BX  5455   .W5  v. 9 
 WhatelY,  Richard, 
 Essays   . . 
 
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 tine  Internet  Arcliive 
 
 in  2015 
 
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ESSAYS 
 
 [THIRD  SERIES] 
 
 ON  THE 
 
 ERRORS   OF  ROMANISM, 
 
 HAVING  THEIR 
 
 ORIGIN  IN  HUMAN  NATURE. 
 
 RICHARD  WHATELY,  D.D. 
 
 ARCHBISHOP  OF  DUBLIN; 
 LATE  PRINCIPAL  OF  ST.   ALBAN'S  HALL,  OXFORD,  AND   FORMERLY  FELLOW 
 OF  ORIBL  COLLEGE. 
 
 "  The  thing  that  hath  been,  it  is  that  which  shall  be ;  and  that  which  is  done, 
 is  that  which  shall  be  done:  and  there  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun." — 
 Ecclex.  i.  9. 
 
 ....  yiyvofifva  jAv,  koI  ael  l(r6ixeva,  cais  S.u  'H  ATTH  <I>T2I2  AN- 
 ©PnnnN  fi,  f^aWou  ko!  ijavxalrfpa,  Koi  toij  ftSecrt  SirjWayfitva,  (is 
 av  eKa<rrai  al  iJLerafioKal  raiv  ^vvTvx'uy  ^^unavrai. — Thucyd.  I),  iii.  ch.  82. 
 
 SECOND  EDITION,  REVISED. 
 
 LONDON : 
 B.  FELLOWES,   LUDGATE  STREET. 
 1837. 
 
LONDON ; 
 
 CLAY,  PRINTER,  BREAD-STREF.T-IIILL. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Page 
 
 §  1.  Difficulty  of  rightly  estimating  the  temptations  of 
 
 those  far  removed  from  us   1 
 
 §  2.  Lessons  to  be  learned  from  the  example  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome,  p.  5;  errors  of  that  Church 
 gradual  and  imperceptible  in  their  rise   7 
 
 §  3.  Principal  Romish  errors  ;  Superstition,  p.  9  ;  fond- 
 ness for  speculative  mysteries,  p.  10 ;  and  for 
 vicarious  service  of  God,  p.  11  ;  sanction  given 
 to  deceit,  p.  12  ;  claim  to  infallibility,  p.  13; 
 persecution,  p.  14 ;  confidence  in  the  title  of 
 Catholic   15 
 
 §  4.  Danger  of  falling  into  corresponding  faults   16 
 
 ESSAY  I. 
 
 OF  SUPERSTITION. 
 
 §  1.  Apparent  strangeness  of  the  transgressions  of  the 
 
 Israelites   21 
 
 §  2.  Resemblance  between  the  superstitions  of  the  Israel- 
 ites and  of  the  Romanists,  p.  25  ;  definition  of 
 Superstition,  p.  28  ;  false  security  against  it    .  .  32 
 
 §  3.  Mischiefs  of  Superstition   35 
 
 §4.  Connexion  of  Superstition  with  profaneness  ....  41 
 §  5.  Occasions  of  Superstition    46 
 
iv  CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 §  6.  Superstitious  belief  in  miracles,  p.  50  ;  superstitions 
 connected  with  the  Eucharist,  p.  52 ;  with  Baptism, 
 
 p.  56;  with  Prayer,  p.  59;  with  rites  of  inter- 
 ment   67 
 
 §  7.  Cautions  to  be  used  against  the  inroads  of  Super- 
 stition   70 
 
 Note  A   76 
 
 Note  B   78 
 
 ESSAY  II. 
 OF  VICARIOUS  RELIGION. 
 §  I.  Character  of  Christian  Mysteries,  p.  81  ;  natural 
 tendency  to  set  up  two  kinds  of  religion ;  for 
 the  priests,  and  for  the  people,  p.  85  ;  speculative 
 
 theology  of  philosophizing  divines   87 
 
 §  2.  Real  origin  and  progress  of  priestcraft   94 
 
 §3.  Distinct  characters  of  Hiereus  and  Presbyteros  .  .  .  99 
 §  4.  Offices  of  the  Jewish  and  the  Pagan  Priests  ....  102 
 §  5.  Character  and  offices  of  Christian  Ministers   ....  107 
 §  6.  Mistakes  and  misrepresentations  arising  from  con- 
 founding the  two  offices  112 
 
 §  7.  Change  of  the  Christian  priesthood  in  the  unre- 
 
 formed  Churches  115 
 
 §  8.  Tendency  to  discountenance  the  education  of  the 
 poor,  p.  1 1 9 ;  mistakes  as  to  what  is  meant  by 
 embracing  Christianity,  p.  122 ;  and  as  to  the 
 
 relation  of  Pastors  and  Flocks  128 
 
 §  9.  Proneness  of  the  People  to  vicarious  religion  ....  129 
 §  10.  Professional  distinctions  between  Clergy  and  Laity, 
 
 how  far  desirable  132 
 
 §  11.  Mistakes  as  to  what  is  a  good  example  137 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 V 
 
 ESSAY  III. 
 OF  PIOUS  FRAUDS. 
 
 Page 
 
 §  1.  Deceit  employed  by  the  Jews  against  the  Christians  141 
 §  2.  Tendency  to  justify  frauds  employed  for  a  good  end  147 
 §  3.  Connexion  of  this  fault  with  the  one  treated  of  in 
 the  foregoing  Essay,  p.  151  ;  self-deceit  the  final 
 
 result  153 
 
 §  4.  Difficulty  of  appreciating  the  strength  of  the  temp- 
 tations to  falsehood  in  times  or  countries  remote 
 from  our  own,  p.  154  ;  importance  of  a  vivid  Ima- 
 gination, in  the  study  of  History  156 
 
 §  5.  Division  of  frauds  into  negative  and  positive  :  and 
 again,  into  falsehood  in  what  is  maintained,  and 
 
 in  the  reasons  by  which  it  is  maintained  161 
 
 §  6.  Illustrations  from  conceivable  cases  of  temptation  to 
 deceit ;  in  keeping  up  the  pretension  to  inspira- 
 
 tion, p.  164 ;  and  belief  in  the  divine  character  of 
 lots,  p.  166  ;  in  conniving  at  false  grounds  for  right 
 belief,  p.  168 ;  or  for  right  practice,  p.  169  ;  pre- 
 tended infallibility  of  our  version,  p.  172  ;  in  ad- 
 ministering groundless  consolations,  &c  174 
 
 §7.  Ultimate  inexpediency  of  fraud  181 
 
 ESSAY  IV. 
 
 OF  UNDUE  RELIANCE  ON  HUMAN  AUTHORITY. 
 
 §  1.  Claim  of  the  Romish  Church  to  infallibility,  not 
 originally  the  consequence  of  misinterpretation  of 
 Scripture-texts  182 
 
 §  2.  Reasonings  and  texts  of  Scripture  often  called  in  to 
 
 justify  practices  or  opinions  previously  subsisting  187 
 
vi 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 §3.  Natural  tendency  to  appeal  to  an  infallible  guide  .  .  197 
 
 §  4.  Presumption  in  favour  of  the  tenets  of  the  wise  and 
 
 good,  or  of  the  Catholic  Church  199 
 
 §  5.  Alleged  claim  of  infallibility  by  Protestant  Churches, 
 p.  204  ;  refuted,  p.  206  ;  ambiguity  of  the  word 
 "  authority,"  p.  208  ;  evil  consequences  of  the 
 claim  to  infallibility  209 
 
 §  6.  Danger  of  Protestants  on  this  point,  p.  213  ;  office  of 
 Churches  to  supply  what  the  sacred  writers  pur- 
 posely omitted,  p.  214  ;  reasons  for  the  omission  215 
 
 §  7.  Arguments  in  favour  of  an  habitual  appeal  to  human 
 formularies,  p.  220 ;  answered,  p.  221  ;  dangers 
 of  the  practice  228 
 
 §  8.  Temptations  to  set  up  a  virtual  claim  to  infallibility  236 
 
 ESSAY  V. 
 
 OF  PERSECUTION. 
 
 Men  responsible  to  God,  and  to  Him  alone,  for  the 
 rejection  of  divine  truth,  p.  243  ;  and  only  in  the 
 next  Hfe  244 
 
 Importance  of  right  principles  for  avoiding  the  two 
 errors,  of  intolerance,  and  indifference  249 
 
 Mistakes  as  to  what  constitutes  the  spirit  of  perse- 
 cution ;  which  does  not  consist  either  in  the  tenet 
 that  the  salvation  of  heretics  is  impossible,  p.  253 ; 
 or  in  maintaining  the  wrong  side,  p.  256  ;  or  in  ex- 
 cessive severity,  p.  257  ;  or  in  revengeful  motives, 
 p.  258 ;  or  in  punishing  opinions,  p.  26J  ;  or  in 
 actual  infliction  of  punishment  263 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 vii 
 
 Page 
 
 §  4.  How  heretics  are  to  be  treated,  conformably  with  the 
 character  of  Christ's  kingdom,  p.  266  ;  attempts  to 
 explain  away  his  declarations  and  precepts    .  .  .  268 
 
 §  6.  Blindness  of  many  reasoners  to  the  abstract  argu- 
 
 §  7.  Causes  of  the  greater  hostility  often  felt  against 
 infidels  and  heretics,  than  against  the  vicious, 
 p.  280 ;  comparative  unfrequency  of  avowed  in- 
 fidelity, p.  282 ;  support  derived  from  authority, 
 shaken,  p.  284 ;  personal  affront  to  the  Christian's 
 understanding,  implied  by  the  infidel,  p.  285  ; 
 suspicion  of  moral  corruption  as  biassing  the 
 infidel's  judgment  286 
 
 §  8.  Extent  and  influence  of  this  hostile  feeling  ....  287 
 §  9.  Reasons  for  believing  that  anti-christians  would  be 
 tempted  into  persecution,  p.  296 ;  true  Chris- 
 tianity the  only  effectual  security  against  it  .  .  .  302 
 §  10.  What  things  are  liable  to  be  falsely  regarded  as 
 necessarily  implying  intolerance  ;  refusing  to  ad- 
 mit, in  every  case,  the  plea  of  conscience,  p.  303 ; 
 union  of  civil  with  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  office, 
 p.  308  ;  requisition  of  a  certain  religious  persua- 
 sion as  a  condition  of  personal  friendship,  or  of 
 any  thing  to  which  there  existed  previously  no 
 claim  of  right,  p.  311  ;  defence  against  aggres- 
 sion, p.  318  ;  which  must  not  however  be  ex- 
 pected to  exempt  the  sincere  Christian  from 
 mortifying  opposition  321 
 
 §  5.  Scriptural  arguments  against  intolerance,  to  be  pre- 
 ferred for  popular  use   
 
 274 
 
 ments  against  it 
 
 278 
 
 Note  A, 
 
 324 
 
 Note  B. 
 
 327 
 
viii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ESSAY  VI. 
 
 OF  TRUST  IN  NAMES  AND  PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Page 
 
 §  1.  Disposition  of  the  ancient  Jews  to  rely  on  their 
 
 privileges  and  titles  331 
 
 §  2.  Tendency  to  the  same  fault  in  the  primitive  Chris- 
 tians  334 
 
 §  3.  Exemplification  of  the  universality  of  this  tendency, 
 
 from  the  Romish  Church  337 
 
 §  4.  Danger  of  a  corresponding  nature  exists  equally 
 
 among  Protestants  345 
 
 §  5.  Recapitulation  of  the  several  points  in  which  we  may 
 
 take  warning  from  the  example  of  the  Romanists,  348 
 
 §  6.  Cautions  to  be  used  in  guarding  against  undue  reli- 
 ance on  the  sanctity  of  the  Titles  we  bear,  and  the 
 Societies  we  belong  to  353 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [A.]  On  the  application  of  the  terra  Catholic  to  desig- 
 nate "a  member  of  the  Church  of  Rome"  ....  359 
 
 [B.]  On  "  Self-righteousness,"  and  Spiritual-pride,  p. 
 367  ;  "  Auricular  Confession,"  p.  380  ;  impos- 
 sibility of  framing  such  a  self-preserving  system, 
 as  shall  supersede  personal  vigilance   382 
 
Jf  Jti  A  JOl  £i 
 
 THSOLOGIGAL 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 §  1.  Men  are  apt,  not  only  in  what  regards  Difficulty  of 
 veligion,  but  in  respect  of  all  human  concerns,  the  tempfa- 
 
 tionsofthose 
 
 to  contemplate  the  faults  and  follies  of  a  distant  far  removed 
 
 from  us. 
 
 age  or  Country,  with  barren  wonder,  or  with 
 self-congratulating  contempt ;  while  they  over- 
 look, because  they  do  not  search  for,  perhaps 
 equal,  and  even  corresponding,  vices  and  absur- 
 dities in  their  own  conduct.  And  in  this  way 
 it  is  that  the  religious,  and  moral,  and  political, 
 lessons  which  history  may  be  made  to  furnish, 
 are  utterly  lost  to  the  generality  of  mankind. 
 Human  nature  is  always  and  every  where,  in  the 
 most  important  points,  substantially  the  same ; 
 circumstantially  and  externally,  men's  manners 
 and  conduct  are  infinitely  various,  in  various 
 times  and  regions.  If  the  former  were  not  true — 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 if  it  were  not  for  this  fundamental  agreement — 
 history  could  furnish  no  instruction  ;  if  the  latter 
 were  not  true — if  there  were  not  these  apparent 
 and  circumstantial  differences — hardly  any  one 
 could  fail  to  profit  by  that  instruction.  For  few 
 are  so  dull  as  not  to  learn  something  from  the 
 records  of  past  experience  in  cases  precisely 
 similar  to  their  own.  But  as  it  is,  much  candour 
 and  diligence  are  called  for  in  tracing  the  analogy 
 between  cases  which,  at  the  first  glance,  seem 
 very  different — in  observing  the  workings  of  the 
 same  human  nature  under  all  its  various  dis- 
 guises— in  recognizing,  as  it  were,  the  same 
 plant  in  different  stages  of  its  growth,  and  in  all 
 the  varieties  resulting  from  climate  and  culture, 
 soil  and  season. 
 
 But  to  any  one  who  will  employ  this  diligence 
 and  candour,  this  very  dissimilarity  of  circum- 
 stances renders  the  history  of  past  times  and 
 distant  countries,  even  the  more  instructive ; 
 because  it  is  easier  to  form  an  impartial  judg- 
 ment concerning  them.  The  only  difficulty  is 
 to  apply  that  judgment  to  the  cases  before  us. 
 In  contemplating  human  transactions,  the  law  of 
 optics  is  reversed ;  we  see  the  most  indistinctly 
 
Introduction. 
 
 3 
 
 the  objects  which  are  close  around  us  ;  we  view 
 them  through  the  discoloured  medium  of  our 
 own  prejudices  and  passions  ;  the  more  familiar 
 we  are  with  them,  the  less  truly  do  we  estimate 
 their  real  colours  and  dimensions.  Transactions 
 and  characters  the  most  unconnected  with  our- 
 selves— the  most  remote  from  all  that  presents 
 itself  in  our  own  times,  and  at  home,  appear 
 before  us  with  all  their  deformities  unveiled,  and 
 display  their  intrinsic  and  essential  qualities. 
 We  are  even  liable  to  attend  so  exclusively  to 
 this  intrinsic  and  abstract  character  of  remote 
 events,  as  to  make  too  little  allowance  (while  in 
 recent  cases  we  make  too  much)  for  the  circum- 
 stances in  which  the  agents  were  placed ;  and 
 thence  to  regard  as  instances  of  almost  incredible 
 folly  or  depravity,  things  not  fundamentally  very 
 different  from  what  is  passing  around  us. 
 
 And  as  the  law  of  optics  is  in  this  case 
 reversed,  our  procedure  must  be  reversed  ac- 
 cordingly. We  judge  of  the  nature  of  distant 
 objects,  by  an  examination  of  those  near  at 
 hand,  whose  similarity  to  the  others  we  have 
 ascertained.  So  also  must  we  on  the  contrary 
 learn  to  judge  impartially  of  our  own  conduct 
 b2 
 
4 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 and  character,  and  of  the  events  of  our  own 
 times,  by  finding  parallels  to  these  in  cases  the 
 most  remote  and  apparently  dissimilar ;  of  which, 
 for  that  reason,  our  views  are  the  most  distinct, 
 and  our  judgments  the  most  unbiassed ;  and 
 then,  conjecturing  what  a  wise  and  good  man, 
 ten  centuries  hence,  would  be  likely  to  pro- 
 nounce of  us. 
 
 The  errors  and  the  vices,  among  the  rest,  the 
 superstitions,  of  the  Israelites,  and  again  of  our 
 ancestors  before  the  Reformation,  did  not,  we 
 may  be  sure,  appear  to  them  in  the  same  light 
 that  they  now  do  to  us.  No  one  believes  his 
 own  opinions  to  be  erroneous,  or  his  own  prac- 
 tices superstitious ;  few  are  even  accustomed 
 to  ask  themselves,  "  Is  there  not  a  lie  in  my 
 right  hand  ?"  Since  therefore  our  predecessors 
 did  not  view  their  doctrines  and  practices  in  the 
 same  light  that  we  do,  this  should  lead  us,  not 
 to  regard  them  with  contemptuous  astonishment 
 and  boastful  exultation,  but  rather,  to  reflect 
 that,  like  them,  we  also  are  likely  to  form  a 
 wrong  estimate  of  what  is  around  us  and  fami- 
 liar to  our  minds  :  it  should  teach  us  to  make 
 use  of  the  examples  of  others,  not  for  the 
 
Introduction. 
 
 5 
 
 nourishment  of  pride,  but  for  the  detection  of 
 our  own  faults. 
 
 We  are  taught  that  Satan  "transformeth  him- 
 self into  an  angel  of  hght ;"  but  he  does  not  use 
 always  and  every  where  the  same  disguise ;  as 
 soon  as  one  is  seen  through,  he  is  ready  to 
 assume  another ;  and  it  is  in  vain  that  we  detect 
 the  artifice  which  has  done  its  work  on  other 
 men,  unless  we  are  on  our  guard  against  the 
 same  Tempter  under  some  new  transformation ; — 
 assuming  afresh  among  ourselves  the  appearance 
 of  some  angel  of  light. 
 
 §  2.  These  reflections  are  perhaps  the  more  Lessons  to 
 particularly  profitable  at  the  present  time,  on  from  the 
 
 example  of 
 
 account  of  the  especial  attention  which  has  of  the  Church 
 
 of  Rome. 
 
 late  been  directed  to  the  superstitions,  and  other 
 errors  and  corruptions,  of  the  Romish  Church. 
 Unless  such  principles  as  I  have  adverted  to  are 
 continually  present  to  the  mind,  the  more  our 
 thoughts  are,  by  frequent  discussion,  turned  to 
 the  errors  of  that  Church,  and  to  the  probability, 
 under  this  or  that  conjuncture  of  circumstances, 
 of  proselytes  joining  that  Church,  or  being 
 gained  over  from  it,  the  less  shall  we  be  on  our 
 
6 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 guard  against  the  spirit  of  Romanism  in  the 
 human  heart — against  similar  faults  in  some 
 different  shapes  ;  and  the  more  shall  we  be  apt 
 to  deem  every  danger  of  the  kind  effectually 
 escaped,  by  simply  keeping  out  of  the  pale  of 
 that  corrupt  Church. 
 
 It  is  indeed  in  all  cases  profitable  to  contem- 
 plate the  errors  of  other  men,  if  we  do  this  "  not 
 high-minded  but  fearful ;" — not  for  the  sake  of 
 uncharitable  triumph,  but  with  a  view  to  self- 
 examination  ;  even  as  the  Corinthians  were  ex- 
 horted by  their  Apostle  to  draw  instruction  from 
 the  backslidings  of  the  Israelites,  which  were 
 recorded,  he  says,  "  for  their  admonition,"  to  the 
 intent  that  they  might  not  fall  into  correspond- 
 ing sins,  and  that  "he  who  thought  he  stood 
 might  take  heed  lest  he  fell."  In  all  cases,  I 
 say,  some  benefit  may  be  derived  from  such  a 
 contemplation  of  the  faults  of  others ;  but  the 
 errors  of  the  Romanists,  if  examined  with  a 
 view  to  our  own  improvement,  will  the  more 
 effectually  furnish  this  instruction,  inasmuch  as 
 those  errors  more  especially,  will  be  found  to 
 be  the  natural  and  spontaneous  growth  of  the 
 human  heart ;  they  are  (as  I  have  elsewhere 
 
Introduction. 
 
 7 
 
 remarked)  not  so  much  the  effect,  as  the  cause, 
 of  a  corrupted  religious  system. 
 
 The  pecuhar  character  of  Romanism  (and 
 also  of  the  rehgion  of  the  Greek  Church)  in  this 
 respect,  will  be  best  perceived  by  contrasting 
 it  with  Mahometism.  This  latter  system  was 
 framed,  and  introduced,  and  established,  within 
 a  very  short  space  of  time,  by  a  deliberately- 
 designing  impostor ;  who  did  indeed  most  artfully 
 accommodate  that  system  to  man's  nature,  but 
 did  not  wait  for  the  gradual  and  spontaneous 
 operations  of  human  nature  to  produce  it.  He 
 reared  at  once  the  standard  of  proselytism,  and 
 imposed  on  his  followers  a  code  of  doctrines  and 
 laws  ready-framed  for  their  reception.  The  tree 
 which  he  planted  did  indeed  find  a  congenial 
 soil ;  but  he  planted  it  at  once,  with  its  trunk 
 
 full-formed  and  its  branches  displayed.     The  Corruptions 
 
 of  Chris- 
 Romish  system,  on  the  contrary,  rose  insensibly  ''^"^ty^ 
 
 like  a  young  plant  from  the  seed,  making  a  pro-  " 
 
 gress  scarcely  perceptible  from  year  to  year,  till 
 
 at  length  it  had  fixed  its  root  deeply  in  the  soil, 
 
 and  spread  its  baneful  shade  far  around. 
 
 Infecunda  quidem,  sed  Iseta  et  fortia  surgunt ; 
 Cluippe  solo  naiura  subest ; 
 
8 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 it  was  the  natural  oftspring  of  man's  frail  and  cor- 
 rupt character,  and  it  needed  no  sedulous  culture. 
 No  one  accordingly  can  point  out  any  precise 
 period  at  which  this  "  mystery  of  iniquity " — 
 the  system  of  Romish  and  Grecian  corruptions — 
 first  began,  or  specify  any  person  who  intro- 
 duced it.    No  one  in  fact  ever  did  introduce  any 
 such  system.     The  corruptions  crept  in  one  by 
 one  ;  originating  for  the  most  part  with  an  ig- 
 norant and  depraved  people,  but  connived  at, 
 cherished,  consecrated,  and  successively  esta- 
 blished, by  a  debased  and  worldly-minded  ministry ; 
 and  modified  by  them  just  so  far  as  might  best 
 favour  the  views  of  their  secular  ambition.  But 
 the  system  thus  gradually  compacted,  was  not 
 the  deliberate  contrivance  of  any  one  man  or 
 set  of  men,  adepts  in  priestcraft,  and  foreseeing 
 and  designing  the  entire  result.   The  corruptions 
 of  the  unreformed  Church  were  the  natural  off"- 
 spring  of  human  passions,  not  checked  and  regu- 
 lated by  those  who  ought  to  have  been  ministers 
 of  the  Gospel,  but  who,  on  the  contrary,  were 
 ever  ready  to  indulge  and  encourage  men's 
 weakness  and  wickedness,  provided  they  could 
 turn  it  to  their  own  advantage.    The  good  seed 
 
Introduction. 
 
 9 
 
 "  fell  among  thorns ;"  which,  being  fostered  by 
 those  who  should  have  been  occupied  in  rooting 
 them  out,  not  only  "sprang  up  with  it,"  but 
 finally  choked  and  overpowered  it. 
 
 §  3.  The  character  accordingly  of  the  Romish  Supersti- 
 corruptions  (and  those  of  the  Greek,  and'  of 
 several  Eastern  Churches,  do  not  materially 
 differ  from  these)  is  precisely  such  as  the  history 
 of  that  Church  would  lead  us  to  anticipate. 
 
 I.  One  of  the  greatest  blemishes,  for  instance, 
 in  the  Church  of  Rome,  is  that  which  I  have 
 already  alluded  to,  superstitious  worship ;  a  fault 
 which  every  one  must  acknowledge  to  be  the 
 spontaneous  and  every-where-abundant  produce 
 of  the  corrupt  soil  of  man's  heart.  The  greater 
 part  indeed  of  the  errors  of  Romanism,  which 
 I  shall  hereafter  notice  under  separate  heads, 
 may  be  considered  as  so  many  branches  of 
 Superstition,  or  at  least  inseparably  con- 
 nected with  it;  but  there  are  besides,  many 
 superstitions  more  strictly  so  called,  with  which 
 that  system  is  justly  chargeable ;  such  as 
 invocation  of  saints,  and  adoration  of  images 
 and  reUcs ;   corresponding  to  that  idolatrous 
 
10 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 practice  which  King  Hezekiah  so  piously  and 
 boldly  suppressed. 
 Specula-        II.  The  desire  again  of  prying  into  mysteries 
 
 tive  myste- 
 ries,       relative  to  the  invisible  world,  but  which  have  no 
 
 connection  with  practice,  is  another  characteristic 
 of  human  nature,  (on  which  I  have  elsewhere  of- 
 fered some  remarks,'')  and  one  to  which  may  be 
 traced  the  immense  mass  of  presumptuous  specu- 
 lations about  things  unrevealed,  respecting  God 
 and  his  designs,  and  of  idle  legends  of  various 
 kinds  respecting  wonder-working  saints,  which 
 have  disgraced  the  Romish  Church.  The  sanc- 
 tion afforded  to  these,  by  persons  who  did  not 
 themselves  believe  them,  is  a  fault  referable  to 
 another  head,  (to  be  mentioned  subsequently,) 
 as  springing  from  a  dishonest  pursuit  of  the  ex- 
 pedient rather  than  the  true :  but  it  is  probable 
 that  the  far  greater  part  of  such  idle  tales  had 
 not  their  origin  in  any  deep  and  politic  contriv- 
 ance, but  in  men's  natural  passion  for  what  is 
 marvellous,  and  readiness  to  cater  for  that  pas- 
 sion in  each  other  ; — in  the  universal  fondness  of 
 the  human  mind  for  speculative  knowledge  re- 
 specting things  curious  and  things  hidden,  rather 
 
 "  Essay  IV.  First  Series. 
 
Introduction. 
 
 11 
 
 than  (what  alone  the  Scriptures  supply)  practical 
 knowledge  respecting  things  which  have  a  refer- 
 ence to  our  wants. 
 
 Equally  natural  to  man,  and  closely  connected,  vicarious 
 
 piety. 
 
 as  will  hereafter  be  shown,  with  the  error  just 
 mentioned,  is  the  disposition  to  trust  in  vicarious 
 worship  and  obedience — the  desire  and  hope  of 
 transferring  from  one  man  to  another  the  merit 
 of  good  works,  and  the  benefit  of  devotional 
 exercises  ;  so  as  to  enable  the  mass  of  the  people 
 to  serve  God,  as  it  were,  by  proxy.  On  this 
 point  I  have  elsewhere  offered  some  remarks, 
 (which  are  expanded  and  followed  up  in  the  pre- 
 sent work,)  with  a  view  to  shew  that  it  is  the 
 main  cause,  rather  than  the  consequence,  of  the 
 whole  system  of  priestcraft;  one  of  the  great 
 features  of  which  is,  the  change  of  the  very  office 
 of  the  Christian  Priest,  Presbyteros,  into  that  of 
 the  Jewish  or  Pagan  Priest,  in  the  other  sense  of 
 the  word,  answering  to  Hiereus.  I  observed  that 
 the  people  were  very  easily  deceived  in  this  point, 
 because  they  were  eagerly  craving  for  deception  ; 
 — that  the  same  disposition  had  manifested  itself 
 
 In  the  last  of  Five  Discourses  delivered  before  the 
 University,  and  subsequently  published. 
 
12 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 no  less  strongly  among  the  Pagan  nations  ; — and 
 that  the  same  tendency  is,  and  ever  will  be, 
 breaking  out  in  one  shape  or  another,  among 
 Protestants,  and  in  every  form  of  religion. 
 Pious  III.  No  less  characteristic  of  the  natural  man, 
 
 is,  a  vicious  preference  of  supposed  expediency, 
 to  truth  :  and  a  consequent  readiness  to  employ 
 false  reasons  for  satisfying  the  minds  of  the 
 people ; — to  connive  at,  or  foster,  supposed  salu- 
 tary or  innocent  delusions;  whence  arose  the 
 sanction  given  to  all  the  monstrous  train  of  pious 
 frauds,  legendary  tales,  and  lying  miracles,  for 
 which  the  unreformed  Churches  have  been  so 
 justly  stigmatized.  And  as  it  is  notorious  that 
 the  ancient  lawgivers  and  philosophers  encou- 
 raged (for  political  purposes)  a  belief  in  the 
 mythological  fables  which  they  themselves  (dis- 
 believed, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  disposi- 
 tion also  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  the  Church  of 
 Rome  as  its  cause,  but  that  that  Church  merely 
 furnishes  one  set  of  instances  of  its  effects ;  and 
 that  consequently  an  earnest  watchfulness  against 
 those  effects,  is  to  be  inculcated  not  merely  on 
 such  as  may  be  in  danger  of  being  misled  into 
 Romanism,  but  on  every  descendant  of  Adam. 
 
Introduction. 
 
 13 
 
 IV.  Again,  no  one  perhaps  of  the  errors  of  the  ciaimof 
 
 °  r         f  infallibility. 
 
 Romish  Church  has  exposed  her  to  greater  cen- 
 sure, or  has  been  productive  of  more  mischievous 
 results,  than  the  claim  to  infallibility ; — the  in- 
 vesting, without  any  sufficient  grounds,  weak 
 and  fallible  men  with  an  attribute  of  Deity. 
 Now  the  ready  acquiescence  in  such  an  extrava- 
 gant claim  (which  never  could  have  been  main- 
 tained had  not  men  been  found  thus  ready  to 
 acquiesce  in  it)  may  easily  be  traced  to  the  princi- 
 ples of  our  corrupt  nature; — to  that  indolence  in 
 investigation,  indifference  about  truth,"  and  ready 
 acquiescence  in  what  is  put  before  us,  of  which 
 the  Greek  historian  complained  long  before  the 
 Christian  era  ;  and  to  that  dislike  of  suspense — 
 and  consequent  willingness  to  make  a  short  and 
 final  appeal  to  some  authority  which  should  be 
 regarded  as  decisive,  with  a  view  to  quash  dis- 
 putes, and  save  the  labour  of  inquiry.  That  such 
 a  disposition  is  not  at  least  peculiar  to  the  vota- 
 ries of  the  religion  of  Rome,  or  confined  even  to 
 religious  subjects,  is  evident,  from  the  appeals  of 
 pretended  students  in  philosophy  to  the  decisions 
 
 'AraXraVwpoe  roiq  iroXXo'ie  >;  i^i'iTrfmc  Tr/r  ciXfidtiaQ,  icm  iiri 
 rd  trnifia  paXXoi'  rpfVoiTOi.  Thucyd. 
 
14 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 of  Pythagoras,  and  subsequently  of  Aristotle,  as 
 precluding  all  further  dispute  or  doubt.  It  is  for 
 Protestants  therefore  to  remember,  that  they  are 
 not  secured  by  the  mere  circumstance  of  their 
 being  such,  from  all  danger  of  indulging  this  dis- 
 position. There  is  indeed  no  danger  of  their 
 appealing  to  the  Church  of  Rome  as  an  infallible 
 authority  to  put  a  stop  to  all  discussion ;  but 
 the  removal  of  that  particular  danger,  should  only 
 put  us  the  more  on  our  guard  against  the  same 
 fault  (as  it  is  a  fault  of  our  common  nature) 
 breaking  out  in  some  new  shape. 
 Spirit  of       V.  One  of  the  heaviest  of  the  charges  com- 
 
 perseculion.  .  ^       t%        •  ^ 
 
 monly  brought  agamst  the  Komish  Church  may 
 be  added  to  those  already  alluded  to — the  spirit 
 of  Persecution ;  which  is  as  far  as  any  of  her 
 other  enormities  from  being  peculiar  to  that 
 Church,  or  even  to  the  case  of  religion  :  witness, 
 among  many  other  instances,  the  furious  and  bit- 
 ter spirit  shewn  by  the  Nominalists  and  Realists 
 in  their  contests  concerning  abstruse  points  of 
 metaphysics.  The  Romish  system  did  not  pro- 
 perly introduce  intolerance,  but  rather,  it  was 
 intolerance  that  introduced  and  estabhshed  the 
 system  of  Romanism  ;  and  that  (in  another  part 
 
Introduction. 
 
 15 
 
 of  the  world)  no  less  successfully  called  in  the 
 sword  for  the  establishment  of  Mahometism.  So 
 congenial  indeed  to  "  the  natural  Man"  is  the 
 resort  to  force  for  the  establishment  of  one  sys- 
 tem of  doctrines  and  the  suppression  of  another, 
 that  we  find  many  of  the  Reformers,  after  they 
 had  clearly  perceived  nearly  all  the  other  errors 
 in  which  they  had  been  brought  up,  yet  enter- 
 taining no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  right,  and  the 
 duty,  of  maintaining  religious  truth  by  coercive 
 means. 
 
 VI.  Another  tendency,  as  conspicuous  as  Confidence 
 those  above  mentioned  in  the  Romish  Church, 
 and,  like  its  other  errors,  by  no  means  confined 
 to  that  Church,  is  the  confident  security  with 
 which  the  Catholics,  as  they  call  themselves,'^ 
 trust  in  that  name,  as  denoting  their  being  mem- 
 bers of  that  sacred  Body,  the  only  true  Church, 
 whose  holy  character  and  title  to  divine  favour 
 they  seem  to  consider  as  a  kind  of  common  pro- 
 perty, and  a  safeguard  to  all  her  members  :  even 
 as  the  Jews  of  old  "  said  within  themselves.  We  . 
 
 <i  See  Appendix  A,  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  on  the  title 
 of  Catholic. 
 
16 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 are  Abraham's  children ;"  flattering  themselves 
 that  on  that  ground,  however  little  they  might 
 resemble  Abraham  in  faith  and  in  works,  God 
 would  surely  never  cast  them  oif.  This  error  is 
 manifestly  common  to  the  Romanists  with  those 
 who  put  the  same  kind  of  trust  in  the  name  of 
 Protestant,  or  of  Christian ;  and  who  regard 
 their  connection  with  a  holy  and  spiritually- 
 endowed  Community,  rather  as  a  substitute  for 
 personal  hohness,  than  as  a  motive  for  aiming 
 at  a  still  higher  degree  of  it,  and  a  privilege  in- 
 volving a  higher  responsibility. 
 
 Danger  of  §  4.  lu  treating  of  all  these  points,  I  shall 
 adhere  to  the  plan  hitherto  pursued,  viz.  of  con- 
 templating the  errors  of  the  Romanists,  not  with 
 a  view  to  our  own  justification  in  withdrawing 
 from  their  communion ;  nor  again,  for  the  sake 
 of  guarding  against  the  danger  of  being  seduced 
 by  their  arguments,  (important  as  these  objects 
 may  be ;)  but  with  a  view  to  what  I  cannot  but 
 regard  as  the  much  greater  danger,  of  falling  into 
 corresponding  errors  to  theirs — of  being  taken 
 captive  by  the  same  temptations  under  different 
 forms — of  overlooking,  in  practice,  the  important 
 
Introduction. 
 
 17 
 
 truth,  that  the  spirit  of  Romanism  is  substantially 
 the  spirit  of  Human  Nature. 
 
 We  are  all  of  us  in  these  days  likely  to  hear  and 
 to  read  most  copious  discussions  of  the  tenets  and 
 practices  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Whatever  may 
 be  the  views  of  each  of  my  readers  respecting  the 
 political  question  which  has  chiefly  given  rise 
 to  these  discussions,  (a  question  which,  like  all 
 others  of  a  political  character,  I  have  always 
 thought  had  better  be  waived  in  theological 
 works,)  I  would  suggest  these  reflections  as  pro- 
 fitable to  be  kept  in  view  by  all,  while  occupied 
 with  such  discussions  :  how  far  we  are  pure  from 
 Romish  errors  in  another  shape; — from  what 
 quarters,  and  under  what  disguises,  we  are  hable 
 to  be  again  assailed  by  temptations,  substan- 
 tially, though  not  externally,  the  same  with 
 those  which  seduced  into  such  accumulated 
 corruptions  our  ancestors  in  the  darkest  ages  of 
 our  Church ; — and  how  we  may  best  guard 
 against  the  spirit  of  Superstition,  (of  which,  be  it 
 remembered,  none,  even  the  most  superstitious, 
 ever  suspect  themselves) — the  spirit  of  Persecu- 
 tion—the spirit  of  Insincerity,  of  Fraud,  and  of 
 Indifference  to  truth,~in  short,  all  those  evil 
 c 
 
18 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 propensities  which  are  fitly  characterized  in  one 
 word  as  the  spirit  of  Romanism.  All  these 
 dangers,  as  they  did  not  begin  with  the  Romish 
 system,  cannot  be  expected  to  end  with  it :  they 
 emanate  not  from  that  corrupt  Church,  but  from 
 the  corruption  of  our  common  nature  ;  and  none 
 consequently  are  more  open  to  them,  than  those 
 who  are  disposed  to  think  themselves  secured  by 
 merely  keeping  out  of  the  pale  of  that  Church, 
 and  inveighing  against  her  enormities.^ 
 
 Such  a  false  security  indeed  is  itself  one  of  the 
 worst  of  the  Romish  errors ;  that  of  mistaking 
 names  for  things,  and  trusting  in  a  specious  title, 
 without  enquiring  how  far  we  possess  the  cha- 
 racter which  that  title  implies.  "  He  is  not  a 
 Jew,"  says  Paul,  "  who  is  one  outwardly,  neither 
 is  that  circumcision  which  is  outward  in  the 
 flesh ;  but  he  is  a  Jew  who  is  one  inwardly ; 
 and  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the 
 
 *SA  pamphlet  entitled  *'  an  Epistle  from  the  Pope  to  some 
 /Members  of  the  University  of  Oxford,"  contains  much  valuable 
 matter  in  reference  to  the  present  subject.  Though  in  an 
 ironical  form,  it  exhibits  sound  learning  and  just  reasoning, 
 combined  with  a  thoroughly  Christian  spirit ;  and  may  be 
 characterized  as  an  eminently  useful  "  Tract  for  the  times." 
 
Introduction. 
 
 19 
 
 spirit  and  not  in  the  letter ,  whose  praise  is  not 
 of  men,  but  of  God."  It  is  for  us  therefore  ever 
 to  remember,  (for  thus  only  can  we  turn  to  ac- 
 count the  apostle's  admonition)  thai  as  that  man 
 was  not,  in  the  sight  of  God,  a  Jew,  to  any 
 profitable  purpose  for  hiutself,  but  rather  to 
 his  aggravated  condemnation,  who  was  only 
 outwardly  a  Jew ;  so  neither,  by  parity  of  rea- 
 soning, is  he,  in  God's  sight,  a  Christian — a 
 "Catholic  Christian" — a  "Protestant" — a  "Re- 
 formed" Christian — who  is  one  outwardly ;  but 
 he  who  is  reformer)  inwardly- -whose  heart  is 
 Christian— and  who  protests  not  with  his  lips 
 only,  but  in  his  life— "in  the  spirit  and  not  in 
 the  letter" — against  such  depravation  of  Gospel- 
 truth,  and  departure  from  Gospel-holiness,  as  he 
 censures  in  his  erring  brethren. 
 
 In  the  following  pages  therefore  it  is  my  de 
 sign  (as  I  wish  to  declare  once  for  all)  not  to 
 bestow  either  censure  or  commendation  on  any 
 individuals  as  belonging  to  any  particular  com- 
 munity, but  so  far  only  as  they  maintain  and 
 exemplify  the  principles  treated  of.  As  far  as 
 any  persons,  of  whatever  Church  they  may  be 
 members,  may  in  practice  abandon  or  modify 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 any  errors  that  have  prevailed  in  their  Church, 
 so  far,  I  would  be  understood  to  withdraw  or  to 
 quahfy,  in  reference  to  them,  the  censure  passed 
 on  persons  guilty  of  those  errors.  And  again, 
 as  far  as  any  one  may  adopt  erroneous  views  or 
 practices,  at  variance  with  the  original  principles 
 of  his  Church,  so  far,  even  though  he  may 
 retain  the  original  designation,  the  approbation 
 bestowed  on  those  principles  ceases  to  be  appli- 
 cable to  him. 
 
THSOLOGlOilL. 
 
 ESSAY  I. 
 
 SUPERSTITION. 
 
 §  1.  There  are  few  things  probably  that  ap- ^ 
 pear  at  the  first  sflance  more  stransre  to  a  reader  sions  of  the 
 
 ^  *  °  Israelites  at 
 
 of  the  Old  Testament,  than  the  frequent  lapses  ^'s'" 
 
 *  uiiaccount- 
 
 of  the  Israehtes  into  idolatrous  and  other  su- 
 perstitious  practices; — the  encouragement  or 
 connivance  often  granted  to  these  by  such  of 
 the  rulers  as  were  by  no  means  altogether  desti- 
 tute of  piety  towards  the  Lord  ; — and  the  warm 
 commendations  which  are  accordingly  bestowed 
 on  such  of  their  kings  as  avoided  and  repressed 
 these  offences.  Their  Law  had  been  dehvered 
 and  its  authority  maintained  with  such  strik- 
 ingly awful  solemnity,  and  its  directions  were  so 
 precise  and  minute,  that  a  strict  conformity  to 
 it  appears,  to  us,  hardly  to  amount  to  a  virtue, 
 and  the  violation  of  it,  to  an  almost  incredible 
 
22 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 [essay  I. 
 
 infatuation.  It  is  not  without  a  considerable 
 mental  effort  that  we  can  so  far  transport  our- 
 selves into  the  situation  of  persons  living  in  so 
 very  different  a  condition  of  society  from  our 
 own,  as  to  estimate  duly  the  nature  and  the  force 
 of  the  temptations  to  which  they  were  exposed, 
 to  make  fair  allowance  for  their  backslidings, 
 and  to  bestow  adequate  applause  on  those  of 
 them  who  adhered  stedfastly  to  the  Divine  com- 
 mands. 
 
 The  conduct  of  Hezekiah,  for  instance,  who 
 "  removed  the  high-places,  and  brake  the  images, 
 and  cut  down  the  groves,  and  brake  in  pieces  the 
 brazen  serpent  that  Moses  had  made  ;  (for  unto 
 those  days  the  children  of  Israel  did  burn  in- 
 cense to  it ;)"  is  likely  perhaps  to  strike  some 
 readers  as  so  far  from  being  any  heroic  effort  of 
 virtue,  that  the  chief  wonder  is,  how  his  pre- 
 decessors and  their  subjects  could  have  been  so 
 strangely  remiss  and  disobedient,  as  to  leave 
 him  so  much  to  do.  Things  however  being 
 in  such  a  state,  the  duty  of  remedying  at  once 
 the  abuses  which  had  grown  up,  is  apt  to  strike 
 us,  at  first  sight,  as  so  very  obvious  and  impe- 
 rative, that  we  are  hardly  disposed  to  give  him 
 
SECT.  1.]  Superstition. 
 
 23 
 
 due  praise  for  fulfilling  it  But  the  more  atten- 
 tively we  consider  the  times  in  which  he  hved, 
 and  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  he  be- 
 gan his  reign — the  successor  of  an  idolatrous 
 prince,  and  reigning  over  an  idolatrous  people — 
 the  higher  admiration  we  shall  feel  for  his  ex- 
 emplary obedience  to  the  divine  law. 
 
 It  should  be  remembered,  that  not  only  the  Seeming 
 avowed  violators  of  the  first  Commandment,  but  nTze^kLir^s 
 those  also,  who,  though  they  transgressed  the 
 second,  yet  professed  themselves  the  worship- 
 pers of  Jehovah  exclusively,  would  be  likely 
 to  tax  with  impiety  that  unsparing  reform  of 
 abuses,  which  even  those  former  kings,  who  are 
 described  as  "  doing  that  which  was  right  in 
 the  sight  of  the  Lord,"  had  yet  not  ventured  to 
 undertake.  Indeed  his  enemy  Sennacherib  re- 
 proaches him  on  this  very  ground  :  "  if  ye  say. 
 We  trust  in  the  Lord  our  God,  is  not  that  He 
 whose  high-places  and  whose  altars  Hezekiah 
 hath  taken  away?" 
 
 But  many,  even  of  those  who  perhaps  en- 
 dured his  putting  a  stop  to  the  irregular  and 
 unauthorized  worship  of  Jehovah  in  those  high- 
 places,  might  yet  be  scandalized  at  his  venturing 
 
24 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 [essay  I- 
 
 to  destroy  ''the  Brazen  Serpent;"  an  emblem 
 framed  originally  by  Divine  command,  and 
 which  had  been  the  appointed  and  supernatural 
 means  of  a  miraculous  deliverance.  If  such  a 
 relic  were  even  now  in  existence,  and  its  iden- 
 tity indisputable,  it  would  not  be  contemplated, 
 by  any  believer  in  the  Mosaic  history,  without 
 some  degree  of  veneration.  How  much  stronger 
 would  that  veneration  be  in  the  mind  of  an 
 Israelite,  and  of  one  in  that  ignorant  and  semi- 
 barbarous  age  !  Yet  one  of  these  was  found 
 sufficiently  enlightened  to  estimate  the  evil,  and 
 bold  enough  to  use  the  effectual  remedy.  The 
 king  is  not  content  to  forbid  this  idolatrous  use 
 of  the  image,  or  even  to  seclude  it  carefully 
 from  the  public  gaze ;  it  had  been  an  occasion 
 of  superstition,  and  he  "  brake  it  in  pieces 
 applying  to  it  at  the  same  time  the  contemp- 
 tuous appellation  of  "piece  of  brass,"^  in  order 
 to  destroy  more  completely  that  reverence  which 
 had  degenerated  into  a  sin. 
 
 §  2.  In  order  to  profit  as  we  may  and  ought, 
 from  the  lesson  here  presented  to  us,  we  must 
 ^  "  He  called  it  Nehushtan."  2  Kings  xviii.  4. 
 
SECT.  2,]  Superstition.  25 
 
 consider  how  far  it  is  applicable  to  later  times  : 
 we  must  look  out  for  the  manifestation  among 
 Christians  of  a  tendency  to  various  errors, — 
 superstitious  worship  among  the  rest, — corre- 
 sponding to  those  of  the  Israelites.  Many  of  the 
 practices  of  the  unreformed  churches  bear  a 
 strong  resemblance  to  those  of  the  idolatrous 
 Israelites.  In  particular,  their  veneration  for 
 the  wood  of  the  supposed  true  Cross,  has  a  cor- 
 respondence approaching  to  identity,  with  the 
 veneration  of  the  Israelites  for  the  brazen  serpent 
 which  Hezekiah  destroyed  ;  only  that  the  more 
 ancient  superstition  was  one  degree  less  irra- 
 tional; inasmuch  as  the  image  was  that  which 
 had  itself  been  a  more  immediate  instrument  of 
 a  miraculous  deliverance  ;  whereas  what  typically 
 corresponds  to  it  in  the  Christian  dispensation, 
 is  (as  our  Lord  himself  points  out)  not  the  cross 
 on  which  He  suffered,  but  the  very  person  of  the 
 suffering  Redeemer. 
 
 The  Romanists,  in  paying  worship  not  only  to 
 images  and  relics,  but  also  to  saints,  are  guilty 
 of  both  those  kinds  of  superstition,  the  unsparing 
 suppression  of  both  of  which,  constitutes  the 
 distinguished  and  peculiar  merit  of  that  upright 
 
26 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 and  zealous  prince,  Hezekiah.  He  was  not 
 satisfied,  like  many  other  kings,  with  putting 
 down  that  branch  of  superstition  which  involves 
 the  breach  of  the  first  Commandment— the  setting 
 up  of  false  gods ;  but  was  equally  decisive  in 
 his  reprobation  of  the  other  branch  also — the 
 worship  of  the  true  God  by  the  medium  of 
 prohibited  emblems,  and  with  unauthorized  and 
 superstitious  rites.  Of  these  two  kinds  of  super- 
 stition, the  latter  is  continually  liable,  in  prac- 
 tice, to  slide  into  the  former,  by  such  insensible 
 degrees,  that  it  is  often  hard  to  decide,  in  par- 
 ticular cases,  where  the  breach  of  the  second 
 Commandment  ends,  and  that  of  the  first  begins. 
 The  distinction  is  not  however  for  that  reason 
 useless  ;  perhaps  it  is  even  the  more  useful  on 
 that  very  account,  and  was  for  that  reason  pre- 
 served, in  those  two  Commandments  ;  of  which 
 the  second  serves  as  a  kind  of  outwork  to  the 
 first,  to  guard  against  all  gradual  approaches  to 
 a  violation  of  it — to  keep  men  at  a  distance 
 from  the  danger  of  infringing  the  majesty  of  the 
 "jealous  God." 
 
 Accordingly,  besides  the  numerous  warnings 
 which  Moses  gives  the  Israelites  against  being 
 
SECT.  2.]  Superstition. 
 
 11 
 
 seduced  into  worshipping  the  false  gods  of  the 
 nations  of  Canaan,  he  also  cautions  them,  not 
 to  imitate  in  their  worship  of  the  Lord,  the 
 superstitious  rites  used  by  the  heathen  in  the 
 service  of  their  deities.  They  are  forbidden  to 
 inquire,  "  How  did  these  nations  serve  their 
 gods  ?"  and  to  say,  "  Even  so  will  I  do  likewise. 
 Thou  shalt  not  do  so  unto  the  Lord  thy  God." 
 
 Both  injunctions  the  Israelites  frequently  vio-  Second 
 
 Command- 
 
 lated  ;  many  of  them,  while  they  observed  the  ment 
 
 violated  by 
 
 first  Commandment  in  abstaining  from  the  wor- some  who 
 
 observed 
 
 ship  of  Baal  and  the  other  gods  of  the  heathen,  tiie  first, 
 infringing  nevertheless  the  second,  by  their  use 
 of  images  :  of  which  we  have  an  instance  in  the 
 case  of  Jeroboam  "  who  made  Israel  to  sin ;" 
 the  golden  calves  which  he  set  up  being  clearly 
 designed  as  emblematical  representations  of  the 
 true  God :  for  he  said,  "  These  be  thy  gods,  O 
 Israel,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
 Egypt"  This  was  emphatically  called  "  the  sin 
 of  Jeroboam  ;"  and  the  distinction  above  alluded 
 to  is  noticed  in  the  case  (to  omit  numberless 
 others)  of  Jehu  ;  "  thus  Jehu  destroyed  Baal 
 out  of  Israel :  howbeit  from  the  sins  of  Jero- 
 boam the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to 
 
28  Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 sin,  Jehu  departed  not  from  after  them,  to  wit, 
 the  golden  calves  that  were  in  Bethel,  and  that 
 were  in  Dan." 
 
 And  we  find  also  numerous  instances  (besides 
 this  direct  violation  of  the  second  Commandment) 
 of  the  introduction  of  unauthorized  and  super- 
 stitious rites  in  the  worship  of  the  true  God. 
 
 This  two-fold  division  of  Superstition  I  have 
 the  more  strongly  dwelt  on,  both  because  it  is 
 frequently  overlooked,  and  because  inattention  to 
 it  is  likely  to  lead  to  dangerous  consequences. 
 Characterof  ^  would  not  howevcr  be  understood  as  con- 
 tion!"'"  tending  for  any  arbitrary  and  unusual  signifi- 
 cation of  the  word  ;  but  I  conceive,  that  by 
 Superstition  is  commonly  understood,  not,  as  a 
 popular  though  superficial  writer  has  defined  it, 
 "  an  excess  of  religion,"  (at  least  in  the  ordinary- 
 sense  of  the  word  excess,)  as  if  any  one  could 
 have  too  much  of  true  religion,  but,  any  misdirec- 
 tion of  religious  feeling  ;  manifested  either  in 
 shewing  religious  veneration  or  regard  to  objects 
 which  deserve  none  ;  i.  e.  properly  speaking,  the 
 worship  of  false  gods  ;  or,  in  the  assignment  of 
 such  a  degree,  or  such  a  kind,  of  religious  venera- 
 tion to  any  object,  as  that  object,  though  worthy 
 
SECT.  2.]  Superstition. 
 
 29 
 
 of  some  reverence,  does  not  deserve  ;  or  in  the 
 worship  of  the  true  God  through  the  medium  of 
 improper  ceremonies  or  symbols. 
 
 This  latter  branch  of  superstition  is  extremely 
 liable,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  to  degenerate 
 insensibly  into  the  former.  The  Israelite,  e.  g. 
 who  was  accustomed  to  worship  Jehovah  through 
 the  medium  of  a  sensible  image,  would  be  very 
 likely,  in  time,  to  transfer  a  larger  and  larger 
 portion  of  his  adoration  to  the  image  itself ;  and 
 in  proportion  as  he  annexed  to  it  any  idea  of 
 especial  sanctity,  he  would  be,  insensibly,  more 
 and  more  falling  into  the  error  of  adoring  an 
 image,  in  the  only  sense  in  which  it  is  conceiv- 
 able that  an  image  can  be  adored. 
 
 In  avowing  my  conviction  that  this  is  the  case 
 with  a  large  proportion  of  the  members  of  the 
 Romish  Church,  and  that  these  are  consequently 
 most  decidedly  chargeable  with  that  species  of 
 the  sin  of  Idolatry,  I  am  aware  that  I  run 
 counter  to  the  opinions  (I  might  rather  perhaps 
 say  to  the  expressions)  of  some  enlightened 
 Protestants.  But  these,  I  conceive,  are  not  so 
 much  mistaken  in  their  judgment,  as  inaccurate 
 in  their  language.    It  is  said,  e.  g.  that  when 
 
30  Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 the  Romanists  offer  up  their  prayers  before  a 
 crucifix,  or  before  a  piece  of  bread,  they  do  not 
 design  to  worship  a  piece  of  wood  or  a  piece  of 
 bread,  as  such,  but  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as 
 represented  by  the  one,  and  as  actually  present 
 in  the  other.  And  certainly,  if  they  intend  to 
 direct  their  worship  to  the  one  true  God,  they 
 are  not  guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  first  Command- 
 ment ;  but  this  does  not  clear  them  of  the 
 charge  of  infringing  the  second ;  they  may  be 
 guilty  of  superstition,  though  not  of  every  kind 
 and  degree  of  superstition  :  and  if  the  practices 
 I  have  alluded  to,  do  not  constitute  that  kind 
 of  superstition  which  is  properly  called  idolatry, 
 let  us  be  allowed  to  inquire,  what  does  ?  Will 
 it  be  said  that  idolatry  consists  in  worshipping  a 
 piece  of  wood  as  siich — as  a  mere  piece  of  wood? 
 I  would  ask  in  reply.  Who  then  ever  was,  or 
 can  be,  guilty  of  it  ?  The  thing  is  not  only 
 practically  impossible,  but  is  inconceivable,  and  a 
 contradiction  in  terras.  The  most  gross-minded 
 Israelite  that  ever  offered  up  his  prayer?  before 
 a  golden  calf,  implied,  by  that  very  act,  his 
 belief  that  it  was  something  more  than  a  mert 
 piece  3f  gold,  and  that  there  resided  in  \i  a 
 
SECT.  2.]  Superstition.  31 
 
 certain  divine  intelligence.  The  argument  there- 
 fore is  not  so  much  a  vindication  of  any  party 
 from  the  charge  of  idolatry,  as,  a  vindication  of 
 idolatry  itself. 
 
 It  has  been  said,  I  believe,  by  some  Protes- 
 tants, respecting  the  alleged  idolatry  of  adoring 
 the  sacred  elements  at  the  Eucharist,  "it  would 
 be  idolatrous,  if  /  were  to  join  in  it :"  if  this 
 means,  "  supposing  you  to  have  the  same  belief 
 in  transubstantiation  that  the  Romanists  have," 
 this  is  only  a  circuitous  mode  of  saying  that 
 they  are  idolaters  ;  but  if  it  means,  '*  were  you 
 to  join  in  it,  supposing  you  to  have  the  Protest- 
 ant behef  that  the  consecrated  bread  is  merely 
 bread,"  the  supposition  involves  an  absurdity 
 and  self-contradiction.  A  man  may  indeed  feign, 
 and  outwardly  indicate,  in  order  to  deceive  his 
 fellow-man,  an  adoration  of  what  he  believes  to 
 be  merely  a  piece  of  bread  or  of  wood  ;  but  that 
 he  should  really  and  inwardly  adore,  w'hat  he 
 believes  at  the  moment  to  be  no  more  than  mere 
 bread  or  mere  wood,  is  not  only  impossible,  but 
 absolutely  unmeaning,  being  at  variance  witb 
 the  very  notion  of  adoration. 
 
 If  therefore  a  Romanist  adores  the  true  God 
 
32 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 under  the  form  of  bread,^  which  he  holds  to  be 
 the  real  literal  body  of  Christ,  or  if,  in  worship- 
 ping before  a  crucifix,  he  attributes  a  certain 
 sanctity  to  the  image,  as  if  some  divine  virtue 
 were  actually  present  in  it,  (and  that  this  is 
 often  done  is  plain  from  the  preference  shewn  in 
 many  cases  of  one  image  to  another,)  he  is 
 clearly  as  much  guilty  of  idolatry  as  the  Israel- 
 ites in  worshipping  the  golden  calf  and  the 
 brazen  serpent :  it  being  thus  only,  that  any  one 
 can  practise  idolatry. 
 Danger        In  making  this  declaration,  however,  it  is  not 
 
 from  false 
 
 security,  my  object  either  to  lead  Protestants  to  exult  un- 
 charitably over  their  erring  brethren,  or  to  vin- 
 dicate our  own  renunciation  of  their  errors  ;  but 
 rather  to  point  out  the  danger  which  must  ever 
 beset  all  of  us,  of  falling  into  similar  errors  in 
 another  shape,  and  under  other  names  ;  for  ten 
 thousand  of  the  greatest  faults  in  our  neighbour 
 are  of  less  consequence  to  us,  than  one,  of  the 
 smallest,  in  ourselves. 
 
 The  Israehtes  of  old  were  warned  not  only  to 
 worship  none  of  the  gods  of  the  heathen,  but  to 
 copy  none  of  their  superstitions  ;  "  Ye  shall  not 
 See  note  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 
 
SECT.  2.]  Superstition.  33 
 
 do  so  to  the  Lord  your  God."  Now  they  pro- 
 bably were  disposed  to  think  themselves  secure 
 from  the  danger  of  corrupting  their  own  religion, 
 in  their  deep  abhorrence  of  the  religions  of  those 
 nations  whom  the  Lord  had  cast  out  before  them. 
 The  Church  of  Rome,  again,  thought  itself  safe 
 from  superstition,  by  its  rejection  of  those  par- 
 ticular superstitions  of  which  the  Israelites  and 
 the  Pagans  were  guilty.  And  Protestants  again 
 are  no  less  disposed  to  feel  the  same  security, 
 on  account  of  their  abhorrence  of  the  particulai 
 superstitions  of  the  Romanists.  The  images  used 
 by  these  last,  are  not  the  same  with  those  for 
 worshipping  which  the  Israelites  were  condemned : 
 and  they  again  doubtless  pleaded  that  the  golden 
 calves  and  the  brazen  serpent  were  not  the  idols 
 of  the  Canaanites ;  and  thus  does  each  successive 
 generation  censure  the  faults  and  follies  of  the 
 preceding,  without  taking  sufficient  heed  to  itself, 
 or  recognizing,  as  they  arise,  errors  substantially 
 the  same,  though  under  new  shapes. 
 
 The  superstitions  and  the  other  errors  of  the 
 Romanists  were,  as  I  have  already  observed,  not 
 the  result  of  systematic  contrivance,  but  sprung 
 up  spontaneously  as  the  indigenous  growth  of  the 
 
 D 
 
34  Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 human  heart :  they  arose  successively,  gradually, 
 and  imperceptibly  ;  and  were  in  most  instances, 
 probably,  first  overlooked,  then  tolerated,  and 
 then  sanctioned,  and  finally  embodied  in  a  system, 
 of  which  they  are  rather  to  be  regarded  as  the 
 cause  than  the  effects.  Since  then,  as  I  have 
 said,  corruptions  of  religion  neither  first  sprang 
 from  Romanism,  nor  can  be  expected  to  end 
 with  it,  the  tendency  to  them  being  inherent  in 
 our  common  nature ;  it  is  evident  that  constant 
 watchfulness  alone  can  preserve  us  from  cor- 
 ruptions, not  the  very  same  indeed  with  those  of 
 our  predecessors,  but,  similar  ones  under  some 
 fresh  disguise  ;  and  that  this  danger  is  enhanced 
 by  the  very  circumstance  which  seems  to  secure 
 us  from  it — our  abhorrence  of  those  errors  in 
 them.  From  practices  the  very  same  in  name 
 and  form  with  theirs,  such  abhorrence  is  indeed 
 a  safeguard  ;  while  at  the  same  time  it  makes  us 
 the  less  ready  to  suspect  ourselves  of  the  same 
 faults,  disguised.  The  vain  security  thus  gene- 
 rated, draws  off  our  thoughts  from  self-examina- 
 tion ;  a  task  for  which  the  mind  is  in  general 
 least  fitted,  when  it  is  most  occupied  in  detecting 
 and  exposing  the  faults  of  others.    In  treating 
 
SECT.  3.3  Superstition. 
 
 35 
 
 then  of  such  corruptions  of  religion  as  those  into 
 which  the  Church  of  Rome  has  fallen,  my 
 primary  object  is  to  excite  a  spirit  not  of  self- 
 congratulation  and  self-confidence,  but  of  self- 
 distrust  and  self-examination. 
 
 §  3.  With  respect  to  that  particular  class  of  toxics 
 
 "  ^  *■  character  ol 
 
 corruptions  now  before  us — that  which  comes  ^^r"^"^- 
 under  the  general  title  of  Superstition, — it  is 
 requisite  (though  it  is  somewhat  strange  that  it 
 should  be  so)  to  premise  a  remark  on  the  enormity 
 of  the  evil  in  question.  The  mischiefs  of  Super- 
 stition are,  I  conceive,  much  underrated.  It  is 
 by  many  regarded,  not  as  any  sin,  but  as  a  mere 
 harmless  folly,  at  the  worst; — as>  in  some  in- 
 stances, an  amiable  weakness,  or  even  a  salutary 
 delusion.  Its  votaries  are  pitied,  as  in  some 
 cases  subjected  to  needless  and  painful  restraints, 
 and  undergoing  groundless  terrors  ; — sometimes 
 they  are  ridiculed  as  enslaved  to  absurd  and 
 puerile  observances :  but  whether  pitied  or 
 laughed  at,  superstitious  Christians  are  often 
 regarded  as  likely,  at  least  as  not  the  less  likely 
 on  account  of  their  superstition,  to  have  secured 
 the  essentials  of  religion  ; — as  believing  and 
 d2 
 
36 
 
 Superstition.  [kssay  i. 
 
 practising  what  is  needful  towards  salvation,  and 
 as  only  carrying  their  faith  and  their  practice 
 unnecessarily  and  unreasonably  to  the  point 
 of  weak  credulity  and  foolish  scrupulosity.  This 
 view  of  the  subject  has  a  strong  tendency  to 
 confirm  the  superstitious,  and  even  to  add  to 
 their  number.  They  feel  that  if  there  is  any 
 doubt,  they  are  surely  on  the  safe  side.  "  Sup- 
 posing I  am  in  error  on  this  or  that  point,"  (a 
 man  may  say,)  "  I  am  merely  doing  something 
 superfluous  ;  at  the  worst  I  suffer  some  temporary 
 inconvenience,  and  perhaps  have  to  encounter 
 some  ridicule  ;  but  if  the  error  be  on  the  other 
 side,  I  risk  my  salvation  by  embracing  it  ;  my 
 present  course  therefore  is  evidently  the  safest." 
 
 What  force  this  argument  has  in  the  hands  of 
 the  Romanists,  I  need  hardly  remind  my  readers. 
 Of  converts  to  Romanism  probably  three  out  of 
 four,  especially  of  the  ignorant  and  the  weak- 
 minded,  have  been  drawn  over,  in  the  first  in- 
 stance at  least,  by  the  consideration,  that  that  is 
 the  safe  side  :  as  if  it  could  be  safe  to  manifest 
 distrust  of  a  skilful  physician  by  combining  with 
 his  medicines  all  the  nostrums  of  all  the  ignorant 
 practitioners  in  the  neighbourhood. 
 
SECT.  3.] 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 37 
 
 With  the  danger  however  of  being  seduced 
 into  the  pale  of  the  Romish  Church,  I  am  not 
 at  present  concerned,  but  with  the  danger  of 
 Superstition  generally.  In  speaking  of  that  point, 
 as  well  as  (hereafter)  of  others,  connected  with 
 the  spirit  of  Romanism,  I  wish  to  be  understood 
 as  not  calling  for  harsh  censure  on  individuals, 
 but  only  on  offences  as  they  are  in  themselves. 
 How  far  the  superstition  of  any  individual  may 
 be  excusable  or  blameable  in  the  sight  of  God, 
 can  be  pronounced  by  Him  alone,  who  alone  is 
 able  to  estimate  each  man's  strength  or  weakness, 
 his  opportunities  of  gaining  knowledge,  and  his 
 employment  or  neglect  of  those  opportunities. 
 But  the  same  may  be  said  of  every  other  offence, 
 as  well  as  of  the  one  in  question.  Of  Supersti- 
 tion itself  in  all  its  various  forms  and  degrees,  I 
 cannot  think  otherwise  than  that  it  is  not  merely 
 a  folly  to  be  ridiculed,  but  a  mischief  to  be 
 dreaded  ;  and  that  its  tendency  is,  in  most  cases, 
 as  far  as  it  extends,  destructive  of  true  piety. 
 
 The  disposition  to  reverence  some  superhuman 
 Power,  and  in  some  way  or  other  to  endeavour  to 
 recommend  ourselves  to  the  favour  of  that  Power, 
 is  (more  or  less  in  different  individuals)  a  natural 
 
38 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 and  original  sentiment  of  the  human  mind.  The 
 great  Enemy  of  Man  finds  it  easier  in  most  cases 
 to  misdirect,  than  to  eradicate  this.  If  an  exer- 
 cise for  this  rehgious  sentiment  can  be  provided — 
 if  this  natural  craving  after  divine  worship  (if  I 
 may  so  speak)  can  be  satisfied — by  the  practice 
 of  superstitious  ceremonies,  true  piety  will  be 
 much  more  easily  extinguished  ; — the  conscience 
 will  on  this  point  have  been  set  at  rest ; — God's 
 place  in  the  heart  will,  as  it  were,  have  been  pre- 
 occupied by  an  idol ;  and  that  genuine  religion 
 which  consists  in  a  devotedness  of  the  affections 
 to  God,  operating  in  the  improvement  of  the  moral 
 character,  will  be  more  effectually  shut  out,  from 
 the  religious  feelings  of  our  nature  having  found 
 another  vent,  and  exhausted  themselves  on  vani- 
 ties of  man's  devising. 
 
 To  illustrate  as  fully  as  might  be  done  this 
 debasing  and  corrupting  tendency  of  Superstition, 
 by  an  examination  of  the  numberless  instances 
 of  it  which  might  but  too  readily  be  found, 
 would  far  exceed  my  limits,  and  would  be,  to 
 most  of  my  readers,  in  a  great  degree  unneces- 
 sary. But  I  cannot  omit,  in  confirmation  of  what 
 has  been  said,  one  general  remark,  which  is 
 
siiCT.  3.]  Superstition.  39 
 
 applicable  to  most  of  these  instances  :  that  one  of 
 the  most  prevailing  characteristics  of  Superstition, 
 at  least  which  is  found  more  or  less  in  most 
 species  of  it,  is,  the  attributing  of  some  sacred 
 efficacy  to  the  performance  of  an  outward  act, 
 or  the  presence  of  some  material  object,  without 
 any  inward  devotion  of  the  heart  being  required 
 to  accompany  it ; — without,  in  short,  any  thing 
 else  being  needed,  except,  in  some  cases,  an 
 undoubting  faith  in  that  intrinsic  efficacy.  The 
 tendency  thus  to  disjoin  religious  observances 
 (i.  e.  what  are  intended  to  be  such)  from  heiirtfelt 
 and  practical  religion,  is  one  of  the  most  besetting 
 evils  of  our  corrupt  nature  ;  and  it  is  the  very 
 root  of  most  superstitions.  Now  no  one  can 
 fail  to  perceive  how  opposite  this  is  to  true  piety. 
 Empty  forms  not  only  supersede  piety  by  standing 
 in  its  place,  but  gradually  alter  the  habits  of  the 
 mind,and  render  it  unfit  for  the  exercise  of  genuine 
 pious  sentiment.  Even  the  natural  food  of  reli- 
 gion (if  I  may  so  speak)  is  thus  converted  into  its 
 poison.  Our  very  prayers,  for  example,  and  our 
 perusal  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  become  supersti- 
 tious, in  proportion  as  any  one  expects  them  to 
 operate  as  a  charm — attributing  efficacy  to  the 
 
40 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 mere  words,  while  his  feelings  and  thoughts  are 
 not  occupied  in  what  he  is  doing. 
 
 Every  religious  ceremony  or  exercise,  however 
 well  calculated,  in  itself,  to  improve  the  heart, 
 is  liable,  as  I  have  said,  thus  to  degenerate  into 
 a  mere  form,  and  consequently  to  become  super- 
 stitious :  but  in  proportion  as  the  outward  ob- 
 servances are  the  more  complex  and  operose,  and 
 the  more  unmeaning  or  unintelligible,  the  more 
 danger  is  there  of  superstitiously  attaching  a  sort 
 of  magical  efficacy  to  the  bare  outward  act,  inde- 
 pendent of  mental  devotion.  If,  for  example, 
 even  our  prayers  are  liable,  without  constant 
 watchfulness,  to  become  a  superstitious  form, 
 by  our  "  honouring  God  with  our  lips,  while 
 our  heart  is  far  from  Him,"  this  result  is  almost 
 unavoidable  when  the  prayers  are  recited  in 
 an  unknown  tongue,  and  with  a  prescribed  num- 
 ber of  "  vain  repetitions,"  crossings,  and  telUng 
 of  beads.  And  men  of  a  timorous  mind,  having 
 once  taken  up  a  wrong  notion  of  what  religion 
 consists  in,  seek  a  refuge  from  doubt  and  anxiety, 
 a  substitute  for  inward  piety,  and,  too  often, 
 a  compensation  for  an  evil  life,  in  an  endless 
 multiplication  of  superstitious  observances  ; — of 
 
SECT.  4.]  Superstition. 
 
 41 
 
 pilgrimages,  sprinklings  with  holy  water,  vene- 
 ration of  relics,  and  the  like.  And  hence  the 
 enormous  accumulation  of  superstitions,  which, 
 in  the  course  of  many  centuries,  gradually  arose 
 in  the  Romish  and  Greek  Churches- 
 
 S  4.    And  it  is  a  circumstance  not  a  little  SupeTstition 
 
 connected 
 
 remarkable,  that,  in  many  instances  at  least,  with  pro- 
 
 faneness. 
 
 Superstition  not  only  does  not  promote  true  Re- 
 ligion, but  even  tends  to  generate  Profaneness  ; 
 and  that,  not  merely  in  other  points,  but  even  in 
 respect  of  the  very  objects  of  the  superstitious 
 reverence.  In  proof  of  this  I  can  cite  the  testi- 
 mony of  an  eminently  competent  witness,  as  far 
 at  least  as  one  Roman-Cathohc  country  (Spain) 
 is  concerned ;  the  Author,  after  having  mentioned 
 the  extravagant  and  absurd  superstitions  of  the 
 ceremonies  which  take  place  on  Good  Friday, 
 adds,  "  I  have  carefully  glided  over  such  parts  of 
 this  absurd  performance  as  would  shock  many 
 an  English  reader,  even  in  narrative.  Yet  such 
 is  the  strange  mixture  of  superstition  and  pro- 
 faneness in  the  people  for  whose  gratification 
 these  scenes  are  exhibited,  that  though  any  at- 
 tempt to  expose  the  indecency  of  these  shows 
 
42 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 would  rouse  their  zeal  'to  the  knife,'  I  cannot 
 venture  to  translate  the  jokes  and  salHes  of  wit 
 that  are  frequently  heard  among  the  Spanish 
 peasantry  upon  these  sacred  topics."''  The  hke 
 strange  mixture  is  found  in  other  Roman-Catho- 
 lic, and  also  in  Pagan  countries  ;  particularly 
 among  the  Hindoos,  who  are  described  as  habi- 
 tually reviling  their  gods  in  the  grossest  terms, 
 on  the  occasion  of  any  untoward  event. 
 
 In  this  country  a  large  proportion  of  the  super- 
 stition that  exists,  is  connected  more  or  less  with 
 the  agency  of  Evil  Spirits ;  and  accordingly  (in 
 conformity  with  the  strange  principle  of  our  nature 
 just  mentioned)  nothing  is  so  common  a  theme 
 of  profane  jests  among  the  vulgar  of  all  ranks, 
 as  the  Devil,  and  every  thing  relating  to  that 
 Being,  including  the  "everlasting  fire  prepared 
 for  him  and  his  angels ;"  and  this,  by  no  means 
 exclusively,  or  chiefly,  among  such  as  disbelieve 
 what  Scripture  says  on  the  subject ;  but,  on  the 
 contrary,  even  the  most,  among  those  who  give 
 credit  to  a  multitude  of  legendary  tales  also,  quite 
 unwarranted  by  Scripture. 
 
 This  curious  anomaly  may  perhaps  be,  in  a 
 
 "  Doblado's  Letters  fiorji  Spain,  p.  264. 
 
SECT.  4.]  Superstition. 
 
 43 
 
 great  measure  at  least,  accounted  for,  from  the 
 consideration,  that  as  Superstition  imposes  a  yoke 
 rather  of  fear  than  of  love,  her  votaries  are  glad 
 to  take  revenge,  as  it  were,  when  galled  by  this 
 yoke,  and  to  indemnify  themselves  in  some 
 degree  both  for  the  irksomeness  of  their  restraints 
 and  tasks,  and  also  for  the  degradation,  (some 
 sense  of  which  is  always  excited  by  a  conscious- 
 ness of  slavish  dread,)  by  taking  liberties,  where- 
 ever  they  dare,  either  in  the  way  of  insult  or  of 
 playfulness,  with  the  objects  of  their  dread. 
 And  jests  on  sacred  subjects,  it  is  well  known, 
 are,  when  men  are  so  disposed,  the  most  easily 
 produced  of  any ;  because  the  contrast  between 
 a  dignified  and  a  low  image,  exhibited  in  combi- 
 nation, (in  which  the  whole  force  of  the  ludicrous 
 consists,)  is  in  this  case  the  most  striking.** 
 
 ^  It  is  commonly  said,  that  there  is  no  wit  in  profane  jests  ; 
 but  it  would  be  bard  to  frame  any  definition  of  wit  that  should 
 exclude  them.  It  would  be  more  correct  to  say,  (and  I  be- 
 lieve that  is  what  is  really  meant,)  that  the  practice  displays 
 no  great  powers  of  wit,  because  the  subject-matter  renders  it 
 so  particularly  easy ;  and  that  (for  the  very  same  reason)  it 
 affords  the  least  gratification  (apart  from  all  higher  consider- 
 ations) to  judges  of  good  taste  ;  for  a  great  part  of  the 
 pleasure  afforded  by  wit  results  from  a  perception  of  skill 
 displayed,  and  diJficuUy  surmounted. 
 
44  Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 But  how  comes  it  that  they  ever  do  dare,  as 
 we  see  is  the  fact,  to  take  these  liberties  ? 
 Another  characteristic  of  Superstition  will  per- 
 haps explain  this  also.  It  is,  as  I  have  just  said, 
 characteristic  of  Superstition  to  enjoin,  and  to 
 attribute  efficacy  to,  the  mere  performance  of 
 some  specific  outward  acts — the  use  of  some 
 material  object,  without  any  loyal  affectionate 
 devotion  of  heart  being  required  to  accompany 
 such  acts,  and  to  pervade  the  whole  life  as  a 
 ruling  motive.  Hence,  the  rigid  observance  of 
 the  precise  directions  given,  leaves  the  votary 
 secure,  at  ease  in  conscience,  and  at  liberty, 
 as  well  as  in  a  disposition,  to  indulge  in  profane- 
 ness.  In  like  manner  a  patient,  who  dares  not 
 refuse  to  swallow  a  nauseous  dose,  and  to  confine 
 himself  to  a  strict  regimen,  yet  who  is  both  vexed, 
 and  somewhat  ashamed,  at  submitting  to  the 
 annoyance,  will  sometimes  take  his  revenge,  as 
 it  were,  by  abusive  ridicule  of  the  medical  at- 
 tendant and  his  drugs;  knowing  that  this  will 
 not,  so  long  as  he  does  but  take  the  medicines, 
 diminish  their  efficacy.  Superstitious  observ- 
 ances are  a  kind  of  distasteful  or  disgusting 
 remedy,  which  however  is  to  operate  if  it  be 
 
SECT.  4.]  Superstition.  45 
 
 but  swallowed ;  and  on  which  accordingly  the 
 votary  sometimes  ventures  gladly  to  revenge 
 himself. 
 
 The  more  nearly  therefore  in  each  instance 
 the  superstitions  of  any  corrupted  Church  ap- 
 proach to,  so  as  to  blend  themselves  with,  true 
 religion,  the  more  do  they  deteriorate  the  spirit 
 of  it; — the  more  does  the  poisonous  parasite, 
 twining  round  the  fairest  boughs  of  the  good 
 tree,  blight  by  its  noxious  neighbourhood  the 
 fruits  which  that  should  have  borne. 
 
 We  cannot  indeed  be  too  thankful  to  God, 
 that  by  his  blessing,  our  ancestors  perceived  and 
 undertook  to  reform  these  abuses :  but  my  espe- 
 cial object  in  now  adverting  to  the  errors  they 
 threw  off  is,  to  call  your  attention  to  this  im- 
 portant consideration ;  that  such  a  multitude 
 and  variety  of  superstitions,  as  troublesome  as 
 they  are  absurd,  never  could  have,  been  intro- 
 duced by  any  devices  of  priestcraft,  had  there 
 not  been  in  the  human  mind  that  strong  natural 
 tendency  to  Superstition  which  has  just  been 
 described.  And  this  being  the  case — this  ten- 
 dency being,  as  it  is,  a  part  of  our  common 
 nature,  it  is  for  us  to  guard  against  the  danger 
 
46 
 
 Suj)erstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 in  ourselves,  instead  of  exulting  in  a  vain  con- 
 fidence that  we  are  exempt  and  safe  from  it. 
 The  things  we  ought  to  learn,  and  to  learn  with 
 a  view  to  our  own  profit,  from  the  example  of 
 our  unreformed  Church,  are,  the  mischievous 
 effects  of  Superstition,  and,  Man's  proneness 
 to  it. 
 
 That  Superstition  does  exist,  to  no  inconsi- 
 derable extent,  in  Protestant  countries,  which  is 
 what  the  foregoing  reasonings,  even  indepen- 
 dently of  experience,  would  prepare  us  to  expect, 
 few,  I  imagine,  would  venture  to  deny ;  though 
 perhaps  fewer  still  are  fully  aware  of  its  amount, 
 or  sufficiently  on  their  guard  against  the  danger. 
 
 Occasions  of    &  5.  With  respect  to  the  particular  points 
 
 superstition.  " 
 
 on  which  Superstition  is  most  to  be  dreaded, 
 and  towards  which,  consequently,  our  vigilance 
 should  be  especially  directed,  I  am  precluded  by 
 several  considerations  from  entering  on  any  de- 
 tailed examination. 
 
 The  enumeration  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
 superstitions  which  either  actually  exist,  or  are 
 likely  to  arise,  would  far  exceed  my  proposed 
 limits.    And  I  am  sensible  that  to  advert  even 
 
srxT.  5.]  Superstition. 
 
 47 
 
 to  a  few  of  these,  is  likely  to  be  less  profitable 
 than  I  could  wish  ;  inasmuch  as  the  same  remarks 
 will  usually  be  a  superfluous  truism  to  one  person, 
 and  a  revolting  paradox  to  another.  For  any 
 one  who  practises,  or  tolerates  and  approves,  any 
 superstition,  is  of  course  not  accustomed  (at  least 
 should  in  charity  not  be  presumed  to  be  ac- 
 customed) to  consider  it  as  superstition,  nor  would 
 be  prepared  to  admit  the  censure  without  detailed 
 argument  and  calm  consideration ;  while  one  who 
 does  regard  it  as  superstitious,  has  himself  already 
 pronounced  that  censure. 
 
 To  this  must  be  added,  that  in  most  instances 
 the  very  same  thing  will  be  superstitious  to  some 
 persons,  and  not  to  others.  The  adoration  of 
 saints  indeed,  or  of  any  other  Being  besides  the 
 one  true  God,  must  be  always,  and  in  itself,  super- 
 stitious :  but  in  the  great  majority  of  instances, 
 the  very  same  outward  rites,  and  sensible  objects, 
 may  be  either  a  help  to  devotion,  or  a  substitute 
 for  it ;  such  as  sacred  music — the  repetition  of 
 prayers — the  assembling  in  edifices  set  apart  for 
 divine  worship — the  assuming  of  certain  bodily 
 postures,  &c.  In  all  such  cases,  the  religion  or 
 the  superstition  exist  in  the  mind  of  the  person. 
 
48 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 and  are  only  incidentally  connected  with  the 
 external  objects  and  observances.  Of  these  last, 
 the  best  that  can  be  said  of  any  of  them  is,  that 
 they  are  well  calculated  to  cherish  feelings  of 
 rational  devotion  :  the  worst  that  can  be  said  of 
 any  of  them  is,  that  they  are  peculiarly  liable  to 
 become  superstitious.  But  even  pictures  and 
 images  are  not  in  themselves  superstitious  ;  and 
 accordingly  we  do  not  now  exclude  them  from 
 our  houses  of  worship  ;  though  if  we  found  them 
 now  liable  to  any  of  that  abuse  which  has  grown 
 to  such  an  enormous  height  among  the  Romanists, 
 it  would  be  our  duty  to  treat  them  as  Hezekiah 
 did  the  brazen  serpent,  which  "he  brake  in 
 pieces,  because  the  Israelites  burnt  incense  to  it." 
 And,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  act  or  object 
 connected  with  divine  worship  which  may  not 
 become  superstitious,  through  the  worshipper's 
 trusting  in  the  efficacy  of  outward  forms,  while 
 his  heart  is  far  from  God.  Our  reformers,  there- 
 fore, shewed  their  discretion  in  their  assertion 
 respecting  the  Liturgy  and  forms  of  Ordination 
 which  they  drew  up,  that  these  "  contained 
 nothing  in  itself  superstitious  :"  they  knew  by 
 sad  experience  that  nothing  but  the  worshipper's 
 
SECT.  5.]  Superstition.  49 
 
 vigilant  self-examination  can  secure  either  human 
 or  divine  ordinances  from  becoming  (to  him) 
 superstitious. 
 
 What  has  been  said  may  be  sufficient  to  shew, 
 that  this  vigilant  examination  and  caution  against 
 superstition  on  each  particular  point,  must  be 
 practised  by  each  person  for  himself,  both  with  a 
 view  to  his  own  conduct,  and  that  of  all  those 
 who  may  be  more  especially  under  his  care  ;  and 
 that  the  necessity  of  this  cannot  be  superseded 
 by  any  general  description. 
 
 Enough  also  has  been  said,  I  trust,  to  shew 
 both  the  vast  importance  of  this  vigilant  exami- 
 nation, and  also  the  principles  on  which  it  should 
 be  conducted.  I  will  notice  however  a  few,  and 
 only  a  few,  of  those  practices  and  notions,  to 
 which,  as  it  seems  to  me,  especial  attention 
 should  be  directed,  as  either  savouring  of  Super- 
 stition, or  peculiarly  liable  to  lead  to  it.  Several 
 of  my  observations,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  appear 
 utterly  superfluous,  to  many  of  those  among  my 
 readers  who  have  not  (not  to  those  who  have) 
 been  occupied  diligently  in  the  case  of  a  parish, 
 and  in  that  essential  part  of  it,  frequent  and  con- 
 fidential intercourse  with  all,  and  especially  with 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 the  more  unenlightened  classes,  of  the  parish- 
 ioners. I  pledge  myself  however  to  state  nothing 
 on  the  ground  of  mere  conjecture — nothing  which 
 I  have  not  been  enabled  fully  to  verify. 
 
 §  6.  I.  That  there  exists  among  Protestants 
 much  of  that  branch  of  Romish  superstition — the 
 pretension  to  miraculous  powers,  or  belief  in 
 miraculous  occurrences,  on  slight  grounds,  no 
 soberminded  person,  who  is  not  quite  ignorant  of 
 the  existing  state  of  things,  can  doubt. ^  We 
 have  among  us  pretenders  to  inspiration  ;  some 
 using  that  very  term,  and  others  virtually  im- 
 
 e  It  would  not  be  suitable  to  my  present  purpose,  to  enter 
 on  a  minute  inquiry  into  the  use  of  several  words  connected 
 with  the  present  subject ;  but  it  may  be  worth  while  to  remark, 
 that,  according  to  the  most  prevailing  usage,  "Fanaticism" 
 implies  Superstition,  (i.  e.  "  misdirected  religious  feeling,") 
 but  is  not  necessarily  implied  by  it.  If  on  very  insufficient 
 grounds  I  believe  another  person  to  be  inspired,  or  any  other 
 miracle  to  have  taken  place,  I  am  merely  svperstilious ;  if  I 
 thus  believe  myself  to  be  inspired,  or  gifted  with  miraculous 
 powers,  I  am  also  fanatical. 
 
 Enthusiasm  seems  to  be  employed  as  a  more  comprehensive 
 term  than  Fanaticism,  both  as  being  sometimes  used  in  a  good, 
 at  least,  a  milder,  sense,  and  also,  as  extending  to  other  things 
 besides  Religion. 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 51 
 
 plying  as  much :  and  we  have  many  who  see 
 special  "judgments"  or  other  "interpositions" 
 of  Providence,  in  almost  every  remarkable,  and 
 in  many  of  the  most  ordinary  occurrences.  Some- 
 times they  apply  to  these  the  very  term  "  miracu- 
 lous ;"  sometimes  they  call  them,  which  amounts 
 to  the  very  same,  "  providential for  though  it 
 is  literally  true  that  nothing  takes  place  which  is 
 not,  in  some  sense,  providential,  it  is  plain  for 
 that  very  reason,  that  whatever  is  rightly  charac- 
 terised as  providential,  i.  e.  as  more  providential 
 than  other  events,  is  properly  miraculous.^ 
 
 If  either  Romanists,  or  any  others,  will  give 
 sufficient  proof  of  the  occurrence  of  a  miracle,  they 
 ought  to  be  listened  to  :  but  to  pretend  to,  or  to 
 believe  in,  any  miracle  without  sufficient  proof,  is 
 clearly  superstitious,  whatever  may  be  the  system 
 such  a  miracle  is  adduced  to  support. 
 
 ^  I  ought  in  justice  to  say,  that  I  believe  many  ephemeral 
 writers,  and  careless  talkers,  occasionally  use  the  words 
 "providential,"  and  "  miraculous,"  (as  well  as  many  others,) 
 without  attaching  any  precise  notion  to  them.  They  have 
 been  used  to  hear  the  words  applied  to  remarkable  occur- 
 rences ;  and  from  mere  force  of  imitation  do  the  same ;  as  if 
 the  words  were  merely  synonymous  with  "  remarkable." 
 E  2 
 
52 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 [essay  I. 
 
 Most  deeply  is  it  to  be  regretted,  that  some 
 writers  who  have  argued  justly  and  forcibly 
 against  the  error  of  looking  for  inspiration  or 
 other  miraculous  interferences,  should  have  more 
 than  nullified  the  benefit  done,  by  going  on  to 
 explain  away  all  that  Scripture  teaches  respecting 
 spiritual  influence.  Besides  the  danger,  that  they 
 may  propagate  this  error  by  means  of  the  truth 
 they  have  mixed  up  with  it,  there  is  also  an  op- 
 posite evil  even  much  more  to  be  apprehended  ; 
 that  the  fanatics  thus  opposed  may  join  with  their 
 opponents  in  representing  the  whole  doctrine  of 
 grace  as  inseparably  connected  with  their  scheme 
 of  miraculous  interferences  and  sensible  in- 
 spiration ;  so  that  the  whole  must  stand  or  fall 
 together  ;  and  that  they  may  then  triumphantly 
 urge,  "  See  what  violence  one  is  driven  to  do  to 
 Scripture,  and  how  much  at  variance  he  becomes 
 with  the  Church  of  England,  whenever  he  at- 
 tempts to  oppose  our  doctrine !"  Too  much  care 
 cannot  be  taken  to  testify  simultaneously  against 
 both  of  these  opposite  errors/ 
 Supersti-        II.  Again,  more  Superstition  exists  than  some 
 
 lious  abuse  .  .  ,  ,  . 
 
 of  the       persons  are  aware  of,  m  relation  to  the  Eucharist, 
 
 Eucharist. 
 
 ^  See  Essay  IX.    Second  Series. 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 53 
 
 and  to  the  sacred  "elements"  (as  they  are  still 
 called'')  which  are  administered  in  that  rite. 
 This  is  one  instance  out  of  a  multitude,  in  which 
 Superstition,  instead  of  promoting,  as  some  per- 
 sons vainly  imagine,  true  Religion,  evidently 
 stands  in  the  place  of  it.  Several  among  the 
 uneducated  (and  some  even  among  the  higher) 
 classes,  and  those  of  them  not  least  who  never 
 partake,  or  design  to  partake,  of  the  holy  Com- 
 munion till  they  believe  themselves  on  the  bed 
 of  death,  have  a  strong  faith  in  the  efficacy,  as  a 
 medicine,  of  what  they  call  "  Sacrament-wine  ;" 
 i.  e.  wine  which  either  has  been,  or  is  designed 
 to  be,  (for  they  know  too  little  of  the  rite  to  dis- 
 tinguish between  the  two,)  consecrated  for  this 
 use.  They  have  been  known  to  apply  for  it  to 
 the  minister  as  an  infallible  cure  for  some  parti- 
 cular diseases  of  children  : — confidently  asserting 
 (indeed  the  very  existence  and  continuance  of 
 the  superstition  forbids  us  to  hope  that  such 
 
 Agreeably  to  the  language  of  the  Schoolmen  ;  who  framed 
 the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  as  it  now  stands,  so  com- 
 pletely from  Aristotle's  writings,  that  it  never  could  have 
 existed  in  any  thing  like  its  present  form,  had  that  Philosopher 
 not  been  studied. 
 
54 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 applications  have  always  been  made  in  vaiti) 
 that  they  have  formerly  obtained  it  for  that  use. 
 Others  have  been  known,  when  attending  at  the 
 Lord's  Table,  to  secrete,  for  the  purpose  of 
 carrying  home,  a  portion  of  the  consecrated 
 bread  handed  to  them ;  doubtless  with  a  view  to 
 some  similar  superstitious  use.'  Others  again, 
 above  the  very  poorest  class,  have  been  known 
 to  petition  for  a  portion  of  the  "  Sacrament- 
 money,"  i.  e.  the  alms  then  collected,  (offering 
 to  purchase  it  for  the  same  sum  in  other  pieces  of 
 money,)  to  be  forged  into  a  ring  as  an  infallible 
 cure  for  fits.  This  again  is  a  superstition  which 
 could  hardly  have  maintained  its  ground,  if  it 
 
 '  I  have  detected  and  stopped  this  practice  among  those 
 who  are  called  to  consume  the  remainder  of  the  bread  and 
 ■wine  after  the  close  of  the  Service.  Let  me  be  permitted  to 
 call  the  attention  of  officiating  ministers  to  the  Rubric,  and 
 to  recommend  a  strict  adherence  to  it,  in  what  relates  to  this 
 matter  :  "  if  any  remain  of  that  which  was  consecrated,  it 
 shall  not  be  carried  out  of  the  church,  but  the  priest  and  such 
 other  of  the  communicants  as  he  shall  then  call  unto  him, 
 shall,  immediately  after  the  Blessing,  reverently  eat  and  drink 
 the  same :"  i.  e.  the  communicants  (as  it  must  be  understood) 
 remaining  in  the  minister's  presence,  into  which  he  had 
 "  called"  them. 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 55 
 
 had  never  been  on  any  occasion  indulged  by 
 those  whose  office  is  to  repress  it. 
 
 Too  common  again,  and  well  known,  is  the 
 case  of  persons  who  have,  during  the  hours  of 
 health,  systematically  abstained  from  communi- 
 cating, and  who  have  pleaded,  among  other 
 excuses,  with  great  truth,  their  ignorance,  while 
 they  have  refused  to  listen  to  the  offered  instruc- 
 tion— of  these  same  persons  when  on  their  death- 
 bed, though  conscious  of  the  same  ignorance 
 respecting  the  whole  nature  and  design  of  the 
 ceremony,  and  in  no  condition  then  to  learn,''  yet 
 
 ^  Sometimes  without  any  wish,  even  then,  for  previous  in- 
 struction ;  or,  consequently,  any  notion  that  the  benefit  of  the 
 Sacrament  is  at  all  dependent  on  a  knowledge  of  our  Religion. 
 "  Do  pray,  dear  Sir,  give  me  the  Sacrament  first,  and  then 
 talk  as  much  as  you  please,"  is  an  answer  by  which  I  have 
 known  a  sick  man  perseveringly  repel  the  attempts  of  the 
 minister  to  examine  into  the  state  of  his  mind,  and  to  impart 
 to  him  the  requisite  instruction. 
 
 As  for  the  point  of  sincerity  or  insincerity,  no  one  of  course, 
 except  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  can  be  sure  in  every  instance, 
 whether  an  individual  is,  or  is  not,  in  this  respect,  a  fit  com- 
 municant :  we  have  only  to  receive  his  solemn  professions  ; 
 and  our  admitting  him  on  the  strength  of  these,  does  not, 
 supposing  them  to  be  in  fact  hypocritical,  give  any  counte- 
 nance to  the  superstitious  belief,  that  an  insincere  communi- 
 cant derives  benefit  from  the  rite  :  since  we  admit  him  on  the 
 
56  Siqjerstilion.  [essay  l. 
 
 earnestly  craving  the  administration  of  this  sacra- 
 ment, and  trusting  (while  their  surrounding 
 friends  cherish  their  confidence)  that  the  words 
 repeated,  and  the  bodily  act  of  receiving  the 
 bread  and  wine,  will  operate  as  a  charm  to  en- 
 sure salvation,  like  the  "extreme  unction"  of  the 
 Romanists.  Now  if  this  is  not  a  superstitious 
 abuse  of  the  ordinance,  what  is  ? 
 supersti-       III.  Nor  has  the  other  sacrament  escaped  the 
 
 tious  abuse  ^ 
 
 of  baptism,  defilement  of  Superstition.  Not  a  few  there  are 
 who  eagerly  seek  it  with  as  superstitious  a  rever- 
 ence as  that  with  which  they  shrink  from  the 
 Lord's  Supper,  and  with,  if  possible,  a  still  more 
 complete  ignorance  of  its  nature.  They  seem 
 to  regard  the  giving  of  a  name^  to  an  infant  as 
 
 supposition  of  his  being  not  insincere  :  but  it  is  otherwise  in 
 respect  of  the  point  of  knowledge  or  ignorance  ;  that  the 
 minister  can  ascertain  ;  and  if  he  neglect  to  do  so,  (when 
 there  is  reasonable  ground  for  doubt,)  and  to  proceed  accord- 
 ingly, he  is  manifestly  fostering  Superstition. 
 
 '  In  a  parish  which  had  been  grossly  neglected  under  a 
 former  incumbent,  the  rite  of  Baptism  was  administered  to 
 several  who  had  grown  up  without  it :  among  the  applicants 
 was  a  young  woman,  who,  it  came  out,  had  been  already 
 baptized,  and  who  gave  as  a  reason  for  applying,  that  she  was 
 dissatisfied  with  the  name  that  had  been  given  her,  and 
 wished  for  another. 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 57 
 
 the  most  essential,  or  one  of  the  most  essential 
 parts  of  the  rite  :  understanding  by  the  terms 
 "  Baptism"  or  "  Christening,"  the  public  recep- 
 tion in  church,  (about  which  they  are  frequently 
 very  indifferent,)  and  knowing  private  Baptism 
 by  no  other  appellation  than  "Naming."  And 
 many  are  anxious  that  the  ceremony  should  take 
 place  (I  speak  advisedly)  if  the  child  is  very  ill, 
 in  hopes  that  it  may  save  his  life  ;  at  all  events, 
 with  strong  expectation  of  some  benefit,  while 
 yet  they  have  no  thought  or  intention  of  bring- 
 ing him  up  with  any  kind  of  religious  instruction 
 and  training ;  nor  indeed  have  themselves  either 
 any  religious  knowledge,  or  any  wish  to  gain  it. 
 To  disjoin  thus  the  means  of  grace  from  the 
 fruits  of  grace — the  expected  benefit  of  the  ordi- 
 nance which  admits  a  member  into  the  Christian 
 Church,  from  his  care  to  lead  a  Christian  life — 
 is  to  convert  a  sacrament  into  a  charm,  and  to 
 "make  the  things  that  should  have  been  for 
 their  health,  be  unto  them  an  occasion  of  fall- 
 ing." There  is  no  need  to  expatiate  on  the 
 mischievous  absurdity  of  such  notions  and  such 
 conduct,  or  (to  those  at  least  of  my  readers  who 
 have  been  engaged  in  the  care  of  large  parishes) 
 
58  Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 on  their  prevalence.  The  point  to  which  it  is 
 my  present  object  to  call  attention,  is,  the  super- 
 stition involved  in  them ;  which  bears  but  too 
 close  a  resemblance  to  those  of  the  Chm*ch  of 
 Rome  relative  to  the  same  sacrament. 
 
 The  present  instance  illustrates  but  too  well 
 what  has  been  above  said  respecting  the  con- 
 nexion between  Superstition  and  Profaneness. 
 Both  exist  in  a  remarkable  degree  in  relation  to 
 the  sacrament  of  Baptism.  Few  of  my  readers, 
 I  fear,  will  need  more  than  to  be  merely  re- 
 minded of  the  light  and  irreverent  application  of 
 the  term  "christening,"  on  any  occasion  of 
 giving  "  a  name "  to  any  thing.  Now  if  there 
 be  any  thing  intrinsically  reasonable  in  the  third 
 Commandment,  it  surely  is  applicable,  in  its 
 spirit,  not  merely  to  the  name  of  God,  but  also 
 to  all  the  terms  appropriated  to  his  ordinances ; 
 in  short,  to  all  the  language  denoting  any  thing 
 sacred.  But  in  the  present  case,  there  exists  a 
 more  palpable,  more  deliberate,  and  more  re- 
 volting kind  of  profaneness,  in  the  solemn 
 mockery  of  what  is  called  "  christening  a  ship  ;" 
 in  which  the  sacrament  itself — not  the  mere 
 name  of  it — is  regularly,  formally,  and  with 
 
SECT.  6.]  Superstition.  59 
 
 obtrusive  pomp,  "  taken  in  vain,"  to  the  secret 
 scorn  and  triumph  of  infidels,  and  to  the  dis- 
 grace of  a  nation  calling  itself  Christian  and 
 Protestant. 
 
 Among  the  many  evils  to  be  traced  to  this 
 particular  superstition,  is  to  be  reckoned  I  think, 
 in  a  great  degree,  the  prevalence  (among  many 
 of  our  own  Clergy)  of  a  system  of  doctrine  which 
 goes  to  disjoin  completely  from  "the  outward 
 visible  sign  of  baptism"  all  "inward  spiritual 
 grace  :"  and  likewise  the  continuance  and  in- 
 crease of  the  Anabaptist-system  ;  which  indeed 
 the  doctrine  just  alluded  to  tends  greatly  to 
 foster.  An  attentive  hearer  of  one  of  these 
 divines,  taught  to  regard  his  own  baptism  as 
 hardly  more  than  an  empty  form,  is  thoroughly 
 prepared  to  become  a  convert  to  the  first  Ana- 
 baptist he  meets  with." 
 
 IV.    It  is  not  perhaps  generally  known,  how  Supersti- 
 much  Superstition  prevails  in  respect  of  the  prayers, 
 repetition  of  Prayers.    Protestants  are  accus- 
 tomed to  censure,  as  one  of  the  most  flagrant 
 of  Romish  corruptions,  the  use  of  prayers  in 
 an  unknown  tongue :  and  it  is  plain  that  it 
 
 See  Essay  IX.  Second  Series,  p.  343 — 7. 
 
60 
 
 Superstitio7i. 
 
 [essay  I. 
 
 makes  no  practical  difference  to  the  individual 
 whether  the  words  he  utters  are  Latin  or 
 English,  so  long  as  they  convey  no  sense  to 
 his  mind.  Now  the  practice  of  reciting  un- 
 meaning prayers  (unmeaning,  that  is,  to  the 
 person  using  them)  prevails  to  a  greater  extent 
 than  perhaps  many  persons  are  aware.  Many 
 probably  do  not  even  know  that  there  are  in- 
 vocations to  angels  and  to  the  four  Evangelists, 
 (which  it  is  to  be  hoped  are  not  at  all  under- 
 stood,) in  use  at  the  present  day  in  the  devo- 
 tions of  some  among  the  more  ignorant  classes 
 of  professed  Protestants.  I  know  that  the 
 caution  given  in  Dr.  Hawkins's  excellent  "  Ma- 
 nual for  Christians  after  Confirmation,"  (ch.  v. 
 §  1.)  that  "to  repeat  the  creed  is  not  to  pray,'" 
 startled  some  persons  as  being  manifestly  need- 
 less. But  the  fact  bears  him  out.  The  practice 
 is  by  no  means  uncommon  of  reciting  the 
 Apostles'  Creed  as  a  portion  of  prayer.  Now 
 it  is  manifest  that  whoever  makes  such  a 
 mistake,  might  just  as  well  recite  it  in  Latin 
 as  in  English  ;  since  it  is  plain  he  cannot  un- 
 derstand even  the  general  sense  and  drift  of  it. 
 And  it  is  equally  manifest  that  the  case  would 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 61 
 
 not  be  at  all  altered,  if  the  formula  he  recited 
 really  were  a  prayer ;  since  it  would  be  an 
 evident  superstition  to  attach  any  spiritual 
 virtue  to  the  mere  utterance  by  rote,  in  what- 
 ever language,  of  words,  however  in  themselves 
 appropriate. 
 
 And  this  leads  me  to  remark,  that  the  practice 
 of  teaching  or  allowing  very  young  children  to 
 learn  by  heart"  prayers,  psalms,  portions  of 
 Scripture,  &c.  which  they  are  incapable  at  the 
 time,  of  understanding,  is  one  which  is  very 
 often  superstitious,  and  almost  always  leads  to 
 superstition.  I  say  "often"  superstitious,  be- 
 cause it  is  not  necessarily  so.  Some  teachers 
 make  their  children  commit  these  things  to 
 memory,  merely  as  an  exercise  of  memory, 
 or  in  order  that  they  may  know  the  words 
 against  the  time  when  they  shall  become 
 competent  to  understand  them,  without  giving 
 the  children  any  notion,  that  in  repeating  these 
 words  they  are  performing  a  devotional  act." 
 
 n  See  note  B,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 
 
 °  Query.  Do  they  always  teach  their  children  other  prayers 
 also,  suitable  to  their  present  age  ?  or  do  they  account  them  al- 
 together unfit  for  any  communion  with  God,  as  children  ?  This 
 
62 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 There  is  nothing  superstitious  in  this ;  though 
 I  cannot  but  think  it  a  most  injudicious  practice, 
 inasmuch  as  it  involves  a  great  risk  of  most 
 serious  evils,  for  the  sake  of  a  benefit  immeasur- 
 ably minute.  To  learn  the  same  prayers,  &c. 
 in  Latin  or  in  Greek,  would  be,  as  an  exercise 
 of  the  memory,  equally  good,  and  in  other 
 respects,  much  better.  For  when  the  learner 
 was  afterwards,  at  a  riper  age,  presented  with 
 a  translation  of  these  words,  the  sense  would 
 strike  him,  and  would  perhaps  arouse  his  atten- 
 tion, and  excite  his  devotional  feelings.  Every 
 one  who  knows  what  it  is  (not  merely  to  say  his 
 prayers,  but)  really  to  pray,  must  be  conscious 
 that  a  continual  effort  is  requisite  to  prevent  a 
 form  of  words  with  which  he  is  very  familiar, 
 from  sliding  over  the  ear  or  the  tongue,  without 
 being  properly  attended  to,  and  accompanied  by 
 the  heart  and  the  understanding.  Now  the 
 liability  to  this  formal  repetition  of  words,  and 
 the  difficulty  of  avoiding  it,  must  be  greatly  in- 
 creased, if  the  words  have  been  familiarly  learnt 
 
 surely  is  supplying  them  with  a  provision  of  "  strong  meat," 
 which  they  may  hereafter  "  be  able  to  bear,"  while  they  with- 
 hold the  necessary  immediate  nourishment  of  milk. 
 
SECT.  6.]  Superstition.  63 
 
 by  rote  at  a  time  when  the  understanding  could 
 not  possibly  accompany  the  recitation,  from  their 
 being  beyond  a  child's  comprehension.  Add  to 
 which,  that  a  painful  association  is  thus  formed 
 in  the  child's  mind,  between  all  the  collects  and 
 texts,  &c.  he  has  been  thus  learning,  and  the  idea 
 of  a  dull,  irksome,  uninteresting,  and  unmeaning 
 task. 
 
 Some  however  find  that  their  children  do  not 
 regard  such  repetitions  as  a  painful,  or  even  an 
 uninteresting,  task,  but  consider  themselves, 
 though  they  do  not  understand  what  they  utter, 
 as  performing  an  act  of  devotion.  Now  this  is. 
 precisely  the  case  I  have  more  particularly  in 
 view  at  present.  The  other  just  mentioned,  of 
 learning  the  words  merely  as  an  exercise  of 
 memory,  is  likely  to  lead  to  superstition ;  but 
 this  is  itself  superstitious.  For  what  do  the 
 Romanists  more,  than  make  devotion  consist  in 
 repeating  a  hallowed  form  of  words,  with  a 
 general  intention  indeed  of  praying,  but  without 
 accompanying  with  the  understanding  the  words 
 uttered  ? 
 
 But,  it  may  be  replied,  a  child  does  under- 
 stand something  of  what  he  is  saying,  if  he  does. 
 
64  Superstiiion.  [essay  i. 
 
 but  understand  that  it  is  a  prayer  for  some 
 divine  blessing ;  (an  argument  which  may 
 be,  and  is,  urged  by  the  Romanists  in  behalf 
 of  their  Latin  prayers;)  while,  on  the  other 
 hand,  the  wisest  man  cannot  be  said  completely/ 
 to  understand  his  prayers,  since  the  nature  of 
 the  Being  he  addresses  must  be  mysterious  to 
 him. 
 
 In  many  cases  it  happens  that  it  is  difficult  to 
 draw  a  precise  line  in  theory,  while,  in  practice, 
 common  sense  leads  every  one  to  distinguish 
 sufficiently.  It  is  difficult,  for  instance,  [vid. 
 Hor.  Epist.  i.  b.  ii.  line  35.]  to  lay  down  exactly 
 how  many  years  ago  an  author  must  have  lived 
 to  be  called  "ancient;" — how  many  grains  of 
 corn  will  make  "  a  heap,"  &c.  &c.  But  as  in 
 other  cases,  so  in  this,  men  are  seldom  at  a  loss 
 to  perceive,  with  a  sufficient  approximation  to 
 truth  for  practical  purposes,  the  distinction  be- 
 tween what  is,  and  what  is  not  "understood." 
 Whenever  a  child  is  capable  (which  is  generally 
 at  a  very  early  age)  of  comprehending  what 
 prayer  is,  there  must  be  some  mode  of  expressing 
 a  prayer  which  will  be  intelligible  to  him;  let 
 this  expression  be  then  adopted  ;  let  him  employ 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 65 
 
 the  form  which  he  can  best  understand,  and 
 which  may  be  subsequently  modified  and  en- 
 larged, as  his  understanding  advances. 
 
 No  doubt,  a  prayer  thus  adapted  to  the  ca- 
 pacity of  a  child  must  be  childish  ;  how  can  any, 
 natural,  fervent,  hearty  devotions  of  a  child,  be 
 otherwise  than  childish  ?  Is  it  any  disparage- 
 ment to  the  devotions  of  grown  men,  that  they 
 are  human,  and  not  angelic  ?  Let  those  who,  for 
 the  sake  of  a  form  of  words  intrinsically  better, 
 teach  children  prayers  not  adapted  to  the  puerile 
 understanding — let  them,  I  say,  consider  on  what 
 grounds  they  can  convict  the  Romanists  of  su- 
 perstition on  account  of  their  Pater-nosters.  If 
 there  be  any  intrinsic  holiness  in  words  which 
 renders  them  in  themselves  acceptable,  whether 
 we  worship  "  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth,"  or  not, 
 then,  surely,  Latin  words  may  have  this  efficacy. 
 But  the  intrinsic  sanctity  of  the  words  of  the 
 Lord's  prayer,  for  instance,  is  the  same  only  as 
 that  of  the  wood  of  the  True  Cross.  This  was 
 an  instrument  of  the  salvation  of  mankind  when 
 the  Redeemer  was  offered  upon  it ;  the  other  is 
 a  means  of  grace  when  devoutly  offered  up  "with 
 the  heart  and  with  the  understanding  also"  in 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 the  name  of  that  Redeemer :  but  the  child  who 
 repeats  the  words  by  rote  is  no  more  benefited 
 by  them,  than  by  carrying  about  him  a  piece  of 
 the  wood  of  the  cross.  And  in  both  cases,  posi- 
 tive harm  is  done  instead  of  benefit,  by  the  mis- 
 direction of  religious  feeling. 
 
 I  have  heard  it  urged,  that  a  child  would  be 
 accounted  a  fool,  if  when  sent  to  school  he  should 
 be  found  unable  to  repeat  the  Lord's  prayer. 
 And  certainly  a  child  of  average  intelligence 
 would  usually  be  able,  before  the  age  supposed, 
 to  comprehend  an  explanation  of  that  prayer ; 
 which  of  course  should  not  be  withheld  one 
 moment  after  it  can  be  understood.  But  at  all 
 events,  it  is  surely  better,  when  that  is  the  alter- 
 native, that  a  child  should  be  reckoned  a  fool, 
 without  being  so,  than  that  he  should  he  so,  with- 
 out its  being  detected :  nor  can  it  be  doubted 
 that  there  is  real  folly,  whether  apparent  or  not, 
 in  superstitiously  attributing  efficacy  to  an  un- 
 meaning form  of  words. 
 
 It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe,  that  the 
 whole  of  the  above  reasoning  applies  equally  to 
 the  practice  of  taking  little  children  to  church. 
 
 Our  Liturgy   however   is  evidently  neither 
 
SECT.  G.]  Super stitio7i.  67 
 
 adapted  nor  designed  for  children,  even  those 
 of  such  an  age  as  to  be  fully  capable  of  join- 
 ing in  congregational  worship,  were  there  a 
 service  suitably  composed  on  purpose  for  them. 
 To  frame  and  introduce  such  a  service,  would 
 not,  I  think,  be  regarded  as  a  trifling  improve- 
 ment, if  we  could  but  thoroughly  get  rid  of  the 
 principle  of  the  Romish  hp-service.  We  cannot 
 too  much  "  take  thought  for  the  morrow,"  in 
 matters  relating  to  "  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
 his  righteousness;"  now  children  are  emphati- 
 cally the  Morrow  of  Society ;  and  in  all  that 
 relates  to  religious  and  moral  training,  they  are 
 far  the  more  important  part  of  it ;  for  we  know 
 that  if  we  "  train  up  a  child  in  the  way  that  he 
 should  go,  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
 from  it :"  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  too  often 
 a  vain  attempt,  to  remedy  by  instruction  to 
 adults,  the  want  of  this  early  training.  If  we 
 would  but  duly  take  care  of  children,  grown 
 people  would  generally  take  care  of  themselves. 
 
 V.  There  is  also  a  strong  tendency  to  super-  Supersti- 
 
 tioiis 
 
 stition  in  all  that  relates  to  the  place  and  mode  connected 
 
 with  buria 
 
 of  interment  of  a  corpse.    Many  of  ray  readers 
 must  have  observed,  that  in  a  great  number  of 
 f2 
 
68 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 church-yards,  the  north  side  is  almost  entirely 
 untenanted  by  graves,  through  a  certain  vague 
 notion  of  its  being  "  unlucky"  to  be  buried  there. 
 The  origin  I  believe  of  this  feeling  is  to  be  found 
 in  the  ancient  superstitious  practice  of  praying 
 for  the  dead.  The  principal  entrance  to  almost 
 all  churches  being  on  the  south,  one  who  was 
 interred  on  the  north,  would  be  the  less  likely  to 
 obtain  the  passing  prayers  of  his  surviving  neigh- 
 bours, as  they  were  proceeding  to  public  wor- 
 ship. But  however  this  may  be,  and  however 
 little  the  origin  of  any  superstition  may  be  known 
 or  remembered,  every  thing,  it  is  plain,  is  super- 
 stition, and  of  the  most  mischievous  class,  which 
 goes  to  connect  the  repose  of  the  soul  with  any 
 thing  that  takes  place  after  a  man's  death.  And 
 continual  watchfulness  is  requisite  to  prevent 
 superstitions  of  this  kind  from  being  engrafted 
 on  the  practice  of  interring  the  dead  in  church- 
 yards, and  performing  the  funeral-service  over 
 them.  Nothing  can  be  in  itself  more  proper  than 
 to  choose  such  an  occasion  for  the  performance 
 of  devotional  duties  ; — and  to  set  aside  a  spot  of 
 ground  for  the  decent  interment  of  the  dead ; — 
 nothing  more  natural  and  blameless,  than  the 
 
SECT.  6.]  Superstition. 
 
 69 
 
 wish  that  our  mortal  remains  should  repose  by 
 the  side  of  our  friends  and  relatives  :  but  the  best 
 things  are  liable  to  abuse  ;  and  the  more  sedu- 
 lously, in  most  places,  the  Pastor  studies  the 
 habitual  sentiments  of  his  flock,  the  less  will  he 
 be  disposed  to  regard  as  superfluous  an  especial 
 watchfulness  on  this  particular  point ; — a  constant 
 care  to  check  the  superstitious  idea,  that  either 
 the  consecrated  ground,  (whether  within  or  with- 
 out the  church,)  or  the  funeral-service,  have  any 
 thing  to  do  with  the  individual's  future  destiny. 
 And  the  more  care  and  diligence  is  requisite  for 
 the  detection  of  these  and  similar  superstitions, 
 inasmuch  as  those  enslaved  to  them  are  often 
 ashamed  of  them,  and  consequently  disposed  to 
 conceal  their  real  sentiments ;  especially  from 
 any  one  whom  they  perceive  to  be  not  disposed 
 to  sympathize  with  them.  The  exercise  of  this 
 vigilance,  accordingly,  by  any  one  who  had  not 
 heretofore  deemed  it  needful,  would  be  very  likely 
 to  bring  to  his  knowledge  much  that  would  sur- 
 prise him.  I  have  known,  for  instance,  a  person, 
 in  speaking  of  a  deceased  neighbour,  whose  cha- 
 racter had  been  irreligious  and  profligate,  remark, 
 how  great  a  comfort  it  was  to  hear  the  words  of 
 
70  Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 the  funeral-service  read  over  her,  "  because, 
 poor  woman,  she  had  been  such  a  bad  liver." 
 I  have  heard  of  an  instance  again,  of  a  super- 
 stition, probably  before  unsuspected,  being  ac- 
 cidentally brought  to  light,  by  the  minister's 
 having  forbidden  a  particular  corpse  to  be 
 brought  into  the  church,  because  the  person 
 had  never  frequented  it  when  alive :  the  con- 
 sequence of  which  was,  that  many  old  people 
 began  immediately  to  frequent  the  church,  who 
 had  before  been  in  the  habit  of  absenting  them- 
 selves. 
 
 Cautions  to  §  7.  All  thcsc  and  numberless  other  such 
 agamst  supcrstitlons,  it  was  the  business  of  a  corrupt 
 superstition.  pj.jgg|.|^QQ |.q  jntroduce  indeed,  but  to  en- 
 courage and  maintain,  inasmuch  as  they  almost 
 all  tend  to  increase  the  influence  and  wealth 
 of  the  Hierarchy.  Let  it  be  the  Protestant-Pas- 
 tor's business,  not  only  to  abstain  from  conniving 
 at  or  favouring  any  thing  of  the  kind,  but  (re- 
 membering that  the  original  source  of  superstition 
 is  not  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  in  the  heart 
 of  Man)  to  be  ever  on  the  watch  against  its 
 inroads  from  various  quarters,  and  in  various 
 
SECT.  7.] 
 
 Superstition. 
 
 71 
 
 shapes.  Towards  the  persons  indeed  who  fall 
 into  this,  or  any  other  kind  of  fault,  we  cannot 
 be  too  tender,  or  too  considerate  in  making 
 allowances :  but  we  must  guard  against  that 
 pretended  and  spurious  charity  which  is,  in 
 reality,  indifference  to  the  fault  itself,  and  care- 
 lessness about  purity  of  religion. 
 
 It  is  evidently  not  enough  to  avoid  and  dis- 
 countenance every  thing  that  is  in  itself  super- 
 stitious ; — such  as  (in  addition  to  several  of  the 
 things  just  mentioned)  the  consulting  of  pretended 
 witches  and  soothsayers — faith  in  dreams  and 
 omens,  and  in  lucky  and  unlucky  days ;  with 
 many  superstitions  of  the  same  character.  From 
 these  indeed  many  even  of  the  higher  orders,  in 
 point  of  birth  and  station,  are  by  no  means 
 wholly  exempt;  and  they  prevail  to  a  much 
 greater  extent  than  I  believe  most  persons  who 
 have  not  been  much  and  confidentially  con- 
 versant with  the  lower,  and  those  somewhat 
 above  the  lower,  ranks,  are  at  all  inclined  to 
 suspect.  But  it  is  not  enough  that  we  dis- 
 countenance these.  Nor  again,  is  it  enough  to 
 reject  and  to  discourage  all  such  practices  as,  with- 
 out being  necessarily  and  in  themselves  super- 
 
72  Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 stitious,  are,  either  generally,  or  at  any  particular 
 time  and  place,  peculiarly  liable  to  be  abused  to 
 a  superstitious  purpose,  while  they  may,  without 
 any  great  loss,  be  dispensed  with  ;  such  as  were 
 many  of  those  practices  of  the  Romish  Church 
 which  our  Reformers  "  brake  in  pieces,"  as 
 Hezekiah  did  the  brazen  serpent ;  not  as  origi- 
 nally evil,  but  as  the  occasion  of  Superstition. 
 All  this,  I  say,  is  insufficient ;  because  there  are 
 so  many  things  which  we  cannot  dispense  with, 
 which  yet  are  continually  liable  to  become  no 
 better  than  superstitious,  through  the  super- 
 stitious character  of  "  the  natural  man."  We 
 cannot  dispense  with  the  Sacraments  which 
 Christ  appointed  ; — with  prayer,  both  public  and 
 private  ; — with  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures; — 
 with  instructions  from  the  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
 pel ; — with  buildings  and  days  set  apart,  either 
 wholly  or  partly,  for  these  purposes.  Yet  these, 
 and  every  thing  else  of  this  kind,  are  perpetually 
 liable  to  be  abused,  and  indeed  I  fear  perpetually 
 are  abused,  into  occasions  of  Superstition.  Our 
 prayers  and  our  study  of  Scripture  are,  as  I  have 
 above  remarked,  superstitious,  when  we  trust  in 
 the  efficacy  ofthe  words,  without  earnestly  praying 
 
SECT.  7.]  Superstition. 
 
 73 
 
 with  the  heart,  and  labouring  to  gain  instruction 
 in  reh'gion.  The  hearing  of  sermons  is  very 
 commonly  made  an  occasion  of  superstition, 
 when  a  merit  is  attached  to  the  act  of  hearing 
 instruction,  without  labouring  to  understand, 
 and  profitably  apply,  that  instruction.  The 
 sanctity  belonging  to  the  "  Church"  of  Christ, 
 i.  e.  to  the  body  of  believers  who  are  "  the  Tem- 
 ple of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  dwelleth  in  them,"'' 
 is  commonly  transferred  to  the  building  in 
 which  a  congregation  assembles ;  while  the 
 veneration  for  that  building  is  shewn  not  so 
 much  in  an  earnest  endeavour  that  the  prayers 
 offered  up,  and  the  instructions  given  there,  may 
 be  profitable  to  the  soul,  as  in  a  superstitious 
 
 P  It  is  strange,  and  it  is  unfortunate,  that  so  many  should 
 have  not  only  overlooked  the  application  of  the  term  "  Tem- 
 ple," by  the  Apostles,  invariably  to  Christians  collectively, 
 never  to  the  individual  Christian,  but  should  have  even 
 asserted  the  contrary,  on  the  strength  of  one  text,  (I  Cor.  vi. 
 19.)  which  according  to  all  fair  rules  of  interpretation  exhibits 
 (especially  in  the  original  Greek)  the  same  sense  as  the  rest 
 of  the  passages  where  the  word  occurs.  The  Apostle  must 
 have  had  some  meaning  in  his  constant  adherence  to  a  form  of 
 speech  by  no  means  obvious ;  and  that  meaning,  whatever  it 
 is,  we  are  not  likely  to  take  in,  if  we  do  not  attend  to  his  lan- 
 guage.— See  Hinds's  "  Three  Temples  of  the  One  God." 
 
74 
 
 Superstition.  [essay  i. 
 
 feeling  of  satisfaction  on  the  supposed  merit  of 
 having,  in  bodily  presence,  frequented  it  during 
 life,  with  perhaps  a  hope  of  future  security,  from 
 the  lifeless  body's  reposing  within  its  walls.  The 
 Sacraments  again,  as  I  have  said,  become  super- 
 stitious to  those  who  deeply  venerate,  and  trust 
 in,  the  "  outward  visible  sign,"  without  thinking 
 of  any  inward  spiritual  efforts  after  the  "  inward 
 spiritual  grace."  And  yet,  all  these,  and  many 
 other  such  occasions  of  Superstition,  (for  such 
 they  doubtless  are  often  made,)  are  what  we 
 cannot  dispense  with.  The  more  vigilance  there- 
 fore must  we  use  in  our  own  case,  and  inculcate 
 upon  others,  in  guarding  against  the  inroads  of 
 Superstition. 
 
 In  no  point  we  may  be  assured  is  our  spiritual 
 Enemy  more  vigilant.  He  is  ever  ready,  not 
 merely  to  tempt  us  with  the  unmixed  poison 
 of  known  sin,  but  to  corrupt  even  our  food,  and 
 to  taint  even  our  medicine,  with  the  venom  of 
 his  falsehood.  For  Religion  is  the  medicine  of 
 the  soul :  it  is  the  designed  and  appropriate 
 preventive  and  remedy  for  the  evils  of  our  na- 
 ture: the  subtle  Tempter  well  knows  that  no 
 other  allurements  to  sin  would  be  of  so  much 
 
SECT.  7.]  Sujjerstitioti. 
 
 75 
 
 avail,  if  this  medicine  were  assiduously  applied, 
 and  applied  in  unadulterated  purity:  and  he  knows 
 that  Superstition  is  the  specific  poison  which 
 may  be  the  most  easily  blended  with  true  Religion, 
 and  which  will  the  most  completely  destroy  its 
 efficacy. 
 
 It  is  for  us  then  to  take  heed  that  the  "  light 
 which  is  in  us  be  not  darkness" — that  our  Re- 
 ligion be  kept  pure  from  the  noxious  admixture 
 of  Superstition  :  and  it  is  for  us  to  observe  the 
 errors  of  others,  with  a  view  to  our  own  correction 
 and  to  our  own  preservation  ;  instead  of  con- 
 templating "  the  mote  that  is  in  our  brother  s 
 eye,  while  we  behold  not  the  beam  that  is  in  our 
 own  eye."  Our  conscience,  if  we  carefully 
 regulate,  and  diligently  consult  it,  will  be  ready, 
 after  we  have  seen  and  condemned  (which  is  no 
 hard  task)  the  faults  of  our  neighbour,  to  furnish 
 us  (where  there  is  need)  with  that  salutary  admo- 
 nition, which  the  self-blinded  King  of  Israel 
 received  from  the  mouth  of  the  Prophet ;  "  Thou 
 art  the  man." 
 
NOTES. 
 
 Note  A,  page  32. 
 
 The  word  "  form"  was,  as  most  of  my  readers  pro- 
 bably are  aware,  employed  by  the  schoolmen,  agree- 
 ably to  the  then-prevailing  philosophy,  to  comprehend 
 all  the  attributes,  such  as  colour,  smell,  taste,  &c.  as 
 well  as  shape.  All  these, — the  accidents  [attributes]  of 
 bread  and  of  wine, — the  maintainors  of  transubstantiation 
 confess  to  exist  after  consecration  in  that  which  they 
 consider  as  the  real  literal  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ. 
 
 There  is  no  ground  for  the  objection  therefore  that  the 
 doctrine  (however  at  variance  with  reason  or  with  Scrip- 
 ture) is  contradicted  b?/  the  semes.  For  all  that  the  senses 
 testify  is,  the  existence  of  the  attributes — the  colour, 
 taste,  &c.  of  bread  ;  and  this  is  not  denied.  That  what- 
 ever has  the  appearance  and  other  sensible  qualities  of 
 bread,  is  bread,  is  a  proposition  which,  however  true,  is 
 not  attested  by  the  senses ;  they  only  attest  the  external 
 existence  of  those  qualities.  And  it  may  be  added  that 
 however  impossible  it  may  be  to  conceive  that  one  sub- 
 stance can  have  all  the  attributes  of  another,  or  what  is 
 to  be  understood  by  substance  independent  of  attributes, 
 still  it  must  be  admitted  that  we  always  regard  each 
 
Notes. 
 
 77 
 
 substance  not  as  being  the  same  thing  with  its  perceptible 
 qualities,  but  as  that  to  which  those  qualities  belong. 
 We  consider  snow,  for  instance,  not  as  whiteness  and 
 coldness,  but  as  that  to  which  the  qualities  of  being  white 
 and  cold  belong.  And  moreover  if  any  one  were  a 
 witness  of  the  miracle  of  Moses's  rod  transformed  into  a 
 serpent,  he  would  be  apt  to  describe  it  by  saying  "  that 
 which  you  see  before  you,  with  the  appearance  and  all 
 the  sensible  qualities  of  a  serpent,  is  in  reality  Moses's 
 rod :  he  threw  down  his  rod,  and  it  was  transformed  into 
 a  serpent;  and  when  he  takes  it  up  again,  it  will  resume 
 its  proper  form."  And  the  same  language  would  be 
 used  in  describing  the  pretended  transformations,  in  the 
 heathen  mythology.  It  follows  therefore  that,  according 
 to  the  established  use  of  language,  the  advocates  of 
 transubstantiation  do  not  speak  correctly ;  for  the  doc- 
 trine, by  their  own  account  of  it,  is,  the  transformation  of 
 Christ's  body  into  bread;  being  strictly  analogous  to  the 
 miracle  of  Moses's  rod. 
 
 That  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  words  "  this  is 
 ray  body"  leaves  them  still  under  the  necessity  of  con- 
 sidering one  thing  as  a  sign  of  another — since,  as  our 
 Lord  Himself  declares,  "  it  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth," 
 [giveth  life,]  "  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing," — I  have 
 endeavoured  to  point  out  in  a  note  in  the  preceding 
 volume.  But  it  is  impossible,  I  think,  for  any  one,  judg- 
 ing from  Scripture  alone,  and  familiar  with  its  language, 
 (in  which  it  is  so  very  common  to  make  one  thing  a  sign 
 of  another,  and  to  call  it  by  the  same  name)  to  interpret 
 the  passage  literally,  and  to  believe  that  Jesus  was 
 
78 
 
 Notes. 
 
 literally  transformed  into  bread,  any  more  than  He  was 
 transformed  into  a  real  lamb  or  into  a  vine. 
 
 Note  B,  page  61. 
 
 "  It  need  hardly  be  observed  how  important  it  is,  with 
 a  view  to  these  objects,  to  abstain  carefully  from  the  prac- 
 tice, still  too  prevalent,  though  much  less  so,  we  believe, 
 than  formerly,  of  compelling,  or  encouraging,  or  even 
 allowing,  children  to  learn  by  rote  forms  of  prayer,  cate- 
 chisms, hymns,  or  in  short  any  thing  connected  with 
 morality  and  religion,  when  they  attach  no  meaning  to 
 the  words  they  utter.  It  is  done  on  the  plea  that  they 
 will  hereafter  learn  the  meaning  of  what  they  have  been 
 thus  taught,  and  will  be  able  to  make  a  practical  use  of  it. 
 But  no  attempt  at  economy  of  time  can  be  more  inju- 
 dicious. Let  any  child  whose  capacity  is  so  far  matured 
 as  to  enable  him  to  comprehend  an  explanation,  e.  g.  of 
 the  Lord's  Prayer,  have  it  then  put  before  him  for  the  first 
 time,  and  when  he  is  made  acquainted  with  the  meaning 
 of  it,  set  to  learn  it  by  heart ;  and  can  any  one  doubt  that 
 in  less  than  half  a  day's  application  he  would  be  able  to 
 repeat  it  fluently  ?  And  the  same  would  be  the  case  with 
 other  forms.  All  that  is  thus  learned  by  rote  by  a  child 
 before  he  is  competent  to  attach  a  meaning  to  the  words 
 he  utters,  would  not,  if  all  put  together,  amount  to  so 
 much  as  would  cost  him,  when  able  to  understand  it,  a 
 week's  labour  to  learn  perfectly.  Whereas  it  may  cost 
 the  toil,  often  the  vain  toil,  of  many  years,  to  unlearn  the 
 
Notes. 
 
 79 
 
 habit  of  formalism — of  repeating  words  by  rote  without 
 attending  to  their  meaning  ;  a  habit  which  every  one  con- 
 versant with  education  knows  to  be  in  all  subjects  most 
 readily  acquired  by  children,  and  with  difficulty  avoided 
 even  with  the  utmost  care  of  the  teacher ;  but  which  such 
 a  plan  must  inevitably  tend  to  generate.  It  is  often  said, 
 and  very  truly,  that  it  is  important  to  form  early  habits  of 
 piety ;  but  to  train  a  child  in  one  kind  of  habit,  is  not  the 
 most  likely  way  of  forming  the  opposite  one  :  and  nothing 
 can  be  more  contrary  to  true  piety,  than  the  Popish  super- 
 stition (for  such  the  fact  is)  of  attaching  efficacy  to  the 
 repetition  of  a  certain  form  of  words,  as  a  charm,  inde- 
 pendent of  the  understanding  and  of  the  heart. 
 
 "  It  is  also  said,  with  equal  truth,  that  we  ought  to 
 take  advantage  of  the  facility  which  children  possess  of 
 learning  :  but  to  infer  from  thence,  that  Providence 
 designs  us  to  make  such  a  use  (or  rather  abuse)  of  this 
 gift  as  we  have  been  censuring,  is  as  if  we  were  to  take 
 advantage  of  the  readiness  with  which  a  new-born  babe 
 swallows  whatever  is  put  into  its  mouth,  to  dose  it  with 
 ardent  spirits,  instead  of  wholesome  food  and  necessary 
 medicine.  The  readiness  with  which  children  learn  and 
 remember  words,  is  in  truth  a  most  important  advantage 
 if  rightly  employed  ;  viz.  if  applied  to  the  acquiring  that 
 mass  of  what  may  be  called  arbitrary  knowledge  of  insu- 
 lated facts,  which  can  only  be  learned  by  rote,  and  which 
 is  necessary  in  after  life  ;  when  the  acquisition  of  it  would 
 both  be  more  troublesome,  and  would  encroach  on  time 
 that  might  otherwise  be  better  employed.  Chronology, 
 names  of  countries,  weights  and  measures,  and  indeed  all 
 
80 
 
 Notes. 
 
 the  words  of  any  language,  are  of  this  description.  If  a 
 child  had  even  ten  times  the  ordinary  degree  of  the 
 faculty  in  question,  a  judicious  teacher  would  find  abun- 
 dance of  useful  employment  for  it,  without  resorting  to  any 
 that  could  possibly  be  detrimental  to  his  future  habits, 
 moral,  religious,  or  intellectual." — London  Review,  No.  II. 
 pp.  412,  413. 
 
ESSAY  II. 
 
 VICARIOUS  RELIGION. 
 
 §  1.  The  Apostle  Paul,  in  many  passages 
 in  his  Epistles,  characterises  the  Christian  reli- 
 gion^ as  containing  "Mysteries,"  that  is,  truths 
 not  discoverable  by  human  reason,  but  made 
 known  by  Divine  revelation :  as  for  instance,  in 
 his  first  Epistle  to  Timothy,''  "  without  contro- 
 versy, great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness." 
 
 And  it  is  very  important  to  observe,  that  in  character 
 
 n     1  /      1     1  \  ofChristia 
 
 all  the  passages  (and  they  are  very  numerous)  mysteries, 
 in  which  he  applies  the  word  Mystery  (f^va-TT^ptov) 
 to  the  Christian  faith,  or  to  any  part  of  it,  the 
 circumstance  to  which  he  is  directing  the  reader's 
 attention  is,  not  the  concealment,  but  the  dis- 
 closure of  the  mystery.    He  impHes  indeed  that 
 
 *  For  that  is  evidently  the  meaning  of  the  expression, 
 f]  ehat^t'ia,  which  our  translators  have  rendered  "  Godliness." 
 ^  Chap.  iii.  16. 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 Vicarious^  religion. 
 
 [essay  II. 
 
 the  truths  so  described  were  formerly  unknown, 
 and  could  not  be  known  by  man's  unaided 
 powers  ;  but  he  speaks  of  them  as  now  at  length 
 laid  open,  by  the  gracious  dispensation  of  Pro- 
 vidence ;  as  no  longer  concealed,  except  from 
 those  who  wilfully  shut  their  eyes  against  the 
 light  of  Divine  revelation  :  "  if  our  Gospel  is  hid, 
 it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  [in  the  way  to  be]  lost, 
 whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded :"  and 
 his  own  office  in  "  proclaiming  the  good  tidings" 
 of  this  revelation,  he  describes  as  "  making  known 
 the  mystery  of  the  Gospel,"  "  which  was  kept 
 secret  since  the  world  began,  but  now  is  made 
 manifest" 
 
 Not  that  the  Apostle  meant  to  imply  but  that 
 after  all,  the  nature  and  designs  of  the  Most 
 High  must  be  by  us  very  imperfectly  under- 
 stood ;  but  the  circumstance  to  which  he  is  espe- 
 cially caUing  attention  is,  not  the  unrevealed,  but 
 the  revealed — not  the  unintelligible,  but  the 
 explained — portion  of  the  divine  dispensations. 
 
 This  we  should  always  remember  is  the  strict  sense  of 
 the  phrase  KT)pvaaeiy  to  EhayytXior,  which  we  usually  render, 
 in  words  which  by  familiarity  have  almost  lost  their  original 
 force,  "preaching  the  Gospel." 
 
SECT.  1.]  Vicarious  religion.  83 
 
 And  this  he  does,  in  manifest  allusion  to  the  Pagan 
 
 mysteries. 
 
 mysteries  of  the  ancient  pagan  religions  ;  with 
 which,  in  this  respect,  he  contrasts  Christianity ; 
 inasmuch  as  in  this  last  there  was  not,  as  among 
 the  Pagans,  a  distinction  between  the  initiated 
 and  the  uninitiated; — a  revelation  to  some  of  the 
 worshippers,  of  certain  holy  secrets,  from  which 
 the  rest  were  excluded  ;  nor  great  mysteries  and 
 lesser  mysteries,  (as  the  Eleusinian,)  in  which  dif- 
 ferent persons  were  initiated ;  but,  on  the  con- 
 trary, the  ''great"  mysteries  of  the  Christian 
 faith  (fieya  fivari^piov)  were  made  known,  as  far  as 
 it  is  expedient  and  possible  for  man  to  know 
 them,  to  all  alike,  whether  Jew  or  Gentile,  who 
 were  but  willing  to  embrace  the  truth  :  and  "  to 
 know  the  fellowship"  (i.  e.  the  common  partici- 
 pation) "  of  the  mystery,"  Koivcovla  rov  fiva-Trfpiov, 
 was  offered  to  all.  There  was  not  one  system 
 of  religion  for  a  certain  favoured  few,  and  another, 
 for  the  mass  of  believers  ;  but  the  great  "  mystery 
 of  godliness"  was  made  accessible,  gradually  in- 
 deed, in  proportion  as  they  were  able  to  bear  it, 
 but  universally.  To  all  Christ's  disciples  it  was 
 "  given  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of 
 g2 
 
84 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 [essay  II. 
 
 heaven  there  was  "one  Lord,  one  faith,  one 
 baptism,"''  and  (though  with  diversity  of  gifts) 
 one  and  the  same  Spirit,  sanctifying  the  Church, 
 and  dwelhng  in  all  its  members. 
 
 The  opposite  system  to  this — that  of  recog- 
 nizing different  degrees  of  access  to  the  Deity, 
 and  of  keeping  certain  sacred  rites  and  holy 
 secrets  confined  to  a  few,  and  set  apart  from  the 
 multitude — is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  charac- 
 teristics of  natural  religion  ;  by  which  expression 
 I  mean  not  what  is  commonly,  though  impro- 
 perly, so  called  ;  but  such  a  religious  system  as 
 men  naturally  fall  into,  when  left  to  themselves. 
 
 ^  Matt.  xiii.  1 1.  "  To  you  it  is  given  to  know  the  mysteries 
 of  the  kingdom,"  &c.  An  objection  has  been  raised  from  this 
 passage,  because  it  is  said  that  the  others,  viz.  those  who 
 were  not  disciples,  were  not  admitted  to  the  same  advantage. 
 But  why  did  they  not  become  disciples  ?  If  Jesus  had  rested 
 his  claims  on  the  apparent  reasonableness  of  what  He  taught, 
 it  would  have  been  most  unfair  to  require  men  to  join  Him 
 before  they  fully  understood  it :  but  his  claim  rested  on  the 
 "  mighty  works,"  which  afforded  sufficient  proof  of  his  coming 
 from  God. 
 
 *  See  Hinds's  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  Christianity."  Vol. 
 II.  pp.  40—98. 
 
SECT.  1.]  Vicarious  Religion.  85 
 
 The  case  of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  above 
 alluded  to,  is  only  one  instance  out  of  many. 
 Indeed  I  believe  there  is  hardly  any  system  of 
 Paganism  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  that 
 has  not  some  articles  of  faith — some  religious 
 rites — some  kind  of  pretended  theological  know- 
 ledge— confined,  either  to  the  priests,  or  to  some 
 privileged  Order  of  men,  and  from  which  the 
 great  body  of  worshippers  is  either  excluded,  or 
 at  least  exempted. 
 
 It   might  be  expected  therefore   that  this  christian 
 
 °  mysteries 
 
 character  should  be  found  (as  in  fact  it  is)  in  the  brought  to 
 
 resemble 
 
 Romish  system  ;  which  I  have  already  described  pagan, 
 as  the  gradual  and  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the 
 expression)  spontaneous  corruption  of  Chris- 
 tianity, by  the  natural  unrestrained  workings 
 of  the  human  mind. 
 
 Men  readily  perceived,  what  indeed  is  very 
 true,  that  those  who  have  leisure  and  abilities 
 beyond  what  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  generality, 
 are  enabled,  and  may  be  expected,  to  acquire 
 a  larger  share  of  learning,  generally,  and,  among 
 the  rest,  of  theological  learning  :  while  the  proper 
 object  of  this  theological  learning  (under  such  a 
 system  as  that  of  Christianity)  is  often  lost  sight 
 
86         '        Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 of ;  viz.  to  establish  the  authority,  and  ascertain 
 and  explain  the  meaning,  of  the  sacred  writings. 
 And  again,  men  readily  perceived,  that  there  are 
 many  points  connected  with  religion  which  are 
 in  a  great  degree  beyond  their  comprehension  ; 
 without  accurately  distinguishing  which  are  so, 
 from  their  own  deficiency  in  learning,  and  which, 
 from  being  beyond  the  reach  of  the  human 
 faculties. 
 
 The  learned,  on  the  other  hand,  or  such  as 
 aspired  to  that  character,  felt,  of  course,  the 
 natural  love  of  distinction  the  more  gratified,  in 
 proportion  as  their  studies  were  supposed  to  be 
 directed  to  points  the  most  abstruse  and  re- 
 condite— to  some  knowledge  respecting  things 
 divine,  beyond  the  understanding,  and  too  sacred 
 for  the  inquiries,  of  ordinary  men. 
 
 At  the  same  time,  the  natural  inquisitiveness 
 of  the  human  mind  after  speculative  knowledge, 
 especially  on  the  most  exalted  subjects,  having 
 led  theologians  to  overlook  the  practical  cha- 
 racter of  the  Christian  revelation,  and  to  indulge 
 in  presumptuous  disquisitions  as  to  the  intrinsic 
 nature  of  the  Deity,  this  circumstance  could  not 
 but  contribute  still  more  to  set  apart  a  certain 
 
SECT.  1 .3  Vicarious  religion.  87 
 
 portion  of  (supposed)  divine  knowledge  as  un- 
 necessary, and  unfit,  for  vulgar  contemplation. 
 Mysterious  doctrines  unconnected  with  Christian 
 practice,  at  least  with  such  practice  as  was  re- 
 quired from  the  great  mass  of  Christians,  it  was 
 suflScient  that  they  should  assent  to  with  implicit 
 faith,  without  attempting  to  examine  the  proofs 
 of  such  matters — to  understand  the  doctrines 
 themselves — or  even  to  know  what  they  were  : 
 "  I  do  not  presume,  nor  am  able,  to  comprehend 
 the  Mysteries  of  the  Faith,  but  leave  them  to  my 
 spiritual  guides  ; — I  believe  all  that  the  Holy 
 Catholic  Church  receives;" — such  was  the  lan- 
 guage— such  the  easy  and  compendious  confes- 
 sion of  faith — which  resulted  from  the  indolence — 
 the  spiritual  carelessness — the  weakness,  and  the 
 dishonest  ambition,  of  human  nature. 
 
 The  unprofitable,  absurd,  presumptuous,  and  Scholastic 
 
 philosophy. 
 
 profane  speculations  of  many  scholastic  theolo- 
 gians (not  all  of  them  members  of  the  Romish 
 Church)  which  are  extant,  afford  a  melancholy 
 specimen  of  the  fruits  of  this  mistake  as  to  the 
 Christian  Mysteries — this  "  corruption  from  the 
 simplicity  that  is  in  Christ."  ^ 
 
 f  See  Hampden's  Bampton  Lectuies. 
 
88 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 [essay  II. 
 
 Specimens  of  this  "philosophy  and  vain  de- 
 ceit"— such  as  are  to  be  found  in  various  dis- 
 sertations on  what  are  called  the  mysterious 
 doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith — such  as  I  cannot 
 bring  myself  to  transcribe,  and  cannot  even 
 think  of  without  shuddering — it  may  be  some- 
 times a  profitable  though  a  painful  task  to  peruse, 
 in  order  to  estimate  duly,  as  a  warning  and  ad- 
 monition to  ourselves,  the  effects  of  misapplied 
 learning  and  misdirected  ingenuity.  To  select 
 one  instance  out  of  many,  no  point  in  these 
 systems  of  speculative  theology  has  so  much 
 exercised  the  perverted  powers  of  divines  of  this 
 stamp,  as  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  f  or  as  they 
 might  with  more  propriety  have  called  it,  the 
 mystery  of  the  divine  Unity :  for  though  in  itself 
 the  doctrine  so  sedulously  inculcated  throughout 
 the  Scriptures  that  there  is  but  One  God,  seems 
 to  present  no  revolting  difficulty,  yet,  on  rising 
 
 s  The  selection  of  this  particular  doctrine  by  way  of  illus- 
 tration was  suggested  by  the  circumstance,  that  the  Discourse, 
 of  which  the  following  pages  contain  the  substance,  was  de- 
 livered before  the  University  on  Trinity-Sunday.  I  have 
 retained  the  passage,  because  I  can  think  of  no  other  instance 
 that  better  illustrates  what  has  been  said. 
 
SECT.  1.] 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 89 
 
 from  the  disquisitions  of  many  scholastic  divines 
 on  the  inherent  distinctions  of  the  three  Divine 
 Persons,  a  candid  reader  cannot  but  feel  that 
 they  have  made  the  Unity  of  God  the  great  and 
 difficult  mystery ;    and  have  in  fact  so  nearly 
 
 ^  It  is  however  important  to  remark,  that  though  the 
 Unity  of  the  Deity  is  not  in  itself  a  doctrine  of  very  mys- 
 terious difficulty,  it  is  one  which  is  the  more  earnestly  dwelt 
 on  in  Scripture,  besides  other  reasons,  for  one  resulting  from 
 the  tone  of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  For  they  would,  hut 
 for  these  express  declarations,  naturally  lead  the  reader  either 
 to  believe  in  three  Gods,  or  at  least  to  be  in  doubt  on  the 
 question.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  not  so  much  declared 
 as  a  distinct  article  of  faith,  as  it  is  implied  by  the  whole 
 history  recorded,  and  views  every  where  taken,  in  Scripture, 
 of  God's  threefold  manifestation  of  Himself ;  which  are  such 
 as  would  present  to  our  minds  nothing  inconsistent  with  the 
 agency  of  three  Divine  Beings  acting  in  concert,  were  it  not 
 that  such  sedulous  care  is  taken  to  assure  us  of  the  numerical 
 Unity  of  the  God  thus  manifested  to  us ; — that  in  the  Son 
 "  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead,"  &c.  &c.  See 
 Essay  VII.  (Second  Series,)  pp.  234,  235.  and  Essay  IX. 
 pp.  277 — 281.  See  also  Hinds's  "  Three  Temples  of  the  One 
 God,"  pp.  129,  132.  for  a  most  luminous  view  of  this  important 
 subject. 
 
 The  reader  is  also  referred  to  the  Articles  "  One,"  and 
 "  Person,"  in  the  Appendix  to  the  "  Elements  of  Logic."  It 
 Has  been  doubted  whether  there  is  any  foundation  for  the 
 suspicion  I  have  there  expressed,  that  the  language  of  some 
 
90 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 [essay  II. 
 
 explained  it  away,  and  so  bewildered  the  minds 
 of  their  disciples,  as  to  drive  them  to  withdraw 
 
 divines  has  a  leaning  towards  Tritheism.  The  following  ex- 
 tract will  at  once  explain  my  meaning,  and  prove,  I  conceive, 
 satisfactorily,  that  my  apprehensions  are  not  altogether  ground- 
 less. It  is  taken  from  a  work  of  considerable  merit,  and 
 which  has  obtained  not  only  much  popularity,  but  also  a 
 peculiarly  high  description  of  patronage.  Several  of  my 
 readers  will  perhaps  recognize  the  passage  ;  but  I  purposely 
 avoid  naming  the  book,  because  it  is  not  my  object  to  dis- 
 cuss the  merits  of  this  or  that  individual  work,  but  to  call 
 attention  to  the  notions  which  are  afloat  in  the  world,  generally ; 
 and  I  am  so  far  from  designing  to  particularize  the  work  in 
 question,  as  containing  any  thing  novel,  peculiar,  likely  to  be 
 generally  offensive,  and  at  variance  with  prevailing  opinions, 
 that  my  meaning  is  the  very  reverse. 
 
 "  When  the  great  Creator  had  finished  the  rest  of  his 
 works,  wanting  another  creature  to  rule  them  all,  and  as  their 
 Priest,  to  adore  him  in  their  name,  he  said,  '  Let  us  make 
 man  in  our  own  image,  after  our  likeness.'  In  the  creation  of 
 other  things  all  is  done  with  the  tone  of  command,  or  with  a 
 mere  volition.  '  Let  there  be  light ;  let  there  be  a  firma- 
 ment ;  let  the  earth  bring  forth  so  and  so.'  But  when  man 
 is  to  be  made — a  creature  who  is  to  be  endued  with  reason 
 and  intelligence — the  very  image  of  the  Maker — he  uses  an 
 expression  which  indicates  deliberation  and  counsel ;  he  con- 
 sults with  some  other  august  Beings,  (the  two  remaining  Per- 
 sons of  the  Trinity,  no  doubt,)  of  whom,  as  well  as  of  himself, 
 man  was  to  be  both  the  workmanship  and  the  resemblance." 
 
 If  the  passage  here  commented  on  had  stood  alone  in  the 
 
SECT.  1.]  Vicarious  religion.  91 
 
 their  thoughts,  habitually  and  deliberately,  from 
 every  thing  connected  with  the  subject;'  as  the 
 only  mode  left  for  the  unlearned  to  keep  clear 
 of  error. 
 
 Yet  it  might  have  occurred,  one  would  have 
 thought,  to  both  parties,  that  learning  cannot 
 advance  one  man  beyond  another  in  the  com- 
 prehension of  things  which  are  confessedly  be- 
 yond the  reach  of  the  human  faculties  altogether ; 
 — that  in  total  darkness,  or  in  respect  of  objects 
 beyond  our  horizon,  the  clearest  and  the  dimmest 
 sight  are  on  a  level ; — and  that  of  matters  re- 
 lating to  the  Deity  and  revealed  by  Him,  not  as 
 a  special  secret,  to  a  favoured  few,  but  to  all  who 
 
 Jewish  Scriptures,  or  if  the  Jews  had  interpreted  it,  as  this 
 writer  has  done,  without  any  reference  to  the  other  passages 
 of  Scripture  which  serve  to  qualify  and  guard  it,  they  would 
 doubtless  (as  the  above  extract  seems  to  shew)  have  adopted 
 nearly  the  same  hypothesis  as  was  long  afterwards  broached 
 by  Arius  ; — that  the  supreme  God  acts  in  concert  "  with  some 
 
 OTHER  AUGUST  BeINGS  !" 
 
 *  I  am  enabled  to  state  this  as  no  mere  conjecture  or  sus- 
 picion, but  as  a  matter  of  fact  coming  within  my  own  ex- 
 perience ;  I  mean,  in  respect  of  sundry  individual  cases ;  and 
 it  is  individual  cases  only  that  come  within  the  province 
 of  experience. 
 
92  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 would  hear  his  voice,  and  which  cannot  be 
 discovered  any  otherwise  than  through  this 
 revelation — of  these,  none  need  know  less,  and 
 none  can  know  more,  than  the  Almighty  has 
 thus  revealed. 
 
 The  nature  of  God  as  He  is  in  Himself,  can 
 never  be  comprehended  by  the  wisest  of  us  his 
 creatures ;  but  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and 
 the  rest  of  the  mysteries  of  the  Gospel,  as  far  as 
 they  relate  to  us,  since  He  has  thought  fit  to 
 reveal  these  to  us  in  the  Gospel,  every  Christian 
 is  allowed,  and  is  bound,  to  learn  from  that  Reve- 
 lation "of  the  mystery  which  was  secret  from 
 the  beginning  of  the  world,  but  now  is  made  mani- 
 fest."^ And  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  (which 
 is  perhaps  the  oftenest  of  any  treated  as  a  specu- 
 lative truth  about  which  none  but  learned  divines 
 need  trouble  themselves,)  as  it  is  a  summary  of 
 that  faith  into'  which  we  are  baptized,  and  the 
 
 k  Rom.  xvi.  25. 
 
 '  "  Teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  into  (or  to)  the  name 
 (ttc  TO  ovofia)  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost :"  this  is  evidently  the  right  rendering  of  the  original 
 words,  and  conveys  the  sense  which  must  have  been  meant, 
 viz,  that  the  baptized  convert  was  enrolled  and  enlisted,  as  it 
 
SECT.  1.] 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 93 
 
 key-stone  of  the  Christian  system,  ought  to  be 
 set  forth  continually  and  universally,  as  the  sup- 
 port of  every  part  of  the  building  of  the  Christian 
 faith,  and  the  Christian  life :  reference  should 
 be  made  to  it,  not  merely  on  some  stated  solemn 
 occasions,  as  to  an  abstruse  tenet  to  be  assented 
 to,  and  then  laid  aside,  but  perpetually,  as  to  a 
 practical  doctrine,  connected  with  every  other 
 point  of  religious  belief  and  conduct. 
 
 So  also  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement  has 
 often  been  made  the  basis  of  abstruse  metaphy- 
 sical disquisitions  respecting  the  mode  in  which 
 divine  justice  was  satisfied  by  the  sacrifice  of 
 Christ,  considering  that  act  more  as  to  what  it 
 was  to  God,  than  what  it  was  to  Man. 
 
 This  kind  of  mistake  has  been  common  in 
 nearly  an  equal  degree  to  many  different  sects 
 and  parties ;  which  it  has  greatly  contributed 
 to  create  and  keep  up.  Trinitarians,  Arians, 
 Sabellians,  Nestorians,  Socinians,  &c.  have  very 
 
 were,  into  the  service  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
 Ghost.  The  Vulgate  Latin  has  "  in  nomine,"  and  our  trans- 
 lation, (perhaps  from  too  great  reverence  for  that  authority,) 
 "  in  the  name  ;"  which  does  violence  to  the  original,  and  intro- 
 duces a  different  idea,  quite  inappropriate. 
 
94 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 [essay  II. 
 
 much  agreed  in  giving  metaphysical  explanations 
 of  matters  left  unexplained  in  Scripture,  widely 
 as  they  have  differed  in  their  respective  theories." 
 
 Real  origin      §  2.  In  no  point  perhaps  has  the  real  origin 
 
 of  priest-        f>  i      t-»        •  i  •  i 
 
 craft.  of  the  Romish  corruptions  been  more  imperfectly 
 perceived,  than  in  the  one  now  before  us — the 
 setting  apart  of  certain  religious  dogmas — duties 
 — privileges — in  short,  certain  portions  of  Chris- 
 tianity, as  confined  to  a  distinct  class  of  men, 
 and  in  which  the  laity  were  either  not  allowed  or 
 not  required  to  have  a  share.  We  are  accustomed 
 to  hear  much  of  priestcraft — of  the  subtle  arts  of 
 designing  men,  who  imposed  on  the  simplicity  of 
 an  ignorant  people,  and  persuaded  them  to  believe 
 that  they,  the  priests,  alone  understood  the  na- 
 ture of  the  Deity — the  proper  mode  in  which  to 
 propitiate  Him — and  the  mysterious  doctrines  to 
 which  the  others  were  to  give  their  implicit 
 assent ;  and  the  poor  deluded  people  are  repre- 
 sented as  prevailed  on  against  their  better  judg- 
 ment, by  the  sophistry,  and  promises,  and  threats, 
 of  these  crafty  impostors,  to  make  ihejn  the 
 
 ™  See  Logic,  Appendix,  Article  "Person."  Also  Sermon  V. 
 p.  133. 
 
SECT.  2.]  Vicarious  religion.  95' 
 
 keepers  of  their  consciences — their  mediators, 
 and  substitutes  in  the  service  of  God,  and  their 
 despotic  spiritual  rulers. 
 
 There  is  undoubtedly  much  truth  in  such  a 
 representation ;  but  it  leaves  on  the  mind  an 
 erroneous  impression,  because  it  is  (at  the  ut- 
 most) only  half  the  truth. 
 
 If  indeed,  in  any  country,  priests  had  been 
 Beings  of  a  different  species  —  or  a  distinct 
 Caste,  as  in  some  of  the  Pagan  nations  where  the 
 priesthood  is  hereditary  ; — if  this  race  had  been 
 distinguished  from  the  people  by  intellectual 
 superiority  and  moral  depravity,  and  if  the  peo- 
 ple had  been  sincerely  desirous  of  knowing,  and 
 serving,  and  obeying  God  for  themselves,  but 
 had  been  persuaded  by  these  demons  in  human 
 form  that  this  was  impossible,  and  that  the  laity 
 must  trust  them  to  perform  what  was  requisite,  in 
 their  stead,  and  submit  implicitly  to  their  guid- 
 ance— then  indeed  there  would  be  ground  for 
 regarding  priestcraft  as  altogether  the  work  of 
 the  priests,  and  in  no  degree,  of  the  people.  But 
 we  should  remember,  that  in  every  age  and 
 country,  (even  where  they  were,  as  the  Romish 
 priests  were  not,  a  distinct  Caste,)  priests  must 
 
96 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 [essay  II. 
 
 have  been  mere  men,  of  like  passions  with  their 
 brethren ;  and  though  sometimes  they  might 
 have,  on  the  whole,  a  considerable  intellectual 
 superiority,  yet  it  must  always  have  been  impos- 
 sible to  delude  men  into  the  reception  of  such 
 gross  absurdities,  if  they  had  not  found  in  them 
 a  readiness — nay,  a  craving — for  delusion.  The 
 reply  which  is  recorded  of  a  Romish  priest,  is, 
 (not  in  the  sight  of  God  indeed,  but)  as  far  as 
 regards  any  complaint  on  the  part  of  the  laity,  a 
 satisfactory  defence ;  when  taxed  with  some  of 
 the  monstrous  impostures  of  his  Church,  his 
 answer  was,  "  Populus  vult  decipi,  et  decipiatur." 
 Such  indeed  was  the  case  of  Aaron,  and  similar 
 the  defence  he  offered,  for  making  the  Israelites 
 an  image,  at  their  desire.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten, 
 that  the  first  recorded  instance  of  departure  from 
 purity  of  worship  as  established  by  the  revelation 
 to  the  Israelites,  was  forced  on  the  priest  by  the 
 people. 
 
 The  truth  is,  mankind  have  an  innate  pro- 
 pensity, as  to  other  errors,  so,  to  that  of  endea- 
 vouring to  serve  God  by  proxy ; — to  commit  to 
 some  distinct  Order  of  men  the  care  of  their 
 religious  concerns,  in  the  same  manner  as  they 
 
si;cT.  2.]         Vicarious  religion.  97 
 
 confide  the  care  of  their  bodily  health  to  the 
 physician,  and  of  their  legal  transactions  to  the 
 lawyer ;  deeming  it  sufficient  to  follow  implicitly 
 their  directions,  without  attempting  themselves 
 to  become  acquainted  with  the  mysteries  of 
 medicine  or  of  law. 
 
 Nothing  is  more  mischievous  than  an  incor- 
 rect analogy  that  is  constantly  before  us,  and 
 familiar  to  our  minds.  Like  a  distorted  mirror 
 in  the  apartment  we  inhabit,  it  produces,  not  an 
 insulated  or  occasional  error,  but  a  deep-seated 
 and  habitual  false  impression.  Now  nothing  can 
 be  more  familiar  than  the  seeming  analogy  be- 
 tween the  several  professions.  Men  may  rather 
 be  said  habitually  to  feel,  than  distinctly  to 
 maintain,  (indeed  the  falsehood  would  be  easily 
 detected  in  a  formal  assertion,)  that  as  the 
 soldier  is  in  respect  of  military,  and  the  sailor,  in 
 respect  of  naval,  affairs,  and  the  physician,  in 
 respect  of  remedies  for  bodily  disease,  and  the 
 lawyer,  in  legal  matters,  so  is  the  clergyman,  in 
 respect  of  religion.  And  they  are  willing  ac- 
 cordingly, and  desirous,  that  others  should  study, 
 and  should  understand,  the  mysterious  doctrines 
 of  religion,  in  their  stead — should  practise,  in 
 
 H 
 
98  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 their  stead,  some  more  exalted  kind  of  piety  and 
 of  virtue — and  should  offer  prayers  and  sacrifices 
 on  their  behalf,  both  in  their  lifetime  and  after 
 their  death.  For  Man,  except  when  unusually 
 depraved,  retains  enough  of  the  image  of  his 
 Maker,  to  have  a  natural  reverence  for  rehgion, 
 and  a  desire  that  God  should  be  worshipped ; 
 but,  through  the  corruption  of  his  nature,  his 
 heart  is  (except  when  divinely  purified)  too 
 much  alienated  from  God  to  take  delight  in 
 serving  Him.  Hence,  the  disposition  men  have 
 ever  shewn,  to  substitute  the  devotion  of  the 
 Priest  for  their  own ; — to  leave  the  duties  of 
 piety  in  his  hands — and  to  let  him  serve  God  in 
 their  stead.  This  disposition  is  not  so  much  the 
 consequence,  as  itself  the  origin,  of  priestcraft. 
 The  Romish  hierarchy  did  but  take  advantage 
 from  time  to  time  of  this  natural  propensity,  by 
 engrafting  successively  on  its  system  such  prac- 
 tices and  points  of  doctrine  as  favoured  it,  and 
 which  were  naturally  converted  into  a  source  of 
 profit  and  influence  to  the  priesthood.  Hence 
 the  gradual  transformation  of  the  Christian 
 minister — the  Presbyter — into  the  sacrificing 
 priest,  the  Hiereus,  (in  Latin,  "  Sacerdos  ;"  as 
 
SKCT.  3.]  Vicm  ious  religion. 
 
 99 
 
 the  Romanists  call  theirs,)  of  the  Jewish  and 
 Pagan  religions.  This  last  is  an  error  of  which 
 no  inconsiderable  remains  are  to  be  traced  in  the 
 minds  of  Protestants,  and  on  which,  as  it  appears 
 to  me  to  be  very  important,  I  shall  beg  to  be 
 indulged  in  making  some  more  particular  ob- 
 servations. 
 
 §3.  "That  the  English  word  priest  is  fre- Distinct 
 
 .  .  cliaracters 
 
 quentlv  employed   lor   the  rendermg  oi   two  of  Hiereus 
 
 iTo  1       •  ^  •        tf  1  and  Presby 
 
 different  words  m  Greek,  viz.  Hiereus,  and  teros. 
 Presbyteros,  (from  the  latter  of  which  our 
 "  Presbyter"  or  "  Priest"  is  derived,)  is  a  cir- 
 cumstance of  which  no  scholar  can  be  ignorant 
 indeed,  but  which  is  not  in  general  sufficiently 
 attended  to :  for  it  is  not  the  same  thing  to  be 
 merely  acquainted  with  the  ambiguity  of  a  word, 
 and,  to  be  practically  aware  of  it,  and  watchful 
 of  the  consequences  connected  with  it.  And  it 
 is,  I  conceive,  of  no  small  importance  that  this 
 
 "  The  passage  which  follows  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of 
 extracting,  in  substance,  and  nearly  in  words,  from  a  Dis- 
 course delivered  before  the  University  of  Oxford,  on  the  5th 
 of  November,  1821,  and  published  with  the  second  edition  of 
 the  Bampton  Lectures. 
 
 u2 
 
100  Vicarious  religion.         [rssay  ii. 
 
 ambiguity  should  be  carefully  and  frequently 
 explained  to  those  who  are  ignorant  of  the 
 original  language  of  the  Old  Testament. 
 
 Our  own  name  for  the  Ministers  of  our  own 
 religion,  we  naturally  apply  to  the  Ministers  (in 
 whatever  sense)  of  any  other  religion ;  but  the 
 two  words  which  have  thus  come  to  be  translated 
 "  Priest,"  seem  by  no  means  to  be  used  synony- 
 mously. The  Priests,  both  of  the  Jews  and  of 
 Pagan  nations,"  constantly  bear,  in  the  sacred 
 Writers,  the  title  of  Hiereus ;  which  title  they 
 never  apply  to  any  of  the  Christian  Ministers 
 ordained  by  the  Apostles.  These  are  called  by 
 the  title  of  Episcopos,  (Hterally  Superintendant ; 
 whence  our  English  word  "Bishop;")  Presbyteros, 
 literally  Elder,  and  so  rendered  by  our  trans- 
 lators, probably  to  avoid  the  ambiguity  just 
 alluded  to ;  though  the  very  word  "  Presbyter" 
 or  "  Priest,"  is  but  a  corruption  of  that  name : 
 and — Diaconos,  literally  "  Minister ;"  from  which 
 our  word  Deacon  is  but  slightly  altered. 
 
 These  titles,  from  their  original  vague  and 
 general  signification,  became  gradually  not  only 
 restricted  in  great  measure  to  Christian  Ministers, 
 
 "  Acts  xiv.  13. 
 
SECT,  3.] 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 101 
 
 but  also  more  precisely  distinguished  from  each 
 other  than  at  first  they  had  been  ;  so  as  to  be 
 appropriated  respectively  to  the  different  orders 
 of  those  Ministers,  instead  of  being  applied  indis- 
 criminately. But  no  mention  is  made,  by  the 
 sacred  writers,  of  any  such  office  being  esta- 
 blished by  the  Apostles,  as  that  of  "Priest"  in 
 the  other  sense,  viz.  Hiereus ; — Priest,  in  short, 
 such  as  we  find  mentioned,  under  that  name,  in 
 Scripture. 
 
 Now  this  alone  would  surely  be  a  strong  pre- 
 sumption that  they  regarded  the  two  offices  as 
 essentially  distinct ;  for  they  must  have  been  per- 
 fectly familiar  with  the  name ;  and  had  they  in- 
 tended to  institute  the  same  office,  or  one  very 
 similar  to  it,  we  cannot  but  suppose  they  would 
 have  employed  that  name.^  The  mere  circum- 
 stance that  the  Christian  religion  is  very  different 
 from  all  others,  would,  of  itself,  have  been  no 
 reason  against  this  ;  for  the  difference  is  infinite 
 
 P  For  it  should  never  be  forgotten,  that  Christianity  is  the 
 offspring  of  Judaism,  and  that  all  the  institutions  and  regula- 
 tions of  the  Christian  Church  emanated  from  men  who  had 
 been  brought  up  as  Jews,  and  who  would  not  have  deviated 
 from  what  they  had  been  used  to,  on  slight  grounds. 
 
102  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 between  the  divinely  instituted  religion  of  the 
 Jews,  and  the  idolatrous  superstitions  of  the 
 heathen ;  and  yet,  from  similarity  of  office,  the 
 word  Hiereus  is  applied  by  the  sacred  writers  to 
 the  Ministers  of  both  religions. 
 
 The  difference  of  names,  then,  is,  in  such  a 
 case  as  this,  a  matter  of  no  trifling  importance, 
 but  would,  even  of  itself,  lead  us  to  infer  a  dif- 
 ference oi  things,  and  to  conclude  that  the  Apostles 
 regarded  their  religion  as  having  no  Priest  at  all, 
 (in  the  sense  of  Hiereus,)  except  Christ  Jesus ; 
 of  whom  indeed  all  the  Levitical  Priests  were 
 but  types. 
 
 Office  of        §  4.  It  should  next  be  considered  what  was  the 
 
 Jewish  and 
 
 Pagan      nature  of  that  office  which  was  exercised  by  the 
 
 Priests.  , 
 
 Jewish  and  by  the  Pagan  Priests ;  and  which, 
 according  to  the  Apostles,  belonged,  after  the 
 establishment  of  Christ's  kingdom,  to  Him 
 alone. 
 
 The  Priests  of  the  Israelites  were  appointed  by 
 the  Almighty  himself,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
 offering  sacrijices,  in  the  name  and  on  the  behalf 
 of  the  people ;  they  alone  were  allowed  to  make 
 oblations  and  burn  incense  before  the  Lord  :  it 
 
SECT.  4.]         Vicarious  religion.  103 
 
 was  through  them  that  the  people  were  to  ap- 
 proach Him,  that  their  service  might  be  accept- 
 able :  a  very  great  portion  of  the  Jewish  religion 
 consisted  in  the  performance  of  certain  ceremonial 
 rites,  most  of  which  could  only  be  duly  performed 
 by  the  Priests,  or  through  their  mediation  and 
 assistance ;  they  were  to  make  intercession  and 
 atonement  for  offenders ;  they,  in  short,  were  the 
 mediators  between  God  and  man. 
 
 It  is  true  the  Israelites  were  a  sacred  nation, 
 and  are  called  in  Scripture  a  "  kingdom  of 
 Priests ;"  but  it  is  plain  that  this  is  not  to  be 
 understood  as  admitting  them  all  indiscriminately 
 to  the  exercise  of  the  sacred  offices  just  men- 
 tioned ;  since  the  most  tremendous  punishments 
 were  denounced  (of  whose  infliction  examples  are 
 recorded)  against  any  who,  not  being  of  the  seed 
 of  Aaron,  presumed  to  take  upon  them  to  burn 
 incense  and  make  oblations. 
 
 But  it  was  requisite  to  impress  on  the  minds 
 of  the  Israelites  that  they  were  not  to  entertain 
 the  notion  (which  appears  to  have  been  not  un- 
 common among  the  heathen)  that  religion  was 
 the  exclusive  concern  of  the  Priests  :  they,  on 
 the  contrary,  were  required  to  worship  God 
 
104 
 
 Vicar ioihs  religion. 
 
 [essay  II. 
 
 themselves — to  conform  to  his  ordinances — to 
 keep  themselves  pure  from  all  defilement,  moral 
 or  ceremonial — and  to  practise  all  their  duties 
 out  of  reverence  to  God,  their  Lawgiver  and 
 King  ;  they  were,  in  short,  to  be  Priests  in  piety 
 of  heart  and  holiness  of  life.  And  in  the  same 
 sense  Peter  calls  Christians  "a  royal  Priesthood;" 
 and  John,  in  the  Apocalypse,  speaks  of  them  as 
 "  Kings  and  Priests  ;"  evidently  meaning  that 
 they  were  dedicated  to  Christ,  and  were  bound 
 to  offer  up  themselves  as  a  living  sacrifice  devoted 
 to  Him.  For  it  is  most  important  to  observe, 
 that  when  the  title  of  Priest  is  appUed  to  Chris- 
 tians, it  is  apphed  to  all  of  them. 
 
 There  may  have  been  another  intention  also  in 
 calling  the  Israelites  a  kingdom  of  Priests ;  viz. 
 to  point  out  that  the  mysteries  of  their  religion 
 (which  among  the  Pagans  were  in  general  kept 
 secret  among  the  Priests,  or  some  select  number 
 whom  these  admitted  to  the  knowledge  of  them) 
 were  revealed,  as  far  as  they  were  revealed  at  all, 
 to  the  whole  of  this  favoured  nation.  Many  parts 
 indeed  of  the  Mosaic  institutions  were  but  im- 
 perfectly understood  by  any,  as  to  their  object 
 and  signification  ;  but  nothing  seems  to  have 
 
SECT.  4.]  Vicarious  reiig'ton. 
 
 105 
 
 been  imparted  to  the  Priests  which  was  withheld 
 from  the  people.  This  very  striking  distinction 
 is  remarked  by  Josephus,  who  observes,  that 
 such  religious  mysteries  as,  among  the  heathen, 
 were  concealed  by  the  Priests,  were  imparted  to 
 the  whole  Jewish  nation. 
 
 That  there  was,  however,  a  distinct  order  of 
 Priests,  properly  so  called,  set  apart  for  a  peculiar 
 purpose,  is  undeniable  and  undisputed. 
 
 Among  the  Pagans,  whose  institutions  appear 
 to  have  been,  in  great  measure,  corrupt  imitations 
 of  those  of  the  patriarchal  rehgion,  we  find,  as 
 before.  Priests,  who  were  principally,  if  not  ex- 
 clusively, the  offerers  of  sacrifices,  in  behalf  of  the 
 State  and  of  individuals — intercessors — supplica- 
 ting and  making  atonement  for  others — mediators 
 between  Man  and  the  object  of  his  worship. 
 
 This  peculiarity  of  office  was  even  carried  to 
 the  length  of  an  abuse  :  (I  speak  now  of  the 
 abuses  introduced  into  the  institutions  of  the 
 Pagans,  in  contradistinction  to  the  absurdities  of 
 their  faith ;)  there  seems  to  have  been,  as  has 
 been  already  hinted,  a  strong  tendency  to  regard 
 all  religion  as  exclusively  the  concern  of  the 
 Priests ; — that  they  were  to  be  the  sole  deposi- 
 
106 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 [essay  II. 
 
 taries  of  the  mysteries  of  things  sacred ; — that 
 a  high  degree  of  hohness  of  Hfe  and  devotion 
 were  required  of  them  alone; — that  they  were  to 
 be  rehgious,  as  it  were,  instead  of  the  people  ; — 
 and  that  men  had  only  to  shew  due  respect  to 
 the  Priests,  and  leave  to  them  the  service  of 
 the  Deity ;  just  as  they  commit  the  defence  of 
 the  State  to  soldiers,  and  the  cure  of  their  dis- 
 eases, to  physicians.  Against  such  notions  (as 
 was  before  remarked)  the  Israelites  were  stu- 
 diously, and  not  without  reason,  cautioned. 
 Jesus  the       The  office  of  Priest,  then,  in  that  sense  of  the 
 
 only  Chris-  '  * 
 
 tian  Priest,  word  which  I  am  now  considering,  viz.  as  equiva- 
 lent to  Hiereus  and  Sacerdos,  being  such  as  has 
 been  described,  it  follows  that,  in  our  rehgion, 
 the  only  Priest,  in  that  sense,  is  Jesus  Christ 
 Himself;  to  whom  consequently,  and  to  whom 
 alone,  under  the  Gospel,  the  title  is  applied  by 
 the  inspired  writers.  He  alone  has  offered  up 
 an  atoning  sacrifice  for  us,  even  the  sacrifice  of 
 his  own  blood ;  He  "  ever  liveth  to  make  interces- 
 sion for  us  ;"  He  is  the  "  one  Mediator  between 
 God  and  man  ;"  through  Him  we  have  access 
 to  the  Father  ;"  and  "  no  man  cometh  unto  the 
 Father  but  by  Him." 
 
SECT.  5.]  Vicarious  religion.  107 
 
 §  5.  As  for  the  Ministers  whom  He,  and  his  oscc  of 
 
 ^  ,  Christian 
 
 Apostles,  and  their  successors,  appointed,  they  Ministers, 
 are  completely  distinct  from  Priests  in  the  former 
 sense,  in  office,  as  well  as  in  name.  Of  this 
 office  one  principal  part  is,  that  it  belongs  to 
 them  (not  exclusively  indeed,  but  principally  and 
 especially)  to  preach  the  Gospel — to  maintain 
 order  and  decency  in  their  religious  assemblies, 
 and  Christian  discipHne,  generally — to  instruct, 
 exhort,  admonish,  and  spiritually  govern,  Christ's 
 flock.  His  command  was,  to  "  go  and  teach  all 
 nations;" — to  "preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
 creature :"  and  these  Christian  Ministers  are 
 called  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  those  that 
 bear  rule  over  them,  and  watch  for  their  souls, 
 as  they  that  must  give  an  account."  Now  it  is 
 worthy  of  remark,  that  the  office  I  am  at  present 
 speaking  of,  made  no  part  of  the  especial  duties 
 of  a  Priest,  in  the  other  sense,  such  as  those  of 
 the  Jews,  and  of  the  Pagans.  Among  the 
 former,  it  was  not  so  much  the  family  of  Aaron, 
 as  the  whole  tribe  of  Levi,  that  seem  to  have 
 been  set  aside  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the 
 Law  :  and  even  to  these  it  was  so  far  from  being 
 in  any  degree  confined,  that  persons  of  any  tribe 
 
108  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 might  teach  pubhcly  in  the  synagogues  on  the 
 Sabbath  day  ;  as  was  done  by  our  Lord  himself, 
 who  was  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  ;  and  by  Paul,  of 
 the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  without  any  objection  being 
 raised  :  whereas  an  intrusion  into  the  Priest's 
 office  would  have  been  vehemently  resented. 
 
 And  as  for  the  Pagan  Priests,  their  business 
 was  rather  to  conceal,  than  to  explain  the 
 mysteries  of  their  religion  ; — to  keep  the  people 
 in  darkness,  than  to  enlighten  them.  Accord- 
 ingly, the  moral  improvement  of  the  people, 
 among  the  ancients,  seems  to  have  been  con- 
 sidered as  the  proper  care  of  the  legislator,  whose 
 laws  and  systems  of  public  education  generally 
 had  this  object  in  view.  To  these,  and  to  the 
 public  disputations  of  philosophers,  but  by  no 
 means  to  the  Priests  of  their  religion,  they  appear 
 to  have  looked  for  instruction  in  their  duty. 
 
 That  the  Christian  Ministry,  on  the  contrary, 
 were  appointed,  in  great  measure,  if  not  princi- 
 pally, for  the  express  purpose  of  giving  religious 
 instruction  and  admonition,  is  clearly  proved 
 both  by  the  practice  of  the  Apostles  themselves, 
 and  by  Paul's  directions  to  Timothy  and  to 
 Titus. 
 
SKCT.  5.]  Vicarious  religion.  109 
 
 Another,  and  that  a  pecuhar  and  exclusive 
 office  of  the  Christian  Ministers,  at  least  accord- 
 ing to  the  practice  of  most  Churches,  is,  the 
 administration  of  the  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and 
 of  the  Lord's  Supper.    But  this  administration 
 does  not  at  all  assimilate  the  Christian  Priesthood 
 to  the  Pagan  or  the  Jewish.     The  former  of 
 these  rites  is,  in  the  first  place,  an  admission 
 into  the  visible  Church  ;  and  therefore  very 
 suitably  received  at  the  hands  of  those  whose 
 especial  business  is  to  instruct  and  examine  those 
 who  are  candidates  for  Baptism,  as  adults,  or 
 who  have  been  baptized  in  their  infancy :  and 
 in  the  second  place,  it  is  an  admission  to  a  par- 
 ticipation in  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit ;  without 
 which  the  Church  itself,  and  the  formal  admission 
 into  it,  would  be  an  empty  mockery.  The 
 treasury,  as  it  were,  of  divine  grace  is  then 
 thrown  open,  to  which  each  may  resort  when  a 
 sufficient  maturity  of  years  enables  him  to  un- 
 derstand his  wants,  and  he  is  inclined  to  apply 
 for  their  relief.   For  it  is  not  (let  it  be  observed) 
 through  the  mediation  of  an  earthly  Priest  that 
 we  are  admitted  to  offer  our  supplications  before 
 
110  Vicarious  7'eligion.        [essay  ii. 
 
 God's  mercy-seat ;  we  are  authorized,  by  virtue 
 of  this  sacred  rite,  to  appear,  as  it  were,  in  his 
 presence,  ourselves,  needing  no  intercessor  with 
 the  Father,  but  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  both 
 God  and  man.  "  Having  therefore,"  says  Paul, 
 "  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood 
 of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which  he 
 hath  consecrated  for  us,  and  having  an  High 
 Priest  over  the  house  of  God,  let  us  draw  near 
 with  a  true  heart,  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having 
 our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and 
 our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water." 
 
 The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  again,  is 
 not,  as  the  Romanists  extravagantly  pretend,  a 
 fresh  sacrifice,  but  manifestly  a  celebration  of  the 
 one  already  made ;  and  the  rite  seems  plainly 
 to  have  been  ordained  for  the  express  purpose 
 (among  others)  of  fixing  our  minds  on  the  great 
 and  single  oblation  of  Himself,  made  by  the  only 
 High  Priest,  once  for  all ; — that  great  High  Priest 
 who  has  no  earthly  successor.  And  all  the  com- 
 municants are  alike  partakers,  spiritually,  of  the 
 body  and  blood  of  Christ,  {i.  e.  of  the  Spirit  of 
 Christ,  represented  by  his  Flesh  and  Blood,  as 
 
SECT.  5.] 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 Ill 
 
 these  again  are,  by  [the]  Bread  and  Wine,'')  pro- 
 vided they  themselves  are  in  a  sanctified  and  right 
 frame  of  mind.  It  is  on  the  personal  holiness 
 of  the  communicant, — not  of  the  Minister, — that 
 the  efficacy  of  this  Sacrament  depends ;  he,  so 
 far  from  offering  any  sacrifice  himself,  refers 
 them  to  the  sacrifice  already  made  by  another. 
 
 Such  being  then  the  respective  offices  of  these  Ambiguity 
 two  orders  of  men,  (both  now  commonly  called  in  Priest. 
 English  "  Priests,"  but  originally  distinguished  by 
 the  names  of  Hiereus  and  Presbt/teros,)  we  may 
 assert,  that  the  word  in  question  is  ambiguous; 
 denoting,  when  thus  apphed  to  both,  two  things, 
 essentially  distinct.  It  is  not  merely  a  compre- 
 hensive term,  embracing  two  species  under  one 
 class,  but  rather  an  equivocal  term,  applied,  in 
 different  senses,  to  two  things  of  different  classes. 
 Thus  the  word  Publican,  for  instance,  is  ambi- 
 guous when  applied  to  a  "tax-gatherer"  and  an 
 "  innkeeper ;"  though  "  Man,"  which  is  a  still 
 more  comprehensive  term,  may  be  applied  to 
 both  without  ambiguity  ;  because,  however  widely 
 they  differ,  it  denotes  them  only  so  far  forth  as 
 
 ^  See  note  on  the  Eucharist  appended  to  Essay  IX.  Second 
 Series. 
 
112  Vicarions  religion.        [essay  ii. 
 
 they  agree ;  in  short,  it  is  apphed  to  them  in  the 
 same  sense  ;  which  "Publican"  is  not.  No  more 
 is  "Priest,"  when  apphed  to  the  "Hiereus"  and 
 the  "  Presbyteros."  At  least  it  must  be  ad- 
 mitted, that  what  is  most  essential  to  each  re- 
 spectively, is  wanting  in  the  other.  The  essential 
 characteristic  of  the  Jewish  Priests,  was,  (not 
 their  being  Ministers  of  religion  ;  for  that,  in  a 
 certain  sense,  all  the  Levites  were ;  but)  their 
 offering  sacrifices,  and  making  atonement  and 
 intercession  for  the  people  :  whereas,  of  the 
 Christian  Minister  the  especial  office  is,  religious 
 instruction, — regulation  of  the  religious  assem- 
 blies, and  of  the  religious  and  moral  conduct,  of 
 the  people,  generally  ; — (an  office  corresponding 
 to  that  of  the  Jewish  Elders  or  Presbyters,  and 
 of  the  "  Rulers  of  Synagogues,")  and  the  ad- 
 ministration of  rites  totally  different  in  their 
 nature  from  the  offering  of  sacrifices ; — totally 
 precluding  the  idea  of  his  making  himself  . the 
 mediator  between  God  and  man. 
 
 Evil  of 
 
 ^he  chrfs"^  §  6.  The  confounding  together,  then,  through 
 wUMh"'"^'  the  ambiguity  of  language,  two  things  thus  essen- 
 pri^if      tially  distinct,  may  well  be  expected  to  mislead. 
 
SECT.  6,] 
 
 Vicarious  9'eligion. 
 
 113 
 
 not  only  such  as  are  ignorant  of  the  distinction, 
 but  all  who  do  not  carefully  attend  to  it,  and 
 keep  it  steadily  in  view.  If  we  are  but  careful 
 not  to  lose  sight  of  the  two  meanings  of  the 
 word  "  Priest" — the  broad  distinction  between 
 Hiereus  and  Presbyteros — we  shall  run  no  risk 
 of  being  either  seduced  or  silenced  by  all  the 
 idle  clamours  that  are  afloat  about  priestcraft. 
 Our  readiest  and  shortest  answer  will  be,  that 
 Christianity  (I  mean  Christianity  as  found  in 
 Scripture,  not  as  perverted  by  a  Church  which 
 claims  an  authority  independent  of  Scripture) 
 has  no  priestcraft ;  for  this  simple  reason,  that 
 it  has  (in  that  sense  of  the  word  in  which  our 
 opponents  employ  it)  no  Priest  on  earth. 
 
 And  it  is  worthy  of  remark  how  striking  a 
 peculiarity  this  is  in  our  religion ;  there  being 
 probably  no  rehgion  in  the  world,  certainly  none 
 that  has  ever  prevailed  among  the  more  cele- 
 brated nations,  which  has  not  Priests  in  the 
 same  sense  in  which  the  Levitical  Priests  and 
 those  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  are  so 
 called.  Now  every  peculiarity  of  our  religion  is 
 worth  noticing,  with  a  view  to  the  confirmation 
 of  our  faith  ;  even  though  it  may  not  at  first  sight 
 I 
 
114  Vicarious  religion.        [essay  ii. 
 
 strike  us  as  a  distinguishing  excellence :  for  that 
 our  religion  should  differ  from  all  others,  in  points 
 in  which  they  all  agree,  is  a  presumption  at 
 least  that  it  is  not  drawn  from  the  same  origin. 
 And  the  presumption  is  the  stronger,  inasmuch 
 as  the  difference  I  have  been  speaking  of  is  not 
 slight  or  verbal,  but  real  and  essential.  The 
 Priesthood  of  Pagan  nations,  and  that  of  our 
 own,  are  not  merely  unlike,  but,  in  the  most 
 essential  points,  even  opposite.  They  offer  sacri- 
 fices for  the  people  ;  we  refer  them  to  a  sacrifice 
 made  by  another  :  they  profess  to  be  the  media- 
 tors through  whom  the  Deity  is  to  be  addressed ; 
 we  teach  them  to  look  to  a  heavenly  Mediator, 
 and  in  his  name  boldly  to  approach  God's  mercy- 
 seat,  themselves :  they  study  to  conceal  the 
 mysteries  of  religion ;  we  labour  to  make  them 
 known :  they  have,  for  the  most  part,  hidden 
 sacred  books,  which  none  but  a  chosen  few  may 
 look  into  ;  we  teach  and  exhort  men  to  study 
 the  Word  of  God  themselves  :  tliey  strive  to  keep 
 the  people  in  darkness,  and  to  stifle  inquiry ;  we 
 make  it  our  business  to  enlighten  them ;  urging 
 them  to  "search  the  Scriptures" — to  "prove 
 all  things — and  to  hold  fast  that  which  is  right :" 
 
SECT.  7.]         Vicarious  religion.  115 
 
 thet/  practise  the  duties  of  their  reUgion  instead 
 of  the  people ;  we  instruct  and  admonish  all  to 
 practise  them  for  themselves.  And  it  may  be 
 added,  that  they  in  general  teach,  that  a  devoted 
 confidence  in  them  and  obedience  to  their  com- 
 mands, will  serve  as  a  substitute  for  a  moral 
 life ;  while  we  declare  to  them  from  Scripture, 
 that  it  is  in  vain  to  call  Jesus  Lord,  if  they  "  do 
 not  the  things  which  He  says." 
 
 Now  if  the  Jews  be  justly  condemned,  who 
 crucified  our  Lord  "between  two  thieves" — thus 
 studiously  "numbering  with  the  transgressors" 
 of  the  vilest  kind,  the  only  man  who  never 
 transgressed — it  is  awful  to  think  what  account 
 those  will  have  to  render  at  the  last  day,  who 
 labour  to  vilify  his  religion,  by  confounding  it 
 with  the  grossest  systems  of  human  imposture 
 and  superstition,  in  those  very  points  in  which 
 the  two  are  not  only  different,  but  absolutely 
 contrasted. 
 
 §  7.   Great  occasion  however  (as  I  have  said)  Corrupt 
 
 has  been  afforded  for  the  enemies  of  our  faith  to  the  Pres- 
 byter into 
 
 blaspheme,  by  the  corruptions  which  the  Romish  Sacerdos. 
 and  some  other  Churches  have  sanctioned,  espe- 
 t2 
 
116  Vicarious  religion.        [essay  ii. 
 
 cially  in  what  regards  the  Christian  Priesthood. 
 They  have,  in  fact,  in  a  great  degree,  trans- 
 formed the  Presbyter — the  Priest  of  the  Gospel 
 dispensation  —  into  the  Hiereus,  or  Levitical 
 Priest :  thus  derogating  from  the  honom*  of  the 
 one  great  High  Priest,  and  altering  some  of  the 
 most  characteristic  features  of  his  religion,  into 
 something  more  hke  Judaism  or  Paganism  than 
 Christianity. 
 
 In  the  unreformed  Churches  (and,  I  regret  to 
 say,  some  Protestants  have  gone  far  towards 
 adopting  similar  views)  the  Priest  professes,  like 
 the  Jewish,  to  offer  sacrifice  (the  sacrifice  of  the 
 mass)  to  propitiate  God  towards  himself  and  his 
 congregation :  the  efficacy  of  that  sacrifice  is 
 made  to  depend  on  sincerity  and  rectitude  of 
 intention,  not  in  the  communicants  themselves, 
 but  in  the  Priest ;  he,  assuming  the  character 
 of  a  mediator  and  intercessor,  prays,  not  with, 
 but  for,  the  people,  in  a  tongue  unknown  to 
 them,  and  in  an  inaudible  voice  :  the  whole  style 
 and  character  of  the  service  being  evidently  far 
 different  from  what  the  Apostle  must  have  in- 
 tended, in  commanding  us  to  "  pray  for  one 
 another."    The  Romish  Priest  undertakes  to 
 
SECT.  7.] 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 117 
 
 reconcile  transgressors  with  the  Almighty,  by 
 prescribing  penances,  to  be  performed  by  them 
 in  order  to  obtain  Ms  absolution  ;  and,  profanely 
 copying  our  only  High  Priest,  pretends  to  trans- 
 fer to  them  his  own  merits,  or  those  of  the 
 saints.  He,  like  a  Pagan,  rather  than  a  Jewish, 
 Priest,  keeps  hidden  from  the  people  the  volume 
 of  their  faith,  that  they  may  with  ignorant  re- 
 verence submit  to  the  dominion  of  error,  instead 
 of  being  "made  free  by  the  truth,"  which  he 
 was  expressly  commissioned  to  make  known  ; 
 thus  hiding  the  "  candle  under  a  bushel,"  which 
 was  designed  to  "be  a  hght  to  hghten  the 
 nations." 
 
 In  short,  whoever  will  minutely  examine,  with 
 this  view,  the  errors  of  the  Romish  Church,  will 
 find  that  a  very  large  and  important  portion  of 
 them  may  be  comprehended  under  this  one 
 general  censure,  that  they  have  destroyed  the 
 true  character  of  the  Christian  Priesthood  ;  sub- 
 stituting for  it,  in  great  measure,  what  cannot 
 be  called  a  Priesthood,  except  in  a  different 
 sense  of  the  word.  They  have,  in  short,  gone 
 far  towards  changing  the  office  of  Presbyter 
 into  that  of  Hiereus.    Against  that  Church, 
 
118 
 
 Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 therefore,  the  charge  of  priestcraft  may  but  too 
 justly  be  brought. 
 
 A  natural  consequence  of  this  error,  indeed, 
 properly  speaking,  a  part  of  it,  is  that  further 
 approach  to  Judaism,  the  error  of  regarding  a 
 Christian  place  of  worship  as  answering  to  the 
 Temple — "the  House  of  God"  in  Jerusalem; 
 whereas  it  really  corresponds  to  a  Jewish  si/na- 
 gogue.  And  thus  the  reverence  due  to  the  real 
 Temple  of  the  Lord  now  subsisting  among  us 
 and  within  us  ("  ye  are  the  Temple  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost  which  dwelleth  in  you")  is  transferred 
 from  the  people — the  "lively  stones"  of  God's 
 House,  to  the  building  in  which  they  assemble/ 
 On  the  same  principle,  the  Table  used  for  the 
 celebration  of  the  Eucharist  is  often  called, 
 (consistently,  by  Romanists,  but  inconsistently, 
 by  Protestants,)  the  "Altar." 
 
 Part  of  the  same  system  again  was  the  per- 
 formance of  divine  service  in  an  unknown 
 tongue^ — the  concealment  of  the  sacred  myste- 
 ries of  the  Christian  faith  behind  the  veil  of  a 
 dead  language — and  the  opposition  made  to  the 
 
 See  note  to  Essay  I.  §  7-  p.  73. 
 
SECT.  8.]  Vicarious  religion.  119 
 
 translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  vernacular 
 languages. 
 
 §  8.  If  any  one  doubts  the  existence,  among  Discoume- 
 
 nance  of 
 
 Protestants  of  the  present  day,  of  a  like  prin-  education, 
 ciple,  he  may  find  but  too  convincing  a  proof  of 
 it  in  the  opposition  still  made  by  some,  to  the 
 education  of  the  poor;  and  by  others,  to  their 
 receiving  education  except  on  condition  of  their 
 previously  consenting  (and  this,  too,  when  it  is 
 known  that  most  of  them  will  refuse  that  con- 
 sent) to  do  violence  to  their  own  mistaken  con- 
 science, before  they  are  permitted  to  become 
 sufficiently  enlightened  to  understand  that  mis- 
 take. Surely  many  of  those  who  profess  the 
 greatest  abhorrence  of  Romish  errors,  have 
 never  considered  that  as  this  denial  of  the 
 Scriptures  to  the  people  is  one  of  the  worst  of 
 them,  so,  whether  the  Bible  is  in  Latin  or  in 
 English,  makes  little  difference  to  one  who 
 cannot  read ; — and  that  to  refuse  to  teach  them 
 to  read  except  on  condition  of  their  consent- 
 ing to  read  the  Bible  in  our  authorized  ver- 
 sion, when  they  have  a  conscientious,  though 
 ill-founded,  scruple  against  it,  is  in  reality  to 
 
120  Vicarious  religio?i.        [essay  ii. 
 
 withhold  the  Scriptures,  under  the  pretext  of 
 distributing  them.  Nor  do  such  persons  con- 
 sider, that  it  was  (if  I  may  so  speak)  the  great 
 boast  of  the  Founder  of  our  Faith,  that  "  to  the 
 poor  the  Gospel  was  preached :"  so  that  if  his 
 rehgion  be  not  really  calculated  for  these,  his 
 pretensions  must  have  been  unfounded.  The 
 very  truth  of  his  divine  mission  is  at  issue  on 
 this  question. 
 
 And  yet  if  it  were  asked  of  any  one,  Romanist 
 or  Protestant,  who  professes  to  acknowledge  the 
 divine  origin  of  the  Christian  religion,  whether 
 that  religion  was  designed  for  the  great  mass  of 
 the  people,  or  merely  for  a  few  of  the  higher 
 classes,  he  would  be  sure  to  answer,  that  it  was 
 intended  for  all  mankind.  And  in  proof  of  this, 
 he  might  cite  numerous  passages  of  the  Scrip- 
 tures which  imply  it ;  such  as  the  command  of 
 our  Lord  to  "  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
 ture," and  his  apphcation,  just  above  noticed, 
 of  the  prophecy,  "to  the  poor  the  Gospel  is 
 preached."  And  he  would  represent  it  (and 
 justly)  as  a  point  of  the  highest  importance,  as 
 I  have  said,  towards  our  behef  in  the  Christian 
 religion,  that  we  should  regard  it  as  suited  to  all 
 
SECT.  8.]  Vicarious  religion.  121 
 
 mankind — as  one  which  all,  above  the  condition 
 of  mere  savages,  are  capable  of  embracing ;  be- 
 cause otherwise  it  cannot  be  a  true  revelation. 
 For  the  first  founders  of  it  plainly  had  this 
 design  ;  Jesus  Christ  himself  did  certainly  in- 
 tend his  religion  for  high  and  low,  rich  and 
 poor ;  and  therefore  if  it  be  not  one  which  the 
 lower  ranks  of  society  are  capable  of  embracing. 
 He,  the  founder  of  it,  must  have  been  mistaken 
 in  his  calculation  —  must  have  been  ignorant 
 either  of  the  character  of  his  own  religion,  or 
 of  the  nature  of  man  ;  which  would  of  course 
 imply  that  He  could  not  have  been  divinely 
 inspired.  The  systems  of  Aristotle  or  Plato, 
 of  Newton  or  Locke,  may,  conceivably,  be  very 
 true,  although  the  mass  of  mankind  cannot 
 comprehend  them,  because  they  were  never  in- 
 tended for  the  mass  of  mankind :  but  the  Chris- 
 tian religion  was ;  and  therefore  it  cannot  really 
 be  a  divine  revelation,  unless  it  be  such  as  men 
 in  general  can  understand  and  embrace. 
 
 And  yet,  though  such  would  be  the  answer 
 which  almost  all  believers  would  give,  in  words, 
 if  such  a  question  were  put,  there  are,  as  I  have 
 said,  not  a  few  who,  in  practice,  give  a  contrary 
 
122 
 
 Vicarious  religioji.        [essay  ii. 
 
 answer.  I  mean,  that  they  act  as  if  the  Christian 
 religion  were  not  designed  for  the  lower  orders, 
 but  only  for  a  small  portion  of  mankind.  For 
 this  those  do,  who,  under  the  pretence  that  the 
 labouring  classes  "need  not  be  profound  theo- 
 logians," consider  it  unnecessary,  or  even  mis- 
 chievous, to  give  them  such  an  education  as  may 
 enable  them  to  study  for  themselves  the  Scrip- 
 tures, and  the  explanations  needful  for  the 
 understanding  of  them.  And  yet  they  profess 
 to  hold,  that  the  Christian  religion  was  meant  to 
 be  embraced  by  people  of  all  ranks. 
 
 Mistake  as  Whence  comes  this  contradiction  ?  this  in- 
 to what  is  .  1     •  •     i      •  •  i      i  • 
 
 meant  by   cousisteucy  of  their  practical  views  with  their 
 
 embracing 
 
 christi-     professed  belief?  It  arises,  I  conceive,  from  their 
 
 anity. 
 
 not  considering  what  the  Christian  religion  is, 
 and  what  is  meant  by  embracing  it.  When  they 
 say  that  they  beheve  it  to  be  designed  for  the 
 mass  of  the  people,  and  yet  that  these  need  not, 
 or  should  not,  be  educated,  what  they  mean  is 
 this :  that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  without  any 
 education,  to  be  sober,  honest,  industrious,  con- 
 tented, &c.,  and  that  sobriety,  honesty,  and  the 
 rest,  are  Christian  virtues ;  and  that,  consequently, 
 a  man  may  be  a  good  practical  Christian  without 
 
SECT.  8.]         Vicarious  religion. 
 
 123 
 
 any  education.  What  they  mean,  in  short,  by  a 
 man's  being  a  good  Christian,  is  his  doing  those 
 things  which  are  enjoined  to  Christians,  and  ab- 
 staining from  those  things  which  are  forbidden. 
 To  know  on  what  grounds  the  Christian  rehgion 
 is  to  be  beheved, — to  understand  any  thing  of  its 
 doctrines — to  adopt  or  to  comprehend  any  Chris- 
 tian motives  and  principles  of  conduct — all  this 
 they  conceive  to  be  unnecessary,  except  for  the 
 clergy,  and  the  higher  classes,  as  long  as  a  man's 
 conduct  is  but  right.  Now  this  is  in  fact,  as  I 
 have  said,  the  Romish  system ;  which  is  so  natural 
 to  man,  that  under  one  shape  or  another,  it  is 
 continually  springing  up  under  new  names.'  The 
 Church,  before  the  Reformation,  we  know,  used 
 to  forbid,  and,  as  long  as  it  was  possible,  pre- 
 vented, the  Scriptures  being  translated  into  the 
 
 *  Some  are  accustomed,  inadvertently,  to  speak  of  the 
 practice  of  keeping  the  Scriptures  in  an  unknown  tongue,  as 
 if  it  had  been  introduced  by,  or  had  arisen  in,  some  Church ; 
 forgetting  that  the  Latin  Bible  of  the  Romish  Church,  (like 
 the  Old-Sclavonian  of  the  Russians)  is  a  translation  into  the 
 then  vernacular  tongue,  which  subsequently  became  a  dead 
 language.  The  case  is  manifestly  one  of  those  in  which 
 "Time,  the  greatest  innovator,  has  insensibly  insinuated 
 alterations."  *  ^ 
 
124  Vicarious  religion.  [icssay  ii. 
 
 popular  languages ;  and  enjoined  the  people  not 
 to  attempt  to  pry  into  religious  questions  for 
 themselves,  but  to  believe  implicitly  and  in  the 
 lump,  all  that  the  Holy  Church  believed,  and  to 
 do  whatever  their  priests  enjoined  them,  without 
 making  any  inquiries ;  and  this,  they  declared, 
 v^^as  the  way  to  be  good  Christians. 
 
 Now,  to  waive  the  question  how  far  any  one 
 is  likehj  to  lead  a  moral  life  who  knows  little  or 
 nothing  about  his  religion — let  it  be  supposed 
 that  a  man  is  leading  such  a  life  ;  still  I  contend 
 that  it  cannot  be  said  to  be  a  Christian  hfe,  if  it 
 does  not  spring  from  Christian  principles.  The 
 brute-animals  conform  to  the  design  of  their 
 Maker,  and  act  in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  nature 
 with  which  He  has  endued  them :  but  it  would 
 sound  strange  to  say  that  they  are  religious. 
 Why  not?  because  they  have  no  knowledge  or 
 notion  of  a  God,  but  fulfil  his  designs  without 
 intending  and  without  knowing  it.*  And  no  more 
 can  a  man  be  said  to  embrace  the  Christian 
 religion,  and  to  lead  a  Christian  life,  who  does 
 indeed  fulfil  all  the  Christian  commandments, 
 but  not  from  any  Christian  principle — from  any 
 
 '  "  The  servant  knoweth  not  what  his  Lord  doeth,"  &c. 
 
SECT.  8.]         Vicarious  religion.  125 
 
 motives  peculiar  to  the  Christian  religion — but 
 for  the  sake  of  credit,  or  health,  or  prosperity, 
 in  the  world, — or  from  fear  of  human  punish- 
 ment—or from  deference  to  the  authority  of  the 
 Priest,  or  of  some  other  person  whom  he  looks 
 up  to,  or  from  any  other  such  motive.  Worldly 
 good  will  undoubtedly  be  produced  by  honest 
 industry,  temperance,  friendliness,  and  good  con- 
 duct in  general.  And  it  is  conceivable  therefore, 
 (I  do  not  say,  likely,  but  it  is  certainly  con- 
 ceivable) that  a  man  might  conduct  himself 
 practically  as  a  Christian  should  do,  merely  for 
 the  sake  of  these  worldly  advantages,  and  not 
 from  any  Christian  principle.  But  in  that  case 
 his  could  no  more  be  called  a  Christian  hfe,  than 
 that  of  a  brute-animal,  or  than  the  movements 
 of  a  machine.  The  patient  who  has  been  cured 
 of  his  disease,  by  strictly  conforming  to  the 
 directions  of  a  skilful  physician,  is  not,  by  swal- 
 lowing the  medicines  prescribed,  a  step  the 
 nearer  to  becoming  himself  a  physician 
 
 Every  part  of  the  New  Testament  bears  witness 
 to  the  truth  of  what  I  have  been  saying.  The 
 apostles  do  not  even  allow  it  to  be  sufficient, 
 
 "  See  Arist.  Eth.  Nic.  b.  ii.  ch.  A.  b.  vi.  ch.  12. 
 
126  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 that  a  man  should  beheve  in  Christianity,  without 
 knowing  reh^j  he  beheves  it.  "  Be  always  ready," 
 says  the  apostle  Peter,  "  to  give  a  reason  for  the 
 hope  that  is  in  you."  Indeed  it  is  plain,  that 
 if  any  one  believes  any  thing  without  any  reason, 
 but  merely  because  some  one  has  told  him  to 
 do  so,  even  if  that  which  he  believes  be  the 
 truth,  yet  it  is  only  by  chance  that  he  believes 
 the  truth  ; — he  does  not  believe  it  because  it  is 
 true;  and  this  is  not  Christian  faith,  but  blind 
 credulity.  Now  "  without  faith  it  is  impossible 
 to  please  God."  And,  according  to  the  apostles, 
 the  Christian  is  required  not  only  to  believe  in 
 his  religion,  and  to  know  what  that  rehgion  is, 
 but  to  implant  in  his  mind  Christian  feelings  and 
 motives — "  to  grow  in  grace,"  as  well  as  "  in  the 
 knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ" — to  be 
 actuated  by  gratitude  and  love  for  Christ,  who 
 died  for  his  sins — by  an  earnest  desire  to  prove 
 that  love  by  copying  his  example — by  obeying 
 his  commands — by  being  led  by  his  Spirit ;  and, 
 at  every  step  he  takes,  "  looking  unto  Jesus 
 the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith,"  as  his 
 pattern  and  his  support  in  this  hfe,  and  his 
 eternal  rewarder  in  the  next. 
 
SECT.  8.] 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 127 
 
 Such  being  then  the  view  which  Christ  him- 
 self and  his  apostles  took  of  the  Christian 
 religion,  which  religion  He  evidently  meant  to 
 be  "preached  to  every  creature,"  and  considered 
 as  one  which  might  be,  and  should  be,  embraced 
 by  men  of  all  classes,  it  is  plain,  that,  if  they 
 were  not  mistaken  in  their  views— in  short,  if 
 they  really  were  sent  from  God— it  must  be  pos- 
 sible, and  needful,  that  all  classes  should  have  a 
 sufficiency  of  education  to  enable  them  to  under- 
 stand what  their  religion  is,  and  why  it  should 
 be  received,  and  how  it  is  to  be  acted  upon. 
 
 It  is  but  a  slight  modification  of  the  same 
 Romanist-principle  to  propose  that  the  poor 
 should  indeed  be  taught  to  read,  and  should 
 have  the  four  Evangelists  put  into  their  hands, 
 but  that  all,  except  learned  divines,  should  be 
 discouraged  as  much  as  possible  from  the  perusal 
 of  the  Apostolic  Epistles,  lest  they  should  "wrest 
 these  to  their  own  destruction  ;"  a  pretext  which 
 was  urged  with  equal  reason,  and  perhaps  with 
 more  consistency,  by  the  Romanists,  for  pre- 
 cluding the  people  from  reading  "  the  other 
 Scriptures"  also.'' 
 
 V  Ihave  treated  fullj'  of  thi«  question  in  Essay  II.  Second  Series. 
 
128  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 The  Christian  rehgion,  as  represented  in  Scrip- 
 ture, is  one  that  is  to  be  believed  on  rational 
 conviction,  and  studied,  and  felt,  and  brought 
 into  the  practice  of  life,  by  each  man  for  himself, 
 in  all  classes  of  society.  The  Christian  religion, 
 as  formerly  perverted  by  our  Church,  and  as 
 human  nature  is  always  tending  to  pervert  it, 
 is  in  fact  two  rehgions ;  one  for  the  initiated  few, 
 and  one  for  the  mass  of  the  people ;  who  are 
 to  follow  implicitly  the  guidance  of  the  others, 
 trusting  to  their  vicarious  wisdom,  and  piety,  and 
 learning;  believing  and  practising  just  as  much 
 as  these  permit  and  require. 
 Relation  of  Perhaps  the  use  of  the  terms  "  pastor"  and 
 pastor  and  "  flock,"  to  express  the  relation  between  the 
 
 &ock.  .    .  1    1  •  •  11-1 
 
 mmister  and  his  congregation,  may  have  led 
 the  incautious  to  form  insensibly  a  notion  of 
 some  more  close  analogy  than  really  subsists. 
 He  cannot  too  often  or  too  earnestly  warn  the 
 people,  that  they  are  not  properly  his  flock,  but 
 Christ's ;  he  is  only  an  Assistant  and  Servant  of 
 the  "  Chief  Shepherd  ;"  and  must  not  only  refer 
 at  every  step  to  Scripture,  but  also  warn  his 
 hearers  not  to  take  upon  trust  his  interpreta- 
 tion, but  themselves  to  "  search  the  Scriptures 
 
SECT.  9.]  Vicarious  religion. 
 
 129 
 
 daily,  whether  those  things  be  so"  which  he 
 teaches.  The  language  of  Scripture  is,  (I 
 beheve  invariably,)  "feed  the  ^ock  of  Christ;'' 
 "  feed  my  sheep,"  &c. 
 
 But  the  other  system  makes  the  people  alto- 
 gether the  priest's  flock,  by  exalting  him  into 
 the  Mediator  between  them  and  God.  Hence 
 sprung  the  doctrine  of  the  necessity  of  Confession 
 to  a  priest,  and  of  the  efficacy  of  the  Penance  he 
 may  enjoin,  and  the  Absolution  he  bestows — 
 hence,  the  Celibacy  of  the  Clergy,  as  of  an  Order 
 of  men  of  peculiar  sanctity.  Hence,  the  doctrine 
 of  works  of  Supererogation,  and  of  the  supposed 
 transferableness  from  one  man  to  another  of  the 
 merit  of  such  extraordinary  holiness  as  is  not 
 required  of  Christians  in  general. 
 
 ^  9.  I  repeat,  that  these,  and  a  whole  train  Proneness 
 
 .     .  .  .  "'■'he 
 
 of  similar  absurdities,  are  too  gross  to  have  been  People  to 
 
 vicarious 
 
 forced  upon  the  belief  of  men  not  predisposed  "''gion- 
 to  receive  them : — predisposed,  I  mean,  not  by 
 mere  intellectual  weakness,  but  by  a  moral  per- 
 versity combined  with  it ; — by  a  heart  alienated 
 from  God,  yet  fearful  of  his  displeasure  ;  and 
 coveting  the  satisfaction  of  a  quiet  conscience, 
 
 K 
 
130  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 at  the  least  possible  expense  of  personal  piety 
 and  personal  exertion. 
 
 In  all  ages  and  countries,  man,  through  the 
 disposition  he  inherits  from  our  first  parents,  is 
 more  desirous  of  a  quiet  and  approving,  than  of  a 
 vigilant  and  tendtr,  conscience; — desirous  oi secu- 
 rity instead  of  safety  ; — studious  to  escape  the 
 thought  of  spiritual  danger,  more  than  the  danger 
 itself;  and  to  induce,  at  any  price,  some  one  to 
 assure  him  confidently  that  he  is  safe — to  "  pro- 
 phesy unto  him  smooth  things,"  and  to  "  speak 
 peace,"  even  "  when  there  is  no  peace." 
 
 Inexcusable  indeed,  in  the  sight  of  God,  are 
 those  who  encourage  and  take  advantage  of  such 
 a  delusion ;  but  the  people  have  little  right  to 
 complain  of  them.  To  many  of  them  one  might 
 say,  "  you  have  had  what  you  sought ;  you  were 
 not  seeking  in  sincerity  to  know  and  to  please 
 God  ;  if  you  had  been,  you  would  have  perceived 
 the  vanity  of  attempting  to  substitute  the  piety 
 and  good  works  of  a  sinful  fellow-mortal  for  your 
 own  ;  you  w^ould  have  perceived  the  extravagance 
 of  imagining  that  you  could  purchase  happiness 
 or  rehef  in  a  future  state,  by  hiring  a  priest  to 
 say  masses  for  your  soul :  what  you  sought  for 
 
SECT.  9.] 
 
 Vicarious  religion. 
 
 131 
 
 in  reality,  was  the  repose  of  your  soul  in  this 
 life  ; — a  security  from  the  disturbances  of  con- 
 science, and  from  a  sense  of  personal  respon- 
 sibility :  these  false  comforts  are  what  in  reality 
 your  heart  was  set  on  ;  and  these  alone  are  what 
 you  have  purchased." 
 
 If  such  then  be  the  natural  propensity  of  the 
 human  mind,  we  must  expect  that  it  will  always, 
 and  every  where,  be  struggling  to  shew  itself,  not 
 only  when  encouraged,  but  when  not  carefully 
 watched  and  repressed,  by  the  Ministry. 
 
 I  might  appeal  to  any  one  who  has  had,  and 
 has  made  use  of,  the  requisite  experience,  whether 
 he  has  not  continually  met  with  more  or  less  of 
 this  tendency  to  substitute  the  religious  know- 
 ledge, the  faith — the  piety — the  prayers — the 
 holiness  and  purity,  of  the  Minister,  for  that 
 of  the  Layman. 
 
 How  many  are  there  that  regard  the  study  of 
 the  Scriptures,  and  the  endeavour  to  understand 
 them,  as  a  professional  pursuit,  very  becoming  to 
 a  clergyman,  but  of  which  httle  or  nothing  is 
 required  of  the  laity ; — that  speak  of  all  the 
 peculiar  doctrines  of  Christianity  under  the  title 
 of  "  theological  mysteries,"  with  which  the  clergy 
 K  2 
 
132  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 may  suitably  be  occupied,  but  with  which  it  is 
 needless,  if  not  even  presumptuous  and  profane, 
 for  the  unlearned  to  concern  themselves  ; — that 
 regard  the  practice  of  family-devotions  as  very 
 proper  in  the  house  of  a  clergyman,  but  in  any 
 other,  as  uncalled  for,  or  even  savouring  of  pha- 
 risaical  ostentation.  Nay,  even  licentious  or 
 profane  discourse,  intemperance  and  debauchery, 
 or  devotedness  to  frivolous  amusements,  we  often 
 hear  characterised  as  "unbecoming  a  clergyman," 
 in  a  sort  of  tone  which  implies  the  speaker's 
 feehng  to  be,  that  they  are  unbecoming  merely 
 to  a  clergyman,  not,  to  a  Christian. 
 
 Professional  §  10.  Many  things  again  there  are,  which, 
 between     being  considered  as  in  themselves  indifferent,  are 
 
 Clergy  and 
 
 Laity.  not  necessarily  unsuitable  to  a  Christian  as  such, 
 but  which  are  regarded,  some  by  a  greater,  and 
 some  by  a  smaller  number,  as  professionally  un- 
 suited  to  a  Minister  of  religion.  Now  it  might 
 perhaps  have  been  expected,  that  the  views,  as  to 
 this  point,  of  different  persons  among  the  laity, 
 should  correspond  respectively  with  the  different 
 views  they  take  of  their  axon  obligations ;  I  mean, 
 that  those  who  are  the  less,  or  the  more,  scrupulous 
 
SECT.  10.]         Vicarious  religion.  133 
 
 as  to  their  own  conduct,  should  allow  a  greater, 
 or  a  less,  latitude  to  the  clergy,  in  respect  of  tlie 
 professional  strictness  of  life  and  seriousness  of 
 demeanour  required  of  them.  But  experience 
 shews  that  this  is  very  often  the  reverse  of  the 
 fact.  None  are  more  rigid  in  exacting  of  clergy- 
 men not  only  purity  of  life,  but  the  most  unbend- 
 ing seriousness  of  deportment,  and  abstinence 
 from  almost  every  kind  of  amusement,  than 
 many  of  those  who,  in  their  own  lives,  are  the 
 most  unrestrained  in  the  pursuit  of  amusement, 
 and  who  exhibit  the  greatest  degree  of  frivolity 
 or  of  worldhness  in  their  pursuits— of  levity  in 
 their  conversation,  and  of  inattention  to  religious 
 subjects.  Does  not  this  imply  a  lurking  tendency , 
 to  that  very  error  which  has  been  openly  sanc- 
 tioned and  established  in  the  Romish  and  Greek 
 Churches  ?  the  error  of  thinking  to  serve  God 
 by  a  deputy  and  representative  ; — of  substituting 
 respect  for  religion  and  its  ministers,  for  personal 
 rehgion  ; — and  regarding  the  learning  and  faith, 
 the  prayers  and  piety,  and  the  scrupulous  sanctity, 
 of  the  priest,  as  being  in  some  way  or  other  effi- 
 caciously transferred  from  him  to  the  people.  It 
 seems  some  consolation  to  such  persons  as  I  am 
 
134 
 
 Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 alluding  to  that  they  have  heard  sound  doctrine 
 at  least,  if  they  have  not  laid  it  to  heart ;  that 
 they  have  witnessed  and  respected  a  strict  and 
 unblemished  life,  and  a  serious  deportment, 
 though  they  have  not  copied  it;  and  that  on 
 their  death-bed  they  will  be  enabled  to  send  for 
 a  minister  of  undoubted  learning  and  piety, 
 and  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his  prayers  and  his 
 blessing ;  though  the  Holy-water  and  the  Ex- 
 treme-Unction of  the  Romanists  have  been  laid 
 aside.  They  take  little  care  indeed  to  keep  their 
 own  lights  burning ;  but  when  summoned  to 
 meet  their  Lord,  they  will  have  one  to  whom  they 
 may  apply  in  their  extremity,  saying,  "  Give  us 
 of  your  oil,  for  our  lamps  are  going  out." 
 
 All  indeed,  who  are  in  any  degree  under  such 
 a  delusion  as  I  am  describing,  are  not  subject  to 
 it  in  the  same  degree ;  but  attentive  observation 
 will  convince  every  candid  inquirer,  that  in  this, 
 as  well  as  in  other  points,  mankind  are  naturally 
 and  generally  Romanists  in  heart ; — predisposed, 
 by  the  tendencies  of  their  original  disposition, 
 to  errors  substantially  the  same  with  those  which 
 are  embodied  in  the  Romish  system. 
 
 But  are  not,  it  may  be  urged,  ignorance  of 
 
SECT.  10.]        Vicarious  religion.  135 
 
 religion  and  unchristian  conduct,  much  more 
 censurable  in  the  ministers  of  religion  than  in 
 others  ?  The  answer  is,  that  this  is  a  point  for  thejn 
 to  consider.  Of  every  one  the  more  is  required 
 in  proportion  as  the  more  is  given — in  propor- 
 tion as  his  opportunities  may  have  been  greater, 
 and  his  temptations  less,  than  his  neighbour's  ; 
 but  this  is  a  matter  for  him,  not  for  his  neigh- 
 bour, to  be  occupied  upon.  Let  each  class  of 
 men,  and  each  individual  man,  think  chiefly  of 
 improving  the  talent  committed  to  himself ;  re- 
 membering, that  even  the  mote  in  his  own  eye, 
 is  more  his  concern  than  the  beam  that  is  in  his 
 brother's.  It  is  for  the  clergy  to  meditate  on 
 their  own  peculiar  and  deep  responsibility  :  iti| 
 is  for  the  laity  to  consider,  not  how  much  more  | 
 is  expected  of  others,  but  how  much,  of  them-/ 
 selves. 
 
 But  again,  should  there  not,  it  may  be  said, 
 be  some  professional  difference  in  habits  of  life 
 between  the  clergy  and  the  laity  ? 
 
 There  should :  for,  in  the  first  place,  as  reli- 
 gious teachers,  they  may  be  expected  to  be  more 
 especially  occupied  in  fitting  themselves  for  that 
 office ;  in  qualifying  themselves  to  explain,  and 
 
136  Vicarious  religion.        [essay  ii. 
 
 to  enforce  on  others,  the  evidences,  the  doctrines, 
 and  the  obligations  of  rehgion  ;  but  they  are  not 
 to  be  expected  to  understand  more  of  things 
 surpassing  human  reason,  than  God  has  made 
 known  by  revelation ;  or  to  be  the  depositaries 
 of  certain  mysterious  speculative  doctrines  ;  but 
 "stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God,"  "rightly 
 dividing  (or  dispensing,  opOoTOfiovvres)  the  word 
 of  the  truth. "^^ 
 
 And  in  respect  of  their  general  habits  of  life 
 and  deportment,  undoubtedly  they  should  con- 
 sider, that  not  only  of  every  profession,  but  of 
 each  age,  sex,  and  condition  in  life,  something 
 characteristic  is  fairly  expected  in  regard  to 
 matters  in  themselves  indifferent.  The  same 
 things  are  not  decorous  or  indecorous,  in  a 
 magistrate,  and  a  private  person — in  a  young, 
 and  an  old  man — in  those  of  the  higher,  and  of 
 the  lower,  orders  of  society — in  a  man,  and  in  a 
 woman — or  in  persons  of  different  professions. 
 And  each  man's  own  discretion  must  determine 
 how  he  is  to  conduct  himself  in  respect  of  things 
 intrinsically  indifferent,  so  as  to  preserve  the 
 
 y  "  The  truth,"  rije  dXt'iOtiac  •  i.  e.  Gospel-truth.  See 
 Sermon  5th  on  "the  Shepherds  at  Bethlehem." 
 
SECT.  11.]        Vicarious  religion. 
 
 137 
 
 decorum  of  his  own  peculiar  situation,  as  dis- 
 tinct from  another's,  without  giving  needless 
 offence,  or  in  any  other  way  producing  ill  eifects, 
 on  either  side. 
 
 §  11.  For  there  are  dangers  on  both  sides; 
 and  with  one  brief  remark  on  a  danger  not  un- 
 frequently  overlooked,  I  will  dismiss  the  present 
 subject. 
 
 It  is  I  believe  sometimes  supposed  by  some  Mistake  as 
 of  the  best-intentioned  among  the  ministry,  that  properly 
 there  is  little  or  no  danger  except  on  the  side  "^'"p'*'^' 
 laxity  ; — that  excessive  scrupulosity  in  respect  of 
 matters  in  themselves  indifferent  can,  at  the  worst, 
 only  be  unnecessary.  Of  course  it  will  not  be 
 expected  that  I  should  enter  into  particulars,  or 
 attempt  to  draw  the  line  in  each  case  that  may 
 occur :  but  the  remark  to  which  I  would  invite 
 attention  is,  that  as  it  is  confessedly  one  great 
 part  of  a  clergyman's  duty  to  set  a  good  ex- 
 ample, so,  it  is  self-evident  that  his  example 
 can  have  no  influence — (except  on  his  brother- 
 ministers) — no  chance  of  being  imitated  by  the 
 People,  in  respect  of  any  thing  which  he  is  sup- 
 posed to  do  or  to  abstain  from,  merely  as  a 
 
138  Vicarious  religion.         [essay  ii. 
 
 clergyman.  Whatever  things  they  are  which 
 are  supposed  to  be  professionally  decorous  or  in- 
 decorous— whatever  is  supposed  to  be  suitable 
 or  unsuitable  to  a  clergyman  as  such,  and  not 
 to  Christians  as  Christians — it  is  plain  that  no 
 strictness,  on  the  part  of  the  clergy,  in  these 
 points,  can  have  the  least  tendency  to  induce  a 
 corresponding  strictness  in  the  laity.  I  am  not 
 saying  that  there  are  no  points  of  this  nature  ; — 
 that  there  should  be  nothing  peculiar  belonging 
 to  the  clergy ;  but  merely  that  in  these  points 
 they  are  setting  no  example  to  the  people ; — 
 that  that  in  short  is  not  an  example,  which  is 
 supposed  peculiar  to  one  profession,  and  there- 
 fore not  meant  to  be  imitated  in  others.  I  admit 
 that  a  life  of  great  strictness  in  such  points,  may 
 give  great  satisfaction — may  be  admired — may 
 procure  respect  for  the  individual,  and  so  far, 
 may  even  give  weight  to  what  he  says  on  other 
 points ;  nay,  it  may  be  even  called,  by  the  un- 
 thinking, exemplary ;  but  it  is  plain,  that,  so  far 
 as  it  is  regarded  as  professional,  it  never  can  be 
 exemplary,  except  to  the  clergy  themselves. 
 
 And  the  more  there  is  of  this  professional  dis- 
 tinction, the  greater  will  be  the  danger,  and  the 
 
SECT.  11.]        Ficariom  religion. 
 
 139 
 
 more  sedulously  must  it  be  guarded  against,  of 
 the  people's  falling  into  the  error  of  regarding 
 other  things  also  as  pertaining  to  the  Christian 
 Minister  alone,  which  in  fact  pertain  to  the 
 Christian  :  the  longer  the  list  is  of  things  for- 
 bidden or  enjoined  to  the  clergy  and  not  to  the 
 laity,  the  greater  the  risk  of  their  adding  to  the 
 list  that  christian  knowledge,  that  christian  spirit 
 and  temper,  and  that  christian  self-control  and 
 sobriety  of  conduct,  which  are  required  of  all 
 that  partake  of  the  christian  covenant  and  chris- 
 tian hopes/ 
 
 Not  only  therefore  must  the  clergy  be  blame- 
 less in  the  performance  of  their  duties,  but  they 
 must  carefully  distinguish  which  of  them  are 
 their  duties  as  Christians,  and  which,  merely  as 
 ministers.    And  with  that  view  they  must  avoid 
 
 "  Absurd  as  the  thought  is  when  expressed  in  words,  man 
 would  be  virtuous,  be  humane,  be  charitable,  by  proxy,  &c." — 
 Letter  to  Mr.  Peel,  on  Pauperism,  p.  19. 
 
 How  far  I  am  indebted  to  this  work  for  the  first  suggestion 
 of  many  of  the  principles  1  have  endeavoured  to  develop  in 
 the  present  Essay,  is  more  than  I  can  distinctly  pronounce  : 
 especially  as  the  Author  is  one  who  has  more  or  less  con- 
 tributed, directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  formation  of  nearly  all 
 my  opinions  on  the  most  important  points. 
 
140 
 
 Vicarious  religion.        [essay  ii. 
 
 unnecessarily  multiplying  professional  distinc- 
 tions ;  lest  the  most  unimpeachable  conduct 
 should  fail  to  convey  an  example,  from  its  being 
 supposed  not  designed  for  imitation. 
 
 We  cannot  indeed  be  too  learned  in  "  the 
 mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  and  in  the 
 knowledge  of  "  all  the  counsel  of  God,"  or  too 
 scrupulous  in  our  conformity  to  his  will :  but 
 then  only  can  we  be  "  pure  from  the  blood  of  all 
 men,"  if  we  "set  before  them  all  the  counsel  of 
 God" — make  known  to  them  "  the  mystery  of 
 the  Gospel,"  and  their  "fellowship  in  that 
 mystery" — and  lead  them  to  apply  practically 
 their  religious  knowledge,  and  to  be  "  followers 
 of  us,  even  as  we  are  of  Christ  Jesus." 
 
ESSAY  III. 
 
 PIOUS  FRAUDS. 
 
 §  1.  It  may  be  said  of  almost  all  the  errors  Mmuai 
 
 connexion 
 
 against  which  our  reformers  protested,  that  they  of  diflerent 
 
 errors. 
 
 not  only  have  their  common  source  in  man's 
 frail  nature,  but  also  are  so  intimately  connected 
 together,  that  they  will  generally  be  found,  if 
 not  directly  to  generate,  yet  mutually  to  foster 
 and  promote,  one  another.  For  example,  the 
 disposition  already  noticed,  to  speculate  con- 
 cerning superhuman  mysteries  unconnected  with 
 practice,  though  it  does  not  alone  produce,  yet 
 favours  and  encourages,  the  error  of  reserving 
 one  portion  of  faith  and  piety  for  a  superior 
 initiated  class,  and  making  their  religion  a 
 vicarious  substitute  for  that  of  the  people,  who 
 are  to  trust  in  and  implicitly  follow  the  direction 
 of  their  guide.  And  this  corruption  again,  though 
 
142  Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 it  does  not  directly  engender,  yet  fosters  and 
 increases  another ;  that  of  maintaining  this 
 spiritual  tyranny,  by  deceit.  Those  who  have 
 once  adopted  the  system  of  keeping  the  vulgar 
 in  partial  darkness,  will  easily  reconcile  them- 
 selves to  the  practice  of  misleading  them,  where 
 it  seems  needful,  by  false  lights.  From  a  con- 
 viction of  the  necessity  of  keeping  them  in 
 implicit  subjection  to  their  authority,  the  transi- 
 tion is  easy  to  the  maintenance  of  that  authority, 
 by  what  are  regarded  as  salutary  delusions. 
 
 It  is  not  however  to  any  deliberate  scheme  of 
 an  ambitious  hierarchy  that  this  branch  of  priest- 
 craft owes  its  origin ;  nor  is  it  indeed  properly 
 priestcxaSt.  The  tendency  to  resort  to  deceit  for 
 the  compassing  of  any  end  whatever  that  seems 
 hardly  attainable  by  honest  means,  and  not  least, 
 if  it  be  supposed  a  good  end,  is  inherent,  if  any 
 fault  be  inherent,  in  our  corrupt  nature.  And 
 in  each  age  and  country  instances  occur  of  this 
 offence,  such  as  perhaps  in  a  different  age  and 
 country  appear  so  monstrous  as  to  be  hardly 
 credible,  from  the  difficulty  of  estimating  aright 
 the  pecuhar  circumstances  which  in  each  instance 
 constituted  the  temptation. 
 
SECT.  1.]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 143 
 
 And  this  is  more  peculiarly  the  case,  when 
 those  who  are  passing  judgment  on  any  instance 
 of  fraud,  chance  to  regard  that  as  a  had  end, 
 which  the  authors  of  the  fraud  pursued  as  a  good 
 one ; — when  they  are  convinced  of  the  falsity  of 
 the  conclusion,  which  was  perhaps  sincerely  held, 
 by  those  who  sought  to  support  it  by  deceitful 
 means. 
 
 For  example,  the  fraud  related  to  have  been  Fraud 
 
 111        T       •  I  1  •  n  employed 
 
 practised  by  the  Jewish  rulers  in  reference  to  by  the  Jews 
 
 T        1,  .  n  ■    ^  respecting 
 
 our  Lord  s  resurrection,  seems  at  first  sight  the  resur- 
 rection. 
 
 almost  to  surpass  the  limits  of  human  impu- 
 dence and  wickedness  in  imposture.  "  And  when 
 they  were  assembled  with  the  elders,  they  gave 
 large  money  unto  the  soldiers,  saying.  Say  ye. 
 His  disciples  came  by  night  and  stole  Him  away 
 while  we  slept.""  But  let  it  be  remembered,  that 
 the  deceit  here  recorded,  must  certainly  be  re- 
 ferred to  the  class  of  what  are  called,  "  Pious 
 Frauds :"  those,  namely,  which  any  one  employs 
 and  justifies  to  himself,  as  conducing,  according 
 to  his  view,  to  the  defence  or  promotion  of  true 
 religion.  There  is  in  such  conduct  a  union  of 
 sincerity  and  insincerity — of  conscientiousness  in 
 ^  Matt,  xxviii.  12,  13. 
 
144 
 
 Pious  frauds. 
 
 [essay  hi. 
 
 respect  of  the  end,  and  unscrupulous  dishonesty 
 as  to  the  means :  for  without  the  one  of  these 
 ingredients  there  could  be  no  fraud ;  and  with- 
 out the  other,  it  could  in  no  sense  be  termed  a 
 pious  fraud. 
 
 And  such,  I  say,  undoubtedly  was  the  fraud 
 we  are  considering.  For  the  Jewish  elders  cer- 
 tainly did  not  beheve  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah, 
 though  they  could  not  deny  his  superhuman 
 powers.  There  is  hardly  any  evidence  which  a 
 man  may  not  bring  himself  to  resist,  if  it  come, 
 not  before,  but  after,  he  has  fully  made  up  his 
 mind.  But  in  the  present  instance  the  esta- 
 blished belief  in  magic,  and  in  the  agency  of 
 demons  in  subjection  to  those  skilled  in  the  art, 
 furnished  a  better  evasion  than  could  easily  be 
 devised  among  us,  of  the  force  of  the  evidence 
 offered.  And  being  predetermined  by  their  own 
 view  of  the  ancient  prophecies,  to  reject  the 
 claim  of  Jesus,  they  pronounced  Him  (as  the 
 unbelieving  Jews  do  at  this  day'')  to  be  a  powerful 
 
 b  A  book  is  now  extant  and  well  known  among  the  Jews, 
 which  gives  this  account  of  Him :  and  it  furnishes  a  striking 
 confirmation  of  the  statement  of  the  Evangelists;  viz.  that  the 
 unbelieving  Jews  of  his  days  did  admit  his  miraculous  powers. 
 
SECT.  1.]  Pious  frauds.  145 
 
 Magician,  and  one  who  "  deceived  the  people." 
 As  maintainers  therefore  of  the  Mosaic  law,  in 
 whose  divine  authority  they  were  believers,  they 
 held  themselves  not  only  authorized,  but  bound, 
 to  suppress  his  religion  :  according  to  our  Lord's 
 own  prophecy,  "  Whosoever  killeth  you,  will 
 think  that  he  doeth  God  service."  For  the 
 prevention  therefore  of  the  mischief  they  appre- 
 hended, "  lest  all  men  should  believe  in  Him, 
 and  the  Romans  should  come,  and  take  away 
 their  place  and  nation,"  (an  event  which,  it  is 
 remarkable,  did  actually  take  place  in  conse- 
 quence of  their  rejecting  Him,  and  trusting  to 
 false  Christs,)  they  scrupled  not  to  resort  to 
 falsehood,  to  weaken  the  effect  of  his  miracles. 
 
 The  benefit  derivable  from  such  an  example 
 as  this,  is  apt  to  be  lost  to  us,  from  our  dwelling 
 exclusively  on  the  badness  of  the  object  these 
 men  pursued ;   and  not  enough  considering, 
 
 For  the  book  must  have  been  compiled  from  traditions  afloat 
 in  the  nation ;  and  it  is  utterly  inconceivable  that,  if  those 
 who  were  contemporary  with  our  Lord,  and  on  the  spot,  had 
 denied  the  fact  of  the  miracles,  any  tradition  should  after- 
 wards have  sprung  up,  admitting  the  miracles,  and  accounting 
 for  them  by  the  hypothesis  of  Magic. 
 
 L 
 
146  Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 abstractedly  from  that,  the  profligacy  of  the  means 
 employed.  Persuaded  as  we  are  that  Jesus  was 
 the  true  Messiah,  we  are  apt,  in  contemplating 
 the  perversity  of  those  who  closed  their  eyes 
 against  the  evidence  of  this,  to  blend  in  our 
 minds,  that  sin,  with  the  other,  which  is  quite 
 distinct — the  fraud  with  which  Christianity  was 
 opposed ; — to  mix  up  and  connect  in  our 
 thoughts,  as  they  were  connected  in  fact,  the 
 rejection  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  falsification 
 of  the  evidence  of  his  resurrection ; — and,  in 
 short,  almost  to  forget  that  if  Jesus  had  been 
 indeed  a  deceiver,  that  would  not  have  justified 
 the  employment  of  deceit  to  maintain  God's  cause 
 against  Him. 
 
 In  proportion  as  feelings  of  this  kind  prevail, 
 the  benefit  of  such  an  example  to  ourselves  is 
 destroyed.  Our  abhorrence  of  their  sin  has  no 
 tendency  to  fortify  us  against  temptation ; — 
 against  that  temptation,  I  mean,  in  the  very 
 nature  of  which  it  is  implied  that  the  end  pro- 
 posed is  sincerely  believed  to  be  good.  Whether 
 this  belief  chance  to  be  correct  or  not,  a  just 
 estimate  of  the  heinousness  of  what  is  properly 
 denominated  pious  fraud,   would  lead  us  to 
 
SECT.  2.]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 147 
 
 regard  it  with  equal  detestation,  whether  employed 
 in  a  good  or  in  a  bad  cause. 
 
 §  2.  The  tendency  to  take  this  indistinct  view  t>aud  em- 
 ployed for 
 
 of  things — to  contemplate  in  confused  conjunc-  supposed 
 tion  a  bad  end,  and  wrong  means  employed  to  objects, 
 support  it,  has  doubtless  contributed  to  prevent 
 Protestants  from  deriving  the  benefit  they  might, 
 in  the  way  of  example  and  warning,  from  the 
 errors  of  Romanists.  In  our  abhorrence  of  the 
 frauds  they  have  so  often  employed  in  support  of 
 a  corrupt  system,  we  are  prone  perhaps  to  forget, 
 or  at  least  not  suflficiently  to  consider,  that  it  is 
 not  the  corruptness  of  the  system  that  makes  the 
 frauds  detestable ;  and  that  the  same  sin  may  no 
 less  easily  beset  ourselves,  and  will  be  no  less 
 offensive  to  God,  however  sound  may  be  our  own 
 system  of  faith.  With  a  view  to  keep  this  more 
 steadily  before  the  mind,  I  have  limited  my  re- 
 marks to  the  subject  of  what  are  called  pious 
 frauds,  because  it  is  against  these  alone  that  we 
 have  need  to  be  put  on  our  guard.  It  would  be 
 vain  to  admonish  an  unbelieving  hypocrite  :  but 
 a  sincere  Protestant  Christian  may  need  to  be 
 reminded,  that,  as  he  beheves  his  own  religion  to 
 l2 
 
148 
 
 Pious  frauds. 
 
 [essay  III. 
 
 be  true,  so  do  many  of  the  Romanists  believe 
 theirs;  and  that  though  they  are  in  fact  erroneous 
 in  this  belief,  it  is  not  that  erroneoiisness  that 
 either  leads  them  to  resort  to  pious  frauds,  or 
 exposes  them  to  just  censure  for  so  doing  ;  nor 
 consequently,  can  the  correctness  of  his  own 
 faith  secure  him  from  the  danger,  or  extenuate 
 the  guilt  of  practising  a  like  deceit. 
 
 I  have  dwelt  thus  earnestly  on  a  truth  which, 
 though  perpetually  overlooked  in  practice,  is 
 self-evident  the  moment  it  is  stated,  because 
 the  mistake  opposed  to  it  is  closely  connected 
 with,  or  rather  is  a  part  of,  that  which  it  has 
 been  my  principal  object  throughout  the  present 
 work  to  counteract ; — the  mistake,  I  mean,  of 
 referring  various  errors  of  Romanism  to  the 
 Romish  Church,  as  their  source — of  representing 
 that  system  as  the  cause  of  those  corruptions 
 which  in  fact  produced  it,  and  which  have  their 
 origin  in  our  common  nature  :  and  hence,  of 
 regarding  what  are  emphatically  called  the  errors 
 of  Romanism,  as  peculiar  to  that  Church,  and 
 into  which,  consequently,  Protestants  are  in  no 
 danger  of  falling.    But  all  of  them,  as  I  have 
 already  endeavoured  in  some  instances  to  point 
 
SECT.  2.]  Pious  frauds.  149 
 
 out,  may  be  traced  up  to  the  evil  propensities  of 
 human  nature  :  and  the  one  now  under  conside- 
 ration, no  less  than  the  rest.  The  tendency  to 
 aim  at  a  supposed  good  end  by  fraudulent  means, 
 is  not  peculiar  to  the  members  of  the  Romish 
 Church  ; — it  is  not  pecuhar  to  those  who  are 
 mistaken  in  their  belief  as  to  what  is  a  good  end  ; 
 — it  is  not  peculiar  to  any  sect,  age,  or  country ; 
 — it  is  not  pecuhar  to  any  subject-matter,  religious 
 or  secular,  but  is  the  spontaneous  growth  of  the 
 corrupt  soil  of  man's  heart. 
 
 Protestants,  however,  are  apt  to  forget  this  : 
 and  it  is  often  needful  to  remind  them,  and  only 
 to  remind  them,  (for  detailed  proof  is  unneces- 
 sary,) that  frauds  of  this  kind  are  every  where, 
 and  always  have  been,  prevalent ; — that  the  hea- 
 then legislators  and  philosophers,  for  instance, 
 encouraged,  or  connived  at,  a  system  of  popular 
 mythology  which  they  disbelieved,  with  a  view 
 to  the  pubhc  good — for  the  sake  of  maintaining 
 among  the  vulgar,  through  fear  of  the  gods,  and 
 expectations  of  Elysium  and  Tartarus,  a  con- 
 formity to  those  principles  of  rectitude  whose 
 authority  they  sincerely  acknowledged,  though  on 
 grounds  totally  unconnected  with  religion.  Their 
 
150 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 statesmen  deluded  and  overawed  the  populace 
 with  prodigies  and  oracles,  not  much  less  than 
 the  Romish  priesthood.  Nor  has  the  Greek 
 Church,  or  the  other  Eastern  Churches,  always 
 independent  as  they  have  been  of  the  Church  of 
 Rome,  and  generally  hostile  to  her,  fallen  much 
 short  of  her  in  this  and  indeed  in  most  of  her 
 other  departures  from  truth. 
 
 The  temptation  indeed  to  deceive,  either  posi- 
 tively or  negatively,  i.  e.  either  by  introducing, 
 or  by  tolerating  error,  is  one  of  the  strongest  that 
 assail  our  frail  nature,  in  cases  where  the  con- 
 science is  soothed  by  our  having  in  view  what  we 
 beheve  to  be  a  good  end,  and  where  that  end 
 seems  hardly  attainable  but  by  fraudulent 
 means.  For  the  path  of  falsehood,  though 
 in  reality  shppery  and  dangerous,  will  often 
 be  the  most  obvious,  and  seemingly  the  shortest. 
 Accordingly  nothing  is  more  common,  among 
 the  indolent  and  thoughtless,  when  entrusted 
 with  the  management  of  children,  than  to  resort 
 to  this  compendious  way  of  controlling  them ; 
 for  the  employment  of  deceit  with  those  who 
 are  so  easily  deceived,  will  often  serve  a  present 
 turn  much  better  than   scrupulous  veracity  ; 
 
SECT.  3.3  Pious  frauds.  151 
 
 though  at  the  expense  of  tenfold  ultimate  in- 
 convenience.'^^ 
 
 §  3.  The  tendency  then  to  this  partial  dis-  connexion 
 honesty — towards  the  justification  of  fraudulent  Essay  with 
 
 the  preced- 
 
 means  by  the  supposed  goodness  of  the  object —  '"g- 
 being  so  deeply  rooted  in  man's  nature,  found 
 its  way,  of  course,  along  with  the  other  corrup- 
 tions incident  to  humanity,  into  the  Romish 
 Church.  And  it  was  fostered  by  those  other 
 corruptions ;  especially,  as  has  been  already  re- 
 marked, by  that  one  which  was  treated  of  in  the 
 preceding  Essay ;  the  drawing,  namely,  of  an 
 unduly  strong  line  of  separation  between  the 
 priesthood  and  the  laity ;  so  as  to  constitute 
 almost  two  distinct  kinds  of  Christianity  for  the 
 two  classes,  whereof  the  one  were  by  some  supe- 
 rior sanctity  and  knowledge  to  compensate  for 
 the  deficiencies  of  the  other,  and  to  be  not  only 
 their  spiritual  directors,  but  in  some  sort  their 
 substitutes  in  the  service  of  the  Deity. 
 
 When  it  was  understood  that  the  Monastic 
 Orders,  and  the  Clergy,  in  general,  were  to  be 
 regarded  as  persons  initiated  into  certain  sacred 
 
 Mis.  Hoare's  Hints  on  Early  Education. 
 
152 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 mysteries,  withheld  from  the  vulgar — as  pro- 
 fessing a  certain  distinct  and  superior  description 
 of  Christianity  —and  as  guides  whom  the  great 
 mass  of  Christians  were  to  trust  implicitly,  it 
 naturally  followed,  that  the  knowledge  of  Scrip- 
 ture was  considered,  first,  as  unnecessary,  and 
 next,  as  unfit,  for  the  generality :  and  it  was 
 equally  natural  to  proceed  from  the  suppression  of 
 knowledge  to  the  toleration,  first,  and  then  to  the 
 encouragement  and  propagation,  of  superstitious 
 errors  among  the  multitude.  There  is  (as  I  for- 
 merly observed)  a  craving  in  ignorant  minds  after 
 the  delusions  of  superstition  :  and  this  it  was 
 thought  reasonable  to  indulge,  in  the  case  of  those 
 whom  it  was  supposed  impossible  or  improper  to 
 enlighten.  Incapable  as  they  were  reckoned,  and 
 as  they  consequently  became,  of  believing  in  their 
 religion  on  rational  and  solid  evidence,  or  of 
 being  kept  in  the  paths  of  Christian  duty  by  the 
 highest  and  purest  Christian  principles,  it  seemed 
 necessary  to  let  their  faith  and  their  practice  strike 
 root,  as  it  were,  in  the  artificial  soil  of  idle  legends 
 about  miracles  wrought  by  holy  relics,  and  at  the 
 intercession  of  saints — in  the  virtues  of  Holy- 
 water,  Extreme-Unction,  and  the  like. 
 
SECT.  3.]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 153 
 
 How  far,  in  each  particular  instance,  any  one,  Pious  fraud 
 whether  of  the  Romish  or  of  any  other  persua-  seif-deceit. 
 sion,  who  propagates  and  connives  at  any  error, 
 may  be  himself  deceived,  or  may  be  guilty  of 
 pious  fraud ;  —  and  how  far  his  fraud,  if  it  be 
 such,  may  be  properly  a  pious  fraud,  i.  e.  de- 
 signed to  promote  what  he  sincerely  believes  to 
 be  a  good  end,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be 
 carried  on  from  interested  or  ambitious  views — 
 all  this,  can  of  course  be  thoroughly  known  to 
 none  but  the  Searcher  of  hearts.  It  is  highly 
 probable,  however,  that  most  of  these  persons  have 
 begun  in  wilful  deceit,  and  advanced  more  and 
 more  towards  superstitious  belief.  Indeed  it  is 
 matter  of  common  remark,  that  those  who  have 
 long  repeated  a  falsehood,  often  bring  themselves 
 at  length  to  credit  it.  The  very  curse  sent  on 
 those  who  do  not  love  the  truth,  is  that  of  "  a 
 strong  delusion  that  they  should  believe  a  He." 
 And  thus,  in  the  present  instance,  when  any  one 
 is  eagerly  bent  on  the  pursuit  of  a  certain  end,  he 
 will  commonly  succeed  in  persuading  himself  in 
 time,  first,  that  it  is  a  pious  and  good  end — then, 
 that  it  is  justifiable  to  promote  it  by  tolerating  or 
 inculcating  what  is  false — and  lastly,  that  that 
 
154  Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 very  falsehood  is  truth.  Many  a  one,  it  is  to  be 
 feared,  gives  himself  credit  for  being  conscientious, 
 w^ho  is  so  indeed  in  one  sense  of  the  word,  but  in 
 this  sense  only,  not  that  he  is,  properly  speaking, 
 led  by  his  conscience,  but  that  he  himself  leads 
 his  conscience ; — that  he  has  persevered  in  what 
 is  wrong,  till  he  has  at  length  convinced  himself 
 that  it  is  right.'' 
 
 Difficulty  of    s  4_  That  intermediate  state  however,  between 
 
 estimating  <>  ' 
 
 tbnsTiCr  complete  hypocrisy  and  complete  self-delusion — 
 forefathers.  ^^ioX,  State  which  givcs  rise  to  what  are  properly 
 called  pious  frauds — is  probably  much  more  com- 
 mon than  either  of  the  extremes.  Those,  for 
 instance,  who  opposed  the  Reformation,  were 
 probably  most  of  them  neither  worldly-minded 
 hypocrites  altogether  indifferent  about  true 
 religion,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  sincere  be- 
 hevers  in  the  justice  of  all  the  claims  of  the 
 Romish  See  which  they  supported,  and  in  the 
 truth  of  all  the  Romish  doctrines  which  they 
 maintained;  but  men  who  were  content  to  sub- 
 mit to  some  injustice,  and  to  connive  at  some 
 
 The  last  stage  of  corruption,  according  to  Aristotle,  (Eth. 
 Nicom.  B.  7.)  is  this  kind  of  sincerity. 
 
SECT.  4.]  Pious  frauds.  155 
 
 error,  rather  than  risk,  in  the  attempt  to  reform 
 abuses,  the  overthrow  of  all  religion.  They  pre- 
 ferred an  edifice,  which,  though  not  faultless,  they 
 considered  highly  serviceable,  to  the  apprehended 
 alternative  of  a  heap  of  ruins.  And  accordingly 
 they  made  up  their  minds  to  profess  and  main- 
 tain the  whole  of  what  they  only  partially  be- 
 lieved and  approved,  and  to  defend  by  falsehood 
 those  portions  of  the  fortification  which  they 
 perceived  were  left  open  by  truth. 
 
 We  of  this  day  are  perhaps  not  disposed  to  do 
 justice  to  many  of  the  actors  in  those  times. 
 We  know  by  experience,  that  the  Reformation  did 
 not  lead  to  the  universal  destruction  of  religion ; 
 and  we  know  that  most  of  the  confusion  and  other 
 evils  which  did  result,  and  of  which  the  effects 
 are  not  yet  done  away,  are  attributable  to  the 
 obstinacy  with  which  the  others  persisted  in 
 maintaining  every  abuse,  and  the  discredit  they 
 brought  on  Religion  in  general,  by  the  employ- 
 ment of  falsehood  and  subterfuge  in  her  defence. 
 We  are  apt  to  suppose,  therefore,  that  the  appre  - 
 hensions  which  the  event  did  not  realize,  must 
 have  been  either  utterly  extravagant  and  childish, 
 or  else  altogether  feigned,  by  men  who  in  reality 
 
156 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 had  an  interest  in  the  maintenance  of  abuses,  and 
 introduced  their  fears  for  religion  as  a  mere  pre- 
 text. For  in  studying  history,  those  portions  of 
 it  especially  which  are  to  us  the  most  interesting, 
 which  are  precisely  those  in  which  the  results  are 
 before  our  eyes  and  familiar  to  us  from  childhood, 
 this  very  circumstance  is  apt  to  make  us  unfair 
 judges  of  the  actors,  and  thus  to  prevent  us  from 
 profiting  as  we  might,  by  their  examples.  We  are 
 apt,  I  mean,  to  forget,  how  probable  many  things 
 might  appear,  which  we  know  did  not  take  place  ; 
 and  to  regard  as  perfectly  chimerical,  expectations 
 which  we  know  were  not  realized,  but  which, 
 had  we  lived  in  those  times,  we  should  doubtless 
 ourselves  have  entertained ;  and  to  imagine  that 
 there  was  no  danger  of  those  evils  which  were  in 
 fact  escaped.  We  are  apt  also  to  make  too  httle 
 allowance  for  prejudices  and  associations  of  ideas, 
 which  no  longer  exist  precisely  in  the  same  form, 
 among  ourselves,  but  which  are  perhaps  not  more 
 at  variance  with  right  reason  than  others  with 
 which  ourselves  are  infected. 
 A  vivid  From  the  earliest  down  to  the  latest  periods  of 
 tion^needed  history,  thcsc  causes  impede  the  full  and  clear,  and 
 of  History!'^  consequently  profitable,  view  of  the  transactions 
 
SECT.  4.] 
 
 Pious  frauds. 
 
 157 
 
 related.   In  respect  of  the  very  earliest  of  all  hu- 
 man transactions,  it  is  matter  of  common  remark 
 how  prone  many  are  to  regard  with  mingled  won- 
 der, contempt,  and  indignation,  the  transgression 
 of  our  first  parents ;  as  if  they  were  not  a  fair 
 sample  of  the  human  race ; — as  if  any  of  us 
 would  not,  if  he  had  been  placed  in  precisely  the 
 same  circumstances,  have  acted  as  they  did. 
 The  Corinthians,  probably,  had  perused  with  the 
 same  barren  wonder  the  history  of  the  back- 
 slidings  of  the  Israelites ;  and  needed  that  Paul 
 should  remind  them,  that  these  things  were 
 written  for  their  example  and  admonition.  And 
 all,  in  almost  every  portion  of  history  they  read, 
 have  need  of  a  corresponding  warning,  to  endea- 
 vour to  fancy  themselves  the  persons  they  read 
 of,  that  they  may  recognize  in  the  accounts  of 
 past  times,  the  portraiture  of  their  own.    It  is 
 by  a  strong  effort  of  a  vivid  imagination  (a  faculty 
 whose  importance  in  the  study  of  history^  is 
 seldom  thought  of)  that  we  can  so  far  transport 
 ourselves  in  idea,  to  the  period,  for  instance,  of 
 the  Reformation,  or  to  any  period  anterior  to  it, 
 as  to  forget  for  the  moment  all  our  actual  know- 
 ledge of  the  results — to  put  ourselves  completely 
 
158 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 in  the  place  of  the  persons  living  in  those  times, 
 and  to  enter  fully  into  all  their  feelings.* 
 
 In  proportion  as  we  succeed  in  this  effort,  we 
 shall  feel  more  and  more  strongly  how  awfully 
 alarming  must  have  been  the  first  struggles  of 
 opposition  to  the  existing  system — how  total  a 
 subversion  of  all  religion,  and  dissolution  of  all 
 the  ties  of  social  order,  the  first  innovations  must 
 have  appeared  to  threaten ;  and  how  little  most 
 men  must  have  been  able  to  foresee  or  conjecture 
 at  what  point  the  tendency  to  change,  if  per- 
 mitted to  proceed,  could  be  expected  to  stop. 
 And  we  shall  then,  I  think,  cease  to  wonder,  that 
 the  frailty  of  our  common  nature  should  have 
 led  conscientious  men  (conscientious,  I  mean,  as 
 far  as  regards  the  goodness,  in  their  opinion,  of 
 the  end  proposed)  to  use  without  scruple  almost 
 any  means,  whether  of  force  or  fraud,  to  maintain 
 the  existing  system,  and  to  avert  what  appeared 
 to  them  such  frightful  dangers. 
 Supposed  It  is  worth  while  here  to  observe,  that  one 
 fove'of"^  great  cause  of  this  alarm  must  have  been  the 
 
 innovation.  ,  ,  •         /•  •         i  •  i  ii 
 
 general  reception  oi  a  maxim  which,  now  as  well 
 as  formerly,  is  for  the  most  part  admitted  even 
 
 •  See  Rhetoric.  Part  II.  Ch.  ii.  §  2. 
 
SECT.  4.]  Pious  frauds.  159 
 
 by  men  of  opposite  parties ;  viz.  that  there  is  so 
 strong  a  love  of  innovation  for  its  own  sake  in  the 
 human  mind,  as  to  attach  a  character  of  danger 
 to  every  change,  though  in  itself  small,  and 
 harmless  or  beneficial ;  lest  the  excitement  thus 
 given  to  this  supposed  propensity,  should  lead  to 
 an  indefinite  series  of  wanton  and  mischievous 
 alterations.  This  is  generally  admitted,  even  by 
 those  who  on  any  occasion  are  the  advocates  of 
 some  alteration.  They  usually  content  them- 
 selves with  maintaining  that  the  particular  occa- 
 sion is  such  as  to  justify  our  encountering  this 
 danger ;  which  we  are  to  guard  against  as  well 
 as  we  can. 
 
 But  I  greatly  doubt  the  fact.  I  know  of  no 
 event  recorded  in  history  that  indicates  any  such 
 principle  in  human  nature  as  a  fondness  for 
 innovation  for  its  own  sake,  in  the  customs, 
 institutions, — in  short,  in  all  the  serious  business 
 of  life.  It  is  only  in  matters  of  recreation, — in 
 fashions  of  ornamental  dress  or  furniture, — 
 scenery — sports — books  of  amusement — spec- 
 tacles— and  the  like,  that  novelty  and  change 
 constitute  a  distinct  object  of  pursuit.  The  mass 
 of  mankind  are,  in  respect  of  their  ordinary 
 
160 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 course  of  life,  wedded  to  established  usages  and 
 institutions,  even,  when  these  have  nothing  but 
 custom  to  recommend  them.  When  indeed  they 
 are  suffering  under  some  evil,  or  covetous  of 
 some  good,  they  will  seek  for  a  change,  often 
 most  unwisely  and  hurtfully ;  but  it  is  not  a 
 change,  for  its  own  sake,  that  they  desire.  Wit- 
 ness the  long  and  obstinate  adherence  of  such 
 multitudes  to  Pagan  systems  of  religion. 
 
 What  we  should  learn  for  our  own  use  from 
 the  foregoing  view,  is,  not  that  the  dishonest 
 artifices  of  Romanism  should  stand  excused  in 
 our  eyes,  but  that  we  should  estimate  aright 
 their  temptations,  in  order  the  better  to  under- 
 stand our  own — that  we  should  consider  human 
 nature  as  not  having  been,  then,  in  so  excessive 
 a  degree  as  we  are  apt  to  fancy,  worse  than  it  is 
 now ; — and  that  we  should  condemn  their  frauds, 
 not  as  employed  to  support  a  bad  system,  and  to 
 avert  imaginary  evils — since  to  them,  perhaps, 
 the  system  appeared  as  good  as  our  own  does 
 to  us,  and  the  evils  as  real  as  any  that  we 
 apprehend  appear  in  our  eyes — but  from  the 
 general  inexpediency  of  fraud — from  its  intrinsic 
 turpitude,  and  from  its  especial  unfitness  to  be 
 
SECT.  5.]  Pious  frauds.  161 
 
 employed  in  a  sacred  cause.  Considerations, 
 such  as  these,  will  set  us  upon  a  more  painful, 
 but  more  profitable,  task,  than  that  of  judging 
 our  ancestors  and  our  erring  brethren — the  task 
 of  examining  our  own  conduct,  with  a  watchful 
 suspicion  of  the  corruption  of  our  own  nature, 
 and  a  Hvely  consciousness  of  our  liability  to 
 like  temptations  with  those  to  which  others  have 
 yielded.  The  erroneousness  of  their  views,  and 
 the  soundness  of  our  own,  as  to  the  end  proposed, 
 does  not  lessen  to  us  the  danger,  or  the  evil, 
 of  promoting  that  end  by  means  inconsistent 
 with  perfect  integrity. 
 
 §  5.  To  any  one  who  should  be  disposed  not  Division  of 
 
 frauds  into 
 
 only  to  approve  of  such  a  vigilant  and  severe  self-  negativeand 
 examination  as  has  been  recommended,  but  also 
 earnestly  and  systematically  to  put  it  in  practice, 
 it  may  be  worth  while  to  suggest  the  remark,  that 
 what  may  be  suitably  called  pious  frauds,  fall 
 naturally  into  the  two  classes  of  positive  and 
 negative ;  the  one,  the  introduction  or  propaga- 
 tion of  what  is  false  ;  the  other,  the  mere  tolera- 
 tion of  it — the  connivance  at  any  kind  of  mistake 
 or  delusion  already  existing  in  men's  minds. 
 
 M 
 
162  Pious  frauds.  [essay  iii. 
 
 Frauds  in 
 statement 
 and  in 
 sophistical 
 argument. 
 
 Again,  in  another  point  of  view,  frauds  may 
 be  regarded,  either  as  having  relation,  on  the 
 one  hand,  to  fallacious  arguments — to  false  rea- 
 sons for  right  conclusions — or,  on  the  other 
 hand,  to  false  doctrines  and  erroneous  practices, 
 when  such  are  taught  or  connived  at.  I  have 
 suggested  both  of  these  two  divisions,  as  having 
 a  reference  to  practice ;  because  in  practice  it  is 
 found  that  the  temptation  is  stronger  (because 
 less  alarming  to  the  conscience)  to  the  use  of 
 false  reasons  and  sophistical  argument''  in  the 
 cause  of  truth,  than  to  the  inculcation  or  tolera- 
 tion (knowingly)  of  erroneous  doctrine ;  and 
 again,  that  there  is,  for  the  same  reason,  a 
 stronger  temptation  to  negative  than  to  positive 
 fraud ;  the  conscience  being  easily  soothed  by 
 the  reflection,  "  this  or  that  is  a  false  notion 
 indeed,  but  I  did  not  introduce  it ;  and  it  would 
 unsettle  men's  minds  too  much,  were  I  to  attempt 
 to  undeceive  them." 
 
 ^  I  have  heard  this  seriously  vindicated  in  reference  to  cases 
 where  we  are  addressing  such  as  will  not  or  cannot  estimate 
 the  sound  arguments.  It  is  to  he  regarded,  it  seems,  as  a 
 sort  of  countervailing  fraud ;  like  that  of  the  man  who  when 
 false  witnesses  were  suborned  to  prove  a  pretended  debt 
 against  him,  suborned  others  to  swear  that  he  had  paid  it. 
 
SECT.  5.]  Pious  frauds.  163 
 
 To  particularize  the  several  points  in  which 
 we  of  the  present  day  are  especially  open  to 
 temptations  of  the  description  I  have  alluded  to, 
 would  be  a  task  of  much  difficulty  and  delicacy. 
 For  if  a  few  cases  were  selected  and  dwelt  on, 
 (and  more  than  a  very  few  it  would  be  impossible 
 to  discuss  within  any  reasonable  hmits,)  some 
 might  suppose  that  it  was  to  these  particular 
 cases  the  whole  argument  had  been  directed  ; 
 and  might  join  issue,  as  it  were,  on  the  question, 
 whether  these  were  such  as  to  bear  out  that  argu- 
 ment :  and  if  something  brought  forward  as  an 
 instance  of  an  error,  should  chance  to  be  such,  as 
 by  some  was  sincerely  believed — by  others  had 
 never  been  heard  of — and  by  others  again  was 
 regarded  as  perfectly  insignificant — the  result 
 might  be,  that  the  argument  and  remarks  in- 
 tended to  be  illustrated  by  such  instances,  (if 
 supposed  to  rest  on  those  instances,)  might  be 
 regarded  by  some  as  frivolous,  or  as  unsound. 
 Such  at  least  is  the  mistake  which  is  not  unfre- 
 quently  made  in  many  subjects ;  an  instance 
 brought  forward  in  illustration  of  any  general 
 remarks  or  arguments,  being  not  unfrequently 
 regarded  as  the  basis  on  which  the  whole  depends. 
 m2 
 
164  Pioiis frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 And  yet,  if  a  physician,  for  instance,  were  to  be 
 found  mistaken  in  assigning  some  particular  dis- 
 order to  this  or  that  patient,  it  would  be  thought 
 strange  to  infer  from  this  that  no  such  disorder 
 ever  existed. 
 
 Exemplifi-      §  6.    Such,  however,  being  the  difficulties  in 
 
 cation  by  i  •  •        •n  i  i 
 
 conceivable  the  preseut  subject,  it  will  be  better  perhaps  to 
 
 cases  of  , 
 
 temptation  abstalu  from  any  statement  of  matters  of  fact, 
 
 to  pious 
 
 fraud.  and  to  touch  briefly,  for  illustration's  sake,  on  a 
 few  conceivable  cases ;  which,  whether  they  ever 
 actually  occurred  or  not,  will  be  equally  intel- 
 ligible, and  will  equally  answer  the  purpose  of 
 explanation. 
 
 Pretended  ^or  example,  it  is  well  known,  that  there 
 
 inspiration.  ^qq^^  aud  othcr  partics  of  Christians,  of  whose 
 system  it  forms  a  part,  to  beheve  in  immediate, 
 sensible,  inspiration  —  that  the  preachers  are 
 directly  and  perceptibly  moved  to  speak  by  the 
 Holy  Spirit,  and  utter  what  He  suggests.  Now 
 suppose  any  one,  brought  up  in  these  principles, 
 and  originally  perhaps  a  sincere  behever  in  his 
 own  inspiration,  becoming  afterwards  so  far 
 sobered,  as  to  perceive,  or  strongly  suspect,  their 
 delusiveness,  and  so  to  modify  at  least  his  views 
 
SECT.  6.]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 165 
 
 of  the  subject,  as  in  fact  to  nullify  all  the  peai- 
 Uarity  of  the  doctrine,  which  yet  many  of  his 
 hearers,  he  knows,  hold  in  its  full  extent ;  must 
 he  not  be  strongly  tempted  to  keep  up  what  will 
 probably  seem  to  him  so  salutary  a  delusion  ? 
 Such  a  case  as  this  I  cannot  think  to  be  even  of 
 rare  occurrence.  For  a  man  of  sound  judgment, 
 and  of  a  reflective  turn,  must,  one  would  think, 
 have  it  forced  on  his  attention,  that  he  speaks 
 better  after  long  practice,  than  when  a  novice — 
 better  on  a  subject  he  has  been  used  to  preach 
 on,  than  on  a  comparatively  new  one — and  better 
 with  premeditation,  than  on  a  sudden  ;  and  all 
 this,  as  is  plain  both  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
 and  from  Scripture,  is  inconsistent  with  inspira- 
 tion. Practice  and  study  cannot  improve  the  im- 
 mediate suggestions  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  the 
 apostles  were  on  that  ground  expressly  forbidden 
 to  "  take  thought  beforehand  what  they  should 
 say,  or  to  premeditate ;  because  it  should  be 
 given  them  in  the  same  hour  what  they  should 
 say."  Again,  he  will  perhaps  see  cause  to  alter 
 his  views  of  some  passages  of  Scripture  he  may 
 have  referred  to,  or  in  other  points  to  modify 
 some  of  the  opinions  he  may  have  expressed  ; 
 
166 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 and  this  again  is  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of 
 inspiration,  at  least  on  both  occasions. 
 
 Yet  with  these  views  of  his  own  preaching,  as 
 not  really  and  properly  inspired  and  infallible,  he 
 is  convinced  that  he  is  inculcating  the  great  and 
 important  truths  of  Christianity — that  he  is  con- 
 sequently, in  a  certain  sense,  under  the  guidance 
 of  the  Holy  Spirit,  from  whom  all  good  things 
 must  proceed — and  that  his  preaching  is  of  great 
 benefit  to  his  hearers ;  who  yet  would  cease  to 
 attend  to  it,  were  he  distinctly  to  declare  to  them 
 his  own  real  sentiments.  In  such  a  case,  he 
 must  be  very  strongly  tempted  to  commit  the 
 pious  fraud  of  conniving  at  a  belief  which  he  does 
 not  himself  sincerely  hold ;  consoling  perhaps  his 
 conscience  with  the  reflection,  that  when  he  pro- 
 fesses to  be  moved  by  the  Spirit,  he  says  what 
 he  is  convinced  is  true,  though  not  true  in  the 
 sense  in  which  most  of  his  hearers  understand 
 it ; — not  true  in  the  sense  which  constitutes  that 
 very  peculiarity  of  doctrine  wherein  perhaps 
 originated  the  separation  of  his  sect  or  party 
 from  other  Christians. 
 Appeal  to  Nearly  akin  to  this  case  is  that  of  a  person 
 tiie  Lot.  ^^^^  yxQNQ  been  brought  up  in  a  religious 
 
SECT.  6.]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 167 
 
 system  recognizing  the  religious  employment  of 
 lots  in  the  decision  of  important  questions,  as  a 
 mode  of  direct  appeal  to  the  Deity,  supposed  to 
 be  sanctioned  by  the  example  of  the  Apostles ; 
 [Acts  i.J  and  who  may  subsequently  have  be- 
 come convinced  that  no  miraculous  interference 
 is  to  be  looked  for  on  such  an  occasion.  Yet 
 he  finds  perhaps  that  the  lot  is  a  convenient 
 mode, — when  it  meets  with  full  acceptance,  on  the 
 above  ground,  from  the  People, — of  settling  many 
 questions  which  might  otherwise  give  occasion 
 for  jealousy,  dissension  and  discontent :  such  as, 
 the  Pastor  to  be  selected  out  of  several,  for  a 
 particular  duty, — the  site  to  be  preferred  for  a 
 church,  &c.  But  this  ready  acquiescence  again, 
 on  which  the  convenience  of  the  mode  depends, 
 he  finds  perhaps  to  arise  from  the  lot  being 
 supposed  to  have  a  sacred  character.  He  will 
 then  be  very  strongly  tempted  to  the  pious  fraud 
 of  keeping  up  that  persuasion.  For,  when  seek- 
 ing to  justify  his  conduct  to  his  own  conscience, 
 he  may  plead  that  the  persuasion  of  the  People, 
 is,  in  a  certain  sense,  true :  since  it  is  true  that 
 all  events  are  under  the  control  of  Providence, 
 and  that  "  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
 
168 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 them  that  love  God  :"  keeping  out  of  sight  that 
 it  is  in  a  different  sense  from  this  that  the  People 
 believe  the  lot  to  be  under  the  divine  control ; 
 and  that  in  their  sense,  he  does  not  believe  it  to 
 be  true. 
 
 If  the  casting  of  lots,  after  special  prayer,  be, 
 in  these  days,  truly  an  authorized  appeal  to  the 
 divine  will,  then,  the  decision  indicated  by  the 
 lot  is  as  truly  and  properly  an  express  divine 
 command  as  any  of  those  recorded  in  Scripture 
 as  revealed  miraculously  to  Moses,  or  any  of 
 the  Prophets  and  Apostles.  Do  I  then, — the 
 sincere  Christian  must  ask  himself — sincerely 
 believe,  and  am  I  authorized  to  believe,  this  to 
 be  the  case  ?  And  if  not,  am  I  justified  in 
 conniving  at  the  superstitious  behef  of  it  in 
 others  ? 
 
 False  II.  Again,  let  us  imagine,  for  example,  such 
 
 grounds  for 
 
 right  belief,  au  iustance  as  this ;  that  an  uneducated  person 
 describes  to  us  his  satisfaction  at  having  met 
 with  a  stratum  of  marine  shells  on  the  top  of  a 
 hill,  which  he  concludes  to  have  been  deposited 
 there  by  the  Mosaic  deluge,  and  which  afford 
 him  a  consolatory  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  Old 
 Testament  history ;  suppose  too  he  congratulates 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 Pious  frauds. 
 
 169 
 
 himself  on  having  satisfied,  by  this  argument,  the 
 minds  of  some  sceptics  among  his  own  class  ; 
 what  would  be  our  duty,  and  what  would  be  our 
 conduct,  in  such  a  case  ?  to  run  the  apparent  risk 
 of  not  only  mortifying  his  feelings,  but  shaking 
 his  faith,  by  informing  him,  (supposing  the  case 
 such,)  that  it  is  fully  ascertained  that  this  deposit 
 could  not  have  taken  place  by  the  action  of  such 
 a  deluge  as  Moses  describes  ?  or  to  leave  him  in 
 full  reliance  on  an  argument,  which,  though 
 unsound,  leads  him  to  a  true  conclusion  ?  This, 
 which  is  a  case  conceivably  occurring  in  a  Pro- 
 testant country,  seems  to  me  an  exact  parallel 
 to  a  multitude  of  those  in  which  the  Romanists 
 practise  the  negative  pious  fraud  of  leaving  men 
 under  what  they  suppose  a  useful  delusion. 
 
 III.  Again,  suppose  the  case  of  one  who  should  False 
 
 grounds 
 
 be  warmly  attached  to  the  religious  community  ft"-  "gi't 
 
 practice. 
 
 of  which  we  are  members,  in  opposition  to 
 sectaries,  and  a  regular  frequenter  of  our  public 
 worship,  in  consequence  of  the  mention  he  finds 
 in  Scripture  of  the  Church,  together  with  the 
 circumstance,  that  the  building  in  which  we 
 assemble  for  divine  service  is  called  a  "  Church." 
 No  one,  who  has  been  much  conversant  with  the 
 
170  Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 uneducated  part  of  society,  will  doubt  the  pos- 
 sible existence  at  least,  of  such  confusion  of 
 thought,  though  he  may  not  have  actually  met 
 with  it.  Now  this  again  is  an  instance  of  a  just 
 conclusion  and  right  practice  founded  on  a  futile 
 reason.  Is  it  not  conceivable,  that  some  who 
 would  be  ashamed  to  employ  such  an  argument 
 themselves,  might  yet  be  tempted  to  leave  it  un- 
 contradicted, from  a  doubt  of  being  able  to  sub- 
 stitute a  sound  one,  which  should  be,  to  that 
 individual,  equally  satisfactory? 
 
 IV.  Again,  when  there  is  some  text  which 
 may  be,  or  has  been,  employed  to  inculcate  a 
 doctrine  or  duty  really  pertaining  to  Christi- 
 anity, though  we  know  that  the  meaning  of  the 
 sacred  writer  in  that  place  was  something  dif- 
 ferent ;  a  temptation  is  thus  presented,  to  em- 
 ploy, or  to  connive  at,  such  a  misapplication. 
 For  example,  let  us  imagine  a  case  of  some  one 
 desirous  to  receive,  and  induce  others  to  receive, 
 the  rite  of  Confirmation,  from  supposing  it  alluded 
 to,  and  enjoined,  in  the  passage  of  Scripture  which 
 describes  an  apostle  as  going  through  a  certain 
 region  "confirming  the  Churches"  (eiria-Tripi^cov); 
 should  we  venture  to  attempt  removing  his 
 
SECT.  6.]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 171 
 
 conviction  from  this  false  basis,  and  replacing  it 
 on  a  sound  one  ? 
 
 V.  Suppose  again,  that  some  one  was  con-  Groundless 
 
 consola- 
 
 scientiously  desirous  of  receiving  this  rite,  whom  tions. 
 the  minister  could  not  bring  to  comprehend  the 
 nature  of  it,  or  to  understand  any  thing  of  the 
 baptismal  covenant  which  is  renewed  before  the 
 Christian  congregation,  and  recalled  to  mind  by 
 it,  might  there  not,  in  such  a  case,  be  a  seeming 
 danger,  that  if  under  such  circumstances  he  re- 
 fused to  sign  a  recommendation  to  the  Bishop, 
 there  might  grow  up  a  neglect  of  the  ordinance 
 of  Confirmation  ?  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
 would  know  that  his  signature  would  be  under- 
 stood to  testify  the  existence  of  such  fitness  on 
 the  part  of  the  candidate  as  in  fact  was  wanting ; 
 and  that  consequently  he  would  be  virtually 
 setting  his  hand  to  a  falsehood ;  and  would, 
 moreover,  be  encouraging  that  superstitious 
 notion  of  some  mystical  virtue  in  a  rite  of  which 
 the  recipient  did  not  understand  the  meaning. 
 Now  such  a  case  as  this,  I  think,  will  hardly  be 
 considered  as  inconceivable,  or  even  improbable. 
 
 VI.  Suppose,  again,  an  individual  of  the  same  sabbath. 
 class  to  have  a  deep  reverence  for  the  Lord's- 
 
172 
 
 Pious  frauds. 
 
 [essay  III. 
 
 day,  without  even  knowing  that  it  is  the  Lord's- 
 day,  but  from  supposing  Sunday  to  be  the  Seventh 
 day  of  the  week,  and  to  be  kept  holy  not  with 
 any  reference  to  our  Lord's  Resurrection,  but 
 solely  in  memory  of  the  close  of  the  Creation  :^ 
 there  would  be,  on  the  one  hand,  the  apparent 
 danger  of  unsettling  his  mind,  and  diminishing 
 his  just  reverence,  by  letting  him  know  that  it  is 
 the  First  day  of  the  week,  and  is  commemorative 
 of  the  Resurrection  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
 there  would  be  the  negative  pious  fraud  of 
 leaving  his  mistake  untouched.  "  Will  ye,"  says 
 Job,  "  speak  wickedly  for  God,  and  talk  deceit- 
 fully for  Him  ?" 
 Pretended  VII.  Agaiu,  mauy  of  the  unlearned  (even  in 
 infaj^biiit)  ^^-^^^  g^^.g  gg^ijg J  ^i^g  educated  classes)  have  grown 
 
 up  in  the  habitual  belief  of  the  unerring  correct- 
 ness in  every  part,  of  our  version  of  the  Bible. 
 And  some  have  never  even  known  that  the 
 Chapters  and  Verses  are  not  the  work  of  the 
 Sacred  Writers.  Now  in  some  minds  a  degree 
 of  doubt  and  temporary  perplexity  might  arise 
 
 8  See  note  to  Essay  V.  Second  Series.  And  also  "  Ad- 
 dress to  the  People  of  Dublin,  on  the  Observance  of  the 
 Lord's  Day." 
 
SECT.  6.]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 173 
 
 on  their  being  first  undeceived  on  these  points  : 
 — on  learning  that  the  divisions  into  Chapters 
 and  Verses  were  introduced  in  comparatively  late 
 times,  merely  for  convenience  of  reference  ;  and 
 that  in  some  few  instances  our  translators  have 
 not  given  the  exact  sense  of  the  original.  And 
 the  apprehension  of  thus  unsetthng  their  minds 
 (as  the  phrase  is)  holds  out  a  temptation  to  us 
 to  foster  or  connive  at  this  groundless  belief.'' 
 
 The  Pastor  who  honestly  teaches  his  People 
 the  truth  because  he  dares  not  tamper  with  truth, 
 is  ultimately  repaid  by  finding  that  much  of  the 
 prevailing  ignorance  and  confusion  of  thought 
 respecting  scripture-truth,  is  removed  or  pre- 
 vented by  setting  before  men  and  reminding 
 them  of  what  is  the  real  state  of  the  fact  in 
 respect  of  Chapters  and  Verses.  And  he  will 
 find  too,  that  such  differences  as  occur  in  different 
 versions  of  Scripture,  are  so  far  from  generating 
 a  universal  distrust  of  all  translations,  (which  are 
 the  only  mode  of  access  to  Scripture  for  the  great 
 mass  of  mankind)  that  on  the  contrary  this  very 
 circumstance  furnishes  the  strongest  evidence 
 that  the  unlearned  can  have.    For  when  they 
 
 ^  See  Address  to  the  Clergy,  appended  to  the  Visitation- 
 Charge,  1836. 
 
174 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 see  that  different  translations,  made  by  persons 
 not  only  independent  of  each  other,  but  often 
 greatly  at  variance  as  to  the  inferences  drawn 
 from  the  sacred  text,  all  agreeing  (as  they  do) 
 in  the  main,  as  to  the  general  sense  of  the 
 original,  they  have,  in  this  general  agreement 
 of  translators,  a  good  ground — independently  of 
 any  confidence  in  the  good  faith  of  any  particular 
 scholar — for  being  satisfied  that  they  have  before 
 them  the  substance  of  what  the  sacred  authors 
 wrote. 
 
 But  all  this  is  likely  not  to  be  perceived  before- 
 hand, even  by  intelligent  men,  if  they  have  not 
 sufficient  moral  purity  to  abhor  a  pious  fraud  on 
 its  own  account. 
 Belief  in  VIII.  The  apparently  salutary  effect  again, 
 judgments,  produccd  by  the  dread  of  temporal  judgments, 
 such  as  sickness,  want,  or  calamitous  occurrences, 
 presents  a  temptation  to  the  encouragement  of 
 such  a  belief,  inconsistent  as  we  know  it  is  with 
 facts,  and  foreign  from  the  whole  character  of 
 the  Christian  dispensation ; — a  dispensation  "  the 
 Author  and  Finisher"  of  which  was  crucified, 
 and  his  disciples  persecuted.  To  lead  or  leave 
 men  to  look  for  the  sanctions  of  such  a  religion 
 in  temporal  rewards  and  punishments,  which 
 
SECT.  G,]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 175 
 
 were  the  appointed  sanction  of  the  Mosaic  dis- 
 pensation, must  be,  in  those  who  have  any  correct 
 notion  of  the  Gospel-system,  a  pious  fraud ; 
 alluring  them  by  the  specious  promise  of  reform- 
 ing sinners,  and  deterring  from  crime,  though  on 
 mistaken  grounds.  The  ultimate  consequence, 
 — which  is,  to  produce  a  general  distrust  of  Pro- 
 vidence, when  it  is  found  that  pestilences,  ship- 
 wrecks, conflagrations,  &c.  make  no  distinction 
 between  the  pious  and  the  impious — this,  and 
 the  corresponding  evil  results  of  all  pious  frauds, 
 are  usually  overlooked  by  those  who  do  not  in 
 purity  of  heart  reverence  truth  for  its  own  sake. 
 
 IX.  If,  again,  we  should  meet  with  a  case  of  Christian 
 Christians  having  a  deep  reverence  for  all  the 
 rites  and  circumstances  of  Christian  burial, 
 founded  on  a  persuasion  that  the  souls  of  those 
 whose  bodies  are  interred  in  consecrated  ground, 
 after  the  performance  of  the  funeral  service,  are 
 in  a  more  safe  state  than  they  would  otherwise 
 have  been  in,'  might  not  a  danger  be  apprehended, 
 of  impairing  their  respect  for  the  ministers  of 
 religion  and  the  services  of  the  Church,  by  in- 
 culcating the  groundlessness  of  that  persuasion  ? 
 And  might  not  therefore  a  minister  be  tempted, 
 
 '  See  Chap.  1. 
 
176 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 in  such  a  case,  to  leave  undisturbed  an  error 
 which  he  could  not  charge  himself  with  having 
 directly  introduced  ? 
 False  com-     X.  Once  more ;  imagine  the  case  of  a  man 
 
 fort  to  the  " 
 
 <^y'"g-  long  hardened  in  irreligious  carelessness  or  gross 
 vices,  conscience-stricken  on  his  death-bed,  pro- 
 fessing sincere  repentance,  and  earnestly  wishing 
 for,  and  seeming  to  implore,  a  positive  assurance 
 from  the  minister,  of  his  acceptance  with  God, 
 and  his  eternal  happiness  in  the  next  world ; — 
 a  wish  in  which  the  relatives  and  friends  around 
 him  should  strongly  join :  and  suppose  the 
 minister  to  be  one  who  could  not  satisfy  his  own 
 mind  that  he  had  any  authority  in  Scripture  for 
 speaking  positively  in  such  a  case  ;  would  he  not 
 be  exposed  to  a  temptation  of  feigning  a  confi- 
 dence he  did  not  feel,  for  the  sake  of  smoothing 
 the  death-bed  of  one  for  whom  nothing  else  could 
 be  done,  and  administering  comfort  to  the  afflicted 
 survivors  ? 
 
 And  if  a  person  so  situated  were  anxious  to 
 receive  the  Eucharist,  though  he  were  (suppose) 
 from  ignorance  respecting  religion,  and  long 
 continuance  in  careless  or  depraved  habits,  com- 
 bined with  the  distractions  of  bodily  pain,  and 
 the  feebleness  of  mind  resulting  from  disease. 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 Pious  frauds. 
 
 177 
 
 utterly  incapable  of  being  made  to  understand 
 the  nature  of  Christian  Repentance,  or  the  doc- 
 trine of  Christian  Redemption,  or  the  right  use 
 of  that  Sacrament  which  he  craved  for  as  a  kind 
 of  magical  charm  ;  (with  the  same  kind  of  super- 
 stitious confidence  which  the  Romanists  place  in 
 their  Extreme-Unction  ;)  would  not  the  minister 
 be  tempted  to  shut  his  eyes  to  the  unfitness  of 
 such  a  candidate — to  the  consequent  nullity  of 
 the  Ordinance,  as  far  as  that  recipient  is  concerned 
 — and  to  the  profanation  of  so  celebrating  it  ? 
 
 And  if,  moreover,  we  suppose  some  fanatical 
 teacher  to  be  at  hand  ready  to  make  confident 
 promises  of  salvation  if  we  speak  doubtfully,  and 
 to  administer  the  sacred  Ordinance  if  we  with- 
 hold it — and  that  he  would  in  that  case  win 
 many  converts,  while  we  should  incur  odium,  as 
 wanting  in  charity ;  we  must  admit  that,  in  such 
 a  case  as  here  supposed,  the  temptation  would 
 be  very  strong,  to  any  but  a  devoted  lover  of 
 truth,  to  connive  at  error,  as  the  less  of  the  evils 
 before  him. 
 
 And  the  temptation  would  be  much  the  stronger 
 both  in  this  and  in  the  other  supposed  cases,  if 
 we  imagine  them  presented  to  a  person  who  (as 
 might  easily  be  the  case)  had  no  distinct  percep- 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 tion  of  the  ultimate  dangers  of  deceit — of  the 
 crowd  of  errors  likely  to  spring  from  one — the 
 necessity  of  supporting  hereafter  one  fasehood 
 by  another,  to  infinity — and  the  liability  to  bring 
 truth  into  discredit  by  blending  it  with  the  un- 
 true ;  dangers  which  are  recognized  in  the  popu- 
 lar wisdom  of  appropriate  proverbs.  These  ill 
 consequences  may  very  easily  be  overlooked  in 
 each  particular  instance  :  for  though  it  is  a  just 
 maxim,  that  falsehood  is  inexpedient  in  the  long 
 run,  it  is  a  maxim  which  it  requires  no  small 
 experience  and  reach  of  thought  fully  and  practi- 
 cally to  comprehend,  and  readily  to  apply  :  the 
 only  safe  guide  for  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  is 
 the  abhorrence  of  falsehood  for  its  own  sake, 
 without  looking  to  its  consequences.  In  fact  it 
 is  given  to  him  only  who  pursues  truth  and  virtue 
 for  their  ozan  sake,  to  perceive,  afterwards,  their 
 expedience/.  The  rest  are  blinded  to  the  ill  con- 
 sequences of  tampering  with  truth. 
 
 Numberless  other  like  instances  might  be  ima- 
 gined, of,  at  least  conceivable,  occurrence  in  a 
 Protestant  country  :  but  those  which  have  been 
 mentioned  will  be  sufficient,  if  they  are  admitted 
 to  be  not,  all  of  them,  total  impossibiUties,  to 
 
SECT.  6.]  Pious  frauds. 
 
 179 
 
 illustrate  my  meaning ; — to  shew  that  our  sepa- 
 ration from  the  Church  of  Rome  does  not  place 
 us  (nor  can  we  ever  be  placed  in  this  life)  in  a 
 situation  which  exempts  us  from  all  danger  of 
 falling  into  corruptions — among  the  rest,  the 
 justification  of  pious  frauds — substantially  similar 
 to  those  with  which  that  Church  is  so  justly 
 reproached. 
 
 As  for  the  cases  above  introduced  for  the  sake 
 of  illustration,  I  must  once  more  protest  that  the 
 actual  occurrence  of  them  is  what  I  am  neither 
 affirming  nor  denying.  These  instances,  whether 
 in  point  of  fact  they  ever  came  under  my  own 
 knowledge  or  not,  are  brought  forward  here 
 merely  as  conceivable  suppositions ;  and  it  is  not 
 at  all  my  wish  that  any  one  should,  by  testifying 
 displeasure,  as  against  a  personal  charge,  fix  on 
 himself  the  censure  brought  against  a  hypo- 
 thetical case.  Indeed  I  would  most  gladly  be 
 convinced  that  these  and  all  similar  suppositions 
 are  not  only  not  agreeable  to  fact,  but  are  even 
 impossible,  and  the  dangers  I  apprehend,  wholly 
 imaginary.    If  this  be  so. 
 
 Why  then,  my  taxing,  like  a  wildgoose,  flies 
 Unclaimed  of  any  man, 
 
 n2 
 
180 
 
 Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 and  my  warnings  will  be  at  least  harmless,  though 
 unnecessary :  "  abundans  cautela  non  nocet." 
 Example  of    I  will  Hotice  howevcr  one  instance, — the  only 
 
 the  Apostles 
 
 bronghtin  one  I  shall  mention  as  a  fact, — in  proof,  if  any 
 
 to  sanction 
 
 fraud.  could  be  wanting,  of  Man's  natural  proneness  to 
 pious  frauds.  In  a  pamphlet  (which  I  purposely 
 abstain  from  referring  to)  written,  I  grieve  to  say, 
 by  a  Protestant  Clergyman,  though  not,  I  should 
 hope,  a  fair  sample  of  any  considerable  propor- 
 tion of  them,  the  author  is  led  by  the  course  of 
 his  argument  to  deny  that  Paul  and  the  other 
 Apostles  continued  to  observe  the  ceremonial 
 law  :  and  he  represents  accordingly  the  whole 
 transaction  related  in  Acts  xxi.  20 — 26,  as  a 
 deception,  suggested  by  the  Apostles  and  Elders 
 at  Jerusalem,  and  adopted  by  Paul,  for  the  pur- 
 pose of  persuading  (falsely)  the  Jewish  Christians 
 that  he  "  walked  orderly  and  kept  the  Law,"  and 
 that  "  those  things  whereof  they  were  informed 
 concerning  him  "  (with  perfect  truth,  according  to 
 this  author)  "  were  nothing."  He  was  to  make 
 a  show,  it  seems,  of  observing  the  Law,  and  to 
 delude  the  People  into  the  belief  that  such  was 
 his  habit ! 
 
 Now  whether  this  author  really  believed  his 
 
SECT.  7.] 
 
 Pious  frauds. 
 
 181 
 
 own  statement,  or  made  it  without  believing  it, 
 for  the  sake  of  his  argument,  in  either  case,  he 
 was  giving  the  greatest  possible  countenance  to 
 deception ;  on  the  one  supposition,  by  giving  it 
 the  sanction  of  apostolic  example  ;  on  the  other, 
 by  practising  it  himself. 
 
 §   7.     I    will    conclude    this    essay     with     an  ultimate  in- 
 expediency 
 
 earnest  recommendation  of  the  study  (with  a  of  fraud, 
 view  to  our  own  warning  and  instruction)  of  the 
 various  abuses  prevailing  in  the  unreformed 
 Churches — such  a  study,  I  mean,  as  shall  go, 
 not  only  to  ascertain  the  actual  character  of  the 
 abuses,  but  also,  to  trace  their  gradual  progress 
 from  their  first  appearance,  till  they  became  at 
 length  embodied  in  the  system,  and  estabhshed 
 as  parts  of  true  religion.  In  many,  if  not  in 
 most  instances,  they  began  (as  I  have  formerly 
 observed)  with  the  people ;  and  were  at  first, 
 many  of  them,  only  connived  at  by  the  clergy ; 
 who  dreaded  to  oppose,  or  to  reform,  or  to 
 acknowledge,  errors,  lest  they  should  shake  the 
 whole  system  of  faith  with  which  they  were  con- 
 nected. And  let  it  not  be  lost  sight  of,  that 
 the  fraud  by  which  they  sought  to  support  the 
 
182  Pious  frauds.  [essay  hi. 
 
 system — the  "wall  daubed  with  untempered 
 mortar,"  with  which  they  thought  to  buttress  up 
 the  edifice — has  always  tended  to  its  decay. 
 Not  only  did  it  give  rise  to  a  hostile  separation 
 among  Christian  Churches,  but,  in  countries 
 which  have  continued  under  the  papal  sway,  the 
 abhorrence  and  contempt  excited  by  the  detec- 
 tion of  a  fraudulent  system,  has  led  the  far 
 greater  part  of  the  educated  classes  into  secret 
 but  total  apostasy  from  Christ.  With  the  in- 
 discriminate rashness  which  is  universally  so 
 common,  they  have  confusedly  blended  together 
 in  their  minds,  Christianity,  and  its  corruptions ; 
 and  having  in  so  many  instances  detected  fraud 
 with  absolute  certainty,  they  think  it  not  worth 
 while  to  inquire  further ;  but  take  for  granted, 
 that  all  the  Church  teaches  is  one  tissue  of 
 imposture  and  superstition  throughout. 
 
 Let  not  Protestants,  then,  lose  the  benefit  of 
 this  lesson ;  "  neither  let  us  tempt  God,  as  some 
 of  them  also  tempted ;"  for  "  all  these  things 
 happened  unto  them  for  examples,  and  are 
 written"  (if  we  will  but  so  read  them)  "for  our 
 admonition.  Wherefore  let  him  that  thinketh 
 he  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall." 
 
ESSAY  IV. 
 
 UNDUE  RELIANCE  ON  HUMAN  AUTHORITY. 
 
 §  1.  The  infallibility  of  the  (so  called)  Catholic  Origin  of 
 
 the  claim  to 
 
 Church,  and  the  substitution  of  the  decrees  of  infallibility. 
 Popes  or  of  pretended  General  Councils,  for  the 
 Scriptures,  as  the  Christian's  rule  of  faith  and 
 practice,  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  foun- 
 dation of  the  whole  Romish  system.  And  it  is  so, 
 in  this  sense,  that  if  it  be  once  admitted,  all  the 
 rest  must  follow  :  if  the  power  of  "  binding  and 
 loosing"  belong  to  the  Church  of  Rome  in  the 
 extent  claimed  by  her,  we  have  only  to  ascertain 
 what  are  her  decisions,  and  to  comply  with  them 
 implicitly. 
 
 But  I  am  convinced  that  this  is  not  the 
 foundation,  historically  considered,  (though  it  is, 
 logically)  of  the  Romish  system; — that  the 
 Romish  hierarchy  did  not,  in  point  of  fact,  first 
 
1 84  Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 establish  their  supremacy  on  a  perverted  inter- 
 pretation of  certain  texts,  and  then  employ  the 
 power  thus  acquired  to  introduce  abuses ;  but 
 resorted,  as  occasions  led  them,  to  such  passages 
 of  Scripture  as  might  be  wrested  to  justify  the 
 prevailing  or  growing  abuses,  and  to  buttress  up 
 the  edifice  already  in  great  measure  reared. 
 Claim  not      They  appeal,  as  is  well  known,  to  our  Lord's 
 iTa'^^sTn"  expression  respecting  Peter's  being  made  the 
 of  Scrip-    foundation  of  his  Church ;  an  expression  which 
 
 ture. 
 
 could  never  by  possibility  have  suggested  so 
 extravagant  and  indeed  unmeaning  an  interpre- 
 tation as  that  of  a  succession  of  men  being  each  a 
 foundation:^  and  they  also  appeal  to  the  declara- 
 tion," "  Whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth 
 shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou 
 shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven," 
 as  conferring  on  the  Church  of  Rome  the 
 supreme  power  She  claims.  Of  this  and  the 
 other  corresponding  passage  in  our  Lord's  dis- 
 courses, the  most  probable  explanation  is  that 
 which  refers  to  the  language  common  among 
 the  Jewish  Doctors ;  who  employed  the  expres- 
 
 *  Hinds's  History  of  the  Rise  of  Christianity,  vol.  i.  p.  9.  . 
 ,Matth.  xvi.  19. 
 
SECT.  1.]        on  human  authority.  185 
 
 sions  "  to  bind,"  and  "  to  loose,"  (as  may  be 
 seen  abundantly  in  their  works  respecting  tradi- 
 tional regulations,  now  extant")  in  the  sense  of 
 enacting  and  abrogating; — establishing  any  rule 
 or  ordinance,  so  as  to  make  it  obhgatory  or 
 binding — or,  on  the  other,  abolishing,  or  for- 
 bearing to  enact,  some  rule,  and  leaving  men 
 exempt — released — loosed — from  the  observance 
 of  it.  Our  Lord's  declaration,  therefore,  will 
 amount  to  this ; — that  the  governors  in  each 
 branch  of  the  Church  which  He  founded— of  the 
 Kingdom  appointed  to  his  disciples — with  whom, 
 and  consequently  with  their  successors,  He  pro- 
 mised to  be  always  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
 world — that  these  governors  should  have  power 
 to  make  regulations  for  the  good  government  of 
 that  society — to  admit  or  refuse  admission  into 
 it — and  to  establish  such  rules  as  they  might 
 think  suitable,  for  the  edification  of  its  members, 
 and  their  decorous  worship  of  God:  and  that 
 such  regulations  of  Christ's  servants  on  earth, 
 should  be  ratified  and  sanctioned  by  the  authority 
 of  their  unseen  and  spiritual  Master— should  be 
 bound  in  heaven  by  Him. 
 
 See  Wotton  on  the  Misna. 
 
186 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 ^^a'  It  seems  no  less  plain,  that  to  the  governors 
 
 character 
 
 of  Church-  every  Society  must  be  entrusted  the  duty  of 
 authority,  checking  such  disorderly  and  scandalous  conduct 
 in  its  members  as  goes  to  interfere  with  the  pur- 
 poses of  its  institution,  by  reprimand  or  other 
 penalties,  and  ultimately,  in  extreme  cases,  by 
 expulsion :  and  they  must  be  empowered  to  remit 
 such  penalties,  or  to  re-admit  an  expelled  member, 
 on  his  testifying  contrition,  and  making  satisfac- 
 tory promises  of  good  behaviour.  And  this  is 
 admitted  by  most  Protestants  to  be  the  force  of 
 that  declaration,  "whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they 
 are  remitted,  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain,  they 
 are  retained :"  not,  as  if  fallible  men  had  power 
 to  judge  of  the  sincerity  of  any  one's  contrition  ; — 
 or  even  if  they  had,  could  presume  to  claim  the 
 divine  privilege  of  forgiving  sins  as  against  God; — 
 but  that  they  have  power  to  inflict  or  remit  the 
 penalties  of  Church-censure,  and  to  exclude, 
 retain,  or  re-admit,  as  far  as  outward  privileges 
 are  concerned,  any  member  of  their  own  branch 
 of  the  visible  Church. 
 
 As  for  the  regulations  respecting  the  conduct 
 of  members  of  that  Society,  which  they  have 
 power  to  enact  or  abrogate,  it  is  obvious,  that,  as 
 
SECT.  2.] 
 
 on  human  authority. 
 
 187 
 
 far  as  these  extend  only  to  things  in  themselves 
 indifferent,  (such  as  festival-days,  outward  cere- 
 monies, and  the  like)  which  may  and  should 
 vary  in  different  ages  and  countries,  but  yet  re- 
 quire to  be  in  each  instance  regulated  by  some 
 acknowledged  authority — as  far,  I  say,  as  this 
 exercise  of  power  is  confined  to  matters  not  in 
 themselves  essential,  it  may  be  (and  must  be, 
 supposing  inspiration  withdrawn)  entrusted  to 
 uninspired  men.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
 promulgating  of  such  articles  of  faith  and  rules 
 of  conduct  as  are  intrinsically  necessary,  and 
 make  part  of  the  terms  of  salvation — that  this 
 office — the  binding  and  loosing  in  respect  of 
 things  essential — can  be  left  in  the  hands  of 
 none  but  inspired  men,  all  must  allow ;  and,  we 
 should  add,  in  the  hands  of  men  who  (like  the 
 Apostles)  give  proof  of  their  inspiration,  and 
 produce  the  credentials  of  their  divine  commis- 
 sion by  working  sensible  miracles. 
 
 §  2.  Whatever  slight  differences,  however.  Scripture 
 there  may  be  among  Protestants  as  to  the  pre-  to  justify 
 oise  sense  of  these  passages,  and  of  all  that  our  exLTng'' 
 Lord  has  said  on  the  subject,  they  all  agree  in  ^ 
 
188 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 this ;  that  it  will  by  no  means  bear  the  inter- 
 pretation put  on  it  by  the  Romanists ;  who  are 
 commonly  supposed,  as  has  been  above  re- 
 marked, to  derive  from  their  mistaken  view  of 
 •our  Lord's  expressions  in  this  place,  the  mon- 
 strous doctrines  of  the  Universal  Supremacy  of 
 the  Church  of  Rome,  and  her  infallibihty  as  to 
 matters  of  faith.  I  have  said  that  these  doc- 
 trines are  supposed  to  be  thus  derived,  because 
 there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  such  is  not 
 really  the  case;  and  that  in  this  point,  as  in 
 most  of  those  connected  with  the  peculiarities  of 
 Romanism,  the  mistake  is  usually  committed  of 
 confounding  cause  and  effect.  When  there  is 
 any  question  about  any  of  the  doctrines  or 
 practices  which  characterise  that  Church,  it  is 
 natural,  and  it  is  common,  to  inquire  on  what 
 rational  arguments,  or  on  what  Scriptural  au- 
 thority, these  are  made  to  rest ;  the  reasons 
 adduced  are  examined,  and,  if  found  insufficient, 
 the  point  is  considered  as  settled :  and  so  it  is, 
 as  far  as  regards  those  particular  doctrines  or 
 practices,  when  judged  of  by  an  intelligent  and 
 unbiassed  inquirer.  That  which  is  indefensible, 
 ought  certainly  to  be  abandoned.    But  it  is  a 
 
SECT.  2.]         on  human  authority.  189 
 
 mistake,  and  a  very  common,  and  practically 
 not  unimportant  one,  to  conclude,  that  the 
 origin  of  each  tenet  or  practice  is  to  be  found  in 
 those  arguments  or  texts  which  are  urged  in 
 support  of  it ; — that  they  furnish  the  cause,  on 
 the  removal  of  which  the  effects  will  cease  of 
 course — and  that  when  once  those  reasonings 
 are  exploded,  and  those  texts  rightly  explained, 
 all  danger  is  at  end  of  falling  into  similar 
 errors. 
 
 The  fact  is,  that  in  a  great  number  of  in- 
 stances, and  by  no  means  exclusively  in  ques- 
 tions connected  with  religion,  the  erroneous 
 belief  or  practice  has  arisen  first,  and  the  theory 
 has  been  devised  afterwards  for  its  support. 
 Into  whatever  opinions  or  conduct  men  are  led 
 by  any  human  propensities,  they  seek  to  defend 
 and  justify  these  by  the  best  arguments  they 
 can  frame ;  and  then,  assigning,  as  they  often 
 do,  in  perfect  sincerity,  these  arguments,  as  the 
 cause  of  their  adopting  such  notions,  they  mis- 
 direct the  course  of  our  inquiry.  And  thus  the 
 chance  (however  small  it  may  be  at  any  rate) 
 of  rectifying  their  errors,  is  diminished.  For  if 
 these  be  in  reality  traceable  to  some  deep-seated 
 
190 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 principle  of  our  nature,  as  soon  as  ever  one  false 
 foundation  on  which  they  have  been  placed  is 
 removed,  another  will  be  substituted :  as  soon 
 as  one  theory  is  proved  untenable,  a  new  one 
 will  be  devised  in  its  place.  And  in  the  mean 
 time,  we  ourselves  are  liable  to  be  lulled  into  a 
 false  security  against  errors,  whose  real  origin 
 is  to  be  sought  in  the  universal  propensities  of 
 human  nature. 
 Effect  Not  only  Romanism,  but  almost  every  system 
 for  cause,  of  superstition,  in  order  to  be  rightly  understood, 
 should  be  (if  I  may  so  speak)  read  backwards. 
 To  take  an  instance,  in  illustration  of  what  has 
 been  said,  from  the  Mythological  system  of  the 
 Ancients ;  if  we  inquire  why  the  rites  of  sepulture 
 were  regarded  by  them  as  of  such  vast  import- 
 ance, we  are  told,  that,  according  to  their  system 
 of  religious  belief,  the  souls  of  those  whose  bodies 
 were  unburied  were  doomed  to  wander  discon- 
 solate on  the  banks  of  the  river  Styx.  Such  a 
 tenet,  supposing  it  previously  established,  was 
 undoubtedly  well-calculated  to  produce  or  in- 
 crease the  feeling  in  question  :  but  is  it  not  much 
 the  more  probable  supposition,  that  the  natural 
 anxiety  about  our  mortal  remains,  which  has 
 
SECT.  2.] 
 
 on  human  authority. 
 
 191 
 
 been  felt  in  every  age  and  country,  and  which 
 many  partake  of  who  are  at  a  loss  to  explain 
 and  justify  it,  drove  them  to  imagine  and  adopt 
 the  theory  which  gave  a  rational  appearance  to 
 feelings  and  practices  already  existing  ? 
 
 Again,  if  the  Romanists  are  urged  to  defend 
 and  explain  their  practice  of  praying  for  the 
 souls  of  the  departed,  they  refer  us  to  the  doc- 
 trines of  their  Church  respecting  Purgatory.  But 
 it  is  not  really  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory  which 
 led  to  prayers  for  the  dead ;  on  the  contrary, 
 it  is  doubtless  the  practice  of  praying  for  the 
 dead  that  gave  rise  to  that  doctrine ;  a  doctrine 
 which  manifestly  savours  of  having  been  invented 
 to  serve  a  purpose.  Accordingly  it  never,  I 
 believe,  found  its  way  into  the  Greek  Church ; 
 though  the  use  of  prayers  for  the  dead  (difficult 
 as  it  is  to  justify  such  a  practice  on  other 
 grounds)  has  long  prevailed  in  that  Church  no 
 less  than  in  the  Romish. 
 
 If,  again,  we  call  on  the  Romanists  to  justify 
 their  invocation  of  saints,  which  seems  to  confer 
 on  these  the  divine  attribute  of  omnipresence, 
 they  tell  us  that  the  Almighty  miraculously 
 reveals  to  the  glorified  saints  in  heaven  the 
 
192 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 prayers  addressed  to  them,  and  then  hstens  to 
 their  intercession  in  behalf  of  the  supplicants. 
 But  the  real  state  of  the  case,  doubtless,  is,  that 
 the  practice  which  began  gradually  in  popular 
 superstition,  and  was  fostered  and  sanctioned  by 
 the  mingled  weakness  and  corruption  of  the 
 priesthood,  was  afterwards  supported  by  a  theory 
 too  unfounded  and  too  extravagantly  absurd  to 
 have  ever  obtained  a  general  reception,  had  it 
 not  come  in  aid  of  a  practice  already  esta- 
 blished, and  which  could  be  defended  on  no  better 
 grounds. 
 
 And  the  same  principle  will  apply  to  the 
 greater  part  of  the  Romish  errors  ;  the  cause 
 assigned  for  each  of  them  will  in  general  be  found 
 to  be  in  reality  its  effect; — the  arguments  by 
 which  it  is  supported  to  have  gained  currency 
 from  men's  partiaUty  for  the  conclusion.  It  is 
 thus  that  we  must  explain,  what  is  at  first  sight 
 so  great  a  paradox,  the  vast  difference  of  effect 
 apparently  produced  in  minds  of  no  contemptible 
 powers,  by  the  same  arguments ; — the  frequent 
 inefficacy  of  the  most  cogent  reasonings,  and  the 
 hearty  satisfaction  with  which  the  most  futile 
 are  often  listened  to  and  adopted.    Nothing  is, 
 
SECT.  2.]         on  human  mdliority.  193 
 
 in  general,  easier  than  to  convince  one  who  is 
 prepared  and  desirous  to  be  convinced  ;  or  to  gain 
 any  one's  full  approbation  of  arguments  tending 
 to  a  conclusion  he  has  already  adopted ;  or  to 
 refute  triumphantly  in  his  eyes,  any  objections 
 brought  against  what  he  is  unwilling  to  doubt. 
 An  argument  which  shall  have  made  one  convert, 
 or  even  settled  one  really  doubting  mind,  though 
 it  is  not  of  course  necessarily  a  sound  argument, 
 will  have  accomplished  more  than  one  which 
 receives  the  unhesitating  assent  and  loud  ap- 
 plause of  thousands  who  had  already  embraced, 
 or  were  predisposed  to  embrace,  the  conclusion. 
 
 I  am  aware  that  there  is  in  some  minds  an 
 opposite  tendency,  to  excessive  doubt  in  cases 
 where  their  wishes  are  strong ;— a  morbid  dis- 
 trust of  evidence  which  they  are  especially 
 anxious  to  find  conclusive.  Different  tempera- 
 ments (sometimes  varying  with  the  state  of 
 health  of  each  individual)  lead  towards  these 
 contrary  miscalculations.  Each  of  us  probably 
 has  a  natural  leaning  to  one  or  other  (often  to 
 both,  alternately)  of  these  infirmities— the  over- 
 estimate or  under-estimate  of  the  reasons  in 
 favour  of  a  conclusion  we  wish  to  find  true. 
 
194 
 
 Undue  reliance 
 
 [essay  IV. 
 
 The  difficulty  is,  not  to  fly  from  one  extreme  to 
 the  other,  but  to  avoid  both,  and  to  give  an 
 unbiassed  verdict  according  to  the  evidence; 
 preserving  the  indifference  o{  the  judgment,  even 
 in  cases  where  the  will  cannot,  and  indeed  should 
 not,  be  indifferent. 
 
 Obvious,  however,  as  these  principles  must 
 appear,  it  is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  lose  sight 
 of  them;  it  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  wonder 
 expressed  at  the  supposed  weakness  of  under- 
 standing of  those  who  assent  to  arguments  utterly 
 invalid,  but  to  which  they  have  in  fact  never 
 applied  their  minds.  And  it  is  much  more 
 common  to  hear  some  course  of  argument  con- 
 fidently proclaimed  as  triumphant  and  decisive 
 in  estabhshing  or  refuting  some  doctrine,  merely 
 on  the  ground  of  its  being  approved  by  those 
 predisposed  to  assent  to  it.  Whether,  in  fact, 
 it  be  such  or  not,  it  is  impossible  we  can  fully 
 estimate  its  weight  till  we  have  seen  it  tried 
 in  an  even  balance,  or  against  a  preponderating 
 scale ; — till  we  have  seen  how  it  is  received 
 by  the  indifferent,  or  the  adverse.  For  through 
 the  operation  of  the  principle  I  have  been 
 speaking  of,  arguments  have  commanded  the 
 
SKCT.  3.]         on  human  authority.  195 
 
 unhesitating  assent  of  all  men,  for  centuries 
 together,  without  possessing,  in  reality,  any 
 weight  at  all.  And  yet  he  is  usually  regarded 
 as  a  pozcerful  speaker  who  is  proclaimed  as  such 
 by  all  his  hearers,  in  consequence  of  their 
 having  all  admitted,  or  being  ready  to  admit, 
 his  conclusion ;  and  thence,  affording,  at  least, 
 no  proof  of  his  power. 
 
 §  3.  It  is,  on  many  accounts,  of  great  practical  Erroneous 
 importance  to  trace,  as  far  as  we  are  able,  each  the  cause  of 
 
 erroneous 
 
 error  to  its  real  source.     If,  for  instance,  we  interpreta- 
 tions. 
 
 supposed  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation  to 
 be  really  founded,  as  the  Romanists  pretend,  and 
 as,  no  doubt,  many  of  them  sincerely  believe,  on 
 the  words  "  This  is  my  body,"  we  might  set  this 
 down  as  an  instance  in  which  the  language  of 
 Scripture  rashly  interpreted  has  led  to  error. 
 Doubtless  there  are  such  instances ;  but  I  can 
 never  beheve  that  this  is  one  of  them ;  viz.  that 
 men  really  were  led  by  the  words  in  question  to 
 believe  in  Transubstantiation ;  for  besides  the 
 intrinsic  improbability  of  such  an  error  having 
 so  arisen,  we  have  the  additional  proof,  that  the 
 passage  was  before  the  eyes  of  the  whole  Chris- 
 
196  Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 tian  world  for  ten  centuries  before  the  doctrine 
 was  thought  of.  And  again,  if  we  suppose 
 the  doctrine  to  have,  in  fact,  arisen  from  the 
 misinterpretation  of  the  text,  we  shall  expect  to 
 remove  the  error  by  shewing  reasons  why  the 
 passage  should  be  understood  differently  :  a  very 
 reasonable  expectation,  where  the  doctrine  has 
 sprung  from  the  misinterpretation  ;  but  quite  other- 
 wise, where,  as  in  this  case,  the  misinterpretation 
 has  sprung  from  the  doctrine.  When  there  was 
 a  leaning  in  men's  minds  towards  the  reception 
 of  the  tenet,  they  of  course  looked  for  the  best 
 confirmation  of  it  (however  weak)  that  Scripture 
 could  be  made  to  afford. 
 
 There  is  no  instance,  however,  that  better 
 exemplifies  the  operation  of  this  principle,  than 
 the  one  immediately  before  us — the  Romish  doc- 
 trines of  the  Universal  Supremacy,  and  Infalli- 
 bility, of  their  Church.  If  we  inquire  how  the 
 Romanists  came  so  strangely  to  mistake  the 
 passages  of  Scripture  to  which  they  appeal,  we 
 shall  be  utterly  bewildered  in  conjecture,  unless 
 we  read  backwards  the  lesson  imprinted  on  their 
 minds,  and  seek  for  the  true  cause  in  the  natural 
 predisposition  to  look  out  for,  and  implicitly 
 
SECT.  3.]         on  humari  authority. 
 
 197 
 
 trust,  an  infallible  guide;  and  to  find  a  refuge 
 from  doubts  and  dissensions,  in  the  unquestioned 
 and  unlimited  authority  of  the  Church.  This 
 indeed /^at/ been  gradually  established,  and  vested 
 in  the  Romish  See,  before  it  was  distinctly 
 claimed.  Men  did  not  submit  to  the  authority, 
 because  they  were  convinced  it  was  of  divine 
 origin  and  infallible ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
 were  convinced  of  this,  because  they  were  dis- 
 posed and  accustomed  so  to  submit.  The 
 tendency  to  "teach  for  doctrines  the  command- 
 ments of  men,"  and  to  acquiesce  in  such  teach- 
 ing, is  not  the  effect,  but  the  cause,  of  their  being 
 taken  for  the  commandments  of  God. 
 
 Unwilling  as  men  may  be  to  submit  their 
 
 o  tendency 
 
 actions  to  an  uncontrolled  despotism,  that  indo-  unerdn" 
 lence  of  mind  which  the  Greek  historian  re-^""*^' 
 marks  as  making  them  "  averse  to  take  trouble 
 in  the  investigation  of  truth,  and  willing  rather 
 to  acquiesce  in  what  is  ready-decided  for  them," 
 has,  in  all  ages,  and  on  all  subjects,  disposed 
 multitudes  to  save  themselves  this  trouble,  and 
 escape  at  the  same  time  the  uneasiness  of  doubt- 
 ing, by  an  implicit  submission  to  some  revered 
 authority.    The  disposition  indeed  to  submit  and 
 
198 
 
 Undue  reliance 
 
 [essay  IV. 
 
 assent  implicitly,  is  (like  all  our  other  natural 
 propensities)  nothing  intrinsically  and  essentially 
 bad,  when  rightly  directed,  and  duly  controlled ; 
 but,  like  all  the  rest,  is  liable  to  misdirection  and 
 excess.  Whatever  is  satisfactorily  proved  to 
 come  from  God,  is  entitled  to  our  submissive 
 assent;  and  whatever  there  is  of  what  He  has 
 revealed  to  us,  that  surpasses  human  compre- 
 hension, has  a  claim  to  be  received  on  his  autho- 
 rity alone,  without  vain  attempts  to  explain  or  to 
 prove  it  "a  priori."  That  the  implicit  deference 
 justly  due  to  Divine  authority,  should  have  been 
 often  unduly  extended  to  human,  is  what  we 
 might,  from  the  infirmity  of  our  nature,  have 
 even  antecedently  conjectured ;  and  no  one  can 
 suppose  that  this  misdirected  and  excessive  vene- 
 ration originated  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  or  is 
 even  confined  to  the  case  of  religion,  who  recol- 
 lects that  the  decisive  appeal  of  the  Pythagoreans 
 to  the  "ipse  dixit"  of  their  master,  was  even 
 proverbial  among  the  ancients :  and  that  at  a 
 later  period,  the  authority  of  Aristotle  on  philo- 
 sophical questions,  was  for  many  ages  regarded 
 as  no  less  decisive.  To  question  his  decisions 
 on  these  matters,  was  long  considered  as  indi- 
 
SECT.  4.] 
 
 on  human  authority. 
 
 199 
 
 eating  no  less  presumptuous  rashness,  than  to 
 dispute  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome  as  to  mat- 
 ters of  faith. 
 
 S  4.  As  for  the  local  extent  of  the  Roman  Presump- 
 tion in 
 
 Pontiff's  jurisdiction,  the  claim  of  universal  su- favour  of  the 
 
 opinions  of 
 
 premacy  for  that  particular  See,  is  of  course  an  ^i^^e  wise  and 
 error  of  the  Romanists  as  Romanists ;  for  though 
 the  same  encroaching  and  ambitious  disposition 
 may  exist  in  others  as  in  the  Romish  hierarchy, 
 it  must  of  course,  wherever  it  exists,  lead  each 
 to  extend  the  dominion  and  exalt  the  power,  of 
 Ids  own  Church,  State,  Empire,  or  School,  over 
 others.  But  the  tendency  to  claim  or  to  pay 
 undue  deference  to  the  authority  of  uninspired 
 men,  is  an  error  of  the  Romanists  not  as 
 Romanists,  but  as  Human  Beings.  The  degree 
 of  respect  generally  paid  and  justly  due  to  the 
 authority*^  of  the  wise — the  virtuous — the  learned 
 — the  majority — which  amounts  to  a. presumption, 
 more  or  less  strong,  of  what  they  have  main- 
 tained— a  presumption  which  demands  a  careful 
 examination  of  the  reasons  on  both  sides,  before 
 
 An  important  ambiguity  in  the  word  authority  will  be 
 presently  noticed. 
 
200 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 we  decide  against  them — this  respect  was  gradu- 
 ally heightened  -into  a  blind  acquiescence,  which 
 forbad  men  even  to  seek  for  reasons  at  all.  The 
 morbid  dread  of  uncertainty,  perplexity,  and  dis- 
 sension, led  them  to  preclude  all  doubts  as  to 
 the  sense  of  Scripture,  by  a  decisive  authority ; 
 an  authority  which  they  pretend  to  rest  on  a 
 text  whose  sense  is  in  itself  doubtful ;  and  thus 
 to  save,  as  it  were,  the  ship  from  being  tossed 
 by  winds  and  waves,  by  casting  anchor  on  an 
 object  which  was  itself  floating.  But  they  suc- 
 ceeded in  delivering  themselves  from  actual 
 doubt,  though  not  from  reasons  for  doubt ;  and 
 were  lulled  into  that  apathetic  tranquillity,  which 
 is  the  natural  result  of  compulsory  cessation  of 
 discussion.  "  Seeing  then  that  these  things 
 cannot  be  spoken  against,  ye  ought  to  be  quiet," 
 is  an  expression  which  may  be  used  to  charac- 
 terise this  indolent  uninquiring  acquiescence. 
 They  were  to  receive  whatever  the  Holy  Catho- 
 lic Church  decreed,  or  might  decree,  to  be 
 received  ;  even  though  ignorant  of  what  many 
 of  the  doctrines  were,  to  which  they  thus  as- 
 sented. 
 
 "  Is  it  conceivable,"  they  thought,  "  that  the 
 
SECT.  4.]         on  human  authority.  201 
 
 great  body  of  the  Church,  including  all  its  go- 
 vernors, for  whose  preservation  in  the  right  way 
 so  many  thousands  of  pious  Christians  have  been 
 always  daily  offering  up  their  prayers,  and  with 
 whom  Christ  promised  to  be,  always,  even  unto 
 the  end — is  it  conceivable,  that  all  these  should 
 have  been  for  ages  together  in  gross  and  dan- 
 gerous error  on  important  points  ?  No,  surely," 
 they  said  to  themselves  and  to  each  other, 
 "  this  is  impossible ;  it  could  never  have  been 
 permitted."  Now  if  this  is  not  possible,  the 
 Church  must  be  infallible. 
 
 If  we  consider,  in  this  point  of  view,  the  growth 
 of  the  doctrine,  we  shall  no  longer  think  it  so 
 strange  as  at  first  sight  it  appears,  that  such  a 
 claim  should  have  arisen.  Nor  (which  is  more 
 important  for  our  purpose)  shall  we  think  it  in- 
 credible, that  a  similar  course  of  reasoning  should 
 be  likely  to  take  place  in  the  minds  of  Protest- 
 ants, and  should  lead  to  a  like  result : — that  the 
 supposition,  of  any  error  in  religious  matters  be- 
 setting wise,  good,  pious,  learned,  humble,  and 
 diligent  men,  should  appear  so  strange  that  at 
 length  the  strangeness  should  be  regarded  as 
 amounting  to  impossibility:  and  when  once  this 
 
202 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 point  is  reached,  the  claim  to  infalHbility  is  vir- 
 tually set  up. 
 
 Indefinite       It  must  be  admitted,  moreover,  that  the  claim 
 
 Use  of  the 
 
 expression  of  infallibility  in  the  Church,  when  it  is  distinctly 
 
 Catholic  ^      •'  _ 
 
 chuich.  avowed,  is  at  least  more  consistent — perhaps,  I 
 may  say,  more  honest — than  the  sort  of  appeal 
 which  is  sometimes  made  by  Protestants  to  the 
 authority  of  the  "  Universal  Church,"  and  which 
 may  be  characterised  by  the  homely  but  expres- 
 sive proverbial  metaphor,  of  "  playing  fast  and 
 loose."  A  person  is  loudly  censured  perhaps  for 
 taking  a  different  view  of  some  doctrine  from 
 that  which,  it  is  assumed,  prevailed  generally  in 
 the  Church  {i.e.  the  great  mass  of  Christians)  for 
 many  ages  ;  the  writers,  termed  "  the  Fathers," 
 are  appealed  to ;  and  it  is  represented  as  incon- 
 ceivable, that  the  great  Body  of  the  Christian 
 world  should  have  long  been  in  error  on  such 
 and  such  a  point.  And,  no  doubt,  there  is  a 
 presumption^  in  favour  of  what  has  been  long  ad- 
 mitted by  the  majority  ;  stronger  arguments  are 
 called  for  against  it,  than  if  it  were  something 
 novel,  or  the  opinion  only  of  a  few.  But  when 
 this  presumption  is  adduced  as  nearly  decisive, 
 
 •  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  Part  I.  chap.  iii.  §  2. 
 
SECT.  4.]        on  human  authorily. 
 
 203 
 
 and  it  is  then  urged,  on  the  other  side,  as  it 
 consistently  may  be,  that  the  great  majority/ 
 both  in  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches,  are, 
 and  have  been  for  many  centuries,  and  were,  at 
 the  very  time  referred  to,  worshippers  of  Rehcs, 
 and  of  the  Virgin,  &c.  the  same  Protestant  ad- 
 vocate will  reply,  that  these  doctrines  are  un- 
 scriptural — that  human  divines  are  fallible, — and 
 that  we  ought  to  "  obey  God  rather  than  Man." 
 Now  if  we  regard  the  "  Fathers"  as  men  subject 
 to  human  infirmity,  and  teaching  truth  mixed 
 with  error,  we  ought  to  appeal  to  them  as  such  : 
 if  we  appeal  to  them,  or  to  any  set  of  men,  with 
 an  air  of  decisive  triumph,  we  should  be  pre- 
 pared to  admit  their  infallibility  throughout.  It 
 surely  is  not  fair  to  make  the  Church's  autho- 
 rity of  the  highest  or  the  lowest  value,  according 
 
 f  What  has  been  "  received  by  all,  in  every  age,  and  in 
 every  country,"  is  the  standard  which  some  profess  to  abide 
 by.  But  to  seek  for  a  system  of  Christian  doctrine  which 
 shall  fulfil  these  conditions,  is  like  the  search  for  the  universal 
 medicine.  Practically,  they  limit  the  term  all"  to  the  or- 
 thodox ;  i.  e.  those  whose  doctrines  are  true.  So  that  we 
 must  first  ascertain  what  doctrines  are  true,  in  order  to  dis- 
 tinguish the  persons  by  whose  judgment  we  are  to  be  guided 
 as  to  the  question  what  doctrines  are  true ! 
 
204  Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 as  it  happens  to  support,  or  to  oppose,  our  own 
 conclusions. 
 
 Protestants  §  5.  Indeed,  monstrous  as  the  Romish  doc- 
 charged 
 
 w'th .      trine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Church  at  first 
 
 claiming 
 
 infallibility,  sight  appcars,  and  widely  different  as  the  claim 
 is  usually  regarded  from  any  that  have  ever  been 
 advanced  by  Protestants,  there  have  not  been 
 wanting  persons  who  (in  consequence  perhaps  of 
 the  prevalence  of  the  practice  just  noticed)  have 
 represented  the  Romish  Church  as  differing  little 
 in  this  point  from  our  own,  and  indeed  every 
 other.  "  It  is  true,"  (they  say,)  "  the  Church 
 of  England  disclaims  the  right  of  requiring  assent 
 to  any  article  of  faith  which  may  not  be  proved 
 by  Scripture :  but  then  if  she  claims  the  right 
 of  deciding  without  appeal  what  doctrines  are 
 Scriptural,  and  requires  of  all  her  members  the 
 admission,  not  only  of  the  authority  of  Scripture, 
 but  of  her  interpretation  of  it,  and  an  admission 
 of  all  the  doctrines  founded  on  that  interpreta- 
 tion, the  same  end  is  gained :  since  even  the 
 Church  of  Rome  might  have  professed  to  appeal 
 to  Scripture  in  behalf  of  all  her  doctrines,  re- 
 taining the  power  of  deciding  definitively  what 
 
SECT.  5.]         on  human  authority.  205 
 
 books  should  be  received  as  Scripture,  and  what 
 is  the  true  sense  of  each  passage,  "  The  dif- 
 ference then,"  they  urge,  (I  am  quoting  the 
 arguments  of  an  author  of  no  mean  abihty,) 
 "  between  the  two  Churches,  amounts  only  to 
 this  ;  that  the  one  cannot  err,  and  the  other 
 never  does;  the  one  is  infallible,  and  the  other 
 always  in  the  right."  For  though  it  is  declared 
 that  other  Churches  have  erred,  and  not  denied 
 that  our  own  maij,  it  is  never  admitted  that  ours 
 (as  constituted  at  the  Reformation)  has  fallen 
 into  any  error. 
 
 This  charge  of  advancing  a  virtual  claim  to 
 infallibility,  though  specious  at  the  first  glance, 
 melts  away  before  a  close  examination ;  for,  in 
 fact,  the  claim  of  our  Church  is  no  other  than 
 even  every  'individual,  without  any  arrogance, 
 advances,  and  cannot  but  advance,  in  his  own 
 behalf.  Whoever  professes  to  hold  any  doctrine, 
 implies  by  that  very  expression  his  conviction  of 
 its  truth.  For  an  individual  (and  a  Church  no 
 less)  to  acknowledge  the  erroneousness  of  his 
 present  tenets,  would  be  a  contradiction  in  terms. 
 And  the  erroneousness  of  many  of  her  former 
 tenets,  during  our  subjection  to  the  Papal  sway, 
 
206 
 
 Undue  relunice 
 
 [essay  IV. 
 
 our  Church  amply  acknowledged  by  the  very  act 
 of  reforming. 
 
 Answer  to      gut  cvery  Church  must  have  certain  terms 
 
 tne  charge 
 
 oi  claiming      Commuuion,  the  rejection  of  which  implies 
 
 infallibility.  ''  ^ 
 
 exclusion  from  that  Communion  ;  since  the  very 
 idea  of  a  religious  Society  is  incompatible  with 
 a  fundamental  discrepancy  of  religious  persua- 
 sion. And  since  such  discrepancies  may,  and 
 do,  exist  among  those  who  agree  in  admitting 
 the  supreme  authority  of  Scripture,  it  is  plain 
 that  this  admission  cannot  be  of  itself  a  sufficient 
 bond  of  union.  Our  Church,  therefore,  (as  every 
 religious  Society  must  do,  either  avowedly  or 
 virtually,)  fixed  on  certain  doctrines  as  necessary 
 to  be  admitted  by  those  who  should  be  members 
 of  it ;  not  denouncing  as  heretics^  the  members 
 
 2  It  is  well  worth  remarking,  that  our  Church  has  de- 
 nounced the  Romanists  as  erroneous  indeed,  but  not  as 
 heretical.  If  indeed  one  brought  up  in  the  bosom  of  our 
 Church  were  to  preach,  for  instance,  the  doctrine  of  the 
 sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  he  would  be  properly  pronounced 
 heretical ;  but  we  claim  no  spiritual  authority  over  the 
 members  of  other  Churches.  The  'Romanists  do  ;  and  ac- 
 cordingly denominate  us,  with  perfect  consistency,  heretics; 
 as  being  properly  members,  though  rebellious  members,  of 
 their  Church.    See  Hinds's  Histor)',  vol.  ii.  p.  41 — 45. 
 
SECT.  5.] 
 
 on  human  authority. 
 
 207 
 
 of  other  Churches  who  might  hold  different  doc- 
 trines ;  but  of  course  not  admitting  her  own 
 to  be  erroneous ;  which  would  be  saying  in  the 
 same  breath  that  they  are  not  her  own.  An 
 individual  indeed  will  often  have  not  made  up 
 his  mind  as  to  this  or  that  question  ;  and  will 
 often  express  doubts  as  to  some  opinion  which 
 he  is  rather  inclined  to  adopt :  but  for  a  Church 
 to  make  a  declaration  of  doubt,  would  be  absurd. 
 In  whatever  points  our  Reformers  felt  themselves 
 undecided,  and  in  whatever,  though  themselves 
 convinced,  they  thought  it  unnecessary  to  re- 
 quire general  assent — on  such  points  they  would 
 of  course  say  nothing.  Whatever  they  set  forth, 
 they  could  not  but  set  forth,  as,  in  their  judgment, 
 both  true,  and  essential. 
 
 It  is  possible,  indeed,  for  a  Church  to  mul- 
 tiply unnecessarily  her  articles  of  faith,  and 
 thus  narrow  too  much  the  terms  of  her  com- 
 munion :  but  if  in  any  case  this  fault  were 
 committed,  and  even  if  we  suppose  many  of 
 the  doctrines  so  laid  down  to  be  fundamentally 
 erroneous,  still  this  fault  would  be  of  a  totally 
 different  kind  from  that  of  advancing  a  claim  to 
 infallibility. 
 
208  Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 Ambiguity      Much  of  the  confusion  of  thought  which  has 
 
 of  the  word 
 
 auihority.  anscn  on  this  subject,  is  to  be  traced  to  the 
 ambiguity  of  the  word  "  authority ;"  which  is 
 sometimes  used,  in  the  primary  sense,  (corre- 
 sponding with  auctoritas,)  to  signify  the  weight 
 assigned  to  the  example  or  opinion  of  those  who, 
 in  any  point,  are  hkely  to  be  competent  judges, 
 and  which  raises  a  presumption  in  favour  of 
 what  they  have  done,  maintained,  or  reported ; 
 as  when  we  appeal  to  the  "  authority"  of  some 
 Historian  or  Philosopher :  but  sometimes  again, 
 and  that  not  unfrequently,  it  is  used  (in  the 
 sense  of  potest  as)  to  signify  poxcer,  to  which  we 
 are  absolutely  required  to  submit ;  as  when  we 
 speak  of  the  "  authority"  of  a  Magistrate.  The 
 language  of  our  Article  keeps  clear  of  this  ambi- 
 guity, in  the  statement,  that  "  the  Church  has 
 power  to  ordain  rites  and  ceremonies,"  (not  at 
 variance  with  God's  Word,)  "  and  has  authority 
 in  controversies  of  faith."  But  still,  the  use  of 
 the  word  Authority  in  the  sense  of  power  is  so 
 common,  that  it  has,  I  have  no  doubt,  aided  in 
 producing  the  impression,  that  a  claim  is  ad- 
 vanced by  the  Church  of  being  an  infallible 
 interpreter  of  Scripture. 
 
SECT.  5.]        on  human  authority. 
 
 209 
 
 The  correct  statement  of  the  case  is  this  :  to 
 profess  certain  doctrines,  and  (which  is  implied 
 by  so  doing)  to  declare  that  those  doctrines  are 
 true,  is,  for  every  Church,  allowable,  because 
 unavoidable :  to  err  in  any  of  those  doctrines,  or 
 in  the  mode  of  setting  them  forth,  as  long  as 
 there  is  a  readiness  to  correct  any  thing  that 
 shall  be  proved  at  variance  with  Scripture  or 
 with  reason,  is  nothing  unpardonable,  nor,  in  its 
 results,  incurable :  while  to  deny  the  liability  to 
 error,  and  to  claim,  without  warrant,  the  infalli- 
 bility which  implies  inspiration,  is  in  itself  pre- 
 sumptuous impiety,  and  leads  to  interminable 
 corruption. 
 
 For  the  difference  is  no  mere   theoretical  evIIs  of  the 
 
 claim  to 
 
 nicety,  but  of  most  extensive  practical  import-  infallibility, 
 ance.  The  claim  to  exemption  from  all  error, 
 shuts  the  door  against  reform.  The  smallest 
 change  in  any  article  of  faith,  would  break  the 
 talisman  of  infallibility,  and  the  magic  edifice 
 of  Papal  dominion  would  crumble  into  ruins. 
 That  dominion  I  mean  would  be  ruined  which  is 
 exercised  over  men's  conscience  on  the  ground 
 that  the  doctrinal  decisions  of  that  Church  are 
 to  be,  as  such,  received,  and  considered  infallible, 
 p 
 
210 
 
 Undue  reliance  [i:ssay  iv. 
 
 and  placed  on  a  par  with  those  of  the  Apostles. 
 The  Church  indeed  of  Rome  might  continue  to 
 subsist,  and  to  exercise  over  its  own  members 
 the  power  that  rightfully  belongs  to  any  Church. 
 And  that  all  Christians  should  belong  to  one 
 single  ecclesiastical  community,  the  chief  governor 
 of  which  should  reside  at  Rome,  though  exces- 
 sively inconvenient,  would  not  necessarily  imply 
 the  abandonment  of  any  Christian  principle. 
 But  that  the  governor  or  governors  of  any 
 Church  should  demand  from  all  Christians  ac- 
 quiescence in  their  determinations  because  these 
 emanate  from  an  unerring  Church,  this  is  a 
 claim  whose  foundation  is  destroyed  by  the 
 admission  of  fallibility  in  any  one  point  of  faith. 
 
 In  matters  of  discipline,  indeed,  the  Romish 
 Church  might  introduce  reforms,  without  com- 
 promising the  claim  to  infallibility ;  since  there 
 the  question  is  one  not  of  truth,  but  of  expe- 
 diency ;  which  may  vary  in  each  different  age 
 and  country.  Her  regulations  however  re- 
 specting discipline  have  been  so  intertwined 
 with  doctrinal  points,  that  She  has  generally 
 dreaded  to  alter  any  thing,  lest  her  infallibility 
 should  be  called  in  question.    For  instance,  it 
 
SECT.  .5,]         on  human  autliorily.  211 
 
 has  never  been  contended  that  the  adoration  of 
 images  and  relics  is  essential  to  Christianity ; 
 there  would  therefore  be  no  inconsistency  on  the 
 part  of  the  Romish  Church  in  remedying  that 
 abuse :  but  it  has  been  thought  probably  (and 
 not  without  reason)  that  to  do  so  might  raise 
 suspicions  as  to  the  wisdom  of  originally  sanction- 
 ing the  practice — as  to  the  soundness  of  the 
 arguments  and  decisions  by  which  it  was  main- 
 tained against  Protestants — and  as  to  the  truth 
 of  the  miraculous  legends  connected  with  it ; 
 and  the  upholders  of  the  Romish  system  have 
 accordingly  always  dreaded  (as  was  remarkably 
 exempHfied  not  long  since  in  respect  of  some 
 efforts  towards  such  an  amelioration,  made  in 
 Germany)  to  touch  a  single  stone  of  their  infirm 
 fabric,  lest  another,  and  another,  should  be  dis- 
 placed. For  those  who  are  conscious,  or  who 
 at  all  suspect,  (whether  with  or  without  good 
 reason,)  that  great  part  of  the  system  they  are 
 maintaining  is  thoroughly  unsound,  are  natu- 
 rally* led  to  regard  the  beginning  of  reformation 
 (even  as  Solomon  says  of  the  beginning  of  strife) 
 as  "like  the  letting  out  of  water;"  when  once 
 commenced,  they  know  not  to  what  it  may 
 p2 
 
212 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 proceed,  or  how  it  can  be  stopped.  And  thus  it 
 is  that  the  claim  to  infalHbility  burdens  the  Church 
 of  Rome  with  a  load  of  long-accumulated  errors 
 and  abuses,  to  which  many  probably  of  her  ad- 
 herents are  by  no  means  blind,  but  of  which  they 
 know  not  how  to  relieve  her. 
 
 To  this  evil  nmst  be  added,  that  the  claim  of 
 an  infallibility  independent  of  Scripture,  naturally 
 tends  towards  the  result  which  in  fact  took  place, 
 the  prohibition  of  translations,  and  the  discourage- 
 ment of  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  as  needless, 
 and  unsafe,  for  the  mass  of  the  Christian  laity. 
 The  Scriptures  thus  highly  venerated  and  little 
 used,  are  no  longer  like  the  bread  from  heaven 
 which  sustained  the  Israehtes  in  the  wilderness: 
 they  are  no  longer  the  daily  shower  of  manna  to 
 supply  their  daily  wants,  but  the  pot  of  manna 
 stored  up  with  reverent  care  in  the  Ark,  as  a 
 curiosity. 
 
 And  even  after  the  removal  or  relaxation  of 
 the  restrictions  on  the  use  of  Scripture,  the 
 people,  even  with  the  Bible  in  their  hands,  are 
 evidently  far  less  likely  to  perceive  the  erro- 
 neousness  of  any  doctrines  of  their  Church,  if  that 
 Church  does  not  profess  to  rest  those  doctrines 
 
SECT.  6.]         on  hmian  authority.  213 
 
 on  Scripture  alone,  but  on  her  own  independent 
 and  paramount  authority.  Thousands  must 
 have  perceived  many  Romish  tenets  to  be  un- 
 warranted by  Scrijyture,  who  have  yet  never 
 thought  of  regarding  that  as  ground  for  calHng 
 them  in  question.  On  the  other  hand,  "  even 
 corrupt  Churches,  provided  they  do  not  sup- 
 press the  Scriptures,  or  disallow  them  as  the 
 only  rule  of  faith,  may  still  afford  to  many  of 
 their  members  the  means  of  correcting  their 
 errors,  and  ascertaining  the  essential  truths,  of 
 Christianity."^ 
 
 §  6.  But  are  Protestants  then,  as  long  as  they  Danger 
 
 undue  d 
 
 do  but  acknowledge  these  principles,  exempt  '^Y'"','^': 
 from  all  danger  of  any  such  error  as  that  forthoiitv. 
 which  the  Romish  Church  has  now  been  cen- 
 sured ?   By  no  means.    Such  might  indeed  have 
 been  the  case,  had  the  claim  to  infallibility  for 
 the  decisions  of  the  Church,  and  the  comparative  * 
 disregard  of  Scripture,  been  the  cause,  instead  of 
 being,  as  in  truth  it  was,  the  effect,  of  the  tendency 
 to  pay  undue  deference  to  human  authority. 
 The  real  cause  of  that  tendency  is  to  be  sought 
 
 ^  Hawkins  on  Tradition,  p.  42. 
 
214 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 in  the  principles  of  our  common  nature  ; — in  the 
 disposition  to  carry  almost  to  idolatry  the  vene- 
 ration due  to  the  wise,  and  good,  and  great ; — in 
 the  dislike  of  doubt  and  of  troublesome  investiga- 
 tion— the  dread  of  perplexity  and  disagreement — 
 and  the  desire  of  having  difficult  questions  finally 
 settled,  and  brought  into  the  form  of  dogmas 
 ready-prepared  for  acceptance  in  a  mass.  While 
 this  disposition'  continues  to  form  a  part  of  our 
 nature,  we  can  never,  but  by  continual  self- 
 distrust,  be  safe  from  its  effects. 
 Proper         And  the  danger  of  virtually  substituting  human 
 
 office  of  a  .         „        , .   .  .1 
 
 Church,  authority  for  divme,  is  the  greater,  from  the 
 necessity  which  exists  of  making  use  of  human 
 expositions  of  Scripture;  not  only  for  the  purpose, 
 above  alluded  to,  of  providing  a  Symbol,  Test, 
 or  Creed,  (such  as  our  thirty-nine  Articles,)  in 
 order  to  ascertain  a  sufficient  agreement  in 
 members  of  the  same  religious  Community,  but 
 also  for  the  purposes  of  Public-worship,  and  of 
 Catechetical-instruction.  For  the  sacred  writers 
 have  not  only  transmitted  only  one  short  form 
 
 >  Which  cannot  perhaps  be  so  well  described  in  our  lan- 
 guage, as  by  the  words  of  the  Greek  historian,  tni  rd  hoifia 
 fiaXKov  TpiTTovTai. 
 
SECT.  6.]        oji  human  authority. 
 
 215 
 
 of  prayer,*"  and  no  complete  form  for  the  ad- 
 ministration of  the  Christian  ordinances,  but 
 have  not  even  left  us  any  systematic  course  of 
 instruction  in  the  Christian  doctrines.  These, 
 they  have  left  to  be  collected  from  Histories  and 
 Epistles,  evidently  addressed  to  Christians — to 
 persons  who  had  already  been  regularly  in- 
 structed (catechized,  as  the  word  is  in  the 
 original)  in  the  principles  of  the  faith  :  thus,' 
 leaving,  as  it  should  seem,  to  the  Church  the 
 office  of  systematically  teaching,  and  to  the  Scrip- 
 tures, that  oi proving,  the  Christian  doctrines. 
 
 And  it  is  a  circumstance  not  a  little  remarkable.  Remark- 
 that  they  should  all  of  them  have  thus  abstained  sion  in 
 
 •     .  ••^11  Scripture. 
 
 irom  committing  to  writmg  (what  they  must 
 have  been  in  the  habit  of  employing  orally)  a 
 Catechism  or  course  of  elementary  instruction  in 
 Christianity,  consisting  of  a  regular  series  of  un- 
 questionable Canons  of  doctrine — Articles  of  faith 
 duly  explained  and  developed — in  short,  a  com- 
 pelidium  of  the  Christian^religion  ;  which  we  may 
 be  sure  (had  such  ever  existed)  would  have  been 
 
 Hinds's  History  of  the  Rise  of  Christianity,  vol.  ii.  pp. 
 114,  115. 
 
 '  See  Hawkins's  Dissertation  on  Tradition. 
 
216 
 
 Uridne  reliance 
 
 [essay  IV. 
 
 carefully  transmitted  to  posterity.  This,  I  say, 
 must  appear  to  every  one,  on  a  little  reflection, 
 something  remarkable  ;  but  it  strikes  me  as 
 literally  miraculous.  I  mean,  that  the  procedure 
 appears  to  me  dictated  by  a  wisdom  more  than 
 human  ;  and  that  the  Apostles  and  their  imme- 
 diate followers  must  have  been  supernaturally 
 withheld  from  taking  a  course  which  would 
 naturally  appear  to  them  the  most  expedient. 
 Considering  how  very  great  must  have  been  the 
 total  number  of  all  the  Elders  and  Catechists 
 appointed,  in  various  places,  by  the  Apostles, 
 and  by  those  whom  they  commissioned,  it  seems 
 (humanly  speaking)  incredible,  that  no  one  of 
 these  should  have  thought  of  doing  what  must 
 have  seemed  so  obvious,  as  to  write,  under  the 
 superintendence  and  correction  of  the  Apostles, 
 some  such  manual  for  the  use  of  his  hearers  :  as 
 was  in  fact  done,  repeatedly,  in  subsequent  ages, 
 (i.  e.  after,  as  we  hold,  the  age  of  inspiration  was 
 past,)  in  all  the  Churches  where  any  activfty 
 existed. 
 
 \     Thus  much,  at  least,  appears  to  me  indubi- 
 /  table  ;  that  Impostors  would  have  taken  sedulous 
 care  (as  Mahomet  did)  to  set  forth  a  complete 
 
SECT.  6.] 
 
 on  human  authority. 
 
 217 
 
 course  of  instructions  in  their  Faith ;  and  that 
 Enthusiasts  would  never  have  failed,  some  of  them 
 at  least,  to  fall  into  the  same  plan  ;  so  that  an 
 omission  which  is,  on  all  human  principles,  un- 
 accountable, amounts  to  a  moral  demonstration 
 of  the  divine  origin  of  our  religion.  And  this 
 argument,  we  should  observe,  is  not  drawn  from 
 the  supposed  wisdom  of  such  an  appointment  :  it 
 holds  good  equally,  however  little  we  may  per- 
 ceive the  expediency  of  the  course  actually 
 pursued.  For,  that  which  cannot  have  come 
 from  Man,  must  have  come  from  God.  If  the 
 Apostles  were  neither  enthusiasts  nor  impostors, 
 they  must  have  been  inspired ;  whether  we  can 
 understand,  or  not,  the  reasons  of  the  procedure 
 which  the  Holy  Spirit  dictated. 
 
 In  this  case,  however,  attentive  consideration  Reasons  for 
 
 .  omitting 
 
 may  explam  to  us  these  reasons.    God  s  wisdom  Creeds  and 
 
 Liturgies  in 
 
 doubtless  designed  to  guard  us  against  a  danger.  Scripture, 
 which  I  think  no  human  wisdom  would  have 
 foreseen — ^the  danger  of  indolently  assenting  to, 
 and  committing  to  memory,  a  "  form  of  sound 
 words ;"  which  would  in  a  short  time  have  be- 
 come no  more  than  a  form  of  words  ; — received 
 with  passive  reverence,  and  scrupulously  retained 
 
218 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 in  the  mind — leaving  no  room  for  doubt — fur- 
 nishing no  call  for  vigilant  investigation — afford- 
 ing no  stimulus  to  the  attention,  and  making  no 
 vivid  impression  on  the  heart.  It  is  only  when 
 the  understanding  is  kept  on  the  stretch  by  the 
 dihgent  search — the  watchful  observation — the 
 careful  deduction — which  the  Christian  Scrip- 
 tures call  forth  by  their  oblique,  incidental,  and 
 irregular  mode  of  conveying  the  knowledge  of 
 Christian  doctrines — it  is  then  only,  that  the 
 Feelings,  and  the  Moral  portion  of  our  nature, 
 are  kept  so  awake  as  to  receive  the  requisite 
 impression  :  and  it  is  thus  accordingly  that 
 Divine  wisdom  has  provided  for  our  wants, 
 "  Curis  acuens  mortalia  corda." 
 
 It  should  be  observed  also,  that  a  single  sys- 
 tematic course  of  instruction,  carrying  with  it 
 divine  authority,  would  have  superseded  the 
 framing  of  any  others — nay,  would  have  made 
 even  the  alteration  of  a  single  word  of  what 
 would,  on  this  supposition,  have  been  Scripture^ 
 appear  an  impious  presumption  ;  and  yet  could 
 not  possibly  have  been  well-adapted  for  all  the 
 varieties  of  station,  sex,  age,  intellectual  power, 
 Hinds's  History  of  the  Rise  of  Christianity,  vol.  ii.  p.  236. 
 
siccT.  7.]        on  fmman  authority.  219 
 
 education,  taste,  and  habits  of  thought.  So  that 
 there  would  have  been  an  almost  inevitable 
 danger  that  such  an  authoritative  list  of  credenda 
 would  have  been  regarded  by  a  large  propor- 
 tion of  Christians  with  a  blind  and  unthinking 
 reverence,  which  would  have  excited  no  influence 
 on  the  character.  They  would  have  had  "a 
 form  of  godliness ;  but  denying  the  power  there- 
 of," the  form  itself  would  have  remained  with 
 them  only  as  the  corpse  of  departed  Religion." 
 
 §  7.  Such  then  being  the  care  with  which 
 God's  providence  has  guarded  against  leading  us 
 into  this  temptation,  it  behoves  us  to  be  careful 
 that  we  lead  not  ourselves  into  temptation,  nor 
 yield  to  those  which  the  natural  propensities  of 
 the  human  heart  present.  For,  through  the 
 operation  of  those  principles  which  I  have  so 
 earnestly,  and  perhaps  too  copiously,  dwelt  on, 
 we  are  always  under  more  or  less  temptation 
 to  exalt  some  human  exposition  of  the  faith 
 to  a  practical  equality  with  the  Scriptures,  by 
 devoting  to  that  our  chief  attention,  and  making 
 to  it  our  habitual  appeal. 
 
 "  See  Essay  on  Omission,  &c.  First  Series. 
 
Undue  relimtce  [essay  iv. 
 
 Arguments     And  wliy,  it  may  be  said,  should  we  scruple 
 
 in  favour  of 
 
 appeal  to    to  do  this  ?  giviug  to  Scripture  the  precedence 
 
 human 
 
 foiniuiaries.  indeed  in  point  of  dignity,  as  the  foundation  on 
 which  the  other  is  built,  but  regarding  the  super- 
 structure as  no  less  firm  than  the  foundation  on 
 which  it  is  fairly  built  ?  "  I  am  fully  convinced," 
 a  man  may  say,  "that  such  and  such  an  expo- 
 sition conveys  the  genuine  doctrines  of  the  Scrip- 
 tures :  in  which  case  it  must  be  no  less  true  than 
 they ;  and  may  therefore,  by  those  who  receive 
 it,  be  no  less  confidently  appealed  to.  Supposing 
 us  fully  to  believe  its  truth,  it  answers  to  us  the 
 purpose  of  Scripture  :  since  we  can  but  fully 
 believe  that.  For  in  mathematics,  for  instance, 
 we  are  not  more  certain  of  the  axioms  and 
 elementary  propositions,  than  we  are  of  those 
 other  propositions  which  are  proved  from  them : 
 nor  is  there  any  need  to  go  back  at  every  step 
 to  those  first  theorems  which  are  the  foundation 
 of  the  whole." 
 
 The  principle  which  I  have  here  stated,  as 
 favourably  as  I  am  able,  is  one  which,  I  believe, 
 is  often  not  distinctly  avowed,  even  inwardly  in 
 thought,  by  multitudes  who  feel  and  act  con- 
 formably to  it. 
 
SECT.  7.]        on  hvman  authority.  221 
 
 One  obvious  answer  which  mi^rht  be  given  to  Answer  to 
 
 ^  the  argu- 
 
 such  reasoning  is,  that  to  assign  to  the  deduc-  "pp^lj^'^ 
 tions  of  uninspired  men  the  same  perfect  cer- ''""i'*" 
 
 '  ^  decisions. 
 
 tainty  as  belongs  to  mathematical  demonstrations, 
 and  to  repose  the  same  entire  confidence  in  their 
 expositions  of  Scripture,  as  in  Scripture  itself,  is 
 manifestly  to  confer  on  those  men  the  attribute 
 of  infallibility.  Believe  indeed,  we  must,  in  the 
 truth  of  our  own  opinions :  nor  need  it  be  such 
 a  wavering  and  hesitating  belief,  as  to  leave  us 
 incessantly  tormented  by  uneasy  doubts :  but  if 
 we  censure  the  Romish  Church  for  declaring  her- 
 self not  liable  to  error,  we  must,  for  very  shame, 
 confess  our  own  liability  to  it,  not  in  mere  words, 
 but  in  practice ;  by  being  ever  ready  to  listen  to 
 argument — ever  open  to  conviction  ; — by  con- 
 tinually appeahng  and  referring  at  every  step  "  to 
 the  Law  and  to  the  Testimony" — by  continually 
 tracing  up  the  stream  of  religious  knowledge  to 
 the  pure  fountain-head — the  living  waters  of  the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 There  is  no  need,  however,  to  dwell  exclusively  ^^^^  ^^j^'^  °' 
 on  the  argument  drawn  from  the  possibility  of  ^[^^'p""'^ 
 our  being  mistaken ;  a  danger  which  of  course  habitually 
 each  one  hopes,  in  each  particular  case,  to  have  fo^'/proi" 
 
222 
 
 Undue  reliance 
 
 [essay  IV. 
 
 escaped.  There  is  one  decisive  argument,  per- 
 fectly simple,  and  accessible  to  every  under- 
 standing, and  especially  acceptable  to  a  pious 
 mind,  against  employing  any  human  statement 
 of  doctrines  in  place  of  Scripture,  as  the  standard 
 to  be  habitually  appealed  to :  it  is  not  the  will  of 
 God  that  this  should  be  done.  For  if  it  had  been 
 his  design,  that  there  should  be  any  such  regular 
 System  of  doctrine  for  habitual  reference,  and 
 from  which  there  should  be,  in  ordinary  practice, 
 no  appeal,  He  would  surely  have  enjoined,  or  at 
 least  permitted,  (and  the  permission  would  have 
 been  sufficient  to  insure  the  same  result)  the 
 framing  of  some  such  confession  of  Faith  or  Cate- 
 chism, by  his  inspired  servants  themselves ;  since 
 such  a  system  would  fully  have  answered  the 
 purpose  in  question,  with  the  great  additional 
 advantage,  that  it  must  have  commanded  the 
 assent  of  all  wIk)  acknowledge  the  Christian 
 Scriptures. 
 
 No  Church,  therefore,  is  empowered  to  do 
 that,  which  God,  for  wise  reasons,  evidently 
 designed  should  not  be  done.  He  has  left  to  the 
 Church  the  office  of  preserving"  the  Scriptures, 
 
 °  Hinds's  History  of  the  Rise  of  Christianity,  vol.  ii.  p.  1 18. 
 
SECT.  7.] 
 
 on  human  authority. 
 
 223 
 
 and  introducing  them  to  the  knowledge  of"  her 
 members,  as  the  sole  standard  of  faith — as  not 
 merely  the  first  step  and  foundation  of  proof, 
 like  the  elementary  propositions  of  mathematics, 
 but  as  the  only  source  of  proof ;  and  He  has  left 
 her  also  the  office  of  teaching  the  Christian 
 doctrines  from  the  Scriptures.  A  Church  is  au- 
 thorized to  set  forth  for  this  purpose,  (1)  Cate- 
 chisms—  Homilies — in  short,  whatever  may  be 
 needful  for  systematic  elementary  teaching:  it  is 
 authorized  again,  (2)  to  draw  up  Creeds  as  a 
 test  or  symbol  to  preserve  uniformity  of  faith  in 
 her  members :  and  it  is  also,  authorized  (3)  to 
 frame  Offices  for  Public-worship  and  administra- 
 tion of  the  Sacraments.  But  all  these  human 
 compositions  must  be  kept  to  their  own  proper 
 uses.  However  wisely  framed  they  may  be — 
 however  confident,  and  justly  confident,  we  may 
 feel,  of  their  truth  and  scriptural  character — we 
 must  never  put  them  in  the  place  of  Scripture, 
 by  making  them  the  standard  of  habitual  appeal. 
 Works  of  Christian-instruction  should  be  em- 
 ployed for  instruction ; — works  of  Devotion,  for 
 devotion; — Symbohcal  works,  such  as  Creeds  and 
 Articles,  for  their  proper  purpose,  of  furnishing  a 
 
224 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv 
 
 test  of  any  person's  fitness  to  be  acknowledged 
 a  member,  or  a  minister,  of  our  Church.  But 
 never,  if  we  would  in  deed  and  in  spirit  avoid 
 the  errors  of  Romanism — never  should  we  appeal 
 to  Creeds,  Liturgies,  or  Catechisms,  for  the 
 •proof  of  any  doctrine,  or  the  refutation  of  any 
 error.  Never  must  we  admit  as  decisive  such 
 a  syllogism  as  this  :  "  the  doctrines  of  our  Church 
 are  Scriptural ;  this  is  a  doctrine  of  our  Church  ; 
 therefore,  &c. :"  I  mean,  this  must  never  be 
 admitted,  without  immediately  proceeding  to  the 
 proof  of  the  first  premiss, 
 ity      We  are  liable  in  this  case  to  be  misled  by  the 
 
 of  tlic  word         1  •      •  />        1  1 
 
 "must."  ambiguity  of  such  words  as  "must,"  or  "ought," 
 &c.  which  sometimes  refer  to  obligation  in  point 
 of  duty,  sometimes  to  what  is  implied  as  a  point 
 of  consistency.  Thus,  it  is  true  in  one  sense  that 
 a  Christian  must  receive  the  doctrines  taught  in 
 Scripture,— ow^-A^  to  obey  the  precepts  of  Scrip- 
 ture, &c.  i.  e.  it  is  his  duty  to  do  so,  on  the 
 ground  that  Scripture  teaches  it.  In  another 
 sense  it  is  true  that  a  member  of  our  Church 
 ought  to  hold  the  opinions  expressed  in  our 
 Articles,  &c.  i.  e.  this  is  implied  by  his  continuing 
 a  member  of  that  Church.    It  is  not  that  he  is 
 
SECT.  7.]         on  human  authority.  225 
 
 right  in  holding  them  because  he  is  a  meynher  of 
 the  Church  which  teaches  them ;  but,  in  conti- 
 nuing a  member  of  that  Church  because  he  holds 
 them,  or,  in  quitting  it  if  he  disbeheves  them. 
 
 Again,  it  is  not  said  in  the  same  sense  that  a 
 member  of  our  Church  ought  to  assent  to  her 
 doctrines,  and  that  he  ought  to  submit  to  her 
 regulations  in  matters  intrinsically  indifferent. 
 For  in  respect  of  this  latter  point  a  Church  has 
 power  to  prescribe  to  its  members  what  they 
 should  do ;  and  it  is  their  duty  to  comply :  but 
 to  attribute  such  power  to  a  Church  in  respect 
 of  doctrines,  and  to  make  it  a  duty  to  any  one 
 to  assent  to  her  interpretation  of  Scripture,  is 
 practically  to  place  her  on  a  level  with  Scrip- 
 ture. The  point  of  duty  is  merely  to  remain 
 in  that  Church  no  longer  than  our  unbiassed 
 judgment  convinces  us  that  her  doctrines  are 
 scriptural. 
 
 So  much  has  this  simple  and  obvious  distinc- 
 tion been  overlooked  or  kept  out  of  sight  by 
 some  late  writers,  that  it  has  been  even  ex- 
 pressly denied  that  our  Church  does  acknowledge 
 the  right  of  private  judgment;  on  the  ground 
 that  it  enjoins  the  use  of  the  Creeds,  and  of  the 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 Liturgy  and  Catechism.  Undoubtedly  if  any 
 man's  private  judgment  should  be  that  our 
 Liturgy  is  unscriptural,  he  ought  not  to  remain 
 a  member  of  the  Church  :  but  the  real  question 
 is,  does  our  Church  mean  to  declare  that  an 
 individual  has  no  right  to  exercise  his  private 
 judgment  in  deciding  whether  the  Liturgy  be 
 scriptural  or  not,  and  is  bound  to  receive  it 
 implicitly  and  without  further  inquiry,  became  it 
 is  our  Liturgy  ?  If  this  be  answered  in  the  affir- 
 mative, the  grand  principle  of  Protestantism — 
 the  only  one  that  could  justify  the  Reformation 
 — is  abandoned ;  and  our  Reformers  must  stand 
 condemned  as  schismatical  heretics. 
 
 It  might  seem  superfluous  to  set  forth  a  prin- 
 ciple which  is  the  very  foundation  of  the  Reform 
 introduced  by  our  own  and  the  other  Protestant 
 churches ;  and  so  distinctly  recognized  in  our 
 Articles ;  which  declare  the  hability  to  error 
 not  only  of  Churches  but  of  general  Councils, 
 (Art.  19,  20,  and  21,)  and  disclaim  the  obliga- 
 tion of  receiving  anything  as  divine  truth  but 
 what  is  contained  in  Scripture  or  "  may  be 
 proved  thereby." 
 
 But  persons  are  to  be  found  who  while  they 
 
SECT.  7.]         on  human  authority. 
 
 227 
 
 assent  to  such  declarations,  yet  contrive  to  evade 
 the  force  of  them,  and  stigmatize  as  heterodox 
 all  appeal  to  private  judgment,  except  their  own 
 judgment,  and  that  of  such  as  agree  with  them ; 
 setting  up  the  claim  either  to  ^fallibility,  or, 
 with  still  more  presumption, — a  right  to  enforce 
 on  others  the  decisions  of  a  fallible  mind. 
 
 This  apparently  perplexing  inconsistency  may 
 be  unravelled  and  explained  by  asking  the  ques- 
 tion,— when  it  has  been  admitted  that  the  Scrip- 
 tures are  the  sole  unerring  standard,  and  that 
 we  are  not  obliged  to  receive  any  thing  that 
 "  cannot  be  proved  from  Scripture," — proved 
 to  whom  ?  A  "  standard  to  whom  ?"  If  the 
 Scriptures  are  the  standard  to  us  the  Christian 
 people,  and  we  are  bound  in  conscience  to  re- 
 ceive only  what  is  thence  proved  to  our  convic- 
 tion, then,  we  are  left  in  possession  of  the  liberty 
 of  private  judgment :  but  if  it  be  meant  that  zve 
 are  to  receive  whatever  is  proved  to  your  satis- 
 faction from  Scripture, — if  Scripture  is  to  be  the 
 standard  for  you,  but  your  faith  is  to  be  the 
 standard  for  ours, — then,  instead  of  liberty,  you 
 place  on  us  a  double  yoke ;  you  impose  two  re- 
 strictions instead  of  one ;  both,  and  each,  calling 
 
228 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 for  a  miraculous  attestation  of  your  infallibility. 
 We  are  required  to  believe,  first,  that  whatever 
 you  declare  is  divine  truth ;  and  secondly,  over 
 and  above  this,  that  it  is  a  truth  revealed  in 
 Scripture ;  and  we  are  to  take  your  word  for 
 both.  "  Jesus  I  know  ;  and  Paul  I  know ;  but 
 who  are  ye  ?" 
 
 Caution  Whenever  therefore  we  refer,  in  proof  or  dis- 
 Tny'^appeai  pi"oof  of  any  doctriuc,  to  the  Articles  or  Liturgy, 
 forauiaries.  foi"  iustance,  we  not  only  should  not  appeal  to 
 them  alone,  but  we  should  also  carefully  point 
 out  that  we  refer  to  them  not  as  the  authorized 
 formularies  of  a  Church,  but  simply  as  the  wiit- 
 ings  of  able  and  pious  men  ;  which  would  be 
 deserving  of  attention,  supposing  them  to  be 
 merely  private  sermons,  &c.  To  refer  to  them 
 as  backed  by  the  Church's  sanction,  adds  to  them 
 no  legitimate  force  in  respect  of  the  abstract 
 truth  of  any  position. 
 
 Such  an  appeal  may  indeed,  in  practice,  be 
 decisive,  (and  justly  so,)  as  far  as  regards  mem- 
 bers of  our  Church :  but  it  is,  hi  truth,  only  an 
 "  argumentum  ad  hominem."  If  any  charge  is  to 
 be  brought  personally  against  an  individual,  as  un- 
 fit to  be  a  member  or  a  minister  of  the  Church, 
 
SECT.  7.]         on  human  authority. 
 
 229 
 
 the  appeal  is  naturally,  and  rightly,  made  to  her 
 formularies  composed  for  this  very  purpose : 
 but  when  the  question  is  not  about  a  person,  but 
 a  doctrine — when  the  abstract  truth  of  any  tenet 
 is  in  question,  "  to  the  Law  and  to  the  Testi- 
 mony !"  It  savours  of  the  spirit  of  Romanism 
 to  refer  for  the  proof  or  disproof  of  doctrines, 
 solely,  or  chiefly,  to  any,  the  most  justly  vene- 
 rated, human  authority — to  any  thing  but  the 
 inspired  word  of  God.  For  if  any  one  proves 
 any  thing  from  our  Articles  or  Liturgy,  for 
 instance,  either  he  could  have  proved  it  from 
 Scripture,  or  he  could  not :  if  he  could  not,  he 
 is  impeaching  either  the  Scriptural  character  of 
 the  Church's  doctrines,  or  his  own  knowledge 
 of  the  Scriptural  basis  on  which  they  rest :  if  he 
 could  have  proved  it  from  Scripture,  that  is  the 
 course  he  should  have  taken  :  not  only  because 
 he  would  thus  have  proved  his  point  both  to 
 those  who  receive  our  Articles,  and  also  to  those 
 who  dissent  from  them ;  but  also,  because  it  is 
 thus,  and  thus  only,  we  can  preserve  to  Scripture 
 its  due  dignity  and  proper  office,  and  avoid  the 
 dangerous  and  encroaching  precedent  of  substi- 
 tuting human  authority  for  divine. 
 
230  Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 Danger  of      For  it  is  important  to  remember,  that  human 
 
 falling  into 
 
 a  habit  of  formularies,  when  once  the  habit  is  established 
 
 appealing 
 
 to  Man's    of  making  a  definitive  appeal  to  them  for  the 
 
 authority. 
 
 proof  of  any  disputed  point,  have  a  tendency 
 not  only  to  rival,  but  to  supersede,  Scripture. 
 They  are  usually  drawn  up  in  a  more  compact 
 and  regular  form,  such  as  to  facilitate  reference  ; 
 and  they  are  purposely  and  carefully  framed,  so 
 as  to  exclude  certain  particular  interpretations, 
 which  those  of  a  different  persuasion  have  in- 
 troduced. 
 
 The  convenience  thence  resulting  ought  to  put 
 us  the  more  on  our  guard  against  this  encroaching 
 character  of  human  compositions.  More  trouble- 
 some indeed  may  be  the  diligent  search  of  the 
 Scriptures  than  a  compendious  appeal  to  esta- 
 blished formularies ;  but  God  has  appointed  that 
 this  labour  shall  be  the  Christian's  lot,  and  shall 
 bring  with  it  amply  its  own  reward.  The  care, 
 and  diligence,  and  patient  thought,  and  watchful 
 observation,  required  in  drawing  for  ourselves  the 
 Christian-truths  from  the  pure  spring-head,  will 
 be  repaid  by  our  having,  through  divine  grace, 
 those  truths  ultimately  fixed  in  the  heart  as  well 
 as  in  the  understanding  ; — we  shall  not  only 
 
SECT.  7.] 
 
 on  human  authority. 
 
 231 
 
 "read,"  but  "mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest 
 them,"  so  that  the  heavenly  nourishment  will 
 enter  into  our  whole  frame,  and  make  us  not 
 merely  sound  theologians,  but,  what  is  much 
 more,  sincere  Christians  and  good  men,  truly 
 "  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in 
 Christ  Jesus." 
 
 It  is  urged  on  the  opposite  side  that  it  is  a 
 mockery  to  talk  of  the  right  of  private  judgment 
 in  the  unlearned, — that  is,  the  great  mass  of 
 mankind, — who  have  nothing  on  which  to  found 
 an  independent  judgment  of  their  own,  that  can 
 deserve  the  name  ;  but  being  ignorant  and  gross- 
 minded — strangers  to  the  original  languages  of 
 the  Scriptures,  and  to  ecclesiastical  history, — 
 unintellectual,  unreflective,  and  uninformed, — 
 must  either  acquiesce  in  the  instructions  and 
 assurances  of  the  learned  men  who  bear  rule 
 over  them,  or  else  be  "  blown  about  with  every 
 wind  of  doctrine,"  without  rudder  or  compass  to 
 direct  their  course. 
 
 The  practical  result  of  such  principles  as  these, 
 experience  shews  to  be  such  as  reason  would 
 have  led  us  to  anticipate.  The  guides  to  whose 
 authoritative  direction  the  people  are  thus  left, 
 
232 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv, 
 
 soon  come  to  think  that  they  themselves  also 
 may  as  well  be  content  to  follow  the  guidance  of 
 their  predecessors,  instead  of  being  at  the  pains 
 to  "  prove  all  things,"  by  a  laborious  search  into 
 the  Scriptures.  They  deem  it  enough  to  ac- 
 quiesce in  the  judgment  of  the  ancient  Fathers  ; 
 and  to  ascertain  this  from  the  statements  of 
 commentators,  and  compilers  from  the  Fathers, 
 — from  abridgments  of  these  compilations, — and 
 ultimately,  from  brief  compendiums  framed  from 
 these  abridgments ;  so  that  in  the  end, — and  that, 
 no  remote  end, — the  wise  and  learned,  on  whom 
 the  mass  of  the  people  are  implicitly  to  rely, 
 become  Mwvvise  and  w/zlearned,  there  being  no 
 one  to  detect  their  deficiencies  ;  ignorant  of 
 Scripture,  of  which  they  were  left  to  be  the 
 authoritative  interpreters, — ignorant  of  it,  in  fact, 
 from  that  very  cause  ; — and  in  short,  "  blind 
 leaders  of  the  blind."  Their  proper  office  being 
 to  train  their  less  enlightened  brethren  to  "  give 
 an  answer  to  those  who  ask  them  a  reason  of 
 the  hope  that  is  in  them,"  they  save  themselves 
 this  labour  by  training  them  to  do  without  a 
 reason  :  and  instead  of  being  ready  to  be  con- 
 sulted on  any  doubts,  scruples  and  difficulties 
 
SECT.  7.] 
 
 on  human  authority. 
 
 233 
 
 that  may  arise,  they  consult  their  own  ease  by 
 teaching  the  people  to  listen  to  nothing  of  the 
 kind,  but  to  acquiesce  implicitly  in  the  authority 
 of  the  Church,  and  forego  all  exercise  of  private 
 judgment. 
 
 It  is  remarkable  that  those  who  incur  such 
 results,  rather  than  concede  the  point  of  the 
 right  of  private  judgment,  are  yet  compelled, 
 nevertheless,  to  leave  men  to  their  private  judg- 
 ment after  all,  on  deciding  the  most  important 
 question.  For  those  who,  without  displaying 
 the  decisive  credentials  from  heaven,  of  plain 
 miraculous  powers,  yet  call  on  us  to  surrender 
 our  judgment  to  their  guidance,  must  leave  us  to 
 decide,  whether  well  or  ill,  by  our  own  private 
 judgment,  the  momentous  questions — first,  whe- 
 ther we  shall  make  that  surrender  to  any  men's 
 authority, — and  next,  whether  they,  or  some 
 others,  shall  be  thus  received  as  our  guides. 
 
 The  diversities,  indeed,  and  errors  to  which 
 private  judgment  is  liable,  in  all  matters  not  ad- 
 mitting of  mathematical  demonstration,  might 
 naturally  lead  some  persons,  following  their  own 
 conjectures,  to  suppose,  that  in  a  divine  dispen- 
 sation, a  provision  is  requisite,  and  therefore  to 
 
234 
 
 Undue  reliance  [essay  iv. 
 
 be  expected,  for  a  power  of  infallibly  interpreting 
 Scripture,  and  deciding  finally  all  questions  that 
 may  arise ;  to  be  permanently  established  on 
 earth,  in  some  person  or  Body,  whose  authority 
 should  be  ascertained  and  supported  by  unques- 
 tionable miracles. 
 
 But  our  conjecture  as  to  what  is  requisite  or 
 reasonable  cannot  alter  facts.  So  it  is,  that  no 
 tribunal,  possessing  these  miraculous  credentials, 
 does  exist.  Private  judgment,  however  incom- 
 petent, must  be  exercised,  well  or  ill,  whether  we 
 will  or  no ;  for  even  those  who  are  willing  to 
 forego  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and  resign 
 themselves  wholly  to  another's  guidance,  are 
 compelled  to  judge  among  conflicting  claims, 
 whose  guidance  it  shall  be.  Whether  they  decide 
 to  inquire  into  and  compare  together  the  several 
 appeals  to  Scripture, — to  tradition, — to  the  au- 
 thority of  the  ancient  Fathers,  or  of  more  modern 
 divines  ; — or  again,  to  adopt  without  inquiry  the 
 religion  of  their  parents ;  or,  lastly,  to  assent 
 implicitly  to  the  dictation  of  some  one  who 
 strenuously  asserts  his  right  to  their  submission, 
 — in  all  cases,  they  do,  and  must,  exercise,  for 
 once  at  least,  their  private  judgment,  (however 
 
sucT.  8.]         071  human  authority.  235 
 
 weakly  and  wrongly,)  in  deciding  a  question  noto- 
 riously doubtful,  and  much  controverted. 
 
 The  right,  then,  of  private  judgment  in  reli- 
 gious matters,  being  one  which  God  has  not 
 merely  given  permission  that  men  may  exercise, 
 but  made  provision  that  they  must,  it  is  for  us, 
 his  ministers  and  stewards,  to  do  our  best  towards 
 training  our  people,  especially  the  younger  por- 
 tion of  them,  to  exercise  their  judgment  rightly, 
 and  profitably  for  their  eternal  interests.  In 
 addition  to  all  other  instruction,  we  must  also 
 warn  them  of  the  responsibility  that  is  thus  laid 
 on  them  ;  a  responsibility  from  which  we  cannot 
 reheve  them,  if  we  would,  and  of  which  they 
 cannot  divest  themselves. 
 
 §  8.  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed,  that 
 those  are  exempt  from  the  spirit  of  the  error  I 
 am  speaking  of,  who  are  the  furthest  removed 
 from  paying  undue  deference  to  the  authorized 
 formularies  of  a  Church.  Many  such  persons  on 
 the  contrary  are  particularly  addicted  "jurare 
 in  verba  magistri" — to  adopt  blindly,  and  main- 
 tain in  defiance  of  argument,  whatever  they  are 
 taught  by  some  favourite  preacher,  author,  or 
 
236 
 
 Undue  reliance         [essay  iv. 
 
 party ;  whom  they  thus  invest,  virtually  and 
 practically,  with  infallibility.  There  is  no  benefit 
 in  an  emancipation  from  the  shackles  of  Rome, 
 to  men  who  set  up  a  Pope  of  their  own  making, 
 or  merely  substitute  an  unerring  Party,  for  an 
 unerring  Church  ;  nor  is  anything  gained  by  ab- 
 staining from  the  use  of  the  term  infallibility,  by 
 those  who  believe  in  the  thing. 
 Tempta-  Those  among  the  clergy  who  are  particularly 
 Pastor  to    zealous  and  sedulous,  and  particularly  successful, 
 
 allow  him-    .  .         .  .  ,         .         ,  . 
 
 self  fo  be   m  awakenmg  smners — m  enlightenmg  the  igno- 
 
 idolized.  .         ,     ,   .        .  ,  . 
 
 rant — m  admmistermg  consolation  to  the  de- 
 sponding, ought  most  especially  to  be  on  their 
 guard,  and  not  only  not  to  encourage,  but  watch- 
 fully to  repress  in  their  hearers,  this  error.  "  I 
 depend  entirely  on  Mr.  such-a-one ;  he  is  my  stay 
 and  my  hope  ;  I  feel  that  I  should  be  lost  without 
 him  ;  I  am  sure  every  thing  he  says  is  right,  and 
 that  I  am  quite  safe  under  his  guidance  :" — this 
 is  the  sort  of  language  often  heard,  and  this  the 
 kind  of  feeling  evinced,  in  the  case  of  many  a 
 one  who  has  been  recalled  from  irreligion,  or 
 rescued  from  despair,  through  the  means  of  some 
 spiritual  guide  :  a  deep-felt,  and  perhaps  com- 
 mendable, gratitude  and  veneration,  degenerate 
 
SECT.  8.] 
 
 o?i  himian  authority. 
 
 237 
 
 into  a  kind  of  idolatry ;  and  they  at  length  come 
 to  exalt  him  into  their  mediator,  intercessor,  and 
 divine  oracle.  This  throws  a  most  flattering 
 temptation  in  his  way  ;  which  he  must  be  the 
 more  vigilant  in  opposing.  He  must  not  only 
 be  ever  ready  to  adopt  the  apostle  Paul's  cau- 
 tions, "  Sirs,  why  do  ye  these  things  ?  we  our- 
 selves also  are  men  of  like  passions  with  you  :" 
 "  Every  one  of  you  saith,  I  am  of  Paul,"  &c. 
 **  Was  Paul  crucified  for  you  ?  or  were  ye  bap- 
 tized into  the  name  of  Paul?" — but  rnore  than 
 this,  he  must  also  warn  his  hearers,  that  whereas 
 Paul,  having  been  instructed  by  divine  revelation, 
 was  an  infallible  guide,  he  himself,  having  no  such 
 inspiration,  claims  accordingly  no  infalhbihty  ; 
 and  he  must  therefore  exhort  often,  and  earnestly, 
 the  flock  (not  his,  but  Christ's)  committed  to  his 
 care,  instead  of  pinning  their  faith  to  his  bare  word, 
 to  exercise  their  own  minds — to  weigh  well  the 
 reasons  he  lays  before  them — and  to  study  for 
 themselves,  as  carefully  as  their  circumstances 
 will  permit,  the  Scriptures  which  he  is  endeavour- 
 ing to  expound  to  them. 
 
 Still  stronger  to  some  minds  is  the  temptation 
 to  become,  each  man  a  Pope  to  himself,  by 
 
238 
 
 Undue  reliance 
 
 [essay  IV. 
 
 indulging  the  habit  of  making  his  decisions  on 
 some  points  like  "  the  law  of  the  Medes  and 
 Persians,  which  altereth  not,"  and  of  enrolling 
 them  as  it  were  in  a  certain  code,  which  is  thence- 
 forward not  to  be  open  to  discussion.  Such  per- 
 sons make  up  their  minds  perhaps  on  few  points, 
 and  with  cautious  deliberation  ;  but  having  once 
 adopted  an  opinion,  will  listen  afterwards  to  no 
 arguments  against  it.  "  I  have  long  adopted" 
 (says  a  respectable  and  amiable  writer)  "  an  expe- 
 dient which  I  have  found  of  singular  service. 
 I  have  a  shelf  in  my  study  for  tried  authors  ;  and 
 one  in  my  mind  for  tried  principles  and  cha- 
 racters. When  an  author  has  stood  a  thorough 
 examination,  and  will  bear  to  be  taken  as  a  guide, 
 I  put  him  on  a  shelf.  When  I  have  fully  made 
 up  my  mind  on  a  principle,  I  put  it  on  the  shelf. 
 A  hundred  subtle  objections  may  be  brought 
 against  this  principle ;  I  may  meet  with  some  of 
 them  perhaps  ;  but  my  principle  is  on  the  shelf 
 Generally  I  may  be  able  to  recall  the  reasons 
 which  weighed  with  me  to  put  it  there ;  but  if 
 not,  I  am  not  to  be  sent  out  to  sea  again.  Time 
 was  when  I  saw  through  and  detected  all  the 
 subtleties  that  could  be  brought. against  it.  /  have 
 
SECT.  8.]         on  human  authority. 
 
 239 
 
 past  evidejice  of  having  been  fully  convinced ;  and 
 there  on  the  shelf  it  shall  lie.  When  I  have  turned 
 over  a  character  on  all  sides,  and  seen  it  through 
 and  through  in  all  situations,  I  put  it  on  the  shelf." 
 
 The  proceeding  here  described  I  beUeve  to 
 be  adopted  by  not  a  few  ;  though  there  are  not 
 probably  many  who  would  so  frankly  avow  it. 
 Yet  such  persons  perhaps  censure  the  Romanists 
 for  claiming  infallibihty  for  their  Church ;  a 
 claim  not  implying  a  pretension  to  universal 
 knowledge,  but  only  to  an  exemption  from  the 
 possibility  of  mistake  as  to  the  points  we  do 
 pronounce  upon  ;  which  points  accordingly  are 
 no  more  to  be  discussed,  nor  any  objections 
 against  them  to  have  a  hearing.  Whoever 
 therefore  in  this  way  decides  on  any  point,  does, 
 so  far,  virtually,  claim  infallibility.  Indeed  if  he 
 did  not — if  he  still  admitted  that  he  might  pos- 
 sibly be  mistaken  on  the  point  on  which  never- 
 theless he  would  bear  no  discussion,  this,  it  is 
 plain,  would  aggravate  the  fault.^ 
 
 P  There  are  many  persons  however  who  seem  to  be 
 ashamed  of  nothing  but  "  inconsistency ;"  of  which  their 
 dread  completely  swallows  up  their  dread  of  error;  and, 
 what  is  very  remarkable,  leads  them  into  the  worst  kind  of 
 inconsistency. — See  Rhet.  Part  ii.  ch.  3.  §  5. 
 
240 
 
 Undue  relimice  [essay  iv. 
 
 Openness  to    "  But,"  they  Say,  "it  is  extravagant  scepticism 
 
 conviction 
 
 distinct     to  be  certain  of  nothing ;  it  is  an  absurd  and  a 
 
 from 
 
 perpetual   wrctched  thing  to  have  no  faith  in  any  thing, 
 
 hesitaUon.  ^  ,  . 
 
 but  to  be  for  ever  wavering  and  hesitating."  I 
 need  hardly  say  that  this  is  not  what  I  recom- 
 mend. The  lover  of  truth  need  not  be  always  in 
 actual  doubt  on  every  point;  but  he  must  be 
 always  open  to  conviction — always  ready  to  hear 
 and  to  meet  fairly,  any  seriously-urged  objections. 
 Not  indeed  to  hold  himself  obliged  at  once  to 
 abandon  his  religion  if  he  is  unable  immediately 
 to  refute  every  objection ;  but  to  take  into 
 consideration  each  objection ;  calling  in  the  aid 
 of  those  qualified  to  afford  it,  and  considering, 
 with  their  assistance,  not  only  how  far  each 
 objection  is  capable  of  an  answer,  but  also 
 what  is  its  weight,  even  if  unrefuted,  against 
 such  positive  proofs  as  he  may  have  on  the 
 other  side,  in  support  of  his  Faith.  It  is  one 
 thing  to  be  without  Faith,  and  another  thing 
 to  have  the  Faith  of  the  Apostolical  Christian, 
 who  is  "  always  ready  to  give  to  every  one  that 
 asketh  him,  a  reason  of  his  hope.'"'    If  there 
 
 •1  Not,  be  it  observed,  an  answer  to  every  objection :  for 
 there  may  be  objections  vrhich  none  can  answer,  and  others 
 
SECT.  8.]       on  human  authority. 
 
 241 
 
 be  any  thing  virtuous  or  manly  in  any  faith, 
 it  must  be  in  that  which  defies  impugners — 
 which  courts  investigation  ;  not  in  that  which 
 rests  on  our  resolution  to  shut  our  ears.  If  our 
 confidence,  for  instance,  in  a  friend's  integrity  is 
 accompanied  with  a  determination  to  hear  no 
 objections  to  his  conduct,  it  surely  is  not  so 
 creditable  to  him,  as  if  it  rested  on  a  defiance 
 of  accusations,  and  a  readiness  to  hear  all  that 
 could  be  said,  though  with  a  full  expectation  that 
 all  censure  would  be  refuted.  For  we  may  very 
 reasonably,  on  many  occasions,  feel,  after  a  care- 
 ful examination  of  some  question,  a  confident 
 expectation  that  no  arguments  will  be  adduced 
 that  will  change  our  opinions ;  but  this  is  very 
 different  from  a  resolutioti  that  none  ever  shall' 
 
 which  the  unlearned  cannot  of  themselves  be  expected  at  once 
 to  answer,  against  conclusions  which  may  yet  be  fairly  esta- 
 blished by  a  preponderance  of  evidence  ;— by  positive  proofs 
 that  have  more  force  than  the  objections  even  if  left  unan- 
 swered. "  There  are  objections,"  said  Dr.  Johnson,  "  against 
 a  plenum,  and  objections  against  a  vacuum  ;  but  one  of  them 
 must  be  true." 
 
 "  This  distinction  may  be  illustrated  by  that  between  print- 
 ing from  movable  types  and  from  stereotype  plates.  The 
 solid  plates  perpetuate  any  error  that  may  have  crept  in  :  the 
 movable  types  admit  readily  of  any  correction  that  may  be 
 K 
 
2-^2  Undue  reliance,  Sfc.        [essay  iv. 
 
 Yet  nothing  is  more  common  than  to  hear  a 
 person  say,  in  the  course  of  some  discussion, 
 "  Nothing  shall  ever  convince  me"  ....  "Then 
 hold  your  peace !  "  would  be  a  fair  reply,  even 
 before  he  had  finished  his  sentence  ;  "  if  you  are 
 not  open  to  conviction,  you  are  not  qualified  for 
 discussion.  The  more  confident  you  are,  on  just 
 grounds,  of  being  in  the  right,  the  more  fearlessly 
 ready  should  you  be,  to  hear  all  that  can  be 
 urged  on  the  other  side."  I  am  aware  that  this 
 is,  in  many  cases,  no  more  than  a  form  of  speech 
 adopted  from  imitation  :  but  considering  how 
 prone  we  are  by  nature  to  the  fault  in  question, 
 I  cannot  but  think  it  important  that  even  our 
 language  should  be  carefully  guarded,  so  as  never 
 to  express,  what  we  should  never  allow  ourselves 
 to  feel,  that  firm  confidence  in  the  authority  of 
 Man  (whether  the  decision  be  another's  or  our 
 own)  in  matters  wherein  he  is  liable  to  err,  which 
 is  due  only  to  the  unerring  God. 
 
 needed;  but  if  none  be  needed,  they  will  give  repeated  im- 
 pressions with  accurate  uniformity.  They  are  not  movable 
 in  the  sense  of  being  loose,  and  casually  shifting  ;  but  only  as 
 being  capable  of  alteration  if  required  and  deliberately  designed. 
 
 The  error  then  which  T  am  censuring  may  be  described  as 
 that  of  one  who  does  not  only  pnrei  \)\xt  stereotype  his  judgments. 
 
ESSAY  V. 
 
 PERSECUTION. 
 
 §  1.  There  are  several  expressions  of  our  Men 
 
 responsible 
 
 Lord's  which  are  calculated,  and  probably  were  to  God  oniy 
 
 for  the 
 
 designed,  to  guard  against  the  notion,  that  a  rejection  of 
 
 divine 
 
 rejection  of  his  religion  is  an  offence  which  will  tmii. 
 be  lightly  regarded  by  the  Most  High ; — that 
 the  gracious  and  merciful — the  tender  and  con- 
 descending— character  of  the  Gospel  which  pro- 
 claimed "  peace,  and  good-will  towards  men,"  is 
 to  be  considered  as  implying  that  men  are  left  to 
 accept  the  offer  or  not,  according  to  their  own 
 tastes  and  fancies,  and  have  no  heavy  judgments 
 to  dread  in  case  of  their  not  embracing  it ;  any 
 more  than  for  not  perceiving  the  beauties  of 
 some  poem,  or  for  not  taking  in  some  mathe- 
 matical demonstration.  On  the  contrary,  "who- 
 soever," said  He,  "  shall  not  receive  you,  nor 
 hear  you,  when  ye  depart  thence,  shake  off  the 
 R  2 
 
244  Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 dust  under  your  feet  for  a  testimony  against 
 them ;  verily  I  say  unto  you,  it  shall  be  more 
 tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  in  the  day 
 of  judgment,  than  for  that  city." 
 
 It  was  perhaps  the  more  needful  to  guard 
 against  such  a  mistake  as  I  have  alluded  to, 
 on  account  of  his  having  shortly  before  rebuked 
 his  disciples  for  proposing  to  call  Aoyvn  fire  from 
 heaven  on  a  Samaritan  village  which  had  refused 
 to  receive  Him ;  saying,  "  Ye  know  not  what 
 manner  of  spirit  ije  {vfieis)  are  of ;  for  the  Son  of 
 man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to 
 save."  That  this  prohibition  and  this  declaration 
 of  his,  might  possibly  have  been  so  interpreted 
 by  his  disciples  as  to  lead  to  the  mistake  in  ques- 
 tion, we  may  infer  from  the  tone  in  which,  even 
 as  it  is,  some  Christian  writers  have  spoken  of 
 the  passage,  as  if  designed  to  contrast  the  milder 
 and  gentler  character  of  the  Gospel,  with  the 
 Sanctions  Severity  of  the  Mosaic  Law.  Whereas  our  Lord, 
 Gospei,  in  in  the  words  just  cited,  warns  his  hearers,  and 
 
 the  next 
 
 world       US,  through  them,  that  abundant  in  mercy  as 
 
 exclusively. 
 
 the  Gospel  offers  of  salvation  are,  that  mercy 
 is  reserved  for  such  as  shall  accept  them ;  and 
 that  as  the  more  glorious  rewards,  so  also  the 
 
SECT.  1.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 245 
 
 more  fearful  judgments,  of  a  Future  Life,  are  held 
 out  in  place  of  the  temporal  sanctions  of  the 
 old  dispensation.  It  is  as  if  He  had  said,  "  Think 
 not  that  because  I  came  not  to  destroy  the 
 lives  of  the  ungodly  by  temporal  judgments,  as 
 Elias  did,  therefore  the  sin  of  these  men  is  less, 
 or  the  judgments  reserved  for  them,  if  they  per- 
 sist in  it,  lighter ;  on  the  contrary,  as  greater 
 miracles  have  been  wrought  among  the  men  of 
 this  generation,  and  not  temporal  but  eternal 
 blessings  offered  them,  so,  a  proportionate 
 punishment  in  the  next  world,  though  they 
 may  escape  in  this,  awaits  the  impenitent :  I 
 forbad  you  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  on 
 those  who  have  rejected  me ;  though  Sodom 
 would  have  repented  if  the  mighty  works  had 
 been  done  in  it  which  have  been  done  in  these 
 cities,  and  Sodom  was  destroyed  by  fire  from 
 heaven :  verily  I  say  unto  you,  it  shall  be  more 
 tolerable  for  Sodom  in  the  day  of  judgment,  than 
 for  them." 
 
 The  natural  inference  from  the  two  passages 
 I  have  alluded  to,  compared  with  each  other, 
 and  with  several  more  in  the  New  Testament 
 connected  with  them,  would  plainly  seem  to  be. 
 
246 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 that  though  the  Lord  will  not,  under  the  New 
 any  more  than  under  the  Old  dispensation,  per- 
 mit his  call  to  be  disobeyed  with  impunity,  the 
 rewards  and  punishments  which  form  the  sanction 
 of  the  Gospel  are  not  (Hke  those  under  the  Law) 
 temporal  prosperity  and  affliction,  but  the  far 
 more  important  blessings  and  judgments  of  the 
 next  world  ;  and  that  consequently  the  revela- 
 tion of  Christ  cannot,  consistently  with  its 
 character,  be  either  propagated  or  maintained 
 by  the  sword  or  the  fires  of  persecution,  or  by 
 any  comimhorij  means ;  but  requires  us  to  be 
 "  gentle  unto  all  men,  in  meekness  instructing 
 them  that  oppose  themselves,  if  God  peradven- 
 ture  will  give  them  repentance  to  the  acknow- 
 ledgment of  the  truth." 
 Origin  of  The  desire,  however,  of  saving  men  from  the 
 persecution,  drcadful  doom  in  the  next  world,  denounced  on 
 those  "  who  do  not  obey  the  truth,"  has  often 
 been  a  reason,  and  oftener  perhaps  a  plea,  for 
 seeking  to  enforce  a  right  faith,  and  to  put  down 
 reUgious  error,  by  all  possible  means.  Too 
 anxious,  we  cannot  be,  for  the  salvation  of  men's 
 souls — for  the  diffusion  and  for  the  purity  of 
 the  Christian  religion — so  long  as  we  seek  to 
 
SECT.  1.]  Persecution.  247 
 
 compass  these  objects  by  the  gentle  force  of  per- 
 suasive argument  and  winning  example :  but 
 when  these  methods  fail,  or  even  when  it  is 
 apprehended  that  they  may  fail,  the  endeavour 
 to  prevent,  by  restraint,  deviations  from  the 
 established  faith,  and  to  force  the  stubborn  and 
 unpersuadable  into  that  which  appears  to  be  for 
 their  own  good,  as  well  as  for  that  of  the  com- 
 munity, is  perfectly  natural  and  conformable  to 
 the  character  of  man. 
 
 The  Romish  Church,  which  has  so  long  and 
 so  loudly  been  stigmatized  as  a  persecuting 
 Church,  is  indeed  deeply  stained  with  this  guilt, 
 but  cannot  with  any  reason  be  reckoned  the 
 originating  cause  of  it.  The  vast  and  black 
 catalogue  of  her  offences  on  this  score,  may  be 
 accounted  for  by  the  circumstance,  that  a  large 
 portion  of  mankind  were  for  many  ages  members 
 of  that  Church ;  and  that  in  this,  as  well  as  in 
 numerous  other  points  formerly  noticed,  the  evil 
 propensities  of  man's  nature,  instead  of  being 
 checked  on  each  occasion,  were  connived  at, 
 sanctified,  and  successively  embodied  in  that 
 corrupt  system.  The  pretended  successors  of 
 Peter  have  indeed  repeatedly  proclaimed  their 
 
248 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 own  degeneracy,  by  their  palpable  disobedience 
 to  the  command,  to  "  put  up  the  sword  into  its 
 sheath:"  but  this,  as  well  as  the  other  Romish 
 errors,  has  its  root  in  the  evil  heart  of  the  unre- 
 newed man.  Like  the  rest,  it  neither  began 
 with  Romanism,  nor  can  reasonably  be  expected 
 to  end  with  it. 
 
 In  respect  of  the  point  now  before  us,  this 
 should  seem  to  be  more  especially  evident :  for 
 none  complain  more  loudly  of  persecution  than 
 the  Romanists  themselves;  who  venerate,  to  this 
 day,  the  relics  of  the  martyrs  to  Pagan  perse- 
 cution. And  it  is  but  too  well  known,  that  the 
 Reformers,  when  they  had  detected  and  renounced 
 the  other  Romish  errors,  had  not,  either  in  prin- 
 ciple or  in  practice,  divested  themselves  of  this. 
 Even  in  respect  of  the  persecutions  directed 
 against  themselves,  they  seem  to  have  joined 
 issue  rather  on  the  question  whether  they  vrere 
 heretics,  than  whether  heretics  ought  to  be 
 consigned  to  the  secular  arm.  Jeremy  Taylor 
 advocated  almost  as  a  paradoxical  novelty,  the 
 doctrine  of  toleration  ;  and  Locke  found  it  neces- 
 sary, long  after,  to  make  a  formal  and  elaborate 
 defense  of  it.    Nor  can  this  remnant  of  the  spirit 
 
SECT.  2.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 249 
 
 of  Romanism  be  so  called,  in  the  sense  of  making 
 the  peculiar  system  of  that  Church,  properly,  the 
 cause  of  it ;  because  we  find  the  same  principle 
 manifested  in  its  full  force  among  the  Maho- 
 metans, who  cannot  in  any  way  be  regarded  as 
 deriving  it  from  Romanism. 
 
 It  is  derivable  rather  from  the  character  of 
 "  the  natural  man  ;" — from  the  natural  feehngs, 
 of  resentment  against  opponents — of  love  of  con- 
 trol— and  of  a  desire  to  promote  apparent  good, 
 and  repress  whatever  seems  fraught  with  mis- 
 chief, by  any  means  that  present  themselves  as 
 effectual.  The  bitter  contests  between  the  sects 
 of  the  Nominalists  and  the  Realists,  in  the  age 
 preceding  the  Reformation,  present  a  memorable 
 and  instructive  proof,  that  the  operation  of  these 
 feelings  is  not  confined  to  the  case  of  Rehgion. 
 
 §  2.  But  natural  as  these  feelings  may  be,  and  J'^''^'^ 
 strongly  as  they  may  tend  to  produce  persecution,  ^^^^^^^  ^ 
 it  may  be  thought  that,  in  the  present  age  and  ■^jj'ff^""; 
 country  at  least,  it  is  useless  to  contemplate  a 
 danger  now  completely  done  away ;  since  per- 
 secution neither  exists,  nor  is  hkely  to  arise, 
 among  ourselves. 
 
250 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 It  is  however  important — not  perhaps  less  im- 
 portant now  than  formerly — to  lay  down  correct 
 principles  on  this  point,  and  to  keep  clear  of  a 
 theoretical  error,  though  it  may  not  lead  now  to 
 the  same  kind  of  practical  evils  with  those  which 
 formerly  sprung  from  it.  For  it  usually  happens, 
 that  a  false  principle  will  lead  to  two  different 
 evil  results.  To  use  a  language  which  will  be 
 familiar  to  most  of  my  readers,  a  false  premiss, 
 according  as  it  is  combined  with  this,  or  with  that, 
 true  one,  will  lead  to  two  different  false  conclu- 
 sions. Thus,  if  the  principle  be  admitted,  that 
 any  important  religious  errors  ought  to  be  forcibly 
 suppressed,  this  may  lead  either  to  persecution 
 on  the  one  side,  or  to  latitudinarian  indifference 
 on  the  other.  Some  may  be  led  to  justify  the 
 suppression  of  heresies  by  the  civil  sword ;  and 
 others,  whose  feelings  revolt  at  such  a  proce- 
 dure, and  who  see  persecution  reprobated  and 
 discountenanced  by  those  around  them,  may  be 
 led  by  the  same  principle  to  regard  religious 
 errors  as  of  little  or  no  importance,  and  all  reli- 
 gious persuasions  as  equally  acceptable  in  the 
 sight  of  God.  To  abstain,  in  short,  in  practice, 
 from  putting  down  heresies  by  secular  force. 
 
SECT.  2.]  Persecution. 
 
 251 
 
 if  we  at  the  same  time  maintain  the  right  to 
 do  so  in  the  case  oi  pernicious  error,  is  in  fact 
 to  sanction  those  heresies  as  harmless  and  insig- 
 nificant. 
 
 Moreover,  it  is  also  important,  with  a  view  to 
 future  contingencies,  to  be  in  possession  of  just 
 principles  on  such  a  subject.  When  persecution 
 is  not  actually  raging — when  men's  minds  are 
 not  actually  inflamed  by  the  combination  of 
 rehgious  animosity  with  excitements  of  a  political 
 character — then  is  the  very  time  to  provide  our- 
 selves with  such  firm-fixed  and  right  principles, 
 as  may  avail  in  time  of  need  ;  and  to  destroy  the 
 roots  of  those  theoretical  errors  which  may  lie 
 torpid,  yet  ready  to  vegetate  as  soon  as  the 
 season  is  favourable  to  them.  For  when  party- 
 spirit  and  all  angry  passions  are  raging,  the  voice 
 of  calm  reason  is  not  likely  to  be  listened  to. 
 When  the  storm  is  in  its  fury,  it  may  be  too  late 
 to  drop  the  anchor. 
 
 And  especially,  persons  of  the  mildest  dispo- 
 sition, and  most  forbearing  benevolence,  who  are 
 fully,  and  perhaps  justly,  conscious,  that  they 
 themselves  would  never, under  any  circumstances, 
 be  in  danger  of  acting  harshly — more  especially, 
 
252 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 I  say,  should  such  persons  be  warned  of  the 
 importance  of  \.o\erQ.r\t principles,  and  cautioned  to 
 be  on  their  guard  against  inculcating,  or  favouring, 
 such  doctrines  as  may,  by  being  consistently 
 followed  up,  lead  others  into  persecution.  For 
 such  a  person  is  of  course  not  likely  to  distrust 
 himself  on  this  point ;  from  feehng  confident  that 
 cruel  severity  is  not  his  own  besetting  sin  ;  and 
 therefore  may  be  in  the  more  danger  of  promul- 
 gating principles,  which  others  will  act  upon  in  a 
 manner  that  would  be  revolting  to  himself.  He 
 may  have  been  preparing  a  poisonous  potion, 
 which  others  will  administer.  The  sword  which 
 he  has  unconsciously  forged  and  sharpened,  may 
 be  wielded  with  unsparing  vigour  by  sterner 
 hands. 
 
 And  it  should  be  remembered,  that,  however 
 comparatively  mild  the  character  of  the  present 
 age  may  be,  if  contrasted  with  those  that  are  past, 
 we  still  think  it  worth  while  to  pray  that  we, 
 God's  "servants,  may  be  hurt  by  no  persecutions;" 
 let  us  never  therefore  forget  to  add  mentally  a 
 petition  for  the  far  more  important  blessing,  that 
 we  may  be  preserved  from  hurting  others  by  per- 
 secution. 
 
SECT.  3.]  Persecution.  253 
 
 To  prove  that  persecution  is  unchristian,  would  Mistakes 
 
 as  to  what 
 
 be  superfluous  ;  since  the  proposition,  so  stated,  persecution 
 
 implies. 
 
 would  be  at  once  admitted  by  all.  No  one  calls 
 himself,  or  probably  thinks  himself,  a  persecutor. 
 The  errors  we  are  hable  to  on  this  point,  if  we 
 are  liable  to  any,  must  consist  in  our  reckoning 
 ourselves  secure  from  this  fault  as  long  as  we 
 condemn  the  name  of  it,  and  reprobate  the 
 Romanists  for  being  guilty  of  it,  while  at  the 
 same  time  we  have  a  false  or  indistinct  notion  of 
 what  it  is  that  constitutes  the  spirit  of  perse- 
 cution. 
 
 I  shall  therefore  chiefly  confine  myself  to  a 
 brief  notice  of  the  mistakes  as  to  this  point  which 
 appear  to  be  the  most  prevalent.  For  in  propor- 
 tion as  persecution  is  erroneously  characterized, 
 in  the  same  degree  must  dissuasives  from  it  prove 
 unavailing. 
 
 §  3.   I.   The  tenet  of  the  Romanists,  that  Doctrine  of 
 
 ,       .        .     .  .   ,  „    ,  exclusive 
 
 salvation  is  impossible  out  of  i\\e  pale  of  their  sawation. 
 own  Church,  has  been  not  unfrequently  con- 
 sidered as  the  necessary  basis  of  all  their  per- 
 secution.   But  this  view  appears  to  me  not  only 
 incorrect,  but  mischievous  in  its  results.  For 
 
^54  Persecution.  [essay  v, 
 
 though  such  a  persuasion  may  be  harsh  and 
 bigoted,  and  may  tend  to  foster  a  persecuting 
 principle,  the  two  are  by  no  means  either  iden- 
 tical or  necessarily  connected.  It  is  at  least 
 conceivable  that  a  man  may  beheve  a  conformity 
 to  his  own  faith  to  be  absolutely  indispensable  to 
 salvation,  and  yet  may  hold,  as  part  of  that  faith, 
 the  unlawfulness  of  employing  coercion  in  its 
 cause.  On  the  other  hand,  a  man  may  beheve 
 the  possibility  of  the  salvation  of  those  of  a  dif- 
 ferent persuasion  from  his  own,  yet  thinking 
 them  much  less  likely  to  attain  it — thinking  their 
 case  not  absolutely  hopeless,  but  highly  danger- 
 ous— he  may  also  think  himself  authorized,  and 
 therefore  bound,  to  preserve  or  to  reclaim  men, 
 from  error,  by  coercive  means,  when  no  others 
 will  suffice.  He  may  consider  governments  as 
 bound  to  exercise,  in  all  respects,  a  parental 
 care  over  their  subjects  :  ^  now  children  are  with- 
 held, and  if  need  be,  forcibly  withheld,  by  their  pa- 
 rents, not  only  from  inevitable  destruction,  but  from 
 every  thing  dangerous,  or  in  any  respect  hurtful. 
 
 The  persuasion,  therefore,  of  the  absolute 
 necessity  of  a  right  faith,  however  uncharitable  it 
 
 *  See  Note  (A),  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 
 
SECT.  3.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 255 
 
 may  be,  does  not  necessarily  lead  to  persecution  ; 
 nor  does  the  absence  of  that  persuasion  preclude 
 persecution.  And  the  notion  is,  as  I  have  said, 
 not  only  erroneous,  but  practically  mischievous ; 
 because  it  naturally  tends  to  make  men  regard 
 with  suspicion,  as  leaning  to  intolerance,  every  one 
 who  sets  a  high  value  on  a  right  faith,  regard- 
 ing religious  error  as  an  important  evil ;  and  to 
 suppose  that  liberality  and  christian  charity  con- 
 sist in  a  carelessness  about  truth,  and  indifference 
 as  to  all  religious  persuasions. 
 
 II.   Nor  again  does  persecution  consist  in  Essential, 
 
 and  non- 
 
 attachmg  undue  importance  to  minor  points  of  essential 
 
 points. 
 
 doctrine,  and  overlooking  the  distinction  between 
 essential  and  non-essential  points  of  Christian 
 faith.  The  distinction  is  indeed  one  that  ought 
 to  be  attended  to ;  but  it  is  nothing  to  the 
 present  purpose.  A  man  who  denounces  as  the 
 most  pernicious  heterodoxy,  any,  the  most  minute 
 departure  in  any  point  from  his  own  opinions,  or 
 his  own  phraseology,  is  indeed  chargeable  with 
 narrow-minded  bigotry,  but  not  with  a  perse- 
 cuting spirit,  if  he  abhors  the  employment  of 
 any  coercive  measures  against  opponents,  and 
 respects  liberty  of  conscience.    On  the  other 
 
256  Persecution.  [essay  y. 
 
 hand,  a  man  would  be  a  persecutor,  however 
 tolerant  as  to  many  points,  who  should  insist  on 
 the  right  of  secular  coercion  in  respect  of  essen- 
 tials;  or  even  of  any  one  point  of  faith.  It  is 
 well  known  that  men  have  differed  as  to  what  is 
 and  is  not  essential,  not  much  less  than  as  to  what 
 is  or  is  not  true.  An  infallible  judgment  is  re- 
 quired equally  for  the  decision  of  either  question  : 
 and  even  if  we  possessed  this  infallibility,  we 
 should  still  have  no  commission  to  compel  others 
 to  acquiesce  in  our  decisions. 
 
 It  is  not,  in  short,  the  narrowing  or  the  enlarg- 
 ing of  the  bounds  of  orthodoxy  that  constitutes  the 
 presence  or  the  absence  of  persecution.  A  nar- 
 rower or  a  wider  room  is  equally  a  prison,  if  a 
 man  is  forced  to  remain  confined  in  it. 
 Force  jn.  Another  mistake  as  to  the  real  character 
 
 directed 
 
 truir'  persecution  is  that  of  regarding  it  as  consisting 
 in  the  employment  of  violent  means  against  the 
 truth; — as  implying  that  the  persecution  must 
 be  on  the  wrong  side.  Those  who  take  this  view 
 of  the  subject  (as  the  Romanists  seem  always  to 
 have  done)  do  not,  in  fact,  censure  persecution, 
 as  such,  but  rather  religious  error.  They  can  no 
 more  be  said  to  object  to  persecution  than  a  man 
 
•SECT.  3.]  Persecution.  257 
 
 could  be  called  an  Enemy  to  Laws  because  he 
 condemns  what  he  thinks  inexpedient  laws,  while 
 he  advocates  such  as  he  considers  wiser.  If  the 
 persecutors  of  whom  they  complain  are  doing 
 only  what  would  be  right,  supposing  the  doctrines 
 they  enforce  were  true,  it  is  not  properly  the 
 violence  employed  that  is  complained  of,  but  the 
 false  doctrines  supported  by  it.  And  it  may  be 
 added,  that,  on  this  principle,  the  censure  of  per- 
 secution must  be  no  less  practically  vain,  than  it 
 is  in  itself  incorrect ;  since  no  one  will  beheve, 
 or  at  least  acknowledge,  his  own  persuasion  to  be 
 wrong,  and  the  cause  to  which  he  is  opposed  to 
 be  that  of  truth.  All  dissuasives  from  persecu- 
 tion must  pass  by  men  "  as  the  idle  wind  which 
 they  regard  not,"  if  the  word  be  used  in  such  a 
 sense,  that  no  one  will,  or  conceivably  can,  apply 
 these  dissuasives  to  his  own  case. 
 
 IV.  Again,  persecution  is  sometimes  charac-  Excessive 
 
 ...  .  .  punishment. 
 
 terized  as  consistmg  in  the  excessive  severity — 
 the  cruelty — of  the  punishments  inflicted,  and 
 of  the  coercive  means  employed.  But  in  cases 
 where  any  secular  punishment  may  allowably 
 be  inflicted,  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  any  can 
 be  excessive  which  is  not  as  great  an  evil  as  that 
 
258 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 which  it  is  designed  to  remedy,  when  no  lighter 
 penalty  will  suffice.  Now  the  loss  of  men's  im- 
 mortal souls  was,  justly,  regarded  by  the  Roman- 
 ists as  a  greater  evil  than  the  most  cruel  death 
 of  a  heretic  :  and  they  were  not  perhaps  mistaken 
 in  thinking,  that  such  severity  as  effectually  puts 
 a  stop  to  the  offence,  is,  in  the  end,  even  the 
 more  humane  procedure.  On  the  other  hand, 
 where  we  have  no  right  to  inflict  secular  penal- 
 ties at  all,  all  alike,  whether  light  or  heavy,  must 
 be  regarded  as  equally  of  the  nature  of  persecu- 
 tion and  cruelty,  however  unequal  in  amount. 
 To  burn  a  thousand  heretics,  is  not  more  truly 
 persecution — though  it  is  a  greater  persecution, 
 than  to  fine  a  single  one.*"  It  is  not  the  degree 
 of  suffering,  but  the  just  or  wrongful  infliction, 
 that  characterises  each  punishment.  Persecution 
 is  not  wrong  because  it  is  cruel ;  but  it  is  cruel 
 because  it  is  wrong. 
 
 V.  Nor,  again,  is  it  correct  to  characterise 
 persecution  as  consisting  in  the  infliction  of 
 punishment  for  the  gratification  of  revenge  or 
 
 b  The  Greek  language  avoids  much  ambiguity  by  the  use 
 of  ifKiiov  Kat  tXaTTov  for  "  greater  and  less  in  amount,"  and 
 HaWov  Koi  iiTTov  for  "  more  and  less  in  quality." 
 
SECT.  3.]  Persecution.  259 
 
 malice :  according  to  which  view,  two  individuals 
 might  deserve,  the  one  praise,  and  the  other 
 censure,  while  adopting  the  very  same  measures, 
 the  one  from  a  benevolent  wish  to  deter  of- 
 fenders, the  other,  from  the  impulse  of  angry 
 passion,  and  from  a  bloodthirsty  disposition. 
 And  it  is  certainly  true  that  such  an  act  as 
 the  prosecution  of  a  robber,  e.  g.  may  spring 
 from  a  sinful  desire  of  revenge :  but  as  in  that 
 case  we  do  not  condemn  the  act  as  in  itself 
 unjustifiable,  though  we  censure  the  agent,  so, 
 those  who  hold  the  principle  just  mentioned,  do 
 not,  in  fact,  disapprove  of  persecution  at  all, 
 but  only  of  revengeful  motives  for  it.  And  any 
 censure  they  may  profess  to  bestow  on  perse- 
 cution must  be  as  ineffectual  as  it  is  in  truth 
 incorrect :  for  few  will  even  think,  and  no  one 
 will  admit,  that  he  is  actuated  by  revengeful 
 motives.  In  the  bloodiest  periods  of  the  In- 
 quisition, the  professed  object  was  always  the 
 preservation  of  men's  souls,  by  the  prevention 
 of  heretical  infection.  Nor  are  such  professions 
 necessarily  hypocritical.  A  man  of  the  most 
 humane  and  benevolent  character  may  be  led, 
 by  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty,  arising  from  error 
 s2 
 
260 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 of  judgment,  to  sanction  the  most  dreadful  se- 
 verities, which  he  regards  as  the  only  effectual 
 check  to  a  greater  evil,  such  as  he  thinks  himself 
 bound  to  repress  at  all  events.  What  candid 
 (or  even  uncandid)  student  of  history  can  believe 
 Cranmer  cruel  and  revengeful  ?  Yet  he  sanc- 
 tioned the  cutting  off  of  heretics  by  the  secular 
 arm,  from  a  sincere,  though  erroneous,  sense  of 
 duty. 
 
 Designed  VI.  Nor  again  is  persecution  characterised  by 
 ment.  the  inflictiou  of  punishment  designedly,  and  as 
 a  punishment,  i.  e.  with  a  view  to  deter  others 
 by  the  example,  in  contradistinction  from  the 
 incidental  evil  inflicted  on  any  one  by  removing 
 or  confining  him,  in  order  to  preserve  others 
 from  the  contamination  of  heresy ;  in  the  same 
 manner  as  men  infected  with  the  plague  are 
 (without  any  thought  of  punishing  them)  shut  up 
 within  an  hospital.  But  any  pain  or  evil  inflicted 
 for  religious  errors  as  such,  is  equally  persecution, 
 whether  designed  as  a  punishment  or  not :  other- 
 wise indeed,  the  most  sweeping  persecutions, — 
 such  as  the  expulsion  of  the  Huguenots  from 
 France, — might  be  justified  on  the  plea  that  the 
 sufferings  of  the  individuals  were  an  undesigned 
 
SECT.  3.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 261 
 
 and  unavoidable  concomitant  of  a  measure  of 
 preservation  from  the  spread  of  religious  error. 
 
 VII.  Sometimes,  again,  the  mistake  is  com-  Penaiiy  for 
 
 .    .  holding 
 
 mitted  of  characterismg  persecution  as  consistmg  opinions, 
 in  punishing  men  for  their  religious  opinions; 
 while  punishment  for  propagating  their  errors,  is 
 justified. 
 
 But  this  is  in  fact  to  explain  away  the  very 
 existence  of  persecution ;  since  no  man  can  be 
 punished  for  opinions  which  he  keeps  secret 
 within  his  own  bosom.  All  persecution,  if  there 
 be  any  such  thing  in  existence,  or  even  in  imagi- 
 nation, must  be  either  for  publishing  opinions 
 supposed  to  be  erroneous,  or  for  refusing  to 
 renounce  them,  and  to  subscribe  to  the  creed 
 imposed.  Will  it  be  said  then,  that  we  are 
 authorized  to  prohibit,  and  to  prevent  by  penal- 
 ties, the  preaching  of  any  doctrines  we  may  deem 
 erroneous,  though  it  would  involve  the  guilt  of 
 persecution  to  compel  any  one  to  abjure  those 
 doctrines,  and  to  assent  to  ours  ?  Surely  this  is 
 drawing  a  distinction  where  there  is  no  essential 
 difference.  If  it  is  our  right  and  our  duty,  to 
 prevent  by  forcible  means  the  spread  of  certain 
 doctrines,  and  to  maintain  what  we  believe  to  be 
 
262 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 true  religion,  we  must  be  authorized,  and  bound, 
 to  employ  what  will  often  appear  the  only  effec- 
 tual means  towards  our  object  by  compelling 
 men  to  renounce  those  erroneous  doctrines,  and 
 to  profess  that  religion ;  or  else  at  least  to  quit 
 the  country.  For  we  should  remember,  that  it 
 never  can,  in  any  case,  be  left  to  our  choice, 
 whether  we  will  employ  coercive  means  or  not. 
 All  punishment — all  denunciation  of  punishment 
 — in  short,  all  compulsion  and  restraint — must 
 be  either  a  duty,  or  a  sin.  The  Civil  magistrate 
 may  say,  "  I  have  power  to  release  thee,  and 
 power  to  condemn  thee  ;"  but  he  cannot  have  a 
 right  to  do  whichever  he  will. 
 Propaga-  And  in  the  present  instance,  it  is  impossible  to 
 opinions     draw  a  line  to  any  effectual  purpose  between  for- 
 
 niay  be 
 
 held  a  duty,  bidding  a  man  to  propagate  his  religion,  and 
 compelling  him  to  abjure  it,  on  the  ground  that 
 the  one  does,  and  the  other  does  not,  offer  vio- 
 lence to  his  conscience  ;  which  was  perhaps  the 
 distinction  set  up  by  the  Jewish  Elders,  when 
 they  were  content  merely  to  "  charge  the  Apo- 
 stles not  to  preach  in  the  name  of  Jesus."  Peter 
 and  John  replied,  that  they  could  not  but  "  de- 
 clare what  they  had  seen  and  heard ;"  and  it  is 
 
SECT.  3.]  Persecution. 
 
 263 
 
 not  surely  impossible,  or  even  unlikely,  that 
 others  also  may  think  themselves  bound  in  con- 
 science to  teach,  at  least,  their  families  and  their 
 friends,  what  they  conceive  to  be  essential  truths. 
 VIII.  Lastly,  it  is  important  to  observe,  that  inflicted 
 
 penalty. 
 
 though  the  word  persecution  itself  does  neces- 
 sarily imply  the  actual  infliction  of  some  penalty, 
 we  must  by  no  means  infer,  that  where  nothing 
 of  the  kind  takes  place,  the  spirit  and  principle 
 of  persecution  is  absent. 
 
 On  the  contrary,  wherever  this  principle  is 
 the  most  vigorously  and  effectually  acted  on, 
 there  will  be  the  least  actual  persecution,  because 
 there  will  be  the  least  occasion  for  it.  For  it 
 should  be  remembered,  that  no  one  wishes  to 
 persecute.  Penal  laws  against  heretics,  as  those 
 against  robbers,  or  incendiaries,  are  not  devised 
 for  the  purpose  of  crowding  the  jails,  and  multi- 
 plying the  number  of  criminals  sentenced,  but 
 are  designed  to  prevent  the  offences  against  which 
 they  are  directed  ;  and  the  laws  are  considered 
 as  then  most  effectual,  when  the  terror  of  the 
 penalties  they  denounce  so  operates  in  deterring 
 offenders,  that  there  is  seldom  any  need  to  inflict 
 the  penalties  themselves. 
 
264 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v 
 
 We  never  hear  therefore  of  persecution  in  those 
 countries  where  no  resistance  is  made  to  rehgious 
 coercion.  The  fetters  gall  those  only  who  strug- 
 gle against  them.  Accordingly,  where  the  tyranny 
 of  the  Inquisition  reigns  triumphant,  there  are  no 
 punishments  for  religious  offences.  No  tree  is 
 withered  by  the  frost  of  the  polar  regions,  or 
 by  the  scorching  winds  of  the  Arabian  deserts ; 
 because  none  can  exist  in  those  regions.  And  no 
 Protestant  is  now  brought  to  the  stake  in  Spain, 
 because,  there,  persecution  has  done  its  work. 
 
 Hence  the  fallacious  argument,  for  I  cannot 
 but  regard  it  as  such,  which  is  often  employed 
 against  persecution,  on  the  ground  that  it  does 
 not  answer  its  purpose  of  suppressing  dissent. 
 It  is  evident  that  actual  persecution,  when  it  does 
 accomplish  its  object,  must  soon  cease.  The  fire 
 will  go  out  of  itself,  when  it  has  fairly  consumed 
 its  fuel.  The  more  effectually  the  Inquisition 
 operates,  the  less  it  will  have  to  do.  There  are 
 accordingly  few  Roman-Catholic  countries  in 
 which  some  attempts  at  reformation  have  not 
 been  suppressed  by  a  vigorous,  early,  and  steady 
 resort  to  secular  force ;  or  in  which  such  attempts 
 are  not  prevented  by  the  apprehension  of  it. 
 
SECT.  3.]  Persecution.  265 
 
 We  must  not  therefore  judge  of  the  existence, 
 or  of  the  extent,  of  a  persecuting  spirit,  in  any 
 case,  by  the  amount  of  sufferings  actually  under- 
 gone ;  (else  we  shall  suppose  it  to  exist  least 
 where  in  reality  it  is  in  the  greatest  force  ;)  but 
 by  the  penalties  denounced — in  short,  the  degree 
 of  coercion  that  exists  in  religious  matters.  And 
 in  our  own  conduct,  the  rock  of  which  we  must 
 steer  clear,  if  we  would  preserve  the  true  course 
 of  Christian  meekness,  is,  not  the  actual  practice 
 of  religious  persecution,  but  the  sanction  of 
 secular  compulsion  and  restriction — not  the 
 actual  inflictioUy  but  the  enactment,  of  secular 
 penalties.  For  the  infliction  (in  any  case)  of  the 
 punishment  denounced,  is  an  accidental  circum- 
 stance ;  and  it  is  never  the  object  of  the  legislator's 
 will,  but  depends  in  part  on  the  persons  suffering ; 
 and  if  the  law  is  just,  the  penalty  by  which  it  is 
 sanctioned  ought  to  be  inflicted  on  any  trans- 
 gressor of  that  law.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
 consequently,  if  the  case  be  such  that  the  inflic- 
 tion of  the  punishment  would  be  persecution,  the 
 law  ought  not  to  be  sanctioned  by  the  denounce- 
 ment of  that  punishment.  A  compulsory  enact- 
 ment necessarily  implies  the  resort  to  forcible 
 
266 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 means,  in  case  of  resistance  or  disobedience  ;  in 
 any  case  therefore  where  the  one  would  be  wrong, 
 the  other  cannot  possibly  be  right." 
 
 Expulsion      &  4.  The  ultimate  penalty  accordingly,  in  this 
 
 the  ..Itiniate        ^  IT  J  bJ' 
 
 penalty,    world.  With  which  the  Author  of  our  Religion 
 thought  fit  to  sanction  it,  was  (with  the  exception 
 
 c  Accordingly,  I  have  always  been  at  a  loss  to  understand 
 how  Christians,  of  those  Sects  which  interpret  literally  the 
 injunction  to  turn  the  cheek  to  the  smiter,  and  which  regard 
 all  employment  of  force  as  unlawful,  can  reconcile  to  their 
 principles  the  practice  (about  which  they  have,  I  believe,  no 
 scruple)  of  going  to  law  for  the  recovery  of  their  rights. 
 
 If  one  of  these  has  a  sum  awarded  to  him,  whether  in  the 
 shape  of  damages,  or  otherwise,  he  must  be  aware  that  the 
 defendant  would,  in  most  instances,  refuse  to  pay  it,  but  that 
 he  is  compelled ;  i.e.  knows  that  if  he  refused  payment,  his 
 goods  would  be  forcibly  seized  by  the  officers  of  justice, 
 and  that  an  attempt  to  resist  or  evade  such  seizure  would  be 
 punished  by  imprisonment  or  otherwise. 
 
 Do  they  then  satisfy  their  conscience  by  the  plea,  that  no 
 force  is  actually  used  ;  the  apprehension  of  it  being  sufficient  ? 
 or  do  they  plead,  that  at  any  rate  the  force  would  not  be 
 exercised  by  themselves,  but  by  the  officers,  who  are  of  a  dif- 
 ferent persuasion  ?  The  former  of  these  principles  might  be 
 used  to  justify  a  man's  sending  an  incendiary-letter,  provided 
 the  threat  proved  successful ;  the  latter  plea  might  be  urged 
 in  behalf  of  one  who  should  hire  an  unscrupulous  assassin  to 
 dispatch  his  enemy. 
 
SECT.  4. J 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 267 
 
 of  a  few  cases  of  miraculous  interference)  the 
 exclusion  of  the  offender  from  the  religious  com- 
 munity which  he  had  scandahzed  :^  "  if  he  refuse 
 to  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be  unto  you  as  a 
 heathen  man  and  as  a  pubhcan  ;"  if  he  would  not 
 listen  when  repeatedly  admonished,  he  was  to  be 
 removed  from  the  Society.  And  it  is  worthy  of 
 being  remarked,  that  the  Romish  Church  itself 
 claims  no  right  to  punish  those  who  do  not 
 belong  to  that  Society:  a  "heathen  man"  does 
 not  come  under  her  jurisdiction.  In  order  there- 
 fore to  retain  the  right  of  coercion  over  all  who 
 have  been  baptized,  even  by  such  as  She  ac- 
 counts heretics,  the  Romanists  affect  to  regard 
 them  as  truly  members,  though  rebellious  sub- 
 jects, of  the  Catholic  Church.  In  literal  and 
 direct  opposition  to  our  Lord's  words,  though 
 censuring  them  for  "  refusing  to  hear  the 
 Church,"  they  yet  will  not  regard  them  in  the 
 light  of  "heathen  men." 
 
 The  language  of  the  Apostle  Paul  corresponds 
 with  his  Master's :  "  a  man  that  is  an  heretic, 
 after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  reject." 
 
 *  For  an  able  development  of  this  principle,  see  Hinds's 
 History  of  the  Rise  of  Christianity,  vol.  i.  p.  327 — 336. 
 
268 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 But  no  personal  violence — no  secular  penalty 
 whatever,  is  denounced  against  heretics  and 
 schismatics — "heathen  men  and  publicans." 
 The  whole  of  the  New  Testament  breathes  a 
 spirit  of  earnestness  indeed  in  the  cause  of  truth, 
 and  zeal  against  religious  error ;  but  of  such  a 
 zeal  as  was  to  manifest  itself  only  in  vehement 
 and  persevering  persuasion. 
 
 This,  which  the  advocates  of  coercion  cannot 
 deny,  they  are  driven  to  explain  away,  by  saying, 
 that  the  Apostles  and  other  early  Christians 
 were  unable  to  compel  men  to  a  conformity  to 
 the  true  faith  ;  they  abstained  from  the  use  of 
 secular  force,  because  (I  cite  the  words  of  Au- 
 gustine, a  favourite  authority  with  the  Roman- 
 ists as  well  as  with  many  Protestants)  "  that 
 prophecy  was  not  yet  fulfilled,  Be  wise  now 
 therefore,  O  ye  kings ;  be  learned,  ye  that  are 
 judges  of  the  earth  ;  serve  the  Lord  with  fear." 
 The  rulers  of  the  earth,  he  adds,  were  at  that 
 time  opposed  to  the  Gospel ;  and  therefore  it 
 was  that  the  secular  arm  was  not  called  in 
 against  the  Church's  enemies. 
 
 But  they  might  be  asked,  in  reply, — if  in- 
 deed such  an  argument  be  worth  a  reply, — 
 
SECT.  4.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 269 
 
 why  the  Apostles  had  not  this  power.  Surely 
 their  Master  could  have  bestowed  it ; — He  unto 
 whom  "all  power  was  given,  in  heaven  and  in 
 earth :" — He  who  declared  that  the  Father  was 
 ready  to  send  him  "  more  than  twelve  legions  of 
 angels ;"  whose  force,  as  it  would  have  destroyed 
 all  idea  of  resistance,  would  at  once  have  esta- 
 blished his  religion,  without  any  need  of  a  resort 
 to  actual  persecution.  Or,  if  for  any  hidden 
 reasons,  the  time  was  not  yet  come  for  confer- 
 ring on  his  disciples  that  coercive  power  which 
 was  to  be  afterwards  justifiably  employed  in  his 
 cause,  we  might  expect  that  He  would  have  given 
 notice  to  them  of  the  change  of  system  which 
 was  to  take  place.  But  had  He  designed  any 
 such  change,  his  declaration  to  Pilate  would 
 have  been  little  else  than  an  equivocation  worthy 
 of  the  school  of  the  very  Jesuits.  Had  He 
 declared  that  "  his  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
 world,"  meaning,  that  though  such  was  the  case, 
 then,  He  meant  it  to  be  supported  by  secular 
 force  hereafter,  and  consequently  to  become  a 
 kingdom  of  this  world ; — and  that  his  servants 
 were  not  allowed  to  fight  in  his  cause ;  with  the 
 mental  reservation,  that  they  were  hereafter  to 
 
270 
 
 Persecutim.  [essay  v. 
 
 do  so; — He  would  have  fully  justified  the  sus- 
 picion which  probably  was  entertained  by  many 
 of  the  heathen  magistrates,  that  the  Christians 
 and  their  Master  did,  notwithstanding  their  pro- 
 fessions, secretly  meditate  the  establishment  of 
 a  kingdom  supported  by  secular  force ;  and  that 
 though  they  disavowed  this  principle,  and  ab- 
 stained from  all  violent  methods,  this  was  only 
 a  mask  assumed  during  the  weakness  of  their 
 infant  power,  which  they  would  (according  to 
 the  principle  which  Augustine  avows)  throw 
 aside  as  soon  as  they  should  have  obtained  suffi- 
 cient strength. 
 
 But  the  very  idea  is  blasphemous,  of  attribut- 
 ing such  a  subterfuge  to  Him  who  "  came  into 
 the  world  that  He  might  bear  witness  of  the 
 truth."  The  immediate  occasion  indeed  of  our 
 Lord's  making  this  declaration  to  Pilate,  was  his 
 desire  to  do  away  the  expectation  so  strongly 
 prevailing  both  among  Jews  and  Gentiles,  of 
 a  temporal  Messiah  about  to  estabhsh  a  trium- 
 phant kingdom :  but  no  occasion  would  have  led 
 Him  to  make  the  declaration,  had  it  not  been 
 true :  and  it  would  not  have  been  true,  had  He 
 meant  no  more  than  that  his  kingdom  was 
 
SECT.  4.]  Persecution. 
 
 271 
 
 spiritual,  in  the  sense  of  its  having  dominion 
 over  the  souls  of  men,  and  holding  out  the 
 glories  and  the  judgments  of  the  other  world ; 
 for  this  was  what  the  infidel  Jews  expected,  and 
 expect  to  this  day :  they  look  for  a  kingdom 
 both  of  this  world  and  also  of  the  next ; — for  a 
 Messiah  who  shall  bestow  on  his  followers  not 
 only  worldly  power  and  splendour,  but  also 
 the  spiritual  blessings  of  a  future  state,  besides. 
 They  did  indeed  expect  the  Messiah  to  reign 
 over  them  for  ever  in  bodily  person  :  but  the 
 main  part  of  their  expectation  would  have  been 
 fulfilled,  had  He  merely  founded  a  temporal 
 kingdom,  and  delegated  (as  the  Lord  did  of  old, 
 to  the  Kings)  his  power,  to  his  anointed,  in 
 whom  his  Spirit  should  dwell.  Jesus  accord- 
 ingly, to  mark  his  opposition  to  this  expectation 
 of  the  Jews,  not  only  claimed  spiritual  dominion, 
 but  renounced  temporal :  He  declared  not  merely 
 that  his  kingdom  is  of  the  next  world,  but  that 
 it  is  not  of  this  world. 
 
 Indeed  it  must  be  evident  to  any  one,  on  a 
 moment's  reflection,  that  the  mere  claiming  or 
 disclaiming  of  any  dominion  beyond  the  Grave, 
 would  have  been,  at  that  time,  and  with  refer- 
 
272 
 
 Persecution.  [kssay  v. 
 
 ence  to  the  trial  then  going  on,  utterly  imper- 
 tinent and  foreign  to  the  question.  He  was  on 
 trial  for  high  treason  ; — for  a  design  to  subvert, 
 or  in  some  way  interfere  with,  the  established 
 Government.  The  plea  urged  in  support  of 
 this  charge  was,  "  Whosoever  maketh  himself  a 
 King  speaketh  against  Cgesar."  Whether  there- 
 fore He  claimed  or  not,  and  whether  justly  or 
 not,  the  disposal  of  rewards  and  punishments  in 
 another  life,  was  nothing  to  the  purpose.  He 
 was  required  to  plead  guilty  or  not-guilty  to  the 
 charge  against  him.  The  question  was,  whether 
 He  did  or  did  not,  claim,  or  design  to  claim,  by 
 Himself  or  his  disciples,  any  kind  of  Secular 
 Empire.  He  distinctly  c?i*claimed  it.  Let  those 
 who  maintain  that  He  meant  to  reserve  the 
 right  of  authorizing  temporal  coercion  in  behalf 
 of  his  religion,  prove  if  they  can  that  He  was 
 not  justly  put  to  death ! 
 Christ  a  I  have  known  persons  who,  loth  to  abandon 
 He  meant  the  claim  of  secular  control  in  religion,  try  to 
 
 his  disciples  ^       .        t/y>i  ^   •    •  t  u 
 
 to  mono-    evade  the  dimculty  by  explammg  our  Lord  s 
 
 polize  civil  .  ,        t  x      t  i  i  • 
 
 power.  meanmg  to  have  been,  that  He  did  not  claim 
 any  secular  power  for  Christians  as  such,  beyond 
 what  was  claimed  by  all  others  in  behalf  of 
 
SECT.  4.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 273 
 
 their  own  respective  religions ;  all  having,  it  is 
 said,  a  natural  right  to  establish  a  national  reli- 
 gion, and  exclude  from  political  privileges  those 
 w^ho  do  not  conform  to  it :  as  was  done  in  the 
 ancient  Grecian  States,  where  slaves.  Helots, 
 and  others  were  precluded,  by  being  of  a  dif- 
 ferent race  from  the  dominant  party,  from  par- 
 ticipating in  the  same  religious  rites,  and  were 
 consequently  debarred  from  the  rights  of  citizen- 
 ship. Had  this  been  our  Lord's  meaning.  He 
 would  have  been  bound  in  sincerity  to  have  said 
 plainly  that  his  Kingdom  was  not  more  of  this 
 world  than  the  other  religions  established  in  the 
 world  ;  which  avowedly  were  connected  with 
 political  domination  ;  and  that  his  servants 
 would  not  fight  for  Him,  till  they  should  be- 
 come strong  enough  ; — till  they  should  become, 
 in  each  country,  a  majority,  not  necessarily  of 
 the  whole  population,  (for  the  citizens  of 
 each  of  the  Grecian  States  were  generally  very 
 far  from  that)  but  of  the  politically  dominant 
 party ;  and  that  then  they  would  forcibly  ex- 
 clude all  but  Christians  from  the  rights  of 
 citizenship. 
 
 Now  this,  it  is  evident,  would  have  been  to 
 
274 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 plead  guilty  to  the  charge  brought  against 
 Him/ 
 
 All  the  declarations,  however — all  the  direct 
 and  indirect  teaching — of  Scripture,  is  unavailing 
 to  the  uncandid  inquirer,  who  seeks  in  these 
 books,  not  a  guide  for  his  conduct,  but  a  justifi- 
 cation of  it ;  and  who  is  bent  on  making  the 
 word  of  God,  where  it  does  not  suit  his  views, 
 "of  none  effect,  by  the  tradition"  of  a  supposed 
 infallible  Church,  or  by  the  subtleties  of  strained 
 interpretations/  But  to  a  candid  mind  the 
 instructions  afforded  by  the  Evangelists  and 
 Apostles  appear  to  me  not  only  sufficient  to 
 settle  all  questions  relating  to  the  subject  of  per- 
 secution, but  also  (to  the  generality  of  mankind) 
 better  adapted  for  that  purpose  than  any  argu- 
 ments which  human  reason  could  supply. 
 
 Scripture-      §  5.  For  I  am  convinced,  after  much  obser- 
 
 argument  _  •  i         •  n 
 
 against      vation  and  reflection  on  the  subject,  that  m  all 
 
 persecution 
 
 the  most    discussions,  whether  with  professed  Romanists,  or 
 
 popular. 
 
 ^  I  have  treated  more  fully  of  this  part  of  the  subject  in 
 the  Volume  of  "  Charges  and  Tracts"  lately  published,  p.  482. 
 
 <■  "  Quicquid  recipitur,  ad  modum  recipientis  recipitur,"  is 
 an  ancient  medical  aphorism,  capable  of  a  wide  application. 
 
SECT.  5. J 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 275 
 
 with  others,  in  spirit,  Romanists,  who  advocate 
 such  principles  as  lead  to  persecution,  the  argu- 
 ments drawn  from  Scripture  are  to  be  preferred 
 for  popular  use,  as  best  calculated  to  satisfy 
 those  who  are  of  a  Christian  spirit,  and  open  to 
 conviction,  but  of  moderate  intellectual  powers. 
 Other  arguments  have  often  been  unanswerably 
 urged ^  against  persecution,  drawn  from  its  ulti- 
 mate inexpediency — from  its  liability  to  be 
 employed  against  the  truth,  as  well  as  for  it. 
 It  has  been  condemned  again  with  equally  good 
 reason — from  its  tendency  to  produce  hypocrisy 
 and  covert  atheism,  and,  by  creating  a  general 
 suspicion  of  insincerity,  to  weaken  the  evidence 
 in  favour  of  a  religion  so  supported.  For,  the 
 argument  from  authority — the  confirmation  any 
 one's  faith  receives  from  the  belief  of  others,  is 
 destroyed,  when  a  compulsory  profession  leaves 
 it  doubtful  in  each  case  whether  those  others 
 are  sincere  believers  or  not.  And  the  prohi- 
 bition, under  secular  penalties,  of  any  arguments 
 against  a  rehgion,  impairs  more  or  less,  in  pro- 
 portion as  it  is  enforced,  another  and  more 
 
 g  Bishop  Taylor  and  Locke  have  almost  exhausted  the  argu- 
 ments on  this  subject. 
 
 t2 
 
276 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 important  branch  of  evidence,  the  defiance  of 
 contradiction ;  through  the  medium  of  which 
 most  of  the  other  evidences  of  Christianity  pre- 
 sent themselves  to  the  minds  of  the  generahty ; 
 who  could  not  possibly  examine,  in  detail,  for 
 themselves,  any  great  part  (no  one  could,  the 
 whole)  of  the  proofs  of  each  of  the  historical 
 facts  on  which  our  religion  rests  ;  but  whose 
 confidence  rests,  and  justly  rests,  on  the  convic- 
 tion, that  if  there  were  any  flaw  in  the  evidence, 
 it  would  be  detected  and  proclaimed.''  Force 
 accordingly,  together  with  Fraud,  the  two  great 
 engines  for  the  support  of  the  Papal  dominion, 
 have  almost  annihilated  sincere  behef  in  Christi- 
 anity among  the  educated  classes,  throughout  a 
 great  portion  of  Europe. 
 
 Such  arguments,  I  say,  as  these,  are  sound 
 indeed,  and,  to  an  enlarged  and  philosophical 
 mind — one  capable  of  taking  a  comprehensive 
 view  of  human  affairs  and  of  human  nature — 
 they  are  perfectly  convincing.  And  they  afford 
 to  such  a  mind,  a  pleasing  confirmation  of  the 
 superhuman  wisdom  manifested  in  the  Gospel 
 scheme.  For,  men  of  that  age  and  condition  of 
 See  note  B,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 
 
SECT.  5.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 277 
 
 life,  and  of  the  Jewish  nation  more  especially, 
 would  never  have  been  led  by  mere  human 
 sagacity  to  reject  and  prohibit  all  temporal  co- 
 ercion, and  seek  to  propagate  and  maintain  their 
 religion  by  no  force  but  that  of  gentle  persua- 
 sion. And  even  in  the  present  day,  I  cannot  but 
 think  that  such  arguments  as  I  have  adverted 
 to,  are  not  likely  to  be  comprehended  in  their 
 full  force,  by  men  of  narrow  or  uncultivated 
 understanding.  And  therefore  it  is,  I  conceive, 
 that  our  great  Master  has  graciously  provided, 
 in  his  holy  Word,  a  support  for  the  weak,  and 
 a  guide  for  the  dim-sighted,  among  his  faithful 
 followers ; — that  He  has  been  pleased  to  reveal 
 what  is,  not  indeed  undiscoverable  by  human 
 reason,  but  yet  not  so  discoverable  as  to  be 
 capable  of  being  made  clear  to  the  mass  of 
 mankind ; — that  He  has  prohibited,  both  by  the 
 precepts  and  the  example  of  Himself  and  his 
 Apostles,  that  persecuting  spirit  whose  inexpe- 
 diency and  whose  intrinsic  turpitude,  some,  even 
 of  the  humble  and  sincere  among  his  followers, 
 might  have  failed  to  discover  for  themselves. 
 As  for  the  prejudiced  and  the  wilful,  they  are 
 not  likely  to  learn  the  truth  either  from  Scripture 
 
278  Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 or  from  reason  :'  but  the  plainest  Christian,  who 
 has  indeed  "the  Spirit  of  Christ,"  and  not  that 
 of  Antichrist,  may  learn  the  will  of  his  Master 
 both  by  his  teaching  and  from  his  pattern ;  and 
 may  be  made  "  wise  unto  salvation,"  by  be- 
 coming a  follower  of  Him  who  was  "  meek  and 
 lowly  in  spirit," — who  "  did  no  violence,  neither 
 was  guile  found  in  his  mouth,"  and  who  "  came 
 not  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save." 
 
 Abstract        &  6.  How  blind  even  an  intelligent  man  may 
 
 absurdity  of  o  ^ 
 
 persecution  be  to  tho  abstract  arguments  against  persecution, 
 
 overlooked. 
 
 is  strikingly  illustrated  by  a  slip  which  the  acute 
 and  powerful  Bp.  Warburton  has  made,  in  treat- 
 ing of  toleration.  He  would  have  all  men  al- 
 lowed liberty  to  worship  God  in  their  own  way ; 
 but  Atheists,  he  says,  should  be  banished  from 
 every  Civil  Government,  because  they  are  "in- 
 capable of  giving  security  for  their  behaviour  in 
 community ;  and  their  principles  directly  over- 
 throw the  very  foundation  on  which  it  is  built."'' 
 This  great  man  overlooked  the  obvious  circum- 
 stance, that,  by  a  kind  of  perverse  inconsistency, 
 
 '  "  Remedia  non  agunt  in  cadaver." 
 
 ^  Alliance  between  Church  and  State,  b.  iii. 
 
SECT.  6.]  Persecution. 
 
 279 
 
 his  remedy  would  operate  precisely  in  those 
 cases  where  his  reason  for  it  did  not  hold  good, 
 and  would  be  almost  sure  to  fail  in  the  very 
 cases  it  was  designed  to  meet.  Such  Atheists 
 as  were,  conformably  to  his  supposition,  utterly 
 unprincipled  and  unscrupulous,  would  of  course, 
 were  the  system  he  recommends  estabhshed, 
 make  no  difficulty  of  denying  their  infidelity, 
 and  professing  any  thing  whatever  that  might  be 
 proposed  to  them ;  those  again,  if  there  be  any 
 such,  who  were  too  honest  to  save  themselves 
 from  punishment  by  falsehood,  would  be  the 
 very  persons  to  suffer  the  penalty.  So  that 
 those  to  whom  his  description  applies,  as  being 
 such  that  the  Community  could  have  "no  se- 
 curity" for  their  good  behaviour,  would  remain  in 
 the  Community ;  and  the  sentence  of  exile  de- 
 signed for  them,  would  fall  on  those,  exclusively, 
 to  whom  the  description  did  not  apply. 
 
 A  like  error  results,  practically,  in  some  in- 
 stances, from  our  laws  relative  to  oaths.  I  have 
 seen  a  case  recorded,  of  a  tradesman  suing  a 
 customer  for  a  debt,  which  the  other  denied  ; 
 he  produced  his  books,  and  was  about  to  make 
 oath  in  the  usual  form,  of  the  correctness  of 
 
280  Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 the  entry ;  when  the  other  party  objected  that 
 he  was  an  Atheist,  and  therefore  was  not  entitled 
 to  take  an  oath :  on  being  questioned,  he  ad- 
 mitted this ;  and  the  case  was  dismissed.  The 
 magistrates  could  not  have  acted  otherwise,  as 
 the  law  stands ;  but  surely  the  law  should  be 
 altered  when  it  operates,  as  in  this  instance,  to 
 defeat  its  own  object.'  The  very  purpose  of 
 an  oath  is  to  obtain  some  security  of  a  man's 
 speaking  the  truth  :  now  in  this  case,  if  the 
 tradesman  had  been  so  unscrupulous  as  to  make 
 a  false  charge,  it  is,  though  perhaps  possible, 
 not  likely  he  would  have  hesitated  to  support  it 
 by  a  false  profession  of  his  behef  in  religion. 
 The  best  ground  that  could  have  been  afforded 
 for  trusting  to  his  veracity,  was  his  refusing  to 
 utter  a  falsehood  for  the  sake  of  establishing  his 
 claim ;  and  it  was  for  this  very  reason,  in  fact, 
 that  his  claim  was  disallowed. 
 
 Hostility       §  7.    The  feeling  which  tends  to  foster  the 
 fnfideuand  Spirit  of  pcrsccution,  and  to  blind  us  to  the 
 reasons  opposed  to  it — that  feeling  of  hostility 
 
 '  See  an  able  pamphlet  entitled  "  Remarks  on  Oaths,  &c." 
 published  by  Hatchard,  1826. 
 
SECT.  7. J 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 281 
 
 which  naturally  arises  in  our  breasts  against 
 such  as  reject  our  Faith,  or  our  own  views  of 
 it — in  short,  against  Infidels  and  Heretics" — 
 is  chiefly  remarkable  from  the  circumstance  of 
 its  being  usually  so  much  stronger,  than  our 
 indignation  against  those  who,  professing  our 
 religion,  disgrace  it  by  an  unchristian  life,  or 
 even  by  an  avowed  disregard  of  religion.  It 
 should  seem  at  the  first  glance,  as  if  the  very 
 reverse  of  this  were  the  more  reasonably  to  be 
 expected.  For,  as  far  as  the  Cause  itself  is  con- 
 cerned, he  surely  injures  it  more  who  brings 
 discredit  on  it,  than  he  who  openly  opposes  it. 
 The  professing  Christian  implies,  by  a  sinful 
 Hfe,  either  that  his  religion  is  compatible  with 
 immorality,  or  else  that  he  professes  it  for  form's 
 sake  only,  and  secretly  disbelieves  it ;  by  which 
 means  he  casts  a  doubt  on  the  sincerity  of  the 
 professions  of  others,  and  thus  weakens  the 
 evidence  their  example  would  have  afforded. 
 And  as  far  as  the  individual  is  concerned,  the 
 irreligious,   or  profligate,   or  worldly-minded 
 
 ™  The  strongest  term  of  detestation  perhaps  of  all  that  can 
 be  applied  to  a  man, — the  term  "  Miscreant" — affords  in  its 
 etymology  {ya\i-heliever)  a  curious  instance  of  this. 
 
282 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 Christian,  is  surely  more  chargeable  with  im- 
 piety than  the  unbeliever.  An  Atheist  might, 
 conceivably  at  least,  have  loved  and  obeyed  his 
 Saviour,  if  he  could  have  been  convinced  of  his 
 divine  mission  :  at  any  rate,  he  is  not  hving  in 
 habitual  defiance  of  a  God  whom  he  acknow- 
 ledges. If  two  men  receive  each  a  letter  from 
 his  father,  and  one  of  them,  on  very  insufficient 
 grounds,  rejects  it  as  a  forgery,  he  is  not  surely 
 more  undutiful  than  the  other,  who,  recognising 
 it  as  a  genuine  letter  from  his  father,  puts  it 
 away  carefully,  and  utterly  disregards  all  the 
 injunctions  it  contains. 
 
 The  apostle  Paul  accordingly  enjoins  his  con- 
 verts to  withdraw  themselves,  not  from  all  inter- 
 course with  unbelievers,  but  from  any  man  of 
 their  own  Society,  that  "  walketh  disorderly ;" — 
 "  if  any  one  that  is  called  a  brother"  bring  a 
 scandal  on  the  Church  by  living  in  known  sin, 
 "  with  such  an  one  not  even  to  eat :"  {i.  e.  at 
 the  Agapae  or  love-feasts  :)  and  to  "  cut  off" 
 (excommunicate)  those  who  "  offend  "  {i.  e.  scan- 
 dalize) the  Society. 
 Immorality     How  comcs  it,  theu,  that  men's  feelings  for 
 
 more  com-  .  .  i  /-\ 
 
 nion  than   the  most  part  take  an  opposite  direction  ?  1.  One 
 
SECT.  7.]  Persecution. 
 
 283 
 
 obvious  cause,  as  far  as  we  of  the  present  day  avowed 
 
 infidelit; 
 
 are  concerned,  is,  that  avowed  infidelity  is  com- 
 paratively rare.  We  are  so  much  accustomed, 
 unhappily,  to  the  case  of  Christians  leading  an 
 unchristian  Ufe,  while  the  open  rejection  of  the 
 Faith  is  an  exception  to  the  general  rule,  that  in 
 respect  of  the  one,  our  feelings  are  blunted  by 
 familiarity,  while  the  comparative  unfrequency  of 
 the  other  fault,  makes  it  the  more  shocking. 
 
 It  is  evident,  that  with  the  early  Christians 
 the  case  must  have  been  reversed.  Since  men 
 did  not  then  profess  Christianity  as  a  matter  of 
 course,  and  had  in  general  to  encounter  some 
 hardships  and  inconveniences  on  account  of 
 their  profession,  an  utter  disregard  of  their  reli- 
 gion, or  a  hfe  utterly  at  variance  with  it,  must 
 have  been  much  less  common  among  the  primi- 
 tive Christians  than  among  ourselves  :  while,  on 
 the  other  hand,  they  were  living  in  the  midst  of 
 unbelievers,  and  were  themselves  the  exception 
 to  the  general  rule. 
 
 It  is  also  evident,  that  the  reason  given  does 
 not  apply,  at  least  with  equal  force,  to  the  case 
 of  persons  holding  a  different  form  of  Chris- 
 tianity.   These  arc  much  more  frequently  met 
 
284  Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 with  than  avowed  anti-christians  ;  and  they  are 
 the  objects  accordingly,  in  general,  of  feehngs 
 less  hostile  than  the  others  ;  yet  still,  in  many 
 instances,  of  greater  hostility  than  is  usually  felt 
 towards  those  who  lead  an  unchristian  life. 
 moft"<Tli!,st  Another  cause,  which  has  the  same  tend- 
 
 goToIhake  ^^^y  ^i*-^^  foregoing,  is,  that  every  one  who 
 fa"ith.""  rejects  the  whole,  or  any  part,  of  our  Faith, 
 diminishes,  so  far,  the  confirmation  which  all 
 men  are  disposed  to  derive,  more  or  less,  on 
 every  point,  from  authority — from  feeling  that 
 others  think  with  them.  I  suspect  there  are 
 few,  whose  acquiescence  even  in  the  conclusions 
 of  Euclid,  is  entirely  unmixed  with  this  feeling. 
 In  matters  which  admit  of  less  intrinsic  certainty, 
 it  is  of  course  a  larger  ingredient  in  that  com- 
 pound of  evidence  on  which  belief  rests."  And 
 in  proportion  as  each  man  is  the  worse  qualified 
 for  reasoning,  or  the  more  averse  to  the  trouble 
 of  it,  he  will  be  the  more  disposed  to  content 
 himself  with  this  description  of  evidence,  and 
 to  acquiesce  in  what  is  generally  received, 
 
 "  In  truth,  the  existence  of  infidelity  supplies  one  im- 
 portant branch  of  evidence. — See  Note  B  at  the  end  of  this 
 Essay. 
 
SECT.  7.]  Persecution.  285 
 
 without  submitting  to  the  toil  of  seeking  for 
 other  reasons. 
 
 Now  any  one  who  rejects  our  tenets,  goes  so 
 far  towards  shaking  this  confidence,  and  disturb- 
 ing this  indolent  tranquillity.  He  drives  us  to 
 take  the  trouble  of  thinking — of  supporting  our 
 conclusions  by  argument — of  contemplating  and 
 answering  objections — and  of  making  our  opi- 
 nions assume  the  attitude  rather  of  frontier-towns, 
 carefully  fortified  and  watchfully  garrisoned,  than 
 of  secure  and  peaceful  inland-districts.  And 
 hence  we  are  naturally  led  to  feel  some  indigna- 
 tion against  the  causer  of  this  disturbance.  On 
 the  contrary,  one  who  adheres  to  the  behef  of 
 our  religion,  while  it  condemns  his  own  life,  is, 
 in  fact,  bearing  strong  testimony  in  our  favour, 
 by  admitting  what,  it  should  seem,  he  must  wish 
 to  disbelieve. 
 
 III.  Add  to  this,  that  one  who  is  opposed  supposed 
 
 contempt  of 
 
 to  our  faith,  however  courteous  his  outward '"fideis  for 
 
 believers. 
 
 demeanour  may  be,  and  however  liberal  his  real 
 disposition,  cannot,  we  feel,  but  inwardly  look 
 down  upon  us,  as  weak  and  credulous,  or  pre- 
 judiced and  bigoted  to  error,  or  in  some  way 
 opposed  to  right  reason  ;  and  these  sentiments 
 
286  Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 we  feel  as  personally  affronting  to  us.  On  the 
 other  hand,  he  who,  adhering  to  an  orthodox 
 Christian  faith,  lives  a  life  at  variance  with  it, 
 seems  to  acknowledge  his  own  inferiority  to  those 
 whose  conduct  is  such  as,  by  his  own  shewing, 
 his  ought  to  be.  The  one  in  short  seems  to 
 scorn,  and  the  other  to  honour,  us,  not  by  their 
 external  demeanour,  but  by  the  very  character 
 of  their  respective  opinions. 
 Immorality     IV.  Lastly,  it  wiU  oftcu  really  happen,  and 
 
 supposed  to  J         I.  L 
 
 by  i^ff"'^'^  often  again  be  supposed,  and  sometimes  perhaps 
 deiity.  pretended,  that  a  man's  rejection  of  Christianity 
 is,  in  fact,  a  step  beyond  his  disobedience  to  it ; — 
 that  he  has  proceeded  from  leading  an  irreligious 
 life  to  the  adoption  of  irrehgious  principles  ;  and 
 set  himself  against  the  Gospel  because  he  found 
 the  Gospel  against  him.°  In  this  case  it  may 
 be  urged,  with  truth,  that  he  is  deserving  of 
 heavier  censure  than  the  Christian  who  leads  an 
 ill  life ;  because  he  includes  both  characters. 
 
 °  Sincerity  accordingly, — not  that  kind  wMch  consists  in 
 the  exercise  of  an  unbiassed  judgment, — but,  the  unfeigned 
 persuasion  that  wrong  is  right,  and  truth  falsehood — is  de- 
 scribed by  the  great  moralist  of  antiquity  as  the  last  stage  of 
 corruption ;  that  of  the  uKoXnaroc. 
 
SECT.  8.]  Persecution. 
 
 287 
 
 Whatever  we  may  suspect  however,  I  know  not 
 that  we  are  authorized  to  impute  these  motives 
 to  any  one  without  actual  proof. 
 
 This  last  is,  of  course,  the  reason  which,  of 
 all  that  have  been  mentioned,  would  be  in  general 
 the  most  readily  avowed,  (and  often  in  perfect 
 sincerity,)  to  account  for  the  greater  indignation 
 felt  against  Infidels  and  Heretics,  than  against 
 irreligious  or  vicious  Christians.  I  am  convinced, 
 however,  that  the  other  causes  enumerated, 
 operate  not  less  powerfully  towards  the  same 
 result.  And  if  such  be  indeed  the  natural  feel- 
 ings of  the  human  heart,  it  behoves  us  to  be  ever 
 on  our  guard  against  their  excess,  and  against 
 being  led  by  them  into  those  practical  faults, 
 to  whose  frequency  history  bears  such  ample 
 testimony. 
 
 §  8,  That  much  of  that  kind  of  feeling  does  Contrast 
 exist,  which  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  account  temicmess 
 for,  observation  will,  I  think,  sufficiently  prove,  and  severity 
 And  indeed  it  will  often  be  found,  that  the  very  doctrinal 
 
 faults. 
 
 persons  whose  requisitions  in  respect  of  ortho- 
 doxy are  the  most  rigid — who  go  to  the  greatest 
 extreme  in  narrowing  the  pale  of  it — ^who  make 
 
288 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 the  least  allowance  for  minute  differences  of 
 opinion — and  are  the  most  bitter  against  all  who 
 do  not  agree  with  them ;  are  the  very  same  who 
 go  the  greatest  lengths  of  indulgence  in  respect 
 of  moral  requisitions — shew  the  greatest  extreme 
 of  tenderness  towards  those  whose  conduct  is  a 
 scandal  to  Christianity—  and  seem  as  if  they 
 would  have  utterly  disapproved  the  system  of 
 discipline,  in  respect  of  moral  delinquents,  which 
 prevailed  in  the  primitive  Churches.  I  have  seen 
 accordingly  severe  censure  bestowed  on  a  sermon 
 of  a  pious  and  able  writer,  in  which  he  ventures 
 to  utter  a  wish,  (far  short,  by  the  way,  of  that 
 contained  in  our  Church's  Commination-service,) 
 that  those  who  are  Christians  only  in  name  and 
 profession — "who  have  no  clear  knowledge  of 
 what  a  Christian  ought  to  be — would  either  take 
 one  side  or  the  other ;  that  they  would  either 
 be  the  servants  of  Christ  in  earnest,  or  renounce 
 Him  openly,  and  say  that  they  have  nothing  to 
 do  with  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  or  his  salvation. 
 Happy  indeed,"  he  adds,  "  would  it  be  for  the 
 Church  of  Christ,  if  all  its  false  friends  would 
 declare  themselves  its  enemies."  The  temerity 
 of  this  wish,  we  have  been  told,  "  would  be  such 
 
SECT.  8.]  Persecntion. 
 
 289 
 
 as  to  make  us  shudder,  if  it  came  from  the  Hps 
 of  an  enthusiast."  No  doubt  more  of  the  effect 
 produced  on  some  minds,  depends  on  the  ques- 
 tion, who  it  is  that  says  any  thing,  than  on  what  it 
 is  that  is  said !  For  the  framers  of  our  Services 
 have  been  so  temerarious  as  to  express  an  earnest 
 wish,  that  the  "  godly  discipline  of  the  primitive 
 Church  "  might  be  restored  ;  under  which  those 
 who  had  scandalized  their  brethren  were  put  to 
 open  penance,  or,  (as  every  one  knows,)  in  the 
 event  of  their  refusing  to  make  submission,  or  of 
 their  not  reforming  their  lives,  were  excluded 
 from  the  Society,  till  they  should  so  submit  and 
 give  satisfactory  assurance  of  their  repentance. 
 
 We  have  been  told,  however,  that  in  the  event 
 of  even  a  voluntary  secession  on  the  part  of  "  the 
 false  friends  of  Christ,"  there  would  be  a  vast 
 portion  of  society  permanently  cut  off  from  the 
 ordinances  and  institutions  of  Christianity  :  (that 
 is,  I  presume,  as  permanently  as  the  unbeHeving 
 Jews  and  Gentiles,  who  might  choose  to  make 
 their  own  unbelief  "  permanent ;"  or  as  the 
 incestuous  Corinthian,  who  was  to  be  "  perma- 
 nently" cut  off  as  long  as  he  should  persist  in 
 his  sin  and  impenitence  :)  that  they  would  cease 
 u 
 
290 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 to  frequent  the  assemblies  of  the  faithful — would 
 never  hear  the  word  of  doctrine  or  exhortation — 
 would  have  shut  themselves  out  from  the  ap- 
 pointed means  of  grace,  and  would  be  publicly 
 and  solemnly  pledged  to  unbelief :  that  their 
 hearts  would  be  sealed  against  the  voice  of  the 
 Church,  and  they  would  be  fixed  to  their  life's 
 end  among  the  desperate  adversaries  of  their 
 Redeemer.  The  existing  condition  of  things,  it 
 is  admitted,  is  discouraging  enough ;  but  it  is  a 
 state,  it  is  contended,  of  millennial  bliss,  com- 
 pared with  what  would  follow,  if  Heaven  were 
 to  listen  to  the  wishes  of  this  preacher  :  i.  e.  com- 
 pared with  the  actual  state  of  things  in  the  times 
 of  the  primitive  Churches.  It  is  urged,  that 
 now,  the  unfaithful  and  double-minded  Christian 
 is  perpetually  and  closely  confronted  with  the 
 principle  he  professes :  the  offices  and  ministra- 
 tions of  religion  are  loudly  and  incessantly  appeal- 
 ing to  the  vows  he  has  made,  &c.  &c. 
 
 All  this  may  be  very  true ;  nor  am  I  under- 
 taking to  prove,  that  the  primitive  Churches  were 
 not  injudiciously  strict  in  their  discipline ;  or 
 that  our  Reformers  were  not  unwise  for  wishing 
 its  restoration  ;  or  that  it  was  not  a  disadvantage 
 
SECT.  8.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 291 
 
 to  those  Churches,  that  such  as  were  strangers 
 to  Christian  faith  and  practice,  were  not  mem- 
 bers of  them  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  remained 
 avowed  unbehevers  till  they  were  disposed  deli- 
 berately and  in  earnest  to  embrace  Christianity. 
 The  early  Christians  probably  thought,  that  the 
 ungodly  or  vicious  were  not  the  less,  but  the 
 more,  likely  to  be  reclaimed,  by  the  loud  warning 
 as  to  their  dangerous  state,  which  would  be  forced 
 on  their  minds  by  their  exclusion  from  the  visible 
 Church : — that  when  not  merely  told  from  the 
 pulpit,  that  the  Sacraments  and  other  means 
 of  grace  are  of  no  benefit  to  such  as  lead  an 
 unchristian  life,  but  impressed  with  this  truth 
 by  the  actual  refusal  of  these  Ordinances,  they 
 would  be  the  less  liable  to  that  common  super- 
 stition of  regarding  these  means  of  grace  as  a 
 charm,  and  of  flattering  themselves  that,  if  not 
 in  a  safe  state,  they  are  at  least  in  a  safer  state, 
 by  virtue  of  their  going  to  church,  and  of  being 
 confessedly  Christians,  though  they  do  not  (as  one 
 may  often  hear  people  say)  profess  to  be  Saints." 
 
 In  all  this  however  the  primitive  Christians 
 may  perhaps  have  been  mistaken ;  and  I  am  far 
 from  denying  that  there  is  much  show  of  reason 
 u2 
 
292 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 in  what  may  be  urged  on  both  sides.  But  what 
 is  to  my  present  purpose  to  remark  is,  that  those 
 who  are  thus  anxious  to  retain  within  the  pale  of 
 the  Church  such  professing  Christians  as  lead  a 
 careless  or  immoral  life,  are  not  found,  as  some 
 perhaps  might  have  antecedently  expected,  to 
 feel  any  thing  like  a  proportionate  tenderness 
 towards  differences  of  opinion.  On  the  contrary, 
 they  are  usually  the  foremost  in  exaggerating 
 into  fatal  heresy  the  smallest  shade  of  variation 
 from  their  own  views  of  orthodoxy;  and  the 
 loudest  in  urging  all  those,  openly  and  at  once 
 to  separate  from  the  Church,  whose  notions  do 
 not  appear  minutely  to  coincide  with  their  own. 
 If  such  arguments  as  those  just  alluded  to  were 
 urged  on  behalf  of  those  they  denounce  as 
 heterodox — if  any  thing  approaching  to  the  same 
 forbearance  as  they  recommend  in  the  case  of 
 immoral  Christians,  were  proposed  to  be  ex- 
 tended to  such  as  have  not  quite  made  up  their 
 minds  as  to  this  or  that  doctrine,  or  have  taken 
 such  a  view  of  any  points  as  appears  incorrect  in 
 the  eyes  of  others  who  lay  claim  to  preeminent 
 orthodoxy — were  such  a  plea,  I  say,  to  be  urged, 
 almost  in  the  very  same  words,  I  cannot  but 
 
SECT.  8.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 293 
 
 think  we  should  hear  a  loud  clamour  against 
 latitudinarian  laxity  and  dangerous  liberalism. 
 
 I  am  not  of  course  contending  that  there  may 
 not  be,  either  a  defect,  or  an  excess,  of  strictness, 
 in  the  requisitions  either  of  an  orthodox  faith, 
 or  of  a  blameless  life.  It  requires  a  discreet 
 judgment,  to  decide,  in  each  particular  case, 
 under  either  class,  the  precise  amount  of  the 
 departure  from  the  right  road.  But  the  circum- 
 stance to  which  I  wish  to  call  attention  is, 
 that  since  those  who  are  the  most  lax  on  the 
 one  side,  are  the  most  rigid  on  the  other, — that 
 those  are  in  the  one  point  the  most  scrupulous 
 in  straining  off  the  gnat,  who,  in  the  other,  are 
 the  most  ready  to  swallow  the  camel, — this  con- 
 firms what  has  been  above  said  of  the  tendency 
 in  our  nature  towards  a  more  hostile  feeling 
 against  such  as  oppose  or  disavow  our  rehgion, 
 than  against  those  who  disobey  and  scandalize  it. 
 
 And  as  this  tendency  is  altogether  natural, 
 so  it  is,  as  might  have  been  expected,  eminently 
 Romish.  Never  was  there  a  more  prevailing 
 laxity  of  Christian  morals,  even  among  the  very 
 governors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  never  was 
 such  corruption  more  lightly  thought  of  by  her 
 
294 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 zealots,  than  at  the  very  periods  when  She  was 
 occupied  in  suppressing  heresy  with  the  most 
 unrelenting  rigour.  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  who, 
 during  nearly  his  whole  life,  was  setting  his  sub- 
 jects the  example  of  living  in  open  Adultery,  was 
 applauded  to  the  skies  by  a  Christian  preacher, 
 for  his  piety  in  having  burned,  gibbetted,  racked, 
 or  driven  into  exile,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  his 
 Protestant  subjects.^ 
 
 If  we  would  be  really  safe  from  the  danger  of 
 committing  faults  of  a  like  character  with  those 
 which  we  regard  with  abhorrence  in  others,  we 
 must  seek  that  safety  in  self-distrust — in  a  vigilant 
 suspicion  of  the  human  heart. 
 Supposed       And  those,  it  may  be  added,  are  the  most 
 bility  of     likely  to  be  wanting  in  such  self-distrust,  and 
 inconsist-    consequently  to  fall  into  the  practical  adoption 
 
 ently  right.  .  .      .   ,  .  •  i  i 
 
 of  persecutmg-prmciples,  at  variance  with  the 
 true  spirit  of  Protestantism,  who  are  the  most 
 vehement  in  their  disbelief  of  all  tolerant  senti- 
 ments coming  from  a  Roman-catholic,  and  the 
 
 P  "  Epanchons  nos  cceurs  sur  la  piete  de  Louis  ;  poussons 
 jusqu'au  ciel  nos  acclamations  ....  Vous  avez  extermine 
 les  heretiques  ;  c'est  le  digne  ouvrage  de  votre  regne  ;  e'en  est 
 le  propre  caractere." — Bossuet. 
 
SECT.  8.]  Persecution. 
 
 295 
 
 most  ready  to  stigmatize  them  at  once  as  mere 
 hypocrisy  ;  on  the  ground  that  theological  works 
 containing  persecuting  dogmas  (which  by  the 
 bye  is  the  case  with  Bishop  Jewell's  and  other 
 Protestant  works)  are  retained  and  sanctioned 
 by  Romanist  divines.    They  cannot  therefore,  it 
 is  urged,  consistently  disavow  persecuting-prin- 
 ciples,  without  renouncing  their  allegiance  to 
 their  Church.    But  however  true  this  may  be, 
 do  men  never  act  inconsistently  with  their  princi- 
 ples ?    And  since  we  see  every  day  how  many 
 men  will  in  practice  depart  from  their  principles 
 for  the  worse,  it  cannot  surely  be  quite  impos- 
 sible that  they  should  sometimes  depart  from 
 them  for  the  better.    Now  those  who  overlook 
 the  proneness  of  mankind  to  inconsistency  are, 
 as  I  have  said,  the  most  likely  to  be  lulled  them- 
 selves into  a  false  security.    Confident  that  a 
 Roman-catholic  must  always  be,  at  least  in  heart, 
 a  persecutor,  because  he  belongs  to  a  Church 
 which  has  sanctioned  persecution,  and  which 
 cannot  acknowledge  an  error,  he  is  likely  to  be 
 equally  confident  that  he  himself  is  in  no  danger 
 of  being  a  persecutor,  because  that  is  at  variance 
 with  Protestant-principles.     But  the  Roman- 
 
296 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  V, 
 
 catholic  reveres,  it  seems,  the  authority  of  such 
 and  such  books,  which  inculcate  persecution  : 
 and  does  not  he  and  every  professed  Christian, 
 revere  the  authority  of  the  New  Testament  ?  and 
 can  any  persecuting  dogmas  be  more  distinctly 
 and  strongly  expressed  than  the  exhortations  of 
 Jesus  and  his  Apostles,  to  peace,  gentleness, 
 forgiveness,  rendering  of  good  for  evil,  and 
 abstinence  from  all  employment  of  the  sword 
 in  his  cause  ?  The  professed  Christian,  who 
 persecutes,  must,  at  any  rate,  be  as  inconsistent 
 as  it  is  possible  to  be,  with  the  principles  he  ac- 
 knowledges. 
 
 The  fact  is,  that  the  disposition  of  the  heart  will 
 always  in  practice  predominate  either  for  the 
 better  or  the  worse,  over  the  professed  creed ; 
 which  men  will  always  continue  somehow  or  other 
 to  explain  away  (before  they  formally  renounce 
 it)  when  at  variance  with  their  habitual  temper. 
 Without  the  sedulous  cultivation  of  a  Christian 
 spirit,  no  doctrinal  system  can  afford  any  security 
 against  the  natural  tendency  to  persecution. 
 
 Antichris-  §  9.  For  it  is  to  Human  Nature  we  must  trace, 
 persecute,  both  this,  and  many  other  of  those  evils,  which 
 
SECT.  9.J 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 297 
 
 each  man  is  usually  disposed  to  attribute  to  the 
 particular  system  he  is  opposed  to.  As  the  Pro- 
 testant is  often  inclined  to  look  no  further  than 
 to  Romanism  for  the  origin  of  persecution,  so  is 
 the  Infidel,  to  regard  Christianity  as  the  chief 
 cause  of  it.  But  both  are  mistaken.  I  am  con- 
 vinced that  Atheists,  should  they  ever  become 
 the  predominant  party,  would  persecute  religion. 
 For,  nearly  the  same  causes,  or  others  correspond- 
 ing to  them,  would  exist,  which  have  been  just 
 mentioned  as  generating  especial  hostility  towards 
 those  who  differ  in  faith  from  ourselves.  The 
 Atheists  would  feel  themselves  to  be  regarded  by 
 the  Christians,  not  indeed  as  weak  and  credulous, 
 but  as  perverse  and  profane :  their  confidence 
 again  in  their  own  persuasion  would  be  as  likely 
 to  be  shaken  by  the  Christian,  as  the  Christian's, 
 by  them  :  all  the  human  passions,  in  short,  and 
 all  the  views  of  political  expediency,  which  have 
 ever  tempted  the  Christian  to  persecute,  would 
 have  a  corresponding  operation  with  them. 
 
 Not  that  I  conceive  most  of  them  to  have, 
 themselves,  any  suspicion  of  this,  or  to  be  in- 
 sincere in  their  professed  abhorrence  of  persecu- 
 tion.   As  no  one  wishes  to  persecute,  so,  they 
 
298 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 probably  do  not  anticipate  (under  the  above- 
 mentioned  supposition)  such  a  state  of  things  as 
 would  seem  to  call  for  coercive  measures.  They 
 imagine,  probably,  that  when  they  had  deprived 
 Christian  ministers  of  endowments,  had  pubhcly 
 proclaimed  the  falsity  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
 had  taken  measures  for  promoting  education  and 
 circulating  books  calculated  to  enlighten  the 
 people,  the  whole  system  of  religious  belief  would, 
 gradually  but  speedily,  die  away,  and  be  regarded 
 in  the  same  light  with  tales  of  fairies.  Such 
 doubtless  was  the  notion  of  some,  whom  I  have 
 known  to  express  regret  that  Buonaparte  did  not 
 employ  the  power  he  possessed  in  conferring  so 
 great  a  benefit  on  Society  as  he  might  have 
 done,  "  by  abolishing  Christianity."  They  were 
 thinking,  probably,  of  no  more  active  measures 
 than  the  withholding  of  the  support  and  counte- 
 nance of  government. 
 
 In  such  expectations,  every  one  who  beheves 
 in  Christianity  must  feel  confident  that  they 
 would  be  deceived.  At  first  indeed  appearances 
 probably  would  be  such  as  to  promise  favourably 
 to  their  views.  For,  most  of  those  who  profess 
 Christianity,  merely  for  fashion's  sake,  or  in 
 
SECT.  9.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 299 
 
 compliance  with  the  laws  of  their  country,  would 
 soon  fall  away  ;  and  would  be  followed  by  many 
 of  such  as  wanted  firmness  to  support  ridicule, 
 or  the  disfavour  of  those  in  power.  But  after  a 
 time  the  progress  of  irreligion  would  be  found 
 to  have  come  to  a  stand.  When  the  plants  "  on 
 the  stony  ground"  had  been  all  scorched  up, 
 those  "  on  the  good  soil "  would  be  found  still 
 flourishing.  Sincere  Christians  would  remain 
 firm  ;  and  some  probably  would  be  roused  to 
 exert  themselves  even  with  increased  zeal ;  and 
 some  apostates  would  be  reclaimed.  Complaints 
 would  then  be  raised,  that  Christian  preachers 
 decried,  as  profane  and  mischievous,  the  works 
 put  forth  by  authority  ;  and  that  they  represented 
 the  rulers  as  ahens  from  God,  and  men  whose 
 example  should  be  shunned.  Those  indeed  who 
 had  imbibed  the  true  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  would 
 not  fail  to  inculcate,  after  the  example  of  the 
 Apostles,  the  duty  of  submission  even  to  unchris- 
 tian magistrates ;  but  it  is  not  unlikely  that  some 
 would  even  take  a  contrary  course,  and  would 
 thus  help  to  bring  the  imputation  of  sedition  on 
 Christian  preaching  universally. 
 
 The  rabble  again,  would  be  likely  occasionally 
 
300 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 to  assail  with  tumultuous  insult  and  outrage,  the 
 Christians  ;  who  would  in  consequence  be  repre- 
 sented by  their  enemies  as  occasioning  these 
 tumults,  especially  if,  as  is  likely,  some  among 
 them  did  not  submit  patiently  to  such  usage,  or 
 even  partly  provoked  it  by  indiscretion.  And 
 however  free  the  generality  of  the  Christians  might 
 be  from  any  just  suspicion  of  a  design  to  resort 
 to  lawless  violence  in  the  cause  of  their  religion, 
 still  it  would  be  evident,  that  a  revival  and  re- 
 newed diffusion  of  Christianity,  such  as  they  were 
 furthering,  must,  after  it  should  reach  a  certain 
 point,  endanger  the  continuance  of  power  in  the 
 hands  then  wielding  it ;  and  that  such  a  change 
 of  rulers  would  put  a  stop  to  the  plans  which 
 had  been  commenced  for  the  amelioration  of 
 Society.  Representing  then,  and  regarding, 
 Christianity  as  the  great  obstacle  to  improve- 
 ment, as  the  fruitful  source  of  civil  dissensions, 
 and  as  involving  disaffection  to  the  then-existing 
 government,  they  would  see  a  necessity  for 
 actively  interfering,  with  a  view,  (not  indeed, 
 like  religious-persecutors,  to  the  salvation  of 
 souls,  but)  to  the  secular  welfare  of  their  sub- 
 jects, and  the  security  and  prosperity  of  the  civil 
 
SECT.  9.]  Persecution.  301 
 
 community.  They  would  feel  themselves  accord- 
 ingly (to  say  nothing  of  any  angry  passions  that 
 might  intrude)  bound  in  duty  to  prohibit  the 
 books,  the  preaching,  and  the  assemblies  of 
 Christians.  The  Christians  would  then,  in  viola- 
 tion of  the  law,  circulate  Bibles  clandestinely, 
 and  hold  their  assemblies  in  cellars,  and  on  se- 
 questered heaths.  Coercion  would  of  course 
 become  necessary  to  repress  these  (as  they 
 would  then  be)  illegal  acts.  And  next  ....  but 
 I  need  not  proceed  any  further  ;  for  I  find  I  have 
 been  giving  almost  an  exact  description  of  the 
 state  of  things  when  the  Christian  Churches 
 were  spreading  in  the  midst  of  Heathenism. 
 And  yet  I  have  only  been  following  up  the  con- 
 jectures, which  no  one  (believing  in  Christianity) 
 could  fail  to  form,  who  was  but  tolerably  ac- 
 quainted with  Human  Nature.  For  "  such 
 transactions,"  says  the  great  historian  of  Greece, 
 take  place,  and  always  will  take  place,  (though 
 varied  in  form,  and  in  degree  of  violence,  by  cir- 
 cumstances,) as  long  as  Human  Nature  remains 
 the  same.'"*  Never  can  we  be  secured  from  the 
 recurrence  of  the  like,  but  by  the  implantation  of 
 
 1  See  Motto. 
 
302 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 some  principle  which  is  able  to  purify,  to  renovate, 
 to  convert  that  nature ;  in  short,  to  "  create 
 Christianity  THE  NEW  MAN.""    Christianity,  often  as  its  name 
 antidote  to  has  been  blazoned  on  the  banners  of  the  per- 
 
 persecution.  „,    .     .  . 
 
 secutor — Christianity,  truly  understood,  as  re- 
 presented in  the  writings  of  its  Founders,  and 
 honestly  applied,  furnishes  a  preventive,  the  only 
 permanently  effectual  preventive,  of  the  spirit  of 
 persecution.  For,  as  with  fraudulent,  so  it  is 
 also  with  coercive,  measures,  employed  in  matters 
 pertaining  to  religion  :  we  must  not  expect  that 
 the  generality  will  be  so  far-sighted,  as  always 
 to  perceive  their  ultimate  inexpediency  in  each 
 particular  case  that  may  occur ;  they  will  be 
 tempted  to  regard  the  pecuUar  circumstances  of 
 this  or  that  emergency  as  constituting  an  ex- 
 ception to  the  general  rule,  and  calling  for  a 
 departure  from  the  general  principle.  Whereas 
 the  plainest  Christian,  when  he  has  once  ascer- 
 tained, as  he  easily  may,  if  he  honestly  consult 
 the  Scriptures,  what  the  will  of  God  is,  in  this 
 point,  will  walk  boldly  forward  in  the  path  of  his 
 duty,  though  he  may  not  see  at  every  turn  whither 
 it  is  leading  him  ;  and  with  full  faith  in  the  divine 
 r  Eph.  iv.  24. 
 
SECT.  9.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 303 
 
 wisdom,  will  be  ready,  in  pious  confidence,  to 
 leave  events  in  the  hands  of  Providence. 
 
 S  10.  I  will  conclude  this  Essay  with  a  brief  what  things 
 
 ^  •'do  not  ne- 
 
 notice  of  some  mistakes  as  to  the  real  character  cessariiy 
 
 imply  a  per- 
 
 of  persecution,  on  the  opposite  side  to  those  secuting 
 
 ^  '  '^^  spirit. 
 
 formerly  mentioned.  For  as  some  may  be  in 
 danger  of  unconsciously  countenancing  perse- 
 cution by  narrowing  too  much  their  notion  of 
 what  it  consists  in,  so  others,  on  the  contrary,  by 
 forming  too  xmde  a  notion  of  it,  may  incur  the 
 opposite  danger  of  comprehending  under  the  head 
 of  persecution  what  does  not  properly  deserve 
 the  title.  Having  already  (§  3.)  spoken  of  the 
 mistakes  as  to  what  Persecution  implies,  it  is  ne- 
 cessary to  mention  the  mistake  as  to  what  implies 
 Persecution. 
 
 I.  There  is  not  necessarih  any  thing  of  the  violence  to 
 
 "  conscience. 
 
 character  of  persecution  in  doing  violence  to 
 a  man's  conscience.  Though  at  the  first  glance 
 this  may  be  a  starthng  paradox,  it  is  evident 
 on  a  moment's  reflection,  that  to  admit,  at  once, 
 and  universally,  the  plea  of  conscience,  would 
 lead  to  the  subversion  of  the  whole  fabric  of 
 society.    To  say  nothing  of  the  false  pleas  which 
 
304 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 would  doubtless  be  set  up,  when  it  was  once 
 understood  that  all  were  to  be  admitted,  there 
 would  be  no  limit  to  the  possible  aberrations  of 
 even  the  sincerely-conscientious.  Some  secta- 
 rians have  a  conscientious  scruple  against  paying 
 tithes,  on  the  ground  that  they  disapprove  of 
 a  hired  Ministry.  Not  that  according  to  the 
 strict  use  of  language  the  Pastors  of  our  Church 
 are  hired  at  all ;  nor  are  the  tithes  paid  by  the 
 farmer,  since  they  only  pass  through  his  hands, 
 allowance  having  been  made  for  them  in  his 
 rent;  and  he  no  more  hires  the  minister  than 
 he  does  his  landlord.'  But  still,  as  is  well 
 known,  the  collection  of  tithes  has  been  com- 
 plained of  as  persecution.  On  much  better 
 grounds  might  the  same  persons  scruple  to  pay 
 taxes ;  (which  they  know  are  employed,  among 
 
 ^  I  have  known  a  striking  instance  of  the  confusion  of 
 thought  resulting  from  inaccuracy  of  language  on  this  point. 
 A  farmer  declared  to  a  friend  of  mine,  that  he  would  not 
 attend  the  ministry  of  ^aid  preachers,  but  would  listen  to 
 them  only  if  they  should  go  forth  like  the  seventy  disciples 
 "  without  scrip  or  purse,"  &e.  He  did  not  recollect  that  in 
 that  case  he  would  have  to  maintain  the  preachers,  who  are 
 now  supported  by  endowments.  The  disciples  were  directed, 
 wherever  they  went,  to  "  eat  and  drink  such  things  as  were 
 set  before  them  ;  for  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire" 
 
SECT.  10.]  Persecution. 
 
 305 
 
 other  purposes,  for  the  keeping  up  of  a  military 
 estabhshment ;)  since  these  really  are  paid,  out 
 of  what  was  before  (which  the  tenth  sheaf  never 
 was)  the  payer's  own  property. 
 
 Some  enthusiasts  again,  in  the  present  day, 
 have  made  it  a  religious  duty  to  desert  their 
 wives  and  families,  when  these  would  not  adopt 
 their  peculiar  tenets.'  Others,  such  as  the 
 ancient  German  Anabaptists,  under  the  pretence 
 that  Christian  men's  goods  are  common,  might 
 incite  their  followers  to  a  general  plunder  of 
 those  who  had  property,  that  the  spoil  might 
 be  thrown  into  a  common  stock.  And  some 
 wild  Millenarians,  like  the  fifth-monarchy-men, 
 might  feel  themselves  bound  in  conscience  to 
 overthrow  all  governments,  as  the  necessary  pre- 
 paration for  the  temporal  reign  of  Christ  on 
 earth.  In  short,  there  is  no  saying  at  what 
 point  the  plea  of  conscience,  if  once  admitted 
 without  further  question,  would  stop.  The  only 
 possible  principle  on  which  we  must  draw  the 
 line,  is,  that  the  Civil  Magistrate,  to  whom  is 
 committed  the  care  of  the  temporal  welfare  of 
 the  Community,  should  interfere  in  those  cases 
 
 t  Fact. 
 7t 
 
306 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 (and  in  those  only)  in  which  the  persons  or  pro- 
 perty of  the  citizens  are  directly  and  confessedly 
 concerned."  I  say  "  directly,"  and  "  confess*- 
 edly,"  because  remotely  and  hy  inference,  every 
 religious  system  may  be  made  out  to  affect  in 
 some  way  the  peace  and  well-being  of  the  Com- 
 munity. There  is,  I  believe,  no  religion  existing, 
 respecting  which  I  have  not  seen  an  elaborate 
 proof  that  it  leads  to  mischievous  consequences 
 in  practice,  and  that  its  professors  are  either 
 likely  to  be,  or,  consistently  with  their  principles, 
 ought  to  be,  the  worse  citizens;  and  again,  I 
 have  seen  the  direct  contrary  inferred  respecting 
 every  one  of  them.  So  that  without  the  limita- 
 tion above  suggested,  there  would  be  an  opening 
 left  for  the  forcible  suppression,  or  for  the  forcible 
 establishment,  by  the  Civil  Magistrate,  of  any 
 religion  whatever. 
 
 "  But  is  the  Civil  Magistrate,"  it  may  be  said, 
 "  to  determine  what  are  the  cases,  that  call 
 for  his  interference  ?  And  if  so,  how  can  any 
 principle  be  laid  down  that  shall  not  leave  him 
 an  opening  to  call  in,  whenever  he  is  so 
 
 1  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  be  Caesar's,  and 
 unto  God  the  things  that  be  God's." 
 
SECT.  10.]  Persecution.  307 
 
 disposed,  the  aid  of  the  civil  sword  ?"  Certainly 
 this  is  not  possible.  Coercive  power  must  be 
 entrusted  to  somebody;  nor  can  those  to  whom 
 it  is  entrusted  be  withheld  from  abusing  it, 
 if  they  are  inchned  to  do  so,  by  any  rule  that  can 
 be  laid  down.  It  is  notorious,  that  the  Scriptures 
 furnish  none  such ;  nor  is  it  possible,  from  the 
 nature  of  things,  that  they  should.  He  who 
 has  the  power,  and  the  will,  to  do  wrong,  will 
 never  be  at  a  loss  for  a  plea  to  justify  himself, 
 even  though  he  should  be  driven  to  maintain 
 (like  the  wolf  in  the  fable)  that  a  stream  flows 
 upwards.  But  my  object  was,  not  to  lay  down 
 a  rule  that  should  preclude  (which  is  impossible) 
 one  who  is  seeking  an  evasion,  from  finding 
 any ;  but  to  point  out  the  principle  which  should 
 govern  the  conscience  of  an  upright  magistrate : 
 viz.  to  protect,  by  coercive  measures  if  necessary, 
 the  peace,  the  lives,  and  the  property  of  his 
 subjects,  and  to  abstain  from  all  coercion  in 
 matters  purely  rehgious.  But  many  persons  are 
 apt  to  conclude,  that  whatever  is  left  to  a  man's 
 discretion,  is  left  to  his  arbitrary  caprice;  and 
 that  he  who  is  responsible  only  to  God,  has  no 
 responsibility  at  all. 
 
 X  2 
 
308  Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 Secular  and  II.  Althougli,  howevcr,  such  is,  on  Christian 
 cai  oflices    principles,  the  hmitation  of  the  Civil  Magistrate's 
 
 combined. 
 
 authority,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  individual 
 holding  such  an  office  should  not  also  be  a  mem- 
 ber, or  an  officer,  of  a  Christian  Church,  pro- 
 vided he  is  careful  not  to  blend  together  the 
 characters  of  a  political  and  a  religious  com- 
 munity. Coercive  means  cannot  suitably  be 
 employed  for  the  propagation  or  the  maintenance 
 of  Christianity  ;  but  there  is  nothing  that,  neces- 
 sarily, goes  to  secularize  the  kingdom  which  is 
 "  not  of  this  world,"  or  that  necessarily  implies 
 the  spirit  of  intolerance,  in  the  possession,  or 
 in  the  exercise,  of  coercive  power  for  other  pur- 
 poses, even  by  a  Christian  Pastor.  Only  there 
 is  the  more  call  for  care  and  discreet  judgment 
 in  cases  where  the  same  individual  has  to  ex- 
 ercise distinct  functions ;  and  especially  if  he  is 
 thus  made  to  stand  in  two  or  more  different 
 relations  to  the  same  men.  Such,  for  instance, 
 is  the  case  where  the  Rector  of  a  parish  is  also  a 
 Justice  of  the  Peace.  Even  if  he  were  so,  not  by 
 an  accidental  appointment,  but  by  virtue  of  some 
 fixed  general  regulation,  still  he  would  be  exer- 
 cising, in  respect  of  the  same  individuals,  two 
 
SECT.  10,] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 309 
 
 distinct  offices,  regulated  by  different  principles, 
 and  concerned  with  distinct  kinds  of  subject- 
 matter.  In  the  same  manner,  if  a  Military-Officer 
 should  chance  to  be  also  a  Magistrate,  this  would 
 not  imply  his  blending  together  the  principles  of 
 martial-law  and  of  common  and  statute-law. 
 So  also  some  kings  or  other  chief-magistrates 
 hold  also  ecclesiastical  supremacy;  some  bishops 
 have  Baronies,  others  Principalities,  annexed  to 
 their  Sees ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Rome  in  par- 
 ticular has  long  been  a  considerable  temporal 
 Sovereign. 
 
 With  respect  to  that  Church,  it  is  worth  re- 
 marking, that  the  persecution  and  the  other 
 enormities  with  which  it  has  been  justly  charged, 
 have  led  many  of  those  who  have  renounced  it, 
 to  blend  together  confusedly  in  their  thoughts 
 all  things  that  in  any  way  pertain  to  it. 
 Whereas  in  truth,  many  parts  of  the  Romish 
 system,  even  such  as  are  in  themselves  utterly 
 indefensible,  have  no  necessary  connexion  with 
 each  other,  or  with  Rome.  Her  usurped  Su- 
 premacy, for  instance,  and  her  false  Doctrines, 
 are  two  distinct  faults ;  the  latter  of  which  is  so 
 far  from  being  necessarily  connected  with  the 
 
310 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 Church  of  Rome,  that  She  scarcely  differs  at  all 
 in  doctrine  from  the  Greek  Church. 
 
 And  with  respect  to  the  point  now  before  us, 
 let  it  be  supposed,  (and  the  supposition,  however 
 unlikely  to  be  realized,  is  perfectly  conceivable,) 
 that  the  Pope  had,  in  respect  of  his  Diocese,  pro- 
 ceeded on  Christian  principles,  and  in  respect  of 
 his  Principality,  had  protected  the  civil  rights  of 
 his  subjects,  leaving  every  one  to  exercise  his 
 own  religion  without  molestation,  as  long  as  the 
 temporal  peace  and  security  of  the  community 
 remained  undisturbed  : — if,  I  say,  he  had  always 
 acted  thus,  as  two  distinct  persons,  it  cannot  be 
 maintained,  that  this  state  of  things  would  have 
 introduced  any  thing  approaching  to  a  perse- 
 cuting spirit — any  thing  savouring  of  that  secular 
 coercion  which  amounts  to  intolerance,  and  is  at 
 variance  with  the  character  of  Christ's  kingdom. 
 
 The  question  then  respecting  such  a  union,  of 
 civil  office  with  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  office, 
 in  the  same  individual,  becomes  one  of  mere 
 expediency ;  and  one  which  of  course  will  vary 
 in  its  complexion,  according  to  the  circumstances 
 of  each  country  or  period.  What  we  are  at  pre- 
 sent concerned  with  is,  merely  to  determine  what 
 
SECT.  10.]  Persecution. 
 
 311 
 
 does  or  does  not  involve  the  principle  of  perse- 
 cution ;  i.  e.  the  employment  or  the  denounce- 
 ment of  coercion  in  matters  of  religion. 
 
 III.  There  is  nothing,  necessarily,  of  the  spirit  wi.hhoid- 
 
 ing  oil 
 
 of  persecution  in  a  man's  requiring  his  servants,  religious 
 
 grounds 
 
 or  his  tenants,  or  the  tradesmen  he  deals  with,  any  thing 
 
 to  which  a 
 
 or  all  that  associate  with  him,  to  be  pious  cha-  i'^^ 
 
 ^  no  previous 
 
 racters,  or  to  be  of  his  own  rehgious  persuasion  •''s'"- 
 or  practice,  even  down  to  the  minutest  particu- 
 lars :  I  mean,  of  course,  supposing  him  not  to 
 disappoint  any  expectations  that  may  reasonably 
 have  been  formed ;  for  reasonable  expectation 
 is  a  ground  of  equitable  right.  This  is  so  evi- 
 dent, that  it  would  not  have  needed  being 
 mentioned,  but  that  we  are  so  liable  to  have  our 
 thoughts  insensibly  led  astray  by  language.''  We 
 hear,  for  instance,  of  a  man's  being  compelled  to 
 adopt  this  or  that  form  of  religion,  as  a  condition 
 of  being  in  such-a-one's  service,  or  of  obtaining 
 a  renewal  of  a  lease ;  and  we  are  thence  liable 
 to  forget,  what  is  plain  as  soon  as  we  reflect  on 
 it,  that  this  is  not  absolute  compulsion,  since  it 
 interferes  with  no  man's  natural,  or  previously 
 
 ^  Elements  of  Logic,  chap.  iii.  §  5. 
 
312 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 existing,  rights;^  and  that  to  prohibit  such  a 
 procedure  would  be  an  interference  with  the 
 right  of  the  other  "  to  do  what  he  will  with  his 
 own."  Such  a  mode  of  conduct  as  I  have  been 
 alluding  to,  might  indeed  be  carried  to  such  a 
 length,  as  justly  to  incur  the  censure  of  indis- 
 cretion— of  bigotry — of  ilhberality  ;  it  might  be 
 such  as  even  to  indicate  in  the  individual  a  dis- 
 position^ which  would  lead  him  to  persecute  if 
 he  had  the  power ;  but  still  it  would  not  in  itself 
 involve  the  principle  of  persecution. 
 
 The  same  reasoning  will  apply  to  the  case  of 
 the  exclusion  from  certain  endowments  of  one 
 not  belonging  to  the  Church  for  whose  benefit 
 they  are  designed.    A  man  is  said  to  be  com- 
 
 y  I  cannot  but  think,  however,  that  there  is  ground  of  com- 
 plaint when  a  man  cannot  obtain  his  rights,  whether  those  to 
 which  all  men  are  entitled  by  nature,  or  those  of  the  citizens 
 of  his  particular  community,  without  either  taking  some  oath, 
 or  going  through  some  other  religious  ceremony,  against  which 
 he  has  a  conscientious  scruple.  A  special  indulgence  has 
 been  granted  to  the  Quakers  in  respect  of  oaths  and  the  mar- 
 riage-service ;  but  if  this  was  reasonable  in  principle,  I  cannot 
 see  why  the  principle  should  not  have  been  recognized,  and 
 acted  upon  uniformly. 
 
 *  See  above,  §  3.  subsect.  I.  of  this  Essay. 
 
SECT.  10.]  Persecution.  313 
 
 pelled  to  subscribe  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  if 
 he  would  hold  a  Church-hving,  or  a  Fellowship : 
 he  is  compelled  to  be  a  Presbyterian,  if  he  would 
 hold  the  office  of  Minister  at  a  Presbyterian 
 chapel,  &c.  So  also  in  order  to  obtain  a  Degree, 
 he  must  have  kept  certain  academical  terms,  and 
 must  undergo  an  examination  in  certain  pre- 
 scribed branches  of  learning ;  nay,  in  order  to 
 hold  a  Scholarship  on  some  particular  founda- 
 tions, he  must  be  a  native  of  a  certain  district ; 
 and  if  he  would  retain  his  situation,  he  must 
 remain  unmarried.  It  is  evident  on  a  moment's 
 reflection,  that  though  we  use  in  such  cases  the 
 words  "  must,"  "  obliged,"  "  forced,"  &c.  all  this 
 has  nothing  to  do  with  absolute  coercion.^ 
 
 On  the  same  principle  it  may  be  maintained, 
 that  there  is  nothing,  necessarily,  of  the  charac- 
 ter of  intolerance,  in  precluding  those  who  are 
 not  members  of  a  particular  Church  from  having 
 any  share  in  legislating  for  that  Church,  in  re- 
 spect of  matters  of  a  purely  spiritual  or  ecclesi- 
 astical character.  Indeed  to  admit  them  to 
 such  a  share,  is  a  manifest  anomaly  and  incon- 
 
 »  See  Appendix  to  Elements  of  Logic  ;  article  "  Necessary." 
 
314 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 sistency ;  though  one  which  may  sometimes  be, 
 in  practice,  unavoidable,  or  insignificant.  That 
 none  but  Quakers,  for  instance,  or  Methodists, 
 have  a  voice  in  the  general  Assembhes  of 
 Quakers,  or  of  Methodists,  respectively,  is  so 
 far  from  being  at  all  to  be  complained  of  as 
 savouring  of  an  intolerant  spirit,  that,  on  the 
 contrary,  as  long  as  they  confine  themselves  to 
 matters  exclusively  religious,  they  would  justly 
 regard  the  interference  of  those  not  belonging 
 to  their  sect,  as  a  violation  of  the  principle  of 
 toleration.  And  the  anomahj  is  in  itself  just  as 
 real,  whether  in  practice  it  lead  to  the  most 
 important  or  the  most  trifling  results; — whether, 
 for  instance,  a  majority  of  the  Assembly  which 
 governs  a  particular  Church,  be  of  a  different 
 persuasion,  or  whether  one  single  Roman-Catho- 
 lic or  Dissenter  have  a  voice  in  the  election  of  a 
 member  of  that  Assembly.'' 
 
 b  Some  are  apt  to  express  themselves  as  if  the  anomaly 
 consisted  merely  in  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome  legislat- 
 ing for  a  Protestant  Church.  Suppose  that  some  particular 
 description  of  Protestants,  or,  if  you  will,  that  all  Protestants, 
 are  more  pure  in  their  faith — less  dangerous  in  their  principles 
 — less  hostile  to  our  Church — than  the  Romanists  ;  still  the 
 
SECT.  10.]  Persecution. 
 
 315 
 
 But  then,  it  may  be  said,  if  it  so  happen  (as  is 
 the  case  among  us  in  practice,  though  not  by 
 original  appointment,  according  to  the  theory  of 
 the  constitution,  and  early  usage'')  that  the  As- 
 sembly, which  alone  exercises  the  right  of  legis- 
 lating for  the  Church,  in  all  matters,  is  also 
 
 question  remains  the  same,  what  has  any  man  to  do  with  the 
 regulations  of  a  Church  he  does  not  belong  to  ? 
 
 But  some  persons  are  even  accustomed  to  speak  of  "  the 
 Protestant  religion,"  and  even  of  "  the  Protestant  Church," 
 without  reflecting  whether  there  are  any  such  things,  or  whe- 
 ther they  are  employing  words  without  any  distinct  meaning. 
 
 Dr.  Hawkins,  I  am  happy  to  find,  has  forestalled  me  in 
 part  of  this  remark.  "  The  term  '  Protestant,'  when  it  de- 
 notes a  member  of  one  of  the  Western  Churches  who  is  free 
 from  Romish  error,  is  merely  a  term  of  convenience.  It 
 may  be  employed  perhaps  with  little  regard  to  history  or 
 etymology  ;  but  it  answers  its  intended  purpose,  and  it  does 
 no  barm.  Not  so,  such  a  phrase  as  '  the  Protestant  religion.' 
 The  very  expression,  whenever  it  is  not  evidently  synonymous 
 with  '  the  religion  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  England,'  im- 
 plies inattention  to  the  fact,  that  there  is  no  one  religion 
 common  to  Protestants  as  contradistinguished  from  the  Ro- 
 manists ;  and  it  tends  to  throw  a  veil  over  another  important 
 fact,  that  the  creeds  of  certain  Protestant  sects  are  far  more 
 remote  than  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome  from  the  truth  of  the 
 Gospel."    Sermon  preached  at  Maldon,  p.  6. 
 
 «  See  Field's  work  on  Church  Government. 
 
316 
 
 Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 the  supreme  legislating-body  in  secular  concerns; 
 does  it  not  savour  of  intolerance  to  exclude,  by 
 a  test-law,  from  such  an  Assembly,  or  from 
 electing  those  who  are  to  sit  in  it,  men  otherwise 
 qualified  ?  Granted  that  they  have  nothing  to 
 do  with  the  internal  regulations  of  a  Church  to 
 which  they  do  not  belong ;  the  same  cannot  be 
 said  of  the  taxes  imposed,  and  the  laws  enacted, 
 by  that  same  Assembly.  In  despotic  countries, 
 indeed,  the  people  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
 taxes,  but  to  pay  them,  or  with  the  laws,  but  to 
 submit  to  them  :  but  in  a  free  country,  it  cannot 
 be  maintained,  that  to  preclude  from  all  share  in 
 legislating,  or  in  appointing  legislators,  in  secular 
 matters,  one  who  is  not  disqualified  in  respect  of 
 that  particular  branch  of  business,  does  not  de- 
 prive him  of  any  of  his  rights ;  or  that  it  is  not 
 as  great  an  anomaly  as  to  admit  him  to  interfere 
 in  Church-matters  in  respect  of  which  he  is  dis- 
 qualified. 
 
 Such  are,  in  the  abstract,  the  conflicting  diffi- 
 culties in  the  case.  It  is  as  if  a  man  should  put 
 in  an  equitable  claim  to  a  house,  some  parts  of 
 which  are  confessedly  none  of  his  ;  or  to  a  piece 
 of  land,  on  which  there  are  buildings  erected,  to 
 
SRCT.  10.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 317 
 
 which  he  has  no  right.  The  problem,  to  keep 
 clear  of  both  of  these  opposite  anomalies,  has 
 not,  I  think,  yet  been  solved;''  nor  has  it,  I 
 think,  hitherto  been  generally  contemplated  with 
 sufficient  clearness  and  steadiness  to  allow  of  a 
 fair  trial,  whether  it  can  be  solved  or  not :  though 
 about  thirty  years  ago  steps  began  to  be  taken 
 with  a  view  to  the  practical  adjustment  of  the 
 difficulties.  My  object  in  touching  upon  the 
 question  at  present  is  no  more  than,  (confining 
 myself  to  the  proper  topics  of  this  work,)  to  point 
 
 It  ought  to  be  mentioned,  in  justice  to  Sir  Wilmot  Horton, 
 that  he  is  one  of  the  few  persons  who  have  seen  and  fairly 
 met  the  difficulty.  I  cannot  but  think  indeed,  that,  according 
 to  his  scheme,  (see  "  Protestant  Securities,")  other  difficulties 
 would  have  arisen,  in  the  practical  adjustment  of  the  ques- 
 tions as  to  each  measure,  whether  it  concerned  the  Church 
 only,  or  affected  also  the  property  and  civil  rights  of  the  Com- 
 munity. Still,  he  seems  to  have  fixed  on  the  right  principle; 
 which  might,  I  should  think,  by  some  contrivance  or  other, 
 have  been  adapted  to  practice.  At  least  the  main  objection 
 usually  alleged  against  his  proposal,  that  it  would  constitute 
 in  fact  two  legislative  assemblies  for  two  distinct  branches  of 
 legislation,  has  always  appeared  to  me  its  chief  recommend- 
 ation. The  distribution  of  the  several  offices  among  the 
 several  Ministers  of  State,  viz.  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
 Secretary  for  the  Home  Department — for  Foreign  Affairs,  &c. 
 is  open  to  the  same  objection. 
 
318 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 out  in  what  relation  that  question  stands  to  the 
 subject  of  the  present  chapter.^ 
 Self-defense.  IV.  Lastly,  there  is  nothing,  necessarily,  of 
 intolerance,  in  protecting,  by  coercive  means  if 
 needful,  the  professors  of  any  religion,  against 
 violence  or  plunder,  disturbance  to  their  re- 
 ligious meetings,  insult,  libel,  or  any  other  such 
 molestation,  from  those  of  an  adverse  party. 
 Such  protection  is  so  far  from  being  at  variance 
 with  the  principles  above  laid  down,  that  it  is 
 an  application  of  them.  It  is  not  persecution, 
 but  the  prevention  of  persecution.  For  lawless 
 and  irregular  outrage  has  not,  for  that  reason, 
 
 «  I  have  alluded  merely  to  the  grant  to  Roman-catholics 
 of  the  elective  franchise,  and  to  the  suspension  of  the  operation 
 of  the  test-law  for  excluding  Dissenters,  because  in  these 
 consisted  the  anomaly,  which  alone  it  is  for  my  present 
 purpose  to  treat  of.  As  for  the  greater  or  less  political  danger 
 of  any  of  the  measures  subsequently  proposed  or  adopted,  it 
 would  be  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  the  present  work  to  enter 
 on  the  discussion  of  these,  or  any  other,  political  questions. 
 Whether  it  were  a  safer  course  to  leave  the  test-law  dormant, 
 or  formally  to  repeal  it — to  confine  the  Roman-Catholic  electors 
 to  the  choice  of  a  Protestant  representative,  or  to  leave  them 
 at  liberty  to  elect  one  of  their  own  persuasion — these,  and  all 
 such  questions  of  political  expediency,  I  pass  by,  as  not  pro^ 
 perly  connected  with  the  matter  in  hand. 
 
SECT.  10.]  Persecution. 
 
 319 
 
 the  less  of  the  character  of  persecution  ;  and  the 
 unauthorized  cruelties  of  the  people  were,  we 
 may  be  sure,  among  the  severest  trials  the  early 
 Christians  had  to  undergo.  And  yet  there  are 
 some  persons  who  are  ready  to  denounce  as  per- 
 secuting, every  system  which  does  not  leave 
 them  at  liberty  to  persecute  others. 
 
 It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  when 
 the  religion,  in  behalf  of  which  the  Civil  Ma- 
 gistrate has  been  driven  to  interfere,  happens 
 to  be  his  own,  he  will  be  strongly  tempted  not  to 
 stop  short  at  measures  of  mere  immediate  self- 
 defense,  but  to  take  what  will  seem  the  effectual 
 step,  of  putting  down  altogether  the  hostile  party. 
 
 To  guard  against  overstepping  the  proper  line 
 of  procedure  in  this  matter,  and  also  to  decide 
 on  what  occasions  the  appeal  to  the  interference 
 of  the  Civil  power  is  not  only  justifiable,  but 
 expedient  also,  are  points  which  must,  in  each 
 particular  instance,  be  left  to  the  head  and  the 
 heart  of  each  individual.  General  principles 
 may  be  sketched  out ;  but  there  can  be  none  that 
 will  teach  their  own  application,  or  supersede  the 
 exercise  of  practical  good  sense,  cautious  delibe- 
 ration, and  Christian  candour. 
 
320 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 [essay  v. 
 
 Danger  of      It  may  bc  worth  while,  however,  to  observe, 
 
 mistaking     .  ,      .  ,  .  ... 
 
 oui  own     in  conclusion,  how  important  it  is  always  to 
 
 honour  for  .  .     ,      ,  i  i  •  i 
 
 God's       keep  in  mind,  that  the  Cross  which  our  Master 
 
 honour. 
 
 and  his  Apostles  bore  so  meekly,  our  proud 
 nature  strongly  impels  us  to  refuse,  whenever  we 
 can,  by  any  means  whatsoever,  avoid  it.  We  are 
 tempted  to  admire  at  a  distance,  while  we  revolt 
 at  the  thought  of  copying,  their  patience  under 
 calumny  and  derision,  and  every  kind  of  provo- 
 cation. And,  what  is  more,  this  pride  of  the 
 human  heart  is  apt  to  disguise  itself  to  our 
 conscience  under  the  appearance  of  piety.  We 
 are  in  danger,  I  mean,  of  regarding  as  zeal  for 
 God's  honour,  what  is  perhaps,  in  truth,  rather, 
 zeal  for  our  own  honour.  He  who  does  but 
 reject  our  faith,  implies,  as  I  have  observed 
 above,  something  affronting  to  ourselves ;  much 
 more,  if  he  slander  and  insult  us  for  maintaining 
 it :  and  it  is  from  this  cause  that  we  are  prone 
 to  feel  greater  indignation  at  such  conduct,  than 
 at  the  equal  affront  offered  to  God  by  those  who 
 acknowledge  his  claim,  while  in  their  hves  they 
 habitually  disregard  it,  to  their  love,  gratitude, 
 veneration,  and  obedience.  But  yet,  as  every 
 one  who  insults  us  on  account  of  our  religion. 
 
SECT.  10,]  Persecution.  321 
 
 does  by  so  doing  insult  that  religion  itself,  we 
 are  likely  to  flatter  ourselves  that  this  last  is 
 the  sole  ground  of  our  indignation  ;  when  in  fact, 
 perhaps,  our  personal  feelings  have  a  great  share 
 in  it. 
 
 But  we  must  not  expect,  till  the  Church 
 militant  is  exchanged  for  the  Church  triumphant, 
 that  Christ's  devoted  followers  will  have  no  Cross 
 to  bear,  or  that  they  will  encounter  no  opposition 
 or  molestation  from  his  enemies.  At  least,  till 
 the  World,  even  what  is  called  the  Christian 
 World,  shall  have  become  much  more  imbued 
 with  the  spirit  of  Christianity  than  it  ever  has 
 been  yet,  our  Lord's  warnings  to  his  disciples 
 must  be  regarded  as  in  some  degree  applicable 
 to  us :  "  If  the  World  hate  you,  ye  know  that 
 it  hated  Me  before  it  hated  you  .  .  .  because  ye 
 are  not  of  the  World,  therefore  the  World  hateth 
 you."  The  Christian  who  is  steady  and  un- 
 shrinking, and  active  in  his  Master's  cause, 
 though  it  is  his  duty  not  wantonly  to  provoke 
 obloquy  and  opposition,  by  any  indiscreet  or 
 violent  conduct,  yet  must  not  expect  always  to 
 escape  such  mortifications;  and  he  should  be 
 prepared  so  to  meet  them,  as  to  shew  how  far 
 
322  Persecution.  [essay  v. 
 
 beyond  "the  praise  of  men"  he  prizes  the  ap- 
 probation of  Him  "  who  seeth  in  secret." 
 Patient  Still,  cases  may  undoubtedly  occur,  in  which 
 thesafeside.  jt  will  be  our  right  and  our  duty  to  use  means 
 for  protecting  ourselves  or  others,  against  law- 
 less aggression.  No  rule,  as  I  have  said,  can  be 
 laid  down,  which  will  supersede  the  exercise  of 
 a  sound  and  unbiassed  judgment,  for  deciding  in 
 each  particular  instance  whether  it  is  allowable 
 and  advisable  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  secular  arm 
 for  the  protection  of  the  professors  of  religion. 
 The  right  medium,  says  the  great  Master  of 
 ancient  moralists,  must  be  fixed  in  each  parti- 
 cular instance  by  each  man's  discretion :  but  he 
 proceeds  to  give  the  best  general  caution  that 
 can  be  supplied  ;  viz.  to  lean  always  towards 
 the  safer  side ;  ever  avoiding  the  more  sedulously 
 the  w^orse  extreme,  and  regarding  that  as  the 
 worse,  to  which  we  are  by  nature  the  more 
 prone.^  On  this  principle,  we  should  always,  in 
 respect  of  any  matters  connected  with  our  reli- 
 gion, be  more  willing  to  have  it  asked,  why  we 
 do  not,  than  why  we  do,  resort  to  the  aid  of  the 
 Civil  power. 
 
 ^  Arist.  Eth.  b.  ii.  ch.  9. 
 
SECT.  10.] 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 323 
 
 And  even  when  we  have  fully  determined  what 
 procedure  is  in  itself  right,  we  must  be  still 
 watchful  over  our  own  heart,  subjecting  our 
 motives  to  the  severest  scrutiny,  and  taking  care 
 that  we  do  not  inwardly  applaud  and  sanctify  in 
 our  own  eyes,  as  a  virtuous  jealousy  for  God's 
 glory,  what  may  be  in  reality  chiefly  a  regard  for 
 our  own  credit,  and  a  tenderness  for  our  own 
 ease  and  comfort. 
 
 y2 
 
i 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Note  A,  page  254. 
 
 Grotius,  speaking  of  the  establishment  of  the  reformed 
 Religion  by  the  States  of  Holland,  says,  "  Recepta  pub- 
 lice  disciplina  quae  Genevae,  et  in  Palitinatu  Germanise, 
 passimque  alibi,  docebatur:  hoc  taraen  interest,  quod 
 ejusdem  religionis  alii,  diversas  minus  tolerant:  Quippe, 
 non  in  hoc  tantum  ordinatas  a  Deo  Civitates  ac  Magis- 
 tratus  dictantes  ut  a  Corporibus  et  Possessionibus  injuriae 
 abessent,  sed  ut  quo  more.  Ipse  jussisset,  eo,  in  commune 
 coleretur;  cujus  officii  negligentes,  multos,  pcenam 
 aliorum  impietati  debitam,  in  se  accercisse.  Contra, 
 istse  nationes,"  &c.  The  Dutch  States  regarded  the 
 maintaining  of  a  false  religion,  as  a  sin  only,  not  a  C7-ime ; 
 (according  to  the  distinction  so  ably  drawn  by  Bishop 
 Warburton ;)  and  consequently  as  not  coming  within  the 
 province  of  the  civil  magistrate:  while  others,  misled 
 probably,  as  men  so  often  and  so  easily  are,  by  the  cir- 
 cumstance that  in  very  many  cases  the  same  act  will  be 
 both  a  sin  and  a  crime,  confounded  the  two  together; 
 and  regarding  it  the  duty  of  the  magistrate,  as  entrusted 
 with  the  care  of  his  subjects'  pood,  generally,  to  enforce 
 
Notes, 
 
 325 
 
 every  thing  conducive  to  what  seemed  to  him  their  good, 
 concluded  that  the  toleration  of  religious-error  would  be 
 as  unjustifiable  as  the  toleration  of  theft.  Yet  all  this 
 does  not  imply  their  conviction  of  the  absolute  impos- 
 sibility of  salvation  to  one  infected  with  religious-error. 
 
 Some  of  my  readers  may  perhaps  imagine,  that  these 
 notions,  though  prevalent  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago, 
 have  been  long  since  obsolete  among  Protestants.  But 
 the  following  passages,  breathing  the  same  spirit,  are 
 extracted  from  a  work  which  received  the  sanction  of  a 
 large  and  influential  body  of  Protestants  within  the  pre- 
 sent century.  "  Man  is  a  compounded  Being,  not  more 
 impelled  to  seek  his  temporal  advantage,  than  bound  to 
 pursue  his  eternal  interests.  Must  not  the  State  look  to 
 him  in  both  conditions ;  and  as  far  as  possible  assist  its 
 individual  members  in  the  attainment  of  both  ?  Is  not 
 the  Sovereign  to  rule  for  the  greatest  good  of  the  whole  ? 
 And  can  he  leave  out  any  part  of  that  which  constitutes 
 their  greatest  good?  Is  he  not  again  bound  by  the  duty 
 which  he  owes  to  God,  so  to  govern  his  people  as  to 
 enable  them  best  to  obey  the  will  of  the  great  common 
 Sovereign  of  all  ?  Must  he  not  then  secure  for  his  sub- 
 jects the  best  aids  of  Religion  ? "  (On  this  principle  I 
 cannot  conceive  how  the  Sovereign  can  be  justified  in 
 affording  toleration  to  any,  that  he  thinks,  religious 
 errors,  or  in  abstaining  from  suppressing  them  by  the 
 sword,  if  milder  means  fail ;  even  as  he  would  theft,  or 
 murder.)  "  In  truth,  every  separation  of  divine  and 
 human  things  is  a  rejection  of  Providence."  (The  pre- 
 cept of  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  be  Caesar's, 
 
326 
 
 Notes. 
 
 and  unto  God  the  things  that  be  God's,"  seems  rather  at 
 variance  with  this.)  "  I  should  not  have  dwelt  so  long 
 upon  so  plain  a  proposition  as  that  which  affirms  it  to  be 
 the  duty  of  the  Sovereign  to  provide  a  true  religion  for 
 his  people,"  (this  must  imply,  conformably  with  the  fore- 
 going principles,  the  prohibition  of  all  false  ones,)  "  but 
 that,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  it  is  a  maxim  which  hangs 
 but  loosely  on  the  minds  of  many  in  the  present  day." 
 
 Whether  the  writer  really  meant  to  adopt  the  conclu- 
 sion which  inevitably  follows  from  his  principles,  or 
 whether  he  was  merely  designing  to  advocate  what  is 
 commonly  understood  by  "  an  established  religion,"  I  do 
 not  presume,  nor  is  it  important,  to  determine.  Certainly 
 the  fallacy  of  proving  too  much,  is  one  of  those  which  are 
 the  most  apt  to  slip  in  unperceived.  It  is  remarkable, 
 however,  that  he  proceeds  to  censure,  not  merely  the 
 enemies  of  a  religious  establishment,  but  also  some 
 of  "  those  who  admit  the  lawfulness  and  necessity  of 
 an  establishment ;"  including,  particularly,  Warburton ; 
 whom  he  describes  as  "  feeling  no  concern  for  the  truth 
 of  the  religion  which  he  calls  to  his  aid,"  and  as  repre- 
 senting that  there  is  "  no  difference  between  false  and 
 true  religion  in  their  influence  on  Society !"  This  is  the 
 inference  drawn  from  Warburton's  just  and  undeniable 
 remark,  that,  in  discussing  questions  respecting  the  esta- 
 blishment of  a  religion  by  the  civil  magistrate,  we  must 
 waive  the  question  as  to  the  truth  of  each,  because  each 
 man  will  of  course  regard  his  own  as  the  true  one,  and 
 there  is  no  appeal  to  any  authority  on  earth  to  decide 
 between  the  different  Sovereigns.   Whether  Warburton's 
 
Notes. 
 
 327 
 
 views  are  correct  or  not,  (which  it  is  not  my  present  object 
 to  inquire,)  so  gross  a  misrepresentation  of  him  is  neither 
 fair  nor  wise. 
 
 But  the  writer  from  whom  I  have  made  these  extracts 
 might,  consistently,  (and  this  is  the  point  which  is  important 
 to  my  present  view,)  hold  the  possibility  of  salvation  of 
 one,  whose  religious  persuasion  differed  from  his  own : 
 how  he  could,  consistently,  admit  of  toleration^  I  cannot 
 conceive.  And  what  I  am  now  occupied  in  pointing  out 
 is,  the  non-connexion  of  these  two  things,  which  are  so 
 often  confounded. 
 
 Note  B,  pages  276,  284. 
 
 "  Christians  must  generally,  it  would  seem,  believe  in 
 Christ,  because  their  spiritual  rulers  do,  and  reject  the  infi- 
 del's views,  because  these  people  are  pronounced  accursed. 
 Nay,  the  supposition  of  the  clergy  themselves  having  the 
 qualification,  and  the  opportunity  to  go  through  the 
 process  of  proof,  is  only  a  supposition.  They  often  want 
 either  or  both ;  and  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  not 
 be  so.  The  labour  of  a  life  is  scarcely  sufficient  to 
 examine  for  one's  self  one  branch  alone  of  such  evidence. 
 For  the  greater  part,  few  men,  however  learned,  have 
 satisfied  themselves  by  going  through  the  proof.  They 
 have  admitted  the  main  assertions,  because  proved  by 
 others. 
 
 "  And  is  this  conviction  then  reasonable  ?  Is  it  more 
 than  the  adoption  of  truth  on  the  authority  of  another? 
 It  is.    The  principle  on  which  all  these  assertions  are 
 
328 
 
 Notci 
 
 received,  is  not  that  they  have  been  made  by  this  or  that 
 credible  individual  or  body  of  persons,  who  have  gone 
 through  the  proof — this  may  have  its  weight  with  the 
 critical  and  learned — but  the  main  principle  adopted  by 
 all,  intelligible  by  all,  and  reasonable  in  itself,  is,  that 
 these  assertions  are  set  forth,  bearing  on  their  face  a 
 challenge  of  refutation.  The  assertions  are  like  witnesses 
 placed  in  a  box  to  be  confronted.  Scepticism,  infidelity, 
 and  scoffing,  form  the  very  groundwork  of  our  faith. 
 As  long  as  these  are  known  to  exist  and  to  assail  it,  so 
 long  are  we  sure  that  any  untenable  assertion  may  and 
 will  be  refuted.  The  benefit  accruing  to  Christianity  in 
 this  respect  from  the  occasional  success  of  those  who 
 have  found  flaws  in  the  several  parts  of  evidence  is  in- 
 valuable. We  believe  what  is  not  disproved,  most 
 reasonably,  because  we  know  that  there  are  those  abroad 
 who  are  doing  their  utmost  to  disprove  it.  We  believe 
 the  witness,  not  because  we  know  him  and  esteem  him, 
 but  because  he  is  confronted,  cross-examined,  suspected, 
 and  assailed  by  arts  fair  and  unfair.  It  is  not  his  autho- 
 rity, but  the  reasonableness  of  the  case.  It  becomes 
 conviction  well  grounded,  and  not  assent  to  man's 
 words.'' — London  Review,''  No.  II.  pp.  361,  362. 
 
 And  so  likewise,  on  other  subjects  also,  a  well-grounded 
 belief  may  be  based  on  premises  whose  truth  we  have 
 not  and  could  not  have  ascertained  for  ourselves,  by  per- 
 sonal investigation ;  and  which  again  we  do  not  take  on 
 
 a  Published  by  Saunders  and  Ottley,  1829.  Another  periodical 
 has  since  appeared  under  the  same  title,  but  perfectly  distinct  in 
 everything  else, 
 
Notes. 
 
 329 
 
 trust  from  the  testimony  of  those  whom  we  have  chosen 
 to  follow  implicitly,  but  which  we  believe  on  uncontra- 
 dicted testimony,  inasmuch  as  the  statements  in  question 
 are  open  to  every  one's  investigation,  and  would,  we  are 
 sure,  be  impugned  by  many,  if  they  were  at  all  doubtful. 
 The  distance  of  the  earth,  for  instance,  from  the  sun,  is 
 believed,  and  believed  on  good  grounds,  by  many  who 
 are  incompetent  to  make  the  requisite  observations  and 
 calculations  for  themselves ;  not  on  the  bare  authority  of 
 certain  astronomers,  but  on  the  tacit  confirmation  of  this 
 by  all  the  rest ;  many  of  whom  would,  we  are  sure,  be 
 glad  to  be  able  to  rectify,  if  they  could,  any  error  into 
 which  their  rivals  in  the  pursuit  of  scientific  fame  might 
 have  fallen. 
 
 It  is  important  however  to  observe  that  although 
 secular  interference  tends  to  impair,  more  or  less,  this 
 evidence,  yet  most  of  the  points  which  are  thus,  and  thus 
 only,  capable  of  being  verified  by  the  mass  of  mankind, 
 are  of  such  a  description  as  to  admit  of  being  freely  dis- 
 cussed (as  in  fact  they  have  been)  even  in  Countries 
 where  an  avowed  attack  on  Christianity  would  be  pro- 
 hibited (and  that  prohibition  enforced)  by  the  law.  For 
 instance,  the  existence  and  antiquity  of  certain  Greek, 
 Latin,  and  Hebrew  manuscripts — the  fidelity  of  trans- 
 lations— the  testimonies  of  ancient  Pagan  and  Christian 
 writers — the  existence  of  various  monuments,  &c.  are 
 points  necessarily  involved  in  the  discussion  of  the  ex- 
 ternal evidences  of  Christianity:  and  yet  few  of  the 
 educated,  and  none  of  the  uneducated  classes,  ever  saw 
 an  ancient  Greek  manuscript,  or  could  read  it  if  they 
 
330 
 
 Notes. 
 
 did :  few  can  attest  from  their  own  personal  knowledge 
 even  the  existence  of  such  a  city  as  Jerusalem.  Never- 
 theless men  are  fully  justified  in  believing  matters  of  this 
 kind,  on  the  testimony  of  those  who  have  made  the 
 investigation,  when  no  one  has  attempted  to  deny  them. 
 For,  except  perhaps  where  some  arbitrary  tribunal  exists 
 for  the  licensing  of  books,  such  as  a  Star-chamber  or 
 Inquisition,  every  one  is  fully  at  liberty  to  question  the 
 genuineness  of  any  particular  manuscript,  or  the  fidelity 
 of  any  particular  translation,  &c.  even  though  the  laws 
 should  prohibit  the  denial,  generally,  of  the  truth  of  the 
 Christian  religion. 
 
 Still,  the  existence  of  any  such  laws,  does,  as  I  have 
 said,  tend,  as  far  as  they  are  enforced,  or  can  be  repre- 
 sented as  likely  to  be  enforced,  to  take  away  something 
 from  the  influence  of  this  most  important  branch  of  evi- 
 dence. And  the  existing  state  of  things,  in  this  country, 
 in  reference  to  those  laws,  is  such  as  a  judicious  advocate 
 of  Christianity  must  lament,  and  an  insidious  opponent 
 ought  to  rejoice  in  secretly,  while  he  publicly  complains 
 of  it ;  for  it  does  in  fact  enable  him,  with  a  very  mode- 
 rate exercise  of  caution,  to  urge,  in  substance,  all  he  has 
 to  say  against  our  religion,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  hint 
 that  he  could  say  much  more,  if  the  law  would  allow 
 him  ;  and  that  Christians  dare  not  run  the  hazard  of  a 
 perfectly  free  discussion. 
 
ESSAY  VI. 
 
 TRUST  IN  NAMES  AND  PRIVILEGES. 
 
 §  1.  Mankind  have  a  natural  tendency  to 
 pride  themselves  on  the  advantages  they  enjoy — 
 on  the  privileges  they  possess — on  the  titles  they 
 bear  as  badges  of  those  privileges — and  especially 
 on  their  being  members  of  any  Society  or  Class 
 endowed  with  such  privileges.  And  they  are 
 disposed  not  only  to  feel  a  pride  and  satisfaction 
 in  possessing  such  advantages,  but  also  carelessly 
 to  put  their  trust  in  these,  (independently  of  the 
 use  made  of  them)  as  necessarily  implying  some 
 superior  benefit  to  the  possessor. 
 
 How  strongly  this  tendency  operated  among  Trust  of  the 
 
 ancient 
 
 the  Jews  of  old,  we  have  ample  proof  in  the  Je^s  in 
 
 ^  their  title. 
 
 Bible.  Even  under  the  Old  dispensation  we  may 
 gather  from  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  that,  in 
 spite  of  their  numberless  backslidings,  they  still 
 flattered  themselves  that,  as  the  Lord's  chosen 
 
332     Trust  in  names  and  privileges,  [essay  vi. 
 
 and  peculiar  people,  and  as  having  among  them 
 the  only  Temple  of  the  true  God,  He  would 
 not  execute  on  them  the  judgments  He  had 
 denounced.  And  when  their  captivity  and  the 
 destruction  of  their  temple  had  undeceived  them 
 in  this  point,  they  still  clung  to  the  hope  of  the 
 promised  Messiah  to  arise  from  among  them,  and 
 who  should  "  restore  all  things."  In  this  hope, 
 indeed,  they  were  not  erroneous ;  but  their  error 
 was,  in  trusting  that  they  should  surely  be  par- 
 takers of  the  promised  benefits,  by  virtue  of  their 
 privilege  as  Abraham's  children,  of  the  stock  of 
 his  chosen  descendant  Judah,  whatever  might 
 be  their  own  conduct ;  and  that  no  such  change 
 of  dispensation  could  take  place  as  should  put 
 even  the  least  deserving  Jew  below,  or  even  on  a 
 level  with,  the  best  of  the  unclean  and  despised 
 race  of  the  Gentiles. 
 
 Accordingly,  John  the  Baptist  takes  occasion 
 to  warn  them  on  this  head  at  the  opening  of  his 
 ministry ;  "  Now  is  the  axe  laid  to  the  root  of 
 the  tree :  every  tree  therefore  that  bringeth  not 
 forth  good  fruit,  is  hewn  down,  and  cast  into  the 
 fire.  And  think  not  to  say  within  yourselves, 
 we  have  Abraham  to  our  father ;  for  I  say  unto 
 
SECT.  1.]    Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  333 
 
 you,  that  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up 
 children  unto  Abraham."  The  Apostle  Paul  in 
 like  manner  is  compelled  incessantly  to  warn  the 
 Jewish  believers,  that  "  there  is  no  difference" 
 between  the  Jewish  and  the  Greek  Christian, 
 inasmuch  as  "  all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of 
 the  glory  of  God  ;" — that  there  is  "  neither  Jew 
 nor  Greek — neither  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond, 
 or  free;"  and  that  "in  Christ  Jesus  neither 
 circumcision  nor  uncircumcision  profiteth  any 
 thing,  but  a  new  creature  ;"  and  that  the  be- 
 lieving Gentiles  are  adopted  as  equally  God's 
 children,  and  heirs  of  his  promises,  no  less  than 
 the  natural  descendants  of  Abraham. 
 
 Nor  is  he  merely  warning  Christians  that  God 
 is  "  no  respecter  of  persons,"  (as  it  had  been  first 
 revealed  to  Peter,)  and  that  "  in  every  nation  he 
 that  feareth  Him,  and  worketh  righteousness,  is 
 accepted  of  Him" — not  only  are  the  workers  of 
 righteousness  cautioned  against  supposing  that 
 the  Jews  by  nature,  or  the  adherents  to  the  cere- 
 monial Law,  were  to  obtain  a  higher  share  of 
 divine  favour  ;  but,  what  may  seem  more  strange, 
 the  Apostle  finds  it  necessary  to  guard  them 
 against  the  error  of  trusting  in  the  circumstance 
 
334      Trust  in  names  and,  privileges,  [essay  vi. 
 
 of  being  under  the  Law,  independently  of  the 
 observance  of  it ;  or  of  any  but  the  ceremonial 
 parts  of  it ;  as  if  a  certain  degree,  at  least,  of 
 divine  favour  was  secured  by  the  mere  circum- 
 stance of  having  received  by  Revelation  the 
 divine  commands,  even  though  they  were  not 
 careful  to  obey  them.  The  greater  part  of  the 
 early  portion  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is 
 taken  up  in  combating  this  strange  delusion  :  he 
 assures  them  that  "  not  the  hearers  of  the  Law 
 are  just  before  God,  but  the  doers  of  the  Law 
 shall  be  justified  :"  "  behold,"  says  he,  "  thou  art 
 called  a  Jew,  and  restest  in  the  Law,  and  makest 
 thy  boast  of  God  ;"  and  yet  these  same  persons 
 he  speaks  of  as  dishonouring  God,  by  breaking 
 the  Law  in  which  they  made  their  boast,  so 
 notoriously,  that  the  name  of  God  was  "blas- 
 phemed among  the  Gentiles  through  them." 
 
 Warnings  §  2.  A  like  error  seems  to  have  prevailed  no 
 uie  early  less  amoug  the  early  Christians  generally,  in 
 of  a  like    respect  of  the  pride  and  vain-confidence  with 
 
 danger.  ^  ^ 
 
 which  regarded  their  privileges  as  Christians. 
 The  Apostle  warns  them  in  the  same  Epistle,  that 
 as  the  natural  branch  {i.  e.  the  Israelites  after  the 
 
SECT.  2.]    Trust  in  names  and  privileges .  335 
 
 flesh)  had  been  broken  off,  and  they  grafted  in, 
 so,  a  like  severity  was  to  be  expected  by  them 
 also,  as  God  had  exercised  towards  the  disobe- 
 dient among  his  favoured  people  of  old,  if,  instead 
 of  making  the  best  use  of  his  mercies,  they  were 
 high-minded — puffed  up,  i.  e.  with  boastful  con- 
 fidence in  their  peculiar  privileges,  and  neglectful 
 of  the  peculiar  responsibility  these  imposed.  "  If 
 God,"  he  admonishes  them,  "  spared  not  the 
 natural  branches,  take  heed  lest  He  also  spare 
 not  thee.''  And  in  the  same  tone  he  warns  the 
 Corinthians  not  to  rely  in  security  on  their  being 
 God's  elect  people,  from  the  example  of  the 
 Israelites,  who  were  also,  all  of  them,  "  God's 
 elect,"''  yet  of  whom  one  whole  generation  were 
 cut  off,  by  various  judgments,  in  the  wilderness, 
 for  their  disobedience  :  the  history  of  these  things, 
 he  says,  was  "  written  for  our  admonition ;  where- 
 fore let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed 
 lest  he  fall."  And  the  Apostle  Jude  again  seems 
 to  apprehend  the  same  danger  for  those  he  is 
 addressing,  and  cautions  them  by  the  same 
 example,  "  how  the  Lord  after  having  saved  the 
 
 a  Essay  III.  Second  Series. 
 
336     Trmt  in  names  and  privileges,   [essay  vi. 
 
 people  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  afterwards 
 destroyed  them  that  beheved  not." 
 
 And  as,  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  Chris- 
 tians were  hkely  to  feel  this  proud  confidence 
 in  that  title,  as  distinguished  from  unbelieving 
 Jews  and  Pagans,  so,  the  same  feeling  was  likely 
 afterwards  to  shew  itself,  in  another  form,  among 
 those  who  were  characterized  as  orthodox  and 
 catholic  Christians,  in  contradistinction  from  He- 
 retics, whose  tenets  had  been  condemned  by  the 
 general  voice  of  the  Christian  Churches.  How 
 strongly  this  feeling  prevailed,  and  still  prevails,  in 
 the  members  of  the  Romish  Church,  every  one  is 
 well  aware  :  but  the  circumstance  to  which  I  wish 
 to  direct  attention  is,  in  conformity  with  the  views 
 already  taken  in  the  present  work,  that  such  a 
 feeling  is  not  peculiar  to  Romanists  as  such,  but 
 originates  in  our  common  nature,  and  conse- 
 quently is  one  from  which  no  one  who  partakes 
 of  that  nature  can  be  exempt,  without  perpetual 
 watchfulness.  The  Mahometans,  as  is  well 
 known,  partake  largely  of  this  spirit ;  and  even 
 those  of  them  who  are  habitual  transgressors  of 
 their  law,  still  flatter  themselves  that  at  least 
 some  superior  degree  of  divine  favour  is  reserved 
 
SECT.  3.]     Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  337 
 
 for  them  as  "  true  believers,"  beyond  what  can 
 be  expected  even  by  the  best  of  those  who  are 
 strangers  to  the  Koran  :  while  the  Author  of  our 
 faith,  on  the  contrary,  teaches  us  that  He  will 
 reject,  as  utter  strangers  to  Him  those  who  are 
 ready  to  make  their  boast  in  his  Name,  and  to 
 plead  that  they  have  even  done  many  mighty 
 works  in  that  Name ;"  and  the  knowledge  of  his 
 Gospel  He  represents  as  bringing  aggravated 
 condemnation  to  such  as  do  not  Uve  a  Christian 
 life  ;  since  "  the  servant  who  knew  his  Lord's 
 will,  and  did  it  not,  shall  be  beaten  with  many 
 stripes." 
 
 §  3.  In  order  to  profit  as  we  may  do  by  Exempiifi- 
 
 1        f    ^       T\  •  1  1      cation  of  the 
 
 the  example  of  the  Romanists,  and  even  of  the  universality 
 
 ,  of  tiie  ten- 
 
 Mahometans,  we  must  waive,  for  the  time,  all  dency  to 
 
 trust  in 
 
 questions  concerning  the  unsoundness  of  their  titles, 
 tenets,  and  confine  our  view  to  the  danger  which 
 is  common  to  men  of  all  persuasions,  whether 
 essentially  correct,  or  contaminated  with  more 
 or  less  of  error.  If  Mahomet  had  been  a  true 
 Prophet,  as  Moses  was,  this  would  not  have 
 secured  his  followers  from  the  fault  into  which 
 the  disciples  of  Moses  did  in  fact  fall ;  viz.  that  of 
 z 
 
338    Trust  in  names  and  privileges,    [essay  vi. 
 
 expecting  to  be  saved  by  their  privileges,  rather 
 than  by  the  use  made  of  them.  And  if  the 
 Romanists  were  following  in  their  system  of 
 doctrine  and  discipline,  not  the  dictates  of  weak 
 or  wicked  men,  but  those  of  a  truly  infallible 
 Apostle,  this  would  not  alone  secure  them  from 
 the  very  error  which  the  Apostles  themselves 
 found  perpetually  springing  up  among  their  con- 
 verts, even  in  their  own  lifetime  ;  the  tendency 
 to  substitute  the  means  of  grace  for  the  fruits  of 
 grace ; — the  proud  confidence  of  belonging  to 
 a  certain  holy  Community,  Church,  Sect,  or 
 Party,  which  must  secure  an  especial  share  of 
 divine  favour  to  every  member  of  it. 
 
 If,  on  the  contrary,  we  dwell  on  ih.e  groundless- 
 ness of  the  claim  of  the  Romish  Church  to  be  the 
 only  true  and  Catholic  Church,  and  on  the  doc- 
 trinal errors  into  which  that  Church  has  fallen, 
 we  shall  of  course  be  likely  to  flatter  ourselves,  as 
 Protestants  are  apt  to  do,  that  our  abhorrence  of 
 that  Church  exempts  us  from  all  danger  of  vainly 
 trusting  in  a  Name,  and  in  our  connexion  with 
 a  highly-endowed  Society. 
 
 It  is  true  that  the  Romish  Church  has  erred  in 
 many  essential  points  ;  but  nothing  probably  has 
 
SECT.  3.]     Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  339 
 
 more  contributed  to  lead  her  into  those  errors 
 than  rehance  on  Names  and  Privileges.  Spiritual 
 advantages  which  are  real,  and  titles  which  are 
 not  misapplied,  may  be  made  subjects  of  pre- 
 sumptuous boast,  and  may  thus  lead  to  indolent 
 security  with  respect  to  personal  exertion  ;  this 
 is  usually  the  first  error  men  fall  into  :  the 
 second  naturally  springs  out  of  this  carelessness ; 
 the  name,  that  is,  survives  the  thing  signified  ; — 
 the  advantages  are  actually  lost,  either  wholly 
 or  in  part,  through  a  confident  reliance  on  their 
 intrinsic  eflScacy,  without  an  endeavour  to  im- 
 prove them; — the  land  which  was  fertile,  becomes 
 a  desert,  through  a  confident  trust  that  it  will 
 ensure  wealth  to  the  possessor,  while  he  neglects 
 to  till  it. 
 
 A  familiar  illustration  of  the  tendency  I  have 
 been  speaking  of,  is  afforded  by  the  parallel  case 
 of  Academical  institutions.  To  be  a  member  of 
 a  learned  Body,  is  regarded  as  an  honour;  it 
 affords  to  the  individual,  facilities  for  the  ac- 
 quirement of  learning ;  and,  to  others,  some 
 degree  of  presumption  that  he  has  used  his 
 advantages.  How  many  accordingly  pride  them- 
 selves on  being  members  of  such  a  Society,  and 
 z2 
 
340    Trust  in  names  and  privileges,    [essay  vi. 
 
 on  the  Title  which  denotes  this,  while  they  think 
 little  of  acquiring  the  learning,  and  using  the 
 advantages,  which  alone  give  to  the  Name,  and 
 to  the  Society,  their  value. 
 
 All  this  has  been  strikingly  illustrated  in  the 
 progressive  history  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
 She  was  built  by  Apostles  on  Jesus  Christ,  the 
 only  true  foundation  ;  she  was  left  by  them  with 
 sound  doctrines  and  pure  Christian  worship; 
 her  members  were  cautioned  by  them  not  to  be 
 "  high-minded,  but  fear not  to  rely  on  the 
 divine  favour  as  a  reason  for  relaxing  personal 
 exertions,  but  as  an  encouragement  to  make 
 them ;  or  to  exult  in  their  deliverance  from 
 heathen  superstition,  and  their  adoption  in  place 
 of  the  disobedient,  to  be  the  People — the  chosen 
 People — of  God,  but  to  take  warning  from  the 
 example  of  his  mercy  combined  with  severity. 
 
 But  they  were  seduced  from  humble  vigilance 
 into  a  proud  and  careless  reliance  on  the  great- 
 ness of  their  privileges,  till  they  even  lost  the 
 talent  which  they  had  neglected  to  employ.  What 
 was  their  condition  at  the  close  of  the  Apostles' 
 ministry  ?  They  had  renounced  idolatry ; — they 
 worshipped  the  true  God  ; — they  had  the  sacred 
 
SECT.  3.]    Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  341 
 
 Scriptures,  the  words  of  eternal  life,  in  their 
 hands  for  private  study,  and  in  their  ears,  at 
 their  religious  meetings ; — they  had  the  means 
 of  grace  among  them,  the  Ordinances  appointed 
 by  Christ,  which  are  strictly  called  the  Sacra- 
 ments, and  pubhc  joint  worship,  itself  of  a  sacra- 
 mental character — they  had  learned  to  despise 
 and  abhor  the  superstitious  offerings,  purifica- 
 tions, and  other  ceremonies  of  the  heathen,  and 
 had  been  taught  to  trust  in  the  atonement  of 
 Christ  alone,  and  to  seek  for  acceptance  before 
 God,  by  being  "led  by  his  Spirit."  All  these 
 were  real  and  inestimable  privileges,  and  gave 
 them  just  reason  for  rejoicing  (but  for  rejoicing 
 in  trembhng  gratitude,  and  not  with  careless 
 pride)  in  the  deliverance  that  had  been  wrought 
 for  them — in  their  happy  condition  as  contrasted 
 with  that  of  their  Pagan  neighbours. 
 
 But  their  exultation  in  these  advantages  led 
 them  first  to  neglect,  and  in  the  end  to  lose, 
 them ;  their  vain  confidence  in  names,  led  them 
 first  to  forget,  and  afterwards  to  forfeit,  the  things 
 which  the  names  denoted.  Their  minds  were 
 fixed  on  what  was  past  —  on  what  had  been 
 
 ^  Hinds's  Rise  and  Progress  of  Cliristianity. 
 
342     Trust  in  names  and  privileges,   [essay  vi. 
 
 done  for  them  ;  and  withdrawn  from  a  vigilant 
 attention  to  the  future — from  diligence  on  their 
 part  to  "make  their  calhng  and  election  sure." 
 Confident  in  the  titles  of  Christian — of  Ortho- 
 dox— of  Cathohc — of  the  Church  of  God — and 
 careless  of  living  "  as  hecometh  saints,"  they 
 trusted  that  no  deadly  error  could  creep  into  so 
 holy  a  Community ;  and  adopted,  one  by  one, 
 the  very  errors  (under  new  names)  of  the  Pa- 
 ganism which  had  been  renounced.  Thanking 
 God,  like  the  Pharisee,  that  they  were  "  not  as 
 other  men  are,"  they  became  gradually  like  their 
 heathen  ancestors,  with  the  aggravation  of  havitig 
 sinned  against  light,  and  abused  their  pecuhar 
 advantages ;  and  their  confidence  all  the  while 
 increasing  along  with  their  carelessness  and  cor- 
 ruption, when  their  "gold  was  become  dross," 
 they  boasted  more  than  ever  of  their  wealth, 
 and  in  the  midst  of  their  grossest  errors  insisted 
 on  complete  infallibiUty.  And  to  what  did  all 
 this  at  length  bring  them  ?  How  far  did  they 
 ultimately  depart  from  their  primitive  purity  ? 
 "  How  did  the  faithful  city  become  an  harlot  ?" 
 They  ended  in  overlaying  Christianity,  one  by 
 one,  with  the  very  errors  and  superstitions  (in 
 
SECT.  3.]    Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  343 
 
 substance)  from  which  the  first  Christians  exulted 
 in  being  delivered. 
 
 Idolatry  of  the  grossest  kind  was  gradually 
 restored :  the  worshippers  of  the  one  true  God 
 manifested  in  Christ  Jesus,  paid,  practically,  their 
 chief  adoration  to  deified  mortals  :  the  Scriptures 
 were  secluded  from  the  people  under  the  veil  of 
 an  unknown  tongue,"  and  their  interpretation 
 fettered  and  their  authority  superseded,  even  with 
 the  learned,  by  a  mass  of  traditions  which  "made 
 the  word  of  God  of  none  effect;"  their  sacra- 
 ments became  superstitious  charms  ;  their  pubhc 
 worship  a  kind  of  magic  incantation  muttered  in 
 a  dead  language ;  and  Christian  holiness  of  life 
 was  commuted  for  holy  water — for  fantastic 
 penances,  pilgrimages,  amulets,  pecuniary  dona- 
 tions, and  a  whole  train  of  superstitious  observ- 
 ances, worthy  of  Paganism  in  its  worst  forms. 
 '*  How  is  the  faithful  city  become  an  harlot !" 
 They  trusted  in  Privileges  and  Names,  till  the 
 privileges  were  lost,  and  the  names  became  an 
 empty  sound.     But  still  they  are  as  proud  of 
 
 <=  A  language,  be  it  remembered,  which  gradually  became 
 obsolete :  for  no  Church  ever  introduced  the  use  of  an  un- 
 known tongue,  it  its  prayers,  or  recital  of  Scripture. 
 
344     Trust  in  names  and  jyrwileges.   [essay  vi. 
 
 them  as  ever.  They  distinguish  themselves  by 
 the  title  of  Catholics/  members  of  the  True 
 Church — adherents  to  the  ancient  faith  :  nay, 
 even  Christians  is  a  title  by  which  on  the  Con- 
 tinent they  sometimes  distinguish  themselves 
 from  those  heretics/  as  they  term  them,  who 
 chiefly  differ  from  themselves  in  trusting  in  Christ 
 as  the  One  Mediator,  instead  of  a  host  of  pre- 
 tended saints.  And  the  further  the  Church  of 
 Rome  departed  from  the  pure  character  of  a 
 Christian  Church,  the  more  boldly  did  its  gover- 
 nors assert  their  claim  to  supremacy  over  every 
 other  Church.  Such  monstrous  corruptions 
 could  never  have  been  introduced  into  any 
 Church  by  the  arts  of  a  worldly  and  ambitious 
 hierarchy,  had  not  the  individual  members  of  it 
 been  lulled  into  a  false  security,  by  boastfully 
 contemplating  their  Christian  privileges,  instead 
 of  dwelling  on  the  additional  responsibihty  these 
 privileges  create ;    by  priding  themselves  on 
 
 ^  See  note  A  in  the  Appendix. 
 
 ^  Those  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Vaudois,  in  particular, 
 distinguish  themselves  from  the  members  of  that  pure  and 
 ancient  Church,  by  the  distinguishing  appellation  of  Chris- 
 tians. 
 
SECT.  4.J    Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  345 
 
 names,  without  bestowing  a  watchful  attention 
 on  the  things  those  names  denote. 
 
 §  4.  The  warning  of  the  Apostle,  in  his  Epistle  Danger  of 
 
 .  Protestants 
 
 to  this  very  Church,  they  neglected ;  and  imitated 
 the  very  example  by  which  he  warned  them — 
 that  of  the  presumptuous  and  disobedient  Jews 
 of  old.  The  admonitions,  I  say,  of  Paul  to  the 
 Church  of  Rome  were  lost  on  the  succeeding 
 generations  of  that  Church  :  shall  they  be  also 
 lost  on  us  ?  Or  shall  we  say  that  Protestants 
 have  no  need  of  them,  because  we  do  not  trust 
 in  the  title  of  Catholic,  or  in  being  members 
 of  an  infallible  Church  ; — because  we  have  pro- 
 tested against  the  usurpations  of  that  Church, 
 and  have  renounced  her  corruptions  ?  The  Apo- 
 stle might  reply  to  us,  if  he  lived  in  these  days, 
 "  Be  not  high-minded,  but  fear :  those  whom 
 I  then  addressed  were  in  the  very  same  situation 
 as  you :  they  were  the  reformed — the  Protest- 
 ants of  their  day  ;  they  had  been  delivered  from 
 Jewish  and  Pagan  infidelity,  as  you  have  been 
 from  Romish  corruptions  of  Christianity ;  they 
 prided  themselves  on  'that  deliverance,  as  you 
 are  liable  to  do,  on  yours :  they  felt  confident 
 
346    Trust  in  names  and  privileges,  [essay  vi. 
 
 that  they  were  in  no  danger  of  precisely  the  same 
 errors  as  those  of  the  infidel- Jews  and  heathen 
 idolaters ;  and  they  incorporated  into  Christianity 
 substantially  the  same  errors,  under  different 
 names ;  they  have  fallen  from  their  first  faith ; 
 and  are  left  with  the  candle  of  God's  word  dark- 
 ened, and  their  minds  bewildered  by  the  false 
 light  of  a  delusive  superstition :  if  God  spared 
 not  this  branch,  take  heed  lest  He  also  spare 
 not  thee :  behold,  therefore,  the  goodness  and 
 the  severity  of  God ;  on  them  which  fell,  se- 
 verity ;  but  toward  thee,  goodness,  if  thou  con- 
 tinue in  his  goodness  ;  otherwise  thou  also  shalt 
 be  cut  off." 
 
 Ancient        Xhc  examples  which  are  adduced  from  the 
 
 examples 
 
 the  most    cases  of  those  in  different  ages  and  countries 
 
 instructive. 
 
 from  our  own,  are  apt  to  lose  their  instructive 
 force,  from  the  very  circumstance  which  ought 
 to  make  them  the  more  instructive  ;  viz.  that 
 there  will  always  be  some,  if  not  essential,  yet 
 circumstantial,  difference  between  the  temptations 
 which  arise,  and  the  errors  which  prevail,  among 
 different  sets  of  men.  Hence,  we  are  apt  to  lose 
 sight  of  the  substantial  agreement  between  two 
 cases,  and  to  derive  no  profit  from  the  recorded 
 
SECT.  4.]     Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  347 
 
 faults  of  others,  because  those  to  which  we  are 
 liable  are  not  the  same  in  name,  and  in  all  the 
 accompanying  circumstances.  Yet  this  very 
 difference  (and  hence  it  is  that  such  examples 
 are  the  more  instructive)  proves  that  they  were 
 not  copied,  the  one  from  the  other,  but  originate 
 in  a  common  and  deep-seated  source.  And  it 
 would  enable  us  to  draw  the  more  instruction 
 from  such  examples,  if  we  would  but  remember 
 that  man's  nature  is  always,  and  every  where, 
 substantially  the  same ;  because  we  view  with 
 a  more  impartial  eye  such  errors  as  do  not  pre- 
 cisely resemble  what  prevail  among  ourselves. 
 For  these  reasons,  the  backslidings  of  the  Israel- 
 ites in  the  wilderness,  for  instance,  are  so  earnestly 
 set  forth  by  the  Apostle,  for  the  instruction  of  the 
 Corinthians,  as  being  an  example  likely  to  be  over- 
 looked by  them,  and  especially  profitable  to  be 
 contemplated  by  them ;  disposed,  as  they  pro- 
 bably were,  to  rest  in  their  high  privileges  as 
 God's  People,  even  as  the  Israelites  did  of  old  ; 
 and  to  think,  like  them,  their  deliverance  com- 
 plete, and  their  attainment  of  the  promised 
 inheritance  secure,  without  watchfulness  against 
 the  trials  that  awaited  them. 
 
348    Trust  in  names  and  privileges,    [essay  vi. 
 
 It  is  with  this  view,  accordingly,  that  I  have 
 attempted,  in  the  present  work,  to  point  out  what 
 instructive  lessons  may  be  drawn  from  the  errors 
 of  our  brethren  of  the  Romish  Church.  For 
 when  once  it  is  clearly  perceived,  that  her  cor- 
 ruptions are  such  as  human  nature  is  prone  to — 
 that  they  are  rather  the  cause,  than  the  effect, 
 of  the  system  of  that  Church — and  that  conse- 
 quently, those  out  of  her  pale  are  not  therefore 
 safe  from  similar  corruptions — we  are  then  the 
 more  likely  to  guard  watchfully  against  those 
 faults,  whose  deformity  we  have  seen  fully  dis- 
 played in  another. 
 
 Recapituia-     §  5.  In  pursuiug  this  view,  I  took  occasion  to 
 
 tion  of  the 
 
 work.  illustrate  the  general  principle,  by  touching  briefly 
 on  some  of  the  particular  points  in  which  faults, 
 essentially  the  same  with  those  of  the  Romanists, 
 have  beset,  and  will  ever  beset,  the  rest  of  man- 
 kind also,  in  proportion  as  their  vigilance,  against 
 them  is  remitted.  But  to  enumerate  and  dwell 
 on  all  these  points,  would  not  only  have  led  to 
 too  long  a  discussion,  but  would  hardly  have  been 
 needful.  For  when  once  the  general  principle  is 
 embraced,  it  is  easy,  and  it  is  also  best,  for  every 
 
SECT.  5.]     Tmst  in  names  and  jmmleges.  349 
 
 one  to  follow  up  for  himself  the  several  applica- 
 tions of  it,  and  to  pursue  the  train  of  thought 
 thus  suggested.  Nor  should  this  be  done  once 
 for  all,  in  a  single  discussion,  but,  practically, 
 throughout  the  whole  of  his  Christian  life :  since 
 if  it  be  fully  understood  that  the  system  of  Ro- 
 manism, so  far  as  it  disagrees  with  true  Chris- 
 tianity, is  in  fact  a  transcript  of  man's  frail 
 nature,  every  one  must  perceive  the  necessity  of 
 contemplating,  as  in  a  mirror,  this  portraiture  of 
 his  own  infirmities,  and  of  not  merely  abjuring, 
 once  for  all,  the  errors  he  censures  in  another, 
 but  guarding  against  them  with  incessant  vigi- 
 lance. The  more  secure  any  one  feels  against 
 his  Hability  to  errors,  to  which  in  fact  he  is  liable, 
 the  greater  must  be  his  real  danger  of  falling  into 
 them. 
 
 In  pointing  out,  accordingly,  several  particular  Dangerof 
 classes  of  faults  to  which  Protestants  are  liable,  rity. 
 and  which  are  substantially  the  same  as  they 
 condemn  in  the  Romanists,  I  have  repeatedly 
 dwelt  on  that  aggravation  of  the  danger,  the 
 false  security  we  are  likely  to  feel,  in  our  renun- 
 ciation of  the  Papal  dominion,  against  the  errors 
 of  Romanism.    I  could  not  therefore,  I  thought. 
 
350    Trust  in  names  and  privileges,    [essay  vi. 
 
 more  properly  conclude  this  treatise,  than  by  ob- 
 serving, that  this  very  false  security  is  itself  one 
 of  the  most  fatal  of  those  errors  ; — that  we  are  in 
 fact  imitating  the  Romanists,  if  we  securely  exult 
 in  our  separation  from  them  : — if  we  trust  in  the 
 name  of  Protestant,  as  they  do  in  that  of  Catholic  ; 
 and  look  back,  with  proud  satisfaction,  on  our 
 emancipation  from  their  corrupt  system,  without 
 also  looking  forward,  to  guard  vigilantly  against 
 the  like  corruptions ;  even  as  they  triumphed  in 
 their  abandonment  of  Pagan  superstitions,  while 
 they  forgot  that  Paganism  itself  was  the  offspring 
 of  the  self-deceiving  heart  of  man,  in  which  the 
 same  corruptions,  if  not  watchfully  repressed,  will 
 be  continually  springing  up  afresh. 
 
 A  more  acceptable  subject,  perhaps,  I  might 
 easily  have  found,  in  exposing  the  enormities  of 
 the  Church  of  Rome,  and  panegyrizing  the  com- 
 parative purity  of  our  own  ;  inasmuch  as  self-con- 
 gratulation is  more  agreeable  than  self-examin- 
 ation. But  with  a  view  to  our  own  practical 
 improvement,  there  can  be  no  doubt  which  is  the 
 more  profitable.  The  Apostle's  warning,  "  be  not 
 high-minded,  but  fear,"  was  not  likely  to  be  so 
 gratifying  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  to  which  it 
 
SECT.  5.]    Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  351 
 
 was  addressed,  as  unmixed  praise  and  congratu- 
 lation ;  but  it  would  have  saved  them,  had  they 
 continued  duly  to  attend  to  it,  from  the  evils 
 which  it  denounced. 
 
 Let  the  Protestant  then  consider  their  fall  as 
 recorded  "for  his  admonition  :"  and  let  him  profit 
 by  the  example  before  him. 
 
 The  errors  which,  with  these  views,  I  selected  Supersti- 
 tion, vica- 
 
 for  consideration,  as  beinff  among  the  most  pro-  "ous  reii- 
 
 "  '-^  *•         gion,  pious 
 
 minent,  and  usually  regarded  as  most  character-  f""'*^,  &c. 
 istic,  of  the  Romish  Church,*^  but  which  I  have 
 endeavoured  to  trace  to  our  common  Nature,  are, 
 
 1.  Superstition ;  considered  as  consisting,  not 
 in  this  or  that  particular  mode  of  worship,  but 
 in  misdirected  religious  veneration,  generally : 
 
 2.  the  tendency  towards  what  may  be  called  a 
 vicarious  service  of  God ; — a  proneness  to  convert 
 the  Christian  Minister  into  a  Priest  in  the  other 
 sense  of  the  word,  and  to  substitute  his  sanctity  of 
 life  and  devotion,  for  those  of  the  people  :  3.  the 
 toleration  of  what  are  called  "  pious  frauds  ;" 
 either  in  the  sacrifice  of  truth  to  supposed  expe- 
 diency, or  in  the  propagation  of  what  is  believed 
 to  be  the  truth,  by  dishonest  artifice  :  4.  an  undue 
 
 ^  See  Appendix  B. 
 
352     Trust  in  names  and  privileges,    [essay  vr. 
 
 deference  to  Human  Authority ;  as,  in  other 
 points,  so  especially,  in  forgetting  the  legitimate 
 use  of  creeds,  catechisms,  liturgies,  and  other 
 such  compositions  set  forth  by  any  Church,  and 
 intruding  them  gradually  into  the  place  of  Scrip- 
 ture, by  habitually  appealing  to  them  (where  the 
 appeal  ought  always  to  be  made  to  the  records 
 of  inspiration)  in  proof  of  any  doctrine  that  is  in 
 question  :  which  practice  I  pointed  out  as  not 
 originally  the  consequence,  but  the  cause,  of  the 
 claim  to  inspiration  and  infallibility  set  up  by 
 the  Church  -J  5.  Lastly,  I  remarked,  that  Into- 
 lerance, or  the  spirit  of  Persecution,  i.  e.  the 
 disposition  to  enforce  by  secular  coercion,  not, 
 this  or  that  system  of  religion,  but,  one's  own, 
 whatever  it  may  be,  is  a  fault  inherent  in  human 
 nature,  and  to  which  consequently  all  mankind 
 are  liable,  however  strongly  they  may  reprobate 
 (as,  e.  g.  the  Romish  Church  has  always  done) 
 persecution,  or  any  form  of  compulsion,  exercised 
 on  themselves. 
 
 From  these  then,  and  all  other  Romish  errors, 
 Protestants  cannot,  as  such,  be  exempt ;  and 
 they  are  in  the  greater  danger  of  them  in  pro- 
 
 s  See  Essay  VI.  First  Series. 
 
SECT.  G.]    Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  353 
 
 portion  to  their  abhorrence  of  them  as  existing 
 in  that  Church,  if  they  regard  them  as  properly 
 the  offspring  of  Romanism,  and  not  of  human 
 nature ; — if  they  build  their  security  on  their 
 being  out  of  the  pale  of  that  corrupt  Church, 
 and  neglect  to  guard  against  the  spirit  of  those 
 corruptions,  while  they  exult  in  the  Name  of 
 Protestants.  This  careless  reliance  on  Titles 
 and  Privileges,  is,  as  I  have  in  this  Essay  been 
 endeavouring  to  shew,  itself  one  of  the  most 
 mischievous  of  the  Romish  errors,  and  which 
 has  mainly  contributed  to  favour  the  intro- 
 duction of  the  rest. 
 
 §  6.  In  what  way  then,  it  may  be  asked,  are 
 we  to  apply  practically  what  has  been  said,  in 
 guarding  against  this  particular  error  ?  Let  any 
 one  (I  would  reply)  but  look  around  him,  and 
 look  within  his  own  heart.  Are  there  not  mul- 
 titudes who  exult  in  the  title  of  Christian — of 
 Protestant — of  Churchman — and  in  tlieir  be- 
 longing to  a  Society  endowed  with  such  high 
 privileges  ?  There  are  :  and  would  to  God  the 
 description,  thus  far,  were  even  more  universally 
 applicable  than  it  is;  for  in  these  things  we 
 
 A  A 
 
354      Trmt  in  names  and  privileges,  [essay  vi. 
 
 ought  to  rejoice,  even  much  more  than  we  do. 
 But  do  all  who  congratulate  themselves  on  these 
 advantages,  and  on  these  names,  and  who  regard 
 it,  if  not  as  some  sort  of  merit,  at  least,  as  a 
 sure  pledge  of  some  divine  favour,  to  possess 
 them — do  all  of  these  reflect  on  the  superior 
 responsibility  which  is  thus  imposed  on  them? 
 Do  none  of  them  (in  feehngs  and  in  conduct 
 at  least,  though  not  in  express  avowal)  cherish 
 a  hope  of  being  saved  by  their  privileges,  rather 
 than  by  the  use  made  of  them  ?  Do  they  reflect 
 on  those  privileges  as  aggravating  their  con- 
 demnation if  they  do  not  rightly  use  them  ;  or 
 do  they  exult  in  their  admittance  to  the  wedding- 
 feast,  forgetful  that  the  guest  who  "  had  not  put 
 on  the  wedding-garment,"  was  cast  "  into  outer 
 darkness  ?"  Do  they  regard  the  names  of  Chris- 
 tian and  of  Protestant  as  a  reproach  to  those 
 who  bear  them,  if  they  are  not  "  led  by  the  Spirit 
 of  Christ" — if  they  do  not  in  their  heart  and 
 life,  as  well  as  with  their  lips,  protest  against  the 
 faults  which  they  condemn  in  the  Romanists  ? 
 Titles  which     Nor  is  it  to  the  names  of  Christian  and  of 
 
 Protestants  111  •  -n  i 
 
 areindanget  Protestant  alouc,  that  these  cautions  will  apply  : 
 
 of  trusting  .  ' 
 
 to.         every  title  which  we  claim  that  implies  any 
 
SFXT.  6.]    Trust  in  names  and  privileges,  355 
 
 peculiar  advantage,  involves  a  corresponding 
 responsibility ;  and  a  corresponding  danger,  if 
 we  forget  that  responsibility.  Does  any  one 
 consider  himself  entitled  to  the  name  of  Church- 
 man— of  Orthodox — of  Evangelical — of  a  serious 
 Christian? — let  him  remember,  that  there  is  a 
 perpetual  danger  of  his  relying  in  proud  security 
 on  these  titles — of  trusting,  not  so  much  to  his 
 endeavours  after  personal  holiness,  as  to  the 
 sanctity  of  the  society,  sect,  or  party,  with  which 
 he  is  thus  connected. 
 
 Some  members  of  the  Romish  Church,  not  Trust  in  the 
 
 membership 
 
 satisfied  with  merely  belonging  to  that  Church,  of  a  society, 
 and  with  the  title  of  Catholics,  have  enrolled 
 themselves  in  certain  subordinate  Societies,  (or 
 Religious  Orders  as  they  are  called,)  enlisting 
 themselves  under  the  banner  of  some  founder, 
 of  supposed  superior  sanctity.  I  am  not  now 
 inquiring  into  the  peculiar  errors  and  superstitions 
 actually  connected  with  these  institutions:  had 
 they  been  exempt  from  every  thing  of  this  kind, 
 there  would  still  have  been  a  danger  (which,  in 
 fact,  must  exist,  more  or  less,  in  all  religious  Com- 
 munities whatever)  of  that  evil  which  has  so  noto- 
 riously attended  the  Religious  Societies  of  the 
 A  A  2 
 
356      Trust  in  names  and  privileges,  [essay  vi. 
 
 Romish  Church : — the  evil,  I  mean,  of  consider- 
 ing the  mutual  connexion  of  the  members  of  such 
 Societies  as  a  kind  of  partnership ;  in  which  each 
 member  may  hope  to  derive  some  benefit  at  least, 
 from  the  piety  and  purity  of  the  whole  Body. 
 This  absurdity — the  supposed  transfer  of  the 
 merits  of  one  sinful  mortal  to  the  account  of 
 another — has  indeed  never  been  distinctly  avowed 
 except  in  the  Church  of  Rome  :  but  the  tendency 
 towards  such  a  feeling  must  have  been  inherent 
 in  the  Human  Heart,  or  men  never  could  have 
 been  brought  to  acknowledge  it.  The  desire 
 of  it,  is,  as  I  have  said,  inherent  in  the  very 
 nature  of  a  religious  Community.  As,  in  a 
 Partnership,  the  neglect  of  one  man  may  often 
 be  in  some  degree  remedied  by  the  diligence  of 
 others ;  and  as,  in  an  Army,  the  soldier  who 
 does  not  himself  fight  bravely,  may  sometimes, 
 through  the  valour  of  his  comrades  and  the  skill 
 of  his  general,  be  made  partaker  of  the  benefits, 
 and  sometimes  even  of  the  glory,  of  a  victory ; 
 so,  men  are  apt  to  transfer  views  thus  famihar 
 to  them,  to  the  case  of  Members  of  a  Religious 
 Society.  And  this  danger,  being,  as  I  have  said, 
 one  which  necessarily   besets  every  religious 
 
SECT.  6.]    Trust  in  names  and  privileges.  357 
 
 Society,  can  never  be  escaped  except  by  incessant 
 vigilance.  For  Christianity  is  essentially  a  social 
 Religion,  We  are  "  every  one  members  one  of 
 another ;"  and  the  Author  of  our  Faith  has  de- 
 creed, that  Christians  are  to  further  their  own 
 salvation,  by  labouring  jointly  to  forward  the  sal- 
 vation of  each  other.  But  it  is  by  the  personal 
 faith  and  holiness  of  each  individual  Christian, 
 that  each  individual  Christian,  after  all,  is  to  be 
 made,  through  the  intercession  of  the  one  Medi- 
 ator and  Redeemer,  whose  Spirit  sanctifies  his 
 heart,  acceptable  before  God.  The  pious  labours 
 of  others  can  do  nothing  for  any  man,  unless 
 they  lead  him  to  labour  in  like  manner  for 
 himself. 
 
 Richly  endowed  indeed  is  the  Church  of  Christ 
 with  the  means  of  Grace — with  privileges  and  ad- 
 vantages of  inestimable  value ;  but  if  we  fail  to 
 use  these  means,  and  to  avail  ourselves  of  these 
 privileges,  they  will  but  increase  our  condemna- 
 tion. The  name  of  Christian — of  Reformed,  of 
 Protestant  Christian — instead  of  saving,  will 
 condemn,  as  doubly  inexcusable,  on  the  great 
 day  when  the  secrets  of  men's  hearts  shall  be  dis- 
 closed, him,  who,  "naming  the  name  of  Christ,' 
 
358     Trmt  in  names  and  privileges,  [essay  vi. 
 
 has  not  "  departed  from  iniquity ;" — who  "  hear- 
 eth  his  words,  and  doeth  them  not ;" — whose  hfe 
 and  heart  are  not  "  reformed" — and  who  exults 
 over  the  errors  of  the  Romish  Church,  while  he 
 supinely  overlooks  those  evil  propensities  of  our 
 common  nature,  from  which  they  took  their  rise. 
 *'  For  he  is  not  a  Jew/'  (nor,  by  parity  of  reason- 
 ing, a  Christian — an  Orthodox,  or  an  Evangelical 
 Christian — a  Reformed,  or  a  Protestant  Chris- 
 tian,) "  who  is  one  outwardly ;  neither  is  that 
 circumcision  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh ;  but 
 he  is  a  Jew,  who  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  circum- 
 cision is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not 
 in  the  letter ;  whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of 
 God." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 [A.] 
 
 The  title  of  Catholics,  the  Romanists  claim,  and  apply 
 to  themselves,  not  merely  as  belonging  to  them,  (and  it 
 is  not  denied  that  they  are  a  branch,  though  in  some 
 respects  a  corrupt  one,  of  the  Universal  or  Catholic 
 Church,)  but  as  distinctive,  and  peculiar  to  the  members 
 of  the  Church  of  Rome.  And  Protestants  have  usually, 
 in  language,  conceded  this  claim.  But,  I  think,  that  in 
 so  doing,  they  manifest  too  exclusively  the  harmlessness 
 of  the  dove,  and  leave  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  entirely 
 with  their  opponents.  It  is  urged  that  these  are  offended 
 at  being  called  Papists;  considering  that  as  a  term  of 
 reproach,  from  its  being  used  only  by  their  adversaries. 
 That  I  may  not  seem  to  seek  a  quarrel,  I  have  generally 
 avoided  that  name  :  but  let  us  not  be  so  weak  as  to 
 imagine,  that  "  Romanist,"  or  any  other  title  by  which 
 they  can  be,  properly,  designated,  will  ever  fail,  when  it 
 shall  have  become  common,  to  be  complained  of  as  re- 
 proachful ;  or  that  they  will  ever  acquiesce  in  any  appel- 
 lation which  does  not  imply  a  reproach  to  ourselves.  Even 
 
360 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 the  apparently  neutral  designation  of  "  Members  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome,"  is  one  which  we  must  not  too  confi- 
 dently expect  them  to  adopt  or  acquiesce  in ;  nor  is  it 
 unlikely  that  they  may  complain  of  it  as  reproachful, 
 should  it  ever  become  their  customary  appellation  among 
 Protestants.  For  it  implies  that  there  are  other  Churches, 
 properly  called  Churches,  besides  the  Church  of  Rome. 
 We  indeed  are  content  to  be  designated  as  Members  of 
 the  Church  of  England  ;  and  we  regard  them  as  belonging 
 to  a  distinct  Church,  over  which,  though  we  censure  it 
 as  corrupt,  we  claim  no  supremacy ;  but  they  do  not  take 
 a  corresponding  view  of  us  :  they  do  not  regard  us  as  con- 
 stituting any  distinct  Church,  but  as  actually  members, 
 though  schismatical  and  revolted  members — subjects,  de 
 jure,  though  rebellious  subjects — of  their  Church.  A 
 name  therefore  which  implies,  that  there  are  other 
 Churches  distinct  from  theirs,  contradicts  one  of  their 
 fundamental  tenets  ;  viz.  that  they,  and  they  only,  are 
 faithful  members  of  the  one  true  Church.  And  this 
 tenet  they  have  embodied  in  the  appellation  they  have 
 chosen  for  themselves  ;  which  consequently  implies,  as  I 
 have  said,  a  reproach  to  all  other  Christians.  The  title 
 of  Catholic,  when  used  as  distinctive,  implies  the  exclu- 
 sion of  all  others  from  the  character  of  loyal  members  of 
 the  Society  which  Christ  founded — of  "  the  holy  Catholic 
 Church,  the  Communion  of  Saints,"  as  it  is  expressed  and 
 explained  in  the  Apostles'  Creed :  it  implies,  in  short, 
 that  all  others  are  heretics  or  schismatics. 
 
 This  is  no  uncommon  device.  There  is  a  sect  who 
 call  themselves  "  Baptists,"  i.  e.  persons  who  baptize ; 
 
A2)pendU\ 
 
 361 
 
 thus  implying  that  no  others  are  really  baptized,  and  that 
 infant-baptism  is  null  and  void.  This  is  their  distinctive 
 .tenet ;  which  they  are  perfectly  right  in  professing,  if  con- 
 vinced of  its  truth  :  but  it  is  an  absurdity  for  any  one  who 
 differs  from  them  to  give  them  this  title,  which  palpably 
 begs  the  question  at  issue,  and  condemns  himself.  The 
 title  of  Antipagdobaptist  is  to  be  sure  somewhat  cumbrous ; 
 but  awkwardness  of  expression,  or  even  circumlocution, 
 is  preferable  to  error  and  absurdity.  *'  The  same  caution 
 might  well  be  extended  to  the  use  of  the  word  Unitarian, 
 as  the  title  of  a  sect ;  for  the  term  properly  expresses  a 
 fundamental  doctrine  which  our  Church  holds.  Socinian 
 appears  to  me  a  better  appellation.  But  this  too  I  would 
 avoid,  if  it  gave  serious  offence ;  at  the  same  time,  being 
 careful  to  make  it  known  that  the  word  Unitarian  is 
 employed  in  compliance  with  a  custom,  which  however 
 general,  and  perhaps  harmless,  I  cannot  but  regard  as 
 objectionable."^ 
 
 I  am  myself  a  Catholic,  and  a  Baptist,  and  a  Unitarian; 
 and,  1  trust,  both  Orthodox  and  Evangelical :  but  I  will 
 never  assume  any  of  these  titles  as  terms  of  distinction 
 from  such  as  do  not  professedly  differ  from  me  on  the 
 several  points  which  are  in  question  respectively. 
 
 That  the  term  Papist  is  a  term  of  reproach,  (though  I 
 do  not  insist  on  its  being  employed,)  I  can  never  admit. 
 A  "  term  of  reproach "  is  one  which  implies  something 
 disgraceful  in  the  opinion  of  the  party  to  whom  it  is  applied. 
 
 a  Note  to  Bishop  Copleston's  Sermon  at  the  re-opening  of 
 Abergavenny  Church. 
 
362  Appendix. 
 
 Thus,  Heretic  (in  its  ordinary,  not  perhaps  in  its  etymo- 
 logical sense)  implies  the  holding  of  some  erroneotts  tenet ; 
 it  is,  consequently,  a  reproachful  term.  But  Papist 
 implies  simply  one  who  acknowledges  the  authority  of 
 the  Pope :  and  those  to  whom  it  is  applied,  do,  openly, 
 acknowledge  his  authority. 
 
 "  Considering  the  tendency  of  words''  (says  a  writer 
 whom  I  am  proud  to  appeal  to)  "  to  influence  opinions, 
 I  hold  the  right  use  of  this  word  Catholic  to  be  of 
 essential  importance.  The  controversial  writers  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome  never  fail  to  take  advantage  of  the  want 
 of  caution  in  this  respect  observable  among  Protestants. 
 Of  this  a  strong  example  is  given  in  a  recent  publication, 
 which  affords  a  gratifying  proof  of  the  strength  of  our 
 cause,  and  of  the  weakness  of  the  Romanists,  whenever 
 they  are  respectively  brought  to  the  test  of  Scripture  and 
 of  reason.  I  allude  to  the  correspondence  between  the 
 Clergy  of  Blackburn  and  the  Principal  and  other  members 
 of  the  Roman  Catholic  establishment  at  Stonyhurst. 
 From  this  interesting  publication  I  cannot  do  better  than 
 extract  the  following  passage  in  one  of  Mr.  Whittaker's 
 letters  to  the  Principal  of  that  institution. 
 
 '  It  was  not  from  a  love  of  contending  about  words, 
 still  less  from  any  reluctance  to  give  every  possible  satis- 
 faction to  the  Romish  priesthood,  that  I  persisted  in 
 refusing  the  unqualified  term  "  Catholic"  to  them  and 
 their  Church.  The  use  which  they  make  of  it,  when  it 
 is  conceded  to  them,  cannot  be  unknown  to  you.  Dr. 
 Milner,  in  his  End  of  Religious  Controversy,  (Letter 
 XXV.)  says  of  our  Church,  "  Every  time  they  address 
 
Appendix. 
 
 363 
 
 the  God  of  truth,  either  in  solemn  worship  or  in  private 
 devotion,  they  are  forced  each  of  thera  to  repeat,  /  be- 
 lieve in  THE  Catholic  Church,  and  yet,  if  I  ask  any 
 of  thera  the  question,  are  yon  a  Catholic?  he  is 
 sure  to  answer  rae.  No !  I  am  a  Protestant  ! ! — Was 
 there  ever  a  more  glaring  instance  of  inconsistency  and 
 self-condemnation  among  rational  beings?" — "But," 
 says  one  of  the  Blackburn  Secular  Priests  to  me, 
 "  where  is  the  man  that  can  or  will  accuse  you  of  acting 
 inconsistently  with  your  religious  principles,"  supposing 
 me  to  concede  this  appellation  to  their  Church  and  its 
 members  exclusively  ?  I  refer  him  for  his  answer  to  Dr. 
 Milner,  with  whom  I  entirely  agree,  that  a  more  glaring 
 instance  of  inconsistency  and  self-condemnation  "  cannot 
 well  exist  among  rational  beings,"  than  that  exhibited  by 
 Protestants,  who  confess  before  God  that  they  believe  in 
 His  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  allow  themselves  to 
 limit  the  practical  use  of  the  term  to  the  Church  of 
 Rome.' — Correspo9idence,  Sj-c.  published  at  Blackburn, 
 1829,  p.  14. 
 
 "  There  is  nothing  I  abhor  more  than  religious  per- 
 secution— nothing  I  would  censure  more  strongly  than 
 a  wanton  offence  given  to  the  feelings  of  others,  on 
 account  of  a  sincere  difference  in  religious  opinion. 
 Yet  I  cannot  carry  this  principle  so  far  as  to  abstain 
 from  calling  the  members  of  that  Church  who  refuse  to 
 join  in  our  reformation  of  its  errors,  by  some  appel- 
 lation which  marks  their  adherence  to  its  communion, 
 and  their  submission  to  its  authority.  Papist  appears 
 to  me  the  most  correct  designation,  because  the  differ- 
 
364 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 ences  in  doctrine  are  often  ingeniously  softened  down  and 
 even  explained  away  by  the  more  enlightened  Roman 
 Catholics ;  but  I  never  met  with  one  who  did  not  hold 
 that  spiritual  submission  to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  in  some 
 sense  or  other,  was  indispensable.  The  word  Papist, 
 however,  is  understood  by  them  as  a  reproach.  Let  us 
 then,  in  Christian  charity,  forbear  to  use  it.  But  some 
 phrase  indicative  of  their  connexion  with  Rome,  and  of 
 their  dependence  upon  the  authority  of  that  see,  whether 
 Romish  or  Romanist,  or  Roman  Catholic,  I  hold  to  be 
 not  only  allowable,-  but  highly  expedient,  and  even 
 necessary :  and  heartily  do  I  wish  that  all  Protestants 
 would  form  themselves  to  a  habit  of  thus  speaking,  both 
 in  public  and  private :  for  it  then  would  never  be  under- 
 stood as  a  personal  affront,  but  as  a  serious  and  firm 
 resolution  not  to  compliment  away  an  important  point, 
 in  which  our  feelings  and  our  honour  are  at  least  as 
 much  concerned  as  theirs."^ 
 
 *'  Yes  but"  (I  have  heard  it  answered)  "  the  term 
 Papist  implies  more  than  mere  submission  to  Papal 
 supremacy;  it  implies  the  adoption  of  an  erro7ieous 
 system,  and  submission  to  an  usurped  authority." 
 It  implies  no  such  thing.  That  indeed  is  my  opinion 
 respecting  the  Romish  system ;  but  the  word  does  not 
 denote  that.  The  difference  is  practically  very  great 
 and  important,  between  a  word  which  itself  expresses 
 error  or  wrong,  and  a  word  which  denotes  some  thing 
 which  the  speaker  believes  to  be  erroneous  or  wrong. 
 
 b  Bishop.  Copleston's  Sermon  at  Abergavenny,  pp.  23,  24. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 365 
 
 One  person,  for  instance,  may  think  a  democracy  the 
 best  form  of  government,  and  another  may  think  it  the 
 worst ;  the  one  will  consequently  have  the  most  pleasing, 
 the  other  the  most  odious,  associations  with  the  term 
 Democrat;  but  the  word  itself  is  not  used  by  them  in 
 two  different  senses ;  it  expresses  simply,  an  "  advocate 
 for  democracy ;"  and  it  is  not,  in  itself,  either  a  term 
 of  honour  or  of  reproach.  On  the  other  hand,  "patriot" 
 and  "  traitor"  imply,  respectively,  honour  and  dis- 
 honour, in  their  very  signification. 
 
 Inattention  to  this  obvious  distinction  leads  to  endless 
 confusion  of  thought  and  practical  perplexity.  If  every 
 term  is  to  be  reckoned  reproachful,  which  is  associated,  in 
 the  mind  of  him  who  uses  it,  with  some  odious  or  con- 
 temptible idea,  then,  the  title  o/"  CATHOLIC  w'ill  itself  be 
 such,  when  applied  by  Protestants  to  designate  the  Church 
 of  Rome.  Every  term,  in  short,  will  be  a  term  of 
 reproach  when  used  by  one  who  disapproves  the  opinion, 
 system,  or  party,  implied  by  it.  The  Mahometans 
 associate  with  the  title  of  Christian  every  thing  that  is 
 hateful  or  despicable ;  shall  we  then  complain  or  be 
 ashamed  of  being  called  Christians  ?  "  God  forbid  that 
 we  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ."  Mahometan,  again,  is  a  title  which  recalls  to 
 the  Christian  the  idea  of  "  disciple  of  an  impostor ;" 
 but  the  title  itself  does  not  imply  Mahomet's  being 
 either  a  false  or  a  true  prophet;  and  they  accordingly 
 do  not  regard  it  as  a  reproachful  title. 
 
 But  the  term  Christian  would  be  reproachful  if 
 applied  by  one  Mahometan  to  another;  because  it  ex- 
 
366 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 presses  something  which  that  other  holds  in  abhorrence. 
 So  also,  the  title  of  Mahometan  would  be  a  reproach  if 
 applied  to  a  Christian ;  and  Papist,  again,  for  the  same 
 reason,  is  a  term  of  reproach,  if  applied  to  one  who 
 professes  himself  a  Protestant.  An  appellation,  in  short, 
 is  or  is  not  reproachful,  according  to  the  professed 
 tenets,  not  of  him  who  applies  it,  but  of  him  to  whom  it 
 is  applied.  To  be  called  a  Papist,  {i.  e.  "  one  who 
 admits  the  Pope's  authority,")  is  a  reproach  to  him 
 who  does  not,  and  none  to  him  who  does,  profess  that 
 principle. 
 
 But  we  are  told,  that  the  term  is  used  by  none  but 
 the  adversaries  of  the  Romanists,  and  therefore  they  have 
 a  right  to  complain  of  it.  At  this  rate  they  may  make 
 any  title  they  will,  a  term  of  reproach,  by  simply  re- 
 fusing to  apply  it  to  themselves.  And  we  may  be 
 assured  they  will  do  so  with  every  title  which  does  not 
 imply  a  reproach  to  us.  To  call  themselves,  distinc- 
 tively Catholics,  is  (as  they  at  least  are  well  aware, 
 whatever  we  may  be)  to  call  us  heretics.  Let  them  be 
 admonished,  that  when  they  except  against  the  name  of 
 Papist,  and  assume  that  of  Catholics,  declaiming  at  the 
 same  time  against  the  cruelty  of  using  reproachful  lan- 
 guage— let  them  be  admonished,  that  the  censure  applies, 
 not  to  us,  but  to  themselves. 
 
 If  each  Body  of  religionists  is  to  choose  its  own 
 appellation,  (which  all  have  a  right  to  do,  if  any  have 
 such  a  right)  and  insist  on  the  exclusive  employment  of  it, 
 the  Mahometans,  we  know,  will  require  that  they  should 
 be  distinguished  by  the  title  of  "  true-believers." 
 
Appendix. 
 
 367 
 
 And  let  it  not  be  thought  that  this  is  a  trifling  "  ques- 
 tion of  words  and  names :"  it  was  a  wise  maxim,  laid 
 down  and  skilfully  acted  on  by  some  of  the  leaders  of  the 
 French  Revolution,  that  "  names  are  things."  Great  is 
 the  practical  effect  in  all  debate  and  controversy,  of 
 suffering  to  pass  unnoticed  and  to  become  established, 
 such  terms  as  beg  the  question,  and  virtually  imply  a 
 decision  on  one  side.  I  remember  to  have  met  with  a 
 Romanist,  (by  no  means  bigoted)  of  the  middle  class  of 
 society,  with  whom  I  had  a  good  deal  of  discussion  of  the 
 points  wherein  we  differed.  What  seemed  to  dwell  most 
 on  his  mind  was,  the  inconsistency,  as  he  deemed  it,  of 
 our  professing  belief  in  "  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  ;" 
 when  "  yours,"  he  said,  "  is  not  the  Catholic  Church." 
 
 [B.] 
 
 Different  persons  will,  of  course,  be  chiefly  struck  by 
 different  faults,  among  those  charged  on  the  Romanists. 
 Many,  for  instance,  would  place  foremost  one  which  I 
 have  not  noticed  under  a  distinct  head,  and  to  which  they 
 give  the  title  of  "  self-righteousness."  The  word  does 
 not  perhaps  savour  of  the  purest  English  f  but  what  they 
 
 According  to  the  analogy  of  the  other  similar  compounds  in  our 
 language,  such  as  "self-love,"  "self-condemnation,"  "self-tormentor," 
 &c.  "  Self-righteousness"  shoidd  signify,  upright  dealing  in  respect 
 of  one's  self. 
 
 The  term  is  sometimes  defended  on  the  ground  that  it  means 
 "  Self-justification."  I  do  not  wish  to  dwell  strongly  on  verbal  ques- 
 tions :  but  it  certainly  is  no  vindication  of  a  word,  to  shew  that  it  has 
 a  meaning  which  might  have  been  properly  and  precisely  expressed 
 by  a  different  word. 
 
368 
 
 Append'uv. 
 
 mean  is,  a  trust  in  the  merit  of  good-works,  as  sufficient 
 to  earn  eternal  happiness,  and  as  entitling  a  man  to  that, 
 as  a  just  reward. 
 
 The  Romish  Church,  however,  has  not  in  reality  ever 
 set  this  forth  as  one  of  her  distinct  tenets.  If  any  one 
 will  consult,  what  is  of  decisive  authority  in  that  Church, 
 the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  he  will  perceive, 
 that  though  they  may  perhaps  have  made  an  injudicious 
 use  of  the  word  "  merit,"  the  abstract  question  between 
 them  and  others  (not  Antinomians)  is  chiefly  verbal. 
 For  they  admit,  and  solemnly  declare,  that  nothing  we 
 can  do  can  be  acceptable  before  God  except  for  the  sake 
 of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  we  are  unable  to  perform 
 good-works  except  by  his  Spirit  working  in  us  :  so  that 
 what  is  called  a  Christian's  righteousness,  is,  at  the  same 
 time,  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  although  the  Scrip- 
 tures promise,  repeatedly  and  plainly,  that  it  will,  through 
 his  goodness,  not  "  lose  its  reward.""* 
 
 ^  The  error  which  is  perhaps  the  commonest  among  Protestants, 
 on  this  point,  is  that  of  forgetting  that  the  "works"  by  which  the 
 Pharisees  sought  "to  establish  their  own  righteousness  whicli  was  of 
 the  Law,"  were,  not  the  performance  of  moral  duties,  but  ceremonial 
 observances  ;  which,  in  fact,  they  were  accustomed  to  regard  as  a 
 substitute  for  "the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy, 
 and  faith."  (Matt,  xxiii.  23.)  So  far  from  resting  their  justification 
 on  the  strict  morality  of  their  lives,  we  find  them  not  only  repeatedly 
 censured  by  our  Lord  for  their  gross  immorality,  but  spoken  of  by 
 Paul  (Kom.  ii.  17,  24,)  as  bringing  a  scandal  on  their  religion  in 
 the  eyes  of  the  Gentiles,  by  their  notorious  violations  of  their  moral 
 law.    (See  Matt,  xxiii.  14,  27.) 
 
 To  found  a  claim  to  immortal  happiness  on  the  ground  of  morality 
 of  hfe,  would  have  been  indeed  an  error,  but  a  far  different  one  from 
 theirs,  who  trusted  in  their  compliance  with  the  ceremonial  law. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 369 
 
 That  part  of  their  theory  which  is  the  most  objection- 
 able on  this  score,  is  the  doctrine,  that  from  the  pains  of 
 Purgatory,  Christ  has  not  redeemed  us,  but  we  are  to  be 
 rescued  either  by  Penances  done  in  this  hfe,  or  by 
 Masses  offered  in  our  behalf  after  our  death. 
 
 But  I  do  think,  that,  in  practice,  the  Romish  system 
 tends  to  foster  the  error  in  question  ;  not  so  much,  how- 
 ever, by  the  use  of  the  words  "  merit,"  and  "  reward," 
 as  by  the  importance  attached  to  the  actual  performance 
 of  a  vast  multitude  of  specific  works,  many  of  them  ar- 
 bitrarily prescribed,  such  as  abstinence  from  particular 
 meats  on  particular  days, — repetition  of  "Ave  Marys" 
 and  "  Pater-nosters  " — pilgrimages— crossings,  &c.  which 
 have  a  manifest  tendency  to  absorb  the  attention  in  the 
 act  itself — to  draw  off*  the  mind  from  the  endeavour 
 after  inward  purity — 'and  to  create  the  feeling  so  con- 
 genial to  our  Nature,  that  we  have  been  so  far  advancing 
 
 An  error,  very  nearly  the  same,  had  crept  in  among  us  to  a  vast 
 extent,  before  the  Reformation.  "  Good  works  "  had  come  to  signify, 
 principally,  if  not  exclusively,  pilgrimages,  fasts,  genuflections,  and 
 ceremonial  observances  of  various  kinds  ;  and  hence  our  Reformers 
 used  much  the  same  language  as  the  Apostle  Paul,  with  the  same 
 meaning,  and  on  a  like  occasion. 
 
 Both  were,  indeed,  well  aware  that  virtuous  actions  can  never 
 give  a  man  a  claim  to  the  Christian  promises,  independently  of  Chris- 
 tian faith  ;  and  also  that  the  best  actions — in  themselves  the  best — 
 are  not  acceptable  in  God's  sight  (indeed  are  not  even  morally  virtuous 
 at  all)  independently  of  the  principle  from  wliich  they  spring.  But  it 
 is  a  notorious  fact,  that  it  was  not  by  virtuous  actions — what  are 
 usually  so  called — that  the  Judaizing  Christians,  and  the  later  cor- 
 rupters of  Christianity,  sought  to  justify  themselves,  but  by  ceremonial 
 observances. 
 
 B  B 
 
370  Appendix. 
 
 in  the  performance  of  something  intrinsically  capable  of 
 forwarding  our  salvation. 
 
 It  is  worth  remarking  that  the  great  heathen  moralist, 
 who  understood  more  of  the  character  of  Christian  virtue 
 than  many  Chi'istians  do,  dwells  strongly  on  the  prin- 
 ciple, that  while,  in  the  Arts,  the  thing  produced  is  what 
 we  chiefly  look  to,  in  moral  action,  on  the  contrary,  the 
 frame  of  mind  of  the  agent  is  the  principal  point ;  virtuous 
 actions  being  only  the  means,  though  the  necessary  means, 
 
 making  him,  and  of  promng  him  to  be,  (what  is  to  be 
 the  ultimate  object  sought  after,)  an  habitually  good  ?^^a^^."' 
 But  it  is  an  easier  task  for  Man,  such  as  he  is  by  nature, 
 to  conform  his  outward  actions  to  a  certain  precisely-fixed 
 ride,  and  to  applaud  himself  for  that  conformity,  than,  by 
 incessant  vigilance  and  self-examination,  to  rectify  and 
 regulate  the  inward  character/ 
 
 In  strictness  of  language,  the  terms  virtuous  and 
 vicious  do  not  belong  to  any  action,  but  to  the  disposi- 
 tion of  the  agent ;  since  it  is  plain  that  the  very  same  act 
 may  be  either  a  virtuous,  or  a  sinful,  or  a  morally  indif- 
 ferent act,  according  to  the  motive  from  which  it  pro- 
 ceeded. So  far  therefore  from  any  good  works  being 
 intrinsically  meritorioiis,  there  are  none  that  can  be  even  in- 
 trinsically virtuous.  To  be  acceptable  in  God's  sight  they 
 must  be  "the  fruits  of  the  Spirit;" — the  fruits  of  the 
 branches  which  grow  on  the  true  Vine,  without  whom 
 "  we  can  do  nothing ;"  and  it  is  surely  both  safer  and 
 
 <=  See  Arist.  Etli.  b.  ii. 
 
 f  See  Essays  V.  and  VIII.  Second  Series. 
 
Appendix.  371 
 
 more  scriptural,  to  teach  men  this,  adding,  from  the  same 
 authority,  that  every  unfruitful  branch  will  be  cut  off, 
 and  that  he  only  who  "  doeth  the  will  of  his  heavenly 
 Father"  shall  "enter  into  his  kingdom,"  than  to  state 
 broadly  and  without  modification  that  nothing  a  man  can 
 do  has  any  tendency  to  forward  his  salvation,  and  to 
 represent  him  as  altogether  passive  in  the  great  work. 
 Such  language,  I  am  aware,  may  be,  and  is,  so  explained 
 as  not  to  countenance  an  immoral  or  a  negligent  life :  but 
 it  is  wantonly  incurring  a  risk,  to  use,  in  conveying 
 Christian  doctrines,  language  more  liable  to  misappre- 
 hension than  that  of  Scripture,  or  to  apply  to  moral 
 duties  the  expressions  used  by  the  Apostles  when  they 
 were  speaking  of  ceremonial  observances. 
 
 I  have  often  had  occasion  however  to  observe,  that 
 (not  only  in  religious  matters,  but  in  others  also)  each 
 Party,  School,  or  Sect,  are  disposed  to  prize  the  more 
 highly  their  own  peculiar  phraseology,  and  to  attach  the 
 more  importance  to  it,  in  proportion  as  it  is  obscurely 
 technical,  enigmatical,  and,  as  an  instrument  of  thought, 
 cumbrous  and  inconvenient.  For,  these  qualities  cause 
 it  to  mark  the  more  strongly  the  distinction  (and  man  is 
 by  nature  prone  to  delight  in  any  kind  of  distinction) 
 between  the  adept  and  the  uninitiated,^ — between  one 
 who  does,  and  who  does  not,  belong  to  their  own  school. 
 They  feel  thence  the  more  strongly  their  supposed 
 superiority  over  another,  who  will  often  be  palpably  at  a 
 loss  to  understand  their  meaning :  and  taking  for  granted 
 (as  is  commonly  done)  that  one  not  familiar  with  the 
 language  in  which  they  have  been  accustomed  to  express 
 B  B  2 
 
372 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 their  tenets,  is  utterly  ignorant  of  the  tenets  themselves, 
 they  look  down  on  him  with  exulting  pity  and  scorn  as 
 not  knowing  the  Gospel, — as  a  carnal  man,  (in  a  state  of 
 natural  blindness,)  by  whom  the  things  of  God  cannot  be 
 comprehended.  Just  so,  some  nations  of  savages,  it  is 
 said,  are  found  to  regard  as  greatly  their  inferiors  the 
 European  Missionaries  whom  they  find  ignorant  of  their 
 language,  or  speaking  it  incorrectly. 
 
 There  is  moreover  a  peculiar  kind  of  gratification, — 
 furnished  by  the  employment  of  numerous  uncouth  tech- 
 nical phrases,  from  the  conscious  exercise  of  ingenuity, 
 in  wielding  skilfully  a  cumbrous  instrument, — in  main- 
 taining successfully  a  revolting  paradox,  which  perhaps 
 after  all  is  only  a  verbal  paradox ; — and  in  so  explaining 
 as  to  keep  clear  of  mischievous  consequences,  some 
 dogma  which  has  thus  been  made  to  appear  at  first  sight 
 very  dangerous ;  and  which  perhaps  may  often  in  practice 
 prove  so  ;  though  it  may  have  been,  when  stated  in  plain 
 language,  perfectly  harmless,  and  perfectly  well  known. 
 
 I  cannot  but  think  the  error  just  described  is  imputable 
 to  some  of  those  writers  who  are  accustomed  to  employ 
 the  most  profusely  the  term  "  self-righteous,"  as  descrip- 
 tive of  those  who  relying  on  the  merit  of  the  good  deeds 
 they  have  performed  or  expect  to  perform,  "  trust  in 
 themselves  that  they  are  righteous"  and  that  they  are, 
 or  shall  be,  justified  before  God  by  their  own  works,  and 
 authorised  to  claim  reward  as  fairly  earned  from  Him. 
 The  doctrinal  error  indeed  may  be  held  by  a  man  who 
 having  a  similar  belief,  generally,  may  be,  individually, 
 doubtful  or  perhaps  desponding,  as  to  his  own  present 
 
Appendix. 
 
 373 
 
 condition,  from  consciousness  of  l)is  own  deficiency  in 
 those  good  works  which  he  conceives  necessary  to  esta- 
 bHsh  a  claim  to  heavenly  happiness.  But  a  person  of 
 this  latter  description  is  more  likely  than  not,  either  to 
 become  convinced  of  the  unsoundness  of  the  doctrine  of 
 self-justification  altogether,  or  to  turn  away  his  mind 
 altogether  from  religious  thoughts  which  will  have  be- 
 come a  source  of  wretchedness,  or,  lastly,  to  satisfy  him- 
 self that  his  virtues,  or  (more  frequently)  his  ceremonial 
 observances,  do  at  length  justify  him  before  God.  The 
 most  usual  result  therefore,  by  far,  of  the  erroneous 
 doctrine  above  described,  is  that  species  of  spiritual 
 pride  which  consists  in  an  arrogant  claim  founded  on 
 the  performance  of  certain  good  works. 
 
 It  is  a  great  mistake  however  (and  it  is  to  this  I  am 
 especially  directing  the  reader's  attention  at  present)  to 
 imagine  that  Protestants,  even  those  who  are  the  for- 
 wardest  in  condemning  this  particular  kind  of  Spiritual- 
 Pride,  which  is  connected  with  what  they  call  "  self- 
 righteousness,"  are  therefore  exempt  from  the  danger  of 
 Spiritual-Pride  altogether.  On  the  contrary,  one  may 
 find  but  too  plain  symptoms  of  the  same  disease,  even  in 
 some  who  the  most  abhor  and  condemn  all  reliance  on 
 the  merit  of  good  works.  For  Pride  is  too  natural  an 
 inmate  of  the  human  heart  to  be  effectually  excluded  by 
 being  merely  "  at  one  entrance  quite  shut  out."  There 
 are  some,  as  I  have  above  remarked,^  who  substitute  an 
 unerring  Party  for  an  unerring  Church,  or  renounce  the 
 shackles  of  Papal  infallibility,  as  it  were  in  a  spirit  of 
 S  See  Essay  IV. 
 
374  Appendix. 
 
 rivalry,  that  they  may  become,  each,  a  Pope  to  himself. 
 And  these  will  commonly  be  found  to  have  merely 
 changed  the  form,  not  the  substance,  of  Spiritual-Pride. 
 One  may  sometimes  hear  a  man  professing  himself  the 
 chief  of  sinners — proclaiming  his  own  righteousness  to  be 
 filthy  rags — calling  himself  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the 
 burning — resting  his  confidence  of  salvation  wholly  on 
 the  Atonement  of  his  Redeemer,  and  on  the  imputation 
 to  himself  of  the  righteous  works  performed  by  Christ^ — 
 and  acknowledging  that  he  has  received  every  thing  from 
 God's  free  and  unmerited  bounty ;  and  thence  fully  trust- 
 ing that  he  must  have  completely  attained  Christian 
 humility  ;  at  least,  as  far  as  he  does  completely  adhere  to 
 his  profession,  that  whatever  he  possesses  is  due  to  the 
 free  grace  of  God.  Now  on  this  ground  we  may  con- 
 ceive the  Pharisee  in  the  Parable  to  have  congratulated 
 himself  on  his  humility  as  well  as  his  other  virtues; 
 since  he  exclaims,  in  pious  gratitude,  "  God,  /  thank 
 Thee,  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are ! "  But  the 
 Pharisee,  it  will  be  answered,  rested  on  his  good  works — 
 his  scrupulous  fasting,  and  paying  of  tithes.  Is  there 
 then  110  other  conceivable  Spiritual-Pride  than  precisely 
 that  of  the  Pharisees  ?  no  other  subject  of  excessive  self- 
 confidence  and  self-congratulation?  If  there  be,  it  is 
 evident  that  we  cannot,  any  more  than  the  Pharisee,  be 
 exempted  from  the  danger,  by  merely  acknowledging, 
 {as  he  did)\hsii  all  we  have  is  the  gift  of  God.  And  in 
 fact,  it  may  too  often  be  found,  that  a  Christian,  who 
 renounces  the  Romish  tenets  respecting  good  works,  and 
 Sec  Essay  VI.  Second  Scries. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 375 
 
 who  abhors  the  very  name  of"  merit"  as  applied  to  him- 
 self or  to  other  men,  will  have  renounced  boasting,  only 
 in  words,  and  will  be  full  of  the  most  overweening  con- 
 fidence in  his  own  gifts  and  graces.  For  there  is  a  striking 
 resemblance  between  the  Romanist  and  the  fanatical 
 Pietist,  in  their  each  craving  after,  (though  from  different 
 quarters,)  and  each  in  consequence  flattering  himself  as 
 having  attained,  some  such  definite  and  certain  assurance, 
 the  one  from  his  Church,  the  other  from  his  feelings,  as 
 may  finally  supersede  hesitation  and  self-distrust' — destroy 
 the  true  nature  and  value  of  faith — and  deprive  the  pre- 
 sent Life  of  its  character  as  a  state  of  discipline.  As  the 
 one  accordingly  relies  in  proud  security  on  his  unerring 
 Church,  so  the  other  will  proclaim  himself  enlightened 
 throughout,  as  to  the  whole  Gospel-scheme,  by  the  divine 
 Spirit;  and  so  far  he  is  right,  that  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
 Spirit  is  promised  us  to  "  help  our  infirmities,"  and  that 
 without  his  help  sought  and  granted,  the  clearest  intel- 
 lectual powers  will  leave  a  man  bewildered,  or  ill-satisfied. 
 But  he  who  honestly  avails  himself  of  this  promise,  and 
 is  truly  "  led  by  the  Spirit,"  will  be  filled,  with  gratitude 
 indeed  for  the  past,  and  with  cheering  hope  for  the  future, 
 but  with  no  arrogant  self-confidence,  or  uncharitable  dis- 
 dain. Without  entering  into  any  minute  discussion  (for 
 which  this  is  not  the  place'')  of  the  different  kinds  and 
 degrees  of  spiritual  assistance,  it  is  evident  that  all  such 
 enlightening  of  the  mind,  either  is,  or  is  not,  of  such  a 
 character  as  to  amount  to  inspiration,  and  imply  infal- 
 
 i  See  Essay  VI.  First  Series,  §  9. 
 ^  Sec  Essay  IX.  Second  Series. 
 
376 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 libility.  If  in  any  case  a  man  is  convinced  that  he  has 
 not  any  claim  to  this,  he  ought,  in  some  way  or  other,  to 
 manifest  that  conviction,  and  to  shew  that  he  makes 
 allowance  for  this  difference  :  if  he  does  reckon  himself, 
 properly,  inspired,  he  ought  at  least  not  to  censure  the 
 Romish  Church  for  the  presumptuous  arrogance  of  her 
 claim,  but  honestly  to  join  issue  on  the  question,  whether 
 he,  or  they,  are  justified  in  such  a  claim :  a  claim  which, 
 it  appears  to  me,  can  only  be  established  by  the  perform- 
 ance of  sensible  miracles. 
 
 And  I  cannot  but  think  the  Romanists  have  the 
 advantage  in  point  of  consistency  over  many  modern 
 fanatics  ;  inasmuch  as  their  Church  does  acknowledge 
 the  reasonableness  of  such  an  appeal,  and  claim  mira- 
 culous powers.  But  one  may  find  in  some  Protestants, 
 while  they  pretend  to  no  such  powers,  and  abjure  all 
 arrogant  assumption,  a  decided  pretension,  if  not  always 
 expressed  in  words,  at  least  implied  in  the  whole  tenor 
 of  their  language,  to  inspiration,  properly  so  called. 
 They  state  their  own  views  of  religion  with  no  less 
 oracular  dogmatism  than  the  Romanists ; — they  bestow- 
 no  less  unhesitating  and  unsparing  censure  on  all  who 
 do  not  coincide  in  these  views,  or  who  do  not,  to  the 
 minutest  tittle,  conform  to  their  phraseology  in  expressing 
 them ; — and  they  look  down  with  the  same  pharisaical 
 and  self-sufficient  contempt  on  every  one  who  does  not 
 adopt  the  notions  which  they  (as  they  often  express 
 themselves)  have  been  taught  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  And 
 if  any  one  remains  unconvinced  by  their  arguments,  or 
 by  their  assertions  instead  of  argument,  or  if  he  meet 
 
Appendix.  377 
 
 these  with  such  objections  as  they  are  at  a  loss  to  answer, 
 they  will  in  general  boldly  and  promptly  resort  to  the 
 cheap  expedient  of  pronouncing  him  incapable  of  com- 
 prehending the  subject,  from  being  in  an  unregenerate 
 state  :  for  "  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  that 
 are  of  God :"  and  such,  they  conclude  at  once,  must  be 
 the  condition  of  any  one  who  disallows,  or,  still  more, 
 who  refutes,  their  opinions,  which  they  are  sure  are  the 
 "  things  of  God."  Any,  the  slightest,  departure  from  the 
 standard  of  their  (as  it  might  be  called,  in  analogy  to 
 their  own  phraseology)  "  Self- Infallibility,"  is  regarded 
 by  them  as  a  decisive  proof  of  entire  spiritual  blindness. 
 
 But  still,  inasmuch  as  they  abhor  "  self-righteousness," 
 claiming  no  merit  whatsoever  for  their  own  good  works, 
 and  pretending  07ily  to  the  character  of  the  peculiarly- 
 favoured  and  inspired  people  of  God,  they  flatter  them- 
 selves that  they  are  quite  safe  from  spiritual-pride  ;  and 
 thus  they  complete  their  presumptuous  confidence,  by 
 adding  to  the  list  of  their  other  perfections,  the  perfect 
 attainment  of  genuine  Christian  Humility.  Being  utter 
 strangers  to  self-distrust  and  humble  vigilance,  they  feel, 
 for  this  very  reason,  the  more  secure  against  any  deficiency 
 of  these;  and  the  very  completeness  of  their  spiritual- 
 pride,  makes  them  the  more  completely  confident  of  being 
 wholly  free  from  it.  I  may  expect  therefore  that  in  pro- 
 portion as  the  view  I  have  taken  may  be  a  just  one,  it 
 will  be  the  more  likely  to  give  offence.  The  suggestion 
 of  a  possibility  of  being  self-deceived  in  respect  of  the 
 virtue  of  humility  will  startle  and  shock  each  person  the 
 more,  the  more  fully  convinced  he  is  in  his  own  mind 
 
378 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 that  he  does  possess  that  virtue :  and  the  less  he  really 
 possesses  it,  he  will  be  of  course  the  more  resentful  and 
 impatient  of  admonition. 
 
 If  such  be,  as  I  fear  it  is,  but  too  true  a  picture  of  the 
 language  and  tone  of  feeling  which  may  not  unfrequently 
 be  met  with,  even  among  those  who  not  only  condemn 
 the  arrogance  of  the  Romish  plea  of  merit,  but  are  sedu- 
 lous in  warning  Protestants  against  the  like  sin,  this 
 furnishes  a  strong,  and  afflicting,  and  awful  instance  of  a 
 delusion  by  which  our  spiritual  enemy  can  obtrude  upon 
 us  some  vice,  dressed  up  in  the  very  garb  of  the  opposite 
 virtue,  even  at  the  very  time  when  we  are  occupied  in  the 
 most  vehement  reprobation  of  it :  while  we  are,  in  one 
 point,  scrupulous  to  "  strain  off  the  gnat,"  and  in  another, 
 ready  to  "  swallow  the  camel." 
 
 Never  will  the  sin  of  spiritual-pride  more  easily  beset 
 us,  than  under  the  guise  of  a  self-abhorring  humility. 
 And  never  will  the  preacher  be  more  successful  in  making 
 (apparent)  converts,  than  when  he  is  unconsciously  flat- 
 tering the  evil  propensities  of  man's  corrupt  nature,  while 
 he  appears  to  repress  them.  "  It  is  sometimes  consi- 
 dered as  a  proof  of  the  advantage  to  be  obtained  from 
 the  habit  which  I  am  here  presuming  to  discourage,  that 
 such  preaching  generally  proves  attractive  to  the  lower 
 classes.  This,  however,  may  be  accounted  for,  without 
 furnishing  any  justification  of  the  practice.  For,  first, 
 the  lower  classes,  unless  they  are  truly  religious,  usually 
 are  gross  sinners,  and,  therefore,  are  neither  surprised 
 nor  shocked  at  being  supposed  so  themselves,  and  at  the 
 same  time  feel  a  sort  of  pleasure  which  need  not  be  en- 
 
Appendix. 
 
 379 
 
 couraged,  when  they  hear  their  superiors  brought  down 
 to  the  same  level :  and,  secondly,  it  seems  to  furnish  them 
 with  a  sort  of  excuse  for  their  sins,  to  find  that  they  are 
 so  universal,  and  so  much  to  be  expected  of  human 
 nature."'  Nothing  indeed  is  more  likely  to  be  popular, 
 and  less  Hkely  to  be  profitable,  than  to  act  the  part  of  the 
 Stoic  philosopher  to  Damasippus ;  (Hor.  Sat.  iii.  b.  2.) 
 who  assured  him  that  he  need  not  feel  any  shame  at  his 
 own  follies,  at  least  as  compared  with  those  of  other 
 men,™  since  all  except  the  true  wise-man n  were  equally 
 foolish  and  insane,"  though  in  various  ways ;  and  that  he 
 had  only  to  enroll  himself  in  tiiis  privileged  and  enlight- 
 ened philosophical  Sect,  adopt  the  maxims  of  his  new 
 schoo  1,  and  immediately  look  down  with  disdain  on 
 those  he  had  been  accustomed  to  look  up  to  with  a  mix- 
 ture of  reverence,  envy,  despair,  and  dislike.^ 
 
 '  Sumner,  Apostolical  Preaching,  p.  133. 
 
 hoc  te 
 
 Credo  modo  insanum ;  nihilo  ut  sapientior  ille 
 Qui  te  deridet.    Sat.  iii.  b.  ii.  1.  51. 
 
 n    .    .    HEec  populos,  haec  magnos  formula  reges, 
 Excepto  sapiente,  tenet.    1.  45. 
 
 0  It  should  be  remembered,  that  the  equality  of  all  faults  was  a 
 favourite  doctrine  of  the  Stoics. 
 
 P       .....       .       unde  ego  mira 
 
 Descripsi  docilis  praecepta  haec,  tempore  quo  me 
 
 Solatus  jussit  sapientem  pascere  barbam, 
 
 Atque  a  Fabricio  non  tristem  ponte  reverti.    1.  34. 
 
 1  .....       .  amico 
 
 Arma  dedit,  posthac  nc  compellarer  inultus.    1.  297. 
 
380 
 
 AjypencUx. 
 
 The  whole  of  this  admirable  Satire  is  well  worth  a  re- 
 perusal,  with  a  view  to  the  present  subject,  for  the  sake 
 of  the  light  it  throws  on  the  substantial  identity,  under 
 the  most  different  forms  and  names,  of  human  nature  in 
 all  ages  and  countries. 
 
 It  ever  must  have  been,  and  ever  will  be,  a  far  more 
 irksome  task  to  Human  Nature,  to  drink,  drop  by  drop, 
 the  medicine,  so  bitter  to  the  "  Natural  Man,"  of  self- 
 abasement,  than  to  get  rid  of  the  potion  in  a  single 
 draught ; — to  weed  out,  one  by  one,  deep-rooted  habits, 
 and  gradually  to  retrace  his  steps  by  daily  perseverance, 
 than  to  leap  at  once  to  a  secure  eminence,  from  which  he 
 may  look  back,  in  the  exultation  of  superiority,  on  those 
 whose  greater  forwardness  in  the  Christian  course  he  had 
 been  used  to  regard  with  almost  hopeless  mortification. 
 
 Well  therefore  may  we  expect,  that  those  who  are  not 
 sedulously  on  their  guard,  will  be  often  seduced  by  a 
 temptation  which  addresses  itself  at  once  to  the  impatient 
 indolence,  to  the  jealousy,  and  to  the  pride,  of  the  human 
 heart. 
 
 To  the  topics  I  have  touched  on  in  the  course  of  this 
 Work,  I  might  have  added,  besides  m.my  others,  some 
 allusion  to  the  re-introduction  among  some  Protestants  of 
 Auricular  Confession^  though  so  far  modified  as  not  to  be 
 made  to  a  priest ;  by  which  alteration,  I  conceive,  both 
 the  good^  in  some  instances,  and  the  evil,  in  many  more, 
 of  the  Romish  practice,  may  be  diminished.  That  good 
 as  well  as  evil — beneficial  as  well  as  pernicious  effects — 
 
Appendix. 
 
 381 
 
 have  been  produced  by  auricular  Confession,  I  have  not 
 a  doubt.  And  this  perhaps  has  had  its  share  in  the  wide 
 diffusion,  long  continuance,  and  partial  restoration  of  the 
 practice.  But  the  chief  cause  is,  I  am  convinced,  (as  in 
 the  case  of  the  other  Romish  practices,)  that  there  is  a 
 natural  craving  in  mankind  for  this  unburdening  of  the 
 conscience,  by  confession  to  a  fellow-creature.  The 
 Romish  system  has  taken  advantage  of  this,  by  misinter- 
 preting the  scriptural  recommendation,  to  "confess  our 
 sins  one  to  another,"  (the  Apostle  does  not  say  "  to  the 
 Minister,"  or  to  the  Church)  as  a  requisition  of  a  regular 
 and  complete  periodical  Confession,  making  a  portion  of 
 Christian  discipline.  And  the  practice  so  established, 
 whether  with  Romanists  or  Protestants,  I  am  convinced 
 does  evil  ten  times  oftener,  and  of  ten  thousand  times 
 greater  magnitude,  than  good:  nor  can  I  but  regard  it 
 as,  practically,  one  of  the  very  worst  parts  of  Romanism. 
 Indeed,  my  chief  reason  for  not  dwelling  on  it  further  is, 
 that  I  could  not,  with  propriety,  exhibit  it  in  its  true 
 colours,  or  describe  what  I  have  good  ground  to  believe, 
 respecting  its  effects. 
 
 Of  course,  when  there  is  any  particular  act  in  which 
 we  are  conscious  of  having  wronged  our  neighbour,  it  is 
 our  duty  then  to  confess  to  him  that  we  have  wronged 
 him,  and  to  ask  his  forgiveness.  TJiis  is  a  real  point  of 
 Christian  humility  ;  and  a  great  trial  of  it  it  is ;  far  more 
 than  the  most  highflown  general  lamentation  over  the  sin- 
 fulness of  our  nature. 
 
 And  again,  when  we  are  consulting  some  confidential 
 adviser,  as  to  any  part  of  our  conduct,  we  are  right  (sup- 
 
382 
 
 Appendiv. 
 
 posing  him  worthy  of  being  an  adviser  at  all)  in  opening 
 our  hearts  to  him,  and  confessing  the  faults  and  infirmi- 
 ties which  we  are  consulting  him  how  to  shake  off  and 
 counteract.  And  in  giving  advice  also  to  a  friend,  we 
 may  have  occasion  to  supply  him  with  a  useful  warning, 
 by  freely  confessing  to  him  the  snares  in  which  we  have 
 been  entangled. 
 
 But  except  in  these  cases,  confessions  of  sin  had  better 
 be  made  to  God  only ;  and  to  Him  they  should  be  made 
 with  perfect  sincerity.  For,  though  there  is  no  danger 
 of  our  deceiving  Him,  there  is  great  danger  of  our  de- 
 ceiving ourselves.'' 
 
 Enough  however  has  been  said  on  several  points,  and 
 perhaps  more  than  enough  for  minds  disposed  to  follow 
 up  a  principle  in  its  several  applications,  to  shew  the 
 necessity  of  unceasing  vigilance,  and,  not  indeed  of 
 often-repeated  thorough  reformations,  (which  are  always 
 attended  with  more  or  less  evil,)  but,  of  such  perpetual 
 revision,  renovation,  purification,  and  progressive  im- 
 protement,  in  every  system,  as  shall  supersede  the  neces- 
 sity of  great  changes  ;  such  constant  attention  to  keep 
 every  thing,  as  it  were,  in  good  repair,  that  there  shall 
 be  no  need  of  totally  pulling  down  and  rebuilding. 
 
 But  there  is  an  error  common  to  many  of  those  who  in 
 other  respects  vary  infinitely  in  their  views  ;  to  many,  both 
 of  the  adherents  of  the  unreformed  Churches,  with  their 
 long-accumulated  load  of  abuses ;  and  of  those  who  are 
 
 >■  Charge,  1836,  (pp.  43,  44.) 
 
Appendix. 
 
 383 
 
 fully  satisfied  with  the  system  of  some  reformed  Church ; 
 and  again  of  those  who  advocate  further  reform,  from  the 
 most  extravagant,  to  the  most  moderate  ;  and  an  error, 
 lastly,  common  to  political,  and  academical,  as  well  as  to 
 ecclesiastical  matters.  The  error  I  mean  is  that  of  con- 
 ceiving a  system, — whether  actually  existing,  or  ideal, — 
 so  framed,  as  to  keep  itself  in  good  order ; — one  that  either 
 is,  or  may  be,  so  wisely  constituted  as  to  remain  perfect, 
 or  as  near  as  is  possible,  to  perfection,  without  any  call 
 for  incessantly-watchful  care  on  our  part.  This  error,  I 
 say,  is  common  to  men  of  the  most  opposite  views.  Some 
 attribute  this  character  to  the  Church  of  Rome  as  founded 
 by  the  Apostles ;  or  to  some  Protestant  Church,  as  re- 
 formed by  Luther  or  Calvin  ;  resigning  themselves  to 
 tranquil  security  against  all  but  external  dangers,  and 
 apprehending  none  but  sudden  and  violent  innovations ; 
 forgetful  of  the  wise  remark  of  Bacon,  that  "  Time  is  the 
 greatest  innovator ;  though  his  changes  creep  in  so  quietly 
 as  to  escape  notice." ^  Others,  on  the  contrary,  see  num- 
 berless defects,  real  or  imaginary,  in  these  Churches,  and 
 wish  for  a  total,  or  for  a  partial,  change :  still  flattering 
 themselves,  like  their  opponents,  that  a  system  once 
 established  on  their  principles,  will  continue,  without 
 further  care  or  vigilance,  to  answer  all  its  purposes  for 
 ever ; — in  short,  that  the  machine  will  go  right,  if  un- 
 disturbed, without  ever  needing  to  be  regulated,  or  to  be 
 wound  up.    Never  let  it  be  forgotten  then,  that  we  are 
 
 s  "  Novator  maximus,  Tempiis  ....  quod  novationes  ita  insi- 
 nuat  lit  sensus  fallant." 
 
384  Appendix. 
 
 beset  by  the  same  truly  chimerical  hope,  in  human  affairs, 
 which  has  misled  so  many  speculators  in  Mechanics; 
 the  vain  expectation  of  attaining  the  PERPETUAL 
 MOTION. 
 
 THE  END. 
 
 R.  CLAY,  PRINTER,  BREAD-STREET-HILL.