prayers, day 
 and night, for your protection, and comfort, and for the out- 
 pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the heathen, to whom you 
 shall preach the Gospel. 
 
 May the prayer-hearing God bear you in safety across the 
 deep ; open before you in heathen lands an effectual door ; 
 make you the blessed instruments of raising, to the fellowship 
 of angels and justified spirits, thousands, who otherwise had 
 died in their sins, and been wretched and miserable forever ; 
 and, after a long life, bestow upon you in heaven " joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory." 
 24 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 THE DESIGN, RIGHTS, AND DUTIES OF LOCAL CHURCHES. 
 
 1 Tim. iii. 14, 15. 
 
 These things write I unto thee, hoping to com£ unto thee shortly : But if I 
 tariy long, that thou raayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the 
 house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of 
 the truth. 
 
 It has pleased God to carry into effect his purpose of 
 redeeming men, by the instrumentahty of a visible society 
 organized exclusively for that end. This society, commencing 
 its operations soon after the fall, and extending them through 
 every intervening age, and destined to labor in the sacred 
 cause till the last day, has been denominated the Church of 
 God. It is in the text called a house, as embodying in one 
 family the children of God, and as the seat of their social 
 labors, protection and enjoyment. By a change of figure, it 
 is denominated the pillar and ground of the truth ; to denote, 
 doubtless, the actual efficacy of the church in upholding from 
 age to age the cause of God. 
 
 The first form of the church appears to have been patri- 
 archal, in adaptation to the most simple state of human soci- 
 ety, as existing in tribes, originating in a common ancestor, 
 and united by ties of blood and mutual interests and dangers. 
 
183 
 
 In the church thus organized, the common ancestor was the 
 priest, to instruct his descendants and uphold the divine wor- 
 ship. The life of the patriarch, extending in the first ages 
 to nearly a thousand years, rendered a written revelation less 
 important, and gave to his precepts and example, authority 
 for the maintenance of truth and the instituted worship of 
 God. 
 
 The next form of the visible church was one, which was 
 accommodated to the exigencies of a nation. The progress 
 of society from the pastoral to the agricultural and commer- 
 cial state, amalgamated tribes and constituted nations. By 
 these changes and the reduction of human life to an hun- 
 dred and twenty years, the efficacy of patriarchal instruction 
 and authority was destroyed ; and families, having no com- 
 mon head, were scattered abroad, and soon exchanged the 
 knowledge and worship of the true God, for the fictions 
 and impurities of idolatry. • 
 
 To counteract this propensity of man to depart from God, 
 and to provide a substitute for the patriarchal system, the 
 Jewish church was organized — an extended association of 
 families, each of which was made responsible to the commu- 
 nity for its fidelity in upholding the instituted worship, and 
 for the fidelity of each, the whole community is made respon- 
 sible to God. To the church of God thus organized, was 
 given a territory, to be held upon the condition of constancy 
 in the maintenance of the true worship ; and to aid the 
 church in her work, a written revelation was committed to 
 her care, and forms of worship were prescribed. When the 
 temporary purpose of this dispensation was answered, in the 
 preservation of religion until the desire of nations had come, 
 and by the oflfering of himself, had made propitiation for sin ; 
 then, that he might give to his atonement a more extended 
 operation in the salvation of man, the external form of the 
 church was again changed, in accommodation to the exi- 
 gencies of the world. This was done, by requiring in all 
 nations, individuals possessing the requisite qualifications, to 
 
184 
 
 associate under the laws of Christ, for the advancement of 
 the great designs of his kingdom. Wherever, therefore, a 
 number of individuals, possessing the required quahfications, 
 associate to maintain the ordinances of the Gospel, they 
 become a society incorporated by the God of heaven tvith 
 specific chartered privileges. This is the foundation of local 
 churches. The rights of these local associations, include the 
 election of their own officers, and the framing of their own 
 articles of faith, and the ordering of their own worship and 
 discipline, according to their conceptions of the word of God. 
 The organization is such as may embody, and ultimately will 
 embody, the population of the world. 
 
 Tt will be the object of this discourse, to Illustrate 
 
 The designs of the Most High in the organiza- 
 tion OF local churches, and the requisite quali- 
 fications FOR MEMBERSHIP. 
 
 One obvious design of local churches is the consummation 
 of holiness in believers, and their preparation for heaven. 
 Christians are imperfect ; and if, in a moment, it were possi- 
 ble to efface every stain of sin, it pleases God to accomplish 
 the work progressively, by the interposition of moral influ- 
 ence. The church is the society in which this influence is 
 to be exerted, it is the school of instruction and discipline. 
 There, is the sacred light of truth to shine, restraint to ope- 
 rate, and impression to be made upon the heart. There, 
 are the prayers of the saints and their praises and confessions 
 to be offered. There, is to be enjoyed, mutual fellowship, 
 watchfulness, exhortation and aid ; and there, the Lord com- 
 mandeth his blessing, even life forever more. In accord- 
 ance with this primary design of the church, apostles and 
 prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, are said to be 
 given for the perfecting of the saints, — for the edifying of 
 the body of Christ. 
 
 Local churches are designed also, to secure die purity and 
 perpetuity of revealed truth. The propensity of man to 
 
185 
 
 change the truth of God into a lie, is notorious. To coun- 
 teract this determination of a rebel world to forget God, the 
 reiterated miraculous interposition of Heaven has been stea- 
 dily required, until the sacred canon was completed. When 
 that event was accomplished, the lively oracles were commit- 
 ted to the church, with the responsibility of contending 
 earnestly for the doctrines, precepts and ordinances, contain- 
 ed in them. It is in reference to the agency of the church 
 in maintaining the doctrines and moral influence of the Bible, 
 that she is called the salt of the earth, the light of the world, 
 and the pillar and ground of the truth. 
 
 Local churches are organized also, for the preservation of 
 the sabbath, and the maintenance of the public worship of God. 
 It is not enough, to secure the salvation of man, that truth 
 is revealed and continued from age to age, in the Bible and 
 in the church. To be made effectual, it must be communi- 
 cated ; and for this purpose, a system of moral administra- 
 tion must lend its instrumentality. But in a world lying in 
 wickedness, the besetting influence of sloth, the temporisings 
 of fear, the cravings of avarice, and the repellencies of a 
 heart averse from God, will prevent the spontaneous forma- 
 tion of any abiding measures for the religious instruction of 
 mankind, or even, for the preservation of that system which 
 God has established. The tide of worldliness, unobstructed, 
 would roll over the sabbath day, and extinguish the fire upon 
 the altar of God. To churches therefore, is committed the 
 work of preserving the sabbath, and of perpetuating the 
 worship of God ; — not by physical power, but by that moral 
 influence, which the word and institutions of heaven sustained 
 by the church, exert upon the consciences of men, and upon 
 the laws and habits of civil society. 
 
 Another design of heaven in the organization of local 
 churches, is, by means of an efficient system of religious 
 instruction, to secure the continued existence of these reli- 
 gious corporations themselves, for the benefit of the rising 
 generation. If the God of mercy intended the salvation of 
 
186 
 
 but one generation of men, no prospective arrangements for 
 llie salvation of succeeding generations would be needed ; 
 but, as the work of redemption is to be continued, the appro- 
 priate means must be "iransmitted. The pious of one genera- 
 tion pass off the stage in about thirty years. In that short 
 period, were no precautionary measures employed to pre- 
 vent, the cause of God might become extinct. The church 
 however will live ; the gates of death will not prevail : but 
 it will be continued as seed time and harvest are continued, 
 by enterprise, appropriate for that purpose. This enterprise 
 is to be directed, especially, to the education of the children 
 of the church, and of such others as are voluntarily com- 
 mitted to her care. To every church is committed the su- 
 perintendence of that education of children, upon which her 
 continued existence depends. As fellow workers with God, 
 the members of every local church are bound to raise up 
 another generation of believers to serve him when they are 
 dead ; and no church has answered the end of her existence, 
 which does not accomplish this. 
 
 But to uphold the worship of God, and to lead in the great 
 work of religious education, professional instructers are re- 
 quired, qualified by their piety and knowledge, and devoted ex- 
 clusively to their work. In secular concerns, the demand of 
 any article in the market will produce a supply ; but it is not so, 
 in relation to competent instructers in religion. If none were 
 intrusted with the work of rearing up ministers for the sanc- 
 tuary, and no forethought were exercised, and no system- 
 atized exertion brought into steady operation ; the wastes of 
 death and the demands of an accumulating population could 
 not be supplied ; churches would mourn the bereavement of 
 pastors without a prospect of having their loss repaired, and 
 the regions of the shadow of death would every year become 
 more extended, dark and hopeless. The public instruction, 
 by means of which the church of God has hitherto been 
 continued, has not been the result of a common course of 
 nature ; but rather, of the deliberate prospective labors of the 
 
187 
 
 church herself, for that end. The Jewish church supported 
 one tribe out of twelve, which was consecrated to the purposes 
 of her religion, and in this tribe maintained her schools of the 
 prophets. The primitive churches regarded it as a primary 
 object of their organization, to thrust laborers into the vine- 
 yard, and as soon as they obtained a settled rest, reared in- 
 stitutions for the education of pious youth for the ministry. 
 All the seminaries of modern Europe, were founded with a 
 primary reference to the preparation of men for the ministry. 
 And, scarcely had the Fathers of New England escaped the 
 edge of the sword, in this new world, before, anticipating the 
 wants of future ages, they laid the foundations of literary 
 ingtitutions, to provide pastors for the church of God. Every 
 college in New England, and nearly every one in the United 
 States, was founded in anticipation of the future wants of the 
 church, and with a view to supply them, by rearing up quali- 
 fied instructers. To local churches is committed still, the 
 work of providing religious instructers for succeeding gene- 
 rations and for the world. Every church is an education 
 society, organized by the God of heaven, expressly for the 
 purpose of providing an evangelical ministry. It may be 
 proper for churches, by formal resolutions, to recognize neg- 
 lected obligation ; but it does not depend on the vote of a 
 church, whether it shall be her duty or not to co-operate 
 with other churches, in providing an able ministry for the 
 perfecting of the saints, and the conversion of the world. 
 God has made it her duty ; and the vows of God are in this 
 respect upon every church. 
 
 But the whole earth is destined to experience the illumi- 
 nation of the Gospel. The means to be employed for this 
 purpose, are the translation and dissemination of the Bible, 
 the preaching of the Gospel, the planting of churches, and 
 the establishment of schools among the heathen. — The work 
 is great, and, whhout the guidance and energy of permanently 
 organized bodies, cannot be done ; but it is in the hands of 
 permanently organized bodies — God has committed it to 
 
188 
 
 local churches, who are missionary societies, to be con- 
 tinued from age to age, to urge on the work of evangelizing 
 the world. The primitive churches understood the duties of 
 their calling, in accordance with our views of the subject; and 
 did, through every vicissitude of poverty and distress, make 
 vigorous exertions to propagate the Gospel. The Protestant 
 churches, environed by the papists, and in strenuous conflict 
 for existence, could have but Uttle time or strength for a 
 more distant warfare. Awaking also in a world without 
 form and void, they had enough to do to reduce the chaos to 
 order, and to fill the space with Bibles, and pastors, expo- 
 sitions, and sermons. They made exertions at home, un- 
 paralleled since the apostolic age. But even they, unHer 
 the patronage of the High Admiral of France, sent five ships 
 to the Brazils with missionaries and supplies to establish 
 in South America the Protestant religion. The enterprise 
 failed ; but they evinced their sense of obligation, and have 
 doubtless reaped in heaven their reward. It is only to be 
 added, that churches of all denominations at this day are be- 
 ginning to perceive their duty, and to place themselves in a 
 posture of readiness to perform it. 
 
 The requisite qualifications for membership in a church of 
 Christ, the next subject of consideration, are personal holi- 
 ness in the sight of God, and a credible profession of holiness 
 before men. 
 
 This is clearly indicated by the design of the church. Is 
 the church organized to consummate the work of righteous- 
 ness in the hearts of believers, to maintain the purity, and 
 secure the perpetuity of truth, to rescue the sabbath from 
 profanation, and the worship of God from extinction, to 
 guarantee her own continued existence by an efficient system 
 of religious education, and to bless future ages by providing 
 pastors, and missionaries, and Bibles, till the earth is full of 
 the knowledge of God ^ Can there be any doubt to what 
 description of persons this work has been committed ? The 
 
189 
 
 Scriptures recognize but two classes of men, distinguished by 
 the state of their hearts with respect to God, his law, and 
 Gospel, and providential government ; the one denominated 
 the friends of God, the other alienated from him ; the one 
 holy, the other unholy ; the one righteous, the other wicked. 
 All men are included under one or the other of these oppos- 
 ing terms. There is no middle ground known in the Bible. 
 No third party, neither friends nor enemies of God, neither 
 holy nor unholy, have ever been recognized on the sacred 
 page. 
 
 It is to the friends of God then, doubtless, and not to ahen- 
 ated subjects, that he has committed the preservation and 
 propagation of his truth and worship ; and credible evidence 
 of holiness, must doubtless be the condition of admission to 
 visible membership. If there could be any doubt on the 
 subject, the recorded history of this sacred institution would 
 put an end to it. In the first age of the world, we find Cain 
 and his offering rejected, and Abel, offering to God by faith, 
 an acce^able sacrifice. We find the " sons of God," a 
 name through the Scriptures appropriated to those who made 
 a credible profession of religion, existing as a community dis- 
 tinct from the children of men, and forming at length crimi- 
 nal alliances of marriage with their daughters ; by means of 
 which the power of the church as a religious community was 
 destroyed, and the earth was filled with violence, which 
 brought down the exterminating flood. 
 
 When the church, in prospect of this judgment, was to be 
 preserved, borne on the bosom of that deep, which swept 
 away the ungodly, to whom was the work of preservation 
 committed ^ It was committed to Noah, whom God had 
 seen righteous before him, in that wicked generation. — 
 When the darkness of idolatry had again spread itself over 
 the earth, and the foundations of a new dispensation were to 
 be laid, to whom was that great work committed f To 
 Abraham, who received circumcision as a seal of the right- 
 eousness of the faith, which he had before he was circumcised ; 
 
190 
 
 and of whom it was testified by the Searcher of hearts, " I 
 know him, that he will command his children and his house- 
 hold after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord." 
 To Isaac was committed the same charge, while Ishmael, 
 who mocked, was cast out. To Jacob in succession it de- 
 scended, while Esau, the profane, despising and alienating 
 the patriarchal priesthood, was rejected. 
 
 When the patriarchal form of the church was succeeded 
 by the Jewish, the qualification of j^ersonal holiness was still 
 demanded. The profession, whi.ch the members of that 
 church were required to make, is a profession of true re- 
 ligion. " And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God re- 
 quire of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his 
 ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God, with 
 all thy heart, and with all^thy soul." Can this be done with- 
 out holiness ? 
 
 The profession which the Jewish church actually did 
 make, is a profession of true religion. Moses is directed by 
 the Most High to say unto the people ; " If ye will obey my 
 voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a 
 peculiar treasure unto me, above all people." And when 
 Moses proposed the above terms of divine favor, all the 
 people answered together and said ; " All that the Lord 
 hath spoken we will do." In reference to a renewal of their 
 covenant with God, Moses says to the Jewish church, " Thou 
 hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God — and the 
 Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people." 
 If this is not a profession of true religion, language is inade- 
 quate to the making of such a profession. In the time of 
 Asa, the church again covenanted, to seek the Lord God of 
 their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul. 
 " And all Judah rejoiced at the oath : for they had sworn 
 with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire ; 
 and he was found of them." 
 
 Whenever by their overt transgression, or neglect of duty, 
 the credibility of their profession was destroyed ; they were 
 
191 
 
 reproved and denounced as hypocrites, " Unlo the wicked 
 God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or 
 that thou shouldest take my covenant into thy mouth." 
 Their attendance upon the instituted worship of God is de- 
 nounced also, as an abomination ; while the immoralities of 
 their conduct demonstrated the insincerity of their profession. 
 
 The continuance of formal worship without piety, is threat- 
 ened with the most terrible punishment. " Wherefore the 
 Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with 
 their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have re- 
 moved their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is 
 taught by the precept of men ; therefore, behold, I will pro- 
 ceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a 
 marvellous work and a wonder : for the wisdom of their wise 
 men shall perish, andlhe understanding of their prudent men 
 shall be hid." If the Jews, as a community, were not re- 
 quired to profess, and in their covenant with God, did not 
 profess true religion ; how could drawing near with the mouth 
 only, be considered as a crime ? When the members of this 
 church are recalled from their backsliding by the prophets, 
 they are directed to return in the exercise of holy affections. 
 " If thou wilt return, O Israel, return unto me : and thou shalt 
 swear, The Lord liveth, in truth. Circumcise yourselves to 
 tlie Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men 
 of Judah ; lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that 
 none can quench it." 
 
 Whenever an individual, family, or tribe, demonstrated by 
 obstinate disobedience, their irreligion ; they were to be ex- 
 communicated. On this ground, the generation that left 
 Egypt, was excluded from Canaan. " They could not 
 enter in because of unbelief." When the members of this 
 same church had, by crucifying the Lord of glory, filled up 
 the measure of their sin, they were broken off by unbelief ; 
 and those who succeeded them in the same church, both 
 Jews and Gentiles, stood by faith. Hence, when John the 
 Baptist, in anticipation of the excision of the great body of 
 
192 
 
 the Jews from visible membership, came to. prepare the way 
 of the Lord before him ; that preparation consisted in 
 forming subjects for the continuance of the church, under 
 her ev.angehcal form. But what was the required prepa- 
 ration ? It was repentance, and fruits meet for repentance. 
 When our Saviour himself, opened his ministry ; he promul- 
 gated the same terms of discipleship. " From that time 
 Jesus began to preach, and to say. Repent, for the kingdom 
 of heaven is at hand." 
 
 The commission, given by our Saviour to his apostles, at 
 his ascension, directs them first to make disciples, and then 
 to baptize them, inculcating universal obedience. The quali- 
 fications for discipleship, Jesus had before disclosed. They 
 were, love to Christ above father or mother; daily self- 
 denial; real religion. The apostles, then, were to preach 
 the Gospel, and by the blessing of God to make disciples, 
 who, as such, were to become visible members of the church 
 of Christ. In this manner, the apostles understood their com- 
 mission, and practised upon it. When, under their preaching, 
 men were pricked in heart and demanded, " what must we 
 do to be saved .^" the answer given was, " repent and be 
 baptized ;" " believe, and thou shalt be saved." All the 
 instances of adult baptism, and of admission to the church, 
 recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, proceed upon the 
 ground of a credible profession of religion. Accordingly, 
 individual professors, and churches collectively, are denomi- 
 nated by a variety of epithets applicable only to persons of 
 real piety ; and applied to them with propriety, only upon 
 the supposition that they professed real religion. They are 
 addressed as " beloved of God ;" " saints, whose faith is 
 spoken of throughout the whole world ;" " full of goodness ;" 
 " the sanctified in Christ Jesus ;" " children of the promise ;" 
 " those in whom God has begun a good work which he will 
 carry on ;" " faithful brethren, who love all saints ;" " whose 
 hope is laid up in heaven ;" " the elect of God ;" " begotten 
 with the word of truth ;" " the sanctified of God the Father, 
 
193 
 
 and preserved in Jesus Christ and called." Whenever in- 
 stances of immorality or apostacy occurred, by which the 
 credibility of their profession was destroyed, they were dealt 
 with first, as fallen brethren, but if incorrigible, they were 
 excommunicated as deceivers. 
 
 The obligations of brotherly love, originate in the supposed 
 existence of the temper of Christ, in the hearts of his profes- 
 sed people. They are required to love one another as 
 Christians, with a pure heart fervently ; for which love there 
 could be no foundation, but upon the supposition of a credi- 
 ble profession of real religion. 
 
 The nature of the sacraments, evince also clearly, the 
 qualifications required of those who are to partake of them. 
 The sacrament of the Lord's supper, is not merely a memo- 
 rial of an absent friend and benefactor ; but the token of a 
 covenant, in which we avouch the Lord Jehovah to be our 
 God ; and which is renewed and sealed as often as we sit 
 down at his table. But who can with propriety seal a 
 covenant, which he has never made ? and who, without 
 holiness, can truly avouch the Lord Jehovah to be his God ? 
 It would be to swear falsely — It would be lying unto God, 
 over the broken body and flowing blood of the Saviour. 
 
 The sacrament of baptism, as applied to infants, has the 
 same reference to the perpetuity of the church by securing 
 fidelity in the religious education of children, that the Lord's 
 supper has, to the continuance and consummation of holiness, 
 in the hearts of believers. The parent, and the whole 
 church, at the baptism of an infant, renew respectively their 
 covenant with God, to be faithful in the work of religious 
 education. The parent devotes himself anew to God in this 
 work, and dedicates his child to God : and the token of his 
 covenant whh God is apphed to the child, as a memento to 
 the parent that the child is depraved, and must be washed in 
 the blood of Christ ; is devoted to God, and must be trained 
 up in his nurture and admonition. It is successively applied 
 to each child, because each is a sinner ; because, as the 
 
194 
 
 charge increases, the duty of education hecomes more im- 
 portant, and difficult ; and because, parental worldliness and 
 sloth demand reiterated admonition. By every baptism, 
 also, all the families of the church who are engaged in the 
 same work of religious education, are admonished of their 
 duty, and of the vows of God that are upon them ; while to 
 the church collectively, which is pledged to watch over the 
 families of the faithful associated in her communion, it is an 
 ordinance of frequent and perpetual recurrence, to keep awake 
 the eye of inspection, and to fortify with ceaseless vigor, the 
 heart devoted to God in this great work : while as an index it 
 points, with constant repetition, to the dear objects of her care. 
 But how can those who give not themselves to God, give up 
 tlieir children ? or how can those, who do not perform them- 
 selves the duties of religion, engage to command their household 
 after them, to fear the Lord and keep his commandments. 
 
 Finally, the discriminations of the last day, decide what 
 are the qualifications for membership in the church of God. 
 The family on earth and in heaven, are one : and all in the 
 church below, who possess, in the sight of God, the qualifi- 
 cations which he has required, will be openly acknowledged 
 and accepted in the day of judgment. But, in the day of 
 judgment, the righteous only are accepted of God ; and the 
 wicked are turned into hell. Then will he root up in his 
 field every plant, which himself did not plant there. Then 
 will he separate the tares from the wheat. Then, with fan 
 in his hand, will he thoroughly purge his floor. Then will 
 he send forth his angels, and gather out of his kingdom 
 whatsoever offends. — Then will he say to them on his left 
 hand, Depart, ye cursed, and they shall go away into ever- 
 lasting punishment, but the righteous into hfe eternal. 
 
 The positions illustrated in this discourse, justify, it is be- 
 lieved, the following inferences. 
 
 1. It is the policy and duty of civil governments, to favor 
 the exertions of churches for the support of religious insti- 
 
195 
 
 tutions. It does not appertain to them to. impose creeds, or 
 to prescribe ceremonies of worship, or to inflict civil penal- 
 ties for offences, merely ecclesiastical. Nor is any injurious 
 preference to be given, to one denomination abova another. 
 To governments appertain, however, the selection and ap- 
 plication of the most effectual means of public safety and 
 prosperity. But it is by the moral influence of religious in- 
 stitutions only, that civil laws can avail, to form the most 
 perfect state of human society. Civil laws cannot reach the 
 spring of action, and prevent social evils that annoy, or coerce 
 social virtues that enrich society : and religion, by her moral 
 influence alone, cannot arrest the arm of violence, or punish 
 encroachments upon life and property. In free governments 
 also, where the people legislate and administer by delegated 
 power, the laws cannot be executed beyond the sanction of 
 public opinion, however corrupt that may be : while in des- 
 potic governments, the laws will often be made and executed 
 with a severity, which renders it difficult to decide which is 
 most dreadful, the outrage of crime, or the terrific reaction of 
 law. It is only the influence from above, maintained by re- 
 ligious institutions, breathing their benign influence into sys- 
 tems of legislation, and extending their all-pervading efficacy 
 through every relation of social life, that men are qualified, 
 and inclined, to enjoy the blessing of a free, mild, efficient 
 government. Unless lawgivers, then, would hold their places 
 as sinecures, and abandon the people to the evils which gov- 
 ernments are instituted to prevent, they will be disposed, and 
 as men of principle, will feel bound to promote the civil wel- 
 fare of the community, by giving to religious institutions every 
 practicable facility for exerting a vigorous moral influence 
 upon the minds of men. 
 
 This was the policy of the fathers of New England : and 
 explains the origin, nature and design, of ecclesiastical so- 
 cieties. They were formed, not to control the churches, and 
 not to become churches ; and much less to destroy them : 
 but to afford to the churches, with the advantage of system. 
 
196 
 
 and under the cognizance of law, an efficient co-opera- 
 tion. 
 
 This co-operation of ecclesiastical societies with the church- 
 es, in tha support of religious institutions, always produced a 
 benign effect. No such state of human society, civil, moral, 
 literary and religious, has ever existed in our world to such 
 an extent, and for so long a time, as has been formed, and 
 continued, by these means, in New England : and whoever 
 shakes the corner stone of this system, will bring to the dust, 
 the noblest edifice ever reared by divine and human co- 
 operation ; and will transmit to posterity, evidence of pre- 
 eminent folly, and ceaseless occasion of execration and 
 regret. 
 
 2. Every person, believing himself to be the subject of 
 true religion, and able to afford to others credible evidence 
 of the fact ; is bound to confess Christ before men, and to 
 enrol himself as a member of some visible church. 
 
 It is the revealed will of God, that his people should exist 
 in a visible organized form, both, for the more advantageous 
 enjoyment of personal privileges, and for their more efficient 
 co-operation in the preservation and extension of the religion 
 of the Gospel. Every behever needs the aid of ordinances 
 peculiar to the church ; and is not at liberty to neglect the 
 means of his own edification. He owes to his Saviour, the 
 influence of his example ; and has no right to put his hght 
 under a bushel. He needs the confidence for action, which 
 a profession of religion only can inspire ; and the facilities 
 and excitements to action, which social enterprise alone can 
 afford. The friends of their country, when she is invaded, 
 may as well refuse to enrol themselves in an army, and trust 
 to individual effort ; as the friends of Christ may stand alone 
 in their conflict with principalities and powers, and spiritual 
 wickedness in high places. The captain of our salvation has 
 commanded his friends to associate, and act together as the 
 Lord's host. He allows of no exception to this general order. 
 He required an open profession of rehgion when the loss of 
 
197 
 
 property and reputation were the certain consequences, and 
 death itself stared every man in the face who should confess 
 him before men. 
 
 Prevailing doubts, concerning the reality of personal reli- 
 gion, may occasion the delay of a public profession for a time ; 
 but he who believes himself to be a christian, and will not 
 assume the responsibilities and perform the duties connected 
 with a public profession, affords fearful evidence that he is 
 ashamed of Christ, and that Christ in the day of judgment 
 will be ashamed of him. 
 
 3. A church of Christ cannot be constituted, or continued, 
 without personal holiness in the members. 
 
 We do not say that every member must be holy, but if 
 none are pious, it cannot be a church of Christ. If a small 
 number only are pious, in alliance with an overwhelming 
 majority by whom their designs are overruled, and the end 
 of a visible church defeated, they do not so sanctify the visi- 
 ble community, as to constitute it a church of Christ. In 
 such alliance, the pious, instead of acting as pioneers of the 
 cross, will be led as captives in chains, to grace the triumphs 
 of error — will serve as a decoy of others to the unhallowed 
 community, and as a quietus to the consciences of worldly 
 men, who will feel safe, as long as pious people dare to con- 
 tinue, and act with them. The command of Christ to indi- 
 viduals in such circumstances is, " come out from among 
 them, ye my people." 
 
 Baptism in infancy does not constitute adult membership 
 in the visible church. 
 
 It neither secures, nor proves the existence of personal 
 holiness in those who are baptized, when they come to years 
 of understanding. And we are not at liberty to suppose that 
 God has required personal holiness as a qualification for 
 membership in his church, and for purposes essential to its 
 existence, and which unholy men never did, and never will 
 accomplish ; and then, that he has contravened his own ap- 
 pointment, and insured the defeat of his own designs, by 
 26 
 
198 
 
 admitting the unholy to membership, in" virtue of a rite ad- 
 ministered in infancy. The children of the church, baptized 
 in infancy, are the objects of her peculiar care ; and if in any 
 sense church members, they are not in any such sense as 
 supersedes the necessity of a credible profession of rehgion, 
 when they come to years of understanding. If they are 
 members of the church at all, it must be on the ground of 
 membership in the family of the faithful ; so that, when family 
 membership ceases, their connexion with the church must 
 cease of course. I cannot but believe, however, that lan- 
 guage more accurate, and less liable to produce mistake and 
 controversy, may be employed, than that which denominates 
 baptized children church members, without intending in real- 
 ity, what is included in the term as applied to adult member- 
 ship. 
 
 A regularly ordained ministry, an orthodox creed and de- 
 vout forms of worship cannot constitute a church of Christ, 
 without personal holiness in the members. Much less can 
 civil associations of men, though formed for religious pur- 
 poses. 
 
 The attempt which is making to confound the scriptural 
 distinction between the regenerate and the unregenerate, blots 
 out practically, as has long been done in theory, the doctrine 
 of regeneration by the special influence of the Holy Ghost. 
 To abolish the revealed terms of membership in the church 
 of God, and to form churches without reference to doctrinal 
 opinion, or experimental religion, and only by location within 
 parish limits, and by certain civil qualifications, is the most 
 pernicious infidelity that was ever broached. It breaks the 
 spring of motion in the centre of God's system of good will 
 to men, and stops the work of salvation. 
 
 The church, as a collective body, is the organ of God's 
 moral administration, — a chartered community, formed for 
 the special purpose of giving efficacy and perpetuity to the 
 revealed laws of the divine government. The Bible, without 
 churches to give efficacy to its precepts and institutions, will 
 
199 
 
 no more accomplish the gracious purposes of heaven, than 
 law books will accomplish the ends of civil government, with- 
 out an organized administration. The concerns of agriculture, 
 and commerce, and science, and the arts, may be left to the 
 spontaneous impulse of ambition, interest, and necessity. But 
 not so the concerns of religion. In a world of revolt and 
 alienation from God, no spontaneous care of his cause is to 
 be anticipated 5 but rather, a common, extended, powerful, 
 habitual opposition. To propel such a cause, from the be- 
 ginning to the end of time, with all its attendant self-denials, 
 toils, expenses, and sufferings, against the bufFetings of such a 
 stream ; requires the steady, vigorous action, of a constantly 
 organized body, animated by a love stronger than death, and 
 which many waters cannot quench. For this purpose, the 
 church, composed exclusively, as far as man can judge, of 
 the sanctified in Christ Jesus, is organized. But this specific 
 character of her members is as indispensable to her chartered 
 efficacy, as her organized existence itself. The administra- 
 tion of civil government may as well be committed to the 
 known enemies of a nation, or the command of her armies to 
 officers in opposing hostile ranks, as to commit to the hands 
 of unholy men, the great work for which the church of God 
 is instituted. To men, withheld from the appropriate duties 
 of their station by aversion, sloth, business, or pleasure, is 
 committed the administration of the divine practical system, 
 for accomplishing the salvation of the world. Tn such hands 
 the work will stop. The constant energy of love in the heart, 
 quickened daily by new supplies of grace, is scarcely ade- 
 quate to the impulse required. In the hands then of the 
 unholy, the work will not be done ; it will be opposed. The 
 faith delivered to the saints will be contended against. The 
 sabbath will be encroached upon, by its unhallowed defend- 
 ers. The work of rearing pious youth for the sanctuary, 
 will cease ; and talents, and science, and taste, will constitute 
 the primary accomplishments of the ministers of Christ. The 
 religious education of children ^will be neglected ; and as to 
 
200 
 
 the heathen, the virtuous heathen, they will be left to their 
 almost equal privileges with christians, to find their way to 
 heaven without the Gospel. 
 
 That system of aggression which would break down the 
 sacred inclosures about the church, and throw the church 
 and the world together into one common field ; and which, 
 to accomplish its purpose, would bring into competition the 
 rights of churches and of congregations ; and, by designed 
 invidious excitement, arouse and direct the stream of popular 
 indignation against the church, is a system of practical infi- 
 delity, al-med with the principles of a most efficient persecu- 
 tion. It is not only robbing the church of her chartered 
 rights, but it is making their existence and exercise a crime. 
 It is rendering that piety, bestowed upon her for the salvation 
 of others as well as for her own, an occasion of contumely. 
 It is defrauding her of that confidence and affection of the 
 surrounding community, in which her light has shined with 
 benign influence, and in which, without this designed excite- 
 ment of invidious feeling, she might expect to reap in due 
 time the fruit of her labor. 
 
 All the churches of our Lord, and all ecclesiastical socie- 
 ties, and all men who wish ivell to the civil, as promoted by 
 the religious order of our fathers, have more cause to fear 
 and to execrate such a system of aggression, than all the infi- 
 del hooks that ivere ever printed. And though accomplished, 
 by giving to ecclesiastical societies the spoils of the church, 
 it is done at the peril of the existence of these civil associa- 
 tions themselves. Ecclesiastical societies are the offspring, 
 though not the members of the church. Where churches 
 exist, and are faithful, a moral influence is exerted on the 
 community, which produces a voluntary co-operation on the 
 part of those who are not pious, for the support of divine 
 institutions ; resuhing in what is termed the congregation. 
 But, let the church be overwhelmed and amalgamated with 
 the world, or rather, let the world itself without religion, be- 
 come the church ; and speedily, there will be neither church 
 
201 
 
 nor congregation. The mainspring being broken, the system 
 will run down. While the impulse of past religious enter- 
 prise continues, and fashion, continued by the existence of 
 real churches, operates, and opposition to truth produces en- 
 ergy, the splendid forms of religion may remain ; but let the 
 power of religious impulse be spent, arrd the system of de- 
 molition be carried through ; and the form itselfof the church 
 would cease, the sabbath would be blotted out, and infidelity 
 and profligacy would fill the land. 
 
 The ordination of pastors, and organization of churches 
 without reference to doctrinal belief or experimental religion, 
 is also, a complete annihilation of the church, — as really a 
 blotting out of God's revealed practical system of saving men, 
 as that revision of the Bible, which draws the obliterating 
 pen across the doctrinal contents of the whole. The one is 
 the destruction of the book of laws, the other, of the organ- 
 ized system of administration for giving them efficacy ; and 
 both together constitute the most efficient system of infidelity, 
 with which the church of God was ever assailed. Every 
 church whose rights are thus invaded, while struggling for ex- 
 istence among the waves, has a claim upon the sympathies, 
 the prayers, and the charities, if needed, of every other 
 church in the land. The stream which beats upon her, is 
 one, whose power may be directed to any point in our 
 country ; and which, with relentless impartiality, will over- 
 whelm any church, of any name, disposed to maintain the 
 doctrines of the Bible. All the churches of our land have 
 cause to feel the assault which is made upon their christian 
 liberty, and to stand together upon the defensive, in order to 
 resist aggression, and guarantee to each other an inviolable 
 integrity. If any church, through fear, shall be disposed to 
 temporize, she may obtain the enviable privilege of being 
 last destroyed ; but more probably, will be among the first 
 to fall, as timidity and indecision seldom fail to tempt ag- 
 gression, and to render resistance unavaihng. 
 
202 
 
 4. Local churches have a right to require a confession of 
 faith, and a satisfactory account of christian experience, as 
 the condition of membership in their communion. A belief 
 of the truth, attended by corresponding affections of heart, is 
 a part of the evidence which is indispensable to constitute a 
 profession of religion credible. If then, churches have no 
 right to interrogate a candidate for admission concerning the 
 articles of his belief and the exercises of his heart, they are 
 deprived of the only means of preserving the church as a 
 society of faithful men ; for, external actions, without any 
 reference to belief or experience, do not furnish credible ev- 
 idence of piety. Besides, the object of association in all 
 cases, is the increase of strength for some given purpose : 
 and substantial agreement in the main design, is, in the na- 
 ture of things, indispensable to the attainment of any end 
 whatever, by means of association. — The builders of Babel 
 were obliged to desist, for the want of a common medium of 
 ideas, as the means of concert in action. But how much 
 more had their confusion been confounded, had they, though 
 possessing a common language, differed as to the position, 
 form, and materials of their building. Association, in this 
 case, would have been accumulated weakness instead of 
 strength ; each arresting the other's hand, and pulling down 
 what the other had built. The same is true, and more emi- 
 nently true, of divided counsels in associations for moral and 
 religious purposes. " How can two walk together except 
 they be agreed V is a question, which carries its answer upon 
 the face of it. And a ' family, or city, or kingdom, divided 
 against itself, is brought to desolation,' is an inspired decla- 
 ration, the truth of which has been confirmed by immemorial 
 experience. A method, more infallible to defeat all efficient 
 action in behalf of religion in any form, could not be con- 
 trived, than, indiscriminately, to constitute churches of hetero- 
 geneous and warring materials. Every church would be, in 
 this case, another Babel. No building of any form or size 
 could go up, — the association would answer no purpose, but 
 
203 
 
 that of causing its members to do nothing.* As long as 
 Christians differ in their views of doctrine, and discipline, and 
 experimental religion, too widely to admit of minding the 
 same things practically, they ought to associate in churches 
 by themselves ; that those who agree, may by harmonious 
 action, promote that good, which a more comprehensive or- 
 ganization would most assuredly prevent. But it has been 
 said, that God has made it the duty of men to commemorate 
 the death of Christ ; therefore, a church can have no right to 
 prescribe terms of communion that would exclude many 
 well-meaning, moral men. — The church does not prescribe 
 the terms of communion. It is God who has prescribed 
 them, and given to the church the charge of perpetuating her 
 existence, and accomphshing the end of it, by a succession 
 of qualified members. And though it be the duty of all men, 
 to be qualified to join the church, it is the duty of none to 
 join it, till they are qualified by becoming new creatures in 
 Christ Jesus ; nor is it the duty of any church' to receive 
 them, till they afford credible evidence of the change. But 
 of the credibility of this profession, the church, and not the 
 applicant, is the constituted judge. If ^he errs in her judg- 
 ment of evidence, and excludes the qualified, she must answer 
 it to God. But the abuse of a right is no evidence of its 
 non-existence. — No corporation could preserve itself, and its 
 interests, upon the principle that the applicant, and not the 
 chartered body, is to judge of the qualifications for member- 
 ship. Would monied men invest their capital in chartered 
 communities, in which the borrowers, at their own discretion, 
 may become a majority of the board, and control at pleasure 
 the whole concern ^ And has God committed the care of 
 the true riches, to associations of pious men ; and then given 
 to the men of the world the right of membership at their own 
 discretion, and thus of changing the character and defeating 
 the end of the institution ^ 
 
 * But this, to many, seems to be the ultimatum of utility, — the only object of min- 
 isterial efifort and church fellowship, being peace, peace. 
 
204 
 
 5. Local churches with their pastors, agreed in their views 
 of doctrine and christian experience, have a right to associate 
 for mutual defence and increased efficiency in the propaga- 
 tion of religion ; and to agree upon standards of doctrine, 
 and modes of discipline, in accordance with their understand- 
 ing of the Bible. 
 
 No local church can be compelled by other churches, to 
 associate. Each in herself, is independent of any jurisdic- 
 tion from without, exercised against her consent. Still, it is 
 a duty which every church owes to herself, to other church- 
 es, and to God, to associate for purposes of increased safety 
 and efficiency, in answering the various designs of her organ- 
 ization. All the reasons which dictate the association of in- 
 viduals of a given district, in local churches, for local purpos- 
 es ; dictate with equal clearness, the expediency of the 
 association of churches of a more extended district, for more 
 extended general purposes. The elementary companies 
 which constitute an array, may as wisely claim independence, 
 and refuse to act in any but occasional concert, mutually so- 
 licited as the exigencies of war may demand ; as for local 
 churches, in the vici^itudes of their warfare, to depend en- 
 tirely upon the temporary interpositions of churches unallied, 
 but for momentary purposes. If the conduct of a local 
 church affected none but herself, she might with less respon- 
 sibility stand alone. But her conduct exerts, in many re- 
 spects, a powerful influence, good or bad, upon sister church- 
 es : and though she cannot be compelled to do it, she is still 
 bound in equity to consult them with regard to such parts of 
 her administration, as involve their interest as well as her 
 own. 
 
 If any churches are persuaded that the mode of organiza- 
 tion for mutual aid and enterprise, is revealed, let them obey 
 the dictates of conscience ; and if others suppose, that no 
 form of alliance is prescribed, let them obey the dictates of 
 an enlightened discretion. Only let the end of association 
 and concentrated action be obtained, and it is enough. 
 
205 
 
 That local churches have a right to submit their difficuhies 
 to councils of sister churches for advice and decision, is cer- 
 tain from primitive example. The right also, to agree be- 
 forehand, upon the churches and pastors to whom the 
 reference of difficulties shall in all cases be made, and to 
 bind themselves in mutual covenant, that the decision of such 
 standing councils shall be final, is an essential attribute of 
 christian liberty ; and every analogy of the human character 
 dictates the superior efficacy of known stated tribunals, for 
 the adjustment of ecclesiastical, as well as for the adjust- 
 ment of civil causes. The principles of evidence in both 
 cases are the same. The effect of harmonious, or of con- 
 tinually conflicting decisions, would in both cases be the 
 same. The consequences of passion and prejudice, trans- 
 fused into a council, or civil court, would be the same ; and 
 the consequences of having civil or ecclesiastical officers 
 responsible for their conduct only to a popular board, usually 
 under their entire control, would, in both cases, secure 
 impunity in transgression. The constitution of a stated 
 council, voluntarily adopted, is no more a giving up of reli- 
 gious liberty, than the reference by law of secular disputes to 
 a stated civil court instead of a mutual arbitration, is a giving 
 up of civil rights : and it no more constitutes an ecclesiastical 
 despotism, lording it over God's heritage, than civil courts 
 constitute a civil despotism, lording it over states and nations. 
 The cry of popery, against stated ecclesiastical councils, is 
 just as senseless, as the cry of despotism would be, against 
 the constitution of the United States. The one is a volun- 
 tary civil compact, for general purposes, that independent 
 states could not achieve but by union : and the other is a 
 voluntary compact, for religious purposes, that independent 
 churches cannot achieve but by union. 
 
 The independence of the New England churches, as as- 
 serted by our fathers, did not, as might easily be shown, 
 preclude the existence of a voluntary alliance of churches, 
 for ecclesiastical purposes. It consisted in the perfect inde- 
 27 
 
206 
 
 pendence of every church, as to her articles of faith, or forms 
 of worship ; and gives no Hcense to thrust themselves in as 
 rulers and judges in her cases of discipline, without her con- 
 sent. But it did not preclude the right of churches to avail 
 themselves of each other's aid, by any form of association, 
 which they might deem either scriptural or expedient. 
 
 Notwithstanding the torrent of invective poured out against 
 creeds ; after the most deliberate attention to the subject, I 
 have not been able to perceive any rfetional ground of ob- 
 jection against them. There are in every science, elemen- 
 tary principles, without the knowledge of which it can never 
 be understood. The same is true in theology ; for the God 
 who governs the natural world according to stated laws, ad- 
 ministers the concerns of his moral government, by the 
 operation of general principles. It is fashionable, I am aware, 
 to decry system in theology ; but why the Most High should 
 be supposed to observe 07-der in the government of the natu- 
 ral world, so as to lay the foundation for demonstration and 
 system in philosophy ; and at the same time, be supposed to 
 govern his moral kingdom by laws obscurely revealed, includ- 
 ing no general principles, connected by no dependencies, 
 and excluding the possibility of system in theology, is an 
 enigma for those to explain who choose to decry creeds, and 
 to speak contemptuously of system in theology. 
 
 What is the precise ground of objection to creeds ? Does 
 the Bible contain no important, elementary principles ? Are 
 these incapable of being understood ? Can they by no 
 means be exhibited in a brief, connected form ; or can their 
 meaning be correctly expressed in no other language than the 
 precise terms in which they are revealed ; or do the Scrip- 
 tures prohibit a concise exhibition of revealed truth ? How 
 then can the Scriptures be translated, or what right have we 
 to preach the Gospel, or to publish sermons, or commenta- 
 ries ? — Or how can christians communicate to each other 
 verbally, their various opinions concerning the meaning of 
 revelation .'' It is not the object of creeds to supplant the 
 
207 
 
 Bible, but to ascertain, for purposes of concentrated effort in 
 the propagation of truth, how pastors and churches under- 
 stand the Bible. If churches were formed only to worship 
 an unknown God, or to blow the trumpet of an uncertain 
 sound, they would need no confessions of faith ; however 
 they might be pleased to adopt, and feel themselves bound in 
 conscience to propagate, their articles of unbelief. If church- 
 es had nothing to do but to print and distribute the received 
 version of the Bible, without note or comment, they might 
 dispense with standards of doctrine : or if men attached in- 
 variably the same ideas to the language of the Bible, creeds 
 would be superfluous, and the profession of a general belief 
 in the Bible would suffice. But as men differ indefinitely, as 
 to the import of Scripture language ; a profession of a belief 
 in the Bible, as the means of informing those who have a 
 right to know, in what particular sense the Bible is under- 
 stood, has now become an intelligible profession of no one 
 truth which it contains. And to profess that Jesus is the 
 Christ, the Son of God, a phrase which, in the apostolic 
 age, had a known and definite meaning ; does not now, when 
 different circumstances exist, and opposite meanings are at- 
 tached to it, communicate any intelligible profession of our 
 belief on that point : and all pretension of giving an account 
 of our faith, in that manner, is an artifice for concealment, 
 unworthy of honest men, and an indignity offered to the un- 
 derstandings of those, who desire to know in what particular 
 manner we understand the doctrines of the Bible. If men 
 believe nothing, let them profess nothing ; and if they intend 
 to do nothing to defend and propagate the truth, in any form, 
 let them not become members of the church of Christ. But 
 if they have adopted opinions which they believe to be true, 
 and which they feel constrained to propagate, why should 
 they not frame intelligible symbols of their faith, as the means 
 of securing harmonious and efficient action ? 
 
 In the nature of the case, I have been able to perceive no 
 adequate cause for the virulent invective employed against 
 
208 
 
 creeds ; but when I have compared the creeds of the refor- 
 mation with the Bible, and have perceived their general co- 
 incidence with the unperverted dictates of revelation, and 
 their efficacy in uniting the churches and preserving the truth, 
 I have not been surprised at the torrent of declamation which 
 has been poured forth against them ; though I have not 
 ceased to feel astonishment at the misrepresentations of them, 
 which men, of veracity in other respects, have felt themselves 
 at liberty to make. An invading enemy is always prejudiced 
 against fortified positions, and standing armies ; and would 
 much prefer an open country, and an undisciphned militia. 
 And if the good natured people invaded, would consent to 
 adopt the same prejudices, and to act upon the defensive, 
 without concert or fortifications, they would much oblige the 
 enemy ; who, both before and after their subjugation, would 
 doubtless eulogize them, as pre-eminent in liberality and the 
 social virtues. 
 
 Creeds and associated churches create a rugged warfare 
 to the innovator, and reward him with slow gains, and stinted 
 victories of doubtful continuance. Who ever knew a pro- 
 fessor of religion of lax morals, who was not opposed to 
 evangelical discipline ; or one buffetted for his faults, without 
 reformation, who did not cry persecution ; or an attempt 
 made to unite churches, for the defence of the Gospel, which 
 did not arouse the energies, and call forth the declamation of 
 those who avow their opposition to the doctrines of the refor- 
 mation. Not a movement can be made on this subject, but 
 instantly, the Pope is at the door ; the dungeons of the 
 inquisition are under our feet, and the chains, the rack, and 
 the stake, and the fire are prepared. It is strange indeed, 
 that the friends of truth should fear those associations of 
 churches, which the enemies of truth regard, above all things, 
 with aversion and dread. Strange that the prevalence of the 
 same creed, and the same principles of association, by means 
 of which the power of the Pope was broken, and half his 
 dominions wrested from him ; should be regarded with terror. 
 
209 
 
 as the sure means of establishing in this land his iron hearted 
 despotism. I cannot read such declamation, without deep 
 and continual sorrow of heart, that the friends of truth should 
 be deceived and alarmed by it : while the enemy, laughing 
 at our credulity, moves on in firm phalanx, to divide and con- 
 quer. " Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a 
 fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the 
 slain of the daughter of my people." 
 
 7. Churches of different denominations, who regard each 
 other as composed, generally, of members giving evidence of 
 personal holiness ; though differing in their forms of worship 
 and modes of administration, and to some extent, in their 
 views of doctrine, are bound to regard each other with chris- 
 tian affection ; to abstain from all acts of mutual aggression ; 
 and as early, and as far as may be, to mature a system of 
 efficient co-operation, for promoting those interests of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom w'hich are common to them all. 
 
 The spirit of proselytism, which regards exclusively the 
 interests of one denomination, and is concerned in bringing 
 to heaven men in one way or not at all, and which disregards 
 the feehngs and interests of other churches, is a principle of 
 war. As human nature is constituted, there can be no peace 
 among the churches of our Lord of different names, until it is 
 frowned into non-existence. Mutual safety is indispensahle 
 to peace and harmonious action, among churches of different 
 denominations. And with trumpet-tongue, the providence of 
 God is calHng upon Christians of every denomination, to 
 cease from their Hmited views and selfish ends, and to unite 
 in the conflict which is to achieve the subjugation of the 
 world to Christ. The mischiefs of this spirit have been 
 great, and have been endured long enough, to afford experi- 
 mental evidence of its wickedness and folly. From the time 
 the reformed churches commenced the sacramental contro- 
 versy, the reformation received a check ; and to this moment, 
 the lines in nations, cities, towns and villages, are drawn in 
 many instances between Papist and Protestant, as they were 
 
210 
 
 drawn at the reformation. And now, for centuries, tlie re- 
 sources of Protestant churches have been exhausted in stand- 
 ing still, from the balance of each other's action and reaction. 
 While the world have been perishing around them, they have 
 been contending whether a small remnant of men should go 
 to heaven precisely in this, or some other way. It is time to 
 cease from this limited enterprise. Jesus Christ has need of 
 our harmonious exertion, and the world has need of it. 
 Never can the world be emancipated, till those who love our 
 Lord and the souls of men, are released by voluntary suffrage 
 from the diversions, toils, and irritations of a war establish- 
 ment. All the men on our various posts of observation, and 
 all the soldiers in our armies of reserve, must be poured upon 
 the territories of the enemy, while we, without fear, and un- 
 defended, dwell safely side by side. Too long have our 
 alienations been the scoff of infidels, and made us the tools of 
 designing and ambitious men 5 and withdrawn from the cause 
 of Christ, that influence upon society, which it belongs to his 
 religion to exert, and which kind feelings and harmonious ac- 
 tion would not fail to produce. And may God grant that this 
 generation pass not away, before a delegation from all chris- 
 tian denominations shall assemble, to attend the funeral of 
 bigotry and heresy ; and to lay them so deep in the same 
 grave, that they shall not rise till the trumpet of the archangel 
 shall call them to judgment, to answer for their crimes, and 
 to receive the punishment of their deeds. 
 
 7. Local churches are liable to inadequate views of the 
 design and duties of their organization. If the views con- 
 tained in this discourse are correct, more time should be 
 devoted by the members of local churches, to consultation 
 and social prayer. No secular interest so diversified, ex- 
 tended, important and difficult, depending on the resources 
 and steady co-operation of so many individuals of different 
 age and capacity, could be successfully protected and ex- 
 tended without reiterated consultation. And yet how difficult, 
 how almost impossible it is, to convene punctually the mem- 
 
211 
 
 bers of almost any church, to attend to the public concerns of 
 Christ's kingdom ; and to implore the blessing of God upon 
 their labors. Could a few hours on each day of the monthly 
 concert, be employed better, than in deliberation and prayer ? 
 Are thirty six hours in a year too much time to be devoted 
 by every church to the great work of saving men, for the pro- 
 motion of which, churches were organized and are still pre- 
 served ? 
 
 It is equally manifest, that, in conducting the enterprise of 
 evangelizing the world, the churches of our Lord must revert, 
 in some degree, to primitive usage, which committed to 
 stated pastors, the concerns of local churches, and to evan- 
 gelists, the work of propagating the Gospel. We are not to 
 expect the gift of inspiration ; but neither are we to expect 
 that a work greater than that which the primitive church con- 
 ducted, will move on to its consummation without the agency of 
 an order of men, wise and pious, exempt from pastoral cares, 
 and devoted exclusively to the work. The resources, re- 
 quired to evangelize the world within the period assigned for 
 that event by revelation, cannot be committed to incidental 
 management. The number of missionaries to be raised up 
 and supported, the stations to be selected, the fostering care 
 demanded to rear and perpetuate missionary establishments, 
 require imperiously, that the churches put in requisition the 
 time and talents of some of their ablest men. Stated pastors 
 cannot do the work. Associations of ministers incidentally 
 convened, cannot bring to it that maturity of thought, com- 
 prehension of plan, unity of design, adaptation of means, and 
 constancy of application, which are indispensable. And were 
 it not, that the exigency itself will produce the remedy, the 
 extended system of missions would be crushed beneath its 
 own weight, and fall into irretrievable confusion and dis- 
 grace.* Local churches, with their pastors, are the primary 
 
 * The endowment of professorships in a literary institution for purposes of science 
 or religion, is not more demanded, than similar endowments for purposes of practical 
 benekolence in conducting the work of missions: and whoever shall find it in his 
 heart to set an example of such munificence, will establish a claim upon the gratitude 
 of the present and future generations, not surpassed by any. 
 
212 
 
 springs of that river which is to flow from the sanctuary, 
 deeper and broader, till it becomes impassable. But another 
 order of men, devoted to the work, are to search out the 
 barren places, and to conduct and distribute the fertiUzing 
 waters of this mighty river, until the whole earth shall become 
 as the garden of God. 
 
 S. Local churches may perceive, in this discourse, the 
 infallible means of their own preservation and prosperity. 
 
 It is too often said, that the church-universal will live, but 
 that there is no security that a particular church will live. 
 But local churches too may be perpetual. It is only for a 
 church to answer the end of her organization, in the preserva- 
 tion of the truth, in the maintenance of God's worship, in the 
 religious education of children, in the rearing up of pastors and 
 missionaries, and to lend a ready co-operation of charity, 
 and prayer, for the evangelizing of the world, and all the 
 promises of the covenant of grace secure her continuance. 
 The design of God in her formation, as long as that design is 
 accomplished, the ample means provided with reference to 
 her preservation, the expressions of divine love and paternal 
 care, the promises made to the prayer of faith, to the main- 
 tenance of sound doctrine, to the fahhful education of chil- 
 dren, to the administration of gospel discipline, and to 
 charitable exertions for the salvation of men, all guarantee, 
 through successive ages, the existence of the church that so 
 walks in his statutes as to answer in any good degree, the 
 design of her organization. Practical fidelity is the condition 
 of perpetuity ; and though no promise guarantees absolutely, 
 that the condition shall be fulfilled, as absolute promises se- 
 cure the obedience and perseverance of individual believers, 
 and the continuance on earth of a visible church ; still the 
 condition is a practicable one, and one which has been 
 fulfilled for ages by local churches, and may be fulfilled 
 forever. Such, indeed, is the love and patience of God 
 towards his people, that instead of its being an impossible 
 thing to secure the continuance of a local church, it is 
 
213 
 
 usually, only the neglect of duty and contempt of admonition 
 for a long time, that prevails on the Almighty to give her up. 
 
 This view of the subject is calculated to cheer the hearts 
 of feeble churches, struggling with adversity, and to lift up 
 their hands in the work of the Lord. They possess a charter 
 more valuable than worlds, and are under no necessity of 
 giving it up. The powers of darkness, enraged by their 
 light, stand around the sacred territory with malignant im- 
 patience, waiting to re-occupy their possession, and spread 
 over it the darkness of death. But let feeble churches, in- 
 stead of doing nothing because they cannot do every thing, 
 do what they can 5 and the voice of heaven to them is, " O 
 thou afflicted, tossed with the tempest, and not comforted, 
 behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy 
 foundations with sapphires — and all thy children shall be 
 taught of the Lord — and great shall be the peace of thy 
 children — and whosoever shall gather together against thee, 
 shall fall for thy sake." 
 
 The same view of the subject may animate the churches 
 that are strong, to continue and augment the resources con- 
 secrated to the work of domestic missions. Such labors of 
 love are not an experiment of doubtful issue, and no work 
 of supererogation ; but the fulfilment of a relative duty upon 
 which God has always smiled, and always will smile. Let 
 every church, that would perpetuate her own existence, and 
 secure the return into her own bosom of the munificence of 
 heaven, put on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels 
 of mercies towards feeble churches, and open wide her help- 
 ing hand. The considerations which should unite the 
 churches of New England in these efforts of mutual preser- 
 vation, are most powerful. They are united by a common 
 origin, a common faith, worship, and discipline ; and by the 
 endearing recollection of common toils, and dangers. They 
 have wept, and fasted, and prayed together, through scenes 
 of Indian warfare, and European aggression ; and have re- 
 joiced together in temporal deliverances, and in the greater 
 28 
 
2H 
 
 joy of spiritual harvests ; and now they are called to the en- 
 terprise of sowing and reaping together the harvest of the 
 world. Shall one of these hallowed communities then, wax- 
 ing poor, be suffered to expire ? Shall one of them, an 
 object of lawless aggression, be permitted to fall ? 
 
 My Dear Brother, 
 I rejoice in your establishment as a pastor of this respec- 
 table church, in alUance with our beloved brother,* called to 
 devote himself to the more extended concerns of the Re- 
 deemer's kingdom. I rejoice in the prospect of usefulness 
 laid open before you, and in the dawning light of that bright 
 day, which is destined soon to break upon the world. If any 
 considerations could tempt me to regret the lapse of years, 
 and to wish to tread again with youthfid foot the threshold of 
 the sanctuary, it would be to share with you, and those of 
 your age, in the delightful enterprise of propagating the 
 Gospel ; to rejoice with you in the glorious victories of the 
 church, in which you will probably be a partaker, after many 
 of us, who introduce you to this holy warfare, are laid in the 
 grave. The advice which I have to give you on this occasion, 
 will not be miscellaneous, but will be confined to a single 
 point. As your time is to be devoted chiefly to the duties of 
 the pastoral relation, devote yourself primarily to the vital 
 interests of your own and other churches ; and especially to 
 the work of promoting revivals of religion. Let the scorner 
 delight in his scorning ; but remember, thou man of God, 
 that churches without vital religion, are but the splendid 
 sepulchre of souls and the gateway to hell. The existence, 
 and vigor, and extension of the cause of Christ, depend upon 
 the outpouring of the Spirit from on high. Revivals of reli- 
 gion are indispensable to guard the churches against that 
 voluptuousness, which is the consequence of national pros- 
 perity ; and to prevent the idolatry of talent, and the fascina- 
 tions of science ; — to maintain that sound doctrine which the 
 
 * Rev. Samuel Worcester, D. D. Corresponding Secretary of the American Board 
 
 of Commissioners for Foreie^n Missions. 
 
215 
 
 unholy will not bear ; — to maintain the power of godliness, 
 where the standards of doctrine are correct ;-^to maintain an 
 efficient discipline ; — to give efticacy to the system of reli- 
 gious education ; — to provide pious and able pastors and 
 missionaries ; — to augment the numbei* of believers in the 
 churches ; — to give to religion its proper influence upon hu- 
 man society ; — and to constitute one vigorous heart and soul, 
 by which the life blood shall be propelled to the extremities 
 of the earth. They are also indispensable to meet the reac- 
 tion of that instinctive alliance of worldly policy and hatred 
 of the truth, which, increasing discrimination in doctrine, and 
 strictness of practice, and ardor of christian enterprise, will 
 not fail to array against the cause of Christ. There is a point 
 of success, in the progress of the church to inherit the earth, 
 at which a conflict must be sustained to determine whether 
 she shall advance in firm phalanx around the banner of her 
 captain ; or turn her back in a shameful discomfiture, which 
 centuries would not be able to retrieve. 
 
 Brother, despise not this formidable opposition, and sleep 
 not on your post. Be prepared for argument or for action, 
 as the exigencies of the day may demand. But remember, 
 that no adequate security for the churches can be found, but 
 in a revival of vital godliness. Pjeaching and writing books 
 on the side of error are comparatively nothing, for truth has 
 always laughed at the shaking of such a spear. But a system 
 of deliberate action, emancipated from the restraints of con- 
 science, and moving onward by the impulse of passion to 
 accomplish the destruction of evangelical churches, merely 
 because it can, is not to be stopped in its course by argument. 
 Talents are not to be despised, or literary acquisitions to be 
 neglected ; but Leviathan will not be penetrated by such 
 missiles, and the darkness of his deep will not be illuminated 
 by such light. One powerful revival of religion in a great 
 city, will accomplish the overtlirow of more error, and the 
 propagation of more truth, in one month, than ages devoted 
 to hterary acquisition or logical discussion. 
 
216 
 
 These means are not to be neglected. But the champions 
 of the cross must write ujDon their knees, one hand wielding 
 the pen, and the other lifted up in prayer ; and while they 
 write, the churches must pour out before God, their fervent 
 and effectual supphcations. Sermons must be written and 
 preached in demonstration of the Spirit ; and the argument 
 of their controversy must be set on fire from heaven, before 
 it will enlighten the dark heart, or melt the heart of stone. 
 
 Brother, be mighty in prayer, — be mighty in the Scrip- 
 tures ; and though weak in yourself, be strong in the Lord 
 and in the power of his might to revive in the churches of 
 Christ that spirit of vital godliness, which will raise them from 
 the dust, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an 
 army with banners. Thus, diligent in business, and fervent 
 in spirit, consecrate your days ; and you will contribute in a 
 most effectual manner, to fulfil the promise which gives to the 
 Son of God the heathen for his inheritance, and the utter- 
 most parts of the earth for his possession. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 THE FAITH ONCE DELIVERED TO THE S.AINTS. 
 
 Jude, 3. 
 
 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salva- 
 tion, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should 
 earnestly contend for the faitli which was once delivered unto the saints. 
 
 By the faith once delivered to the saints, is to be under- 
 stood the doctrines of the Gospel. These were delivered to 
 the saints by holy men, who spake as they were moved by 
 the Holy Ghost, IThe saints to whom they were delivered, 
 were those who constituted the church under the old dispen- 
 sation, and the new. The exhortation to contend for them 
 earnestly, supposes that they would be powerfully assailed ; 
 and yet, that they might be known and defended. 
 
 It is proposed, in this discourse. 
 
 To GIVE AN EPITOME OF WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE 
 THE FAITH DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS J-^TO STATE THE 
 
 REASONS FOR BELIEVING IT SUCH ; AND TO POINT OUT 
 
 THE MANNER IN WHICH IT BECOMES THE CHURCHES OF 
 
 OUR Lord to contend for it. 
 
2a« 
 
 The faith once delivered to the saints includes, it is be- 
 lieved, among other doctrines, the following : — 
 
 That men are free agents, in the possession of such facul- 
 ties, and placed in such circumstances, as render it practicable 
 for them to do whatever God requires, reasonable that he 
 should require it, and fit that he should inflict, hterally, the 
 entire penalty of disobedience. Such ability is here intended, 
 as lays a perfect*, foundation for government by law, and for 
 rewards and punishments according to deeds. 
 
 That the divine law requires love to God with all the heart, 
 and impartial love for men ; together with certain overt duties 
 to God and men, by which this love is to be expressed ; and 
 that this law is supported by the sanctions of eternal Hfe and 
 eternal death. 
 
 That the ancestors of our race violated this law ; — that, in 
 some vv'ay, as a consequence of their apostacy, all men, as 
 soon as they become capable of accountable action, do, of 
 their own accord, most freely and most wickedly withhold from 
 God the supreme love, and from man the impartial love, which 
 the law requires, besides violating many of its practical pre- 
 cepts : and that the obedience of the heart, which the law 
 requires, has ceased entirely from the whole race of man. 
 
 That, according to the principles of moral government, 
 obedience, either antecedent or subsequent to transgression, 
 cannot avert the penalty of law ; and that^asdon, upon con- 
 dition of repentance merely, would destroy the efficacy of 
 moral government. 
 
 That an atonement has been made for sin by Jesus Christ, 
 with reference to which, God can maintain the influence of 
 his law and forgive sin, upon condition of repentance towards 
 God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ : — that all men are 
 invited sincerely, in this way to return to God, with an assu- 
 rance of pardon and eternal life if they comply. 
 
 That a compliance with these conditions is practicable, in 
 the regular exercise of the powers and faculties given to man 
 as an accountable creature ; and is prevented only by the ex- 
 
219 
 
 ercise of a voluntary, criminal aversion to God, so inflexibly 
 obstinate, that, by motives merely, men are never persuaded 
 to repent and believe. 
 
 That God is able, by his Spirit, to make to the mind of 
 man such an apphcation of the truth, as shall unfailingly con- 
 vince him of sin, render him willing to obey the Gospel, and 
 actually and joyfully obedient. 
 
 That this special influence of the Holy Spirit is given ac- 
 cording to the supreme discretion or good pleasure of God ; 
 and yet, ordinarily, is so inseparably associated with the 
 use of means by the sinner, as to create ample encourage- 
 ment to attend upon them, and to render all hopes of con- 
 version, while neglecting or rejecting the truth, or while living 
 in open sin, eminently presumptuous. 
 
 That believers are justified by the merits of Christ through 
 faith ; and are received into a covenant with God, which se- 
 cures their continuance in holiness forever ; — while those, 
 who die ifi their sins, will continue to sin wilfully, and to be 
 ptmished justly, forever. 
 
 That God exercises a providential government, which ex- 
 tends to all events in such a manner, as to lay a just founda- 
 tion for resignation to his will in afflictions brought upon us 
 by the wickedness of men, and for gratitude in the reception 
 of good in all the various modes of human instrumentality ; — 
 that all events shall illustrate his glory, and be made subser- 
 vient to the good of his kingdom ; — and that this government 
 is administered in accordance with a purpose or plan known 
 and approved of by him from the beginning. 
 
 Finally, that the God of the universe has revealed himself 
 to us as existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost ; possessing distinct and equal attributes, 
 and, in some unrevealed manner, so united, as to constitute 
 one God. 
 
 These are the doctrines, which, it is believed, were de- 
 livered to the saints, and which have been held, substantially, 
 though with some variety of modification, by the true church 
 
220 
 
 of God in all ages. To prevent circumlocution, I shall, in 
 this discourse, call them the Evangelical System, and for 
 the same reason, I shall call the opposite doctrines the 
 Liberal System* 
 
 It has been common to support these doctrines by the quo- 
 tation of proof texts. But to these a different exposition is 
 given, more reasonable it is said, and carrying with it a 
 higher probability of truth ; which leads to critical exposition, 
 opens a wide field for evasion, and creates perplexity and in- 
 decision. My design at present, is to avail myself of collate- 
 ral evidence only, with the view of attempting to decide, in this 
 way, which is the correct exposition of the proof texts, the 
 evangelical, or the liberal exposhion. 
 
 For the sake of argument, I shall suppose the evidence 
 from exposition to be, on each side, exactly balanced ; and 
 proceed to lay into the scale of evangelical exposition, those 
 arguments which seem to furnish evidence of its correctness. 
 I observe, then, 
 
 1. That the doctrines of the evangelical system are in ac- 
 cordance with the most direct and obvious meaning of the 
 sacred text. By obvious meaning, I intend that which is 
 actually suggested, without note or comment, to the minds of 
 honest and unlettered men. That the proof texts teach the 
 doctrines of the evangelical system in this manner, is alleged 
 by learned infidels as a reason for rejecting the inspiration 
 of the Bible ; by Unitarian commentators and writers, as a 
 reason for restraining, modifying, and tCirning aside, the text ; 
 and by critics, who translate or expound without reference 
 to theological opinions ; and by the better part of the Unita- 
 rian German critics, after having denied the inspiration of 
 
 * I choose to call these doctrines the evangelical system, not only because I believe 
 them to be the Gospel ; but because no man or deiioininalion^ has lield them so ex- 
 clusively, as to render it proper to designate liiem by the name of an individual or a 
 sect. It is a select system, which some of almost every denomination hold, and some 
 reject ; and which ought to be characterised by some general term indicative of the 
 system as held in all ages, and among all denominations of Christians. I call the 
 opposite doctrines the liberal system, not as admitting that these doctrines, or their 
 advocates, possess any peculiar claims to liberality, m any just acceptation of the 
 term ; but simply, because it is the epithet by which its friends have chosen to dis- 
 tinguish their religious opinions. 
 
221 
 
 the Bible.* No translators have been able to maintain a 
 reputation for classical literature, and to sink, in a transla- 
 tion, the obvious meaning below, and bring up the philo- 
 sophical meaning upon, the surface. f The editors of the 
 " Improved Version " have manifested as much good will, 
 with as little conscience, in the attempt, as has ever appear- 
 ed ; and yet have been compelled to allow the proof texts, in 
 most instances, to speak the offensive doctrines, and to con- 
 tent themselves with a simple contradiction of them in notes 
 and comments. Interpretation according to the obvious im- 
 port, has always resulted in the evangelical system ; while 
 expositors according to the supposed rational and philosophi- 
 cal mode of exposition, have differed indefinitely. It is not 
 the evangelical, but the liberal rule of interpretation, which 
 has filled the world with divers doctrines, perplexity and 
 doubt. All versions, and all expositions according to the 
 obvious meaning, of whatever country or age, do substantially 
 agree in the evangelical system ; and agree with the under- 
 standing of mankind at large who read the Bible. The 
 Bible also, for the most part, was written by men who under- 
 stood language only according to its obvious import ; — and 
 for the use of men, to whom it must have been a sealed book 
 upon any other principle of interpretation. Add to this, the 
 testimony of the Bible to its own plainness ; that it can be 
 read by him that runs, and understood by the wayfaring man 
 though a fool ; — that it is a lamp to the path ; — that it fur- 
 nishes the man of God thoroughly ; — that it is profitable for 
 doctrine ; — that it is able to make wise to salvation ; — that it 
 creates obligation to know the truth, and renders error inex- 
 cusable. Now if the obvious meaning of the proof texts be 
 not the true one, and if the true meaning be one which can 
 be seen only by men of classical and philosophical vision, 
 
 * See Stuart's Letters, p. 155. 
 
 t This fact shows that these remarks are as applicable to the orig-inal text, as to the 
 translation ; for surely, if the evangelical were not the obvious import in the original, 
 nothing would be easier than to give a literal translation which should leave then™ 
 out of sight entirely. 
 
 29 
 
222 
 
 then the common people have no Bible. For the book itself 
 teaches them nothing ; and the critical expositions of unin- 
 spired men are not a revelation. The character of God is 
 also imjDlicated, as having practised on his subjects a most 
 deplorable deception ; as having taught them falsehood in 
 their own tongue, and the truth in an unknown tongue ; for, 
 to the common people, the obvious, is the only meaning of 
 terms. If, therefore, the truth is not contained in the obvious 
 meaning, it is not revealed to them in any form. Indeed, if 
 the obvious be not the true import, the Bible teaches them 
 falsehood. And yet, with a book, whose only intelligible 
 meaning on the subject of doctrines is false, and whose real 
 import is necessarily unknown, the common people are re- 
 quired, upon pain of his eternal displeasure, to abhor error, 
 and to love and obey the truth. Was the glorious God ever 
 more scandalized than by such an imputation ? We have 
 heard of his having made a great part of mankind on purpose 
 to damn them, and of his sending to hell infants and helpless 
 victims, for the non-performance of impossibilities : and, if 
 such were indeed his character and conduct, I know not what 
 other Bible we could expect, than one impossible to be un- 
 derstood, and framed to deceive. But, on this subject, we 
 adopt the language of a distinguished advocate of the liberal 
 system. " It is impossible that a teacher of infinite wisdom 
 should expose those, whom he would teach, to infinite error. 
 He will rather surpass all other instructors in bringing down 
 truth to our apprehension. A revelation is a gift of light ; it 
 cannot thicken and multiply our perplexities."* 
 
 2. It is the uniform testimony of the Bible, that the right- 
 eous love the truth, and that tiie wicked are opposed to it. 
 
 If then, we can decide who are the wicked in the scrip- 
 tural sense, which system they approve, "and which they 
 oppose ; we have an inspired decision which is the faith de- 
 livered to the saints. But the scriptures have decided that 
 the irrehgious and profane, and all persons of confirmed 
 
 * Channing's Sermon, second Baltimore ed. pp. 12. 13. 
 
223 
 
 vicious habits, are wicked men. They have placed in tho 
 same class the ambitious, who love the praise of men more 
 than the praise of God ; and the vohjptuous, who love plea- 
 sure more than God. Now that some of this description of 
 sinners are found among the professed believers of both 
 systems, is admitted ; but which system do they, as a body, 
 prefer, and against which do they manifest unequivocal hos- 
 tility ? It requires no proof but universal observation, to sup- 
 port the position, that the irreligious, immoral and voluptuous 
 part of the community prefer the liberal system, and are ve- 
 hement in their opposition to the evangelical system.* If 
 this assertion needs confirmation, assemble the pleasure-loving 
 and licentious community of the world ; — the patrons of balls, 
 and theatres, and masquerades, and. let the doctrines of the 
 evangelical system be preached plainly to them. . Would 
 they be pleased with them ? Would they endure them ? 
 Do this class of the community, any where in the wide world, 
 where their numbers or influence preponderate, settle and 
 support an evangelical minister ; and if they support the 
 preaching of any system of doctrines, is it not substantially 
 the liberal system ? Go to the voluntary evening association 
 for conference and prayer, and which system will you hear 
 breathed out in supplication ? Then go to the voluntary 
 evening association for gambling or inebriation, and which 
 system, with its patrons, will you hear loaded with execration 
 and ridicule f When a division is made in a town or parish, 
 by the settlement of a minister of liberal or evangelical opin- 
 ions, which side do a majority of the pious take, if there be 
 on earth any such thing as piety manifested by credible 
 
 * The reader will observe, that we do not say, nor do we believe it to be true, that 
 all, or even the majority, who professedly embrace the liberal system are wicked in 
 the sense explained. We know, and we gladly embrace the opportunity to acknow- 
 ledge, that there are among them many, whose talents and learning, whose amiable 
 and generous dispositions, and whose devotcdness to the public good, on many ac- 
 counts, deserve our respect and commendation. There are, in this class of the com- 
 munity, many whom we not only respect and esteem, but whom, as connexions and 
 friends we tenderly love. Our assertion is, that those who are wicked in tho Scrip- 
 ture sense of that term, do, as a body, whatever preaching they attend, and with 
 whatever denomination they are classed, dishke the doctrines of the evangelical 
 faith tind prefer those of the libera] system. 
 
224. 
 
 evidence ; and whicli side do the wicked take, if there be 
 on earth any such class of persons as wicked men — proved 
 to be such by their deeds ? If a majority is obtained against 
 evangelical opinions, was it ever knovi^n to be done by the 
 most pious and moral part of the community, in opposition to 
 the suffiages of the most irreligious and flagitious ?* There 
 is, then, some powerful cause of universal operation, which 
 arrays the irreligious part of the community against the evan- 
 gelical system. But, according to the Bible, of two oppos- 
 ing systems, one of which must be true, that which the 
 wicked approve is false, and that which they oppose and 
 hate is true ; — " for he that doeth evil hateth the light, 
 neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be re- 
 proved." 
 
 3. The evangelical system produces the same effects, uni- 
 versally, as were produced by the faith delivered to the 
 saints. 
 
 The maxim, that the same cause in the same circumstances, 
 will produce the same effect, is as true in the moral, as in the 
 
 * It may not be known to all who read this discourse, that, according to a late 
 construction given to the laws of Massachusetts, the town or society may dispose of 
 the funds which were given to the church ; and dismiss or settle a minister without 
 the concurrence, and in opposition to the suffrage of the church. And that, in conse- 
 quence of this decision. Unitarian ministers have often been settled by towns and so- 
 cieties in opposition to the efforts of evangelical churches : by which means, the latter 
 have been stripped of their funds, and exiled from their place of worship, and sub- 
 jected to the necessity of forming a new society, and erecting another house of wor- 
 ship, unless they would consent to set undfer Unitarian ministrations, and forego that 
 instruction which the3' considered an important means of salvation. Now, in every 
 one of these instances, it is believed, that the immoral and irreligious part of the 
 town or society, have united with Unitarians ; and sometimes, if not always, have 
 contributed to the formation of a majority which could not have been obtained with- 
 out them. 
 
 If it should be said, that these men united with Unitarians from a restless spirit of 
 opposition to religious institutions generally, and not with any reference to doctrinal 
 opinions : the answer is, that, when Unitarians obtain the ascendancy, the external 
 religious order of the society remains as it was, and is supported by these wicked 
 men with more ardor than before. Hut when the evangelical part of the society with 
 the church prevails, and the liberal part secedes ; these same wicked men secede 
 with them ; so that, wliellier Unitarians prevail or act as a minority, the irreligious 
 and profligate uniformly act with them ; and never, in any case, act with the evangel- 
 ical party. The wicked then will suppoii religious order under Unitarian auspices, 
 and, with Unitarians, will abandon it under evangelical auspices. Does this look 
 like a mere restless opposition to religious order, wiihout reference to doctrinal opin- 
 ions ? Are Unitarians so notoriously and always opposed to religious order, as to 
 attach the enemies of religious institutions uniformly to their part}' ; or is the evan- 
 gelical system hated by wicked men because it is the truth, and the liberal system 
 patronised by them, because the}', whose deeds are evil, '' love darkness rather than 
 light?" 
 
225 ' 
 
 natural world ; the laws of mind, and the operation of moral 
 causes, being just as uniform as the laws of matter. The 
 Gospel, the greatest moral cause which ever operated in the 
 world, is the same now as in the apostolic age ; and the 
 heart of man, civilized or uncivilized, is also the same. So 
 that this great cause is operating now, in substantially the 
 same circumstances as it did in the jirimitive age ; — for the 
 heart of man is the moral world, and is the same now, as in 
 the time of the apostles. If there be a system of doctrines, 
 then, at the present time, whose effects are universally the 
 same with those produced by the faith once delivered to the 
 saints ; that system, demonstrably, is the faith which was 
 once delivered to the saints. Identity of moral effect proves 
 identity of moral cause. 
 
 The illustration of the argument from effects, must consist 
 of many particulars, and of matters of fact. The argument, 
 therefore, can only be stated concisely, without attempting 
 to answer every possible objection. The facts, too, may be 
 regarded by some as invidious. I have only to say, that no 
 fact will be stated as such, which is not believed to be no- 
 toriously true, and, if denied, capable of unequiv'ocal proof; 
 and as to the invidious bearing of matters of fact, or of ar- 
 guments, I am persuaded it is both a false delicacy and an 
 unsound cause which would shrink from this test, and shield 
 itself under forms of alleged decorum. But I must be 
 allowed to believe also, that no real decorum is violated 
 by the statement of facts, or the pressure of arguments, 
 where the object is important, the design honest, and the 
 manner sober and respectful. Systems of religion, as well 
 as of natural philosophy, may be brought to the test of actual 
 experiment. " By their fruits shall ye know them." But 
 if the moral world were, by the laws of decorum, closed 
 against us, and we might only theorise without, upon practi- 
 cal tendencies, and not enter it to collect and appeal to facts ; 
 we might contend earnesdy, but certainly should contend to 
 very little purpose. To the word and testimony of God, 
 and to matters of fact, we appeal. 
 
226 
 
 I observe then, that the evangelical system occasions the 
 same objections now, which were occasioned by the faith 
 once delivered to the saints. 
 
 Such an exhibition was given of old of the particular 
 providence of God, as occasioned, on the part of thieves, 
 and liars, and adulterers, and idolaters, the extenuating plea, 
 " We are delivered to do all these abominations."* God 
 governs the moral world by such irresistible influence, that 
 crimes are as much a matter of physical necessity, as rain 
 and sunshine. Do 1 need to say to this audience, that the 
 charge constantly urged against the decrees of God, as an 
 article of the evangelical system, is, that it destroys accounta- 
 ble agency, and makes men machines, and all actions neces- 
 sary by an irresistible fatality .'' The faith delivered to the 
 saints then, and the evangelical faith, are perverted in this 
 article, exactly alike. 
 
 The ancient faith included an article, which led the wicked 
 among the Jews, to extenuate their crimes by the allegation, 
 " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's 
 teeth are set on edge ;"-{- i. e. ' Sin in man, is a physical 
 property transmitted from father to son, as bones and sinews 
 are, and alike inconsistent with choice or blame.' And is 
 not the objection urged against the doctrine of original sin 
 as contained in the evangelical sj^stem, the same ^ The 
 inspired answer to the objection of old was. That children 
 are accountable only for their own voluntary exercises and 
 deeds ; and this is the reply returned now by the patrons of 
 the evangelical system. 
 
 The doctrine of human depravity as taught in the Bible, 
 led the people in a time of great wickedness, to say, " If our 
 transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away 
 in them, how should we then live .'"'J i. e. ' If we be dead 
 in sin, to the exclusion of all spiritual life, how can we be 
 free agents, and how can we help ourselves, or be justly 
 blamed 'f And, as if they had been told by the prophet, that 
 
 ' Jer. \ii. 10. t Ezek; xviii. 2. } Eztk. xxxiii. 10. 
 
227 
 
 their death in sin was voluntary and criminal, though entire, 
 and certain in its efficacy, they seem to say ; ' Well, if wo 
 are so wicked that we certainly shall pine away in our sins, 
 how can we be to blame ? If we shall not turn of our- 
 selves, how can we turn ; and of what use is ability, that 
 will never be exerted ?' Now, are not these precisely the 
 objections which are at this day constantly alleged against 
 the doctrines of man's entire depravity, and moral inability, 
 as articles of the evangelical system ? 
 
 Our Saviour asserts the riccessity of some great change to 
 qualify a man for the kingdom of heaven, which, to a ruler 
 in Israel, appeared mysterious, and even impossible. And in 
 the evangelical system, is there not a great change insisted 
 on, as indispensable to salvation ; to which masters in Israel 
 now, confess that they are strangers ; and v/hich they regard 
 as impossible, without the destruction of free agency and 
 accountability ?- 
 
 The manner of a sinner's justification was delivered to the 
 saints in such terms as occasioned the objection, that it 
 made void the law ; superseding the obligations and motives 
 to a moral life, and leading to hcentiousness. " Do we then 
 make void the law through faith ?" " Shall we continue in 
 sin that grace may abound ?" And is not this precisely the 
 objection which has been urged against the doctrine of justi- 
 fication by faith, as contained in the evangelical system, 
 from the time of the reformation to this day ? 
 
 The saints were taught something concerning the sove- 
 reignty of God, as having mercy on whom he would, and 
 punishing whom he would ; — which produced the objection, 
 " Why then doth he yet find fault ; for who hath resisted his 
 will ?" ' If wicked men receive their destination as God ap- 
 points, why does he blame them ? If it be his will that they 
 perish, and they do perish ; are they not obedient ; and why 
 does he find fault ?' And is not this the objection which is 
 urged, unceasingly, against the doctrine of election as taught 
 in the evangelical system ? To our reply, that the will of 
 
228 
 
 God, as a moral rul^to man^ and the will of God, as a rule 
 of administration to himself in disposing of rebels, are dis- 
 tinct ; the answer is, ' Metaphysics ! metaphysics ! The will 
 of God is the will of God ; and if sinners act, in any sense, 
 in accordance with any will of God, they are obedient ; and 
 he has no cause to find fault.' Now, did the liberal expo- 
 sition of the ninth of Romans ever produce, in the whole 
 history of man, the objection which this chapter produced as 
 written by the apostle ; or do liberal preachers ever have 
 occasion to adopt • the reply of Paul to objections produ- 
 ced by their exposition ? But the evangelical exposition 
 produces, invariably, the same objection which the apostle 
 encountered, and this objection receives, invariably, the same 
 reply. " Nay, but, O man, who art thou that repliest against 
 God ?" ' Shall a being of yesterday arraign the conduct of 
 his Maker ? Shall a rebel sit in judgment upon his God ? 
 Are not men rebels, justly doomed to die ; and, in reference 
 to their character and condition as condemned criminals, all 
 clay of the same lump ? And is not the discretion of God 
 to pardon or reprieve, as absolute, as that of the potter over 
 his clay, to make one vessel to honor and another to dis- 
 honor .^' Do you object, that the punishment threatened is 
 unjust ? But how could God make a vessel of mercy of one 
 whose punishment would be unjust ; or a vessel of wrath of 
 one whose punishment would be undeserved ? Do you call 
 men impotent, because they are compared to clay ; or assert, 
 that the sovereignty of God, in saving some, causes, and 
 renders unavoidable, the destruction of others ? We reply, 
 those who perish, perish for their sins, for which they might 
 have been justly punished, without an offer of pardon. They 
 might, if they would, comply with the terms of pardon, and 
 are punished for rejecting them. Nor are they cut down in 
 haste. With much longsuffering they are endured, while, 
 by despising the riches of the goodness of God they Jit them- 
 selves for destruction. Such is the evangelical reply ; and 
 such, as wc understand his language and argument, is the 
 reply of Paul. 
 
229 
 
 It was objected to the Gospel, and in the early age, con- 
 ceded, that few embraced it but the poor, and the common 
 people. " To the poor the Gospel is preached." " Have 
 any of the Scribes and Pharisees believed on him .^" " The 
 common people heard him gladly." " Not many wise men 
 after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." 
 Celsus, in the second century, exulted in the fact, that so 
 few in the higher classes of society had professed Christianity ; 
 and poured contempt upon the cause, as patronized only by 
 mechanics and vulgar people.* Now, is it not notorious, that 
 the liberal system of doctrines, unpatronized by the civil 
 power, has never been the religion of the common people in 
 any country ; but rather the religion of men of philosophical 
 minds and literary habits .'' i. e. the evangelical system has 
 been chiefly patronized by that class of society which pat- 
 ronized the faith delivered to the saints ; while the opposite 
 system has more commonly relied for patronage on the arm 
 of government, and on that class of men in society who, as a 
 body, rejected the Gospel. A late writer in this country, of 
 high reputation on the Hberal side, says, " It is not to be 
 doubted, that, throughout our country, a very large proportion 
 of those men, who, for their talents and learning and virtues, 
 have the most influence in the community, and have it in 
 their power to do the most towards giving a right direction 
 to the public feeling and the public sentiment, are dissatisfied 
 with the Calvinistic and Trinitarian form in which they have 
 had rehgion presented to them ; but are prevented from mak- 
 ing a public avowal of their opinions, by an unwillingness to 
 encounter opposition and obloquy, and loss of confidence, 
 and the power of being useful. "f The evangelical system 
 in this country, then, is extensively, embraced by the same 
 
 * Are there no attempts making to create an impression now, that the liberal 
 system is patronized peculiarly by persons in high life, by men of taste and talents, of 
 wealth and refinement ; and that the opposite system is fast going down, to be the 
 religion of the common people only, and of the popr ? 
 
 t Dr. Ware's Letters to Trinitarians and Calvinists, pp. 146, 14-7. 
 
 30 
 
230 
 
 classes which embraced the Gospel ; and is extensively dis- 
 approved by that class of men who rejected the Gospel.* 
 
 The faith dehvered to the saints occasioned a virulent 
 hatred. It was not hatred of it as false, arising from an ar- 
 dent love of truth ; for Pharisees and Sadducees could tole- 
 rate each other, and Pagans could tolerate thirty thousand 
 gods, with all their lust and blood. And is not the evangehcal 
 system encountered by a virulence of opposition, in circum- 
 stances which show that it cannot arise from the love of truth 
 or hatred of error ? None will pretend, that the effects of 
 the evangelical system are as deplorable, as the effects of 
 idolatry in its present forms. The evangelical system has 
 produced no temple of impure resort; no gratifications of lust 
 enjoined as acts of worship ; no blood of human victims ; no 
 burning of widows, or drowning of infants ; no self-inflicted 
 penal tortures. And yet, such is the hatred of many to the 
 evangehcal system, that they oppose, deliberately, all attempts 
 to extend it to the heathen ; and on the ground, avowedly, 
 that they had rather the heathen would remain as they are, 
 than adopt the evangelical system. In the face of all the ab- 
 surdity and obscenity and blood of idolatry, not a few have 
 declared, that they would not lift a finger to convert the whole 
 pagan world to the evangelical faith, or words to that effect. 
 They speak kindly of Infidels, Mohammedans, and Pagans ; 
 and fiercely of all which breathes the spirit of the evangelical 
 
 * If, to any, it should seem improbable that the unlearned and obscure should be 
 more likely to have the truth than men of talents and learning ; we arc readv to ad- 
 mit, that the apprehension would be just, if the perception of the truth depended, 
 exclusively, upon capacity and knowledge. But if, as the Bible declares, the truth is 
 so plain, that the feeble and unlearned are able to perceive it, and its rejection is 
 caused chiefly by the state of the heart ; and if talents, and learning, and wealth, and 
 power, occasion self-sufficiency, and ambition, and love of pleasure ; with the cares of 
 this world, diverting the attention from the truth, and increasing the prejudice of the 
 heart against it ; then men in the highest orders of society, are not as likel3' to have 
 the truth as the common jjcople ; for the heart governs the understanding ; and the 
 peculiar aversion of learned and worldly men to the truth, throws more darkness 
 upon it, than their superior intelligence serves to dispel ; and creates a greater im- 
 pediment to the perception of the truth, than is occasioned by any relative deficiency 
 of capacity and knowledge among the common people. The argument, however, 
 does not demand this explanation ; for we do not infer the truth of the evangelical 
 system from the fact, that, either class is more likely to have the truth ; but, from the 
 fact, that the same sort of men reject the evangelical system now, who rejected the 
 Gospel ; and the same sort embrace it now, who embraced the Gospel : furnishing a 
 strong presumptive argument, that the evangelical system and the Gospel are the 
 same, because they produce the same effects. 
 
231 
 
 system. Such asperity the faith delivered to the saints oc- 
 casioned, and such asperity the evangehcal system occa- 
 sions. 
 
 The faith delivered to the saints produced a stricter moral- 
 ity than any contemporaneous system. Whether this be true 
 of the evangelical system, is not to be decided by a compari- 
 son of the best characters on one side, with the most defective 
 on the other ; or of individuals of good moral character on 
 both sides, of which it is admitted there are many.* Nor 
 can the moral efficacy of the two systems be decided by the 
 standard of public morality, where the evangelical system 
 has prevailed in the early period of life, and exerted its in- 
 fluence upon the conscience, and in the formation of moral 
 habits ; or where it still prevails to such an extent, as to ex- 
 ert a powerful modifying influence ; and, especially, where 
 the opposite system is of but recent public notoriety, and of 
 limited extent. Great moral causes do not produce their ef- 
 fects immediately ; nor, upon every individual, exactly the 
 same effect. Their tendency and efiicacy is to be looked for 
 in those communities, where the influence of the two sys- 
 tems has been the most unmingled, and of the longest dura- 
 tion 5 and also, in those obvious changes in a community, 
 which, as one or the other prevails, become apparent. With 
 these explanations in view, I remark, that the superior moral 
 efficacy of the evangelical system is a matter of unequivocal 
 concession. In an article on predestination in the British 
 Encyclopedia, written, it is said, by Robert Forsyth, Esq. a 
 learned civilian, and an infidel ; after giving an account of 
 the Calvinistic and Arminian system, and the preference to 
 the latter, it is said, " There is one remark which we think 
 ourselves in justice bound to make. It is this ; that, from 
 the earliest ages down to our own days, if we consider the 
 character of the ancient Stoics, the Jewish Essenes, the 
 modern Calvinists and Jansenists, compared with that of their 
 
 * We desire all that is said on this subject to be understood with the same explana- 
 tion which we have made on p. 223. 
 
232 
 
 antagonists, the Epicureans, the Sadducees, the Arminians 
 and the Jesuits ; we shall find that they have excelled, in no 
 small degree, in the practice of the most rigid and respecta- 
 ble virtues ; and have been the highest honor to their own 
 age, and the best models for imitation to every succeeding 
 age." This is the testimony of a philosopher, to the differ- 
 ent moral effects of the two systems, from the time of Au- 
 gustine; at least, to the present day. 
 
 Dr. Priestley, who will not be suspected of partiality for 
 the evangelical system, says, that those who hold the evan- 
 gelical doctrines, " have less apparent conformity to the 
 world, and seem to have more of a real principle of religion." 
 He says also, " Though Unitarian dissenters are not apt to 
 entertain any doubt of the truth of their principles, they do 
 not lay so much stress upon them, as other christians do up- 
 on theirs. Nor indeed is there any reason why they should, 
 when they do not consider the holding of them to be at all 
 necessary to salvation. They therefore, take much less pains 
 to. make proselyte*, and are less concerned to inculcate their 
 principles upon their children, their servants, and their de- 
 pendents in general. From this principle it is, that great 
 numbers, becoming Unitarians in the church of England, and 
 even among the clergy, do not feel the impropriety and ab- 
 surdity, to say nothing more harsh, of continuing to counte- 
 nance a mode of worship, which, if they were questioned 
 about it, they would not deny to be, according to their own 
 principles, idolatrous and blasphemous. Such persons also, 
 having no zeal for speculative religion, merely because they 
 have no zeal for religion in general, their moral conduct, 
 though decent, is not what is deemed strict and exemplary."* 
 In a periodical publication of high literary character, but 
 of decided and known partiality to infidel opinions,! we find 
 the following statements. " Predestination, or doctrines 
 much inclining towards it, have, on the whole, prevailed in 
 the christian churches of the west, since the days of Augus- 
 
 * Discourses on various subjects, pp. 95, 96. t Edinburgh Review. 
 
233 
 
 tine and Aquinas. Who were the first formidable opponents 
 of these doctrines in the church of Rome ? The Jesuits, — 
 the contrivers of courtly casuistry, and the founders of lax 
 morality. Who, in the same church, inclined to the stern 
 theology of Augustine ? The Jansenists, — the teachers and 
 the models of austere morals. What are we to think of the 
 morality of Calvinistic nations, especially the most numerous 
 classes of them ; who seem, beyond all other men, to be most 
 zealously attached to their religion, and most deeply pene- 
 trated with its spirit ? Here, if any where, we have a prac- 
 tical and decisive test of the moral influence of a belief in 
 necessarian opinions. In Protestant Switzerland, in Holland, 
 in Scotland, among the English Nonconformists, and the 
 Protestants of the North of Ireland, and in the New England 
 States, Calvinism was long the prevalent faith, and is proba- 
 bly still the faith of a considerable majority. Tiieir moral 
 education was at least completed, and their collective char- 
 acter formed, during the prevalence of Calvinistic opinions. 
 Yet where are commiHiities to be found, of a more pure and 
 active virtue ?" 
 
 The accusations brought against evangelical writers and 
 professors, as requiring too much, or making no sufficient al- 
 lowance for the weakness of human nature ; — as rigid, austere, 
 enemies to innocent amusements ; — as setting themselves up 
 as better than their neighbors ; — as righteous overmuch ; — 
 are also concessions in point : as are also the topics of ridi- 
 cule, having reference, as they do, to the fastidious strictness 
 of our ancestors, and of evangelical professors ; to which we 
 may add, the invidious names given to them, of Puritan, 
 IMethodist, &ic. It appears then, as a matter of fact, that 
 sound morality has never, in any country or age, been so 
 elevated, and so extensively prevalent, as in those communi- 
 ties where the evangelical doctrines have been most uni- 
 versally believed, and most diligently taught, in families and 
 schools, and in the sanctuary. It has been said, I am sensi- 
 ble, that these salutary effects of the evangelical system are 
 
234 
 
 ])roducecl by the truths contained in it in common with the 
 liberal system, and in spite of the errors it embraces, and not 
 hxj them. Does the truth, then, mingled with absurdity and 
 falsehood, produce better effects than the truth simple and 
 undefiled, as in the liberal system it is claimed to be ? If it 
 is the truth, held in common by the evangelical and liberal 
 systems, which produces these good effects, why does not 
 the liberal system alone produce the same effects ? Allow 
 me to suggest another solution. The evangelical system 
 requires a stricter morality, enforced by more powerful mo- 
 tives. It adopts as its rule, the moral law unmitigated ; and 
 its sanctions, of eternal life and eternal death ; — a law, which 
 the opposite system regards as too strict, and as set aside or 
 mitigated in accommodation to human frailty ; and whose 
 sanctions are regarded as nothing ; — or as a salutary tempo- 
 rary discipline ; — or as annihilation ; — or as a matter of en- 
 tire uncertainty. Now is it strange, that lax requisitions, 
 and feeble, uncertain sanctions do not produce the strict and 
 vigorous morality of the law of God. What would human, 
 laws avail, should expositors and judges say, ' Men are too 
 wicked to allow of our interpreting the laws strictly ; thfey 
 must not be understood to mean exactly what they say, or to 
 threaten exactly what they speak ; perfect honesty, or truth, 
 or purity, is not to be expected ; a little fraud, and theft, and 
 perjury, and violence, they allow, in accommodation to hu- 
 man weakness ; and threaten the greater crimes with no 
 ■puniskment, or only a beneficial temporary discipline, or exile 
 from the state, or — we know not what V 
 
 Again, the evangelical system produces the best attend- 
 ance on the public worship of God, and, of course, if the mo- 
 ral tendency of each were the same, that would produce the 
 strictest and most general morality, which commanded, most 
 extensively and deeply, the attention of men. That the doc- 
 trines of the evangelical system do this, is claimed as true by 
 Witherspoon, in his day, in Scotland ; and by Overton, as 
 true in England ; and is admitted by English Unitarian writ- 
 
235 
 
 ers, and denied by no one. It is also recently admitted in 
 this country, as a matter of notoriety " which none will ques- 
 tion." It is accounted for, it must be acknowledged, in a 
 way not favorable to the moral tendency of evangelical sen- 
 timents. It is on the ground of the intolerable strictness of 
 liberal preaching ; so strict and terrifying, that few, besides 
 the more pious and exemplary, can abide it. The whole 
 pleasure-loving, voluptuous and dissipated community being 
 driven, panic-struck by Unitarian denunciation, to the horns 
 of the altar in evangelical churches ; where, by " smooth 
 preaching," and the hope of impunity in sin, their fears may 
 be allayed, and their consciences quieted.* 
 
 The faith delivered to the saints produced revivals of reli- 
 gion. The preaching of it was attended with sudden anxie- 
 ties, and deep convictions of sin, and sudden joy in believing, 
 followed by reformation and a holy life. Nor was this the 
 effect of miracles, or itself a miraculous event, in the common 
 acceptation of the term. Miracles merely, produced no 
 such effects. It was under the preaching of the word, that 
 men were pricked in their hearts, and cried out, " Men and 
 brethren, what shall we do to be saved ?" And it was by 
 the moral transformation which attended the apostolic an- 
 swer to this question, and not by the power of miracles, that 
 the Gospel defied opposition, and spread during the first 
 three hundred years. There was no resisting it. Convic- 
 tion attended the word, and a joyful obedience to the faith 
 followed. The very chiefs of opposition exchanged their 
 weapons of annoyance for the shield of faith, and the sword of 
 the Spirit. And do not the same convictions of sin attend the 
 preaching of the evangelical system ; and does it not extend its 
 victories in the same manner ? By argument, merely, we con- 
 vince few, and reclaim none. But there is an efficacy in evan- 
 gelical preaching on the conscience and on the heart, against 
 which neither learning, nor talents, nor prejudice, nor wrath 
 itself, afford effectual protection. Multitudes who virulently 
 
 * See a pamphlet entitled " >Smooth Preaching," written by a Unitarian. 
 
236 
 
 hated, and verily thought that they ought to oppose evan- 
 gehcal doctrines and revivals of religion, have been con- 
 vinced of their mistake and their sin ; and have embraced, 
 joyfully, the doctrines which they reviled. Many who preach 
 the liberal system can bear witness, that they have lost, in 
 this way, again and again, the very pillars of their societies. 
 Defections of the same kind are frequent still, and clothe 
 evangelical doctrines and revivals of religion with a terrifying 
 power. 
 
 The faith delivered to tlie saints was efficacious in the sud- 
 den reformation of those who had been long under the domin- 
 ion of vicious habits. . The apostle enumerates the habits of 
 crime which prevailed among Pagans ; and then, writing to 
 the church of Corinth, says, " And such were some of you." • 
 But, while the liberal system despairs, professedly, of any 
 sudden reformation from vicious habits, as against the estab- 
 lished laws of the moral world ; and is unable to produce an 
 instance in which a vicious person has been reformed by 
 abandoning the evangelical, and adopting the liberal sys- 
 tem, ; and while reformation from vicious habits is a rare 
 event, if it exist at all, under liberal preaching ; it is a frequent 
 event for profligates, on abandoning their confidence in the 
 liberal system and adopting the evangelical, to manifest 
 a most salutary and abiding change of character and con- 
 duct. In almost all the revivals of religion vi^hich are now 
 prevailing in our land, there are some to whom it may be 
 said, " And such were some of you, but ye are washed," &,c. 
 Dr. Chalmers, who preached the liberal system twelve years, 
 and after this the evangelical, says, " And here I cannot 
 but record the effect of an actual, though undesigned, experi- 
 ment, which I prosecuted for upwards of twelve years, 
 among you. For the greater part of that time, I could ex- 
 patiate on the meanness of dishonesty, on the villany of 
 falsehood, on the despicable arts of calumny ; in a word, 
 upon all those deformities of character, which awaken the 
 natural indignation of the human heart against the pests and 
 
237 
 
 the disturbers of human society. Even at this time, I cer- 
 tainly did press the reformations of honor, and truth, and in- 
 tegrity, among my people ; but I never once heard of any 
 such reformations having been effected amongst them. If 
 there was any thing at all brought about in this way, it was 
 more tlian ever I got any account of. I am not sensible that 
 all the vehemence with which I urged the virtues and the 
 proprieties of social life, had the weight of a feather on the 
 moral habits of my parishioners. And it was not till I got 
 impressed by the utter alienation of the heart, in all its de- 
 sires and affections, from God ; it was not till reconciliation 
 to him became the distinct and the prominent object of my 
 ministerial exertions ; it was not till I took the scriptural 
 way of laying the method of reconciliation before them ; it 
 was not till the free offer of forgiveness through the blood of 
 Christ was urged upon their acceptance ; and the Holy Spirit, 
 given through the channel of Christ's mediatorship to all 
 who ask him, was set before them as the unceasing object of 
 their dependence and their prayers ; it was not, in one word, 
 till the contemplations of my people were turned to these 
 great and essential elements in the business of a soul provid- 
 ing for its interest with God, and the concerns of its eternity ; 
 that I ever heard of any of those subordinate reformations 
 which I aforetime made the earnest and the zealous, but I am 
 afraid, at the same time, the ultimate object of my earlier 
 ministrations."* 
 
 The faith delivered to the saints produced a spirit of mis- 
 sions. On the day of Pentecost the number of disciples was 
 one hundred and twenty. And on that day the scales of 
 Jewish prejudice fell from their eyes ; and the spirit of mis- 
 sions descended upon their hearts ; and, in three hundred 
 years, without colleges, or theological seminaries, or the press, 
 or governmental aid, but in opposition to its dire hostility, 
 they evangelized the world. And are not the great move- 
 
 * Chalmers' Farewell Discourse addressed to his parishioners of Kilinany, in his 
 series of Discourses, pp. 110, 111, 112. 
 
 31 
 
238 
 
 merits now making to evangelize the world, conducted 
 chiefly under the auspices, and by the charities of those, who 
 adopt substantially the evangelical system ? Are not all the 
 denominations in the world, who believe in the Divinity of 
 Christ and his atonement, in the depravity of man and his 
 need of a moral renovation by the Spirit, and in the doctrine 
 of justification by faith, and future eternal punishment, more 
 or less engaged in the work of missions ? And is there, in the 
 wide world, a denomination which rejects these doctrines, 
 that is thus engaged ? And is this system, which does noth- 
 ing to evangehze the world, the Gospel; and .that, whiTih 
 does all that is done in accordance with the efforts of the 
 primitive church, not the Gospel ? 
 
 The faith delivered to the saints produced a piety of great 
 solemnity, and ardor, and decision. It was a piety which 
 took delight in the public worship of God, and in frequent 
 private association for religious conference and prayer ; a 
 piety, which included a deep solicitude, and made vigorous 
 exertions for the conversion of sinners, and experienced pe- 
 culiar joy in the event ; a piety, which espoused openly the 
 cause of Christ, encountered obloquy and the loss of all things, 
 and stood undaunted in the face of danger, and produced joy 
 unspeakable in the hour of death. And 'is not this, pre- 
 cisely, the same cast of piety which the evangelical sys- 
 tem does, and which the liberal system does not, produce ? 
 Is not the deeply serious cast of the one regarded as con- 
 stituting the evangelical a gloomy religion ; and the lighter 
 cast of the other, as giving to it vastly the preference on 
 the score of cheerfulness f Is not the ardor of the one 
 stigmatized as enthusiasm ; and the cool, deliberate, intel- 
 lectual cast of the other regarded as giving to it the envia- 
 ble pre-eminence of a rational religion ? Does not the one 
 delight in, and the other deprecate, frequent voluntary asso- 
 ciations for religious conference and prayer ? Does not the 
 one ridicule the supposed work of sudden conversion by the 
 Spirit of "God, and the other hold it in the highest estimation .'' 
 
239 
 
 Do not the converts to the one system, as far as they are 
 called to it, disregard obloqny, and endure persecution ; while, 
 " throughout our country, a very large proportion of those 
 men, who, for their talents and learning and virtues, have the 
 most influence in the community, are dissatisfied with the 
 Trinitarian and Calvinistic form, in which they have had re- 
 ligion presented to them ; but are prevented from making a 
 public avowal of their opinions by an umvilUngness to 
 encounter opposition, and obloquy, and loss of confidence, 
 and the power of being useful T^* Are the sentiments which 
 these men, " all over our country,^^ are supposed to prefer 
 to the evangelical system. The faith once delivered to the 
 saiiits, which, in the primitive church, produced a love to 
 Jesus Christ so ardent, an avowal of his doctrine so undaun- 
 ted, and an enterprise so efficient, as moved onward, from 
 conquering to conquer, through good report and evil, through 
 honor and dishonor, through fire and blood ? Alas ! how is 
 the gold become dim, and the fine gold changed ? — But is it 
 so ?■ Is that the primitive faith which produces none of these 
 consequences ; and is that another, and an opposite faith, 
 which produces them all ? 
 
 With respect to the manner in which cordial believers in 
 the two systems die, we have only to say, that, generally, 
 professors of religion of evangelical opinions, who have in 
 life adorned their profession, approach their last hour without 
 fear, and with great composure of mind, and with cheerful 
 resignation. In some instances they, even as the apostle 
 Paul did, desire to depart and be with Christ ; and, not un- 
 frequently, their views and affections and anticipations of 
 glory render them exceedingly joyful in the last hour. Now 
 we ask, and refer for an answer, to every man's observation ; 
 Is this the manner in which liberal opinions esable those to 
 die who cordially embrace them ? If some of this descrip- 
 tion meet death without fear, are not many terrified at his 
 approach ? If some are tranquil, are not more agitated ^ If 
 * Dr. Ware. 
 
240 
 
 some manifest resignation, do not a far greater number cling, 
 with unyielding grasp, to life; or manifest only the resignation 
 of necessity ? And are there any, who, by the liberal sys- 
 tem, are inspired with such love for Christ, as to desire ear- 
 nestly to depart and be with him ? And, especially, are there 
 any, whose views, and affections, and anticipations of glory 
 render their death-bed a scene of the most exalted joy ? 
 
 The faith delivered to the saints was attended, from the 
 beginning to the end, with an unwavering confidence of its 
 truth. False christs and false prophets arose, but they could 
 not " deceive the elect." Winds of false doctrine blew, but 
 they scattered only the chaff; some also made shipwreck of 
 the faith, but it was not the saints. There were heresies 
 early ; and it was needful there should be, that they which 
 were approved might be manifest. And they were manifest ; 
 for the last apostle that remained, testified ; " They went out 
 from us, but they were not of us ; lor if they had been of us, 
 they would no doubt have continued with us." But to those 
 who adhered to the faith, he said ; " Ye have an unction 
 from the Holy One, and know all things :"* i. e. You know 
 the truth of all those doctrines which some have rejected. 
 Now it is admitted, that some patrons of the evangelical sys- 
 tem abandon it. But it will not be denied, that, as a general 
 fact, they hold the same system of truth to the end, modified, 
 explained, and proved, with some variation ; but the same 
 system undeniably. But can it be said of the patrons of the 
 liberal system, as a body, that their system, first and last, is 
 the same ? Can it be said of an individual scarcely, that he 
 continues to embrace the same system through life .^ Dr. 
 Priestley has told us, that he was first a Calvinist ; and that 
 he successively embraced, and abandoned, in his way down- 
 ward to low Socinianism, all the intervening systems ; and 
 did not know how long he should maintain his existing faith, 
 or what would come next. The same course has been trav- 
 elled over by liberal critics and learned expositors in Ger- 
 
 * 1 John, ii. 19, 20. 
 
241 
 
 many : and in tliis country, it is begun, it is believed, by 
 most, and completed by many, who adopt the liberal system. 
 Is it not notorious, that evangelical men are reproached, as 
 being singularly confident that they only are right ; and that 
 Unitarians profess to have arrived at certainty chi'efly in re- 
 spect to the falsehood of the evangelical system ; while, in 
 relation to their own, there are many points on which they 
 have not had time to make up their minds ; and concerning 
 which, with other loise, and great, and good men, they con- 
 tinue to doubt? Indeed, it might appear unseemly for men, 
 who had discovered that four out of five of their systems of 
 belief, deliberately adopted, were wrong, to entertain a very 
 high opinion of the powers of their own reason at least, or to 
 be confident of the truth of their fifth or sixth opinion, in 
 respect to the great points of revealed doctrine. But where, 
 among these changing men, " ever learning" their ^05^ errors, 
 " and never coming to the knowledge of the truth ;" where is 
 that unction from the Holy One which the saints possessed, 
 and its attendant knowledge of all things ?* 
 
 4. A departure from the faith delivered to the saints, pro- 
 ducing divisions in the church, was denominated a heresy 
 during the three first centuries. 
 
 * A writer of eminence, in a sermon from 1 Cor. xiii. 10, delivered at an ordina- 
 tion, t assumes, without any attempt at exposition, or proof, tliat even the apostles 
 knew hut in part : from which has resulted " diversity of opinion," and the fact, that, 
 though of two opposite opinions, both cannot be true ; " they may both be innocent :" 
 and that this imperfection of knowledge may have been designed " as a moral disci- 
 pline," and " to give a larger scope, and new occasion, for the exercise of good feel- 
 ing." It certainly would have been relevant and desirable, that it should have been 
 ascertained whether this conceded ignorance of the apostles, respected doctrinal know- 
 ledge, or only experimental knowledge, begun in time, and to be consummated in 
 heaven ; the latter, seeming to be the subject of discourse, and not at all the former. 
 Whether their partial ignorance of christian doctrine, had respect to a partial revela- 
 tion of the doctrines of Christianity, or to the doctrines which are revealed. If it re- 
 spected revealed doctrines, whether their ignorance wah owing to their indolence, or 
 incapacity to understand, or to such obscurity in the revelation of them, that even 
 apostles could understand only a part of the doctrines which God had revealed. We 
 cannot but admire, if it were partial doctrinal knowledge which is conceded by the 
 apostles, how they should have drawn inferences from the fact, so directly opposed to 
 those which were drawn by this writer. The one, inferring charity and moderation; 
 the other, the duty of contending earnestly for the (aith. The one annthcniaiizing 
 any man, or even an angel, who should preach any other Cospel ; and the other, 
 interring from the same premises, the equal innocence of doctrinal truth and doctrinal 
 falsehood. 
 
 \ Dr. Ware's Sermon delivered at the ordination of tho Rev. William B. O. Peabody, at 
 Springfield, 1830. 
 
242 
 
 This does not prove those doctrines to be false which tl)e 
 cliurches condemned, because churches and councils are not 
 infallible ; but it does prove the opinions denominated hereti- 
 cal, to be novelties, and in opposition to the received opinion 
 of the church until the time of their condemnation. The 
 declaration of the primitive church that a doctrine is a heresy, 
 is a public formal testimony, as to what had been, until then, 
 the received opinion of the churches. 
 
 The heretics themselves admitted, sometimes, that their 
 opinions were novel, but contended that they were neverthe- 
 less true ; or, more commonly, so explained them, as to claim 
 that they were not a departure from the received faith : 
 uniting, of course, the testimony of heretics, to that of the 
 church, as to what had been the received opinion. 
 
 From the nature, then, and the known era of the several 
 heresies in the primhive church, we may ascertain what was 
 the antecedent faith of the church, on the points to which 
 they relate. 
 
 The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ was the 
 received opinion of the church, when denied by the Gnos- 
 tics, towards the close of the first century. The divinity 
 of Christ was the received opinion of the church when denied 
 by Arius, A. D. 315 ; who, soon after, was condemned as a 
 heretic in a council of 380 Fathers. And the doctrines of 
 original sin, entire depravity, regeneration by special grace, 
 and justification by faith, continued to be the received 
 doctrines of the church until the time of Pelagius, about 
 A. D. 400. 
 
 The doctrines of the evangelical system, then, commenced 
 their journey down to us from the apostolic age : and as each 
 doctrine of the liberal system encountered any one of them, 
 that was declared by the church to be a novelty, and the 
 other the antecedently received opinion of the church. Can 
 this fact be reconciled with the supposition that the liberal 
 system was the faith ^rs^ delivered to the saints ? Did all the 
 churches, from the beginning, misunderstand the import of 
 
243 
 
 the Gospels and Epistles, and all the apostolic exposhlons of 
 them ; and misunderstand, systematically, and exactly alike, 
 on all points, and in direct opposition to what Jesus Christ 
 and the apostles intended to teach ; and this too, without 
 concert, and throughout the Roman Empire ? Or if the 
 liberal was the system first delivered to the saints, could all 
 the churches hav^e exchanged it for the opposite system, so 
 early, so silently, so unitedly, as to have the tvhoh truth 
 regarded as a novelty, and denounced as a heresy, in the 
 second, and third, and fourth centuries ? Dr. Priestley has 
 indeed, attempted to show that the liberal system was that 
 which was actually delivered by Christ and his apostles to 
 the saints, and that such a change as we have supposed, did 
 happen in the progress of two or three hundred years. But, 
 beside the utter failure of his proof,* he might as well have 
 attempted to show that the course of all the rivers in the 
 Roman Empire was reversed during the three first centuries 
 of the Christian era, in opposition to the testimony of all the 
 historians and naturalists of the empire, convened by public 
 authority, on purpose to inquire into the matter of fact. 
 
 5. It is a point decided by inspiration, that the martyrs 
 who suffered under Pagan and Papal persecutions, held the 
 same faith ; and that the faith which they held, and for which 
 they suffered, is the faith which was delivered to the saints. 
 The apostle John saw in vision, " under the altar, the souls 
 of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the tes- 
 timony which they held."f It is called in another place, 
 " the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ."! These are the martyrs under Pagan Rome. But 
 with reference to those who suffered afterwards, under Papal 
 Rome, it is said : " Here is the patience of the saints : here 
 are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of 
 
 * See Tracts in controvprs3' with Dr. Priestley hy the Rev. Heneage Horsley, 
 A.M. Also, a Vindication of the doctrine of Scripture, and of the primitive faith 
 concerning the Divinity of Christ, in reply to Dr. I'riestlev's History of Early Opin- 
 ions, &,c. by the Rev. John Jamieson, D. D. F. R. S. of Forfar. 
 
 t Rev. vi. 9. t Rev. xii. 17. 
 
244 
 
 Jesus."* The faith, then, which the martyrs held unde^ Pagan 
 and Papal Rome, and for which they suffered, was the same ; 
 and was the word of God and the faith of Jesus. But 
 we know, by evidence unequivocal and undeniable, that the 
 doctrinal opinions of the martyrs under Papal Rome, were- 
 the doctrines of the evangelical system, and not those of the 
 liberal system. They exist now upon historical records, and 
 in pul^lic creeds ; and are denominated the doctrines of the 
 Reformation. The doctrines of the Reformation then, which 
 we denominate the evangelical system, have the seal of heaven 
 impressed upon them, as being the word of God and the 
 FAITH of Jesus ; — the faith which was once delivered 
 TO the saints. 
 
 I am now to explain the manner, in which the churches of 
 our Lord should contend for the faith. And, 
 
 1. By a proper exercise of their civil influence. 
 
 The rights and duties of christians, as members of a civil 
 community, are not, it is believed, generally understood. 
 As, in the first generations of New England, every thing, 
 almost, was done by civil government, to promote religion ; 
 the idea has descended, that christians have some influence 
 to exert, favorable to religion, through the medium of gov- 
 ernment : without the perception, exactly, how it is to be 
 done, in the present altered state of things. Christians now, 
 in their civil capacity, are members of a great empire, whose 
 administration cannot be modified in accommodation to local 
 rehgious purposes. A multitude of denominations of chris- 
 tians have arisen also, each, upon principles of religious 
 liberty, entitled to impartial protection ; and excluding, in 
 behalf of any, governmental favoritism. — In this new state of 
 things, christians are perplexed, and know not what to do. 
 They are afraid to withhold their efforts to benefit religion 
 through the medium of government ; and, environed by diffi- 
 culties and dangers, they are afraid to exert it. For my own 
 
 * Rev. xiv. 12. 
 
245 
 
 satisfaction, in the first instance, I have been led to investigate 
 the subject ; and, though I have not found it unattended with 
 difficuhies, my mind rests in the following results. 
 
 (1.) Christians are not to attempt to control the administra- 
 tion of civil government, in things merely secular. 
 
 This is what our Saviour refused to do, when he decHned 
 being a king, or ruler, or judge. It would secularize the 
 church, as the same conduct secularized the church of 
 Rome; and bring upon her, and justly, a vindictive reaction 
 of hatred and opposition. When great questions of national 
 morality are about to be decided,^ such as the declaration of 
 war ; or, as in England, the abolition of the slave trade ; or 
 the permission to introduce Christianity into India by mission- 
 aries ; it becomes christians to lift up their voice, and exert 
 their united influence. But, with the annual detail of secular 
 policy, it does not become christians to intermeddle, beyond 
 the unobtrusive influence of their silent stifFrage. They are 
 not to " strive, nor cry, nor lift up their voice in the streets." 
 The injudicious association of rehgion with pohtics, in the 
 time of Cromwell, brought upon evangelical doctrine and 
 piety, in England, an odium which has not ceased to this 
 day. 
 
 (2.) It is equally manifest, that christians should not attach 
 themselves, exclusively, to any political party, or take a deep 
 interest in political disputes. 
 
 No party is so exclusively right, as to render it safe for 
 any man to commit his conscience to its keeping, and act 
 implicitly according to its dictation. Nor can any party, in 
 a popular government, be sufficiently secure from change, to 
 render it safe to identify with it the interests of religion. 
 Besides, if christians enter deeply into pohtical disputes, they 
 will be divided, and one denomination arrayed against another, 
 in their prayers and efibrts ; and one christian against another, 
 in the same church. A spirit of party zeal creates also, a 
 powerful diversion of interest and effort from the cause of 
 Christ ; creates prejudices in christians one against another ; 
 32 
 
246 
 
 and, in the community, against the cause itself. It annihilates 
 spirituality of mind ; prevents a spirit of prayer, and efforts 
 for revivals of religion ; and renders christians the mere dupes 
 and tools of unprincipled, ambitious men. No sight is more 
 grievous, or humiliating, than to see christians continually 
 agitated, by all the great and little political disputes of the 
 nation, the state, the city, and town, and village; toiling in 
 the drudgery of ambition ; and flowing hithfer and thither, 
 like waves which have no rest, and cast up only mire and 
 dirt. I am persuaded that there has been utterly a fault 
 among christians in this thing ; and that there is no one par- 
 ticular in which it is more important that there should be a 
 reformation. 
 
 ( 3.) It is plain also, that no attempt should be made by 
 christians of one denomination, to hinder the prosperity of 
 other denominations, by any monopoly of governmental influ- 
 ence and favor. 
 
 The end of heaven has been answered, in the powerful 
 and direct aid given to the churches by the civil fathers of 
 New England. Then, it was needed, to lay foundations, to 
 form habits, to surmount obstacles, and to carry the churches 
 through the wilderness. But now, it is not needed 5 and 
 cannot be bestowed, in the manner it has been. All denom- 
 inations of christians must live now, by a general impartial 
 favor of government, and their own efforts ; the goodness of 
 their cause, and the smiles of heaven. The favoritism of 
 government, in a free country, is an advantage too precarious 
 also, to be employed, safely, by any denomination.^ For, such 
 is the instability of popular governments, that their partial aid 
 if resorted to, might exalt at one time, and abandon and per- 
 secute at another. All denominations have an equal interest, 
 now, in renouncing all attempts at securing the partial favor 
 of government ; and in insisting upon impartial protection and 
 favor only. 
 
 Should any denomination, however, be so destitute of wis- 
 dom, as to attempt to propagate its opinions and facilitate its 
 
247 
 
 progress, by a monopoly of literary influence ; through gov- 
 ernmental favor ; and by rendering their own sentiments a 
 passport to places of honor and trust, in the higher, and 
 subordinate stations of civil office and employment ; if in 
 these, and other ways, they should seek to give to themselves, 
 by the adventitious favor of government, a weight in the 
 community, and an influence on the public mind, favorable to 
 their own religious views, and adverse to those of other de- 
 nominations : in such case, civil and religious liberty would 
 authorise and demand, that all christians of other denomina- 
 tions, should withhold their sufli'age from the ambitious sect 
 who had perverted and abused the public confidence. This, 
 by those who should experience the salutary admonition, 
 would be deprecated, no doubt, as " introducing religion 
 into politics ;" but it w^ould in fact be only a righteous effort 
 \o put that religion out of politics which they had unright- 
 eously identified with them ; and to place the religious rights 
 and privileges of christians, upon an equality. When this had 
 been accomplished, persons of worth, of any denomination, 
 exempt from such sectarian bias as would abuse the confi- 
 dence reposed in them, might enjoy the public fav^or. 
 
 (4.) 1 cannot perceive that churches are bound in point of 
 duty, or required on the ground of policy, to confine their 
 suffrages exclusively, to persons of their own denomination ; 
 or to regulate them, exclusively, with reference to piety or 
 doctrinal opinions. 
 
 There are certain guarantees of integrity, and of security 
 to the general interests of religion, which, as christians, we 
 are bound to require. There must be such a belief in the 
 being of God, and of accountability and future punishment, as 
 lays a foundation for the practical influence of an oath : such 
 exemption from immorahty, as will render the elevated ex- 
 ample of rulers safe to the interest of public morals : such 
 general approbation of the christian religion and its institu- 
 tions, as will dispose them to afford to religion the proper 
 protection and influence of government : and such exemption 
 
248 
 
 from sectarian zeal, as will secure from abuse, the confidence 
 of other denominations, and an administration impartial in its 
 aspect upon all of them. But where these securities are 
 given, I do not perceive that christians are forbidden to re- 
 pose confidence in men, for civil purposes, who do not pro- 
 fess religion, or afford evidence of piety. Men of piety are 
 doubtless to be preferred, and greatly to be desired, other 
 things being equal : but I cannot perceive that the qualifica- 
 tions for civil trust, and for membership in the church, are 
 the same : and wherever they have been so regarded, the 
 consequence has been, the intrusion of unsanctified men, by 
 a lax examination, or by dispensing entirely with piety as a 
 qualification for communion. As long as communion in the 
 English church shall continue to be an indispensable qualifi- 
 cation for office, so long will the tide of ambition roll through 
 her interior, and damp the fire upon her altars. It was this 
 mistake of our pious fathers, in making the terms of commu- 
 nion and civil trust the same, which produced the lax mode 
 of admission to the churches of New England, followed by 
 the long and dreadful declension from evangelical doctrine 
 and piety, which, in many churches, continues to this day : 
 and the same course, persisted in, would perpetuate the same 
 cfiects. 
 
 What, then, is the ground, which the churches ought to 
 take ? It is the high ground of christian temper, christian 
 principle, and christian practice. It is a great mistake, if any 
 suppose that their conduct, in relation to things spiritual, may 
 be regulated by one rule, and in things civil, by another. 
 The Gospel furnishes christians with rules for their entire di- 
 rection, in all things. In this respect, as well as others, " the 
 law- of the Lord is perfect ;" and every man of God, is, by his 
 Bible, " thoroughly furnished unto every good work." 
 
 Let christians, then, not under the influence of party zeal, 
 but in the fear of God, as those who must give an account, 
 withhold their suffi-ages from men whose known opinions de- 
 stroy the practical influence of an oath ; whose open hostility 
 
 V 
 
249 
 
 to all religion, renders it unsafe and sinful to confide in them; 
 whose immoral habits would contaminate the public morality ; 
 or whose sectarian zeal would incapacitate them for a liberal 
 and impartial legislation on the subject of religion : and when 
 this is done, let them no longer know " any man after the 
 flesh ;" but, without reference to political party, or doctrinal 
 creed, vote for those who are, in other respects, worthy of 
 their confidence. Every community needs, in its bosom, 
 mep of cool and uncommitted feeling, to allay the fierceness 
 of party strife, and to come forth for the salvation of the 
 nation, on emergencies of danger. And why should not an 
 host of such men, lovers of their country and their God, be 
 found in the church ; instituted by heaven to promote peace 
 on earth, and good will to men .^ The interests of science 
 and literature, arc regarded as too important to be identified 
 with political parties ; and are permitted to enjoy the retreat 
 of the groves, far from the noise of strife and war. And 
 why should not the interests of religion be allowed to stand 
 aloof from the conflicts of ambition, and the din of contro- 
 versy ? As political animosities rage, in free governments, 
 and competitions for office and power are conducted, and 
 ever will be, till the world is far better than it now is ; — every 
 christian may say of political partisans, as Jacob said of 
 Simeon and Levi : " Instruments of cruelty are in their 
 habitations : O my soul, come not thou into their secret ; 
 unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united." 
 
 The effect of such a retreat by christians, from the annual 
 details of party strife, and of the silent exertion of evangeli- 
 cal influence in the exercise of the right of suffj-age, would 
 be attended with the happiest effects. The political aliena- 
 tion of christians would cease, and be followed by the increase 
 of brotherly love. Their diversion from religious enterprise 
 would cease, and they would have more time and more zeal 
 for the service of Christ. The prejudice against religion, 
 occasioned by their political officiousness, would be avoided ; 
 and that influence, which, before, was worse than lost in the 
 
250 
 
 turmoils of party, would be sanctified and devoted to the 
 cause of Christ. 
 
 In all the competitions for political elevation, of which 
 there will always be many in free governments ; the suffrage 
 of a christian community, held in reserve, to be exercised 
 under the influence of conscience, and a cool uncommitted 
 discretion, would have an influence highly salutary to the 
 state, and to the interests of piety and morality. As long as 
 christians are divided, and will vote bHndly, under the in- 
 fluence of a political mania ; no individual fears the conse- 
 quence of irreligion or immorality ; and no party fears the 
 consequence of them in their candidates for office. But if 
 christians retire from unhallowed competitions, to bestow 
 their suffrage by the dictation of an enlightened conscience, 
 they will hold an amount of suffrage, not to be lightly re- 
 garded or despised on either side. In this, there is no elec- 
 tioneering, no officious meddhng, and no violence. Christians 
 exercise their own civil rights, under the guidance of their 
 own consciences, enlightened by the word of God ; and in 
 doing it, allay the violence of party, elevate the standard of 
 morality, and secure to religion all the protection that it 
 needs, and to their country, so far as their influence can avail, 
 an administration of the government, devoted to the public 
 good, and not to the interests of a party. Experience has 
 evinced the vanity of all hopes of religious and moral purity 
 from the influence of civil governments directly ; government 
 itself, needs to be brought under the influence of christian 
 principle, and to be imbued with christian feeling : an event, 
 which can be accomplished, only, as the public opinion shall 
 be purified, and regulated by religious and moral, princijjle. 
 But this silent leaven of the mass, can be the result only, 
 of a general increase of religion, and the proper exercise by 
 christians of their civil influence. I would say therefore in 
 the language of Wilberforce, " let true christians, with be- 
 coming earnestness, strive in • all things to recommend their 
 profession, and to put to silence the vain scofls of ignorant 
 
251 
 
 objectors. Let them boldly assert the cause of Christ in an 
 age when so many, who bear the name of christians, are 
 ashamed of Him ; and let them consider as devolved on them 
 the important duty of suspending for a while the fall of their 
 country, and, perhaps, of performing a still more extensive 
 service to society at large ; not by busy interference in poli- 
 tics, in which it cannot but be confessed there is much uncer- 
 tainty ; but rather by that sure and radical benefit of restor- 
 ing the influence of rehgion, and of raising the standard of 
 morality. Let them cultivate a catholic spirit of universal 
 good will, and of amicable fellowship towards all those, of 
 whatever sect or denomination, who, differing from them in 
 non-essentials, agree with them in the gi-and fundamentals of 
 religion. Let them countenance men of real piety wherever 
 they are found ; and encourage in others every attempt to 
 repress the progress of vice, and to revive and diffuse the 
 influence of religion and virtue. Let their earnest prayers be 
 constantly offered, that such endeavors may be successful, 
 and that the abused longsuffering of God may still continue to 
 us the invaluable privilege of vital Christianity." 
 
 2. The churches of our Lord are to maintain the faith 
 delivered to the saints by inculcating it early, and earnestly, 
 upon children. 
 
 Catechetical instruction was adopted, universally, by the 
 primitive christians ; was practised by the Waldenses as their 
 safeguard against the seductions of the Papists ; was resorted 
 to by the churches of the reformation, and continued by the 
 churches of New England ; and has uniformly been followed 
 by the revival or decline of religion, as it has been persisted 
 in or neglected. It is pre-eminently important that there be 
 in the church, symbols of evangelical doctrine, associated 
 with the earliest recollections of her children. 
 
 The objection, that children cannot understand the doc- 
 trines of the Bible, is unfounded. They can understand 
 them, in their order, as early as they can understand any 
 thing. The being and character of God, the doctrines of 
 
252 
 
 accountability, depravity, and the necessity of a moral change, 
 are comprehended by children early, and with great ease. 
 But even if they do not, at the time, understand the words 
 they commit to memory, will they never understand them, 
 or derive benefit from them ? Would any parent be willing 
 to risk the commitment by his children of obscene songs, 
 because, at the tim'e, their import was not understood ? 
 Would not the words be a leaven of impurity in the memory, 
 to contaminate the mind as it opened to the comprehension of 
 their meaning ? So the doctrines of the Bible, though depo- 
 sited as a dead letter, may become a fountain of life to the 
 soul, when it shall open the eye of its understanding upon 
 them. 
 
 The plan of leaving children uninstructed in religion, that 
 they may come with an unbiassed mind to the subject, is im- 
 practicable. An evil heart is, itself, a powerful bias against 
 the truth ; and if the servants neglect to sow good seed, the 
 enemy will certainly sow tares. The sure consequence of 
 leaving children to grow up without rehgious instruction, will 
 be irreligion, and prejudice against the truth. Whenever, 
 therefore, our doctrinal catechisms are laid aside, a breach 
 wide as the sea is opened for the enemy to come in. 
 
 3. The faith delivered to the saints must be maintained by 
 means of literary institutions, regulated and controlled by its 
 sanctifying power. 
 
 It is evident, that the youth of our colleges cannot be gov- 
 erned without efficient moral influence. In our free country, 
 neither military coercion, nor civil power, nor ambition, will, 
 alone, avail to snbdue the vicious propensities, and direct the 
 principles and habits, of the young. Moral influence must 
 be employed ; and the most powerful moral influence is that 
 exerted by evangelical religion. This system of faith im- 
 poses a stricter rule of duty, and enforces its requisitions by 
 more powerful sanctions, attended, when faithfully exhibited, 
 by the influences of the Spirit, giving them effect on the 
 heart. The salutary influence of revivals, and of the bene- 
 
263 
 
 ficiarles of the churches, in our colleges, in promoting among 
 the young men, generally, purity of morals, and increasing 
 the facilities of government, are manifest and great. 
 
 Another proof of the necessity of such an influence is 
 found in the destructive consequences of a perverted litera- 
 ture. Talents and learning are moral power ; and cannot 
 be arrayed against religion, without disastrous effects. If 
 these, then, are beheld chiefly in alliance with error, and the 
 truth associated chiefly with uncultivated intellect ; how great 
 and powerful will be the prepossession in favor of error, and 
 against the truth ? We may as well expect the application 
 of all the mechanical powers in the natural world, without 
 effect, as of the energies of talent and literature in the moral 
 world, without effect. A reliance on the power of God, in 
 such circumstances, is presumption ; for it supposes, in op- 
 position to the declarations of his word and his providences, 
 that he will protect by miracle, without the use of means. 
 
 The opinion that God has dispensed with learning and tal- 
 ents as auxiliaries in the work of defending and propagating 
 the faith, has been adopted hastily and without reason. The 
 foolishness of preaching by which he saves, is not foolish 
 preaching ; and the weak things which he employs to con- 
 found the mighty, are not uncultivated intellect and ignorance. 
 The principal defenders of the faith in the primitive church, 
 were men of vigorous minds and extensive knowledge. The 
 apostles could speak in every tongue ; and, besides having 
 been instructed by Christ, were, by the Holy Ghost, remind- 
 ed of his words, and taught what to say. Augustine was, in 
 his day, a host. Luther and Calvin were men of might. 
 And the reformers, generally, had the advantage of their an- 
 tagonists in literature and science. That none should preach 
 the Gospel, who have not had the advantages of a liberal 
 education, we do not assert, nor -believe. But that such 
 should be the ordinary qualifications of ministers, we do 
 steadfastly believe. 
 
 Is it necessary to add, that it is the duty of the church, 
 33 
 
254 
 
 universally, to withhold her sons from those literary institu- 
 tions which are hostile to the doctrines of grace ? It is lu- 
 dicrous to pretend that " no doctrines in particular are taught" 
 in such institutions ; and that no influence is exerted to bias 
 the minds of young men against the evangelical system. 
 We might as well speak of a sword with no edge in particu- 
 lar, or a book containing no ideas in particular, as of religious 
 instruction without any religious doctrines in particular. Be- 
 sides, what shall we think of churches, associated on pur- 
 pose to train up youth in the doctrines of Christianity, send- 
 ing them where " no docti'ines in particular are taught ?" 
 And is it true, can it without a miracle be true, that no influ- 
 ence is exerted, in such institutions, to pervert the minds of 
 young men ? Will the faculty, whose opinions are known 
 and revered, as they are wont to be, by their pupils, and who 
 hold in their hands the distribution of literary honors, have 
 no influence in forming a popular sentiment hostile to the 
 doctrines of the reformation ? Will this atmosphere of op- 
 position and ridicule, in which a youth, whose previous ed- 
 ucation has been evangelical, is sent, to live and move and 
 have his being, exert no influence in unsettling his opinions ? 
 Possibly he may not make shipwreck of the faith ; but is this 
 a justification for exposing him to temptations, which, to nine- 
 teen in twenty, will prove fatal ? How many pious parents 
 already weep over blasted hopes ? How many children of 
 the church have, through the perversion of their talents and 
 acquirements, become her most powerful adversaries ? Were 
 the evils confined to the unhappy victims, it would be de- 
 plorable : for what shall it profit a man if his son gain the 
 highest point of literary attainment and renown, and lose his 
 soul ? But many parents of evangelical opinions, influenced 
 by the example of christians, may send their children, who 
 are not themselves beyond the reach of perversion. And all 
 may have brothers, and sisters, and companions, and relatives, 
 on whom they may exert a fatal influence, and thus become 
 the instruments of an extended diversion of the public 
 opinion. 
 
255 
 
 4. The faith delivered to the saints is to be contended for 
 by a faithful exhibition of its sanctions. 
 
 These are contained, in the punishment threatened to the 
 rejection of truth, as a crime ; and the calamities inseparable 
 from the rejection of it, if it were not a crime. The doctrines 
 of revelation are not articles of speculation merely, but prin- 
 ciples of moi'al government. They disclose the law, the Gos- 
 pel, and the providence of God. They are declared also, to 
 be so plain, that they can no more be misunderstood, inno- 
 cently, than darkness can be mistaken, innocently, for light ; 
 bitter for sweet ; thorns for grapes ; thistles for figs ; tares for 
 wheat; or ashes for bread. But if there were no criminality 
 attached to the rejection of the truth, the calamities of re- 
 jecting it, would be the same, as if its rejection were crimi- 
 nal. If we could separate criminality from sin, it would 
 still be a principle of misery. Enmity against God, malevo- 
 lence, envy, revenge, intemperance, and lust, are sources 
 of misery, if they were not crimes ; and thus it is with fun- 
 damental error in doctrine. The character, law, gospel, 
 and providence of God, are realities, as unmodified by hu- 
 man opinion, as the laws of the natural world : and the ca- 
 lamity of adopting false opinions on these subjects, and of 
 opposition of heart to the true character and government of 
 God, is the same, in its consequences as a calamity, whether 
 it be criminal or not. " To be carnally minded," in either 
 case, " is death." He {hat goes into eternity, in a state of 
 opposition to the character and government of God, is un- 
 done, whether guilty or not guilty. It is an admitted fact, 
 that repentance, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ are, some- 
 how, indispensable to render it consistent for God to pardon 
 sin. But this repentance, and this faith, are definite reali- 
 ties ; and, if a mistake were not criminal, that which is not 
 repentance, cannot have the effect of repentance, and that 
 which is not faith, cannot have the effect of faith, in render- 
 ing it consistent for God to pardon sin ; however innocently 
 the mistake may come to pass. 
 
256 
 
 Besides, men, as sinners, must be sanctified, as well as 
 pardoned, to fit them for heaven. But their sanctification 
 must be accomplished, not by physical power exclusively, 
 but by the instrumentality of the truth. It no more belongs 
 to omnipotence to give to error the effect of truth, on the 
 minds of free agents, than to cause a thing to be, and not to 
 be, at the same time. A law without rewards or punish- 
 ments, cannot be made as influential, on moral beings, as a 
 law with sanctions ; any more than vacuity in the scales, can 
 he made as weighty as lead. Thou shalt kill, cannot be made 
 to have the same effect, as the prohibition, " thou shalt not 
 kill." And " the soul that sinneth, it shall" not " die," can- 
 not be made to affect the mind of a sinner, like the denuncia- 
 tion " the soul that sinnedi, it shall die." In like manner, 
 the declarations, "The carnal mind is" not " enmity against 
 God 5" "if a man be" not "born again, he shall see the 
 kingdom of God ;" " he that doth" not " repent and believe, 
 shall be saved ;" " and he that is" without " holiness, shall 
 see the Lord ;" " and he that doth" not " deny himself, shall 
 be a disciple of Christ ;" cannot be made to have the same 
 effect in exciting fear, or producing conviction of sin, or re- 
 pentance, or faith, as the contrary declarations. It is idle to 
 talk of the power of God, or of the goodness of God, or of 
 the mercy of God, or of his paternal character ; we may as 
 well rely on these attributes to prevent the effects of fire, or 
 water, or poison, on the natui-al body. We may as well play 
 with the adder, or meet the hungry lion, or leap the preci- 
 pice, or stand before the cannon's mouth, confiding in God's 
 goodness and our sincerity to prevent harm ; as to disregard 
 or oppose all the great laws of his moral government, and our 
 own moral nature, and expect that his power and goodness 
 will avert the consequences, and save us, without the truth, 
 or by the inslrumentality of error. 
 
 Believing then, as we do, that the evangelical system is 
 the faith delivered to the saints, the very Gospel of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ ; and that the rejection of it is fatal, on the 
 
257 
 
 ground of crime ; and fatal in the nature of things, as moral 
 beings are constituted ; we are bound to preach this Gospel, 
 as, in our opinion, indispensable to salvation. We are 
 bound to do this, because, to do otherwise, would be to 
 preach the Gospel without sanctions ; which would render it 
 of none effect. We are bound to do it also, because, as men 
 are constituted, opinion has influence, and we owe its effica- 
 cy to Christ, and to the souls of men. The Gospel, if it had 
 been preached without sanctions by Christ and his apostles, 
 would have excited little opposition, and have done little 
 good. The Scribes and Pharisees would not have been of- 
 fended at Christ, but would have admired his catholic spirit, 
 if to his doctrine he had subjoined; 'These are my opinions; — 
 but those who differ from me, are doubtless honest and sin- 
 cere, and will be mercifully accepted by our heavenly Fa- 
 ther.' Idolaters also, would have added Christ, as a god, 
 to their thirty thousand gods ; if he, in return, would have 
 given to each, and to his worshippers, the right hand of fel- 
 lowship. So it is, precisely, in respect to the doctrines of 
 the evangelical system. " Charity ^^ would '^ suffer long^^ 
 and be as " hincV^ to us, as to Mohammedans, or Infidels, or 
 the diversities of liberal men ; if the concession could only be 
 made by us, that those who reject these doctrines may be in- 
 nocently and safely wrong. It is holding them as essential to 
 salvation, and all opposite systems as fatal, that overcomes 
 the patience of charity itself, and brings upon us the retri- 
 bution of invective and obloquy. All this, however, only 
 discloses the efficacy, upon the consciences of men, of 
 preaching the truth with its sanctions ; and increases our 
 obligations, and our motives, to do it faithfully. 
 
 1 would not incumber the subject here, with the question, 
 what will become of the heathen, if the faith delivered to the 
 saints be essential to salvation ^ For, if it were true, that 
 those to whom it has not been delivered, may be saved with- 
 out it ; it would not follow, that those can be, to whom it has 
 been delivered, and by whom it has been rejected. 
 
258 
 
 Nor is it needful to adjust the seeming, or real differences 
 of those christians, who hold, some to more, and others to 
 less of the system. For the question is not, how much of 
 this system rtiay be misunderstood, consistently with sancti- 
 fication by that which is still embraced : but, can it be re- 
 jected entirely, by those who possess the Bible ; and they 
 who do it, be sanctified without it, and saved by the instru- 
 mentality of error ? Nor is it a question of any consequence 
 whether it he possible for a man to be saved who rejects this 
 system, if it be, in fact, as we believe it to be, the Gospel. 
 For what if it were possible for a man who rejects it to be 
 saved, does that prove that he will be saved ? And do we 
 need no higher evidence that we shall be saved, than is im- 
 plied in the fact of its bare possibility ? 
 
 Nor is the duty of preaching this faith, as indispensable to 
 salvation, affected at all by the consideration that we are fal- 
 lible, and may possibly be mistaken in our opinions : for, so 
 long as we believe, whether correctly or not, we must act 
 according to our belief. Nor is this sitting in the judgment 
 seat, and " dealing damnation round the land ;" at all more, 
 than our believing certain human productions to be the laws 
 of the State, and that some men have transgressed them and 
 will be punished, is sitting in the judgment seat, and dealing 
 damnation round the land. 
 
 Nor is it bigotry. Bigotry consists in a blind attachment 
 to opinions, from inchnation, passion, and prejudice ; and 
 may be manifested, in as high a degree, in the avowal and 
 propagation of liberal, as evangelical opinions. 
 
 Neither can I perceive in what respect it is uncharitable. 
 For what is charity ? Not a decision of the understanding, 
 but an affection of the heart. It is love — good will — benevo- 
 lence. — But while it leads us to hope, as long as there is 
 room to hope, that a fellow creature is not guilty, and in 
 danger ; it does not lead us to resist competent evidence of 
 the fact, or to conceal from him our opinion of his character, 
 or our sense of his danger. The more we love him, the 
 
259 
 
 more plain will be our note of admonition, the more earnest 
 our intreaty, and the more vigorous our exertion, to save his 
 soul from death. Charity, does not consist in creeds of 
 strict, or liberal import ; but in the temper of heart, with 
 which they are adopted, and propagated. It is very possi- 
 ble, that a liberal creed may be associated with a haughty 
 and vindictive temper ; and what is called a severe creed, 
 with the meekness and gentleness of Christ. " Charity 
 suffereth long and is kind" under severe provocations. 
 " Envieth not" a successful competitor for popular favor. 
 " Vaunteth not itself;" does not trumpet its own virtues 
 and praises. " Is not puffed up " with vain seJf-estima- 
 tion. " Doth not behave itself unseemly" by a light and 
 vain deportment. " Seeketh not her own ;" has no pleasure 
 in monopolies. "Is not easily provoked" by the perverse- 
 ness of men. " Thinketh no evil," plotteth none, suspecteth 
 none. " Rejoiceth not in iniquity;" as if the means could 
 sanctify the end. But " rejoiceth in the truth," as having to 
 do with the affections. " Beareth all things ;" revilings and 
 misrepresentations, with meekness. " Believeth all things " 
 just as they are revealed, as those knew all things who had 
 an unction from the Holy One. " Endureth all things ;" 
 temptations with fortitude, afflictions with submission. 
 
 5. The faith delivered to the saints is to be defended by 
 earnest written discussion. 
 
 The opinion that controversy is of no use, because dispu- 
 tants never convince each other, is derived from a very 
 limited view of the subject. It is nearer the truth to say, 
 that no great advance has been made in science, religion, or 
 politics, without controversy. And certain it is, that no era 
 of powerful theological discussion has ever past away, with- 
 out an abiding effect in favor of truth. The discussions of 
 Augustine, of Luther, and of Calvin, are felt to this day ; 
 and the controversial writings of Edwards have been to error, 
 what the mounds and dykes of Holland have been to the 
 sea. One danger only is to be guarded against ; it is that of 
 
260 
 
 diminishing, in the public mind, the high sense which has ex- 
 isted of the criminality and danger of error. If our personal 
 attachments, and literary friendships, and courtesy of man- 
 ner, should bring down the high and holy subject of contend- 
 ing for the faith, to a cool and amicable trial of classical and 
 polemical skill ; the public feeling would soon be chilled, and 
 fall to this low level of practical estimation. Every discus- 
 sion of the doctrines of Christianity should, evidently, be con- 
 ducted with benevolence ; but in a language, and in a manner, 
 which carries home to the hearts of men, the full impression 
 of our deep conviction, both of the criminality, and the dan- 
 ger of rejecting the truth. 
 
 6. Another means of defending the faith is to be found in 
 a careful maintenance of the apostolic tenure of membership 
 in the visible church. 
 
 This, there is no reason to doubt, consisted in a credible 
 profession of repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. And as long as these continued to be the 
 terms of admission, the primitive churches continued in a 
 healthful state. But when, as a matter of courtesy or of au- 
 thority, the tenure of membership was altered, after the pro- 
 tection and control of civil government began ; a door was 
 opened at which the state entered, unsanctified, the church 
 of God ; and, in the progress of ages, reared the most terrific 
 despotism of superstition and ambition, that ever provoked 
 God, or oppressed men. At the reformation, the same in- 
 terposition of government modified the terms of admission ; 
 and, by the secular and unsanctified mass thrown upon the 
 church, hindered its consummation, and prepared the way 
 for that swift and great declension from evangelical doctrine 
 and vital godliness which followed. 
 
 When our fathers came to this land, in their flight from 
 persecution, it was, primarily, that they might build the 
 church, according to the evangeHcal pattern, of lively stones 
 only ; and, in the beginning, the tenure of membership was a 
 professed belief in the doctrines of the reformation, attended 
 
261 
 
 by credible evidence of regeneration. This strict tenure of 
 membership, about the close of the first generation, became a 
 subject of complaint by those who were excluded from of- 
 fice, because they could not conscientiously join the church ; 
 and by those whose children, on the same account, remained 
 unbaptized ; and by emigrants from England, of less strict- 
 ness of religious sentiment, who came over after the first 
 perils of settlement were past. These united, constituted a 
 strong party in the state, who were for admitting all persons 
 of a regular life to full communion, on their making a pro- 
 fession of their belief in the christian religion, without any 
 inquiry with respect to a change of heart ; and for regarding 
 all who had been baptized in infancy, as, on that ground, en- 
 titled, in adult age, to membership in the church. The 
 legislators generally, and some ministers, favored the liberal 
 side of the question. The innovation was, however, strenu- 
 ously resisted by the rest of the clergy, and by the churches 
 almost universally. While hosts without assembled, and 
 murmurs long and loud were heard, they stood to defend the 
 gates of Zion from the intrusion of the stranger. At length, 
 however, they were overpowered by numbers. The gates of 
 the holy city were burst open, and the world rushed in, and 
 took possession of the baptismal font and the sacramental 
 host. Thus, at a stroke, was prostrated the system of church 
 organization established by heaven to perpetuate pure doctrine 
 and vital piety ; and, from this time, for three quarters of a 
 century, both declined in a manner the most rapid and alarm- 
 ing which the churches of New England ever witnessed. 
 
 In the course of ten years after this event, a suspension of 
 divine influence in the conviction and conversion of sinners 
 took place, so signal and alarming, as induced the legislature 
 to call a synod to inquire into and report the causes. The 
 alarm was great, and the lamentations loud and many. Mr. 
 Stoughton, in an election sermon, 1660, said ; " Alas, how is 
 New England in danger, this day, to be lost, even in New 
 England ! to be buried in its own ruins ! How sadly may we 
 34 
 
262 
 
 lament that all are not Israel that are now of Israel ! How is 
 the good grain diminished, and the chaff increased !" In 
 1683, the minister of Weymouth declared, that " A great 
 failure has taken place in the work of conversion, in the fre- 
 quency of a credible profession of religion, and in the tokens 
 of formality, hypocrisy and apostacy." Dr. Increase Mather 
 said in 1697, " Dr. Owen has proved, that, the letting go, by 
 the primitive churches, of the principle, that particular church- 
 es ought to consist of regenerate persons only, brought in the 
 great anti-christian apostacy." In the year 1700, he pre- 
 dicted, that, if the begun declension, (occasioned by the ad- 
 mission of unrenewed men into the church,) should continue 
 to progress for thirty years to come, as it had done for thirty 
 years past, the more conscientious people would be con- 
 strained to gather churches out of churches. A prediction 
 which was extensively verified, in about that time. This 
 suspension of divine influence, and decline of vital religion, 
 continued until the time of Edwards, the Luther of New 
 England ; who, by his example, and by his unanswerable 
 treatise on the terms of communion, revived the practice of 
 receiving to the Lord's table none but those who furnished 
 credible evidence of a moral renovation by the Spirit, and of 
 repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 A practice, which has been steadily increasing, from his day 
 to this ; and, with it, evangehcal doctrine, and revivals of re- 
 ligion. 
 
 By this course of ample experiment in the primitive 
 church, at the reformation, and in New England, the point 
 is settled, that evangelical doctrines cannot be maintained in 
 the churches of our Lord, but by maintaining the apostolic 
 tenure of membership. Let men of the world be amalga- 
 mated with the pious in the church, and soon evangelical opi- 
 nions will be exiled, or remain only in her creed a dead letter. 
 
 In the application of this subject we invite the attention to 
 what has been advanced in this discourse, of those whose 
 
263 
 
 minds have been unsettled and perplexed in respect to the 
 claims of the liberal and evangelical systems to be regarded 
 as the faith delivered to the saints : or, who have been ac- 
 customea to regard the latter system as unintelligible, con- 
 tradictory, absurd, and of no salutary practical influence. 
 
 We are sensible, that, in our land, there are many who 
 have no opportunity of hearing the evangehcfil system of doc- 
 trines stated in a manner which its advocates would approve : 
 and that no small prejudice has arisen against it, through 
 misapprehension. But, with his Bible in his possession, we 
 are constrained to believe that every man may know what 
 the Scriptures say on these subjects ; and that, if the evan- 
 gelical system be divine, it cannot be rejected with impunity. 
 If, to any, this opinion shall seem severe, and, as some have 
 said, as if we were glad that many will be lost ; we can say, 
 with an apostle, and call God to witness, that " we have 
 great heaviness and continual sorrow in our hearts for our 
 brethren, our kinsmen according to the flesh ;" whom, as 
 we understand the Bible, we cannot but regard as fatally 
 deceived. 
 
 If the effects of their mistake were, in our view, confined 
 to this transient scene ; or, if we could believe, that the truth 
 of God, as a whole, could be misunderstood and rejected, 
 consistently with that moral renovation of the heart which 
 is indispensable to communion with God, and admission to 
 heaven, we might hold our peace : for of what possible con- 
 sequence can it be to us, whether our fellow men agree with, 
 or differ from us, on points, which, in a few days, may be 
 of no consequence. Time is too short, and eternity is too 
 long, to justify great solicitude about things which affect us 
 only here. But if, as we believe, all the quahfications for 
 heaven have ceased from the heart of man, and all the means 
 of their restoration lie in the system of revealed truth, and 
 the efficacy given to it by the special influence of the Holy 
 Spirit ; and if God will not sanctify by the instrumentality 
 of error, where his truth is rejected in the presence, or within 
 
264 
 
 the reach of ample evidence, how can we, in such circumstan- 
 ces, behold our fellow men, our friends, and neighbors, moving 
 onward to the confirmed state of a miserable eternity, and not 
 be deeply affected ? We beseech you, brethren, " by the meek- 
 ness and gentleness of Christ," that you he not offended with 
 our plainness, in this discourse, nor with our importunity in its 
 application. We respectfully, but earnestly, invite your atten- 
 tion to the argument which has been submitted to your consid- 
 eration ; and intreat that, in the light of it, and of God's holy 
 word, you will give to your own opinions one revision more ; 
 one careful, prayerful, immediate revision : for if you are 
 wrong, it will soon be too late to retrieve the mistake. Allow 
 us to ask you then, affectionately — solemnly, whether such col- 
 lateral evidence, as we have been able to lay into the scale of 
 evangelical exposition, can be the result of accident ; or can 
 be found, to be laid in the opposite scale ^ Are the doctrines 
 of the liberal system contained in the text, according to its 
 most direct and obvious meaning ? Do they receive the sanc- 
 tion of approbation from the most devout persons, and the 
 sentence of condemnation from the irreligious and vicious ^ 
 Does the liberal system produce the same objections, which 
 the faith delivered to the saints produced ? Is it gladly re- 
 ceived by the common people, and rejected by the same 
 sort of men, in the higher orders of society, who rejected the 
 Gospel ^ Do the doctrines of the liberal system occasion a 
 virulent hostility against them, in such circumstances, as 
 show that it does not result from the ardent love of truth, or 
 hatred of error t Do they occasion the same fears and anxi- 
 eties about a future state ; the same deep conviction of sin ; 
 and the same joyful, and often, sudden conversion to God, as 
 are manifested under evangelical preaching, and in revivals 
 of religion .'' Do the doctrines of the liberal system produce 
 revivals of religion at all; and not rather, awaken prejudices, 
 and array influence, against them.^ Do they produce the same 
 style of piety ; as deep, solemn, and ardent, as the faith pro- 
 duced which was dehvered to the saints ^ Do they inspire the 
 
• 265 
 
 same solicitude and effort for the awakening and conversion 
 of sinners, under the hght of the Gospel ; or the same com- 
 passion for the heathen, and enterprise for their salvation ? 
 Does the liberal system inspire the same assurance of its 
 being true, attended by the same unwavering constancy in its 
 profession, which the faith delivered to the saints inspired ? 
 And does it produce the same assurance of hope, and the 
 same sustaining joy " full of glory," in the hour of death ? 
 
 We make the appeal to your consciences and your hearts, 
 whether you do not perceive and know, that the liberal sys- 
 tem is naked, in respect to these great effects which the faith 
 delivered to the saints did produce : and whether, all of them 
 do not, with undeniable notoriety, cluster about the path of 
 the evangelical system. If this be so, can that system be 
 false which produces the effects, so many, and so great, which 
 were produced by the faith delivered to the saints : and can 
 that be the true faith, which js so utterly destitute of them ? 
 The Gospel, is the most powerful moral cause, which has 
 ever operated in this world. Its effects, of course, cannot be 
 hid, and cannot be the same with a system in direct opposi- 
 tion to it. The three or four first centuries brought out, un- 
 equivocally, the effects of the faith delivered to the saints 
 which we have noted : these, all of them, are found associated 
 still, with the evangelical system ; and none of them, with the 
 liberal system. Is, then, the liberal system, the faith once de- 
 livered to the saints ? Why does it not produce the same ef- 
 fects which that produced ? Has the Gospel changed its na- 
 ture, or lost its power ; or has human nature changed, or 
 is the liberal system another Gospel ? Ponder well this subject, 
 for the judge is at the door ; and the day will burst upon us 
 soon, that will try every man's faith, and heart, and work. 
 
 Allow us then, once more, to refer it to your consciences, 
 whether, admitting the evidence from exposition to be on each 
 side the same, this decisive weight of collateral evidence ought 
 not to withdraw your confidence from the liberal system, and to 
 decide your judgment in favor of the evangehcal system, as the 
 
266 • 
 
 very " word of God, and faith of Jesus." Every great system 
 of truth and of falsehood, is attended by a mass of presumptive 
 collateral evidence, for or against it. And, while the evangel- 
 ical system commends itself to your confidence by all that va- 
 riety of collateral evidence which has been exhibited, and the 
 opposite system is wholly unattended by it; dare you, will you, 
 reject the evangelical, and risk your salvation on the liberal 
 system ? Does the thought, as you read, offer to rise, ' Possibly, 
 after all, my own system may be a deception, and that which 
 I have disputed be true .^' Let it rise : for it may be the 
 movement, on your mind, of the long resisted Spirit, sug- 
 gesting to your conscience, " this is the way, walk ye in it." 
 Does fear flash across your mind, at times, the thought, as a 
 momentary reality, ' I may be wrong, after all ; and these doc- 
 trines, which produce revivals of religion, and such joy in 
 death, may be the faith delivered to the saints ^ Stifle not the 
 unwelcome conviction ; for it may be the commencement of 
 eternal life in your soul. " Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in 
 the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the 
 good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
 souls." 
 
 Note. — This Sermon was reviewed in the Christian Examiner for Jan- 
 uary and February, 1824 ; a reply to the Review appeared in the Christian 
 Spectator for February and March, 1825, and may be seen by the reader 
 in the appendix to this vohuue. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 RESOURCES OF THE ADVERSARY AND MEANS OF THEIR 
 DESTRUCTION. 
 
 Isaiah, xlix. 25. — Thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty 
 shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered. 
 
 Isaiah, liii. 12. — Therefore will 1 divide him a portion with the great, and 
 he shall divide the spoil with the strong ; because he hath poured out his 
 soul unto death. 
 
 Luke, xi. 21, 22. — When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his 
 goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon hini, and 
 overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and 
 divideth his spoils. 
 
 Rev. xi. 15. — And the seventh angel sounded ; and there were 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 for ever and ever. 
 
 Rev. xix. 5, 6. — And a voice came out of the throne, saying. Praise our 
 God, all ye his servants, and ye that feai- him, both small and great. And I 
 heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many 
 waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying. Alleluia : for the 
 Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 
 
 The Scriptures teach, that sin commenced its reign on 
 earth under the auspices of a mighty fallen spirit ; and that 
 he, having seduced mankind from their allegiance to God, 
 has been constantly employed to maintain his bad eminence 
 over them. They also teach, that the Son of God has inter- 
 posed to destroy the works of this spirit ; and that he will 
 accomplish the object : that the power of Satan shall be 
 
268 
 
 broken ; and the whole world be restored to loyalty and the 
 favor of heaven. 
 
 The passages, which have just been recited, allude to the 
 success with which the enemy of God has fortified his cause — 
 to its final overthrow — and to the exultation and joy with 
 which the event will fill earth and heaven. 
 
 I am aware, that with some, the doctrine of fallen angels is 
 but an eastern allegory ; and the idea of a conflict, between 
 the creature and Creator, ridiculous and unworthy of the divine 
 supremacy. I can only say, that if there be not an order of 
 sinful intelligences above men, the Bible is one of the most 
 deceptive books ever written. The entire history of the world 
 shows, that human depravity, though operating in accordance 
 with the laws of mind, is yet methodised and wielded with a 
 comprehension of plan, wholly inexplicable upon the principle 
 of accidental coincidence among men. That there should 
 have been a system of well-constructed opposition to the Gos- 
 pel, varying with circumstances, and comprehending the 
 great amount of bad moral influence which has existed, with- 
 out some presiding intellect, is as improbable, as that all the 
 particles of matter which compose the universe, should have 
 fallen into their existing method and order by mere accident, 
 and without the presiding intellect of the Deity. And as to 
 moral competition between the creature and the Creator, it 
 exists, even if there be no fallen angels. It is a matter of fact 
 before our eyes — a matter of experience too — that the carnal 
 mind is enmity against God ; and that God, in Christ, is re- 
 conciling the world to himself. 
 
 It should be remembered also, that when God has formed 
 moral beings, even he can govern them, as such, only by 
 moral influence, and in accordance with the laws of mind : 
 mere omnipotence being as irrelevant to the government of 
 mind, as moral influence would be to the government of the 
 material universe. Nor must it be forgotten, that an alienat- 
 ed world requires more moral power for its restoration than 
 that of simple law, which proved insufficient to maintain its 
 
269 
 
 allegiance. It requires a new moral influence so introduced 
 and applied, as to corroborate law, and strengthen the loyalty 
 of all the good, while rebels are reconciled and pardoned. 
 
 The reconciliation, through Christ, of such a world as this, 
 in opposition to the rooted aversion of every heart, the con- 
 centrated power of social wickedness, and the ceaseless 
 counteraction of mighty intelligences, principalities, and 
 powers, does not seem to us an achievement unworthy of 
 that Being, who numbers the hairs of our head. By prophets 
 and apostles, it is represented as exhibiting the height and 
 depth, and length and breadth, of the wisdom, and goodness, 
 and power of God. 
 
 In this discourse, it is proposed to consider, 
 
 The defences and resources of the enemy, and 
 the means of their overthrow. 
 
 We shall suppose, as the language of the text does, that 
 the Christianity, which is to prevail on earth, is the Chris- 
 tianity of the heart, rising to high eminence, and extending 
 its blessed influence through all the relations of society, until 
 the kingdoms of this world shall become associations of holi- 
 ness — the Gospel become the predominant spring of action, 
 and its morality the governing rule of all mankind. The 
 array of opposition to such a glorious change on earth, now 
 demands our attention. 
 
 1. At the head of opposition to the Gospel, in numerical 
 power, must be placed Idolatry. To banish from the earth 
 all knowledge of God and his government, and substitute a 
 worship composed of lust and blood, seems most desirable to 
 the great adversary, where circumstances allow it to be done : 
 and this he has achieved in respect to about six hundred mil- 
 lions of the human family. In all that world of mind, know- 
 ledge is in deep eclipse, intellect slumbers, conscience is 
 paralysed, and all holy intercourse between earth and heaven 
 is cut ofi"; while passion and appetite, inflamed by sin, are 
 suffered to prey uncontrolled. 
 
 35 
 
270 
 
 2. The next form of opposition to the march of holiness, 
 is that of Imposture. This was introduced by iMohammed. 
 It was a system accommodated to the condition of a mingled 
 population, composed of Pagans, Jews, and nominal chris- 
 tians, all in a state of great ignorance and deep moral de- 
 basement. JBy complimenting Abraham and Moses, he be- 
 guiled the Jew ; by conceding to the Saviour the rank of a 
 prophet, he seduced the degenerate christian; and by giving 
 ample license to sensuality, in time and eternity, he secured 
 the pagan : and what persuasion failed to accomplish, was 
 finished by the sword. Thus on^ hundred and forty millions 
 have been grouped together under the most ferocious and 
 horrid despotism that ever warred against heaven, or torment- 
 ed man. Over all these the smoke from the bottomless pit 
 has ascended, intercepting the light of heaven, and dooming 
 them for centuries to " darkness visible." 
 
 3. Cotemporaneously with this system of imposture, and 
 like it a subject of prophecy, arose the Papal superstition, in 
 the form of a corrupted Christianity, and adapted to a state of 
 intellectual improvement where the grossness of Mohamme- 
 dan imposture might not be likely to prevail. This has been, 
 and is still, the master-piece of that wisdom which is from 
 beneath; concentrating the bad influence of all past systems; 
 satisfactory to the pagan, and not alarming to the degenerate 
 christian ; dazzling through the medium of sense ; and giving 
 such a hcense to sin, or such a cheap escape from its penal- 
 ties, as allayed all fear, and stimulated to boundless in- 
 dulgence. 
 
 Until this horrid system arose, the resistance made to the 
 churclvof God had been planted without her walls. Now 
 the sacred citadel is assailed and entered. Her friends are 
 driven out, subjected to obloquy and death. The perverted 
 authority of heaven, and the sacred name of Christianity her- 
 self, and all the glorious and fearful sanctions of eternity are 
 arrayed against the pure Gospel. Instead of the fold of 
 Christ, the church became a ferocious beast, not sparing the 
 
271 
 
 flock : instead of a pure virgin, the mother of harlots,~corrupt- 
 ing the nations. Instead of reflecting the hght of the Sun of right- 
 eousness, every orb was echpsed ; every candlestick removed 
 out of its place ; while the night of ages settled down upon 
 the earth. In this tremendous period, knowledge and virtue 
 expired, and corruption and violence, as before the flood, 
 filled the earth. The great merchandise was in the souls of 
 men ; the chief staples, indulgences to sin ; and nothing but 
 holiness of heart and life was absolutely unpardonable. 
 
 Here, around the standard of Christ, the kings of the earth 
 took counsel against the Lord and his anointed, to break his 
 bands and cast away his cords. And here the atheist and 
 the Jew, the infidel and the libertine, could wear the sacred 
 vestments, and make war upon the Saviour and his friends. 
 
 Popery is a system, where science and ignorance, refine- 
 ment and barbarism, wisdom and stupidity, taste and animal- 
 ism, mistaken zeal and malignant enmity, may sanctimonious- 
 ly pour out their virulence against the Gospel, and cry, 
 Hosanna, while they go forth to shed the blood, and to wear 
 out the patience of the saints. And though by revolutions it 
 has been shaken, and compelled by motives of policy to cease 
 a little from blood, not a principle of this system has been 
 abandoned. All the wiles of ages past are put in requisition 
 now, to heal the fatal wounds which the beast has received ; 
 and to render the system still more powerful and terrific. 
 The leaven is in secret and in open operation in this country ; 
 and the quick action of the beast to the touch of the spear in 
 Palestine, shows that he is neither dead nor asleep. And 
 considering the civilization, and wealth, and science, which 
 the system comprehends, it is from popery, no doubt, that 
 the Gospel is destined to experience the last and most deter- 
 mined resistance. 
 
 4. Another form of resistance to the Gospel is to be antici- 
 pated from the despotic governments of the earth — so incon- 
 sistent in their influence with that illumination of mind and 
 melioration of heart, which, it is predicted, shall prevail, and 
 
272 
 
 which the blessed Gospel never fails to produce. Hence it 
 may be expected, that despots will take counsel against the 
 Lord, as the march of intellect, and piety, and civil hberty, 
 shall minister alarm. 
 
 To what extent forcible resistance will be made to the 
 Gospel, it is not our object now to inquire ; or whether re- 
 publican forms of government will supplant the ancient dynas- 
 ties. It is enough to know, that all the governments who 
 yield to the intimations of that providence which sends out 
 religion and civil hberty upon the earth, will be safe and hap- 
 py ; and that all who make resistance, will be agitated by 
 revohitions, and destroyed by heavy judgments. " Be wise 
 now, therefore, O ye kings ; be instructed, ye judges of the 
 earth : serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembhng ; 
 kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, 
 when his wrath is kindled but a little." 
 
 5. Another source of resistance to Christianity is that of 
 crime in its varied forms. A vast amount of capital is em- 
 barked in enterprises which directly or indirectly war against 
 morality. All this, when the spirit of Christianity shall pre- 
 vail, will be contraband, and be withdrawn. The power of 
 steam shall not needlessly violate holy time, nor the sail, with- 
 out cause, whiten in the Sabbath sun, and spread itself to 
 pervert the breath of heaven. Theatres, those " schools of 
 morality," falsely so called, shall cease to beguile unstable 
 souls, whose feet go down to death, whose steps take hold on 
 hell. Christianity, as she prevails, will form a public senti- 
 ment that will make virtue blush at the thought of meeting 
 within the same walls, and breathing the same polluted air, 
 and applauding the same exhibitions, with the most debased 
 and wretched portion of the community. All who thrive and 
 grow rich amid the desolations of inebriation, and all who 
 desire to do wickedly without loss of character, or annoyance 
 of conscience, will feel instinctively the approach of religion : 
 and as their craft shall be in danger, will raise a loud and 
 bitter cry — ' Great is Diana. Great is Diana.' 
 
273 
 
 Nor are the maxims of more reputable trade in such nice 
 accordance with the " golden rule," as to need no revision, 
 or to present no resistance to the Gospel, as she moves on to 
 make it the universal actual law of commercial intercourse : 
 while the entire world of honor must be expected to stand 
 against that Gospel, which forbids murder, and inculates for- 
 giveness, and arrays public sentiment against the guilty. 
 
 If the Gospel would proiiibit only acknowledged immorali- 
 ties, and wink at human weaknesses, the whole pleasure- 
 loving .world wowid consent to an armistice, and permit her 
 to move on without much complaint. But the inexorable 
 requisitions of purity of heart and self-denial cannot fail to 
 brine; out against her a multitudinous and determined resist- 
 ance. The haters of her uncharitableness, and the lovers 
 of a more liberal way, and all classes of the openly wicked, 
 will, it may be expected, as the light increases and enmity 
 rises, be condensed into a firmer and firmer phalanx of oppo- 
 sition. And now will the alarm be sounded about popery 
 and priest-craft, by just that class of men, who, in papal 
 countries, love darkness, and most cheerfully purchase indul- 
 gences to sin ; and who, in this country, should the darkness 
 of popery be permitted to come upon us, would be the first 
 to hail it as a covert for their crimes and a quietus for their 
 consciences. And yet panic-struck will many become about 
 liberty of conscience, who long since have ceased to have 
 any conscience ; and suddenly will many fall in love with 
 civil liberty, who, all their days, and with all their might, 
 have, by their pernicious influence, been employed in attempts 
 to undermine her deep foundations. 
 
 6. To cover the nakedness of this forlorn hope of opposi- 
 tion to the Gospel, a more liberal sort of religion must be in- 
 troduced, which shall keep men in countenance, and enable 
 them to wield the name and institutions of Christianity against 
 Christianity — including so much truth as may serve to beguile, 
 but so little as cannot avail to save — sustained by such as live 
 in pleasure, and will not bow the knee to Christ. The time 
 
274 
 
 will have come, when the light of science and of christianity 
 will have rendered obsolete the grossness of idolatry, the im- 
 posture of Mohammed, the superstitions of popery, and the 
 impurity of in6delity. A religion must rise, therefore, under 
 the last touchings and finishings of art, where infidels may be 
 received without conversion ; and where they may be con- 
 verted with scarce a perceptible change in doctrine, heart, or 
 life ; and where, as in papal countries, the thoughtless, and 
 the gay, and the beautiful, and the dissipated, may float to- 
 gether down the stream, to the sounds of«lft]sic, and drink 
 the lethean cup, and wake not till their redemption has ceased 
 for ever. All this abomination of desolation is predicted, as 
 attending the last triumphs of pure Christianity. " And he 
 said, Go thy way, Daniel : for the words are closed up and 
 sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and 
 made white, and tried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly : 
 and none of the wicked shall understand ; but the wise shall 
 understand." 
 
 7. One other source of opposition to the progress of vital 
 Christianity remains to be mentioned. There may be an at- 
 tempt to wield the church against herself, by corrupting the 
 purity of revivals of religion. Terrible, by the power of 
 revivals, as an army with banners, her victory is secure, unless 
 fanaticism can be substituted for pure religion, and her com- 
 pact masses be broken and scattered by the commotion of 
 unhallowed passions within. In this manner was the glory of 
 the Reformation eclipsed, and vital religion, in the time of 
 Cromwell, made a scoff and a by-word. The same attempt 
 was made in New England early in the days of our fathers. 
 It was repeated in the time of Whitefield and the immortal 
 Edwards, with lamentable, though with but partial success. 
 As revivals shall become more extensive, and the Spirit of 
 God shall awaken larger portions of the community at once, 
 opportunity will be afforded to the enemy — and, apprised of 
 his devices, we ought not to think that the opportunity will be 
 neglected — of mingling false fire with holy zeal, for the pur- 
 
275 
 
 pose of throwing discredit upon a work which threatens a 
 speedy overthrow of his empire. 
 
 All these great divisions of systematic opposition to the 
 Gospel have, where circumstances allowed, been defended 
 by the sword. Christianity, in her first attempts to disen- 
 thral the world, met the storms of ten persecutions, protract- 
 ed through a period of three hundred years. 
 
 The false prophet established, and still maintains, his 
 empire by force. It is death to turn from JMohammed to 
 Jesus Christ. And as to Popery, in her dominions, all the 
 wiles and corruptions of idolatry and imposture have been 
 condensed and wielded wItR infernal wisdom and malignity 
 against the Gospel, ever since the apocalyptic kings gave 
 their power to the beast. And when atheism, for a little 
 moment, abolished popery, its terrific power was, at the 
 same moment, directed W'ith indiscriminate fury against 
 Christianity. The Bible was burnt : the Sabbath blotted 
 out : the existence of God denied : and death proclaimed an 
 eternal sleep. 
 
 The Arian heresy, protected by the sword, wielded 
 against the truth a furious persecution. In Holland, Armi- 
 nius attempted to enlist both hterature and the civil arm for 
 the propagation of his sentiments, and, to some extent, suc- 
 ceeded. At Geneva, the enemies of evangelical sentiment, 
 as appears from recent events, do not rely on charity, and 
 enlightened reason, and liberty of conscience ; but upon the 
 civil power, to protect them in their usurpations, and to keep 
 back the truth. 
 
 And now, can such varied and mighty resistance be over- 
 come ? Can the earth be enlightened ? Can the nations be 
 disenthralled ? Can the w^hole creation, which has groaned 
 and travailed together in pain until now, be brought out of 
 bondage into glorious liberty f Yes : all this can be done, 
 and will be done. Our next inquiry then is, 
 
 By what means shall events so desirable be ac- 
 complished .'' 
 
276 
 
 First — By the judgments of heaven, in which the Son of 
 Man will come upon the strong man armed, and take away 
 his armor. 
 
 Secondly — By the universal propagation of the Gospel ; 
 before the light of which, idolatry, imposture, and superstition, 
 will retreat abashed. And, 
 
 Thirdly — By frequent, and, at last, general revivals of 
 religion ; giving resisdess power to the Gospel, as it is preach- 
 ed to every creature. 
 
 Then will come to pass that which is written. Great 
 voices will be heard in heaven, saying. The kingdoms of this 
 world are become the kvngdojn'b of our Lord and of his 
 Christ : as the voice of many waters, and of mighty thun- 
 derings, saying. Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent 
 reigneth. 
 
 It is manifest from prophecy, and clearly to be anticipated 
 from the existing state of the world, that great commotions 
 and distress of nations will exist, antecedent to the spiritual, 
 universal reign of Christ on the earth. Some have supposed 
 that these calamities will fall alike upon the church and the 
 world ; that as yet the witnesses are to be slain ; and that, 
 for three years at least, Christianity will seem to be blotted 
 from the earth. Whereas, manifestly, the judgments which 
 are to precede the glory of the latter day, are to fall almost 
 exclusively upon antichristian nations. And if the witnesses 
 are yet to be slain, they are to be slain in the street of that 
 great city, which, spiritually, is called " Sod£)m and Egypt" — 
 prophetic symbols, which have been understood to designate 
 countries subject to the dominion of antichrist. The very strug- 
 gle to suppress vital Christianity in papal countries, called the 
 slaying of the witnesses, may be, and probably will be, the re- 
 sult of moral causes now in powerful operation. Science, and 
 commerce, and the progress of evangelical religion, are fast 
 apprising mankind of their rights, and awakening the desire 
 of civil and religious liberty. ' And this slaying of the wit- 
 nesses may be the last struggle of those despotisms, to arrest 
 
277 
 
 the march of truth and freedom. It may be the collision be- 
 tween light and darkness — between despotism and liberty — 
 which shall call out the kings of the earth to the battle of the 
 great day of God Almighty ; when he, whose eyes are as a 
 flame of fire, on whose head are many crowns, and whose 
 vesture is dipped in blood, shall smite the nations with the 
 sword that goeth out of his mouth, and rule them with a rod 
 of iron, and tread the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath 
 of Almighty God ; when the angel standing in the sun, shall 
 summon the fowls of the heavens to the supper of the great 
 God — to eat the flesh of kings, and of captains, and of 
 mighty men.* 
 
 But without attempting a minute exposition of prophecy, 
 nothing is more plainly revealed, than the visitation of the 
 earth with unparalleled judgments and revolutions, prepara- 
 tory to tliat state of light and peace which is to bless the 
 world. So long as Satan can wield the power of despotic 
 governments against the truth, he can hold his goods in 
 peace. But these defences a stronger than he will take 
 away, when, in awful judgments, he shall come upon him. 
 " He shall overturn, and overturn, until He, whose right it is, 
 shall reign. The day of vengeance is in his heart, because 
 the year of his redeemed is come. The foundations of the 
 earth do shake ; the earth is utterly broken down ; the earth 
 is clean dissolved ; the earth is moved exceedingly ; the earth 
 shall reel to and fro j and the Lord shall punish the host of 
 the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth 
 upon the earth ; and they shall be gathered together as pris- 
 oners are gathered in the pit ; and shall be shut up in the 
 prison. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun 
 shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount 
 Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. 
 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air ; and 
 there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and there 
 
 * Rev. xix. 17, 18. 
 
 36 
 
278 
 
 was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were 
 upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great." 
 
 One of these moral earthquakes has ah-eady shaken Eu- 
 rope to its centre ; and the thunderings and heavings of the 
 unquiet earth proclaim, that one wo is past, and behold, 
 another wo cometh quickly. 
 
 When these systems of physical resistance are destroyed, 
 then will tiie time have come to extend the institutions of the 
 Gospel throughout the world. Benevolence, like the air, 
 will move to fill up the vacuum. Like the light from its 
 great fountain, it will fly to cheer the nations who sit in 
 darkness. And having no resistance to encounter, but the 
 simple power of error, the conflict will be but momentary, 
 and the victory complete. This also is in accordance with 
 prophecy : for immediately after the downfall of Babylon is 
 announced, all heaven breaks forth in ecstacy, saying. Let 
 us rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the 
 Lamb is come, and his ivife hath made herself ready. The 
 church of Christ is called his bride ; and the conversion of 
 the nations to Christianity and to God, the day of her es- 
 pousals. 
 
 That this glorious victory is to be consummated by the spe- 
 cial influence of the Holy Spirit, is equally manifest. The 
 simple presence of Christianity would no more convert the 
 heathen, than it converts those where it already exists. 
 Were every family on earth now blessed with a Bible and a 
 pastor, these, without the effusions of the Spirit, would not 
 maintain upon the earth an uncorrupt nominal Christianity, for 
 one hundred years. Revivals of religion are alone adequate 
 to the moral reformation of the world. All other means — 
 science, legislation, philosophy, eloquence, and argument — 
 have been relied on in vain. The disease is of the heart, 
 and they reach it not. But revivals touch the deep springs 
 of human action, and give tone and energy to the moral 
 government of God. They multiply families that call upon 
 the name of the Lord, and train up children in his fear, and 
 
279 
 
 churches, constrained by the love of Christ to propagate the 
 Gospel. They elevate the standard of liberality, and aug- 
 ment the capital which is consecrated to the renovation of 
 the world, and the importunity of prayer which secures its 
 application and efficacy. They multiply the host of evan- 
 gelical ministers and missionaries. They repress crime, and 
 purify the public morality, and breathe into legislation and 
 the intercourse of nations that spirit of the Gospel, which 
 shall banish wars, and introduce peace upon earth and good- 
 will towards men. They pour day-light upon darkness, and 
 destroy, with a touch, the power of sophistry. Hence no- 
 thing is so terrible to the enemies of evangelical truth as re- 
 vivals of religion, because nothing is so irresistible. If they 
 oppose them by violence, they move on. If they misrepre- 
 sent them, they move on. If they ridicule them, they move 
 on. If they imitate them, the imitation fails, and they move on. 
 While, often, the chosen vessels of opposition fall under their 
 power — sending panic and rage through the ranks of the 
 enemy. ^Jt is owing to this power of revivals, that they are 
 every where, by the wicked, so much spoken against ; and 
 all the infirmities of humanity, which attend them, gathered 
 up with such exultation, and urged as confirmation strong, 
 that they are the work of man, and not the work of God.\ It 
 is reserved, therefore, for revivals of religion to follow in'^the 
 train of the means of grace with* increasing frequency and 
 power, until a nation shall be born in a day. This also is 
 predicted. — " Who art thou, O mountain, before Zerubba- 
 bel ? Thou shalt become a plain. Not by might, nor by 
 power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord. Drop down, ye heav- 
 ens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. 
 I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon 
 the dry ground. It shall come to pass in the last days, saith 
 God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. • And 
 then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall 
 consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with 
 the brightness of his coming." 
 
280 
 
 The judgments which are to shake down antichristian em- 
 pires, and cast down high imaginations, and lay open the 
 world to the entrance of truth and the power of the Spirit, are 
 to be closely associated with a new and unparalleled vigor of 
 christian enterprise. Until now, the church will have been 
 the assailed party, and stood upon the defensive : but hence- 
 forth the word of command will not be, Stand, but March. 
 The gates of the holy city will be thrown open ; the tide of 
 war will be rolled upon the enemy ; and one shall chase a 
 thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. 
 
 The means and efforts for evangelizing the world must 
 correspond, however, with the magnitude of the result. The 
 idea that God will convert the heathen in his own good time, 
 and that christians have nothing to do but to pray and de- 
 voutly wait, is found in no canonical book. It is the maxim 
 of covetousness, and sloth, and uncaring infidelity. We 
 have no authority for saying, what some, without due con- 
 sideration, have said, that God, if he pleased, could doubtless 
 in a moment convert the whole heathen world without the 
 Gospel. It jiiight as well be said, that he can, if he please, 
 burn without fire, or drown without water, or give breath 
 without atmosphere, as that he can instruct intellectual beings 
 wuhout the means of knowledge, and influence moral beings 
 without law and motive, and thus reclaim an alienated world 
 without the knowledge and moral power of the Gospel. It 
 is no derogation from the power of God, that, to produce re- 
 sults, it must be exerted by means adapted to the constitu- 
 tion of things which himself has established. God has no 
 set time to favor the husbandman, but when he is diligent in 
 business ; and no set time to favor Zion, but when her ser- 
 vants favor her stones and take pleasure in the dust thereof. 
 From the beginning, the cause of God on earth has been 
 maintained and carried forward only by the most heroic 
 exertion. Christianity, even in the age of miracles, was 
 not propagated but by stupendous efforts. And it is only 
 by a revival of primitive zeal and enterprise, that the 
 
281 
 
 glorious things spoken of the city of our God can be 
 accomplished. 
 
 Nor need we be disheartened. We possess a thousand 
 fold the advantage of apostles and primitive christians for the 
 spread of the Gospel. And shall the whole church on 
 earth — shall the thousand thousands who now profess the 
 pure religion, be dismayed and paralyzed at an enterprise, 
 which had once been well nigh accomplished by the energies 
 of twelve men ? 
 
 But what can be done ? It would require ten discourses 
 to answer this question in detail. We can only sketch the 
 outlines of that moral array, by which Jesus Christ is pre- 
 paring to come upon the strong man, and overcome him, 
 and take from him all his armour. 
 
 1. There must be more faith in the church of God. 
 
 All the uncertainties and waverings of unbelief must be 
 swept away by the power of that faith, which is the substance 
 of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. 
 
 Those " scenes surpassing fable," when Satan shall be 
 bound, and an emancipated world shall sing hosanna to the 
 Son of David, must rise up before us in all the freshness and 
 inspiration of a glorious reality. Such faith, and only such, 
 will achieve again the wonders it wrought in other days. It 
 has lost none of -its power. Again, it will subdue kingdoms, 
 work righteousness, obtain promises, stop the mouths of lions, 
 quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword, 
 out of weakness become strong, wax valiant in fight, and put 
 to flight the armies of the aliens. For this is the victory 
 over the world, even your faith. 
 
 2. There must be a more intense love for Christ in his 
 church. 
 
 Such love as now burns dimly in the hearts of christians j 
 a low, and languid, and wavering affection ; halting between 
 the opposing attractions of earth and heaven ; may answer 
 for standing upon the defensive, but never for making that 
 vigorous onset which shall subdue the world to Christ. Ef- 
 
282 
 
 fort will never surpass desire. And as yet our hearts are 
 not equal to those efforts needed for the achievement of victo- 
 ry. They linger and look hack upon the world. They hes- 
 itate, and slowly, and with a sigh, part with substance in 
 penurious measure. Weight hangs as yet on the wheels of 
 the Victor's chariot : and never, on earth, as in heaven, will 
 it move, 
 
 " Instinct with spirit, 
 Flasliing thick flames, .... unless 
 Attended by ten thousand thousand saints." 
 
 3. There must come an era of more decided action, before 
 the earth can be subdued to Christ. 
 
 Compared with the exigency, we have not, as yet, the 
 semblance of an army in the field ; and our munitions are 
 yet to be collected. Two hundred souls constitute the entire 
 force, which twelve millions of freemen, cheered and blessed 
 with the light of the Gospel, have sent forth to bring the 
 world out of bondage. And yet one half the nation is panic- 
 struck at the drafts thus made upon her resources ! What 
 has been done, however, is but mere skirmishing before the 
 shock of battle. Half the subjects of Satan's dark empire on 
 earth have not heard, as yet, that we have a being. And 
 were none but such feeble efforts to be put forth, he, instead 
 of coming down in great wrath, would keep his temper, and 
 leave the war to his subalterns. 
 
 Nothing great on earth, good or bad, was ever accomplish- 
 ed without decisive action. The cause, in the moral world, 
 as really as in the natural, must ever be proportioned to the 
 effect to be produced. And what have we done, as yet, to 
 justify the expectation, that God, by such means, is about to 
 make all things new '^ Could our independence have been 
 achieved by such indecisive actions as we put forth for the 
 emancipation of the world ^ Dear brethren, we must fix our 
 eye earnestly on a world lying in wickedness : our hearts 
 must be fully set upon its deliverance : our hands must bo 
 opened wide for its relief. Not only the ministers of religion 
 
283 
 
 must give tliemselves wholly to this work ; but all who prize 
 civil and religious freedom — all who exult in these blessings 
 must come forth to the help of the Lord against the mighty. 
 And when, to all who arc now cheered by the light of reve- 
 lation, the deliverance of a world in bondage shall become 
 the all-absorbing object, and the concentrating point of holy 
 enterprise ; then speedily will the angel descend from heaven, 
 with a great chain, to bind and cast into the bottomless pit 
 him who through so many ages has deceived the nations. 
 But, 
 
 4. For this glorious achievement, there is demanded more 
 courage than has, in modern days, been manifested by the 
 church of God. 
 
 Wherever circumstances have precluded the application of 
 force for the defence of his cause, there the god of this world 
 has attempted to fortify it by a perverted public sentiment. 
 This, while it predominates, is as terrific as the inquisition ; 
 and if not as bloody, it is unquestionably as virulent, over- 
 bearing, and severe. Multitudes shrink before it, who would 
 not hesitate to storm the deadly breach ; and one half the 
 power of the christian church is doubtless this very moment 
 paralyzed by it, if not even arrayed by its influence against 
 the cause of Christ. Fashion is the Juggernaut of christian 
 lands ; around whose car pilgrims of all conditions gather, 
 and do homage. 
 
 Here, then, in communities civilized and nominally chris- 
 tian, is to be fought one of the keenest battles : for after every 
 strong hold is demolished, if Satan can but frame the laws of 
 honor and of fashion, he will not fail to govern by maxims 
 which will shut out the Gospel, and perpetuate the dominion 
 of sin. And christians are the first to be emancipated. 
 While they are in captivity, the world will be in chains. 
 Jesus Christ must have entire possession of his own soldiers, 
 before the armies of the livijng God can put to flight the ar- 
 mies of the aliens. 
 
 This conflict for dominion over public sentiment is coming 
 
284 
 
 on, and by this generation, in city and In country, it is to be 
 decided, whether an evangelical or a worldly influence shall 
 prevail — whether the landmarks of christian morality shall 
 stand against the inundations of vice, or, with every thing that 
 is pure, and lovely, and of good report, be swept away. 
 Emboldened by the pusillanimity of the friends of virtue, the 
 enemy have become audacious, and scarcely covet the veil 
 of darkness, but seem even to glory in their shame. And if 
 no stand is made, we are undone. The church in this land 
 will go into captivity, and the nation is undone. Our pros- 
 perity and voluptuousness will be our ruin ; and short and 
 rapid will be our journey from the cradle to the grave. But 
 if resistance is made, then will the waves rise, and foam, and 
 roar, and dash furiously upon those who shall dare to make a 
 stand : and birds of iU omen will flap their sooty wings, and 
 croak, and scream, to intimidate and dishearten the fearful, 
 and the unbelieving : and all the engines of bad influence will 
 be applied to prevent that coalition of patriotism and of vir- 
 tue, which would set bounds to the encroachments of evil, 
 and shed day-light upon the works of darkness, and stamp 
 with indelible and intolerable infamy, wickedness in high 
 places and in low places. 
 
 And now, custom, with silver tongue, will plead prescrip- 
 tion — ' It always has been so, and always will be, and why 
 should we attempt innovation ?' And interest, too, will plead 
 necessity — ' How can I withdraw my capital, or alter my 
 course ? To refuse to do wrong a little, would be to take 
 away my children's bread.' And now, difficulty, with good 
 wishes and sorrowing face, will plead, ' Spare thy servant in 
 this thing — is it not a little one?' While /ear will see the 
 giants, the sons of Anak, and call out for care, and prudence, 
 lest we should act prematurely, or be righteous overmuch. 
 Petulance, too, will lift up her voice, with vexation at our 
 presumptuous meddling, wondering that we cannot mind our 
 own affairs, and let other people alone. And even charity, 
 so called, will draw aside her veil, for the archers with 
 
285 
 
 poisoned arrows lo hit us. While liberality, provoked be- 
 yond endurance, will hail upon our heads the hard names of 
 * bigot, enthusiast, fanatic, hypocrite,' 
 
 All this, however, we could easily sustain, were there no 
 treachery within. But our hearts are yet in too close con- 
 sultation with flesh and blood. ' What will the world think ? 
 What will the world say ? How will it affect my reputation 
 — my interest — my ambition — or even my usefulness ? — 
 Suppose I step in as a kind of candid mediator between the 
 world and my too zealous brethren, taking the prudent course, 
 and not carrying matters too far .^' O, that prudent course, 
 — that middle ground — so crowded, when the lines are draw- 
 ing between Christ and the world ! Satan desires no better 
 troops than neutral christians. And the Lord Jesus Christ 
 abhors none more. He prefers infidelity to lukewarm Chris- 
 tianity. " T would that thou wert either cold or hot ; so then 
 because thou art neither, 1 will spew thee out of my mouth." 
 
 As to cheating Satan out of his empire over men, by a 
 reserved course of warfare, he has no objection that chris- 
 tians should dream about it, and try it. But we mistake, if 
 we suppose our wisdom a match for his wiles j or that we 
 can so prudently drive him out of this world, as that he 
 will find no pretext for controversy. Whenever we do 
 enough to give to religion a solemn reality upon the minds 
 of men, and draw the cords of evangehcal morality with 
 such power, as shall compel reformation, or inflict disgrace ; 
 we must calculate to meet his resistance who reigns in the 
 hearts of the children of disobedience. And the time will 
 come, when men must take sides. For as the conflict be- 
 tween virtue and vice waxes warm, neither side will tolerate 
 neutrality : and he who plants his foot upon neutral ground, 
 will select just the hottest place in the battle, and receive the 
 fire from both sides. 
 
 Two things are required of all who would be found on the 
 side of liberty and evangelical morality. One is, that we 
 will not do wrong in obedience to custom : the other is, that 
 37 
 
286 
 
 we will not be accessary to the wrong done by others — ^that 
 we will give to the cause of virtue the testimony of correct 
 opinions, the power of a correct example, and the influence 
 of our inflexible patronage. There are piety and principle 
 enough in the community to put down the usurpations of ir- 
 religion and crime, if the sound part of the community will 
 only awake, and array itself on the side of purity and order. 
 But we must come out and be separate, and touch not the 
 unclean thing. The entire capital in the hands of honest 
 and moral men, which is employed in establishments that 
 corrupt society, must be withdrawn ; and that patronage 
 which has swelled the revenue of establishments that lend 
 their aid to the cause of licentiousness, must be turned over 
 to the side of purity and order. Until this is done, we shall 
 not cease to be partakers in other men's sins. The press, 
 that mighty engine of good or evil in a free country, must be 
 enlisted decisively on the side of virtue ; and its perverted 
 influence, if it continue, must be sustained only by those 
 whose guilty cause it espouses. We cannot, as christians — 
 we cannot, as patriots — give our patronage to that press 
 which will not plead the cause of virtue, and which will pros- 
 titute its fearful energies to the cause of sin. 
 
 5. There must be new and more vigorous efforts to increase 
 the number and power of evangelical churches in our land. 
 
 In all countries the tone of piety and evangelical morality 
 corresponds exactly with the number, and purity, and energy 
 of the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. The want of- this 
 organized moral power in many parts of our land is appalling. 
 Our population multiplies, and the ratio of good moral influ- 
 ence declines, and ignorance and crime are coming in like a 
 flood. All that has been done by Tract Societies, by Sab- 
 bath Schools, by Education Societies, and by the National 
 Society for Domestic Missions, is as the drop of the bucket 
 to the ocean. A new and mighty effort is demanded to send 
 light through the territories of darkness — to repress crime, 
 and perpetuate our civil and religious institutions. In our 
 large cities, especially, is the increase of ignorance and licen- 
 
287 
 
 tiousuess lamentable and ominous. Here wealth and tempta- 
 tion concentrate their power upon masses of mind, whose in- 
 fluence cannot fail to affect deeply the destiny of the nation. 
 If they send out a vigorous current of healthful life-blood, the 
 whole nation will feel the renovating influence : but if, with 
 every pulsation, they send out iniquity and death, no power 
 on earth can avert our doom. 
 
 A moral power is the only influence that can save our cities. 
 Mere coercion in a land of freemen, will not avail. Nor will 
 a lax nominal Christianity suffice, where offenders may find 
 access to the table of Christ, and protection by the horns of 
 the altar. The new churches, to succeed, should be com- 
 posed of persons of real piety, of kindred sentiment, and of 
 decided character; and, from the beginning, consist of so 
 many members, and be blessed with such talent and devoted 
 piety in the ministry, and be so countenanced and sustained 
 by other churches, as that their attraction shall not fail to 
 bring under the sacred influence of the Gospel the surround- 
 ing community. Until our cities shall thus be made to feel, 
 in every part, the purifying power of the Gospel, the whole 
 land will continue to send to them, as it has done, hecatombs 
 of youthful victims, to be repaid by disappointed hopes and 
 moral contamination. 
 
 6. Special effort is required, to secure to the rising gene- 
 ration an education free from the influence of bad example, 
 and more decidedly evangelical. 
 
 The atmosphere which our children breathe, from the cra- 
 dle upward, should be pure. Instead of this, it would not be 
 difficult to find common schools, in which ignorance and irre- 
 ligion predominate. Even where the intellect is cultivated, 
 the heart not unfrequently is corrupted, and the child made 
 wise only to do evil. In a great proportion of the higher 
 schools, to which christians send their children, little exists of 
 a decidedly religious tendency j while in some, a powerful 
 influence is exerted against evangelical sentiments and piety. 
 
 And though in many of our colleges there is a salutary 
 religious influence, and repeated revivals of religion are enjoy- 
 
288 
 
 ed, in none is the influence of religion so decisive as it might 
 be ; while in some, to which pious parents send their children, 
 the influence is directly and powerfully hostile to religion. 
 
 I am aware, that not a few regard religious influence in 
 our colleges as already too great, and that an effort is making 
 to separate religion from science, during the progress of a 
 collegiate education. And those who choose to rear col- 
 leges, and send their offspring where the power of the Gospel 
 shall be excluded, have, doubtless, a right to do so — answer- 
 able for their conduct only to God. But no christian can 
 do this without violating the vows of God which are upon him, 
 to train up his child in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord. And, instead of a compromise in the evangelical 
 colleges of our land, there should be, as easily there may be, 
 a more decided tone of religious influence. Our colleges 
 should every one of them be blessed, not only with preaching, 
 but with kind, discreet, and assiduous pastoral instruction and 
 care. Why should these precious communities of inexperi- 
 enced youtb, separated from parental inspection, and exposed 
 to peculiar temptation, be deprived of the watchful eye und 
 parental voice of pastoral exhortation and advice .'* What 
 parent would not pray with more faith, and sleep more quietly, 
 if he knew that some one, acquainted with the youthful heart, 
 and appointed to watch over his child, had gained his confidence 
 and affection, and was praying and laboring for his salvation ? 
 
 There is no period in life when the heart may be more 
 successfully assailed, than that which is passed in a college. 
 And there is no class of human beings, among whom revivals 
 may be promoted, by proper pastoral attention, with greater 
 certainty, or with greater power and glory. Nor can it be 
 expected, that the church will ever look forth fair as the 
 morning, until effectual care is taken, that in her higher 
 schools and colleges, her children shall be induced to conse- 
 crate to God the dew of their youth. 
 
 7. The vigor of charitable effort must be greatly increased. 
 
 As long as rich men shall trust more in uncertain riches 
 than in the living God, and the covetous shall dare to heap 
 
289 
 
 up treasures to themselves, consecrating to God scarcely the 
 crumbs that fall from their table, and the ambitious shall 
 insist that they will roll in splendor, and give only the pittance 
 which can be spared from the expense of a wanton ostenta- 
 tion — as long as professors shall consume, in extra gratifica- 
 tions of sense, to the injury of health, sums that, if consecrated 
 to Christ, might suffice to extend the word of life and the 
 institutions of the Gospel all over the world — as long as avari- 
 cious christians shall so extend their plans of business, with 
 the increase of their capital, as always to be straitened in the 
 midst of their gains — and as long as parents shall labor to 
 amass wealth for their offspring, only to paralyze their enter- 
 prise, and corrupt their morals, and ensure their ruin, — so 
 long the cause of God on earth must move slowly. But the 
 blame must rest on us. There is at this moment, in the 
 hands of christians, capital enough to evangelize the world in 
 a short period of time, and without the retrenchment of a 
 single comfort, and only by the consecration to Christ of 
 substance, the possession of which would be useless, and often 
 injurious. It is not required of christian nations to sustain 
 the entire work of preaching the Gospel to all the unevan- 
 gelized population of the earth. Nothing is needed but to 
 erect the standard in pagan lands — to plant the seed — to 
 deposit the leaven, in schools and in churches, until each 
 nation shall support Gospel institutions. This is the work to 
 which God in his providence is calling the churches. Now, 
 and for fifty years to come, the substance and enterprise of 
 good men is imperiously demanded. Within that period, it is 
 not improbable, that every nation may be so far evangehzed, 
 as that the work may move onward to its consummation, with- 
 out extraneous aid. 
 
 8. The jealousies of christians, who are united substan- 
 tially in their views of evangelical doctrine and religion, and 
 who are divided only by localities, and rites, and forms, 
 must yield, and give place to the glorious exigencies of the 
 present day. The amalgamation of denominations is not re- 
 quired. The division of labor may greatly augment the 
 
290 
 
 amount ; and the provocation to love and good works may 
 be real and salutary, and still be conducted without invidious 
 collision. Like the tribes of Israel, we may all encamp 
 about the tabernacle of God — each under his own stand- 
 ard — and when the ark advances, may all move onward, 
 terrible only to the powers of darkness. And if the enemies 
 of righteousness are not sufficient to rebuke our selfishness, 
 and force us into a coalition of love and good works ; then 
 verily it may be expected — and even be hoped — that God, by 
 the fire of persecution, will purge away our dross, and take 
 away our tin, until we shall love him, and his cause, and one 
 another, with a pure heart, fervently. 
 
 9. Let me add, that we must guard against the dangers 
 peculiar to a state of religious prosperity. 
 
 There is no condition in which an individual, or the 
 church at large, can be exempted from temptations. And 
 especially as the church shall become formidable, and bring 
 upon the great enemy of God the pressure of a desperate 
 extremity, we are to expect, that his rage will increase, and 
 his wiles be multiplied. For he will leave the world only 
 when forced ; and will fight upon the retreat — giving many 
 a desperate battle, when it shall seem as if the necessity was 
 past of watching against his devices. Never, therefore, has 
 the necessity of vigilance and prayer been more imperious 
 than now. Let all the churches, then, with their pastors, 
 feel deeply their dependance on God ; and when their alms 
 come up before him, and his Spirit shall descend in new and 
 glorious showers, let them watch and pray that they enter 
 not into temptation, and experience an overthrow in the mo- 
 ment of victory. 
 
 To fear revivals, because attended by some indications of 
 human imperfection, would be weak and wicked : and far 
 from the church of God be the presumptuous confidence, that 
 nothing deeply injurious to the general interests of religion 
 can be blended with a real work of the Spirit. But though 
 I am not without solicitude on this head, I do trust and ex- 
 pect, that God will preserve his churches, and cause pure re- 
 
291 
 
 ligion and undefiled to prosper, and not permit the adversary 
 to turn our glory into shame. O, could he do it, how would 
 his minions scream out their joy ! and how would Zion be 
 confounded, and in this day of rejoicing, be compelled to 
 hang her harp upon the willows, and sit down to weep in 
 sackcloth and ashes ! To conclude. 
 
 Will any of you, my hearers, in this glorious day, take side 
 against the cause of Christ ! It will be a fearful experiment. 
 What the mind and counsel of God have jjurposed to do for 
 the melioration of man is now hastening to its consummation, 
 with the intenseness of infinite benevolence, under the guid- 
 ance of unerring wisdom, and by the impulse of almighty 
 power. And wo unto him who contendeth witii his Maker. — 
 The lines are now drawing, and preparation is fast making 
 for the battle of the great day of God Almighty. And who 
 is on the Lord's side ? Who ! Will any of you, in this sub- 
 limely interesting moment, stand on neutral ground ! Re- 
 member, that neutrality is treason : and if persisted in, is as 
 fatal as the unpardonable sin. Jesus Christ will have the de- 
 cided services of his people. Already has he denounced as 
 enemies, all who will not labor and suffer for him. He that 
 is not for me, is against me : and whosoever shall deny me 
 before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is 
 in heaven. Think not that I came to send peace on earth ; 
 (that is, that the progress of truth will be without resistance 
 and persecution ;) I came not to send peace, but a sword. 
 For I am come, (that is, the effect of my coming will be, 
 as the Gospel prevails,) to set a man at variance against his 
 father, and the daughter against her mother ; and a man's 
 foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth 
 father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me : and 
 he that taketh not his cross, and, followeth after me, is not 
 worthy of me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it ; and 
 he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it. These sta- 
 tutes are not repealed. And if the laws of christian disciple- 
 ship could bind men to give up every relative, and even life 
 itself, for Christ and his Gospel, no excuse, surely, will screen 
 
292 
 
 from condemnation those who flinch and temporize, where 
 the sacrifices required are comparatively trivial. U such as 
 would not lay down their life for Christ, cannot be accepted — 
 what will become of those, in christian lands, who will not 
 lay down their substance, nor risk their reputation, nor lift a 
 finger, to advance his cause ? 
 
 Is there a christian here, who cannot, for the year to come, 
 double the amount of his charities ? Is there one who will 
 not now purpose in his healt to do it ? Brethren, the time 
 is short in which we here have opportunity to express our 
 boundless obligations to the Saviour. The fashion of the 
 world passeth away. Next year, our tongue may be employ- 
 ed in celestial praises; and our substance be in other hands. 
 What remains then, but that this day we dedicate ourselves, 
 and our all, anew, to Him, who washed us in his blood ? The 
 tone of feeling which we cherish to-day, may, by a holy sym- 
 pathy, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, be propagated 
 through this great city — through this powerful nation — and 
 through the world. The augmented religious enterprise, to 
 which we pledge ourselves this day, may tell quickly in the 
 very heart of Satan's empire ; and cause hght to spring up 
 in retreats of deepest darkness. 
 
 If any man, however, is smitten with fear, let him retreat. 
 If any man is faint hearted, let him draw back. If any man 
 tremble at his proportion of the charges for evangehzing the 
 whole world, let him depart. If any man is alarmed at the 
 noise which precedes the last conflict, let him hide himself, 
 with his talent, in the earth ! But let all who love our Lord 
 Jesus Christ in sincerity, and wait for his appearing and 
 glory — give themselves anew to his service; and break the 
 earthen vessel ; and lift up their light ; and shout. The sword 
 of the Lord and of Gideon : and the victory, and more than 
 the victory, shall be given to the people of the saints of the 
 Most High God. And a great voice out of heaven shall be 
 heard, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and 
 he will dwell tvith them, and they shall be his people, and 
 God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 THE MEMORY OF OUR FATHERS. 
 
 Revelation, xxi. 5. 
 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. 
 
 The history of the world is the history of human nature 
 in ruins. No state of society, which corresponds with the 
 capacity of enjoyment possessed by man, or with his con- 
 ceptions and desires, has been permanent and universal. 
 Small portions only of the human family have, at the same 
 time, enjoyed a state of society in any considerable degree 
 desirable ; while much the greatest part of mankind have, 
 in all ages, endured the evils of barbarism and despotism. 
 
 It is equally manifest, that this unhappy condition of our 
 race has not been the result of physical necessity, but of 
 moral causes. The earth is as capable of sustaining a happy, 
 as a miserable population ; and it is the perversion of her 
 resources and of the human faculties, which has made the 
 misery of man so great. The human intellect has given 
 proof of vigor and ingenuity sufficient to bless the world ; 
 and powerful efforts have been made in every age, by afflicted 
 38 
 
294 
 
 humanity, to surmount this downward bias, and rise to per- 
 manent enjoyment. Egypt, in her monumental ruins, affords 
 evidence of a high state of the arts. In Greece, a vigorous 
 intellect and favoring clime thrust up from the dead level 
 around her, a state of society comparatively cultivated and 
 happy ; but the sun of her prosperity blazed upon surround- 
 ing darkness, to set in a night of ages. Rome fought her 
 way to dominion and civilization, and furnished specimens of 
 mental vigor and finished culture 5 but the superstructure of 
 her greatness was reared by the plunder of a devastated 
 world. Commerce, which gave to cities a temporary 
 eminence, elevated but a little the moral condition of the 
 multitude ; and science, which was restored to modern 
 Europe at the Reformation, and commerce and the arts, 
 which have followed in her train, have not, to this day, dis- 
 enthralled the nations. 
 
 From these experiments so long and so hopelessly made, 
 it appears, that, in the conflict between the heart and the 
 intellect of man, victory has always declared on the side of 
 the heart ; which has led many to conclude, that the condition 
 of man, in respect to any universal abiding melioration, is 
 hopeless. The text throws light upon this dark destiny of 
 our race. It is a voice from heaven announcing the approach 
 of help from above. " He that sitteth upon the throne saith, 
 Behold, I make all things new." 
 
 The renovation here announced, is a moral renovation 
 which shall change the character and condition of men. It 
 will not be partial in its influence, like the sun shining through 
 clouds on favored spots ; but co-extensive with the ruin. Nor 
 shall its results be national glory which gilds only the palace, 
 and cheers only the dwellings of the noble. It shall bring 
 down the mountains, and exalt the vajleys ; it shall send 
 liberty and equality to all the dwellings of men. Nor shall it 
 stop at the fire-side, or exhaust its blessings in temporal 
 mercies; it shall enter the hidden man of the heart, and 
 there destroy the power which has blasted human hopes, and 
 
295 
 
 baffled human efforts. Nor will the change be transient ; it 
 is the last dispensation of heaven for the rehef of tliis misera- 
 ble world, and shall bring glory to God in the highest, and 
 upon earth peace, and good wmII to men. 
 
 Many have doubted whether such a renovation of the world 
 will ever be accomplished ; but, He that sat upon the thone, 
 said, ' it is done ;' — i. e. it is as certain as if it had come to 
 pass. 
 
 I shall submit to your consideration, at this time, some of 
 the reasons which justify the hope, that this nation has been 
 raised up by providence to exert an efficient instrumentality 
 in this work of moral renovation. 
 
 I observe then, that, for the accomplishment of this reno- 
 vation, great changes are required in the civil and religious 
 condition of nations. 
 
 1. The monopoly of the soil must be abolished. Hitherto 
 the majorhy of mankind who have tilled the earth, have been 
 slaves or tenants. The soil has been owned by kings, and 
 military chieftains, and nobles, and by them rented to land- 
 lords, and, by these, to still smaller dealers, and by these 
 again, it has been divided and subdivided, until the majority, 
 who paid the rent, have sustained in the sweat of their brow, 
 not only their own families, but three or four orders of society 
 above them ; while they themselves have been crushed be- 
 neath the weight, and have lived on the borders of starvation ; 
 tlie sickness of a week, and often of a single day, rendering 
 them paupers. 
 
 This same monopoly of the soil has sent another large 
 class of the community into manufacturing establishments, to 
 wear out their days in ignorance and hopeless poverty ; and 
 another to the camp and navy, where honor and wealth 
 await the few, and ignorance, and an early grave, the many. 
 
 The consequence of excluding such numbers from the 
 possession and healthful cultivation of the soil, has been igno- 
 rance, improvidence, reckless indifference, turbulence, and 
 crime. Tortured by their oppressions, and unrestrained by 
 
296 
 
 moral principle, they have been prepared for desperate 
 deeds. Such a state of society cannot be made happy : the 
 evil is radical, and can only be remedied by giving a new 
 direction to the physical, moral, and intellectual energies of 
 men. We might as well band with iron the trees of the 
 forest, and expect their expansion ; or throw upon them in 
 stinted measure, the light and the rain of heaven, and expect 
 their luxuriant growth, as to cramp the human mind by une- 
 qual institutions, and expect the developement of its resources, 
 in a happy state of society. Room for action must be af- 
 forded, and light must be poured upon the understanding, 
 and motive pressed upon the heart. Man must be unshackled 
 and stimulated. But to accomplish this, the earth must he 
 owned by those who till it. This will give action to industry, 
 vigor to the body, and tone to the mind ; and, by the attend- 
 ant blessing of heaven, religion to the heart. From agricul- 
 ture stimulated by personal rights, will result commerce, 
 science, arts, liberty, and independence. 
 
 The attraction of gravity is the great principle of motion in 
 the material world ; and the possession of the earth in fee 
 simple by the cultivator, is the great principle of action in the 
 moral world. Nearly all the political evils which have afflict- 
 ed mankind, have resulted from the unrighteous monopoly of 
 the earth ; and the predicted renovation can never be accom- 
 plished, until, to some extent, this monopoly has passed 
 away, and the earth is extensively tilled by the independent 
 owners of the soil. 
 
 2. To effect the moral renovation of the world, a change 
 is required in the prevailing forms of government. 
 
 The monopoly of power must be superseded by the suf- 
 frages of freemen. While the great body of the people are 
 excluded from all voice and influence in legislation, it is im- 
 possible to constitute a state of society such as the faculties 
 of man allow, and the word of God predicts. While the few 
 govern without responsibility, they will seek their own eleva- 
 tion and depress the multitude. To elevate society, and 
 
297 
 
 bi'lng out the human energies in a well ordered state of things, 
 the mass of mankind must be enlightened and qualified for 
 self government, and must yield obedience to delegated 
 power. 
 
 3. Before the moral renovation of the world can be 
 achieved, the rights of conscience must, also, be restored to 
 man. 
 
 Few of the millions that have peopled the earth have been 
 quaUfied by knowledge, or permitted by the governments 
 under which they lived, to read the Bible and judge for 
 themselves. The nominal religions of this world have been 
 supported by governments, who, of course, have prescribed 
 the creed, and modelled the worship, and controlled the 
 priesthood. From such a state of things, what better resuhs 
 could be expected, than that ambitious men should be exalt- 
 ed to the sacred office, while religion itself was despised and 
 persecuted ? Governments and ecclesiastics, then, must 
 cease to dictate what men shall believe, and in what manner 
 they shall worship God. The church must be emancipated 
 from worldly dominion, and enjoy that liberty wherewith 
 Jesus Christ has made her free. 
 
 Is it to be expected that kingly governments shall cease, 
 and the republican form become universal ? I shall not stop 
 now to discuss this question. I would only suggest the in- 
 quiry, whether monarchical governments can be sustained 
 without a nobility and an established religion ; and whether 
 these privileged orders can exi^t without that monopoly of 
 the soil, and of political influence, and of the rights of con- 
 science, which are destructive to a religious and happy state 
 of society. That governments will change their name, or all 
 their ancient forms, I will not say. But that they will, under 
 some form, become so far popular in their spirit, as that the 
 pohtical power shall be in the hands of the people, cannot be 
 doubted. 
 
 It has been contended, that Christianity cannot exist in this 
 world without the aid of religious establishments. But, with 
 
298 
 
 more truth it might be said, that, from the beginning to this 
 day, it has existed in spite of them. It took possession of the 
 Roman Empire in the face of a formidable estabhshment of 
 false religion, and has survived the deadly embrace of estab- 
 lishments nominally christian, and now, bursting from their 
 alliance, finds in them the most bitter opposition to evangeU- 
 cal doctrine and vital godliness. 
 
 To accomplish these changes in the civil and religious 
 condition of the world, revolutions and convulsions are doubt- 
 less indispensable. The usurpation of the soil will not be 
 relinquished spontaneously, nor the chains knocked off from 
 the body and the mind of man, by the hands which for 
 ages have been employed to rivet them. He that sitteth 
 upon the throne must overturn and overturn, before his rights 
 and the rights of man will be restored. Revolutions of course 
 are predicted, such as shall veil the sun, and turn the moon 
 into blood, and shake the earth with the violence of nation 
 dashing against nation ; — until every despotic government 
 shall be thrown down, and chaos resume its pristine reign ; 
 until the spirit of God shall move again upon the face of the 
 deep, and bring out a new creation. The day of vengeance 
 is no doubt begun, and will no doubt continue, until He that 
 sitteth upon the throne shall have made all things new. 
 
 But to the perfection of this work a great example is re- 
 quired, of which the world may take knowledge ; and which 
 shall inspire hope, and rouse and concentrate the energies of 
 man. But where should suph an experiment be made ? Af- 
 rica required for herself the commiseration of the world, and 
 in Europe and Asia, it would have required ages to dig up 
 the foundations of despotism, and remove the rubbish, to pre- 
 pare the way for such a state of society as we have described : 
 this too must have been done in opposition to proscription and 
 orsianized resistance. There was also such a mass of unin- 
 formed mind, accustomed to crouch under burdens, and so 
 much was required to prepare it for civil liberty, that little 
 hope remained that the old world, undirected, and unstimulated 
 
299 
 
 by example, would ever disenthral itself. Some nation, itself 
 free, was needed, to blow the trumpet and hold up the light. 
 But in England, though she enjoyed to some extent the bles- 
 sings of civil liberty, there was so great a monopoly of the soil 
 and of power, and so much overturning feared and needed, that 
 it was only in stinted measures, and with circumspect policy, 
 that she could deal out her sympathy and hold up her light. A 
 more vigorous ally to liberty was needed, which should with 
 a fearless heart and powerful hand, push on the work. But 
 where could such a nation be found ? It must be created, for 
 it had no existence upon tiie earth. Look now at the history of 
 our Fathers and behold what God hath wrought. They were 
 such a race of men as never before laid the foundations of an 
 empire ; athletic, intelligent and pious. But how should this 
 portion of a nation's population be uprooted and driven into 
 exile .^ They were not permitted to remain at home. In that 
 age of darkness, and land of bondage, they had formed some 
 just conceptions of civil and religious liberty; and would fain 
 have modified the civil government and the church of God 
 according to the Gospel. But the reformation from popery, 
 superintended by government, and regulated by policy, stop- 
 ped short of what the pious expected and desired. The 
 Puritans could not in all things conform, and were not permit- 
 ted to dissent ; and thus they were driven into exile, and 
 compelled to lay the foundations of a new empire. And now, 
 behold their institutions ; such as the world needs, and, at- 
 tended as tbey have been by the power of God, able to en- 
 lighten and renovate the world. They recognize the equal 
 rights of man — they give the soil to the cultivator, and self 
 government and the rights of conscience to the people. 
 They enlighten the intellect, and form the conscience, and 
 bring the entire influence of the divine government to bear 
 upon the heart. It was the great object of our Fathers to 
 govern men by the fear of the Lord ; to exhibit the precepts, 
 apply the motives, and realize the dispositions, which the 
 word of God inculcates and his Spirit inspires ; to imbue 
 
300 
 
 families, and schools, and towns, and states, with the wisdom 
 from above. They had no projects of human device — no 
 theories of untried efficacy. They hung all their hopes of 
 civil and rehgious prosperity upon the word of God, and the 
 efficacy of his Spirit. Nor was theirs the presumptuous hope 
 of grace without works. It was by training men for self gov- 
 ernment, that they expected to make free men ; and by be- 
 coming fellow workers with God, that they expected his aid 
 in forming christians ; while, by intellectual culture, and 
 moral influence, and divine power, they prepared men to enjoy 
 and perpetuate civil liberty. 
 
 The law, with sleepless vigilance, watched over the family, 
 the church, and the state ; and a vigorous and united public 
 opinion rendered its execution certain and efficacious. Every 
 family was required to possess a Bible, every district a school, 
 and every town a pastor. The law protected the sabbath, 
 and sustained the public worship of God, and punished immo- 
 rality ; and with mild but effectual energy, ruled over all. 
 The great excellence of these institutions is, that they are 
 practical and powerful ; the people are not free in name and 
 form merely, but in deed and in truth. Were all these forms 
 blotted out this day, the people would be free, and other 
 forms of civil freedom would arise. The governments are 
 free governments from the foundation to the top stone, and of 
 such practical efficacy as to make free men. The family, 
 embodying instruction and government, was itself an embryo 
 empire. In the school district, the people were called upon 
 to exercise their own discretion and rights, and in the eccle- 
 siastical society, to rear their place of worship, elect their 
 pastor and provide for his support ; and all under the pro- 
 tection and guidance of law. The towns, in their popular 
 assemblies, discussed their local interests and administered 
 their own concerns. In these, originated the legislature, and 
 from the legislature emanated the courts of justice. In the 
 States, as they are now organized in our nation, all which is 
 local and peculiar, is superintended with a minuteness and 
 
301 
 
 efficacy, which no consolidated government could possibly 
 accomplish. The people have only to ascertain from expe- 
 rience what their convenience or interest demands, and their 
 wish becomes a law ; and still, in the national government, 
 there is all the comprehension of plan, and power of resource, 
 and unity of action, which are required for the highest degree 
 of national energy and prosperity. 
 
 It has been doubted, whether a republic so ^tensive as 
 ours, can be held together and efficiently governed. But 
 where there is this intellectual and moral influence, and the 
 habitual exercise of civil and religious liberty from the family 
 upward ; we see not why a republic may not be extended 
 indefinitely, and still be the strongest, and most effective gov- 
 ernment in the world. 
 
 The history of our nation is indicative of some great design 
 to be accomplished by it. It is a history of perils and deliv- 
 erances, and of strength ordained out of weakness. The 
 wars with the savage tribes, and with the French, and at last 
 with the English, protracted expense, and toil, and blood, 
 through a period of one hundred and fifty years. No nation, 
 out of such weakness, ever became so strong ; or was guided 
 through such perils to such safety. " If it had not been the 
 Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say ; if it had not 
 been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up 
 against us : then they had swallowed us up quick, when their 
 wrath was kindled against us : then the waters had over- 
 whelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul : then the 
 proud waters had gone over our soul." These deliverances, 
 the enemy beheld with wonder, and our Fathers with thanks- 
 giving and praise. But, in the whole history of the world, 
 God has not been accustomed to grant signal interpositions, 
 without ends of corresponding magnitude to be answered by 
 them. Indeed, if it had been the design of heaven to estab- 
 lish a powerful nation, in the full enjoyment of civil and reli- 
 gious liberty, where all the energies of man might find scope 
 and excitement, on purpose to show the world by experi- 
 39 
 ■\ 
 
302 
 
 ment, of what man is capable ; and to shed light on the dark- 
 ness which should awake the slumbering eye, and rouse th6 
 torpid mind, and nerve the palsied arm of millions ', wjiere 
 could such an experiment have been made but in this country, 
 and by whom so auspiciously as by our Fathers, and by what 
 means so well adapted to that end, as by their institutions ? 
 The course w^hich is now adopted by christians of all denomi- 
 nations, to support and extend, at home and abroad, religious 
 and moral influence ; would seem to indicate the purpose of 
 God to render this nation, extensively, the almoners of his 
 mercy to this world. 
 
 For two hundred years, the religious institutions of our 
 land were secured by law. But as our numbers increased, 
 and liberty of conscience resulted in many denominations of 
 christians, it became impossible to secure by law the universal 
 application of rehgious and moral influence. And yet, without 
 this mighty energy the whole system must fail ; for physical 
 power, without religious and moral influence, will not avail to 
 sustain the institutions of civil liberty. We might as well rely 
 on the harvests which our Fathers reared for bread, as to 
 rely on the external forms of liberty which they established, 
 without the application of that vital energy, by which the 
 body politic was animated and moved. But, at the very 
 time when the civil law had become impotent for the support 
 of religion and the prevention of immoralities, God began to 
 pour out his Spirit upon the churches ; and voluntary associa- 
 tions of christians were raised up to apply and extend that 
 influence, which the law could no longer apply. And now 
 we are blessed with societies to aid in the support of the 
 Gospel at home, to extend it to the new settlements, and 
 through the earth. We have Bible societies, and Tract soci- 
 eties, and associations of individuals, who make it their busi- 
 ness to see that every family has a Bible, and every church 
 a pastor, and every child a catechism. And to these have 
 succeeded Education societies, that our nation may not out- 
 grow the means of religious instruction. And while these 
 
303 
 
 means of moral culture are supplied, this great nation from 
 her eminence, begins to look abroad with compassion upon a 
 world sitting in darkness ; and to put forth her mighty arm to 
 disenthral the nations, and elevate the family of man. Let 
 it be remembered also, that the means now relied on, 
 are precisely those which our Fathers applied, and which 
 have secured our prosperity. And when we contemplate 
 the unexampled resources of this country in men, soil, cli- 
 mate, seacoast, rivers, lakes, canals, agriculture, commerce, 
 arts and wealth, and all in connexion with the influence of 
 republican and religious institutions ; is it too much to be 
 hoped that God will accept our powerful instrumentality, and 
 make it effectual for the renovation of the world ? 
 
 The revivals of religion which prevail in our land among 
 christians of all denominations, furnish cheering evidence of 
 the presence of evangelical doctrine, and of the power of 
 that Spirit by which the truth is to be made efficacious in the 
 salvation of mankind. These revivals are distinguished by 
 their continuance through a period of thirty years ; by their 
 extent, pervading the nation ; by their increasing frequency 
 in the same places ; by their rapidity and power, often 
 changing, in a few weeks, the character of towns and cities, 
 and even of large districts of country. An earnest of that 
 glorious time when a nation shall be born in a day, they 
 purify our literary institutions, and multiply pastors and mis- 
 sionaries to cheer our own land, and enlighten distant 
 nations. 
 
 They are without a parallel in the history of the world, and 
 are constituting an era of moral power entirely new. Already 
 the churches look chiefly to them for their members and pas- 
 tors, and for that power upon public opinion, which retards 
 declension, and gives energy to law and voluntary support to 
 religious institutions. 
 
 These revivals then, falling in with all these antecedent 
 indications, seem to declare the purpose of God to employ 
 this nation in the glorious work of renovating the earth. 
 
304 
 
 If we look at our missionaries abroad, and witness the 
 smiles of heaven upon their efforts, our confidence, that it is 
 the purpose of God to render our nation a blessing to the 
 world, will be increased. In talents, and piety, and learning, 
 and doctrine, and civil policy, they are the legitimate descend- 
 ants of the Puritans. Every where they command high 
 respect, and have been distinguished by their judicious and 
 successful efforts. In Ceylon, and Hawaii, and among the 
 natives of this country, they are fast supplanting idolatry by 
 christian institutions. Revivals of religion cheer and bless 
 them ; and churches, and all the elements of christian civili- 
 zation are multiplying around them. 
 
 Let this nation go on, then, and multiply its millions and 
 its resources, and bring the whole under the influence of our 
 civil and religious institutions, and with the energies of its 
 concentrated benevolence send out evangelical instruction ; 
 and who can calculate what our blessed instrumentality shall 
 have accomplished, when He who sitteth upon the throne 
 shall have made all things new. 
 
 If Swartz, and Buchanan, and Vanderkemp, and Carey, 
 and Martyn, and Brainerd, could, each alone, accomplish so 
 much ; what may not be expected from the energies of such 
 a nation as this ? Fifty such men as Paul the Apostle, unaided 
 by the resources of systematic benevolence, might evangelize 
 the world. What then may not be accomplished by a nation 
 of freemen, destined in little more than half a century to 
 number its fifty milhons ? 
 
 If we consider also our friendly relations with the South 
 American States, and the close imitation they are disposed to 
 make of our civil and literary institutions, who can doubt that 
 the spark which our Forefathers struck will yet enlighten this 
 entire continent.'' But when the light of such a hemisphere 
 shall go up to heaven, it will throw its beams beyond the 
 waves — it will shine into the darkness there, and be compre- 
 hended ; it will awaken desire, and hope, and effort, and 
 produce revolutions and ovcrturnings, until the world is free. 
 
305 
 
 From our revolutionary struggle, proceeded ihe revolution 
 in France, and all which has followed in Naples, Portugal, 
 Spain, and Greece ; and though the bolt of every chain has 
 been again driven, they can no more hold the heaving mass, 
 than the chains of Xerxes could hold the Hellespont vexed 
 with storms. Floods have been poured upon the rising flame, 
 but they can no more extinguish it than they can extinguish 
 the fires of ^tna. Still it burns, and still the mountain heaves 
 and murmurs ; and soon it will explode with voices, and 
 thunderings, and great earthquakes. Then will the trumpet 
 of jubilee sound, and earth's debased millions will leap from 
 the dust, and shake off their chains, and cry, "Hosanna to the 
 Son of David." 
 
 Before we conclude this discourse, let us attend to some 
 of the duties to which we are called by our high providential 
 destiny. 
 
 And most evidently we are called upon 
 
 1. To cherish with high veneration and grateful recollec- 
 tions the memory of our Fathers. Both the ties of nature, 
 and the dictates of policy demand this. And surely no 
 nation ever had less occasion to be ashamed of its ancestry, 
 or more occasion for gratulation in that respect ; for while 
 most nations trace their origin to barbarians, the foundations 
 of 6ur nation were laid by civilized men — by christians. 
 ]\Iany of them were men of distinguished families, of power- 
 ful talents, of great learning, of pre-eminent wisdom, of de- 
 cision of character, and of most inflexible integrity. And 
 yet, not unfrequently, they have been treated as if they had no 
 virtues ; while their sins and follies have been sedulously 
 immortalized in satirical anecdote. The influence of such 
 treatment of the Fathers is too manifest. It creates and lets 
 loose upon their invaluable institutions the Vandal spirit of 
 innovation and overthrow ; for after the memory of our 
 Fathers shall have been rendered contemptible, who will 
 
306 
 
 appreciate and sustain their institutions? ' The Memory of 
 OUR Fathers,' should be the watchword of hberty through- 
 out the land ; — for, imperfect as they were, the world before, 
 had not seen their like, nor will it soon, we fear, behold their 
 like again. Such models of moral excellence, such apostles 
 of civil and religious liberty, such shades of the illustrious 
 dead, looking down upon their descendants with approbation 
 or reproof, according as they follow or depart from the good 
 way, constitute a censorship inferior only to the eye of God ; 
 — and to ridicule them is national suicide. 
 
 The doctrines of our Fathers have been represented as 
 gloomy, superstitious, severe, irrational, and of a licentious 
 tendency. But when other systems shall have produced a 
 piety as devoted, a morality as pure, a patriotism as disin- 
 terested, and a state of society as happy, as have prevailed 
 where their doctrines have been most prevalent ; it may be 
 in season to seek an answer to this objection. The same 
 doctrines have been charged with inspiring a spirit of dogma- 
 tism and religious domination. But in all the struggles of 
 man with despotic power for civil liberty, the doctrines of our 
 Fathers have been found, usually, if not always, on the side 
 of liberty, as their opposite have been usually found in the 
 ranks of arbitrary power. 
 
 The persecutions instituted by our Fathers, have been the 
 occasion of ceaseless obloquy upon their fair fame. And 
 truly it was a fault of no ordinary magnitude that, sometihies, 
 they did persecute. But let him, whose ancestors were not 
 ten times more guilty, cast the first stone, and the ashes of 
 our Fathers will no more be disturbed. Theirs was the 
 fault of the age, and it will be easy to show, that no class of 
 men had at that time approximated so nearly to just appre- 
 hensions of religious liberty ; and that it is to them that the 
 world is now indebted for the more just and definite views 
 which prevail. More exclamation and invective has been 
 called forth by the few instances of persecution by the Fa- 
 thers of New England, than by all the fires which Hghted the 
 
307 
 
 realm of Old England for centuries, and drove into exile, 
 thousands of her most valuable subjects. 
 
 The superstition and bigotry of our Fathers are themes, on 
 which some of their descendants, themselves far enough from 
 superstition, if not from bigotry, have delighted to dwell. 
 But when we look abroad, and behold the condition of the 
 world compared with the condition of New England, we may 
 justly exclaim, ' Would to God that the ancestors of all the 
 nations had been not only almost, but altogether such bigots 
 as our Fathers were !' 
 
 Their strictness in the family, and in church and state, has 
 been complained of as too rigid. But they were laying the 
 foundations of a nation, and applying a moral power, whose 
 impulse should extend through ages ; and who that beholds 
 the rapid and appalling moral relaxation of the present day, 
 can believe that they put the system in motion with too much 
 rigor ? In proportion as their discipline had been less strict, 
 our present condition had been more alarming, and our future 
 prospects more desperate. 
 
 Our Fathers have been ridiculed as an uncouth and un- 
 courtly generation. And it must be admitted, that they were 
 not as expert in the graces of dress, and the etiquette of the 
 drawing room, as some of their descendants. But neither 
 could these have felled the trees, nor guided the plough, nor 
 spread the sail which they did ; nor braved the dangers of 
 Indian warfare, nor displayed the wisdom in counsel which 
 our Fathers displayed. And, had none stepped upon the 
 Plymouth rock but such effeminate critics as these, the poor 
 natives never would have mourned their wilderness lost, but 
 would have brushed them from the land, as they would brush 
 the puny insect from their face ; the Pequods would have 
 slept in safety that night which was their last, and no intrepid 
 Mason had hung upon their rear, and driven into exile the 
 panic-struck fugitives. 
 
 2. We are called upon to cherish and extend our religious 
 institutions. 
 
308 
 
 Religion was the power on which our Fathers relied — the 
 power which has made us what we are, and which must 
 guarantee the perpetuity of our blessings. Every other in- 
 fluence has been tried and has failed, while this has been 
 tried with ample promise of success. The application of 
 religious and moral influence is, therefore, the great duty to 
 which, as a nation, we are called. On this influence depends 
 our rise or fall — our glorious immortality or our hasty dissolu- 
 tion. Every thing but this, may be safely left to the opera- 
 tion of existing causes. Ambition will secure the interests of 
 education and science ; the love of gold will push agriculture 
 and commerce and arts ; and the pride of liberty will arm 
 the nation, and render it invincible. All these things, the 
 nations who have preceded us have been able to do. But 
 there was a sickness of the heart which they could neither 
 endure nor heal ; — and with this same disease this nation is 
 sick, and intellectual cuhure, and civil liberty, and national 
 wealth will not heal it. There is but one remedy ; and that 
 is, the preaching of the Gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent 
 down from on high. But to render the Gospel effectual, the 
 religious education of the family, and the moral culture of our 
 schools and colleges must be secured ; and the Sabbath must 
 be rescued from profanation. The Sabbath is the great 
 organ of the divine administration — the only means provided 
 by God to give ubiquity and power to his moral government. 
 The intellectual culture of a nation requires schools and 
 literary institutions ; and that the subjects of instruction shall 
 be brought under their influence. Let the fascinations of 
 pleasure, or the demands of labor withdraw the children and 
 youth from the power of intellectual culture, and ignorance 
 will ensue ; in like manner, let the stream of pleasure and of 
 worldly cares bear away the population of the land from the 
 house of God, and from the duties of devotion on the Sab- 
 bath ; and ignorance of God and of his laws will with equal 
 certainty ensue ; irreligion will prevail, and immorality and 
 dissoluteness, to an extent utterly inconsistent with the per- 
 
309 
 
 manence of republican institutions. Europe can never enjoy 
 civil liberty until she shall do more homage to the Sabbath of 
 God ; and we shall enjoy it but a short space after we have 
 ceased to render to God his right in that sacred day : for, all 
 the millions who violate the Sabbath, will draw themselves 
 from the moral power of the divine government, deprive 
 their families of a religious education, and abandon them to 
 the power of their evil hearts and their own bad example. 
 In the mean time, the secular interests of men are so indisso- 
 lubly connected, that the stream of business, put in motion 
 by the wicked on the Sabbath day, not only pains the eye of 
 the virtuous, but, as it deepens, and roars, and rolls onward 
 its turbid waters, it draws into itself by the associations of 
 business, a large, and still larger portion of the community ; 
 until it spreads unresisted over the land, obliterates the gov- 
 ernment of God, and substitutes covetousness and pleasure 
 and dissoluteness, instead of godliness and the morality of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 The present, undoubtedly, is the generation which is to 
 decide the fate of this great empire, by deciding whether the 
 Sabbath of God shall be preserved or blotted out ; for the 
 temptations of the seaboard and of canals are immense, and 
 are increasing most fearfully ; and, unless public sentiment 
 and law shall make a stand soon, we may as well attempt to 
 stop the rolling of the ocean, or the current of our mighty 
 rivers. 
 
 The universal extension of our religious institutions, is the 
 only means of reconciling our unparalleled prosperity with 
 national purity and immortality. Without the preserving 
 power of religious and moral influence, our rapid increase in 
 wealth will be the occasion of our swift destruction. The 
 rank vegetation of unsanctified enterprise, thrown into one 
 vast reservoir of putrefaction, will send up over the land 
 desolation and death. No nation will be so short lived as 
 ours, unless we can balance the temptations of our prosperity 
 by moral power. Our sun has moved onward from his 
 40 
 
310 
 
 morning to his meridian, with a rapidity and glory which has 
 amazed the world. But, unless we can extend the power of 
 religious institutions through the land, dark clouds will soon 
 obscure his glory, and his descent to a night of ages will be 
 more rapid than his rising. 
 
 When we were colonies, or unallied states, the law could 
 make provision for the creation and application of moral 
 power. The law could compel men to desist from secular 
 employments and vain amusements on the Sabbath. The 
 law could compel men to support the Gospel, and attend the 
 public worship of God — and civil officers could see to it, that 
 every town should in due time settle a minister, and that 
 every family should possess a Bible and a catechism. But 
 these means of moral influence the law can no longer apply ; 
 and there is no substitute but the voluntary energies of the 
 nation itself, exerted by associations for charitable contribu- 
 tions and efforts, patronized by all denominations of chris- 
 tians, and by all classes of the community who love their 
 country. We may boast of our civil and religious liberty, 
 but they are the fruit of other men's labors into which we 
 have entered ; and the effect of institutions, whose impulse 
 has been felt long after the hands that reared them have 
 mouldered in the grave. This impulse, too, is fast failing, 
 and becoming yearly, more and more disproportioned to the 
 mass that is to be moved by it. Our religious institutions 
 must be invigorated, or we are undone. They must move 
 onward with our flowing emigration to the Mississippi — must 
 pass the Rocky mountains, and pour their waters of life into 
 the ocean beyond ; and from the north to the south, they 
 must bear salvation on their waves. In this way the nation 
 can save itself: but unless it can be roused to this mighty 
 work, it will, like the man among the tombs, become exceed- 
 ing fierce, and turn upon itself its infuriated energies, and 
 pour out its own life blood by self-inflicted wounds.* 
 
 *In many of the discourses and orations which commpmorale the deeds of our Fa- 
 thers, iheir'character, as the apostles of civil lilierty, is especially eulogised ; while 
 their doctrines, their piety, their church order, and the other peculiarities of their re- 
 
311 
 
 3. We are called upon to give a quickened, and extended 
 impulse to our charitable institutions. 
 
 These are the providential substitutes for those legal pro- 
 visions of our Fathers, which are now inapplicable by change 
 of circumstances. In these the nation must enrol itself 
 spontaneously, and the spirit of the Puritans be revived, for 
 the preservation of their institutions. And now is the time. 
 With our growing prosperity, the fascinations of pleasure 
 increase, and the means and temptations to voluptuousness. 
 Now, unless the salt of the earth contained in christian insti- 
 tutions can be diffused through the land, the mass will putrify. 
 The tide of business and pleasure, bursting from our cities, 
 rolling on our seacoast, and flowing in our canals, will soon 
 sweep away the Sabbath, unless a vigorous public sentiment, 
 by the preaching of the Gospel, and the power of the Spirit, 
 can be arrayed for its preservation. Let the Sabbath schools, 
 then, and Bible classes of our land be multiplied ; and let 
 societies for domestic missions rise in every Slate and district, 
 and collect and pour out the energies of the nation for its 
 moral preservation ; while Bibles, and pastors, and teachers 
 are multiplied, till the knowledge of the Lord covers the land, 
 and his saving health is extended to all the people. 
 
 ligious institutions, arc passed olT with cold commendations, or perhaps palliated and 
 excused as tiic detects of the age. But no historical fact is more completely estab- 
 lished, than that religion was theciiief end for which our Fathers sought this wilder- 
 ness, and that their peculiar doctrines and views of experimental religion and church 
 order were dearer to them than life ; and that it is these, wiiich, for more than one 
 hundred and fifty years, applied the religious and moral influence under which New 
 England was formed, and which has made her what she is. Let the children of the 
 Pilgrims never forget this ; and let tlie eulogists of their patriotism cease to spread 
 before our eyes such a glitter of style and eloquence, as shall place their civil exploits 
 in the fore-ground, and throw their doctrines, and church order, and eminent jiiety 
 into the back-ground. The religious a'lid moral causes vvhich have blessed New 
 England, and are now rolling the tide of salvation to the West, can never he conceal- 
 ed ; and can never be, successfully, misrepresented. As well may the fS'ewtonian 
 philosophy be concealed, as the system of our Fathers — it is out, and known, and 
 read of all men. We are the more called upon to regard this subject with deep 
 interest, from the fact, that the attempt is now openly made to destroy the religious 
 and moral energy of the churches which our Fathers planted, by perverting their 
 doctrines, changing the qualifications for membership, and taking from them their 
 immemorial and sacred rights in the election of their own pastors, in the enjoyment 
 of which, they have exerted so powerful and salutary an influence, and in the de- 
 struction of which, their moral power must fail. We have no apjirehension that the 
 children of the I'ilgrims, when the sivlijcct shall be fairly understood, v.ill, by adding 
 injustice to ingratitude, sanction such innovations. 
 
312 
 
 4. All christian denominations are called upon to co-ope- 
 rate for the preservation of religion. 
 
 It is idle to expect, and folly to desire, the amalgamation 
 of all denominations into one. The papal effort at universal 
 comprehension has shown, what a vast, unstimulated, stagnant 
 uniformity will accomplish ; and God, no doubt, has permitted 
 some varying winds of opinion to move upon the face of the 
 deep, to maintain motion, purity and life. We may say, 
 however, that jealousies and ambitious collisions between 
 religious denominations should give place to christian cour- 
 tesy, and the magnanimity of an hearty co-operation for the 
 glory of God, and the salvation of the world. It is in vain 
 to expect, and it would be sinful to desire the extinction of 
 any one denomination of real christians. There is room for 
 all — and v.'ork for all ; and there is ample reason why each 
 should hail the other as an auxiliary in the work of the Lord. 
 Religious principle must be applied throughout the nation, 
 and no one denomination can do it. The work demands the 
 ceaseless action of each in its own peculiar way, and the mag- 
 nanimous co-operation of all, for the preservation of the great 
 principles of our common Christianity. Nor will such con- 
 cert of action be in vain. It will form, extensively, a public 
 opinion which shall accord with the morality of the Gospel — 
 whose sanctions, expressed in the votes of virtuous freemen, 
 shall elevate to influence and power, men of pure morality, 
 and consign the irreligious, immoral, and dissolute, to merited 
 contempt : — a law which the wicked cannot repeal, and 
 whose penalty they cannot evade. All denominations, unitedj 
 and directing their suffrages to that end, can check the viola- 
 tion of the Sabbath ; can arrest the contagion of intempe- 
 rance ; can punish duellists in high places, who with shame- 
 less notoriety, set at defiance the laws of God and their coun- 
 try, bringing upon us the contempt of the world, and the just 
 judgments of heaven. 
 
 5. In this great work of national preservation and universal 
 good will, our civil rulers are, particularly, called upon to 
 
313 
 
 co-operate ; not, as once, in convoking synods, and approving 
 and recommending creeds ; and not in coercing by law, 
 attendance upon public worship, or the support of religious 
 institutions. The day is gone by, in which such interposition 
 is required, or can avail. The God of our Fathers, having 
 given to us a practical illustration of the efficacy of religious 
 institutions, sustained by law during our minority ; — now, in 
 our manhood, puts the price into our hands to be preserved 
 or abandoned spontaneously on our own responsibility. Nor 
 are the church and the state to be so identified, as that the 
 qualifications for civil office must be the same as for member- 
 ship in that kingdom which is not of this world. Our civil 
 rulers owe to God and their country now, the same illustrious 
 piety, the same estimation of the doctrines of God's Word, 
 the same attendance upon the ordinances of the Gospel and 
 co-operation for their support, and the same strict and pure 
 morality, which rendered the civil Fathers of our land so il- 
 lustrious in their character, and so benign in the power of 
 their example upon their own and upon other generations. 
 The example of men in official stations, is among the most 
 powerful moral causes which afflict or bless a community. 
 If it be good, it descends with cheering power, like the gentle 
 rain upon the earth ; but if it be evil, from its " bad emi- 
 nence," it comes down upon the community like the moun- 
 tain torrent, sweeping away landmarks. The righteous 
 mourn under their sway, and the wicked creep from their 
 hiding places, and walk on every side, setting their mouth 
 against the heavens, and their foot upon all that is sacred and 
 holy. The time has come, when the experiment is to be 
 made, whether the world is to be emancipated and rendered 
 happy, or whether the whole creation shall groan and travail 
 together in pain until the final consummation : and the exam- 
 ple of the rulers of our nation will throw decisive weights into 
 the scales, for or against the world's last hope. If they pour 
 contempt upon the Bible, its doctrines and institutions — if 
 they take in vain the name of God, or profane wantonly his 
 
314 
 
 holy day — if they concentrate in the capitol, and spread 
 abroad through the land, the infection of their bad example ; 
 the whole nation will feel it, and die under it, unless the in- 
 dignant virtue of an insulted community shall throw off the 
 body of death, and, by a well directed suffrage, call to its 
 aid men of talents and of pure morality. 
 
 6. To perpetuate our national prosperity and hold up our 
 light to the world, our citizens must banish party spirit, and 
 regulate the suffrage of the nation with reference to the pre- 
 servation of its moral purity. 
 
 The temporary colhsions of local interest and of ambition 
 can never be excluded from such a nation as this, and are 
 not to be feared. It is those deep-rooted and permanent 
 divisions, extending through the land, rousing the feelings and 
 arraying the energies of one part of the nation in keen colli- 
 sion with the other, and perpetuating prejudice and strife from 
 generation to generation, which threaten the existence of our 
 republican institutions. Through one such fiery trial we have 
 passed undestroyed, though by no means uninjured; and no 
 patriot of the present generation would willingly, I trust, be- 
 hold our country placed in such jeopardy again. Despotic 
 governments may pass in safety through popular commotions 
 such as v/ould shake down the pillars of a republic. The 
 mobs of England, which, in the presence of the mihtary power, 
 are but the gambols of a kid within the scope of the lion's paw, 
 would be, in this country, as the letting out of waters. There 
 is no possibility of freedom in this bad world, without so much 
 intelhgence and moral principle among the people, as shall 
 create an efficient public sentiment in favor of law and good 
 order. But party spirit prostrates every thing within the 
 sphere of its commotion, which is venerable and sacred. It 
 directs the attention of the people from their own common 
 interests, to the means of gaining objects to which prejudice 
 and passion may direct them ; and the attention of the gov- 
 ernment from the public good, to the means of its own perpe- 
 tuity and ascendancy. It renders a wise and comprehensive 
 
315 
 
 policy impossible ; for party spirit has no magnanimity, no 
 conscience, no consistency, to withhold it from resisting as 
 readily what is wise as what is unwise ; and its victories are 
 too transient to admit of much prospective wisdom. It is 
 eminently hostile to the laws which watch over the morals of 
 the nation ; — for who will execute them, when partizans on 
 both sides fear that they may feel the consequences of fidelity 
 at the next election. Too often, from the nearly balanced 
 state of parties, the most worthless portion of the community 
 actually hold the sway in the elections, even in a state of 
 society comparatively virtuous, — occasioning impunity in the 
 violation of law, and clothing with jjolitical consequence, and 
 too often surrounding with adulation, men whom our Fathers 
 would have expelled from good society. It tends to destroy 
 in society, all distinctions of moral character, talent, and 
 learning, as qualifications for office ; while it reconciles the 
 people, upon the plea of necessity, to such preposterous 
 sacrifices of conscience and common sense, as they would 
 never consent to, unstimulated by its madness. Indeed, in 
 all but the name, it rears beneath the forms of freedom, a 
 real and most terrific despotism. For every party has a 
 soul, — some master spirit, who, without a crown and a scep- 
 tre, governs with absolute sway. He is surrounded by a 
 nobility, each of whom is commissioned to govern the public 
 opinion within his sphere, and bring his retainers to the polls, 
 to subserve implicitly the interests of the king and of the 
 aristocracy. It needs only to kindle the watch-fire, and every 
 clansman is at his post ; and argument might as well avail 
 against bullets in the day of battle, as in these determined 
 contests of parties. There is no remedy for this state of 
 things, but that intelligence which qualifies the people to un- 
 derstand their rights, interests, and duties ; and that calmness 
 of feeling to which the public mind, undisturbed by partizan 
 efforts, will not fail to come ; and that deep conviction of the 
 importance of moral purity, which shall turn the expectations 
 
316 
 
 of the people from party men and party measures, to the ap- 
 plication of moral power, by the institutions of religion, and 
 the interposition of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Multitudes of christians and patriots have long since aban- 
 doned party politics, and, not knowing what to do, have al- 
 most abandoned the exercise of suffrage. This is wrong. 
 An enlightened and virtuous suffrage may, by system and con- 
 centration, become one of the most powerful means of pro- 
 moting national purity and morality ; — as the suffrage from 
 which the influence of conscience is withdrawn, cannot fail 
 to be disastrous. While then, as freemen, we remove one 
 temptation to hypocrisy, by dispensing with a profession of 
 religion as a qualification for office, and exclude all occasions 
 of jealousy, by bestowing our votes without reference to chris- 
 tian denomination ; let all christians and all patriots exercise 
 their rights as electors, with an inflexible regard to moral 
 character ; and let the duellist, and the sabbath-breaker, and 
 the drunkard, and the licentious, find the doors of honor 
 barred, and the heights of ambition defended against them by 
 hosts of determined freemen, and the moral effect will be 
 great. The discrimination by suffrage will exert upon the 
 youth of our country a most salutary restraint, and upon dis- 
 solute and ambitious men a powerful reforming influence. 
 Let every freeman, then, who would perpetuate the liberty 
 and happiness of his country, and transmit to his descendants 
 of distant generations the precious legacy which our Fathers 
 have sent down to us, inquire concerning the candidate for 
 whom he is solicited to vote, — is he an enemy to the Bible, 
 or to the doctrines and institutions of the Gospel ; — is he a 
 duellist, or an intemperate man, or a sabbath-breaker, or dis- 
 solute, or dishonest ? — and if, in any of these respects, he be 
 disqualified, let him withhold his vote, and give it to a better 
 man — and it will go far to retrieve the declensions which 
 have taken place, and to render righteousness and peace the 
 stabihty of our times. 
 
317 
 
 And now, what shall we say to these things ? Are they 
 the dreams of a fervid imagination, or are they the words of 
 truth and soberness ? Will our blessings be perpetuated, or 
 shall ours be added to the ruined republics that have been ? 
 Are we assembled to-day to bestow funeral honors upon our 
 departed glory, or with united counsels and hearts to strength- 
 en the things that remain ? Weak indeed must be the 
 faith that wavers now, and sinks amid waves less terrific, 
 and prospects more cheering, than any which our Fatheris 
 ever saw. Were it dark even as midnight, and did the waves 
 run high, and dash loud and angry around us, still our faith 
 would not be dismayed : still with our Fathers we would 
 believe, " Qui transtulit sustinet ;" and still would we re- 
 joice in the annunciation of Him that sitteth upon the throne, 
 " Behold I create all things new." Our anchor will not 
 fail — our bark will not founder ; for the means of preserva- 
 tion ivill be used, and the God of our Fathers will make them 
 effectual. The memory of our Fathers is becoming more 
 precious. Their institutions are commanding a higher esti- 
 mation. Deeper convictions are felt of the importance of 
 religion ; and more extended and vigorous exertions are made 
 to balance the temptations of prosperity by moral power. 
 Christians are ceasing from their jealousies, and concentrating 
 their energies. The nation is moved, and beginning to enrol 
 itself in various forms of charitable association, for the exten- 
 sion of religion at home and abroad. Philosophers and patri- 
 ots, statesmen and men of wealth, are beginning to feel that 
 it is righteousness only which exalteth a nation ; and to give 
 to the work of moral renovation their arguments, the power 
 of their example, and the impulse of their charity. And the 
 people, weary of political collision, are disposed at length to 
 build again those institutions, which, in times of contention, 
 they had either neglected or trodden down. Such an array 
 of moral influence as is now comprehended in the great plan 
 of charitable operations, was never before brought to bear 
 41 
 
318 
 
 upon the nation. It moves onward, attended by fervent sup- 
 plications, and followed by glorious and unceasing effusions 
 of the Holy Spirit. The god of this world feels the shock 
 of the onset, and has commenced his retreat ; and Jesus 
 Christ is pressing onward from conquering to conquer : nor 
 will he turn from his purpose, or cease from bis work, until 
 he hath made all things new. . 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 REPIi Y 
 
 TO THE REVIEW OF DR. BEECHEr's SERMON DELIVERED AT WORCESTER, MASSA- 
 CHUSETTS, OCTOBER 15, 18:Q3. 
 
 [Tlie following reply was made to an article which appeared in the Christian Exa- 
 miner, purporting- to be a review of the sermon entitled " The faith once delivered 
 to the saints." It is addressed to the Editor of the Christian Examiner, as it was 
 originally designed for that work, but was afterwards inserted in the volume of the 
 Christian Spectator, for 1825.] 
 
 To the Editor of the Christian Examiner. 
 Sir, 
 
 I RECEIVED and read the review of my Sermon, delivered at Worcester, 
 in your number for January, 1824 : and most of the remarks which I propose to 
 submit to your consideration were written in the early part of that year ; but 
 circumstances which I need not explain, have prevented their publication 
 until now. 
 
 It is not to be expected or claimed, that an author shall, in all respects, be 
 gratified in the exhibition which is made of his opinions and arguments : and 
 yet there are, doubtless, rules of controversy which the laws of equity ac- 
 knowledge and protect. We are bound, for example, if we attempt to answer 
 an extended complex argument, to give the argument entire ; for moral evi- 
 dence is but the accumulation of probabilities ; and a partial statement of the 
 argument is in efTect a misrepresentation of it, as it supposes the writer to 
 rely on the argument which is slated and replied to, when it may be, that he 
 relies on it only as taken in connexion with the facts which are omitted. 
 
 In answering a complex argument, each particular which goes to consti- 
 tute the entire argument,, should be stated In its logical form, and in the words 
 of the writer, or "in language equally intelligible. Otherwise, how can the 
 reader know what the argument is, or whether the reply be relevant or not ? 
 A mere allusion to the argument, witlu)ut a statement of it in logical form, 
 may answer the purpose of evasion, or declamation, or irrelevant reply, but 
 never will answer the purpose of fair and honorable controversy. 
 
 It is equally plain that each argument replied to, should be met and an- 
 swered as it is understood and relied on by our antagonist. 
 
 However near, the reply may approach to the point of the argument, if it 
 does not meet it directly, the more ingenious is the sopliistry, and the more 
 
320 
 
 provoking arc the misrepresentations ; because, being numerous and of such 
 nice discriniinalion, the reader is soon tired of sitting in judgment on sucli 
 Uttle matters ; and the culprit when this end is achieved, tui'ns and hurls 
 back oQ his injured antagonist the odium of nice metaphysical distinction, and 
 of vain jangling. One might as well go out " to seek a flea, or to hunt a 
 partridge in the mountains," as to follow up with argument such dodging an- 
 tagonists. And whether such conduct indicates a desire to know the truth or 
 to avoid it, it is not difficult to perceive. 
 
 Another obvious rule of controversial equity is, that where matters of fact 
 constitute the argument, the facts be noted in their logical bearing, and be 
 replied to in point. Facts, when relevant, constitute the most invincible ar- 
 gument. Theories are nothing in their presence, and no honorable alterna- 
 tive remains, but to show their irrelevancy, or to admit the conclusion to 
 which they tend. Silence in respect to them, or a mere allusion to them 
 which affords no conception of their place and bearing in the argument, is 
 inconsistent with argumentative uprightness. 
 
 Sliould the violation of these rules be the result of mistake, it would evince 
 only incompetency for controversial writing. But if they sliould be the result 
 of design, it would indicate insincerity in our search after truth, and a dishon- 
 orable and criminal disregard of moral principle. The man, who, in natural 
 science, should resort to such measures to conceal or baffle the argiunent of 
 his antagonist, would be regarded justly as the enemy of science. But how 
 highly is the crime aggravated, when the concealment or evasion attempted 
 respects revealed truth ; and, as the case may be, those truths which are 
 necessary to save men from destruction, and qualify them for heaven ! Such 
 unworthy conduct in theological writers, has created already, an extensive 
 prejudice against controversy as the means of discovering truth ; and the 
 continuance o*" it by men of the clerical profession, would increase that preju- 
 dice greatly, and would justly foifeit the confidence which a christian public 
 ought to be authorized to repose in their spiritual guides. If we consider 
 also, the unavoidable imperfeotion of language as the vehicle of thought, 
 and the utter inefficacy of civil coercion in the developement and preserva- 
 tion of truth, we shall perceive the necessity of an enlightened public opinion, 
 which shall lay the tax of shame and of crime upon argumentative dishonesty. 
 The rights of conscience are not to be invaded, but neither are they to be 
 exercised with impunity in a wanton and unprincipled manner. The interests 
 of the community in revealed truth are as sacred as the rights of property ; and 
 the wilful perversion of an argument ought to be coupled with dishonor and 
 crime in the public estimation, as really, as chicanery in law, the sequestration 
 of property by theft, or the perversion of justice by a false oath. The object 
 of religious controversy is not the concealment, but the discovery of the truth ; 
 not the display of dexterity in evading an argument, but of magnanimity in 
 embracing its results ; not the gratification of our pride, but the edification of 
 our hearts, by receiving the truth in the love of it. 
 
 Nothing, 1 am aware, is more common than mutual accusations of unfair- 
 ness in religious controversy, and the sorry exhibition of petulance and invec- 
 tive : and the disgust I have f(flt at such exhibitions has kept me from personal 
 controversy to this day. And if I thought that in the remarks I am about to 
 make, I sould only add to these humiliating specimens of indiecility and acri- 
 mony, I would instantly lay down my pen. But the subject of the sermon is 
 one on which I have entered with other motives than the desire of victory, 
 and with other feelings towards Unitarians than those of unkindness, 1 be- 
 lieve sincerely, that the doctrines which they reject are the Gospel, and are 
 necessaiy to their salvation ; — that the truth only is able to save them ; and 
 that error, however sincerely believed, will not save them. I had occasion 
 to know that those who sit under Unitarian ministrations, do, extensively and 
 greatly, misapprehend the doctrines which are held by the Ortiiodox ; and that 
 they do honestly suppose tlie Orthodox to believe and teach things which they 
 utterly disclaim and abhor. It was my wish, therefore, to place before these 
 children of the pilgrims, a plain, popular statement of the doctrines of their 
 
321 
 
 fathers, as (hey are now understood aud believed by their Orthodox brethren : 
 believing;, that they with us, may as yet be within the circumference of that 
 covenant, whose blcssin<;s go down to the thousandth generation of them that 
 fear God and keep his commandments, as our fathers feared and obeyed. 1 
 wished also to accompany this explanatory statement of the Orthodox faith 
 with some of those arguments which have long, to my mind, aj)peared unan- 
 swerable. And, Sir, 1 did indulge the hope, that the truth, freed from misap- 
 prehension aud contemplated in its native majesty, simplicity, aud beauty, and 
 attended by its proper evidence, might allay the prejudices of many against 
 it, commend itself to their consciences and their hearts, and become to them 
 the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation. But however this 
 hope might be realized or not, I did expect the gratification of knowing, and 
 felt no small degree of curiosity to know, what could be said to an argument, 
 in which I could detect no fallacy, by able and honest men who should look 
 it in the face and answer it to the point. 
 
 And now. Sir, allow me to say, that it affofds me no pleasure to affirm that 
 my motives in writing and in de.siring an answer have been defeated, so far 
 as the influence of the review is concerned ; and defeated in a manner, which 
 involves, in my judgment, a violation of the preceding equitable rules of con- 
 ti-oversy. No person who reads only the review, can possibly possess himself 
 of my entire argmnent ; or understand the logical point and bearing of each 
 particular argument ; or what generally, are the matters of fact relied on ; or 
 what is the logical bearing cf,those which are alluded to. And what is still 
 more to be regretted is, that the reply to particular arguments which is 
 attempted, is made to the arguments, rather as alluded to, than as logically 
 stated — and evades the point of the argument, by replying to a position wliich 
 the argument no where assumes. I am far from charging the reviewer with 
 design in this logical aberration. But it did early occur to my mind, and has 
 repeatedly been suggested to me by others, that if the reviewer had feared 
 the effect of the doctrines and arguments as stated in the sermon, upon 
 Unitarian congregations ; and had set himself to write a review which should 
 prevent them from knowing how the doctrines were stated, and by what 
 arguments they were supported ; and at the same time to create such a preju- 
 dice against the sermon as would keep the people generally from reading and 
 judging for themselves, he could not have managed more adroitly than he has 
 done. 
 
 But in addition to this disappointment of all rny reasonable, and as I must 
 say, my benevolent hopes ; I am charged with duplicity in what I have done. 
 According to the reviewer, I have given an epitome of doctrine as the faith 
 delivered to the saints, which is decidedly anti-calvinistic, and have falsely 
 claimed that it is substantially the faith of the reformers, the Puritans, the 
 fathers of New England, and the great body of the Orthodox in our country. 
 Thus disappointed and misrepresented, I have to request that you will do me 
 the justice to re-publish £C corrected statement of my argument, and a vindi- 
 cation of my good name in your Miscellany, — the only vehicle of informa- 
 tion which can render the redress as extensive as the injury. The love and 
 fearless pursuit of the truth, professed by Unitarians, justify the confidence 
 with which 1 appeal both to your candor and to your magnanimity. Should 
 the length of the article seem to furnish an apology for declining its insertion, 
 you will readily perceive that, if the mistakes in the review had been fewer, 
 my reply had been proportionably shorter ; and that equity demands that the 
 explanation be co-extensive with the occasions for it -which are created by 
 misi-epresentations, however undesigned. Had my arguments been sup- 
 pressed, or misrepresented by typographical mistakes, the length of the 
 errata would not be deemed a reason for refusing their insertion ; and it will 
 not seem to you, I trust, a matter of much consequence in respect to the 
 claims of justice, whether the causes of the injury sustained are mechanical, 
 or intellectual, or moral. 
 
 I shall first attend to the charge preferred against me, of substituting the 
 Arminian for the Calvinistic system ; and of claiming, (ignoruntly or wick- 
 
322 
 
 etlly,) that it is the faith of the Orthodox now, and the faith of the fathers of 
 New England, — of the puritans and of the reformers. 
 
 This system, which I have denominated evangelical, the reviewer declares 
 to be an innovation upon the popular (Calvinistic) faith ; and that it is neither 
 strictly, nor even substantiallj', the same with the doctrines held by the re- 
 formers, the puritans, the fathers of New England, or the great body of the 
 Orthodox in our countiy. It is, he declares, " decidedly anti-calvinistic ; ex- 
 pressly denying some of the peculiarities of Calvinism ; distinctly asserting 
 none of them, nor even implying one of them, in a manner to make it obvious 
 to the mind of a common reader." Upon these charges I remark, 
 
 1. That the Calvinistic and anti-calvinistic systems of doctrine are in 
 direct opposition on those points which constitute the two systems ; and that 
 between them there is no middle system. Man is, or he is not, entirely de- 
 praved ; he needs, or he does not need, a moral renovation to fit him for 
 heaven. This renovation is achieved by the special influence of the Holy 
 Spirit, as a free sovereign gift ; or it is in some way secured by good works, 
 and hmuan endeavors. Men are justiiied by faith only, or they are not ; and 
 all saints do persevere, or they do not. Calvinists take one side on these 
 points, and Arminians take the other ; and there is no middle ground. 
 
 2. The Armiiiian system of doctrine and the Unitarian are the same on 
 those points, in which both differ from the Calvinistic system. Unitarians 
 acted with the remonstrants when the Arminian system was formed. It is 
 the system adopted generally, and defended iik opposition to Calvinism, by 
 English Unitarians, aiid is tlic system substantially, which Dr. Ware supports 
 in agreement with Taylor, and in opposition to Edwards and Dr. Woods. The 
 Arminian and Unitarian systems of doctrine are therefore the same, as op- 
 posed to Calvinism. 
 
 3. Unitarians claim that the anli-calvinistic system is thfe true primitive 
 fixith. They hold that their interpretation of the Bible on the doctrinal points, 
 is according to the mind of the spirit — is the truth as understood and professed 
 by the primitive church : — Therefore, 
 
 4. The doctrines contained in the evangelical system, as it is denominated 
 in the sermon, are the faith dehvered to the saints, the reviewer himself being 
 judge. He does not complain of me for claiming them as such, but only for 
 claiming their agreemen^^ith the Cahdnistic system — which he denies. He 
 declares that tlie Calvinistic system is not, and thai the anti-calvinistic system 
 is, the faith delivered to the saints ; and that the sy.-tcm which I have set forth 
 is decidedly anti-calvinistic, and is of course the fidth once delivered to the 
 saints. The reviewer therefore claims the doctrines laid down in the evan- 
 gelical system as the true anti-calvinistic. Unitarian, primitive faith. He 
 claims that I have abandoned the Calvinistic system, and have come over to 
 the Arminian Unitarian faith ; and the only front of my offending is, that not 
 having the capacity to perceive, or the magnanimity to avow my conversion 
 to A.rminianism, I have attempted to persuade the puhlic that this anti-calvin- 
 istic Unitarian creed of mine is substantially the faith of the reformers, the 
 puritans, the fathers of New England, and the great body of the Orthodox in 
 our country. 
 
 WTien I lirst read these charges, I was disposed to bestow a smile upon 
 tliem, and let them pass. But in attending to the course of the controversy 
 between Unitarians and the Orthodox, I perceived what appeared to me a 
 settled determination in Unitarians, to make the impression on the public 
 mind, that every variation in the explanation, statement, and proof of our 
 doctrines, occasioned by the progress of mental philosophy, or of biblical 
 criticism, or by Unitarian misrepresentations, is an abandonment of our first 
 principles and an approximation to Unitarianism. I have heard the boastings 
 reiterated of Professor Stuart's approximation to Unitarianism, and of my 
 own Arminian tendencies in preaching : and lately I have read in Dr. Chan- 
 ning's sermon, that " It is a plain matter of fact, that the hard features of 
 lliat religious system, which has been ' received by tradition fiom our fathers,' 
 arc greatly softened ; and that a necessity is felt by those who hold it, of 
 
323 
 
 accommodating their representations of it more and more to the improved 
 philosophy of the human mind, and to the undeniable principles of natural 
 and revealed religion. Unconditional election is seldom heard of among us. 
 The imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity, is hastening to join the explo- 
 ded doctrine of transubstantiation. The more revolting representations of 
 man's state by nature arc judiciously kept out of sight ; and, what is of slill 
 greater importance, preaching is incomparably more practical than formerly."* 
 
 I have concluded, therefore, that the time has come which demands an 
 examination of these claims. If Calvinists are becoming Unitarians in doc- 
 trine, without the capacity to know it, or the magnanimity to own it ; let it 
 be known, and let them have their reward. And if Unitarian writers are 
 setting up their claim falsely, from ignorance, or from an apprehension that 
 the Calvinistic system presented to their people as Calvinists believe and 
 teach it, woidd convict them of misrepresentation, and bring upon them the 
 just indignation of an injured community whose confidence they have abu- 
 sed ; then let this be known, and let Unitarians have their reward. 
 
 I come then to the question, ai-e the doctrines contained in the discourse, 
 entitled " the faith once delivered to the saints," the same, substantially, with 
 the doctrines held by the reformers, the puritans, the fathers of New Eng- 
 land, and which are now held by 'the great body of the Orthodox in our coun- 
 try ; — or are they " decidedly anti-calvinistic," exhibiting, substantially, the 
 system which has been embraced by Arminians and Unitarians ? 
 
 I claim that the epitome in the sermon embodies substantially, and repre- 
 sents fairly, all the elementary and fundamental principles of that system 
 which have been denominated Calvinistic ; and the reviewer claims that they 
 are an " innovation upon the popular Calvinistic faith ; that they err and stray 
 entirely from the Calvinistic system ; and are decidedly anti-calvinistic." 
 
 1. My first remark is, that if the system of doctrines which I have set forth 
 is decidedly anti-calvinistic or Unitarian, then the world hitherto has been 
 very much disquieted in vain on the subject of doctrinal disagi-eement ; for if 
 this creed of mine be Arminian or Unitarian, it is no less true, as J. shall be 
 able to show, that it is substantially Calvinistic — so that the controversialists 
 on both sides have walked hitherto in a vain show, and have so fought as men 
 that beat the air. 
 
 * If the meaning of Dr. Clianniiig be, tiial the doctruies whicii, as mere abstract 
 positions wear a repelling aspect, are, as now explained, seen to be the regular parts 
 of a great system of moral government, in the EKlmmislration of whicli justice and 
 mercy are reconciled, and that menial philosophy has lent her aid in this exposition ; — 
 that the doctrine of election is now so stated as admits of accountability and punish- 
 ment, and stops the mouths of gaiusayers ; — that the imputation of Adam's sin and of 
 Christ's righteousness are so stated, as to appear both practicable and rational ; and 
 that the doctrine of total depravity is now exjjlained in a manner which shows both 
 the falsehood and the absurdity of the statements and ol^jections made concerning it, 
 by its opponents ; — or that, as the doctrines of the Bible are belter understood, they 
 produce an increase of practical preaching ; it might all be admitted as a concise 
 account of what we believe to be true. But if Dr. C. intends to insinuate or to say, 
 that any one doctrine of the reformation has been given up, or the principle abandon- 
 ed on which it has always rested, we request him to review this position, and lo fortify 
 it by evidence, or abandon it. Not one of the first principles of llie doctrinal system 
 of the reformers has been abandoned, while cverj' one of them has been corroborated 
 by a more accurate knowledge of mental philosophy, and of scriptural interpretation. 
 The entire system ne\'er stood so impregnable as now, and never appeared so intelli- 
 gible, so reasonable, so amiable, and at the same time, so terrible to guilty con- 
 sciences, as now. And if Dr. C. supposes that the doctrine of man's deprayity, or 
 the doctrine of election, is not preached as often as they were, and that Calvinists are 
 holduig their peace on tliese points, he follows his own imagination instead of histori- 
 cal verity. 
 
 All the great doctrines of the reformation are preached more frequently, and more 
 plainly and powerfully by the Orlhodox in New England, than they were fifty, or even 
 thirty years ago ; and their faithful exhibition is attended by tlie power of God in 
 lliose increasing revivals of religion which are carrying salvation through our 
 land. ' * 
 
324 
 
 2. If the epitome is decidedly anli-calvinistic and Unitarian, then Sir, the 
 age of doctrinal controversy is ended, and the millennial agreement of the 
 watchmen, seeing eye to eye, is begun. For I have evidence, which I will 
 produce in its place, that the doctrines contained in the discourse are substan- 
 tially Calvinistic, and are so regarded by the Orthodox in tliis country, and 
 by the reviewer himself. If then it is at the same time sufficiently happy in 
 its terms to express the views of truth embraced by Arminians and Unitari- 
 ans, then doctrinal controversy is ended, and the age of concord is begun. 
 
 At this auspicious moment, let us look at the articles of pacification — at this 
 Unitarian creed ; the most exphcit, if not the first, which has ever been pub- 
 lished in this country. 
 
 Article 1. Unitarians believe, " That men are free agents, in the possession of 
 such facullies, and placed in such circumstances, as to render it practicable for them 
 to do whatever God requires ; reasonable that he sliould require it, and fit that he 
 should inflict, literally, the entire penalty of disobedience ; — such ability is here 
 intended, as lays a perfect foundation for government I13' law, and for rewards and 
 punishments according to deeds." 
 
 Art. 2. Unitarians believe, " That the law of God requires love to God with all 
 the heart, and impartial love for men ; together with certain overt duties to God and 
 men, by which lliis love is to be expressed ; and that this law is supported by the 
 sanctions of eternal life and eternal death." 
 
 Art. 3. Unitarians believe, " That the ancestors of our race violated this law ; that, 
 in some way, as a consequence of their apostasy, all men, as soon as they become 
 capable of accountable action, do, of their oim accord, most freehj, and most icickedly, 
 withhold from God llie supreme love and from man the imparticd love which the law 
 requires, beside violating many of its practical precepts ; and that the obedience of 
 the heart which the law requires, has ceased entirely from the whole race of man." 
 
 Art. 4. Unitarians believe, " That, according to the principles of moral government, 
 obedience, either antecedent to transgression or subsequent, cannot avert the penalty 
 of law ; ai»d that pardon, upon condition of repentance merely, would destroy the 
 efficacy of moral government." 
 
 Art. 3. Unitarians believe, " That an atonement has been made for sin by Jesus 
 Christ, with reference to which, God can maintain the influence of his law and for- 
 give sin, upon condition of repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ : — that all men are invited sincerely, in this way to return to God, with an 
 assurance of pardon and eternal life if they compi}'." 
 
 Art. 6. Unitarians believe, "That a compliance with these conditions, is practi- 
 cable, in the regular exercise of the powers and faculties given to man as an accoun- 
 table creature ; and is prevented only by the exercise of a voluntary', criminal aver- 
 sion to God, so inflexibly obstinate, that by motives merely, men are never persuaded 
 to repent and believe." 
 
 Art. 7. Unitarians believe, " That God is able, by his Spirit, to make to the mind 
 of man such an exhibition of the truth, as shall unfailingly convince him of sin, ren- 
 der him willing to obey the Gospel, and actually and joyfully obedient." 
 
 Art. 8. Unitarians believe, " Thatthisspecial influence of the Holy Spirit is given 
 according to the supreme discretion, or good pleasure of God ; and yet, ordinarily, 
 is so inseparably associated with the use of means by the sinner, as to create ample 
 encouragement to attend upon them, and to render all hopes of conversion while 
 neglecting or rejecting the truth, or while living in open sin, eminently presump- 
 tuous." 
 
 Art. 9. Unitarians believe, " That believers are justified by the merits of Christ 
 through faith ; and are received into a covenant with God, which secures Uieir con- 
 tinuance in holiness forever; — while those who die in their sins, will continue to sin 
 wilfully, and to be punished justly for ever." 
 
 Art. 10. Unitarians believe, finally, " That God exercises a providential govern- 
 ment; which extends to all events in such a manner, as to lay a just fbimdation for 
 resignation to him in afflictions brought upon us by the wickedness of men, and for 
 gratitude in the reception of good in all the various modes of human instrumentality' ; 
 — that all events sliall illustrate his glory, and be made subservient to the good of his 
 kingdom ; — and that this government is administered in accordance with a purpose or 
 plan, known and approved of by him from tlie beginning." 
 
 This, then, is the creed, which the reviewer pronounces anti-calvinistic, 
 and as embodying, of course, and setting forth the faith of Unitarians. If I 
 co^d oidy be aissured, that tlie reviewer understood the epitome, when he 
 
325 
 
 wrote ; and iinderstood the doctrinal opinions of Unitarians ; and that he does, 
 ' ex animo,' believe what is stated in the creed contained in the sermon, I 
 should give myself up to unniingled joy. But I have known persons, and 
 ministers too, and even Orthodox ministers, who, having treasured up sounds 
 instead of ideas, could never recognise a doctrine as the same, if it was sta- 
 ted in any language, but that to which their ears had been accustomed. It 
 has been claimed also, if I mistake not, by Unitarians, that there are five or 
 six hundred Unitarian ministers in the church of Old England, who have de- 
 clared that they do, without equivocation or mental reservation, believe in 
 articles, which they do, ' ex animo,' disbelieve and despise. 
 
 The reviewer also has told us, that Unitarian views of the christian graces may 
 be difTerent from ours ; and I see not why our views of christian morality, 
 may not ditler from theirs as much ; — theirs authorizing them to say and do 
 things upon principles of expediency, which the Orthodox might regard a» 
 inconsistent with simplicity and godly sincerity. 
 
 It has even been thought and said by some, that Unitarians have felt them- 
 selves at liberty to display more dexterity than honesty, in disposing of a 
 troublesome argument ; never taking it by the horns, when it might, perad- 
 venture, be seen to push them ; and sometimes doing just nothing at all with 
 it, upon the principle that some arguments are more easily forgotten than an- 
 swered ; and sometimes even claiming the argument to which resistance might 
 have been hazardous. This last is the master stroke of policy. For what 
 but discomfiture can an antagonist expect, when, if he reasons inconclusively, 
 he is sure to be detected ; and if he reasons conclusively, he is sure to be 
 claimed as in unison with the enemy ? We are delivered, however, in the 
 present case, from the apprehension of insincerity, or of artifice, on the part 
 of the reviewer ; since he brings against me publicly a charge, implicating 
 my intellect or my honesty, in pretending that the creed which I have given 
 is substantially Calvinistic ; — a thing which neither his honor as a man, nor 
 his conscience as a christian, would allow him to do, if he did not ' ex animo' 
 believe that my creed is, as he declares it to be, decidedly anti-calvinistic, and 
 of course, decidedly Arminian and Unitarian. Have then the Unitarians 
 come over to the Calvinists ; or have the Calvinists gone over to them ? This 
 is the question. 
 
 It is certainly an unexpected task which devolves upon me, of proving that 
 my doctrinal opinions are Calvinistic. It is not my purpose to exhaust the 
 subject now ; but if after reading the evidence which I submit to his conside- 
 ration, the reviewer shall remain skeptical and call for more, it shall be at 
 his service. 
 
 As evidence then, that the doctrinal system contained in the epitome is 
 substantially Calvinistic, I submit the following : 
 
 1. It is the doctrinal system which I have exhibited in my public ministry 
 for more than twenty years, and which has secured to me without contradic- 
 tion until now, the reputation of being a Calvinist. Could this have hap- 
 pened, if my system of belief were decidedly anti-calvinistic ? Have Cal- 
 vinists and Arminians misunderstood my doctrinal opinions, until now ? 
 
 2. Since the publication of the sermon, I have been neither admonished 
 of heresy, nor denounced for it by any of my Calvinistic brethren ; and, 
 commonly, the Orthodox are not slow to denounce apostates, especially in 
 Connecticut, Unitarians themselves being judges. 
 
 3. I have received from Unitarians none of those tokens of complacency, 
 which they are wont to bestow upon apostates from Orthodoxy. Not one 
 of the thousand trumpets which blow the fame of favored Unitarians, has 
 swelled a note in my praise ; and no Unitarian press has groaned with a 
 second and third edition of this anti-calvinistic sermon, for gratuitous distri- 
 bution. 
 
 4. Even the reviewer is not softened by his own convictions of my anti- 
 calvinism into complacency and good feeling, but goes on throughout the re- 
 view, smiting, as if he were contending with a real antagonist. Could this 
 have happened if he had only found a convert from Calvinism, whose sole 
 
 42 
 
326 
 
 fault was, that he had not as yet found out that he had come over to the Uni- 
 tarian faith ? Indeed, I have attempted in vain to discover how an anti-cal- 
 vinistic creed, claiming to be the faith delivered to the saints, should be re- 
 garded as furnishing an occasion for proving that Calvinism is not the primi- 
 tive faith. Had I any where asserted, that Calvinism is the primitive faith ? 
 I had not named the term. Was the evangelical system, however, so de- 
 cidedly Calvinistic in its bearings, that it must fall of course to the ground, 
 if it could be proved that Calvinism is not the faith delivered to the saints ? 
 By no means. The doctrines laid down in the sermon, are an " innovation 
 upon the popular faith" of Calvinists. They are "decidedly anti-calvinistic." 
 They are the doctrinal articles of Arminians and Unitarians ; and yet in re- 
 viewing this decidedly anti-calvinistic Unitarian creed, a great effort is made, 
 to prove that Calvinism is not the faith dehvered to the saints. Would not 
 the reviewer have put forth his strength to as much purpose, if he had la- 
 bored to prove that Mahometanism was not the faith delivered to the saints ? 
 
 5. I have made inquiry far and wide, for the purpose of ascertaining whether 
 I had, in the opinion of the Orthodox of any class, as I have in the opinion 
 of the reviewer, " erred and strayed entirely " from the Calvinistic system. 
 But while some differ with me on subordinate points, or modes of explanation, 
 all without exception from whom I have heard, have admitted that the sermon 
 contains, substantially, a true account of the faith delivered to the saints ; 
 and a true accoimt of what have been denonunated the doctrines of the re- 
 formation and of the Orthodox faith as held in this country. 
 
 Dr. Green of Philadelphia, the editor of the Christian Advocate, says, in 
 a review of my sermon, that I belong to a class of ministers who are Cal- 
 vinists ; that the evangelical system will no doubt be considered as a Calvin- 
 istic statement; that I claim, and justly, all Calvinists of whatever descrip- 
 tion, as belonging to those who hold the evangelical system, though all of 
 them would not of course subscribe to every statement it contains ; — but no 
 man understands more fully than Dr. Green does, the doctrinal articles of the 
 Presbyterian confession of faith, and the prevailing views of the Presbyterian 
 cnurch. The class of Calvinists to which Dr. Green supposes I belong, are 
 probably, the Calvinists of Connecticut, and of New England generally. But 
 are not the Orthodox clergy of Connecticut and New England, Calvinists ? 
 Are not the Professors at Andover Calvinistic ? and yet no complaint from 
 that source has been made against the sermon as anti-calvinistic ; on the con- 
 trary, it has been recognised by the Professors as being what it claims to be, 
 substantially Calvinistic. 
 
 But I have in reserve an authority to which the reviewer will, I have no 
 doubt, do ample justice. It is his own opinion, and is as follows : 
 
 " VVe doubt not that Dr. B. is fully persuaded in his own mind, that the true import 
 of Scripture favors Ids system, but not more so than we are, that it favors ours." 
 
 Ah ! Dr. B's sj'stem and our system ; and Dr. B. supporting his system 
 by one interpretation of the Bible, and the reviewer by another, and a differ- 
 ent interpretation ? Dr. B.'s system is not the same then with that adopted 
 by the reviewer and his Unitarian brethren. They and Dr. B., according to 
 the reviewer, differ, and differ too on points where no difference is possible 
 hut that of opposition. The Unitarian system is confessedly anti-calvinistic ; 
 and Dr. B. differs from this system, and of course is Calvinistic : and yet a 
 little while ago, Dr. B.'s system was ' decidedly anti-calvinistic,' an ' innova- 
 tion upon the popular faith,' ' erring and straying entirely' from the Calvin- 
 istic system. It is hoped that the reviewer will be able to reconcile these 
 .seeming contrarieties of his own declarations ; or if he should be unable 
 to do this, that he will tell us which of the two declarations — that the evan- 
 gelical system is Calvinistic, or that it is anti-calvinistic, — contains his real 
 opinion: and that the public in the mean time will suspend their judgment, 
 until the reviewer shall have had an opportunity to shed Ught upon the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 I shall now proceed to submit to your consideration some fiu'ther evidence, 
 
327 
 
 a little more direct, that the doctrines laid down in the sermon are substan- 
 tially Calvinistic, and no innovation upon the popular faith. 
 
 And here it would seem desirable to have a definition of Calvinism. But 
 I find none in the i-eview, and I have not been able to find one in any Uni- 
 tarian writer ; and I cannot but think it a hardship that one of the parties in 
 a dispute shoiUd be required to make the definitions on both sides ; — giving to 
 the enemy a tangible object of assault from his moveable and undefined bat- 
 ter}'. Critics however, inform us, that the import of undefined terms may be 
 ascertained by their incidental use ; and blessed with no other li«ht, I have 
 endeavored to asceitain wliat the reviewer understands by Calvinism. I 
 perceive then, that the topics from which he infers my anti-calvinism, are the 
 doctrines of free agency, of original sin, total depravity, the atonement, and 
 the use of means. Now as what I have advanced on these subjects is de- 
 clared to be anti-calvinism, — Calvinism must be just the opposite of what I 
 have laid down. But what have I taught .' That man is a free agent, in the 
 possession of such powers as lays a foundation for moral government ; — that 
 original sin is not a physical property of the soul, but voluntary and accounta- 
 ble ; — that pardon cannot be granted upon repentance merelj', and that an 
 atonement has been made for sin, to reconcile pardon with law ; — that God 
 renews the heart by the instrumentality of truth, and that there is great en- 
 couragement for sinners to use the means of grace, and great presumption in 
 the neglect of them. What the reviewer quotes from the sermon on these 
 subjects, is enough, he says, to show that, according to Dr. Beecher, the faith 
 delivered to the saints is decidedly anti-calvinistic. 
 
 The anti-calvinism of the primitive church is proved by quotations from 
 the fathers, which show that, in their opinion, things do not come to pass 
 according to a necessity of fote ; that mankind are free agents and accountable 
 for their deeds, and are liable to rewards and punishments according to the 
 worth of the actions of every one ; that not a single one is formed wicked by 
 the Creator of all things ; that the atonement is made for all men, and not for 
 a part merely ; and that those to whom the Gospel is preached, perish through 
 their own fault, and not from the limitation of the atonement, or by any 
 physical inability or fatal necessity. These positions then, from my discourse 
 and from the fathers, being in the opinion of the reviewer, enough to prove 
 that both my opinions and theirs are decidedly anti-calvinistic — Calvinism, as 
 being the opposite of these, must be supposed to teach that things happen 
 according to fate ; that mankind are not free agents, in the possession of any 
 such ability as lays a perfect foundation for government by law ; and that 
 there are no moral qualities in actions, and that mankind are not to be 
 rewarded or punished according to their deeds ; that God creates in man a 
 sinful nature ; that pardon upon condition of repentance merely, is consistent 
 with moral government; that no atonement is necessary or has been made ; 
 that God renews the hearts of men without the instrumentality of truth, and 
 that sinners have no encouragement to use yhe means of grace ; that men do 
 not fail of salvation by their own fault, but by the limitation of the atonement, 
 or a physical inaljility to obey the Gospel. But are these the doctrinal opin- 
 ions of Calvinists ? Do they believe and teach the doctrine of fate, and deny 
 the doctrine of man's free agency, and of rewards and punishments in a future 
 state according to the deeds done in the body ; that God creates in man a 
 sinful nature ; that pardon is consistent with law upon condition of repentance 
 merely ; that God renews the heart without the instrumentality of the truth ; 
 that there is no encouragement for sinners to use the means of grace ; and 
 that men fail of salvation by a fatal necessity, and not by their own fault ? 
 These points are Calvinism, or the reviewer's arguments to prove me and the 
 fathers anti-calvinistic are nothing to the purpose. But does he believe that 
 Calvinists hold to such doctrines ? I hope the reviewer will not regard me as 
 treating him with indecorum, if I say, that " he knows" that the doctrines 
 last named are not Calvinism, " or bis ignorance upon the subject is such, as 
 to make it a sin for him to write upon it in so confident a manner." 
 
 We know that Calvinism is often represented as teaching that infants deserve 
 
328 
 
 damnation, and that hell is paved with their bones ; that all men are, by nature 
 and necessarily, as depraved and wicked as they can be ; that an atonement 
 has been made only for the sins of the elect — a veiy small part of mankind; 
 that the elect will be saved though they should conduct ever so wickedly ; 
 and that the non-elect cannot be saved, though they should conduct ever so 
 religiously; and that men to whom pardon is oflered, without special grace to 
 enable them to repent, are in the condition of captives in a dungeon, — in- 
 sulted with the offer of liberty, and threatened if they do not embrace it, 
 wlien their hands are bound, and their feet put in fetters. Who circulate 
 these fabrications, is no secret. A minister in Boston inquired lately of a 
 person, what he thought of that horrible doctrine of Calvinism, that hell 
 was paved with the bones of infants ; and a youth educated under Unitarian 
 auspices, who heard and approved an Orthodox account of original sin and 
 man's depravity, expressed his disappointment, and said that he had supposed 
 that the preacher agreed with the Professors at Andover, that infants were 
 sent to hell. 
 
 It is needless to say, that the views of Calvinism implied in the arguments 
 of the reviewer and in the statements just alluded to, are false. How long 
 the good people of Massachusetts will be doomed to be terrified by their 
 spiritual guides, .with these stories about Calvinism, as children are terrified 
 by superstitious nurses with stories of ghosts and hobgoblins, I cannot tell. 
 It will not avail the reviewer, to say that one or another of these odious posi- 
 tions has been adopted by persons who were Calvinists. Calvinism is not 
 found in the eccentricities of men who bear that name ; for then, there would 
 be as many Calvinisms as there are specific ditferences of opinion among Cal- 
 vinists. Calvinism is that system of doctrine, which in its great elementary 
 principles, is opposed to what is called the Arminian system. The two sys- 
 tems, as all systems built on revelation must do, include some truths in com- 
 mon ; but there are certain points on which they not only difier, but hold 
 opposite doctrines. It is those doctrines in which Calvinists and Arminians 
 ditier, which constitute the two opposing systems ; and it is those doctrines 
 in their elementary positions as held by all Calvinists which constitute Calvin- 
 ism, and not those circumstantial varieties in which they ditfer. Is Dr. 
 Priestley's doctrine Unitarianism ; and may we charge the Unitarians of Boston 
 publicly, with holding all that Priestley taught .■' Are the doctrines of Mr. Bel- 
 sham Unitarianism ; and may we innocently tell our people, in our publica- 
 tions and from the pulpit, that the Unitarians of Massachusetts hold to all the 
 doctrines which are found in the writings of Belsham ? Why then is the im- 
 pression made upon honest and fair-minded Unitarian people, that Calvinism 
 is, in many abominable particulars, what Unitarians of information know that 
 it is not, as held and taught by the great body of Calvinists throughout New 
 England, and throughout our country ? Are the teachers of Unitarian doctrine 
 afraid to have Calvinism, as it is believed and taught in the Orthodox congre- 
 gations, come before their people attended by its appropriate evidence .' Do 
 they fear that their people would say to their ministers, — if this is Calvinism, 
 you have misrepresented Calvinists, and abused us .' Do they fear that the 
 arguments which support Calvinism, divested of misrepresentation, would be 
 too mighty to be encountered .' Do they place their hopes of maintaining their 
 ascendancy, where it exists, in keeping their people ignorant of Calvinism as 
 it is believed by the Orthodox .' Do they rely more on misrepresentation, and 
 the popular odium which they excite against our doctrine, than on fair state- 
 ments and sound arguments ? 
 
 It will not avail the reviewer to say, that his views of Calvinism are fairly 
 implied in the principles of the system. For Calvinism is what Calvinists be- 
 lieve, anil not what they disbelieve. It is what they mean by what they say, 
 and not what they expressly reject and disavow. To represent opinions, 
 therefore, as being Calvinism, which Calvinists as a body disavow, is a gross 
 misrepresentation. 
 
 But let us attend a little more minutely to the reviewer's evidence of the 
 anti-calvinism of my creed. The first is found in my asserting the ability and 
 
329 
 
 free agency of man, such ns qualifies him for government by law, and renders 
 him a fit subject of reward or punishment. Did any Calvinist ever deny such 
 ability and free agencj' in man, as lays a proper foundation for moral govern- 
 ment? Was there ever a Calvinist tliat did not hold to the entire depravity 
 of man, to the justice of God in his condenwiation, and to his boundless grace 
 in providing a Saviour, and renovating the heart by his Holy Spirit ; and do 
 Calviiiists hold to all this, and yet dare deny such ability and free agency to 
 man, as lays a proper foundation for government by law, and for rewards and 
 punishments ? 
 
 The doctrine of man's free agency is contained in the fact that man is a free 
 agent, — a proper subject of moral government, and of reward and punishment 
 according to his deeds, in such a sense as creates obligation to obey the Gos- 
 pel, and renders the condemnation and punishment of unbelief just. But the 
 philosophj' of mind — the metapbysical account of the grounds of free agency, 
 is not Calmnisni ; for on this subject Calvinists differ ; — some placing his free 
 agency in his created powers which the fall has not obliterated ; others in the 
 adventitious aids of the Holy Spirit, and some perhaps, giving no philosophi- 
 cal account at all of the matter. But none of these theories in respect to the 
 ground of man's free agency, are Calvinism ; and those of course are not anti- 
 calvinists, that is, they do not oppose the fundamental principles of Calvinism 
 on the subject of free agency, who believe that man is endued by his Crea- 
 tor tcith such poivers, as qualify him to render that obedience to the Gospel 
 which he voluntarily and, wickedly withholds. Are not the great body of 
 the clergj- in New England Calvinists ? Have they not been so reputed and 
 so called by Unitarians ; and does not the reviewer know, that while they 
 hold with the reformers and puritans, that man is a free agent, they hold also 
 that his free agency is constituted by the possession of powers and faculties 
 which furnish ability, and create obligation to obey the Gospel ? The article 
 on the subject of free agency is not anti-calvinistic : it is the \aew of the 
 subject which has prevailed extensively in New England, and among those 
 who have been considered the most high-toned Calvinists, long before the re- 
 viewer or the writer of the sermon was born. 
 
 " On the suliject of original sin and native depravity, our autlior," (the re- 
 viewer says,) " is hardly less sound in his Orthodoxy. He does indeed say 
 that the ' supreme love' to God and the ' impartial love' to man which the 
 law requires, have ceased entirely from the earth " — from the whole race of 
 man. " By this, however, he cannot mean, that all rea/ ' obedience of the 
 heart,' ' of eveiy kind and degree, has ceased entirely from the whole race 
 of man,' because he must believe that some degree at least of this obedience 
 is still to be found in real christians. All therefore that he can intend, and 
 all that his language necessarilj- signifies is, that in our fallen state, our love 
 to God has ceased to be absolutely supreme, and our love to man strictly im- 
 partial ; that is, that our ol)edience is imperfect ; — not, we should think, a 
 very bold position, nor one likely to be contested by any man in his right 
 mind." 
 
 I have always understood the Bible to say, that where there is not supreme 
 love to God in the heart, there is none at all ; and that the love to man which 
 is not in its nature benevolent and impartial, is sinister and selfish. If I am 
 correct, then, in my understanding of the Bible, the declaration that the su- 
 preme love to God and the impartial love to man which the law requires, have 
 ceased entirely from the whole race of man, would seem to imi)ly something 
 more than that " our obedience is imperfect," especially, if the clause be ad- 
 ded which the reviewer has omitted, ' that the obedience of the heart which 
 the law requires, has ceased entirely from the whole race of man.' But I 
 " cannot mean that all real obedience of the heart of every kind and degree 
 has ceased from the whole race of man." Be it so : but have I not said it.' 
 for the question is not whether I believe what I have said, — but what I have 
 said. Does not my language then teach, that all obedience which the law of 
 God requires, has ceased entirely from the whole race of man ; — and why 
 may 1 not be supposed to mean as I have said .' Because I must believe that 
 
330 
 
 « real Christians' have in their hearts some degi'ee of obedience to the law of 
 God ; that is, I cannot believe that all men refuse to obey the law as soon as 
 they begin to act accountably, because I believe that some men are after- 
 wards made willing to obey it, in some degree, by the special influence of the 
 Holy Spirit. The reviewer mights as well insist that I cannot believe that all 
 men are born infants, because they become men afterwards ; or that infamts 
 are born without innate ideas, because I must admit that they have ideas 
 sometime after they are born. 
 
 The statement which I have given of the doctrine of the atonement, might, 
 the reviewer says, be adopted by all Unitarians of whom we have any know- 
 ledge. But does not the reviewer know that the turning point of the contro- 
 versy between Calvinists and Unitarians, is the nccessiti/ of an atonement, 
 arising from the nature of moral government, which renders it impossible, as 
 free agents are constituted, to forgive sin upon condition of repentance mere- 
 ly, and j'ct maintain the influence of law ? Does he not perceive that this 
 point is pronunently stated in the sermon ; and does he not know that this 
 principle is unequivocallj', and almost universally, denied by Unitarians at the 
 present day ? — Is he not acquainted with the recent productions of Dr. Ware ? 
 But Dr. Ware says expressly, that " the sufferings of Christ were the means 
 of delivering us from punishment, only as they are instrumental in deUvering 
 us from the dominion of sin ; only as they are the means of bringing us to re- 
 pentance ; only as they operate in bringing us to that state of holiness which 
 has the promise of forgiveness, and qualifies for it."* Is he not acquainted 
 with the opinions of Dr. Bancroft ? But Dr. Bancroft says, that the doctrine 
 of the atonement represents God as an inexorable being, and introduces a 
 principle in his administration, which would disgrace any government on 
 earth. t Is he unacquainted with the posthumous sermons of the Rev. Mr. 
 Buckndnster? But he says, " there is nothing in scripture which represents 
 that Christ has made it just for God to forgive sins now, upon condition of re- 
 pentance, when it would not have been before."! Has he no acquaintance 
 with the Christian Disciple, and its patrons .' But in that work we are taught, 
 that God's justice presents no obstacles in the way of his freely pardoning all 
 such as repent and reform, without his requiring any satisfaction for the sins 
 they may have previously connnftted.§ Is he unacquainted with the Unita 
 rian Misceilanj% and its Editor? But it is asserted»in that work, that God may 
 pardon the sins of his creatures upon any terms which he may think proper, 
 without exacting satisfaction to his justice. All these passages deny the ex- 
 istence of any such legal ilifficulty in the way of pardon, as is expressed in my 
 statement of the doctrine of the atonement; and claim that Jesus Christ has 
 done nothing to render pardon, upon condition of repentance, consistent with 
 efficacious legislation ; and assert that the entire influence of all which he has 
 done, is confined to instruction, and example, and motive, as these may 
 operate naturally upon the mind of man. Now if the reviewer was unac- 
 quainted with the sentiments of the above named writers, on the subject of 
 the atonement, why did he hazard the assertion that they might very well 
 adopt what I have said on this subject ? But if he was acquainted with the 
 above quoted opinions, how can he justify himself in saying, that men might 
 very well adopt sentiments which he knew them most expressly to disavow ? 
 It is no uncommon thing to meet with Unitarian writers who are imacquainted 
 with Calvinism ; but never before has it been my lot to meet with a Unitarian 
 writer who was alike ignorant on both sides of tiyi question, and who misre- 
 presented both Unitarians and Calvinists. 
 
 There is one subject more to which my attention is called by the reviewer 
 with a note of earnestness, which must not be disregarded. It is my repre- 
 senting the Liberal system as opposite to the Evangelical. ' Let him refer,' 
 he says, ' to the passages in which Professor Ware or Dr. Channing has as- 
 .serted or im])lied that men are not free agents ; or that an atonement has 
 NOT been made for .sin by Jesus Christ ;'|| or that a compliance with the con- 
 
 * Letter to Trin. p. 93. t Scr. p. 224. t Ser. p. 2iO. ^ Ch. Dis. 1823, p. 191 . 
 jt See die extracts just before quoted. 
 
331 
 
 ditions of <hc Gospel is not ' practicable in tlie reo;u!ar exercise of tlie powers 
 and faculties given to man as an accountable creature ;' or that God does not 
 exercise ' a providential fjovernment which extends to all events.' ' Let him do 
 this, or retract his charge as publicly as it has been made, or consent to lie 
 under the imputation of a shameless calumny.' 
 
 I am happy to be called to an account by the reviewer, if I have misrepre- 
 sented Unitarians ; and also to agree with him, that, if 1 have done it, and do 
 not retract the misrepresentation as publicly as I have made it, I do lie justly, 
 imder the im])utation of a shameless calumny. 15ut in speaking of the doc- 
 trines of the Evangelical and Liberal systems as opposite, I had reference to 
 those which constitute and characterize the two systems as opposite, and not 
 to those truths which must of course he held in common in all creeds tbunded 
 upon revelation. Have not the Calvinislic and Armiuian systems always 
 been called opposite systems, and yet, did any man ever intend by this, that 
 they held no truths in common .' And when I say, * the question is not how 
 much of this system may be misunderstood consistently with sanctification 
 by that which is still embraced ; but can it be rejected entirely by those who 
 possess the Bible, and those who do it be sanctified without it ; — my object 
 is, to waive the question concerning those who embrace, some more, and 
 some less, of the evangelical system ; and to press the inquiry, whether all 
 the articles which constitute the Evangelical and the Liberal systems onijo- 
 site systems, can be rejected, and those who do this, be saved by the truths 
 which they hold in conunon with Calvinjsts ? 
 
 And now. Sir, I cannot perceive any horns for me to hang upon, in the 
 dilemma which the reviewer has presented. There is no misrepresentation. 
 The Calvinistic and Unitarian systems are opposite systems, though they 
 agree in some points. Of course, there is no occasion for a pubUc retiaction, 
 and no ground for the imputation of ' shameless caliunny.' 
 
 NO. IL 
 
 Tu the Editor of the Christian Examiner. 
 Sir, — In a preceding letter, I have stated several things in the review 
 of my sermon, which I consider as a departure from the equitable rules of 
 argumentation. It has appeared to me, that no correct general view is given 
 of the entire argument ; and that, generally, no logical statement is given of 
 the particular arguments and facts relied on ; and that the arguments alluded 
 to, are evaded and misrepresented by a reply that assumes a position which 
 the argument does not include ; and that the review is calculated to have the 
 effect of appearing to answer an argument which it does not touch, and at 
 the same time of creating such a prejudice against the sermon, as will pre- 
 vent its being read. Whether these complaints are well founded, or only the 
 result of my own unreasonable partiality, it will be my object in this letter to 
 enable you and the public to judge. 
 
 Tlie arguments omitted entirely are the second and the fifth : they ai-e 
 short and obvious to popular apprehension, and profess to rest on the testimo- 
 ny of the Bible ; and, if fallacious, might have been easily answered. The 
 first, stated concisely, stands thus : According to the Bible, the righteous 
 love the truth, and the wicked hate it ; — according to the Bible, the irreligious, 
 and profane, and immoral, and ambitious, and voluptuous are the wicked, — and 
 it is notorious that this class of persons do, as a general fact, prefer the Liberal 
 system ; and are vehement in their opposition to the Evangelical system. We 
 hope the reviewer will take notice of this argument the next time. 
 
 The other argument omitted respects the identity of the faith of the .primi- 
 tive martj'rs, and of those who sulfered under the papacy. The first are de- 
 clared to have been slain for the w^ord of God, and the testimony of Jesus. 
 But with reference to those who suffered afterwards under papal persecutions, 
 it is said also, here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the 
 commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. The faith of the martyrs then. 
 
332 
 
 under pagan and papal Rome, was the same. But the faith of the martyrs 
 under the papacy, was evangelical : — it embodied the doctrines of the refor- 
 mation. Of course, these are the same with the faith of the primitive martyrs ; 
 and their faith is the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus. It is my re- 
 quest also, that this argument may receive the attention which it may seem 
 to require. 
 
 Under the general argument concerning the identity of the effects produced 
 by the Gospel, and by the evangelical system, one particular argument, of no 
 small consequence, is also passed over in silence. It is the fact, that both the 
 Gospel and the evangelical system are virulently opposed by such persons, 
 and in such circumstances, as show that the opposition does not proceed from 
 the love of truth and aversion to error. For the facts, I must refer to the 
 paragraph in the sermon, p. 230. The reviewer is requested to take this argu- 
 ment also, into serious consideration. 
 
 The evasions and misrepresentations of my argument are as follows: 
 Evasion 1. This has respect to my argument derived from the direct and 
 obvious import of the Bible. In logical form it stands thus : The Bible was 
 given for the use of the common people, — the great body of the human fomily. 
 To be understood l?y the common people, the true import must be that which 
 corresponds with the direct and obvious import of the terms, as they are under- 
 stood in popular use. But the doctrines of the evangelical system are in ac- 
 cordance with the most direct and obvious meaning of the sacred text ; 
 therefore they are the doctrines of (he Bible, — the real faith which was deliv- 
 ered to the saints. This argument the reviewer evades and misrepresents, 
 by answering it, as if my position had been that the doctrines of the evangeli- 
 cal system are in accordance with the literal import of the sacred text, — 
 substituting literal for obvious, as if they were synonymous terms. But I 
 have not said that the doctrines of the evangelical system are in accordance 
 with the literal import of the sacred text ; and I cannot but believe that the 
 reviewer knows that obvious import and literal import are not synonymous 
 terms. Why then does he wander away from the argument into a disserta- 
 tion upon figurative language, to disprove what I have not asserted .' Will the 
 reviewer undertake to sliow, that the import of figurative language is not, as 
 a general iiict, obvious to popular apprehension ? Why then is it used by 
 insi)ired writers, and why used at all by any writers, whose object it is to be 
 understood ? Is it the object of a revelation to conceal the truth, or to make 
 it manifest ? Is there no meaning in the poetry of the Bible obvious to popu- 
 lar apprehension? Are Homer, Virgil and Milton unintelligible, because, 
 under the influence of a powerful imagination, they speak in figures } Do not 
 the eastern nations understand their highly figurative writers ? Or the abori- 
 ginals of our land, their eloquent orators .'' Figurative language, instead of 
 being unintelligible, is peculiarly the language of the common people, and of 
 the early stages of society. Figures are the hieroglyphics of nature, known 
 and read of all men ; and if they are sometimes obscure, this is no more than 
 is true of literal language ; and if they are sometimes borrowed from scenery 
 or customs not familiar to our eyes, these allusions have been so often ex- 
 plained by commentators, which the common people read, and from the pulpit 
 also, that the greater part understand their import well. Multitudes who are 
 not learned in the original languages, have read histoiy and geography, and 
 have studied English grammar and rhetoric ; and there are few who do not 
 understand that there were fig-trees, and vines, and hills, and valleys, and 
 shepherds, and flocks in Palestine ; and that springs of water were scarce in 
 the deserts of Arabia ; and that green pastures, and still waters, and the 
 shadow of a great rock, were peculiarly refreshing in a weary land : or who 
 have not been told, and do not believe, that Egypt was watered by the Nile, 
 instead of shov.'ers of rain. Nor is it true, so far as my observation extends, 
 that the common people are misled as to the doctrines or duties of the Bible, 
 by the obscurity of figurative language. They do not suppose that the Sun is 
 God, because it is said the Lord God is a Sun ; or that God is material, and 
 clothed with human passions, because he'is spoken of as liaving a hand and a 
 
33S 
 
 mouth, and as the subject of ans;cr, and gnei, and repentance. If in some 
 instances they do not understand local allusions, and cannot give a learned 
 dissertation upon metaphors, and hyperboles, and oriental customs ; they do 
 nevertheless, in most instances, understand truly the gieneral import of the 
 figurative language of the Bible. Common sense, and common honesty, 
 united with diligence and prayer, seldom lead the common people astray in 
 respect to doctrine. So plain is the Bible, that but for the aid of learned 
 writers, they would seldom go astray. The very rules of exposition are only 
 the operations of common sense in the composition of language, observed and 
 noted by learned men. There were poets, before the rules of poetical com- 
 position were embodied ; and orators, before the rules of elocution were re- 
 duced to system ; and expositors of the Bible, before exposition became a 
 science, guided by general laws. 
 
 Again : His reply, p. 55, represents my position as being, that the obvious 
 sense of the proof texts is evangelical, taken separate from their connexion ; 
 and goes on to throw back upoi) me a powerful declamation about Quakers, 
 and Baptists, and Antinomians, and Catholics, and Universalists, as all claim- 
 ing and having the obvious sense of proof texts in their favor, ' if you 
 take them separate from their connexion.' But this is a direct misrepresenta- 
 tion, both of my language and meaning. I have not said nor implied, that the 
 doctrines of the evangelical system are in accordance with the direct and 
 obvious import of the sacred text, " taken separate from its connexion." It 
 is easy to reply to the argument of an opponent, if we may first alter his 
 propositions, and reply to propositions modified to suit our own convenience. 
 
 Again : The reviewer says, " When we speak of the obvious sense as 
 being probably the true sense of any passage, we mean the obvious sense as 
 it struck the mind of the writer, and not as it may happen to strike our 
 minds." I had always supposed that the obvious meaning of a writer is that 
 which is actually communicated to the mind of the reader by his language, 
 interpreted according to its import in common use ; while the real meaning 
 of a writer is that which was present to his mind and in his intention, when 
 he wrote. But how the real, can be called the obvious meaning of a writer, 
 when it is not communicated by the terms he employs as the signs of his 
 ideas, it is not easy to understand. And if erring men, as doubtless some have 
 done, may write one thing and mean another, it is not so easy to reconcile it 
 with the wisdom or the goodness of God, that men inspired to give a revela- 
 tion of Christian duties and doctrines, should have one meaning present to 
 their minds, and communicate to their readers an entirely different meaning. 
 If the real, and the obvious import of the Bible be not the same, the common 
 people, as I should think, have no Bible, and infidels have the best of the 
 argument, who claim that no revelation has been made. But perhaps the 
 reviewer will claim that he ought to be understood to mean, that the real and 
 the obvious meanings of the inspired writers, were the same to their cotem- 
 poraries ; but that what is to us now, the obvious import of their language, is 
 not the real import of the ap«stles, nor that which was understood by those 
 of their day. For he sa5^s, " Such have been the changes that have taken 
 place in the customs and manners of the world, in the modes of thinking and 
 speaking that have prevailed, in the controversies that have been carried on 
 in the church, and especially in the peculiar, and, as it were, technical mean- 
 ing of some of the leading terms used in those controversies ; that even in 
 those passages where the sacred writers intended to be understood in the 
 obvious import of the language used, what was the obvious import to them, 
 may appear a forced and most unnatural construction to its, from the neces- 
 sary changes which language has undergone. This holds true, especially, of 
 those who are under the necessity of reading the Bible in a translation ; and, 
 as in the case of our translation, in a language remarkably different from the 
 original, in many of its characteristics. That the sacred writers were, for the 
 most part, unlettered men, (a circumstance alluded to by Dr. Beecher,) only 
 serves to heighten this difficulty, as they must have been so much the more 
 likely to use language in its local and peculiar sense, rather than in its gene- 
 43 
 
334 
 
 ral, precise, and philosophical sense. Add to this, the effect which a man's 
 theological prejudices and prepossessions must have upon his mind, in judging 
 of the obvious import of many passages of scripture. If he has been trained 
 to associate, inseparably, a peculiar theological sense to certain words of fre- 
 quent recurrence in the sacred writings, (such for example as grace, election, 
 justification, &c.) it will follow of course, that many of the passages in 
 which these words are found, will suggest to him a meaning, and it will seem 
 to him their obvious meaning, though widely ditferent from their true mean- 
 ing, and indeed, from their obvious meaning to all unprejudiced readers." 
 
 1 must here protest against the reviewer's coming over to my side without 
 striking his colours, and with all the tokens of continued opposition, leading 
 the incautious reader to conclude that I must be wrong because the reviewer 
 reasons conclusively. I had said, that if the obvious import of revelation is 
 not the true import, the common people have no Bible. This conclusion the 
 reviewer calls indecent and irreverent, and yet with all his might, is assisting 
 me to establish the truth of the conclusion. For what other purpose has he 
 gathered around the sacred text the clouds and darkness of changes, and 
 manners, and modes of thinking, and controversies, and technical meanings, 
 and translations, and prejudices; or to what other conclusion do they tend, 
 but to prove that the common people have no Bible ? Tindal has quoted all 
 these diliiculties, and man)^ more, from Bishop Taylor, to prove that a true 
 exposition of the Bible is utterly a hopeless thing ; that the Bible is a hook 
 of no use, and that men can safely rely only on reason and the religion of 
 nature. The Papists have alleged the same difficulties to prove that the Bible 
 can be of no use to the common people, and ought to be taken from them as 
 a book which would lead them astray. And Socinians have borrowed from 
 Inlidels and Papists these hackncj'ed objections, which have been answered, 
 and still repealed beyond the "thousandth" time, to mitigate the criminality of 
 doctrinal error, and invest reason with a sort of dictatorship in deciding the 
 import of the sacred text. And the conclusion to which Bishop Taylor him- 
 self comes, is, that " these and a thousand more difficulties, have made it 
 impossible for a man in so great a variety of matter, not to be deceived." I 
 have stated hypotheticaliy, that if the obvious import of the Bible, according 
 to the meaning of the language in common use, is not the true import, the 
 common people have no Bible; and Tindal and the Pope, and Bishop Taylor 
 and the reviewer, all seem to say, that the meaning obvious to the common 
 people is not the meaning which was present to the minds of the inspired 
 writers, — a conclusion which the reviewer calls indecent and irreverent, and 
 in which I entirely agree with him. But does the reviewer really intend to 
 renounce translation as impossible, and turn us over to reason and the light of 
 nature ? And if he does not intend this, what does he intend ? I have long 
 been offended with the flip])ant style in which Unitarians have dealt out these 
 Infidel and Popish objections against the Bible, to dim the atmosphere of 
 common vision, and gather doubts about the sacred book ; — and a better 
 ser\'ice can scarcely be lendered to the causer of Christianity, than to shed 
 daylight upon the fog, and drive it away. What then, as the metaphysician 
 said of a poem, — what do all these difficulties prove? They prove that the 
 common people cannot translate the Bible from the original languages ; — but 
 do they prove that learned men cannot translate the Bible ? It is certainly a diffi- 
 cult work, putting in requisition intellect, learning, judgment, candor, applica- 
 tion, piety, and jirayer ; but is it, with these qualifications, impossible .' Have 
 such changes in maimers and customs happened since the Bible was written, 
 as have thrown a fatal eclipse on the human mind ? Have the Greek and 
 I^atin cla.sirs perished, and are all their beauties, — thoughts which they never 
 knew, supplied by the genius of modern men? But if profane authors may be 
 understood by the learned, why may not the Bible be understood ? Have all 
 the effects of time fallen exclusively upon the word of Hfe, while the follies and 
 impurities of heathen mythology have come down to us correctly translated ? 
 Tlie Bible can be understood by men acquainted with the language in which 
 it was written. No clianges have happened which have sealed up that holy 
 
335 
 
 book, or thrown darkness and doubt upon its illuminated pages. What then, 
 do these difficulties prove ? Do they prove that, when learned men have as- 
 certained the meaning of the Bible, tlu'y cannot clothe it in language obvious 
 to popular apprehension ? If they cannot, the connnon people have no Bible ; 
 and if they can, all i\iis talk about changes of customs and manners, &c. is 
 like the smoke which vanquished warriors create to conceal their retreat. 
 Why cannot the meaning of the Bible be made intelligible to the common 
 people, in other languages ? It may be made intelligible. It h;is been, and 
 there is one fact that proves it. It is the fact that all men understand or mis- 
 understand the proof texts concerning doctrine alike. There is none, ;imong 
 all the translations, exclusively Calvinistic, or Arminian, or Unitarian. In all 
 versions, as the reviewer says, all have their respective proof-texts : and all the 
 texts relied on by each, are the same in all versions. A Calvinistic proof-text 
 in one version, is a Calvinistic proof-text in every other version ; which shows 
 that whoever may be wrong, the Bible is correctly translated. What then do 
 these difficulties, so much vaunted by Unitarians, prove ? They prove tliat no 
 translation is absolutely perfect in every possible respect. But what if it be 
 so — that no translation is exact? Does it follow that evert/ translation is not 
 so far exact, as to comnuinicate, in a m;mner obvious to popular apprehension, 
 the entire mind of the Spirit on the subject of doctrine ? A writer may spell 
 badly, and write ungrammatically, and yet be understood. There may be 
 thirty thousand various readings, and not one of them obscure the flood of 
 light which is poured on every doctrine of the Bible. It may not be difficult 
 perhaps, to show, that, on some passages, clouds and darkness rest to this 
 day. But does the eclipse of one star hide the light of all the rest, and blot 
 out the sun ? What if some points of chronology are matters of doubtful dis- 
 putation — do these obscure the law of God, or the revealed account of human 
 depravity, or the doctrine of regeneration, or the nature and necessity of re- 
 pentance and faith ? Some of the prophecies arc obscure, as they were de- 
 signed to be, until the hand of time should lift the veil. But wbat has pro- 
 phetical obscurity to do with the doctrines of the Bible, whose object it is to 
 instruct, and which are of no use, except as they are made intelligible ? And 
 if the changes through which the Bible has passed, have thrown obscurity 
 and doubt on some passages which relate to doctrine, are all the proof-texts, 
 on all the doctrines, to be rejected as incompetent witnesses, and thrown into 
 a dungeon ? If some of tlie figures which are employed to teach doctrine, 
 are not intelligible from local allusions, is the light of all figures, therefore, put 
 under a bushel ? And what if the light of every metai)hor in the Bible were 
 put out — is the Bible all metaphor? Are not the doctrines still revealed so 
 plainly in literal language, as to render the belief of them a duty, and the dis- 
 belief of them a sin ? And as to prejudice, I hope the reviewer will not 
 advocate the maxim, that a man may avail himself of his own crime, or that 
 the Bible is not obvious to honest minds, because it presents a darkened page 
 to those that hate the light, neither come to the light, lest their deeds should 
 be reproved. It was for the blindness of prejudice, that the Jews were 
 bhnded more ; and for that darkness of the understanding which was caused 
 by the heart, that thej'^ were hardened more, and given over to believe a lie. 
 And as to controversies and different opinions, it remains to be proved that 
 these have resulted from any obscurity of the Bible concerning doctrine, and 
 have not resulted rather from pride, and passion, and seliishncss, and igno- 
 rance, and enmity against God. The Bible may be a plain book to any man 
 who will do the will of God ; while to the wicked, who will do wickedly, it 
 may remain a scaled book. I am aware that just opinions are made neither 
 better nor more true by authority, and yet the concurrence of human opinion 
 upon a given subject, increases the presumptive evidence of its truth. In 
 this view I quote with satisfaction the testimony of Locke. Speaking of the 
 Bible, he calls it a collection of writings designed by God for the instruction 
 of the illiterate bulk of mankind in the way of salvation ; and therefore gene- 
 rally, and in necessary points, to be understood in the plain, direct meaning 
 of the words and phrases, such as they may be supposed to have had in the 
 
336 
 
 mouths of (he speakers who used them. The Christian Examiner, for May 
 and June 182-1, in an article entitled " Notes on the Bible," says, " Had the 
 copies of the New Testament which have come down to us, in their transmis- 
 sion through successive centuries, and versions from one language to another, 
 suffered changes of such a nature as to render it unt'itrtain what were the 
 facts and events originally narrated, what were the principles of the christian 
 institution, what were the real character and actions of its founder, and what 
 the doctiine he promulgated, then indeed must we resign our confidence in 
 the sacred text ; for then it would he impossible to learn from it, with any 
 degree of certainty, what Christianity originally was."* Now if all this, too, 
 i,3 indecent and irreverent, and of course untrue ; and if such changes have 
 attended the transmission of the Bible to us, as that what seems to the com- 
 mon people the direct and obvious import of the text, is not the real import 
 which was present to the minds of the inspired writers ; then I heg leave to 
 ask the reviewer, what the common people are to do ? They cannot read the 
 Bible in the original languages, and they cannot find its import in the transla- 
 tion, according to the import of language in common use, the only language 
 which they can understand. How then are they to come to the know- 
 ledge of the truth ? Shall they abandon the maxim, that the Bible is the religion 
 of Protestants, and believe as his holiness and the church believe? This 
 would be to turn back the hour hand of time to the dark ages ; and pour con- 
 tempt upon the discoveries in mental philosophy and biblical learning, which 
 have blessed these latter days. Shall they study, then, evangelical commen- 
 tators .' These, alas, through ignorance and prejudice, do but "lead to bewil- 
 der, and dazzle to blind ;" and the Quakers, and the Baptists, and the Anti- 
 nomians, are all in the same condemnation, relying on proof-texts, which, ta- 
 ken from their connexion, seem to favor their views. V.'hat then shall the 
 common people do ? They must read Unitarian commentators ; — for after all 
 these appalling dilliculties from changes of customs, and theological prepos- 
 sessions, and technical phrases, there is a meaning on the sacred pages which 
 is direct and obvious, not only to the inspired writers, but to the minds of 
 unprejudiced readers even now,— a meaning which Unitarians, being happily 
 without prejudice, do see, while the rest of the world sit in darkness. All 
 those passages which teacli the humanity of Christ, have, somehow, come 
 down to us unobscured, through all the perils of time ; and " in a language 
 remarkably different from the original." Indeed, having cleared the breakers 
 of Orthodoxy and gotten into still water, the reviewer himself seems to regard 
 the Bible as a very plain book, whose real import is obtained by a strict ad- 
 herence to the direct and obvious meaning of the terms, as they would and 
 must be understood by plain unlettered men. If he were called upon to give 
 a comparative view of Unitarianism and Calvinism, there are no points on 
 which he would insist more, in showing the decided superiority of the former, 
 than on its strict adherence to the plain meaning of the plain parts of the 
 Scriptures ; and on the ease with which the whole system can be understood 
 and comprehended by men of all capacities. There are, he thinks, but a few 
 passages which occasion any diiiiculty ; and these, by the light of plainer 
 passages, by the tenor of the Gospel, the leading ol)jects of the dispensation, 
 and the researches of scholars, are "in most cases" explained "in a manner 
 perfectly satisfactory." Nay, so entirely have all the clouds been dissipated, 
 which lowered just now upon the inspired page, and with such etlulgence has 
 the sun broke oiU upon it, that the whole anti-calvinistic or Unitarian system, 
 can be understood and comprehended by men of all capacities. Indeed the 
 texts, which contradict all the leading doctrines of Calvinism, are so plain, 
 that the whole constitution and complexion of the Bible, can convey no 
 OTHER meaning to plain unlettered men, than is irreconcilably opposed to 
 the fundamental principles of Calvinism. Really, one might as well reason 
 with a pendulum as with such a writer, never iu one place, but first in one 
 
 * I have heard it suggested that this article was written by die reviewer himself; — 
 but of the fact 1 liave no evidence. 
 
337 
 
 extreme and then in the other. I hope however he will stick to his last 
 opinion, viz. that the direct and obvious meaning of the Bible, as it is under- 
 stood by plain unlettered men, is the true meaning ; and then he will only 
 have to account tor the facts by which I have endeavored to prove, that the 
 doctrines of the evangelical system are in accordance with the direct and 
 obvious import of the sacred text as it is understood by plain unlettered men, 
 and for his own admissions, that the predominant import which in all ages actu- 
 ally has been received from the sacred text, is not the Unitarian but the Evan- 
 gelical import. 
 
 The facts which I wish him to explain, are, the confession of learned infi- 
 dels, that the evangelical iythe true doctrinal import of the Bible, corrobo- 
 rated by the confession of learned Unitarians after they have stripped of in- 
 spired infallibility the opinions and reasonings of prophets and apostles. I 
 desire him also to account for the fact, that the Papists, who in doctrine have 
 been, as a body, anti-calvinistic, should have been so bitter in their opposition 
 to the circulation of the Bible, as teaching only to mislead the common peo- 
 ple, if the whole constitution and complexion of the moral parts of the Bible 
 can convey no other meaning to a plain unlettered man, than one irreconcila- 
 bly opposed to the fundamental principles of Calvinism ; and how the reform- 
 ers should have regarded the translation and spread of " this decidedly anti- 
 calvinistic volume," as the sword of the Spirit, in putting to flight the armies 
 of the aliens. But especially would I request the assistance of the reviewer, 
 to enable me to comprehend how a book, so decidedly Unitarian, that the 
 whole system can with ease be understood by men of all capacities, and no 
 other meaning can be understood by a plain unlettered man, than one irrecon- 
 cilably opposed to Calvinism — how such a book should have actually been 
 understood to teach the evangelical system of doctrine by a vast majority of 
 mankind who have read the Bible ; and should not have been understood to 
 teach the Unitarian system by persons enough at any time or in any nation, 
 to lay a foundation for comparing the practical tendency of the two systems : 
 for he says, " unfortunately, Unitarianisra has never yet prevailed in any 
 country, and therefore this comparison cannot be made." 
 
 NO. III. 
 
 To the Editor of the Christian Examiner. 
 
 Sir, — In confirmation of the charge, that the argument contained in my 
 discourse has been evaded and misrepresented by the reviewer, I beg leave to 
 call your attention once more to this subject. 
 
 The second evasion respects my argument from the identity of the effects 
 produced by the Gospel, and by the evangelical system. The argument 
 stands thus : In the moral world, moral causes operating in the same circum- 
 stances, will produce the same effects. The heart of man is the moral world, 
 and whether in a civilized or in an uncivilized state, is the same now, as it 
 was in a civilized or uncivilized state, eighteen hundred years ago. The 
 Gospel also, the greatest moral cause which ever operated in the world, is the 
 same now, as in the apostolic age. If then, there be a system of doctrines 
 at the present day, whose effects, universally, are the same with those pro- 
 duced by the faith delivered to the saints, that system is the faith delivered to 
 the saints. Identity of moral effect proves identity of moral cause. 
 
 To this argument the reviewer replies by an assertion, that the maxim, 
 that moral causes will produce the same effects in the same circumstances, is 
 a very questionable maxim : and next, by representing me as having said that 
 the heart of a civilized and an uncivilized man is in the same circumstances ; 
 which he proceeds to disprove by showing the great difference between Eu- 
 ropean, Owhj'hean, and Hottentot, and between bigoted Jews and high 
 minded Americans. And thus my entire superstructure of goodly arguments, 
 rising on this supposed identity, touched by the reviewer's wand of truth, 
 tumbles into ruin. But have I said that the heart of a civilized and an uri- 
 
338 
 
 civilized man are precisely in the same circumstances ? Nowhere. The sen- 
 tence is, " The Gospel is the same now, as in the apostolic age, and the heart 
 of man, civilized or uncivilized, is also the same." The same as what .' The 
 same as in the apostolic age. This is the only filling up of which this ellipti- 
 cal sentence, or the tenor of my argument admits. 1 was attempting to show 
 that the heart of man is in the same condition now, as in the apostolic age ; 
 and it would have been irrelevant and absurd, to say, that the heart of a civi- 
 lized and of an uncivilized man are in the same circumstances. My position 
 is, that in whatever condition of civilization or barbarism the Gospel found 
 the heart of man in the apostohc age, it finds it in the same diversity of con- 
 dition now, and must produce now, on the rnaSS of human mind, however 
 diversified by circumstances, the same effects which it produced ofi the same 
 diversified mass eighteen hundred years ago. The natural sun does not 
 produce the same effects, exactly, upon the mountain top and the valley; or 
 upon the forest and the cultivated field. But it produces the same effects 
 from age to age upon the mountain and upon the valley, and upon the forest 
 and the cultivated field ; and it produces the same general effect from age to 
 age upon a country including all these varieties. In like manner, the sun of 
 righteousness produces, now, all the specific difference occasioned by diversity 
 of condition eighteen hundred years ago ; and produces, universally, all the 
 great effects which resulted from his action upon the diversified mass of human 
 mind. This is my meaning; this is the import of my language — the bearing 
 of my arguments ; the whole of which the reviewer has answered only by 
 perverting it. 
 
 It is now time to remind the reviewer, that his position, that external 
 circumstances control and modify the effects of the Gospel, is proved only by 
 his own ASSERTION ; and is not true, to the extent which he supposes, and 
 which his argument requires. I have stated a great variety of effects which 
 the Gospel produced, and which the evangelical system produces, and which 
 the liberal system does not produce. He does not deny the facts, but ac- 
 counts for them upon the supposition, that the condition in which the Gospel 
 acts on the human heart now, is different from what it was in the apostolic 
 age. According to the reviewer, then, external circumstances are more pow- 
 erful than the Gospel itself. They have the effect of robbing the Gospel of 
 all its primitive energies, and of bestowing the spoil upon a system of false 
 doctrine. The Uberal system, which, according to the reviewer, is the Gospel, 
 is condemned, with a cold heart and paralytic arm, to stand by and witness its 
 own primitive victories achieved, and its own primitive blessings scattered, by 
 a heart of deception and a right hand of falsehood. It is not enough in order to 
 answer my argument, to assert that circumstances are changed. It must 
 be proved that they are changed so much, or can be so much changed, as to 
 strip the Gospel of its primitive moral tendencies ; and to clothe a system of 
 false doctrine with the remarkable power of producing all the great prominent 
 effects, which in the primitive age the Gospel produced. I must remind the 
 reviewer once more, that he has assumed the fact, that the Gospel may be 
 controled by circumstances as extensively as he supposes, not only without 
 evidence, but in opposition to matters of fact of undeniable notoriety. What 
 is there in the relative condition of civilized and uncivilized men, or in all that 
 wide varietv' of circumstance which characterizes high and low, rich and 
 poor, in civilized communities, which should cause error to produce the ef- 
 fects of truth ? Are not the great laws of human nature the same ; and are 
 not the hearts of all men affected in the same manner, substantially, by a 
 sense of obligation, and guilt, and danger, and merciful dehverance ? Are not 
 the rules of duty the same, the objects of affection the same, and the motives 
 the same, which the Gospel presents to all men of every condition ; and are 
 not the great outlines of christian character the same ; the holiness, the re- 
 pentance, the faith, and the hope and peace and joy, the meekness and humility 
 and brotherly love ? The Gospel is a cause that touches all the great springs 
 of moral action w"hich are common to man in every possib' i condition. It 
 operates on the common principles of our nature, independently of external 
 
339 
 
 circumstances, and produces every where the same glorious change. At 
 Rome, in tlie palace, and among barbarians, the christian character was the 
 same. And to this day, the facts are so, under evangelical preaching. Our 
 ecclesiastical societies include the rich and the poor, the learned and the ig- 
 norant ; but during a revival of religion, some of every condition become 
 christians. They attbrd credible evidence of a change of heart, a change in 
 their views and affections, and of such a change as took place under the Gos- 
 pel as preached by the apostles ; and though external circumstances may 
 modify the mode of expressing, and the strength of evangelical atfections, yet 
 the principles in which all hearts are alike, must cease, before the Gospel can 
 be stripped of its primitive effects by any possible combination of external 
 causes. 
 
 In confirmation of this reasoning from tlie nature of mind, we appeal to 
 facts. The Gospel did produce, upon every variety of character, and in eveiy 
 variety of condition, substantially, the same etlects ; and the same also, which 
 the evangelical system now produces, in the same variety of external condi- 
 tion. It produced the same conviction of sin and sense of danger, and 
 prompted the same inquiries, and gave the same answers, and produced the 
 same change in the affections of the heart, and conduct of life. On the day 
 of Pentecoit, while Peter preached, Parthians and Medes, Cretes and Arabi- 
 ans, Egyptians and Cyrenians, Romans, Jews, and proselytes, were pricked m 
 the heart, and said, ' Men and brethren, what shall we do ?' And three thou- 
 sand of this mixed multitude, in such difierent circumstances, received the 
 word gladly, and were baptized and added to the church, and continued stead- 
 fast in the apostles' doctrine. And wherever the Gospel was preached after 
 this, it brought some of every condition to bow the knee to Christ ; and 
 whenever evangelical missionaries preach the same truths among the heathen, 
 the same effects follow. 
 
 Evasion 3. This respects my argument derived from the sameness of the 
 objections brought against the doctrine of the Bible in former ages, and those 
 which are urged now against the evangelical system. I showed that the 
 same objections were urged against the decrees of God, original sin, entire 
 depravitjs moral inability, regeneration, justification by faith, and the sove- 
 reignty of God in having mercy on whom he will, as taught by prophets, and 
 by Christ and his apostles, as are ui-ged in modern days against these doc- 
 trines, as explained and taught by evangelical men. From which I infei-, that 
 evangelical men preach the Gospel as Christ and his apostles did. These ob- 
 jections, made alike to the doctrines of the Gospel, and the evangelical sys- 
 tem, the reviewer does not do me the favor to name or state. But he perverts 
 the argument, by saying, that it is " something new under the sun, to think 
 of proving a system by the number and weight of objections to which it is 
 liable." But did the reviewer really understand me to urge the number and 
 weight of objections which are brought aa;ainst the evangelical system, as evi- 
 dence of its truth? Could he not, and did he not perceive, that my argument 
 is, ' the evangelical system is the Gospel — not because so many objections are 
 urged against it — but, because, on all the leading doctrines, it produces the 
 samfe objections which the Gospel produces.' If he could not see this, he re- 
 quires our pity, instead of forgiveness ; and if he did see the bearings of my 
 argument, I leave it for him to find a name for the deed. He attempts, how- 
 ever, to set aside the argument in its true import, (something of an indication 
 that he understood it,) not by denying the premises, but by an assertion-, 
 that the objections made to the preaching of the apostles " arose from some 
 misapprehension of their meaning, or some prejudice of the age or people ; 
 but that now their language is understood, and these prejudices have passed 
 away ; to say that the Orthodox system continues liable to the same objections, 
 does not prove it to be the same system with that which the apostles taught, 
 but a diderent one." 
 
 I would here inquire of the reviewer, how it has come to pass that the lan- 
 guage of the apostles on doctrinal subjects, should be understood now, better 
 than it was by tlieir countrymen, to whom they sj)ake in their own tongue. 
 
340 
 
 and ' in the local and peculiar sense,' i. e. the most common and popular 
 sense. Has the language of the apostles become more and more intelligible 
 by age, amid all the changes of customs and manners, and modes of thinking 
 through which it has come down to us ? These were causes just now, which 
 shed disastrous twilight on the sacred page ; and rendered that only the obvi- 
 ous import of the apostles' language which was present to their minds, and 
 was communicated to the minds of their hearers, to whom they spake in their 
 own tongue, and in the local and popular sense. But now it seems, that Jews 
 and Greeks, learned and unlearned, misunderstood the apostles, and made 
 irrelevant objections ; but that modern critics impeded by no such local diffi- 
 culties, have with great ease discerned and set forth the true import. Un- 
 doubtedly the reviewer has a right to one side of this question, and I have no 
 objection that he should take his choice ; but by what authority, as exigencies 
 press, he takes possession alternately of both sides, I do not perceive, and 
 must remonstrate against the liberty which he seems disposed to take in this 
 respect. But did the Jews misunderstand the preaching of the apostles ? If 
 they did, they misunderstood the preaching of Christ ; for he and his ai)ostleg 
 preached the' same doctrine, if the\- did, a majority of the nation misunder- 
 stood ; and as " Unitarianism has never prevailed in any country," a majority 
 of mankiutl in all ages, who have read the Gospels and epistles, have misun- 
 derstood them. But is it credible, that Jesus Christ and his apostles, speaking 
 to their countr\'men in the local and popular use of terms, should be misun- 
 derstood by a majority of their hearers, and by a majority in every age who 
 have read the New Testament.' Did uninspired men ever attempt with such 
 ill success to make themselves understood, as must have attended the efforts 
 of Jesus Christ and his apostles, to teach mankind .' I have another question 
 to ask. If the Jews, and a majority of mankind have misunderstood the doc- 
 trine of Christ and his apostles, how is it to be accounted for, that in all ages 
 they should have misunderstood them so much alike, as to produce the same 
 objections .' The reviewer has decided that ' the Gospel, seen under different 
 lights and in different connexions, must encounter other prejudices, raise 
 other difficulties, and start other objections.' — Of course, if evangelical men 
 misunderstand the Gospel now, they misunderstand it differently from what 
 the Jews did, and must be supposed to create, by their preaching, different 
 objections. Instead of this, the Gospel, as misunderstood by the Jews and by 
 evangelical men, now produces extensively the same objections. But do the 
 same objections lie against different systems of theologj'? Do the Calvinistic 
 and the Arminian systems produce the same objections ? Would two attor- 
 neys, replying to an argument which each misunderstood in a different man- 
 ner, reply to it as if they understood it exactly alike .' Only admit that 
 the primitive objections to the Gospel, and modern objections to the evangeli- 
 cal system, are the same, and the conclusion is forced upon us, that the Gos- 
 pel and the evangelical system are the same. 
 
 But the Jews did not misunderstand Christ. He himself declares that they 
 understood him, and that this was the cause of their opposition to him. 
 ' Ye have seen and hated both me and my Father.' ' They hated me with- 
 out a cause.' ' I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if 
 another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.' ' If I had not 
 come and spoken to them, they had not had sin ; but now they have no cloak 
 for their sin.' He represents also the opposition of the Jews, as produced by 
 a criminal state of heart, common to man, and which would perpetuate, to 
 other ages, opposition to the Gospel. ' If the world hate you, ye know that 
 it hated me before it haled you. If ye were of the world, the world would 
 love its own ; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you 
 out of the world, therefore the woild hateth you.' We come then, to the 
 same conclusion as before. — The Gospel, as preached by Christ and his 
 apostles, produced a great varietj'- of objections. The evangelical system as 
 preached in these days, produces the same objections. Therefore the evan- 
 gelical system and the Gospel are the same. 
 
 Evat^ion 4. This respects the argument derived from the classes of men 
 
341 
 
 who embraced and rejected the Gospel, and who now embrace and reject the 
 evangelical system. In its logical form the argument stands thus : There 
 was something in the Gospel which made it, relatively, unacceptable to the 
 rich, and learned, and voluptuous part of tbe couununity, and, relatively, 
 more acceptable to the common people. But the doctrines of the Gospel, 
 and the circumstances of rich men and the common people, are substantially 
 the same as in the days of the apostles. That system of doctrine, therefore, 
 which is regarded by the higher classes of society, and by the common people 
 now, as the Gospel was regarded in the primitive age, is tbe Gospel. But 
 the evangelical system is treated by the learned and the unlearned, and the 
 rich and the poor, as the Gospel was treated in the apostolic age ; therefore, 
 the evangeUcal system is tbe Gospel. 
 
 This argument the reviewer evades and misrepresents, by saying, that it 
 admits the fact, that the Gospel will be " more likely to be embraced by men, 
 the more ignorant they are on other subjects, and therefore the more liable to 
 he deceived on this." But my argument contains no such admission. It 
 rests on facts solely, and not on any assumed or implied principle ; — on facts 
 notorious and undeniable : viz. that the same classes of men rejected, and 
 the same classes gladly received tbe Gospel, who do now reject or receive 
 gladly the evangelical system ; — implying, that tbe Gospel and tbe evangeli- 
 cal system are tbe same, from the identity of their eflects on the same classes 
 of men. But if the principle had been assumed, that the common people 
 are in a more favorable condition to judge of moral truth, than men of lit- 
 erary eminence, and of wealth and high station, it would not follow that 
 the more ignorant men are, the 7nore likely they are to see and embrace the 
 truth ; any more than it would follow, that because the medium between 
 poverty and riches is a happier condition than great wealth, therefore the 
 poorer a man is, the happier he is. But if we had asserted that the common 
 people were more likely to understand moral truth, than some men of great 
 wealth, and powerful intellect, and great learning, we should have said 
 nothing which could be sneered at, .without sneering at the Bible. " For 
 the preaching of the cross is to them that perisb, foolishness ; for it is writ- 
 ten, I will destroy the wisdom of tbe wise, and will bring to nothing the 
 undei-standing of the prudent. Where is the wise ? Where is the scribe .' 
 Where is the disputer of this world ? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom 
 of this world .' For after that in the wisdom of God, tbe world by wisdom 
 knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them 
 that believe." We have mournful evidence, in the history of the heathen 
 world, of the renowned exploits of intellect, while midnight rested on the 
 world, in respect to moral truth. Greece and Rome, with their immortality 
 of intellect, and genius, and taste, knew not God, and worshipped idols ; 
 and if a man must be converted, and become a little child, before he can 
 enter the kingdom of God, an adequate cause would seem to be disclosed 
 for the fact, that not many mighty, not many noble are called. Indeed, the 
 Gospel is so plain, that the poor and the simple may understand it. It is 
 not so plain as to be understood without a sincere and prayerful attention to 
 it, even by the learned. It is not capacity, so much as honest and prayerful 
 attention, which makes the Gospel plain ; and this attention, if it be bestow- 
 ed by the common people, and withheld by philosophers and men of emi- 
 nence, will make the one ignorant, and the other mighty in the Scriptiu'es, 
 And when the books are opened, which contain tbe record of human actions, 
 perhaps it will be seen, that the pious common peo|)le have devoted one 
 hundred times more honest, prayerful attention to the Bible, than multitudes, 
 whose talents and learning have gained them fame and self-confidence in the 
 present life. After all, the true understanding of the Bible depends much 
 upon the moral state of the heart; and great minds have great prejudices 
 and aversions, and, if they are not pious, are bindered from embracing the 
 truth by moral causes, which bear a fearful proportion to their great talents, 
 and extensive acquisitions. 
 
 But the reviewer denies that the aversion of rich men to the Gospel, in the 
 
 44 
 
342 
 
 primitive age, was produced by arty thing in the Gospel, to which this class of 
 men are peculiarly opposed ; and asserts, that it was caused by temptations 
 peculiar to their station in society at that time, and which have since passed 
 away. But the Scriptures have decided that there is something in wealth and 
 station, which renders the Gospel always relatively offensive to persons of this 
 description : of course the exception of the reviewer fails, and my argument 
 remains unanswered. 
 
 Agur prays, ' give me neither poverty nor riches, lest I be full and deny 
 thee, and say, who is the Lord ? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the 
 name of my God in vain ;' — contrasting and deprecating alike the temptations 
 of wealth, and of extreme poverty. ' Let not the rich man glory in his 
 riches.' ' The rich man's wealth is his strong city.' ' The rich man answer- 
 eth roughly.' 'Labor not to be rich.' ' The abundance of the rich will not 
 suffer him to sleep.' ' How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the 
 kingdom of God !' Wealth is called the 'mammon of unrighteousness,' so 
 great is its liability to perversion ; ' Wo unto you, ye rich men ; for ye 
 have received your consolation.' ' The cares of the world, and the deceitful- 
 ness of riches, sprang u]) and choked the word.' It was a certain rich man, 
 that projected to pull down and rebuild, the night that his soul was required 
 of him. It is the rich who ' fall into temptations, and snares, and into many 
 foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.' It 
 is the rich man that fadeth away, like grass in his ways. It was the rich who 
 oppressed and persecuted the primitive christians. It is the rich who are di- 
 rected to weep and howl for the misery that shall come upon them. It is 
 rich men who weep over Babylon, while heaven and the holy prophets and 
 apostles rejoice. And it is rich men, and mighty men, who cry to the rocks, 
 fall on us ; and to the mountains, cover us from the face of him that sitteth on 
 the throne ; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to 
 stand ! No such language as this is ever held in the Bible towards persons in 
 the common walks of life. These passages show that there is something in 
 wealth and its attendants, learning and station, which renders the self denial, 
 required in the Gospel, peculiarly difficult at all times to persons of this de- 
 scription. The language is not confined to the time of Christ. It begins far 
 back in the Old Testament, and comes down to a period long subsequent to 
 the primitive age. Nor is it difficult to perceive and account for these ten- 
 dencies of elevated condition to impede the reception of the Gospel. Ex- 
 alted stations increase self-estimation, and render proportionably offensive, 
 the charge of guilt and danger. Intellectual power augments self-confidence 
 and pride, and increases the reluctance of the heart to rely implicitly on the 
 testimony of God, and receive his kingdom as a little child. Wealth, and its 
 cares and pleasures, monopolize time, engross thought, captivate affection, 
 prevent attendance on the means of grace, or wholly prevent, or speedily ob- 
 literate, their impression. Men of wealth, and taste, and eminence, are un- 
 willing to be preached to, or spoken to, with that earnestness and directness of 
 application, which constitute the chief means of success in the conviction and 
 conversion of sinners. So that through their pride, and our fear of man, they 
 often do not enjoy the means of grace in the same degree, in which they are 
 enjoyed by the common people. Their condition and business in life bring 
 them also, more into contact with the world, and less into fellowship with the 
 people of God, than is true of any other class of society : — exposing them to 
 greater temptations, with fewer means of preservation. Wealth also, multi- 
 plies the facilities and the temptations to a voluptuous life ; while a bad life 
 increases at once the aversion to the Gospel, and the temptation to irreligion 
 and infidelity. Indeed, if there be on earth a class of men to whom the requisi- 
 tions of meekness and lowliness of mind, and of temperance and strict morality, 
 must be peculiai'ly offensive, it must be men of elevated minds in the higher 
 orders of society, and, especially, pleasure-loving vohipluaries. There are then, 
 in the very circumstance of wealth and elevated condition, moral causes of 
 peculiar power, and permanent, universal operation, to render the real Gospel 
 of our Lord peculiarly unpalatable. And there was not, as the reviewer as- 
 
343 
 
 sERTs, any thing which rendered it peculiarly a matter of interest, and policy, 
 and ambition, to men of character and wealth among them, to oppose the 
 Gospel, beside that peculiarity of character associated with their condition, 
 and which consisted in the peculiar aversion of their hearts to the humbling 
 requisitions of the Gospel. There was nothing in tlie Gospel dispensation 
 which was not a matter of prediction in the Old Testament, and attended by 
 evidence in the New, which nothing but the darkness of a heart obdurately 
 wicked could resist. And it was for yielding to such prejudices, that they 
 were abandoned of heaven, and given up to that blindness which has con- 
 tinued to this day. There was no odium in embracing the Gospel, and no 
 policy or ambition concerned in rejecting it, which the opposition to it ema- 
 nating from their ov\-n hearts, did not tirst create. The acceptance of the 
 Gospel by the higher orders of society, would not have endangered their 
 property, or lowered their relative standing in society. The new dispensa- 
 tion was as consistent with the possession of wealth and station, as the old ; 
 and if men of wealth and office in the Jewish church had embraced the Gos- 
 pel, they could have enjoyed, as good men, in church and in state, the same 
 relative elevation, v.hich they held in the Jewish church, in the character of 
 unprincipled and wicked men. They were not therefore afraid of the com- 
 mon people, and of the loss of popularity ; for the common people were dis- 
 posed to acknowledge the claims of Christ, and were prevented fiom doing it 
 by the influence of men in the higher orders of society. And as to persecu- 
 tion, who would have persecuted, if the rich, and mighty, and noble, among 
 the Jews, had embraced the Gospel ? But, had there been some circumstan- 
 ces peculiar to the primitive age, which gave a temporary increase of power 
 to the temptations of wealth, the cessation of what was peculiar would not 
 annihilate the influence of those temptations of wealth which were perma- 
 nent and universal. Still there would be, then and now, something in the 
 Gospel which would render it relatively acceptable to the common people, 
 and relatively unacceptable to persons in the higher orders of society. That 
 system of doctrines, therefore, which is regarded by men of wealth and emi- 
 nence, and by the common people also, as the Gospel was regarded by them, 
 is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Evasion 5. This respects my argument derived from the efficacy of the 
 Gospel, and of the evangelical system, to reclaim those who have long been 
 under the dominion of vicious habits. My statement is, 
 
 1. That the evangelical syst^, Uke the Gospel, reclaims those who have 
 been long under the dominion of vicious habits. 
 
 2. That it reclaims them suddenly, as the Gospel did. 
 
 3. That in many cases, the era of reformation is the abandonment of the 
 liberal system, and the adoption of the evangelical ; and under such circum- 
 stances, as clearly show that evangelical doctrines were the moral cause of the 
 reformation. 
 
 4. That instances of the reformation of vicious persons, are rare events un- 
 der Unitarian preaching, if they exist at all. 
 
 5. That sucii reformations never take place suddenly ; nor at the time of 
 abandoning Orthodox, and adopting Unitarian doctrines ; nor, evidently, as the 
 moral effect of the latter system. 
 
 6. I confirm the efficacy of evangelical preaching, and the inefficacy of 
 Unitarian preaching to reclaim the vicious, b}' the testimony of Dr. Chalmers. 
 
 To this the reviewer replies, 
 
 1. That I have assumed that all who are not Orthodox christians, are liberal 
 christians. 
 
 2. That when I speak of liberal christians renouncing their vicious and prof- 
 ligate habits upon embracing Orthodoxy, there is an absurdity in the proposi- 
 tion which refutes itself. 
 
 3. That some nominal christians go over to the Orthodox party and reform 
 their lives, he admits as probable : But, 
 
 4. He ASSERTS that the same is true of nominal christians who come over 
 
344 
 
 to the liberal system, and embrace it sincerely, as can be testified by a thou- 
 sand examples. 
 
 In reply, 1 have only to say, that I have nowhere assumed that all those 
 who are not Orthodox christians are liberal christians; and that I have no 
 where fallen into the absurdity of speaking of liberal christians renouncing 
 their vicious habits upon embracing Orlhodoxy- My argument has no refer- 
 ence to christians of any kind. It begins and ends with, " persons long un- 
 der the dominion of vicious habits." The reviewer therefore has shifted the 
 ground of my argument, so as to enable him to seem to reply to it, while he 
 passes it untouched. Had he used the terms of my argument, his reply 
 would have stood thus. " When Dr. B. speaks (p. 236.) of persons long un- 
 der the donunion of vicious habits, as renouncing their vicious and profligate 
 habits on embracing Orlhodoxy, there is an absurdity in the proposition which 
 refutes itself." Where ? Not in my proposition, but in one which the re- 
 viewer has himself imagined, and ascribed tome. Again, he ought to have 
 said, " That some persons long under the dominion of vicious habits, go over 
 to the Orthodox party, and reform their lives upon it, is probable. But the 
 same is also true of vicious and profligate persons who come over to the libe- 
 ral system and embrace it sincerely, as can be testitied by a thousand exam- 
 ples." This is what the reviewer was required to say, to meet my argument ; 
 and if it is what he meant to say, I would ask him why he qualifles the asserted 
 fict, of the reformation of profligates when they change from the Orthodox 
 to the liberal system, by saying, " if they embrace it sincerely." My argu- 
 ment stands on the unqualilied fact, that when profligates turn from liberal to 
 Orthodox opinions, they do reform ; but the reviewer replies, that the same is 
 true when profligates turn from Orthodox to liberal opinions, if they embrace 
 them sincerely ; — admitting, as I should think, tliat many vicious and profli- 
 gate men turn from Orthodox to liberal opinions, without reformation ; and 
 implying a consciousness that the fact is too notorious to be denied. I would 
 ask the reviewer again, whether he does upon his conscience believe that 
 profligates who abandon Orthodoxy and go over to the liberal system, are as 
 often reformed by the transition, as when profligates abandon the liberal sys- 
 tem and embrace the Orthodox. And once more, 1 would ask the reviewer 
 to produce one well authenticated instance of a profligate person reclaimed, 
 on abandoning Orthodox and embracing liberal opinions, in such circumstan- 
 ces as clearly to show that liis liberal opinions were the moral cause of his 
 reformation. One well authenticated fact, illustrating the reforming efficacy 
 of the liberal system, will furnish more evidence than one thousand asserted 
 reformations ; and it cannot be deemed a hardship by the reviewer, that he 
 be required to substantiate, by other testimony than assertion, one of a 
 thousand reformations produced by the liberal system, every one of which 
 " may be easily proved." 
 
 Evasion 6. This respects the argument concerning the efficacy of the Gos- 
 pel and the evangelical system to produce revivals of religion. I stated a 
 number of the effl'cts vvdiich the Gospel produced, such as sudden fear, and 
 conviction of sin followed by sudden joy, and practical reformation, and a 
 holy life ; and showed that evangelical preaching produces the same effects, 
 and that Unitarian preaching does not jjroduce these effects. 
 
 To have met this argument fairly, the reviewer should have denied either 
 the premises or the conclusion. Instead of this, he wanders away from the 
 argument, and talks about his suspicion that Unitarians may have carried their 
 opposition to revivals to an extreme ; but subjoins that it is not for want of 
 any power in Unitarian principles to produce revivals, that they so seldom 
 occur among Unitarians ; but because they differ from the Orthodox as to their 
 value and importance. But how does the reviewer ascertain this unapplied 
 power of Unitarian doctrines to produce revivals of religion .' The evidence 
 which he gives to his readers of the fict, is his own assertion, — a kind of 
 evidence for which he manifests an undue partiality, and I would humbly sub- 
 niit the question, whether it might not be well to establish (he efficacy of Uni- 
 tarian doctrines to produce revivals of religion, by at least one experiment. 
 
345 
 
 If it should happen to succeed, it could do no great harm, and it would re- 
 move more doubts, and produce more conviction on the subject, than twenty 
 assertions. I cannot, at the same time, but indulge a strong curiosity to wit- 
 ness the experiment, and see how Unitarians can contrive to make their doc- 
 trines produce the phenomena of revivals of religion : — how the doctrine, 
 that men are not depraved by nature can make the hearers /eeZ as if they 
 were ; and how the doctrine that men are not entirely depraved, can cause 
 them to feel that they are desperately wicked ; how the doctrine that they 
 can be saved without an atonement, can produce despair of salvation only 
 through the atonement ; how the doctrine that they can be saved by repen- 
 tance and good wishes, can inspire the hope of salvation only by the right- 
 eousness which is by faith ; how the doctrine that men do not need a radical 
 change of heart, can possess them of the idea, that they shall perish without 
 such a change ; how the doctrine that men can and do accomplish their own 
 moral renovation, gradually, without any special and supernatural aid of the 
 Holy Spirit, should extinguish all hope of attaining this change by their own 
 endeavors, and only by the sovereign and special interposition of the Holy 
 Spirit ; how the doctrine that men do not deserve much punishment, and are 
 in very little danger even of that, can fill them with sudden fears of everlast- 
 ing destruction, and with sudden joy at being delivered from the wrath to 
 come ; and finally, how men who have not much that is old to lose, or that is 
 new to gain, to fit them for heaven, can be made to feel that old things have 
 passed awa}', and all things have become new. 
 
 I cannot pass from this topic without calling your attention to the manner 
 in which the reviewer corroborates the argument he would overthrow. The 
 Gospel rendered primitive christians desirous of producing revivals of religion, 
 and the evangelical system produces the same desire. Thay agree as to their 
 " value and importance." While the liberal system renders some so opposed 
 to revivals, as to induce the use of " improper and indecorous language in 
 speaking of them." Now if Unitarians are, by their faith, brought under the 
 influence of the Gospel, how docs it come to pass, that they feel so differently 
 about the use and importance of revivals from what the primitive christians 
 felt ; and if the system of doctrine which the Orthodox are under, is not the 
 Gospel, how is it to be accounted for, that they should estimate the use and 
 importance of revivals, just as the primitive christians did ? 
 
 Evasion 7. This respects my position, that the evangelical system produ- 
 ces the same traits of christian character which the Gospel produced. To 
 this the reviewer replies, that we are not agreed as to what constitutes truly 
 christian character. Of this fact I have long been sensible. We employ the 
 same words to designate the christian graces, but seldom, if ever, intend the 
 same state of heart. This is the fearful difference between Unitarians and the 
 Orthodox. Our religion is as different from their religion, as our doctrines ; and 
 so different is it, that if ours is true religion, theirs is not. Unitarians do not 
 mean by holiness, repentance and faith, the same things that the Orthodox mean 
 by them ; and they do not mean any thing, that to our apprehension, amounts to 
 true religion. My argument supposes that we differ in this important manner, 
 and infers that our views are evangelical, because they produce the same kind 
 of christian experience which the Gospel produced. I specified the kind of 
 experience to which I alluded, — a piety of the same solemnity and ardor, 
 producing the same delight in public worship and associations for conference 
 and prayer, the same solicitude for the awakening and conversion of sinners, 
 the same moral courage in the avowal of their faith in the lace of obloquy. 
 And to show that Unitarian piety is not the same thing, I alluded to the char- 
 ges made against the religion of the Orthodox, as morose, and gloomy, and 
 enthusiastic ; to their lax attendance on public worship, and aversion to 
 meetings for conference and prayer ; to the ridicule east by Unitarians, on 
 what the Orthodox consider the work of the Spirit, in the conviction and 
 conversion of sinners ; and to the temporizing policy of that " very large pro- 
 portion of men throughout our country, who, for their talents, and learning, 
 and virtues, have the most influence in the community, and have it in their 
 
346 
 
 power to do tlie most towards giving a right direction to the puWic feeling 
 and the public sentiment, who are prevented from making a public avowal of 
 their opinions by an unwillingness to encounter obloquy, and loss of confi- 
 dence, and the power of being useful." All these facts, on which I relied to 
 prove the distinctive trait of Orthodox piety, as distinguished from Unitarian, 
 and in accordance with the piety of the primitive age, the reviewer has passed 
 over in utter silence. His philosophy seems to have no curiosity to pry into 
 the causes of these striking coincidences of Orthodox and primitive piety, 
 and the no less striking discrepances between primitive piety and Unitarian 
 piety. Nay, plain as the argument might seem to be, he misunderstands, and 
 evades, and misrepresents it. He replies, as if I had begged the question 
 that Orthodox views of christian experience are correct ; and that, as Unita- 
 rian doctrines do not produce the same sort of christian experience, they can 
 not be the Gospel ; whereas the point to be ascertained was, whose views of 
 doctrine are in accordance with the Gospel : and the agreement of Orthodox 
 piety, and the disagreement of Unitarian piety, in the particulars specified, 
 with the piety produced by the Gospel in the primitive age, is the evidence 
 which I relied upon to prove that the hearts of the Orthodox are under the in- 
 lluence of the same system of doctrines, which the hearts of primitive chris- 
 tians were under, — because they are the subjects of the same eft'ects. I did 
 not therefore beg the question, and the reviewer, as you must perceive, did 
 evade and misrepresent my argument. 
 
 Evasion, 8. This respects the identity of effects produced by the Gospel, 
 and by the evangelical system, in respect to missionary enterprise. To this 
 argument the reviewer rephes by an assertion, that " it is not from any 
 difference in their religious principles, that Unitarians have been less forward 
 and unanimous in this undertaking ; but because they differ from the Ortho- 
 dox as to the practicability and general expediency of any course of measures 
 which has yet been proposed." An acute philosopher the reviewer must cer- 
 tainly be allowed to be. Hitherto, men of the greatest eminence, such as 
 Bacon, Newton, and Locke, have been condemned to make experiments, and 
 collect facts, to ascertain the nature and tendency of things ; but to the mind 
 of the reviewer, the powers of the Unitarian system to produce missionary 
 enterprise are open and naked without experiment. This must be allowed to 
 be a royal road to science. But while he is so keen-sighted intuitively, how 
 is it to be accounted for, that such dimness of vision should have fallen upon 
 his natural powers ? He cannot perceive the point of an argument, and 
 seems to go astray from it with instinctive honesty. He does not appear to 
 understand that my argument turns on the fact, that the primitive christians 
 under Gospel preaching, and modern christians under Orthodox preaching, 
 feel and act alike on the subject of missions, and that Unitarians do not feel and 
 act as the primitive christians did, or as Orthodox christians feel and act. 
 Now this agreement in feehng and conduct between the primitive church and 
 the Orthodox church, and this difference in feeling and conduct between these 
 and Unitarians, the reviewer admits, and yet seems not to know that the in- 
 ference which I drew, and which philosophy warrants, is, that therefore the 
 primitive churches and the Orthodox are acting under the impulse of the 
 same moral causes ; consequently the evangelical system and the Gospel are 
 the same, and the Unitarian system is not the Gospel. Instead however of 
 troubling himself with facts, or inferences, he contents himself with giving us 
 the reasons why Unitarians differ from the primitive christians, and from the 
 Orthodox, on the subject of missions. It is because Unitarians cannot be 
 persuaded of the practicability and expediency of any course of measures. But 
 how does it ha])pen that the primitive christians could be persuaded, and that 
 Orthodox christians can be persuaded, of the practicability and expediency 
 of a course of measures, and that Unitarians cannot l)e persuaded ? How has 
 itliappened that the primitive and the Orthodox churches found a plan which 
 " reason and God approved," while Unitarians can find no such plan ? And 
 how has it come to pass, that this plan, which the primitive christians ap- 
 proved, and which carried them forth into all the earth to preach the Gospel 
 
347 
 
 to every creature — a plan which has bestowed upon the world all the bles- 
 sings of the Gospel which it has enjoyed, should be apjjroved by the Orthodox 
 following it up, and be disapproved, and distrusted, and neglected, by Unitari- 
 ans ? What plan do they want ? What plan do they expect ? A plan to con- 
 vert the world without Bibles, and without the preaching of the Gospel, and 
 without charitable aid at home, and self-denial, and effort, by missionaries 
 abroad ? The plan now in operation has been tried, has been approved of by 
 reason and God, has done all that has been done to enlighten and save a world 
 sitting in darkness. But this plan Unitarians do not like ; and they have 
 seated themselves in their easy chairs, and sent out the proclamation, that if 
 any body will bring them a plan which reason and God approve, and con- 
 vince them that it is practicable, then they will— will what? Embark in the 
 work of missions ? No ; " will have motives for engaging in it, as near to infi- 
 nite, as finite beings are capable of feeling or comprchynding." — What if the 
 apostles had sent out a proclamation to a world lying in wickedness, that if 
 any body would bring them a plan for evangelizing the world, which they 
 liked, and prove to them that it would succeed, before they tried it, they 
 should have motives almost infinite, to make an attempt, and would then take 
 the matter into serious consideration ? What had been the condition of the 
 world, had Unitarians, who do not approve of revivals of religion, and sudden 
 conversions, and missionary efforts, preached on the day of Pentecost, and 
 superintended the work of primitive missions, instead of the apostles ? And 
 who understand the Gospel correctly, and who feel its power ; — they who feel 
 and act on the subject of missions as the apostles and primitive christians felt 
 and acted ; or they who feel and act on the subject just the contrary from 
 what they did ? 
 
 NO. IV. 
 
 To ihe Editor of the Christian Examiner. 
 
 Evasion 9. This respects my argument from the confidence and stability 
 of the primitive christians and the Orthodox in their doctrinal belief, and the 
 fluctuation and uncertainty of Unitarians. 
 
 To this argument the reviewer replies, as if I had said only, that Unitarians, 
 educated in error, disencumber themselves of error, and embrace the truth 
 gradually, and with an air of triumph, asks " the gentlemen who are so fond 
 of this argument, how they could expect, from what they know of the hinnan 
 mind, that a man who had been educated in the belief of many errors, should 
 succeed in shaking these errors of!'— at once, or successively ?" And he asks 
 again " how it was with Luther and his partizans ; did they renounce the 
 errors of the Romish church at once, or successively? Nay, we woidd appeal 
 to Dr. Beecher's own experience. Let him remember that he holds the very 
 lowest form of that new divinity which the Calvinists of the south liave pub- 
 licly proclaimed to be at war with the philosophy of the human mind," &c. 
 I must remonstrate against the tax which the reviewer would impose on my 
 memory. I do remember that I have not given up a single article of my 
 doctrinal belief since the hope of pardon dawned in my heart, and my initia- 
 tory preparation to preach the Gospel was concluded. I do remember that 
 the reviewer has said, that the epitome which I have given of my doctrinal 
 belief is decidedly anti-calvinistic. But how I can remember at his bidding, 
 and on his authority, that it is also " the new divinity system, in its lowest 
 form," is more than 1 can comprehend. 
 
 The whole reply of the reviewer proceeds on a mistatement of my argu- 
 ment. My position is, that the primitive christians and the Orthodox are 
 alike in this respect, that they maintain, with singular confidence of their 
 truth, the doctrines which they etidirace, from the beginning to the end ; 
 but that Unitarians who have been educated in Orthodoxy, abandon what 
 they call one error, and adopt what afterwards they call another, and aban- 
 
348 
 
 don this, and adopt a third error, and abandon this and adopt a fourth, and 
 are ever learning their past errors ; and are confident of nothing but that in 
 all their opinions except the last, tliey have been wrong; while even these, 
 as it is meet they should after such reiterated admonition of their frailty, they 
 hold with such magnanimous uncertainty as renders confidence arrogant, 
 and justifies the charitable hope that those who differ from them are as 
 honest, as sincere, and as diligent and likely to be right, as themselves. 
 Their charity seems to proceed upon the supposition that they themselves do 
 not, and cannot, know the truth, while the charity and fellowship of the 
 primitive christians proceeded upon the supposition, that having the unction 
 from the Holy One, they can know, and do know, the truth. It was to 
 substantiate this charge of mutability, and changing from one error to another, 
 that I quoted Priestley, without supposing that matters of foct lost their power 
 of evidence by reiterated quotation, or that arguments oft repeated and un- 
 answered, should therefore wax old and pass away. 
 
 Let it not be said that we adopt our faith blindly, and make no progress in 
 our knowledge of the truth, because we hold fast the first principles of our 
 early profession. For elementary truths may be held in combination with 
 error, which time and study may sift out ; and the truths themselves are capable 
 of almost indefinite varieties of statement and explanation, without abandoning 
 the elementary positions themselves. These modified statements Unitarians 
 mistake for a change in our principles, when we only av^ail ourselves, as 
 Providence designed we should, of heresies and errors, to render our state- 
 ment of doctrines more exact, and our positions more impregnable to assault. 
 Our progress, therefore, consists not in tearing up old foundations, but in 
 rearing and beautifying the superstructure that rests upon them, — a progress 
 in which, the farther we proceed, the more we believe that our first principles 
 are those of the oracles of God ; and not a progress which convinces us that 
 we never have been right, and makes us uncertain how long we shall be- 
 lieve as we now do, or what will come next. 
 
 The reviewer possesses, unquestionably, the most singular mind with which 
 it has ever been my lot to come in contact. It would be invidious to charge 
 him with evading by design, the points of so many arguments ; and yet that 
 he should always happen to do it, and vi'ith as much dexterity as if he pos- 
 sessed intellectual eyesight, must be acknowledged to be singularly myste- 
 rious. 
 
 Evasion 10. This respects my argument concerning the decisions of 
 councils on the subject of heresy, in the early ages of the church. The 
 argument stands thus : Doctrinal opinions, with large bodies of men, and 
 widely extended, do not change suddenly ; and when they do change, the 
 fact is one of such notoriety, as is not forgotten in a few centuries. The 
 declaration of the universal clunch therefore, represented in council during 
 the three first centuries, that certain doctrines are heretical, is presumptive 
 evidence that they are in opposition to the antecedently received opinions 
 of the church. " From the nature then, and known eras, of the several 
 heresies," I infer, and state by way of inference, what must have been the 
 antecedently received doctrines of the church. The correctness of this in- 
 ference the reviewer has a right to disprove, if he can, by historical evi- 
 dence ; but he has no right to say, that what I have asserted as the conclusion 
 of an argument, is asserted as an independent historical fact. I shall not 
 demand justice of the reviewer with the alternative of retraction, or lying 
 under the imputation of a shameless calumny ; I shall trust rather to his 
 sense of honor, to his conscience, to the milk of human kindness in him, 
 without attempting to terrify him by threats, to do his duty. 
 
 I am doubtful, however, whether the reviewer will be able even now to 
 understand my argument, and I shall endeavor to make it still more intelligi- 
 ble. The Council of Nice, A. D. 325, was the first Council which was ever 
 held, in which the whole christian church on earth was represented. It was 
 convened by Constantine, the first Christian emperor, to decide what is the 
 doctrine of the Bible, and of the primitive church, concerning the divinity of 
 
349 
 
 eur Lord Jesus Christ. In this council, composed according to some ac- 
 counts of two thousand ecclesiastics, of whom three hundred and eighteen 
 were bishops, the doctrine of Arius was condemned as a heresy, and the doc- 
 trine of the divinity of Christ was declared to be the true faith, by a decision 
 almost unanimous. Now my argument stands thus : If the doctrine of Arius 
 was the faith delivered to the saints, it must have continued to be the re- 
 ceived opinion of the church, at least during the life-time of the apostles ; 
 which, including the life of John, takes in about the first century. From 
 the close of the first century to the council of Nice, is two hundred and 
 twenty-five years. If then the Arian is the true faith, it must have ceased from 
 the whole church on earth during two hundred and twenty-five years, and in 
 the same time the heresy of Christ's divinity must have come in and been re- 
 ceived universally, and without controversy. So that when the whole church 
 met by delegation, to investigate the matter, nearly every delegate, from 
 every country, came with the belief that the docti'ine of the divinity of Jesus 
 Christ had always been an article of the Orthodox or primitive faith. It is as 
 if, two hundred and twenty-five years after the settlement of New England, 
 it should be claimed that the churches of New England were Arminian from 
 the beginning; and a council should be called, composed of delegates from 
 the churches, to decide what was the primitive faith of the New England 
 churches, and should decide with great unanimity that it was Calvinistic. 
 Now, would the faith of the New England fathers, if it had been Arminian, 
 sink into total oblivion all over New England, without noise or controversy, 
 and the Calvinistic system without noise or controversy universally come in, 
 so that, in two hundred and twenty-five years, a council convened by public 
 authority, on purpose to determine what was the primitive faith of New Eng- 
 land, should with great unanimity decide that it was Calvinistic, and should 
 declare the Arminian system to be a heresy ? But if we suppose some in the 
 churches to have survived the apostle John fifty years, and some in the Ni- 
 cene council to have known the received opinion of the church for fifty years 
 before, we reduce the time in which the created nature of Christ, if taught 
 by the apostles, must have been forgotten, and his divinity have taken its 
 place without resistance or controversy, to one hundred and twenty-five 
 years. I have said, that the laws of 'the human mind forbid the supposition 
 of a universal change in so short a time ; and that we may as well suppose 
 that all the rivers in the Roman empire were reverted in their course during 
 one or two hundred years, and that all the naturalists in the Roman empire, 
 convened by authority to decide which was their primitive direction, should 
 with great unanimity decide against fact, that they had always run in their 
 present direction. The argument in respect to the doctrines of Pelagius, 
 rests on the same principle ; and is stronger, in proportion as the difficulty of 
 supposing an unresisted, universally forgotten change in six or eight funda- 
 mental points of doctrine, is greater than the supposition of such a change in 
 a single doctrine. This argument, which I hope the reviewer will now be 
 -able to imderstand, he attempts to set aside by direct historical testimony. It 
 is to be noted, however, that he relies on the testimony of eight men of dif- 
 ferent centuries, and different countries, and which, if it were relevant and 
 unimpeached, would be only the testimony of eight men in opposition to the 
 testimony of two thousand in the case of Arius, and of three hundred and 
 fifty in the case of Pelagius. It is amusing, however, to observe the confi- 
 dence with which the reviewer relies on testimony which he has himself first 
 totally invalidated. He says, p. 16, "All who are acquainted with this sub- 
 ject, (the testimony of the primitive chui'ch,) know it to be embarrassed by 
 difficulties which make it unwise to place much dependance on arguments 
 derived from thence," and, " We doubt whether any disputed point was ever 
 satisfactorily settled by an appeal to antiquity." And yet, relying on this veiy 
 testimony, he says, " We do maintain and mean t.T prove that the primitive 
 church was decidedly anti-calvinistic ;" that is, he means to settle a point by 
 evidence, which never yet did settle any point, and which by all who under- 
 stand it, is regarded as unworthy of much confidence. Again : " Many Uni- 
 
 45 
 
350 
 
 tarians, either from not possessing; sufficient information, or feeling sufficient 
 interest on the subject, seem half inclined tacitly to admit the claim of the 
 Orthodox, that the unanimous voice of the primitive church is in their favor ;" 
 that is, other Unitarians beside himself, have thought that there is no evidence 
 to iirove the anti-calvinisra of the primitive church, upon which any who 
 understand it, will place much reliance. 
 
 Once more ; " We are far from pretending that no passages can he produ- 
 ced from the early fathers irreconcilable with our principles, for we are far 
 from believing that these men can always be reconciled with the Scriptures, 
 or with one another, or even with themselves." That is, these witnesses, 
 whose testimony is to prove the decided anti-calvinism of the primitive 
 church, have testified, it seems, on the Calvinistic side also — have said things 
 irreconcilable with Unitarian principles. Now where the evidence against 
 us lies, from witnesses who testify on both sides, we do not exactly see, un- 
 less it be that on this account a strong presumption arises that they must 
 have been Unitarians. " They cannot alv/ays be reconciled with the Scrip- 
 tures." But the Scriptures I hope will be allowed to contain the faith de- 
 livered to the saints, though some of the primitive fathers should have taught 
 for doctrines the commandments of men. But, " they cannot be recon- 
 ciled with one another." Now, in oldsn time it was thought to be neces- 
 sary that witnesses should agree in their testimony. But these witnesses of 
 the reviewer, if we are to believe him, come into court, contradicting the 
 Bible and one another, and yet prove the decided anti-calvinism of the primi- 
 tive church. Finally they contradict themselves. That is, as the Calvinistic 
 and anti-calvinistic systems are opposites, and there is no medium, they 
 taught Calvinism sometimes, and sometimes anti-calvinism. But no matter; 
 their Calvinistic testimony is just good for nothing, and their anti-calvinistic 
 testimony proves, decidedly, the anti-calvinism of the entire primitive church. 
 If the reviewer does in reality believe that the testimony of the eaily fathers 
 proves the decided anti-calvinism of the primitive church, he is a man of the 
 strangest humour that I have ever known : for he has treated the fatliers 
 exactly as he has treated mo, — claimed them as anti-calvinists, and abused 
 them as if he had believed them to be Calvinists, — claimed them as his own 
 witnesses, and treated them just as ifh^ feared their testimony, and had made 
 his calculation chiefly on breaking its force. I hope it will be perceived that 
 these fathers are not my witnesses, and that destroying their credibility does 
 not aflect at all the credibility of those on whose testimony I rely. My argu- 
 ment stands on the ground, that the implied testimony of two thousand men, 
 to a matter of fact, of which they could not be ignorant, and to which they 
 could not testify falsely without violating all the known laws of the human 
 mind, and destroying totally the credibility of human testimony, is to be regard- 
 ed as decisive evidence, that the primitive church was not anti-calvinistic ; 
 and was, at least in the sense which I have explained, evangelical. 
 
 1 shall not myself enter the field of direct historical evidence ; not because 
 I fear the result, but because it does not suit the nature of my argument. All 
 which it is incumbent on me to do is, to examine the evidence employed to set 
 aside my argimient, on which the reviewer places so much, and so little reli- 
 ance, in order to ascertain if possible, in which of his opinions on the sub- 
 ject it becomes him and the public to rest. 
 
 To prove the decided anti-calvinism of the whole primitive chmxh by quo- 
 tations from the early fathers, the following things are necessary. 
 
 1st. Their testimony must contradict, at least, some one doctrine which 
 belongs to the system as understood by all Calvinists. 
 
 2d. It must contradict such, and so many doctrines of Calvinism, as amounts 
 to its subversion. A man may deny some one or two doctrines which belong 
 to the system, and yet, receiving all the rest, maybe substantially, a Calvinist. 
 
 3d. The testimony of the fathers nnist contradict, not merely such state- 
 ments of Calvinistic doctrines as are made by some Calvinists, but they must 
 contradict the generic principles of the system, in which all the diversities ot 
 Calvinists, as opposed to Unitarians, or Arminians, are agreed. 
 
351 
 
 4th. There must be so many who testify against all the leading doctrines of 
 Calvinism, and placed in such circumstances, as to time, and relation to each 
 other and to the whole church, as creates moral evidence that their opinions 
 were the opinions oi" the primitive church. Nothing is more common than 
 for individuals to fall into some peculiarities of their own. Now the testimony 
 of the fathers must be so circumstanced as clearly to show, that it is the re- 
 ceived opinion of the whole church, and not merely individual opinion. 
 
 5th. The language of (he witnesses must be such as cannot be reconciled 
 with the elementary principles of the Calvinistic system, just as naturally and 
 easily, as with the anti-calvinistic. 
 
 6th. To prove by the fathers the anti-calvinism of the whole primitive 
 church, the langaiage of the fathers nnist be interpreted with reference to the 
 existing controversies. It is not enough that they used terms which were 
 adopted in after ages, by Pelagius and Arminius, to sanction ideas which the 
 fathers never held. Does not the reviewer know that the early fathers asserted 
 the doctrine of free will, only in opposition to the doctrine of fate, as taught 
 by the Stoics — of material depravity as taught by the Gnostics — and of mental 
 depravity, as consisting in good and evil compounded in the essence of the 
 soul at its formation, as taught by the Manicheans ? When Justin Martyr 
 therefore, insists that " man has power by free will ;" and Irena;us ^" that God 
 has preserved to man a will, free and in his own power, not only in works but 
 also in faith ;" and Tatian " that angels and men are endowed with power 
 over themselves ;" and Origen " that not a single one is formed wicked by the 
 Creator of all things ;" and Eusebius " that the origin and foundation of wick- 
 edness is in man, not from any extraneous necessity, but from free will and 
 judgment; that eveiy thing is good which is according to nature," (because,) 
 " what is wrong takes place, not according to nature, but contraiy to nature, 
 it being the work of choice, not of nature ;" and Hihuy, " that our will ought 
 to have the property that it exert itself;" and Theodoie of Mopsuestia, who 
 denied that men sin by nature, not by choice ;" they are all to be undei-stood 
 as declaring the free agency and accountability of man, in opposition to 
 the doctrine of fate as taught by the Stoics, and to the doctrine of a material 
 depravity as taught by the Gnostics, and of a mental depravity considered 
 as a part of the created nature of the soul, as taught by the Manicheans. 
 They meant by free will, a will free in opposition to coercion, and a will 
 free in its exercises, in opposition to sin consisting in a material nature, or 
 in a created mind, tohich is involuntary and sinful in its essence, by an 
 tmavoidable necessity. 
 
 Is the reviewer unacquainted Vi'ith the fact, that the doctrine of free will, 
 which was taught by Pelagius, agrees in sound only with the doctrine of free 
 will as it was taught by the fathers. Pelagius asserted, not merely the natu- 
 ral freedom of the will, in opposition to fate, and a material or created de- 
 pravity, which is all that the fathers deny, but he taught a moral freedom of 
 the will synonymous with impartiality or unbiassed integrity. Pelagius denied 
 that, in consequence of the fall, it came to pass that all men sin voluntarily, 
 as soon as they act accountably ; and asserted, that the will is free from 
 any bias to depraved volition in consequence of the sin of Adam ; and that 
 men, without the inlluence of special grace, ma}% and do, prepare themselves 
 for heaven. In opposition to this unbiassed state of will, Augustine, and Cal- 
 vin, and all the reformers, taught the bondage, or moral impolence of the will. 
 They denied, with the fathers, the doctrine of fate, and of communicated ma- 
 terial, or concreated mental depravity. But they asserted what the fathers 
 never denied, because in their day it was not made a subject of controversy, 
 that though man is a free agent, in possession of all the faculties re(}uisite to 
 accountability, he is nevertheless in consequence of the fall, a free agent 
 always biased to evil, and never to good, but by the special agency ofGod. 
 Augustine, Calvin, and the reformers, do not deny the free will wtiich the 
 fathers contended for ; and tlie fathers do not'dcny the bondage and iiripoten- 
 cy of the will in the sense in which Augustine and the reformers coiitended 
 for it. On the contrary, when Pelagius, under cover of the language of the 
 
352 
 
 fathers, brought up the doctrine of free will, meaning by it to deny the ori- 
 ginal and entire depravity of man, and the consequent necessity of regenera- 
 tion by the special influence of the Spirit, the whole church on earth flowed 
 together, to testify that not such doctrine had ever been held by the church. 
 If therefore, the language of the fathers was apparently in opposition to the 
 technical language of modern Calvinism, it is language which was used loosely 
 and in reference to other controversies, and long before the points at Issue 
 between Pelagius and Augustine had been started, and is not to set aside tlie 
 language of delil)erate precision, adopted by the whole church, the first 
 time that heretical opinions created a necessity for careful and definite lan- 
 guage. 
 
 My position then is, that the fathers never did assert /ree will in the sense 
 in which Pelagius asserted it; and that Augustine, and the Reformers, and 
 Calvinists, never have denied free will, in the sense in which the fathers con- 
 tended for it. 
 
 It is in vain to declaim about councils as they existed afterwards, when 
 doctrines were settled by a casting vote, and tiie faith of a nation changed in 
 a day, with the faith of the court. Such was not the state of things in the 
 council of Nice, and if there were feuds and puerile contentions among the 
 ecclesiastics, this fact only corroborates the evidence of their united suffrage 
 concerning the divinity of Christ, as a matter of such universal notoriety, 
 that no minor difference could affect their decision on that point ; and as to 
 the condemnation of Pelagius, it was produced, the reviewer says, by the 
 talents, intrigues, and emissaries of one man, Augustine. He, " when the 
 east had declared for Pelagius, when Rome was temporizing, when the voice 
 of all antiquity was decidedly against him in many of his dogmas, and unani- 
 mously in some of them," was able to overcome all opposition, to " impose on 
 the christian world a system of doctrines that have retained to a considerable 
 degree, though under diflbrent modifications, their ascendency to this day." 
 A statement so certainly erroneous in some respects, and so utterly impro- 
 bable in all, requires some proof in addition to tlie anonymous assertion of 
 the reviewer. 
 
 Equally in vain is it, to attempt to break the force of this argument by 
 loose declamation concerning the fathers. It may b.e admitted that they did 
 not teach the Calvinistic system with the technical accuracy of Augustine or 
 Calvin, or of writers of the present day. All sciences are stated imperfectly 
 in the beginning, and progress in amplitude and accuracy, as time and study, 
 and especially as controversy, induce precision. The early fathers were ed- 
 ucated in a false philosophy, which doubtless modified, in some degree their 
 statements of christian duties and doctrine, and modified them for the worse, 
 to be corrected by_ after generations, who should expound the Gospel, free 
 from the local temptations of the fathers. They were not all of them men of 
 talents, and were all of them comparative novices in theology, and the art of cor- 
 rect exposition. That in these circumstances, they should have taught Chris- 
 tianity with great clearness and accuracy, or imiversal consistency, is not to 
 be expected. The darkness of the world before the Sun of Righteousness 
 arose, is affectingly illustrated by Cicero in his treatise " De Natura Deorum," 
 in which he himself and all the philosophers, have the appearance of children, 
 attempting in vain to ascertain what there is above the skies. Before the 
 true light shined, men could not see by reason of the gross darkness ; and 
 after it came, could not see for a time, by reason of its excessive brightness. 
 But though men in the circumstances of the fathers may talk loosely, it is not 
 difficult to ascertain their real meaning, provided we understand their educa- 
 tion, their philosophy, and the controversies in which they were engaged. All 
 these circumstances, instead of shedding darkness, as the reviewer supposes, 
 are so many lamps shedding light on their page, — so many sentinels clad in 
 ancient armour, standing on the same spot through ages, to guard their real- 
 meaning from perversion, and to direct the translator to the true import. 
 
 All which 1 have claimed, or wiiich my argument requires, is that the prim- 
 itive church Wiis not anti-calvinistic, but did embrace substantially, theele- 
 
353 
 
 meutary principles of that Calvinism, wliich I have defined and described as 
 the faith delivered to the saints ; such as the natural ability, free agency, and 
 accountability of man ; — his entire voluntary depravity, in some way as a con- 
 sequence of the sin of Adam ; — the necessity of regeneration by the instru- 
 mentality of trutli, and by the special influences of the Holy Spirit ; — the 
 docti-ines of the atonement, of justification by faith, and of rewards and pun- 
 ishments according to our deeds. However loosely the fathers may have 
 spoken, or even inconsistently, on these doctrines, when at length they were 
 denied by Pelagius, a universal sensation was produced, and the whole church, 
 in circumstances which for the first time demanded precision, did most pre- 
 cisely and unequivocally condemn the doctrines of Arius and Pelagius, and 
 establish those which I have denominated evangelical. Dr. Beecher is not 
 required, therefore, to accept the challenge of " producing a single respectable 
 authority to bear him out in his assertions, if he means by the doctrines he 
 has named, those doctrines as they are held by Calvinists." — Dr. Beecher 
 has not asserted that the Calvinistic system was taught technically by the 
 early fathers, as it has been taught since controversy has reduced it to pre- 
 cision and form. Nor has he claimed that the doctrines which he has nam- 
 ed were held by the primitive church in any sense, but that which he has 
 himself defined and explained. That in this sense they were held by the 
 primitive church, the reviewer concedes, by calling them and the doctrines 
 of the primitive church, decidedly anti-cahinistic. And no one can read at- 
 tentively the testimony of the reviewer's own \vitnesses, and not perceive 
 a striiiing coincidence on most points between their doctrine and mine. 
 
 Tlie testimony of Calvin, that they taught theology with ambiguities and 
 variations, is no more than I have conceded, and is surely no evidence of de- 
 .cided anti-calvinism ; and the declaration of Jansenius that " Augustine was 
 thfB first who taught christians the meaning of the New Testament," only 
 confirms what I have stated, — that they did not speak in a clear, methodical, 
 and consistent manner. 
 
 The learned Simon also, confirms the views which I have given of the 
 fathers. All antiquity, he says, which had opposed itself strongly to th« 
 Gnostics and Manicheans, who destroyed the liberty of man, seemed to speak 
 in favor of Pelagius and his followers. If they had not run into the oppo- 
 site extreme, absolutely denying the necessity of internal grace, they might 
 have hoasted of having tradition on their side ; that is, if Pelagius had assert- 
 ted only the natural freedom and ability of the will, such as constitutes free 
 agency and accountability, he would have had the fathers on his side ; but in 
 asserting the moral ability of the will, as wholly unbiassed towards evil, and 
 denying the necessity of regeneration by internal grace, he went in opposition 
 to the testimony of antiquity. 
 
 Beausobre also explains the matter, to some extent, as I have done. He 
 says that the fathers believed, and maintained against the Manicheans, that 
 whatever state man is in, he has the command over his own actions. That 
 Augustine taught the same till he came to dispute with Pelagius, when he 
 changed sides, and as he thinks, denied the kind of freedom which he had 
 before defended ; that is, Augustine contended for the natural liberty and 
 ability of the will, against the Gnostics and Manicheans, and against Pelagius, 
 he contended for the moral inability of the will by reason of sin, and this, 
 with Beausobre, is changing his former opinion. But Beausobre is not the 
 only man who has been unable to perceive any diflerence between a natural 
 involuntary depravity, and one which consists wholly in the perverse volun- 
 tary exercises of a being who is a free agent, and a proper subject of moral 
 government. Augusti^ce did not change his opinions. The meaning 
 of the term "free will" changed in his controversy Avith Pelagius, so that he 
 now denies in one sense, the " free will " which he had contended for, and still 
 admitted, in another sense. 
 
354 
 
 NO. V. 
 
 To the Editor of the Christian Examiner. 
 
 The eleventh and last evasion respects the moral tendency of the two sys- 
 tems ; that is, their actual efficacy in producing a pure and strict morality. 
 My argument is, that the faith delivered to the saints produced a morality of 
 peculiar purity and strictness ; that the evangelical systi^m produces a morality 
 of similar purity and strictness, sui'passing the morality produced by the liberal 
 system \ and that therefore, the evangeUcal system is the faith delivered to the 
 saints, and the liberal system is not. 
 
 To this the reviewer replies, that " Unitarians have always felt and expres- 
 sed a reluctance to enter upon this discussion." 
 
 1. Because of its liabiUty to lead ' to uncandid and unchristian remarks.' 
 
 2. Because ' it is less likely than any other, to advance the interests of 
 truth.' 
 
 3. ' Its only probable effect upon the adverse party is to 'exasperate their 
 feelings, and rivet their prejudices ; or at best, to inflict on them a deep sense 
 of intentional injury.' 
 
 4. ' Its only influence on the party whom it favors, is to confirm them 
 still more in the vicious habit of trusting in themselves that they ai'e right- 
 eous and despising others.' 
 
 5. ' When however, they have been dared to it, and provoked to it by their 
 adversaries, and it has become necessary in justice to their own characters, 
 and in justice to that cause which they believe to be the cause of tiuth and 
 the cause of God, to enter into this comparison, they never have yet, and they 
 never will shrink from the trial.' 
 
 I am persuaded the reviewer has not spoken even with his " usual accu- 
 racy," in saying that Unitarians have always felt and expressed a reluctance 
 to enter upon this subject, and that his brethren will by no means thank him 
 for such a concession. Have not Unitarians insisted upon the unworthy, and 
 even blasphemous conceptions of the divine character and conduct which are 
 entertained by the Orthodox ; — that our doctrines are irrational, absurd, con- 
 tradictoiy ; and in their tendency, melancholy, and morose, and austere, and 
 severe ; that they paralyze effort, produce spiritual pride, and encourage men 
 to calculate.upon impunity in sin ? And is it not a standing argument in favor 
 of the Unitarian system, that it dispels all these Calvinistic clouds which have 
 been gathered about the character of the Deity, and brings out the glorious 
 sun in all his lovehness, to smile on, and to cheer the earth, and to quicken 
 spiritual vegetation ? 
 
 If Unitarians have not and do not insist on the superior moral efficacy of 
 their system, they have thrown out a multitude of words very incautiously, 
 and kept the world very much in ignorance of their views to this day. If all 
 they have meant to say, has been only to afsert the superior theoretical adap- 
 tation of their doctrines to produce a pure and strict morality, as the reviewer 
 has asserted their untried eiiicacy to produce revivals and missionary ellbrt, 
 tlien no wonder that they have always felt and expressed a reluctance to 
 agitate the question of the actual, comparative efficacy of the two systems, 
 in producing a pure and strict morality. But if they have intended to claim, 
 and do in reality believe, that their views of doctrine do produce, in fact, the 
 purest and strictest morality, they are the strangest logicians I have ever met 
 with, or read of, — to be reluctant to approach the strongest ground of argu- 
 ment which men can possibly possess. And yet this impregnable fortress, 
 whose first fire, if they have got the munition of moral effects, would silence 
 Orthodoxy forever, they approach, the reviewer says, " reluctantly ;" and 
 only to save their honor, and show their courage, when they are ])ricked and 
 pushed up to it by Orthodox bayonets. Doubtless, the reviewer is mistaken 
 in respect to his brethren ; Ibr why should Unitarians be reluctant to investi- 
 gate the moral effect of tlie two systems ? Are they not candid, sincere, and 
 in earnest, in their search after tnith ? Is not practical tendency the univer- 
 
S55 
 
 sal mode of common sense, judging on all subjects ? Do farmers buy for use, 
 patents, on account of their theoretical excellence ; and should two machines 
 be offered to thd public for the same use, and one should court, and the other 
 always deprecate a reference to experiment, which would the farmers buy ? 
 I would- ask whether practical effect is not the rule of trial which the Bible 
 has instituted : and whether Unitarians do not know this, and resort to it ? 
 When the Orthodox speak of the importance of doctrine, do they not hear in 
 reply, about metaphysical subtleties and speculative opinions of no practical 
 utility ? And are they not told with exultation, " By their fruits shall ye know 
 tliem ;" — that it is not what men think, but what they do, which decides their 
 character ; and that we shall not be judged by our creeds, but by our deeds ? 
 
 When we appeal to revivals of religion as evidence of the truth of our doc- 
 trines, we are told about " certain feelings," which it is as easy to get up in 
 " town meetings" as in conference meetings, and are wai'ned against enthu- 
 siasm, and referred to the unfailing test of good works. " By their fruits shall 
 ye know them." It is too late in the day for Unitarians to shrink from this 
 test, of divine appointment, and of their own choosing. And as to those 
 effects which make the reviewer deprecate the comparison, they are only the 
 effects which the preaching of the Gospel produced on those who rejected it. 
 It exasperated those who rejected it, and it divided families, and Ifindled a fire 
 in the world, which has not gone out to this day. And" as to spiritual pride, 
 and the " vicious habit of trusting in themselves that they are righteous, and 
 despising others," it is the charge which the virtuous heathen flung indig- 
 nantly back upon Christians, for presuming to think themselves so much better 
 than others, that none could be saved but in their way. And yet, as the 
 Saviour directed the Gospel to be preached with all these effects in view, it 
 maj- be safe for us to examine the effect of- the two systems, even though the 
 same results should follow, which follow the preaching of the Gospel. It will 
 serve, at the same time, to relieve us from the solicitude of possible mistake, 
 could we ascertain on which side the complaining is heard, and the sense of 
 " intentional injury" created. 
 
 I do not pretend to universal knowledge on this subject ; but, so far as my 
 information extends, I have heard no complaint from the Orthodox, conceraing 
 this test of truth. The treatise of Andrew Fuller on the subject, has been, 
 with the Orthodox in England and in America, one of the most popular argu- 
 mentative works which has ever been written. And the sermon entitled 
 " the faith once delivered to the saiuts," which was not borrowed from Fuller, 
 though it treats on the same subject, has been regarded by the Orthodox with 
 higher, and more universal approbation, than the author had any right to ex- 
 pect. In' the mortal affray of battle, we always conclude that the most wounds 
 are received where there is the most outcry ; and that they who are tirst to 
 denounce a particular mode of warfare, are they who have received most 
 harm from it. Indeed, the reviewer seems plainly to intimate, that the bal- 
 ance of gain from the argument is on our side, and tlie ' sense of intentional 
 injury,' on the side of Unitarians ; for, not to refer to the reluctance with 
 which he comes to the comparison of moral effects, he has these remarkable 
 words, which, as heretofore used by Unitarians, seem to characterize none 
 but the Orthodox ; " While its only influence on the party whom it favors, is 
 to confirm them still more in the vicious habit of trusting in themselves, that 
 they are righteous, and despising others." Now we are not at liberty to sup- 
 pose that the reviewer meant to charge on Unitarians this " vicious habit of 
 trusting in themselves, and despising others," however just the charge might 
 have been, in opposition to the technicalities of the invective which they cast 
 upon the Orthodox. It is fairly to be claimed, therefore, that the Orthodox 
 were intended in this passage, and yet we can hardly credit our ej'es when 
 we read the implied concession, that the Orthodox are the party whom the dis- 
 cussion of the moral influence of tlie two systems favors, and favors to 
 such an extent as to make Unitarians unwilling to resort to it ; and for this, 
 among other reasons — lest the Orthodox should injure themselves by tlie in- 
 
356 
 
 crease of their " vicious habit of trusting in themselves that they are righteous, 
 and despising others." 
 
 I have no objection to the statement of the question by the editor of the 
 Baltimore Miscellany ; " not whicli party is perfect, but which is most defec- 
 tive, in consequence of its faith ;" though I cannot subscribe to his insinua- 
 tion, that " the party whose morality is the most pure and strict," is to be re- 
 garded as " pointing at, and denouncing and condemning all the rest." I have 
 yet to learn that a candid statement of facts cannot be made without invidious 
 intent ; or that a man can by no means perceive that his morality is more 
 strict than that of bis neighbour's, without denouncing his neighbour, and 
 setting up himself as a vain glorious boaster. In the attempt to ascertain the 
 comparative strictness of the morality produced by the evangelical and the 
 liberal system, I waived the comparison of individual character, and looked, 
 for their relative tendency, " to communities where the two systems have 
 been most unmingled, and of the longest duration," and to those " obvious 
 changes which may have appeared, as one or the other system has pre- 
 vailed." As evidence in favor of the superior strictness of evangelical mo- 
 rality, I quoted a concession from the British Encyclopaedia, written, as it is 
 said, by an infidel, and the concessions of Dr. Priestley, and of the Edinburgh 
 Review, which give the preference in point of strictness decidedly to evan- 
 gelical morality. Of these facts, notorious without concession, the reviewer 
 takes no notice — does not deny them, and makes no attempt to reconcile 
 them with the supposition, that the liberal system is the faith delivered to 
 the saints. 
 
 Now when natural philosophers differ in theory, and facts are adduced by 
 one in confirmation of bis opinions, an obligation is supposed to be laid on tlie 
 other to account for these facts in accordance with his theory ; and the philoso- 
 pher who makes no reply to matters of fact, and makes no attempt to account 
 for them upon his own system, is supposed to be vanquished, and to be con- 
 scious that he is vanquished. The rule is certainly fair in natural science, and 
 why it should not be applied to moral subjects, is more than I can perceive. 
 It is a hopeless case to adduce facts in evidence, if all an opponent has to do, 
 is to pass them over in silence, or to make a diversion to draw away the atten- 
 tion of the unwaiy. I call on the reviewer as a philosopher, as a professing 
 christian, and as a professed minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, to take notice 
 of the facts which I have adduced to prove the superior strictness of the 
 morahty produced in communities by evangelical doctrines, to that produced 
 by the liberal system. Instead of doing this, he evades my argument by re- 
 plying to it as if I had attempted to compare Unitarian nations ivith Evan- 
 gelical nations, and says, "Unfortunately Unitarianism has never yet pre- 
 vailed in any country, and therefore the comparison cannot be made." But 
 I have made no such comparison of nations of Unitarians and of Calvin- 
 ists. It is communities — bodies of men, among whoiri^the two systems have 
 most prevailed, or where one or the other has prevailed alternately, that I 
 speak; and by ' prevail,' I do not mean prevail exclusively, but where they 
 exist, and exert their moral power on masses of men sufficiently large to dis- 
 close in their effects, their relative moral tendencies. And is there no possi- 
 bility of finding enoucih of Unitarianism on the globe, in any period of time, 
 to furnish an opportunity of comparing its effects on society with the effects 
 of Orthodoxy ? Truly, the witnesses must have prophesied in sackclotli more 
 than twelve hundred years, if this be so, and Unitarianism is the faith deliv- 
 ered to the saints. 
 
 But why does the reviewer evade facts of universal notoriety ? Is not the 
 anti-cahinistic system the faith of Unitarians, so far as opposition to Calvinism 
 is concerned ? And has there been no prevalence of the Calvinistic, and anti- 
 calvinistic systems, not even in nations, sufficient to discover their compara- 
 tive moral tendencies ? Are all the energies of Unitarian anti-calvinism a 
 matter of theoretical tendency to this day.' Has it prevailed so little, and 
 done so Uttle, that no one can decide upon its mo^-al tendencies, compared 
 with Calvinism ? 
 
357 
 
 We are favored however, at last, watli two or three facts. First, that in 
 almost every instance in wliich an uncommon looseness of principle and prof- 
 ligacy of morals have come in upon a nation, (as in the reii2;n of Charles II. 
 in England,) it has plainly been owing to the reaction occasioned in the pub- 
 lic mind by the previous ascendancy of high Calvinism." But docs not the 
 reviewer know that two thousand evangelical ministers were ejected by 
 Charles II. in one day, nearly all the evangelical ministers who belonged to 
 the church of England, and that all their places were left vacant, or supplied 
 by anti-calvinists .' And is it not a singular mode of disproving the superior 
 moral tendency of Calvinism, to quote a fact which shows, that while Calvin- 
 istic ministers remained in the church, the morality was so strict, that when 
 they were turned out, the wicked clapped their hands and held a jubilee, fol- 
 lowed by the most profligate state of morals that England ever saw ? If we 
 were contending whether the strictness of Calvinistic morality did not occa- 
 sion such reaction, the fact might be relevant, though the argument would lie 
 equally against the Gospel. But my argument turns on the simple fact, — 
 which sj-stem actually produces the strictest moralit\\ I did not doubt that, 
 on this subject, the reviewer would be sorely "hit by the archers;" but I did 
 not expect that, like Saul upon Gilboa, he would be driven to desperation, and 
 fall upon the point of his own sword. 
 
 But it is the reviewer's own statement, that when Calvinistic ministers 
 were turned out of the English church, and anti-calvinists came in, an un- 
 paralleled scene of licentiousness and irreligiou ensued. I do not propose to 
 volunteer in adducing much additional proof at this time. I would simply caU 
 the attention of the reviewer to the following facts, and ask him to account for 
 them : 
 
 1. That the morality of Scotland, where evangelical ministers continued in 
 the church, should remain comparatively unaffected, while so great a declen- 
 sion in morals took place in England, immediately after the evangelical minis- 
 ters were driven out. 
 
 2. How it should come to pass, that the evangelical dissenters from the 
 church of England, should, as a body, have been persons of a stricter morality 
 than the members of the established church. 
 
 3. How it should happen that the two thousand evangelical ministers in the 
 established church, and the people who attend their ministrations, should be 
 confessedly the most sober and strict part of the Enghsh church. 
 
 4. Dignitaries of the church of England have declared, that the decline of 
 evangelical preaching in the church has been followed by the decline of reli- 
 gion, and the increase of infidelity. 
 
 Again, the reviewer says, " It is not a little difficult to reconcile with Dr. 
 Beecher's conclusions," (as if I had merely reasoned, without appealing to mat- 
 ters of fact,) "that in our own country, where alone Unitarianisrh has had a 
 chance of prevailing, it has prevailed most in that section of it, most remarka- 
 ble for the principles, habits, and institutions, which distinguish a moral and 
 religious community." 
 
 I did not forbear a more local comparison of the moral tendency of the two 
 systems, because I did not perceive materials nearer home, as much to my 
 purpose as those I selected ; nor because I was afraid to push the comparison 
 to the very heart of the enemy's camp. I suppose however, that for once, 
 enough had been said, and that a voluntary analysis of the subject in Boston 
 and its vicinity, might, as the reviewer says, have the effect on the adverse 
 party, " to exasperate feeling and rivet prejudices, and inflict a deep sense of 
 intentional injury ;" and as much as the reviewer deprecates an appeal to 
 moral tendencies, I did not doubt but the first reply to this argument would 
 summon me to Boston in self defence. I have received the summons and 
 have come, and shall defend my argiunent unsparingly, with such materials as 
 the theati'e of comparison selected by the reviewer may afford, — " the only 
 region where Unitarianism has had a chance of prevailing." 
 
 I would ask the reviewer, then, whether it i-; enough for his argument, 
 simply in five lines to allude to the Unitarian part of Massachusetts, as re- 
 
 46 
 
358 
 
 markable for the principles, and habits, and institutions, which distmguish a 
 tnoral and religious community ? Would it not have been as well to prove that 
 all these good things did not exist before Unitarianism existed, when Ortho- 
 doxy was universal ; or that morality and religion had materially improved in 
 proportion as Orthodoxy had declined, and Unitarianism prevailed ? Ortho- 
 doxy had prevailed in that region for two hundred years, and Unitarianism 
 had been gradually increasing, reinforced by old Arminianism, for sixty or 
 seventy years, though it is but about twenty years since it has been generally 
 avowed, and openly preached. 
 
 Now, as moral causes operate slowly on communities, and habits hold on 
 their course long after the causes which formed them have ceased, I am quite 
 disposed to claim, as the effects of Orthodoxy, those habits and institutions of 
 Boston and the region round about ; and to deny that Unitarianism, half con- 
 cealed and half preached for fifteen or twenty years, has produced the moral 
 habits which distinguish the capital of Massachusetts. The present state of 
 things in the Unitarian part of Massachusetts may be accounted for, if Ortho- 
 doxy is what my argument claims, powerful in its purifying influence, and 
 Unitarianism relaxing in its moral tendencies. This morality may be the 
 effect of Orthodoxy operating for two hundred years, and may remain in spite 
 of the deleterious tendency of a partial Unitarianism, counteracted by the 
 powerful energy of existing, as well as of past Orthodoxy. 
 
 From another quarter, however, I am summoned to Boston in tones of impe- 
 rious earnestness. In my sermon I have said that the " irreligious, immoral, 
 and profligate part of the community prefer the liberal system, and are vehe- 
 mently opposed to the evangelical ;" and Dr. Miller, in his ordination sermon 
 at Baltimore, says, " that all over the world, the gay, the fashionable, the 
 worldly minded, and even the Ucentious, prefer those preachers who deny the 
 divinity and atonement of the Saviour, and who reject the doctrines of hu- 
 man depravity, of regeneration, and of justification by the righteousness of 
 Christ." His statement and mine are, substantially, the same. But this 
 statement of Dr. Miller, the editor of the Baltimore Miscellany considers as 
 charging the whole body of Unitarians all over the world, with irreligion 
 and immorality, as impeaching the morals of the whole body of Unitarians, 
 as affixing a stigma, and passing a sentence of reprobation upon the 
 WHOLE SECT. And in this view of the matter, he says to Dr. Miller, " Let 
 me call your attention particularly to that part of the country where Unita- 
 rian principles have been long prevalent, and where they are embraced by a 
 very large part of the community. Are you prepared to charge the people of 
 Boston and its vicinity, with a higher degree of immorality and depravity of 
 manners, than is found in other cities ? Are you prepared to say that the 
 churches in that place are, more than in any other, filled with ' the gay, the 
 fashionable, the worldly-minded, and the licentious ?' In Boston, if any where, 
 may be found a proof of your assertions, because in that place, the Unitarians 
 probably make the most numerous class of society. But dare you come 
 before the public with any attempt to exhibit such proof.' You dare not. 
 You dare not assail the moral character of a gieat number of the leading and 
 most respectable members of society." 
 
 Since the publication of my sermon, these letters of the editor to Dr. Mil- 
 ler, have been revised and published as containing whatever may be needful 
 on the subject of the moral tendency of the Orthodox and the Unitarian sys- 
 tems : of course, all the preceding charges and challenges are as much levelled 
 at me, as at Dr. Miller. I shall therefore bestow a few remarks upon them be- 
 fore I proceed. I would observe then, that the editor puts a false construction 
 on Dr. Miller's language, and of course on mine. We do not say that Unitari- 
 ans, as a body, are irreligious, voluptuous, or vicious. Such characters exist 
 in all communities ; and what we say is, that eveiy where, " all over the 
 world," such characters prefer the Unitarian doctrines to evangelical doctrines, 
 which, considering that the Bible says the righteous love the truth, and the 
 wicked hate it, is no very good sign that Unitarian doctrines are the truth. 
 We then have made no charges of irreligion, immorality, or voluptuousness. 
 
359 
 
 upon Unitarians as a body- If I were to say that certain plays are of a loose 
 and immoral tendency, and should adduce, in proof of my assertion, the fact 
 that they were most applauded, all over the world, by the profligate part of 
 the audience who attend theatres, should 1 be understood to charge all who 
 attend theatres with profligacy? I would remind the editor, that persecution, 
 like fame, is very useful to a rehgious sect when it comes unsought, but 
 wholly unavailing when courted ; and that it would have been much more to 
 his purpose to have disproved the facts which Dr. Miller and myself stated, 
 than to pervert their import, and lash himself into a foam at liis own misrep- 
 resentations. 
 
 I must add, that it is childish and ridiculous to pretend that " the leading, 
 and influential, and respectable members" of any religious community, are 
 personally and invidiously implicated and insulted, by an attempt to ascertain 
 by facts the relative moral tendency on communities of the systems of re- 
 ligion under whose influence they live. No two religious systems are alike 
 m tliQir moral influence, and no system of religion is so exclusively pernicious 
 in its influence, as to corrupt and debase all who live under its moral power. 
 There are among pagans, Mahometans, papists, and all the protestant de- 
 nominations of christians, some " leading and respectable men," and such 
 as some Unitarians think will undoubtedly find their way to heaven. But if 
 this were true, that some respectable men of all religions will be saved, are 
 ail religions equally efficacious and salutaiy, in producing a strict morality on 
 that misceUaneous mass of mankind which is embodied in civil and religious 
 communities? The Gospel produces the best morality on the mass of human 
 society, however constituted in respect to forms of government, and if evan- 
 gelical doctrines produce the same effect which the Gospel did on the com- 
 plex mass of human minds, and the liberal doctrines are invariably attended 
 by a more lax morality, all our jjrinciples of reasoning from cause to effect are 
 useless, if the evangelical system is not the Gospel. Nor is this comparison 
 instituted and pressed upon the attention of the inhabitants of Boston, fiom 
 any insensibility to the excellent institutions and excellent characters which 
 adorn the metropolis of Massachusetts ; much less for the " vicious purpose 
 of trusting in ourselves that we are righteous, and despising others." By the 
 consent of all, our puritan fathers have reared the noblest institutions which 
 have ever blest this miserable world. Their wisdom and efficacy are be- 
 coming more apparent every day, and are Jhe foundation of that hope which 
 now beams on the world, of the elevation of the family of man to intelligence, 
 and liberty, and holiness. Religion, of all moral causes, has in all periods of 
 time, been the most powerful in modifying the condition of men ; and no in- 
 stitutions under heaven ever rose and operated more exclusively under the 
 influence of religion as the great central power, than the institutions of our 
 forefathers. They came here on purpose to try what the religion of the 
 Bible, as they understood it, would do, unshackled by the ecclesiastical des- 
 potism of Europe. The result of this experiment this whole nation feels in 
 her present prosperity, and in her joyful anticipations. The whole creation 
 feels it, which has groaned and travailed together in pain until now, and 
 begins to rejoice at length in the prospect of coming into the glorious liberty 
 of the sons of God, while all who have held the world in chains, and rioted 
 on the misery of man, are filled with great wrath because tliey know that 
 their time is short. 
 
 Now we know, in all its details, the practical course in which this most 
 blessed experiment, the world's last hope, has been conducted. Should then 
 a set of religious innovators arise with pretensions to superior wisdom, who 
 should propose to take from our great system the central spring which from 
 the beginning to this day had produced its auspicious movement, for the pur- 
 pose of substituting one of much greater theoretical excellence, the whole 
 land and the whole world would say, let the new spring be tried first ; — and as 
 it is in the full tide of recent experiment in Boston and its vicinit\-, let phi- 
 losophers watch the results, with as much eagerness at least, as they would 
 watch the transit of Venus, and record the results with as much accuracy. 
 
360 
 
 There may be in Boston, for aught I can tell, some few who have so far given 
 themselves up to the dominion of religious party spirit, as to be past the 
 pewer of moral influence, either by argument or by facts. But in my judg- 
 ment, it is a libel upon the intelligence, and liberality and conscientious hon- 
 esty of " the leading, influential, respectable members of society" in Boston 
 and its vicinity, to say that they would feel themselves implicated by a com- 
 parison of the moral tendencies of the Evangelical and the Liberal system, 
 upon the complex community of Boston and its vicinity. 
 
 That my justilication may be seen at once, I must add what has been said 
 on the same subject in page 225 of my sermon. 
 
 " The illustration of the argument from effects, must consist of many par- 
 ticulars, and of matters of fact. The argument, therefore, can only be stated 
 concisely, without attempting to answer every possible objection. The facts, 
 too, may be regarded by some as invidious. I have only to say, that no fact 
 will be stated as such, which is not believed to be notoriously true, and, if 
 denied, capable of unequivocal proof; and as to the invidious bearing of mat- 
 ters of fact, or of arguments, I am persuaded it is both a false delicacy 
 and an unsound cause which would shrink from this test, and shield itself 
 under forms of alleged decorum. But I must be allowed to believe also, tbat 
 no real decorum is violated by the statement of facts, or the pressure of argu- 
 ments, where the object is important, the design honest, and the manner sober 
 and respectful. Systems of religion, as well as of natural philosophy, may be 
 brought to the test of actual experiment. ' By their fruits shall ye know 
 them.' But if the moral vvorld were, by the laws of decorum, closed against 
 us, and we might only theorize without, upon practical tendencies, and not 
 enter it to collect and appeal to facts ; we might contend earnestly, but cer- 
 tainly should contend to very little purpose. To the word and testimony of 
 God, and to matters of fact, we appeal." 
 
 I proceed then to inquire whether any changes have taken place in Boston 
 and its vicinitj", indicating a decline of moral sensibility and moral strictness 
 in the community, since Orthodoxy has declined, and Unitarianism has pre- 
 vailed. And if any of my allusions or remarks shall give pain, I beg that the 
 deed should be characterized only by the occasion and the motive. Dr. 
 Priestley has said, — " I could overlook every thing in a man who i thought 
 meant nothing but my eternal welfare." If this is not my motive, and if I 
 am actuated by any other, my heart has greatly deceived me. Tlie reviewer 
 and the editor will, therefore, I trust, fortify themselves both with meekness 
 and with charity, while I proceed to the inquiry, whether, even in Boston and 
 its vicinity, there are not some changes which have ha])pened considerably 
 for the worse, since Orthodoxy left the helm, and Unitarianism took it. I 
 shall advert chiefly to those views, feelings, and habits, of our fathers, which 
 unquestionably, have had the chief influence as moral causes, in producing on 
 the community the moral results of their system. 
 
 The tirst topic which I shall introduce is tbat oi family relis;ion, including ■ 
 the daily worship of God morning and evening, and the religious instruc- 
 tion, and government of children. It will not be denied, that the moral 
 causes which form the character, and influence the conduct of men, are ap- 
 plied more powerfully in the family than in any other form of our social con- 
 dition, and that the system of family discipline which makes thern best ac- 
 quainted with the moral government of God, is best calculated to produce a 
 strict morality. I would ask, then, in which class of the comnmnity is family 
 prayer and the religious instruction of children most practised or neglected ; 
 in Unitarian, or Orthodox ? And if this question be too general, I would ask, 
 among which class of the public professors of religion, is family prayer most 
 extensively observed, or neglected ? It will not be denied, I believe, that the 
 practice of family religion obtains most in the families of Orthodox professors, 
 and of course, if morality is pure and strict in projjortion to the fidelity mani- 
 fested in the application of the best means, in the most favorable circum- 
 stances, the morality of Orthodox communities will be more strict and pure 
 than that of Unitarian communities. 
 
361 
 
 The Sabbath has always been regarded as the mainspring of Christianity, 
 — the institution designed by heaven to give practical influence to the laws of 
 the divine moral government. Of course, as the Sabbath is strictly or loosely 
 observed by particular societies of men, the. moral influence of the govern- 
 ment of God will be more or less apparent in their life and conversation. I 
 would inquire then, whose views of the proper mode of sanctifying the Sab- 
 bath, are best calculated to bring home upon the conscience and heart of a 
 community the moral influence of the divine government .' It is a universal 
 law in science, that application is indispensable, and that tliere is no royal 
 road to eminence in literature : and is not the same maxim equally true on the 
 subject of religion and morals ? Can men be benefitted by the Bible without 
 reading it, or by the Sabbath, but in proportion as it is consecrated to religious 
 purposes? Now, according to the Orthodox fathers of New England, the 
 Sabbath is to be sanctified by a " holy resting all that day, even from such 
 worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spend- 
 ing the whole time in public and private exercises of God's worship, except 
 so much as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy." It is this mode 
 of sanctifying the Sabbath which has lent its influence to the illustrious reli- 
 gious and moral results, which are witnessed in New England ; all of which 
 do fade and vanish away, in proportion as this mode of keeping the holy day 
 is substituted for any other. Who then, regard this primitive mode of sancti- 
 fying the Sabbath with the most reverence, and who pay to it the most prac- 
 tical homage, the Unitarians or the Orthodox ? The Orthodox, no doubt, have 
 declined greatly from the strictness of the fathers ; but have not Unitarians 
 decUned still more ? Do they, as a body, keep the Sabbath as strictly as the 
 Orthodox ? — and if this be too indefinite, I will vary the question ; Do they 
 keep the Sabbath in a manner as well calculated to make themselves and 
 their children acquainted with the revealed will of God, and to bring upon 
 their hearts a sense of accountability, and the moral influence of rewards 
 and punishments, as the Orthodox ? Is it regarded as allowable to make so- 
 cial family visits on the Sabbath, by Orthodox, as extensively as it is by Unita- 
 rian families ? Has the personal and oflicial influence of the Unitarian part 
 of the community been exerted as much in favor of executing the laws 
 which protect the Sabbath from profanation, as in the Orthodox part of the 
 community ? I do not ask whether some Unitarians may not maintain cor- 
 rect views, and exemplary strictness on this subject ; or insinuate that some 
 Orthodox families may not be shamefully lax both in opinion and practice. 
 It is bodies of men, so large as to form a distinctive character on this point, 
 that my interrogations respect. 
 
 The theatre has never, I believe, been esteemed and patronized by those 
 in chiistian communities, who belong to what are called the stricter sort ; 
 and a very general opinion has been entertained by mankind, that the theatre 
 is not favorable to a strict morality. Dr. Witherspoon has furnished me 
 with the foUowing facts, and observations. 
 
 In Athens, where the theatre had its birth, both tragedy and comedy were 
 soon abolished by public authority. He quotes Aristotle as saying, that 
 though they brought tragedy in Athens, to as great perfection as the nature of 
 the thing seems to admit, whoever will infer from this that they improved in 
 their morals in the same proportion, or by that means, will fall into a very 
 gross mistake. In Rome, until the time of Pompey, theatres were not allowed 
 to stand above a certain number of days. It is certain, that the theatrical pro- 
 fession has had a disgrace attached to it, from the earliest times, and in all the 
 countries where theatres have been in use. Public actors on the stage were 
 accounted infomous by the Roman law. Theatrical amusements were con- 
 demned by the primitive church, and were interdicted by the church, from 
 the time of the introduction of Christianity, to the expiration of the French 
 Monarchy. Seneca speaks of theatres as most pernicious in their moral 
 tendency. — Dr. Witherspoon himself asks, " How few plays are acted which 
 a modest woman can see, consistently with decency, in every part ! There 
 ai'c ladies who frequent the theatre, who, if tliey were but once entertained 
 
362 
 
 with the same images in a private family with which they are presented there, 
 v/ould rise with indignation, and reckon their reputation ruined, if ever they 
 should return." I may safely affirm, that no woman of reputation, who has 
 been ten times in a play-house, dares repeal in company all tliat she has 
 heard there. Players are almost universally vicious, and of such abandoned 
 character, as might justly make those who defend the stage ashamed of learn- 
 ing virtue under such masters. Can men learn piety from the profane, mor- 
 tification from the sensual, or modesty from harlots ? Within two or three 
 years, I have myself seen it declared in one of the newspapers in Boston, 
 that the theati-e was in such a condition, that no virtuous man could with pro- 
 priety lead his wife or daughter thither; and in another a protest was enter- 
 ed against some ^Jarticular play that was getting up, in terms equally severe : 
 and neither of these were Orthodox papers. I have never myself attended 
 a theatre ; but I have been credibly informed, that a i)art, and no small part 
 of the audience, in one part of the house, is composed of persons of abandoned 
 character ; and that the doors and avenues to the theatre are generally beset by 
 |)ersons of both sexes, whose feet, according to the Bible, " go down to death 
 — whose steps take hold on hell." I would now simply inquire, upon whom 
 in Boston the theatre relies chiefly for patronage ? Who are the families that 
 regard it as an innocent and fashionable amusement ; as a means of refining the 
 taste, and as a school of morals .' Who are the fathers, and mothers, and sons, 
 and daughters, who attend the theatre ? Is it the Orthodox in Boston, who 
 chiefly support that institution, or the Unitarian part of the community ? 
 
 The scriptures are undoubtedly very strict on the subject of self-denial ; 
 not merely in respect to gross, palpable immoralities, but in respect to the 
 temper of the heart, and the remote principles of action. There is a course 
 of this world, and a conformity to this world, and a friendship of this world ; — 
 all of which arc injurious to christian character. And there is such a thing 
 as being crucified to the world, having our conversation in heaven, keeping 
 the heart with all diligence, and avoiding the very appearance of evil; and 
 there can be no doubt, that those whose Uves accord most nearly with these 
 directions, will lead lives of the most pure and strict morality. I would in- 
 (juire then, which part of the community in Boston and its vicinity, live most 
 in accordance with the si)iritual import of these requirements .' I shall not 
 leave the question so indelanite. I suppose that card parties, and late suppers, 
 and " the feast of reason, and the flow of soul," are not i-ecognised in the 
 New Testament, among the means of grace, or the signs of grace, or the 
 specimens of christian vigilance, and self denial, or as a compliance with the 
 exhortation to avoid the appearance of evil. I would ask then, which abound 
 most in such matters (of doubtful i)ropriety, to say the least,) Unitarian or 
 Orthodox femilies ? And as real christians are declared to be the salt of the 
 earth, and the light of the world, I would inquire, who among professors of 
 religion, make and .frequent most, those parties of which the card table forms 
 no inconsiderable portion of the amusement ; the Unitarian or the Orthodox 
 j)rofessors ? — and in which course the church of Christ is hkely to afford the 
 most light, and to produce in the community, the strictest morality ? 
 
 In respect to f^imily balls among persons of wealth and rellnement, though 
 it should be admitted tliat Job was cynical in his insinuations that they are 
 the pastimes of voluptuousness, the causes of irreligion, and the precursors 
 of sudden destniction, they may at least be carried to excess ; and that com- 
 munity in which they are so, will not claim, probably, the pre-eminence in 
 respect to a pure and strict morality. And now, if amusements of this de- 
 scription are carried to excess by any class of the community in Boston, I 
 would ask by which class is this done ; by the Orthodox, or by the Unitarians ? 
 I have heard of family balls, to celebrate the nuptials of a clergyman, pror 
 tracted through six or eight evenings, and (as it is said,) by the eagerness of 
 family friends to testify, in a suitable manner, their interest on the occasion ; 
 and much against the will of the worthy man whose politeness obliged him 
 to attend. Was it in an Orthodox society in Boston that this was done ? Is 
 there one Oi-thodox society in that city, which would not have been shocked 
 
363 
 
 at the idea of balls in hoaor of the nuptials of their clergyman ? Is there one 
 Orthodox society in Boston, in which a clergj-man could have maintained his 
 standing, after having jaelded, in such a manner, to the indiscreet wishes of 
 family friends ? I allude to the subject with reluctance, and only because it is 
 a fact which speaks volumes as to a change of moral, and religious feelings 
 which Orthodoxy certainly did not proctuce ; and which, taken in all its con- 
 nexions, affords no very lavorable promise of exerting upon the community 
 at large, an influence which shall rival Orthodoxy in tlie puiity and strictness 
 of christian morality. 
 
 The law of honor and duelling have been justly regarded with abhorrence in 
 New England, from the beginning. But I have before me a trial for murder, 
 held in Boston, Oct. 4, 1S06, in which the counsel for the prisoner, after at- 
 tempting his defence on the ground that the killing was done in justitiable 
 self defence, took his client from this ground, and placed him under the pro- 
 tection of the law of honor, and gave an elaborate defence of it. He recog- 
 nised the principle, that the municipal law is not sufficient to protect the feelings, 
 reputation, and usefulness of the higher classes in society. That these have 
 a right to judge for themselves, when their feelings, reputation, and useful- 
 ness, require them to take their own protection and redress into their own 
 hands. And he said, " should I ever be driven to that impassable point, 
 where degradation and disgrace begin, may tiiis arm shrink palsied from its 
 socket if I fail to defend my own honor :" and he thinks, that with sincere 
 feelings of piety, a man might raise the pistol, and call on tlie Father of 
 Mercies to direct the stroke. To this the attorney general replied, " We 
 will not take up the glove. Such declarations as are made by the gentleman 
 on the other side, would countenance all the duels that have been fought in 
 the world, and render unavailing all the laws that have been enacted for the' 
 punishment of illegal and savage combats. Is the measure of a man's con- 
 duct, when he leaps the bounds of an established law, to receive a standard 
 from the feelings of his wife and children, or the notions of honor in the con- 
 gregation of fashionable men ; and can a man appeal to heaven in this way, 
 and be a pious christian ? When I heard that this doctrine had been advised 
 on this occasion by professional men, I shuddered at it." 
 
 On this statement I beg leave to ask, first; Would an attorney of talents 
 and judgment have dared, in tlie olden times of universal Orthodoxy, to take 
 his client from the protection of the civil law, and place him under the pro- 
 tection of the law of honor ? Is the law of honor the law of God, or the law 
 of the land ? And yet in a criminal prosecution in this case, a man of distin- 
 guished talents publicly recognised, in a court of justice, and appealed to the 
 law t)f honor. Secondh', In the days of universal Orthodoxy, could he have 
 taken this course for his client with the advice of professional men ? Thirdly, 
 Could he in times of jiredominant Orthodoxy in Boston, have avowed in a 
 court of justice, and before Orthodox judges, the length and breadth of 
 the duelling code, without reprehension from the bench ? Are not judges 
 bound to stop counsellors when they assert as law, that which, notoriously, is 
 not law ? And to what cause shall we ascribe the silence of the court, when 
 such horrid principles were advocated in their presence ? Would such a coun- 
 sellor have dared to do such a tiling, half a century earlier ? Could such a 
 man have done it, when Orthodox m.en adorned the seat of justice, without 
 prompt and merited rebuke ? And what a fearful change in the moral sensi- 
 bilities of the community, does the existence of such a court, and such an 
 advocate, and such professional advisers, imply ? I would inquire whether 
 principles avowed by such high authority, and so publicly avowed, without 
 rebuke, have had no contaminating influence upon the young men in the 
 higher classes of society in Boston .' Is there nothing to lament on this sub- 
 ject, and nothing to fear.' 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ has decided, that regularly organized churches, com- 
 posed of real christians, are favorable to a pure and strict morality among 
 men. They are the light of the world, the salt of the earth, the organized 
 administrators of the influence of the divine moral government. Admitting, 
 
364 
 
 therefore, that all under each system of doctrines who profess religion are 
 real christians, or at least equally entitled to the character, that system of 
 doctrine which produces the most professors of religion, must be regarded as 
 producing the most pure and strict morality. What then are the comparative 
 facts on this subject in the churches in Boston, which once were Orthodox 
 and are now Unitarian ? We have but one printed document — the history of 
 a single church ; but from this it appears that there has been a decline as to 
 the numbers who openly profess religion, since the church passed from under 
 Orthodox to Unitarian intluence. What the result would be on a comparison 
 of the present with the former records of all the churches in Boston which 
 were once Orthodox, but are now Unitarian, I cannot say. But I would ask 
 whether the number of communicants in the Unitarian churches in Boston, 
 bears any considerable proportion to the number of communicants in the Or- 
 thodox churches ; though the terms of admission, it must be admitted, are 
 much more liberal in the former than in the latter.' May I be allowed to ex- 
 tend this inquiry to the church in Cambridge college, compared with the 
 churches in Orthodox colleges. I have been credibly informed within two 
 years, that the actual number of undergraduates who were communicants in 
 the college church, did not exceed nine. At the same time, it appeared from 
 documents, that Orthodox colleges, possessing not more than one third the 
 number of students at Cambridge, included by two thirds a greater number of 
 communicants ; while those Orthodox colleges which contained nearly an 
 equal number of students, or a small excess, contained nearly ten times the 
 number of communicants in their churches. In respect to the state of reli- 
 gion and morals in Cambridge college, I forbear to ask any questions, as 
 distinguished friends of that institution, who regard the interests of science 
 above the ascendancy of a sectarian religion, have said more than I could find 
 it in my heart to repeat. 
 
 It only remains that I notice a few things of a miscellaneous nature before I 
 conclude. I have given my res'sons at large, (pp. 255 — 259, of this vol.) why 
 the Orthodox, with their views of doctrine, should regard and preach the Evan- 
 gelical system as essential to christian character and to eternal life. All these 
 explanations the reviewer passes by in silence, while he seeks to raise and 
 direct against me, the indignation' of the whole body of the Unitarians, for 
 failing to recognise them as christians. He doubts " whether in all I have 
 written and said, I have ever yielded to Unitarians, as a body, the name of 
 christian." The reviewer should not aftect to doubt on this subject ; he 
 knows that I do not regard Unitarianism as Christianity, or Unitarians who 
 UNDERSTAND the Evangelical system and reject it, and who understand the 
 Liberal system and embrace it, as being christians. Let me not howevel- be 
 misunderstood. I have never said nor supposed, that there are no christians 
 in Unitarian families, societies, and churches. These in New England are the 
 children of the pilgrims : some of them are the children of Orthodox, pious 
 parents, and have been baptized in the name of the holy Trinity of heaven. 
 It is comparatively but a little while, since, in churches now called Unitarian, 
 they heard from the voice of their teachers, those doctrines which we regard 
 as the words of eternal life ; and not a few, as I hope, received the grace of 
 God, and became nieinl)ers of the churches called Unitarian before they were 
 such, and at a time when the open avowal of UnHarianism, as it has since 
 been avowed, would have prevented the settlement of any man. Those who 
 have left Unitarian societies compel us to believe that there were christians 
 belonging to them, and the feelings of some who have not left them, convince 
 us that there are christians among Unitarians. Indeed, from what I have 
 been allowed to witness of the power of truth in Boston, it is my opinion that 
 there are many among Unitarians who feel a solemn reverence for God, and 
 his word and worship, the active power of a tender conscience, and the pres- 
 sure of an honest and earnest desire to know what is truth ; and that with such, 
 Unitarianifim consists more in aversion to Calvinism as it has been mis- 
 represented, than in any settled opposition to the doctrines of the evan- 
 gelical system, when correctly understood; and I have thought that nothing 
 
365 
 
 would be easier, could an opportunity be afforded, than the removal of these 
 unfounded prejudices, and the restoration of these children of the pilgrims to 
 the way of their fathers, and the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. And as 
 to the invidious complaint of our not allowing to Unitarians the name of chris- 
 tians, it is a complaint so unreasonable and so unjust, that they who make it, 
 pay but a poor compliment to the understandings of Unitarians, if tliey expect 
 it can long avail them to create prejudice, or stop among them the progress of 
 truth. We do no more withhold from Unitarians the christian character, than 
 they do from us. We regard them as rejecting the Gospel, and they regard 
 us as idolaters ; and whatever they may be pleased to say, after they have in 
 effect stripped us of christian character, and thrust us out of the pale of the 
 church, and cut us off from heaven, thay cannot bring us back again, or cover 
 up our idolatry with the mantle of their charity ; for no point is more abso- 
 lutely settled in the Bible, than that idolaters are not christians, and can- 
 not inherit the kingdom of God. But neither have we any cause to complain 
 of them, nor they of us. Unitarians and the Orthodox are bound by the high 
 command of heaven to think for themselves ; to prove all things, and hold 
 fast that which is good. In this process, we come to conclusions so diverse, 
 about the doctrines which constitute Christianity, that if one side be right, the 
 other side is wrong. If Unitarians are right, we are idolaters ; and if we are 
 right. Unitarians are not christians. But, in coming to these conclusions, we 
 have no sinister design respecting ^ach other. We do not become Unitarians 
 or Trinitarians for the sake of denying christian character to each other ; and 
 that we do so, follows only as an inference unavoidable from our belief; for 
 as I have said, it surpasses the power of Unitarians, after they have by their 
 principles made us idolaters, to make us cluistians by their charity. Nor do 
 we, in judging for ourselves, exercise any right but our own, or encroach upon 
 the right of each other. Unitarians have no claim to our charity, nor we to 
 theirs, unless it can be granted in consistency with our respective convictions 
 of truth. We not only have no claim to the charity of Unitarians, but they 
 have no right to grant it to us in direct opposition to the express decision of 
 the Bible, — that idolaters are not christians, and cannot inherit the kingdom of 
 God. Dr. Priestley, whose candor I admire as much as I deplore his errors, 
 says, " the truth is, there neither can nor ought to be any compromise be- 
 tween us. If you are right, we are not christians at all ; and if we are right, 
 you are gross idolaters." Again he says, " all who believe Christ to be a man 
 and not God, must necessarily think it idolatrous to pay him divine honor ; 
 and to call it so, is no other than the necessary consequence of our belief." 
 Nay, he represents it as " ridiculous, that they should be allowed to think 
 Trinitarians idolaters, without being permitted to call them so ;" and adds, 
 " I have no idea of being offended with any man in things of this kind, for 
 speaking what he believes to be the truth." 
 
 As to the charge of thrusting Unitarians out of the pale of the church, it is 
 ridiculous. Have not Unitarians the privilege of forming churches of their 
 own, and have not all denominations the right of judging for themselves what 
 are the qualifications for membership ? It is the essence of liberty of con- 
 science, that christians of similar views in doctrine and experience, should be 
 allowed to associate for mutual usefulness and edification. It is the exercise 
 of this right which constitutes different denominations of christians, and if, 
 according to the doctrinal views of the Orthodox, Unitarians cannot be re- 
 ceived into fellowship, have they any claim upon us ? Let them go to their 
 own company and be at peace. We do not ask to be admitted to their 
 churches ; why should they demand fellowship in ours ? It is more for the 
 peace of the religious community, that those who differ radically should sepa- 
 rate, than that discordant materials should be pressed together in one commu- 
 nity. If Unitarians can hold fellowship with idolaters, the Orthodox cannot 
 hold fellowship with those, who, according to their views of truth, reject the 
 Gospel. We have a right to judge for ovu-selves what is Christianity ; and 
 Unitarians have no right to insist tliat they will judge for themselves and for 
 OS too. 
 
 47 
 
366 
 
 On p. 35, the reviewer has charged me with being guilty of a misrepresen- 
 tation of the opinions of Dr. Priestley ; and with being guilty of an artifice 
 and unfairness unequalled by any writer, except perhaps, Dr. Magee. In 
 reply, I have to say, 
 
 I. That I took the quotations at second hand as I found them, and though 
 I have spared no pains, I have not been able to find the original dissertation. 
 
 II. The assertion of the reviewer that I have misrepresented, is not to be 
 taken in evidence, according to the laws of controversy ; and the passage 
 which he has quoted contains no proof of the fact : it is as follows ; " in fact, 
 there is no greater reason to complain of the lukewarmness of the generality 
 of Unitarians, than there is of the generality of christians of all denomina- 
 tions."' But it is not " lukewarmness" which is the point in debate, but com- 
 parative purity and strictness of morality. 
 
 But in relation to this point. Dr. Priestley certainly does say, 
 
 1. That those who hold to evangelical doctrines "have less apparent con- 
 formity to the world, and seem to have more of a real principle of religion." 
 
 2. That " Unitarian dissenters do not lay so much stress upon their princi- 
 ples, as other christians do upon theirs." 
 
 3. That " they are less concerned to inculcate their principles upon their 
 children, their servants, and their dependants in general." 
 
 4. That great numbers, on becoming Unitarians in the church of England, 
 and even among the clergy, did not feel the impropriety and absurdity of con- 
 tinuing to cor.ntenance a mode of worship, which, according to their own 
 principles, is idolatrous and blasphemous. 
 
 5. That " such persons also have no zeal for speculative religion, and no 
 zeal for religion in general ; and that their moral conduct though decent, is 
 not deemed strict and exemplary." 
 
 Has not Dr. Priestley made such declarations, and does his declaration 
 " that there is no more reason to complain of the lukewarmness of the gene- 
 rality' of Unitarians than of the generality of christians of all denominations," 
 contradict or invalidate the above quotations ? iVnd what if Dr. Priestley had 
 said one thing in one place, and something in opposition to it, in another ? The 
 fault would not be mine, that he contradicted himself. Have I misrepresented 
 the reviewer, by quoting what he has said in one place and apparently con- . 
 tradicted in another. It would be perilous quoting Unitarian authors, if we 
 must be convicted of misrepresenting them, because somewhere, they may 
 show that they have contradicted themselves. 
 
 III. Other passages from Dr. Priestley show that his opinions have not 
 been m.isrepresented. He says, as quoted by Fuller, " the doctrines of a 
 general and most particular providence, are so leading a feature in every 
 scheme of predestination, it brings God so near in every thing, that an habitu- 
 al and animated devotion is the result." One would think such a state of mind 
 peculiarly favorable to strict morality. 
 
 Of Unitarianism, he says, " It cannot be denied, that many of those who 
 judge so truly concerning particular tenets of religion, have attained to that 
 cool, unbiassed temper of mind, in consequence of being more indifferent to 
 religion in general ; though therefore, thej^ are more favorably situated for 
 distinguishing between truth and falsehood, they are not likely to acquire a 
 zeal for what they suppose to be truth." 
 
 " Upon the whole, considering the great mixture of spiritual pride and 
 bigotry in some of the most zealous Tiinitarians, I think the moral charac- 
 ter of Unitarians in general, allowing that there is among them greater appa- 
 rent conformity to the world than is observable in others, approaches more 
 nearly to the proper temper of Christianity. It is more cheerful, more be- 
 nevolent, more candid. The former have somewhat less, and the latter I 
 hope somewhat more of a real principle of religion, than they seem to 
 have." 
 
 We may now see why Dr. Priestley thinks there is no more reason to com- 
 plain of lukewarmness in the Unitarians, than in the Orthodox. It is because 
 lie hopes Unitarians have more of a principle of religion than they seem to 
 
367 
 
 have ; and because he is confident that the Orthodox have somewhat less of a 
 principle of religion, than they seem to have. He admits, however, that 
 Unitarian societies do not flourish, their members having but a slight at- 
 tachment to them, and easily deserting them, though it is never to be imagined 
 that they desert their principles. 
 
 IV. It was not to prove Dr. Priestley's opinion, but to adduce his testimo- 
 ny as to matters of fact, that I gave the quotation, and the credibility of his 
 testimony is not, I trust, to be annihilated by his ingeniously accounting for 
 the facts to which he testifies, so that Calvinism shall receive no aid from 
 them, and Unitarianism no detriment. 
 
 I now leave it to the reviewer to say whether I have been "guilty of an 
 artifice and an unfairness," in quoting Dr. Priestley, and whether he has not 
 lacked his usual moderation and charity, in bringing against me so serious a 
 charge. 
 
 
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