«£ 4*4 leu* a . c^ / $M*** ^/£*?y£ " i Swk* >v \WO v^ik i M L THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR; OR, A COLLECTION OF SPEECHES, DELIVERED ON PUBLIC OCCASIONS BEFORE Religions Benevolent Societies* TO WHICH IS PREiFIXEDj AN ABRIDGMENT OF WALKER'S ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. Designed for the use of Colleges, Academies, and Schools BY A GENTLEMAN OF MASSACHUSETTS, SECOND EDITION, Improved and enlarged. BALTIMORE ! Published by CUSHING & JEWETT, and F. LUCAS, jr. Sold also, By W. W. Woodward, Philadelphia ; S. Wood & Sons, aftd Dodge & Sayre, New-York ; Seward & Williams, Ulica 5 H. How, NewHaven ; and Lincoln & Edmands, Boston* 1818. Lincoln 1$ Edmands, Printers. DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT: District Clerk'* Office. (L. S) Be it remembered, That on the twenty-sixth day of December, A. D eighteen hundred and sever* in the fort) -second year of thr independence of the United States of America, Samuel Eiheridge, of the said Dis- trict, has deposited in this Office the title of I book, the light whereof hi claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit: M I lie CM itian O. ator ; or, a collection of speeches delivered on public occasions before religious benevolent societies. To Which is prefixed an abridgment of Walker's Elements of Elo- cution. Designed for the u>e of colleges, academies, and schools. By a Gentleman of Massachusetts. In confoi mity to the act i f the Congress of the United States, entitled, " Ah ac* for the encouragement of learning, by secur- ing the copies of mans, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mention- ed : a? d also to an act entitled, "An Act supplementary to an act, entitled An Act for the encouragement of learning, by se- curing the copies of naps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, en- graving aiid etching historical and other prints." John W. Davis, Clerk of the District of Massachutettt. PREFACE. We live in a remarkable period of the world ; in a period when revolutions of the most extensive and momentous character are occurring with a rapidity altogether without a parallel. The dark- ness, which for so many ages has covered the intellectual, political, and moral prospects of man, is vanishing away, and scenes of unexam- pled brightness are every where opening to our view. The customs, which were generated and nourished by the heathenism and infidelity of former days, are melting away before Schools, and Missionaries, and Bibles. Even war, so fruitful in misery, and which has reigned with- out control ever since the flood, is beginning to yield its dominion ; and in its room a spirit of peace, and of heavenly benevolence, has gone forth, to unite in one happy family, all the chil- dren of Adam. Such a radical change in the feelings of men, requires, and will produce, a corresponding change in the institutions of society. Such a change has already appeared in the periodical productions of the press. The columns of our newspapers, which were formerly employed in feeding a murderous spirit of hostility towards 1V PREFACE. foreign nations, and in kindling the flame of dis- cord among brethren at home, are now em- ployed in promoting the exertions, and pro- claiming the triumphs of Christian benevo- lence. It is worthy of consideration, whether changes of this auspicious character may not be extend- ed. Every one, who has examined the collec- tions of speeches in the Reading books, com- monly put into the hands of children at our academies and common schools, must have ob- served, that they contain many, which breathe unhallowed feelings ; a spirit of pride and re- venge, of ambition and war ; a spirit wholly opposed to the gentleness and humility of the Gospel. How incongruous is this with the temper of these times ! While the emperors of the earth are laying aside their laurels, and leaguing together to put an end to war, the chil- dren of Christian parents are taught to glow in unholy admiration of heroes and conquerors. While thousands are contributing to diffuse the precepts of the Gospel among the distant heath- en, our own children are learning the maxims and sentiments of heathen orators and moralists. To remedy this evil, it has been thought ad- visable to publish a collection of speeches for the youth of our country, more in harmony with the spirit of the times, and adapted to en- list their feelings and energies in carrying for- ward the grand schemes of benevolence, which PREFACE. V are now in successful operation throughout the church, and world. Such has been the ob- ject of the Compiler of the following volume. His situation has given him access to a great variety of materials ; and it is presumed, that, in point of genuine eloquence, many of the speeches in this volume, are not surpassed by any which this age has produced. An abridgment of Walker's Elements of Elocution, a work which stands first in its kind in the estimation of the public, is, with ob- vious propriety, prefixed to this work. As this is designed to be a reading book in common schools, as well as to furnish decla- mations for students in our colleges and acad- emies, the speeches are divided into sections, and numbered, for the convenience both of in- structors and scholars. That the work may promote the cause of re- I n and humanity, is the sincere wish of THE COMPILE Im, 1, 1818, A* ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. The favorable reception which the public have given to the first Edition of this work has induced the Compiler to revise it with care, to alter the arrangement of the pieces, and to give variety to the Selection by the addition of Poetry and Dialogues. The new matter has, of course, excluded the less interesting parts of the old volume. The abridgment of Walker's Elements of Elocution, in the in- troduction to the Volume, has been condens- ed, and rules for reading Poetry from the same author have been added. — It is believed that the labor which has been spent upon this Edition will make the work more ^worthy o f the patronage of the public. July 27, 1818, CONTENTS. PAGE, PACE* Elements of Elocution 9 Bible Society Speeches. Speech of Rev W. Dealtry 55 Speech of Charles Grant, -Charles Grant, jr. Esq. 59 Rev. VV Dealtry, 63 Charles Grant, jr. E^q. 64 Address of the American Bible Society, 66 Speech of Rev Dr. Mason, 68 jr. Esq. The Bible above all price, by Rev. Edward Payson, Speech of George Griffin, Esq ... Peter A. Jay, Esq. 72 74 80 85 Missionary Speeches. The office of the christian Missionary, noble and el- evated, by Rev R Hall Christianity and Paganism contrasted, by Rev. G. T. Noel The claims of \frica, by John S. Harford, Esq An objection to missions an- swered, bv J S Harford 95 89 Speechof Rev J H. Singer 98 On the danger of sending Missionaries to the heath- en, by Rev. Mr. B'xker- steth - - 101 91 92 Speeches on War. The splendor of war an ob On the horrors of war, by Robert Hall, - 103 Peace and war contrasted, byR Hall 108 Character of the European war, byR. Hall 109 Speeches on Infidelity Concise history of French The folly of infidelity by infidelity, by Dr. Dwight 118 Brief account of Illuminism by Dr. Dwight 119 The punishment of an Infi- del nation, by R. Hall 122 stacle to its extinction, by Rev. T. Chalmers, 113 The holy league 115 124 Dr. Dwight Christianity contrasted with infidelity, by R Hall 125 Influence of infidelity on morals, by R. Hall 128 State of France,by Obeirne 131 Speeches on Education. ■ Advantages of knowledge of the poor answered by by R. Hall - - 134 R. Hall 135 Objections to the education Evils of ignorance, do. 137 Speeches on the Slave Trade. Speech of W. Wilberfcrce, Esq. . - - 138 Speech of Mr. Pitt — — Mr. Fox 141 148 CO NT EN ih. -ions OCCi PAGE. On the first settlers of New England, by J Q^ Adams, Esq. - 155 Religion a security against national calamities, by R. Hall - - 157 Dtitv of visiting the poor, by R. Hall 158 On the danger of neglecting the poor, by R- HaW 160 On profane swearing, do. 162 The dignity and importance of the ministerial office, by R. Hail 163 Boldness of reproof, by Cal- On intemperance, by Dr. Appleton Symptoms of national de- generacy, by R. Hall 165 167 170 PAGC Humility and dignity of the christian, bv R.Hall 175 Motives to secure the blrs- i of the gospel, bv Dr. Dwight 17 The surprise of death, by Masillon - " 181 The uncertainty of life, do. 18 The state of the Jews, by J. \V. Cunningham 186 Vanitv of worldly good, bv I)j\Dwight " '192 On duelling, by Dr. Mason 194 Extract from Chrysostom, on Eutropius' disgrace 197 Utility of Tracts 199 Character of Richard Rey- nolds, by Mr. Thorpe " 202 Character of Mrs. Graham, by Dr. Mason 206 Narrative and Biographical Pieces, Charles Vth, emperor of Germany 224 Boerhaave 226 Character of Gen. Hamilton, by Dr. Nott 2i9 214 216 Abdallah and Ssbat, by Dr. Buchanan Fatal presumption Skenandoh, the Oneida chief 219 Altamont, by Dr. Ycung 221 Poetry The Pulpit, by Cowper 232 Verses by do. 234 Love of the World re- proved, do. 236 The Rose, do. 238 The Negroes' Com- plaint, do. ib. The nightingale and glow- worm, by Cowper 240 • forbearance, do. 242 The man perishing in the snow storm, by Thomson 244 The two gardeners, Miss More 248 Gaiety, by Cowper 248 To the memory of Joseph Browne 282 The Snow Drop, by Mont- gomery 285 True and false philanthropy, by Miss More 249 On the education of titers* m do. 254 On carrying religion in- to common business, do. 261 Dialogues. Danielin the Lion's den, do 266 Dionvsius, Pythias, & Da- mon, by Fenelon 271 The children who would be their own masters by Berquin 274 ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION, ABRIDGED FROM WALKER. The grand aim of the reader, or speaker, should be to express the sense of a composition, so as to be understood, and, at the same time, give it all the force, beauty and variety, of which it is sus- ceptible. In order to attain this, it becomes necessary for the student to make himself acquainted with the doctrine of punctuation. Punctuation may be con- sidered, first, with regard to the sense simply ; secondly, with regard, not only to the sense, but to variety and beauty, force and harmony. The former may be styled grammatical punctuation, the latter, rhetorical. PRACTICAL SYSTEM OF GRAMMATICAL PUNCTUATION. RULE 1. A simple sentence, that is, a sentence having but one subject, or nominative, and one finite verb, admits of no pause ; as, " True politeness has its seat in the heart. 1 " 10 ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. Excep. An adjunct, by which is meant an im- perfect phrase, or part of a sentence, which makes no sense of itself, but serves to modify the mean- ing of the subject or verb, standing out of its nat- ural order, may be followed by a comma, and sometimes also preceded by it ; as, " But, even on that occasion, you ought not to rejoice." " In the moments of eager contention, every thing is mag- nified/ 5 RULE 2. In compound sentences, make as many distinc- tions by commas, as there are simple sentences contained in them ; as, "My hopes, fears, joys, pains, all centre in you.*" Observ. 1. When several adjuncts affect the sub- ject of the verb; as, " A good, wise, learned man is an ornament,*' &c. ; or when several adverbs, or ad- verbial circumstances affect the verb ; as, " He be- haved himself modestly, prudently, virtuously," it is to be understood, that there are actually so many simple sentences implied, as there are ad- juncts, or adverbial circumstances. Obs. 2. Many sentences, seemingly simple, are nevertheless of the compound kind. Such are those sentences, which contain what is called the ablative absolute - y nouns, in apposition ; also nouns independent, where an address is made. Obs. 3. Some sentences generally supposed to be compound, arp. ?n fact, -iraple ; a«, " Thr ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. 1 1 imagination and the judgment do not always agree." In this case the words, the imagination and the judgment, form but one subject of a simple sen- tence. EXCEPTIONS TO RULE 2. 1. When sentences are connected by the com- pound pronoun what, the comma is omitted ; as, "This is what I wanted/ 5 " He does what he pleases," &c. 2. The comma is sometimes omitted in short comparative sentences ; as, " What is sweeter than honey?" 3. When one sentence stands as the object of the verb of another sentence; the comma may be omitted ; as, u I knew he was present. " 4. When the relative pronoun is understood, as, -• Improve well the advantages you possess." 5. Subjects, or adjuncts, united by a conjunc- tion, omit the comma; as, "A man never becomes learned without studying constantly and methodic- ally.' 5 " My hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, all centre in you." RULE 3. When a sentence can be divided into two or more members, which members are again divisible into members more simple, the former are to be separated by a semicolon. Exam. H But as this passion for admiration, when it works according to reason, improyes the beautiful part of *~ ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. our species in every thing, that is laudable; so nothing u more destructive to them, when it is governed by vanity and folly." RULE 4. When a sentence is so far perfectly finished, as not to be connected in construction with the fol- lowing sentence, it is marked with a period; as, •'• Quench not the spirit." " Fear God.'* RULE 5. When surprise, or wonder, is expressed, a note of admiration is to be used; when a question is asked, a note of interrogation ; as, M How wonder- ful the change !" " Is this the man, who made the nations tremble ?" PRACTICAL SYSTEM OF RHETORICAL PUNCTUATION. Complex sentences may be divided into two classes ; first, periods ; second, loose sentences. 1. A period is an assemblage of such words, or members, as do not form sense, independent on each other ; or, if they do, the former modify the latter, or inversely. It is of two kinds ; the direct period, where the former words and members depend for sense on the latter. Example. " As we cannot discern the shadow, moving' along the dial-plate, so the advances we make in learning- are only perceived by the distance gone over." ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION, 13 The inverted period, where the first part, though it forms sense without the latter, is nevertheless mod- ified by it ; as, " There are several arts, which all men are in some measure masters of, without being at the pains of learning them." 2. A loose sentence has its first member forming sense, without being modified by the latter ; as, " Persons of good taste expect to be pleased at the same time they are informed ; and think that the best sense always deserves the best language." In which example, we find the latter member adding something to the former, but not modifying or alter- ing it. There are three principal pauses ; namely, the smaller pause, answering to the comma ; the great- er pause, answering to the semicolon and colon ; and the greatest pause, answering to the period. The length of these pauses varies with the length of a sentence, or the length of its members. RULE 1. Every direct period consists of two principal con- structive parts, between which parts the greater pause must be inserted ; thus, Exampie. " As we cannot discern the shadow moving 1 along the dial-plate, so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceivable by the distance gone over.'* RULE 2. Every inverted period consists of two principal constructive parts, between which parts, the greater pause must be inserted ; these parts divido at that B 14 HEITTS OF ELOCUTION. point, where the latter part of the sentence begins to modify the former; as, Ex. " Every one that speaks and reasons is a grammarian, and a logician, though he may be utterly unacquainted with the rules of grammar, or logick, as delivered in books and systems." RULE S. Every loose sentence must consist of a period, either direct or inverted, and an additional member which does not modify it ; and, consequently, this species of sentence requires a pause between the principal constructive parts of the period, and between the period and the additional member. Ex. Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time they are informed ; and think that the best sense always deserves the best language. Having 'thus given an idea of the principal pause in a sentence, it will be necessary to say something of the subordinate pauses, which may all be com- prehended under what is called the short pause. And here I would observe, that by the long pause, is not meant a pause of any determinate length, but the longest pause in the sentence. And it may pass for a good general rule, that the principal pause is longer, or shorter, according to the sim- plicity, or complexity of the sentence. After a sentence is divided into its principal parts by the long pause, these parts, if complex, are again divisible into subordinate parts by a short pause ; and these, if necessary, are again divisible into more subordinate parts by a still shorter pause. ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. 1 till at last we arrive at those words, which admit no pause : as the article and substantive ; the sub- stantive and adjective in their natural order, or, if unattended by adjuncts, in any order ; and the prepositions and the words they govern. These words are not divisible except for the sake of em- phasis. Every other combination of words seems divisi- ble, if occasion require. And here it may be ob- served that all the words of a sentence may be distinguished into those that modify, and those, that are modified. . The words, that are modifi- ed, are the nominative and the verb it governs. Every other word may be said to be a modifier of these words. The modifying words are also themselves modifi- ed by other words ; and thus the whole sentence may be divided into superior and subordinate classes of words ; each class being composed of words more united among themselves, than the several classes are with each other. Ex. "The members of that society have suffered much from the intolerance of their persecutors." The noun members, and the verb have suffered, with their several adjuncts, form the two prin- cipal classes of r# words in this sentence ; and be- tween these classes a pause is more readily ad- mitted, than between any other words. If the lat- ter class may be thought too long to be pronounced without a pause, we may more easily place one at much, than between any other words ; because, though have suffered is modified by every one of the succeeding words, taken all together, yet it is 16 ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. more immediately modified by much, as this por- tion is also modified by from the intolerance of their persecutors. If another pause were necessary, it would be more easily admitted at intolerance, than between any other words, because that, together with the preceding words, is modified by the adjunct, of their persecutors. In these observations, however, it must be care- fully understood, that this multiplicity of shorter pauses is not recommended as necessary or prop- er, but only as possible, and to be admitted occa- sionally. To draw the line as much as possible between what is necessary and unnecessary, we shall endeavour to bring together such particular cases as demand the short pause, and those where it cannot be omitted without hurting either the sense or the delivery. RULE 4. When a nominative consists of more than one word, it is necessary to pause after it. RULE 5. Whatever member intervenes between the nom- inative case and the verb, or between the verb and the accusative case, is of the nature of a paren- thesis, and must be separated from both by a short pause ; as, " I, that speak in righteousness, am mighty to save." u A man of fine taste in writing will discern, after the same manner, beauties and imperfections, to which others are insensible." ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. 17 RULE 6. When two verbs come together, and the latter is in the infinitive mode, if any words come be- tween, they must be separated from the latter verb by a pause ; as, M It is impossible for a jealous man, to be thoroughly cured of his suspicions." RULE 7. If there are several subjects belonging in the same manner to one verb, or several verbs, belonging in the same manner to one subject, the subjects and verbs are still to be accounted equal in number ; for every verb must have its subject, and every sub- ject its verb ; and every one of the subjects, or verbs, should have its point of distinction and a short pause ; as, " Riches, pleasure, and health, become evils to those, who do not know how to use them." RULE 8. If there are several adjectives belonging in the same manner to one substantive, or several substan- tives belonging in the same manner to one adjective, the adjective and substantives are still to be ac- counted equal in number ; for every substantive must have its adjective, and every adjective its substantive ; and every adjective coming after its substantive, and every adjective coming before the substantive, except the last, must be separated by a short pause. Ex. A. polite, an active, and a supple behaviour, is necessary to succeed in life. B 2 IS ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. RULE 9. If there are several adverbs belonging in the same manner to one verb, or several verbs belong- ing in the same manner to one adverb, the verbs and adverbs are still to be accounted equal in num- ber ; and if the adverbs come after the verb, they are each of them to be separated by a pause ; but if the adverbs come before the verb, a pause must separate each of them from the verb but the last. Ex. To love, wisely, rationally, and prudently, is, in the opinion of lovers, not to love at all. Wisely, rationally, and prudently to love, is, in the opinion of lovers, not to love at all. RULE 10. Words, put into the case absolute, must be sepa- i^ated from the rest by a short pause ; as, " If a man borrow aught of his neighbour, and it be hurt or die, the owner thereof not being with it, be shall surely make it good." RULE 11. Nouns in apposition have a short pause between them, either if both these nouns consist of many terms, or the latter only ; as, M Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles." RULE 12. Relative pronouns in the nominative require a short pause before them ; as, " Saints, that taught, and led the way to heaven." ELEMENTS OP ELOCUTION. 19 RULE 13. When that is used as a casual conjunction, it ought always to be preceded by a short pause ; as, " Forgive me, that I thus your patience wrong." RULE 14. Prepositions and conjunctions are more united with the w r ords they precede, than with those they follow ; and, consequently, if it be necessary to pause, they ought to be classed with the succeeding words ; as, " A violent passion, for universal ad- miration, produces the most ridiculous circum- stances, in the general behaviour of women, of the most excellent understandings.' 5 RULE 15. Contrasted words, or parts in a sentence in op- position to each other, require a short pause after them ; as, " The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the understand- ing*" After gross and refined ought to be a short pause, PRACTICAL SYSTEM OF THE INFLECTIONS OF THE VOICE, By inflection of the voice is to be understood that upward or downward slide, which the voice makes, when the pronunciation of a word is finish- ing ; and which may be called the rising and fall- ing inflection, 20 ::^ts OF ELOCUTION. For example ; in pronouncing the following sen- tence : — Does Caesar deserve fame or blame ? fame will have the rising, and blame the falling inllection. This distinction will be still clearer, if the reader will let the word fame drawl off the tongue for some time before the sound finishes ; he will find it slide upwards, and end in a rising tone ; if he makes the same experiment on the word blame, he will find the sound slide downwards, and end in a falling tone. Every pause, of whatever kind, must necessa- rily adopt one of these two inflections, or continue in a monotone. To give a clearer idea of these inflections, we hare inserted in the Plate, diagrams with the differ- ent examples. Explanation of Plate. No. I. Did he do it voluntarily or involuntarily ? In the pronunciation of these words, every sylla- ble in the word voluntarily rises except the first, vol; and every syllable in the word involuntarily* falls but the first, in. A slow drawling pronuncia- tion of these words will evidently show that this is the case. These different slides of the voice are named from the direction #they take in the conclu- sion of a word, as that is the most apparent, espec- ially if there are several syllables after the accent- ed syllable, or if the word be but of one syllable, and terminate in a vowel or a liquid : for, in this case, the sound lasts seme time after the word is articulat- ed. Thus voluntarily may l»e said to have the rising, and involuntarily the failing inllection } and we must carefully ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. carefully guard against mistaking the low tone at the beginning of the rising inflection for the falling inflec- tion, and the high tone at the beginning of the falling inflection, for the rising inflection, as they are not de- nominated rising or falling from the high or low tone in which they are pronounced, but, from the upward or downward slide in which they terminate, whether pronounced in a high or a low key. In this scheme every word, whether accented or not, is arranged under that line of sound to which it belongs : though the unaccented words are generally pronounced so feebly, as to render it often very dif- ficult to say whether they belong to the rising or falling inflection ; but when the accented words have their proper inflection, the subordinate words can scarcely be in an improper one. The accented words, therefore, are those only which we need at present attend to. The sentence No. I. and any other sentence con- structed in exactly the same manner, must neces- sarily adopt the rising inflection on the first member, and the falling on the last. The sentence No. II. necessarily adopts a contra- ry order ; that is, the falling inflection on voluntari- ly, and the rising on involuntarily. No. III. and IV. shew that the same words take different inflections in correspondence with the sense and structure of the sentence ; for as the word con- stitution, in No. IV. only ends a member of the sen- tence, and leaves the sense unfinished, it necessarily adopts the suspending or rising inflection ; and har- mony requires that the preceding words should be ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. to so arranged, as to give every one of the words an inflection, different from what it has in No. III. where constitution ends the sentence. But when we say a word is to have the rising in- flection, it is not meant that this word is to be pro- nounced in a higher tone than other words, but that the latter part of the word is to have a higher tone than the former part ; the same may be observed of the falling inflection. We now proceed to apply the doctrine of inflec- tion to that of punctuation. But before any rules for applying the inflections are laid down, we would remark that the falling in- flection is divisible into two kinds of very different and even opposite import. The falling inflection without a fall of the voice, or, in other words, that inflection of voice which consists of a downward slide, in a high and forcible tone, may either be ap- plied to that part of a sentence where a portion of sense is formed, as at the word unjustly, in the fol- lowing sentence : " I know not whether he acted justly or unjustly ; but he acted contrary to law ; M or to that part where no sense is formed, as at the word temperance, Plate No. IV". ; but when this down- ward slide is pronounced in a lower and less forcible tone than the preceding words, it indicates not only that the sense, but the sentence, is concluded. The rising inflection is denoted by the acute ac- cent, thus ( ' ) . The falling inflection is denoted by the grave ac- cent, thus ( N ). 24 ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. COMPACT SENTENCE. DIRECT PERIOD- RULE 1. Every direct period, so constructed as to have its two principal constructive parts connected by correspondent conjunctions, requires the long pause with the rising inflection at the end of the first principal constructive member. Ex. As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceivable by the distance gone over. RULE 2. Every direct period, consisting of two principal constructive parts, and having only the first part commence with a conjunction, requires the rising inflection and long pause at the end of this part Ex. As in ray speculations I have endeavoured to ex- tinguish passion and prejudice, I am still desirous of doing some good in this particular. RULE 3. Direct periods, which commence with particles of the present and past tense, consist of two parts ; between which must be inserted the long pause and rising inflection. Ex. Having already shown how the fancy is affected by the works of nature, and afterwards considered in general both the works of nature and of art, how they mutually as- sist and complete each other, in forming such scenes and prospects as are most apt to delight the mind of the behold- er ; I shall in this paper throw together some reflections on that particular art, which has a more immediate tendency than any other, to produce those primary pleasures of the imagination, which have hitherto been the subject of this discourse. ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. INVERTED PERIOD. RULE. Every period, where the first part forms perfect sense by itself, but is modified or determined in it? signification by the latter, has the rising inflection and long pause between these parts as in the direct period. Ex. Gratian very often recommends the fine taste, as the utmost perfection of an accomplished man. LOOSE SENTENCE. RULE. Every member of a sentence forming consistent sense, and followed by two other members which do not modify or restrain its signification, admits of the falling inflection. Ex. For this reason, there is nothing more enlivens a. prospect than rivers, jetteaus, and falls of water, where the scene is perpetually shifting" and entertaining the sight every moment with something that is new. ANTITHETIC^ MEMBER. When sentences have two parts corresponding with each other, so as to form an antithesis^ the first part must always terminate with the rising inflection. Ex. I imagined that I was admitted into a long spacious gallery, which had one side covered with pieces, of all the famous painters who are now living ; and the other with the greatest masters who are dead. The pleasures of the imagination are not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the understanding. C 26 BLEMEJT8 OF LLOflTIOy. PI M LT1MATE MEMBER. A$ the last member must almost always be ter- ed by the falling inflection at the period, a falling inflection, immediately preceding it, in the penultimate member, would be too sudden a repe- tition of nearly similar sounds ; hence arises the propriety of the following RULE. Every member of a sentence, immediately pre- ceding the last, requires the rising inflection. Ex The florist, the planter, the gardener, the husband- man, when they are accomplishments to the man of fortune, are great reliefs to a country life, and many ways useful to those who are possessed of them. Exception. Emphasis, which controls every other rule in reading, forms an exception to this ; which is, that where an emphatick word is in the first mem- ber of a sentence, and the last has no emphatical word, this penultimate member then terminates with the falling inflection. Ex. I must therefore desire the reader to remember, that by the pleasures of the imagination, I meant only such pleas- ures as arise originally from sight ; and that I divide these pleasures into two kinds. SERIES. Variety is necessary in the delivery of almost every separate member of a sentence, and much more so in a series of members. K othing, however, can be more various than the pronunciation of a series ; almost every different number of particulars requires a different method ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. 27 of varying them : and even those of precisely the same number of particulars admit of a different mode of pronunciation, as the series is either commencing or concluding, simple or compound ; single or double, or treble, &c. By a commencing series is meant that, which be- gins a sentence, but does not conclude it. By a concluding series is meant that, which ends the sen- tence, whether it begin it or not. Series, whose members consist of single words, are called simple series ; and those, whose mem- bers consist of two or more words, compound series. SIMPLE SERIES. RULE 1. When two members, consisting of single words, commence a sentence, the first must have the fall- ing, and the last the rising inflection. Ex. exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. RULE 2. When two members, consisting of single words, conclude a sentence, as the last must naturally have the falling inflection, the last but one assumes the rising inflection. -Ex. The constitution is strengthened by exercise and tem- perance. This rule is the converse of the former. It must, however, be observed, that sentences of this kind, which can scarcely be called a series of par- ticulars, may, when commencing, assume a differ- ent order of inflections on the first words, when 2B ilk ur, Delude the sen- tence. LE 3. When t u -rpo i otence, consisting D nenc- \ last ar< tronoonced as in Rule I, ^ a ] I ; 3n, in >wer tone than the second. Ex Marji ma- jestic tide among the habitations of future days, and distributing in many channels its salutary streams. 5. As a patriot, he will probably recollect with pleasure that the source of this mighty flood is in the bosom of his native land ; that, great as this impire is in commerce and the arts, it is not less distinguished by that heaven-descended charity, which, while it walks upon the earth, has its head in the skies -.'which looks upon man, not as a creature of political expe- diency, a thing to be tutored and instructed just so far as may suit the sordid schemes of a degrading poli- cy ; but as a being, endowed with an immortal spirit, the breath of an eternal nature ; as capable of rising to the inheritance of the saints in light, and of dwel- ino* forever in the unveiled and unclouded presence c of ineffable Perfection. 6. I believe, Sir, that the knowledge of God will one day be universal; and it is to accelerate that period, that I have attached myself to this sacred cause. Our wish is to do good upon the largest scale : to clear away the wreck of many generations : to heal the wounds that have b^en bleeding for nearly 6000 years ; to raise to the dignity of his con- dition every creature that bears the name of man. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR, 57 LXTRACTS FROM A SPEECH OF JAMES STEPHEN, ESQ. M. P. Delivered at the formation of the Bloomsbury and South Pancras Auxiliary Bible Society in England, Feb. 1813. 1. The Bible Society has a design vast and com- prehensive as any that can fill the mind of man ; to convey the word of God to every climate, to every region of the habitable globe, and to translate it into every language of mankind ; to renew in a manner the miracle of Pentecost, by enabling the inhabitants of every nation of the earth to say with amazement, " We do every one hear in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." 2. But if there be not so much of grandeur in our limited object, there is within its range as much utility. 3. And here, sir, permit me to notice one of the many blessings conferred on our poor countrymen by the possession of the Bible, when they have the power and inclination to read it. The poor man finds in those treasures of wisdom and knowledge which it contains, maxims to guide his judgment, and regulate his conduct even in the affairs of the pres- ent life : his conceptions are enlarged ; his reasoning powers are exercised ; his taste is raised far beyond the ordinary standard of uneducated minds, by fa- miliarity with those beauties of composition with which the sacred volume abounds. In short, he be- comes a being of a superior intellectual order to that to which he belonged before he was a reader of the Scriptures, 4. But these are advantages of small account, when compared with the temporal comforts and 58 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. benefit which the Bible confers on our poor neigh- bours in tfio various distresses to which they are sub- ject. Let u^ so'ect a single instance. 5. Let us suppose the common case of a poor widow just deprived by death of that husband, the beloved companion of her youth, by whose manual labour she and her children were supported. Instead of being soothed and consoled, as the opulent usually are in such sorrows, bv all those means which the sympathy of friendship may devise, by change of scene, and by various other expedients, to divert her attention from her loss till the shock is broken, she is left to feel at once all the bitterness of her altered situation. 6. Her maternal feelings are assailed by the present sufferings, as well as the sad prospects of her offspring. The hand that supported them is gone, and, instead of that plentiful though humble provision which his labour afforded, the scanty pittance of a parish allow- ance is their sole refuge from immediate want. 7. In cases like this, sir, abounding as they do a- round us, what effectual relief can the hand of chari- ty in general supply ? But let us suppose this unfor- tunate widow possessed of the Bible, and accustom- ed to resort to the inexhaustible Fountain of consola- tion which it supplies, and she will find comfort of the most effectual kind. 8. There she may read, " Commit to me thy fath- erless children. I am the Father of the fatherless, and the God of the widow." There her maternal apprehensions may be quieted by the declaration, " I have been young, and now am old, yet I never saw the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread , n THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 59 SPEECH OF CHARLES GRANT, JK. ESQ. M. P. Delivered on the same occasion with the preceding Speech, part r. 1. I come forward, sir, not with the presumptuous attempt to enforce upon those before whom I stand the duty of supporting this object — not to kindle the cold heart, or rouse the sluggish spirit — but to join the general acclamation, and sympathize with the general feeling. I come, not to watch the first ef- forts of this cause — not to cheer its early struggles with the voice of hope and promises of conquest, but to hail its risen splendour and matured energies : not to prepare the way for its armed and adventur- ous march, but to swell. its peaceful, though victori- ous procession. I come not to animate the battle^ but to chant the triumph. 2. And surely, sir, it is worth while to escape for a moment from the feverish turbulence of ordinary pur- suits, to contemplate this august spectacle. It is well worth while to stand by for a moment, and observe this mighty union of rank, and sex, and age, and tal- ent, conspiring to the promotion of an object so noble., by means so simple, and yet so grand. 3. A few years ago the very existence of this Socie- ty was doubtful. That sun which rose in such splen- dour this morning, has not twice finished his annual round, since this society was exposed to the most violent attacks from the most formidable quarter. That sun now, in the course of his circuit, scarcely visits any region, however remote, in which his beams are not called to salute some memorial or gild some trophy of our success, 60 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 4. We have seen this Institution beginning from a small origin, gradually acquiring strength, enlarging itself from shore to shore, from kingdom to kingdom, from nation to nation, illuminating mountain after mountain, and exploring the depths of distant vallies ; thus hastening towards that glorious consummation, when it shall embrace in its mild and holy radiance all the habitable globe. The impulse is given, the career is begun ; and I firmly believe no human a- gency can now arrest its progress. 5. And why do I believe so, sir ? Why do I believe that this Institution is exempt from the frailty which is common to other institutions ? I believe so, because this Institution is founded not upon fleeting and super- ficial impressions — not upon theory and the vague dreams of fancy, but upon principles the most per- manent and the most profound in the human charac- ter. 6. It is founded upon passions which can never be torn from our nature — upon the deepest, the purest, the most amiable emotions of the mind — upon what- ever affection has of most impressive, sympathy of most endearing, devotion of most sublime. It carries, therefore, in its bosom, the pledge and talisman of its future prosperity, and we may securely trust it to the affections of every coming age. PART II. 1 . Amid various sorrows that press upon our feelings, there is none more distressing than the sight of calami- ty without the power of relieving it. There are many afflictions which admit of relief, which can be removed by the exertions of wealth, or soothed by friendship ; THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 61 but there are others which are folded up in the reces- ses of a broken heart, which no sympathy can reach, no human efforts assuage, and which can be healed only by the hand that gave the wound. These are the sorrows for which the Bible Society provides. 2. If I were able to trace, and could persuade you to follow me in tracing, the progress of one of those holy volumes which we are met to distribute; if, for example, we could stand by the couch of intense pain; of pain which even the voice of friendship is unequal to soothe, which seems to shiver the very existence, and looks for relief only in the sad refuge of the grave ; if we could her£ present the sacred volume, and develop its principles, its motives, its consolations; if we could revive in the agonized heart the remembrance of Him, who, from the man- ger to the cross, was acquainted with grief, and familiar only with privation and suffering ; if we could awake the recollection of that spotless Innocence so reviled, that ineffable Meekness so trampled upon, that unutterable Charity so insulted by those whom it came to save ; above all, if we could awake the memory of those sorrows which saddened the shades of Gethsemane, and have made the mournful summit of Calvary so sacred and prec- ious in the eyes of gratitude and devotion: 3. Or if we could visit another scene, and observe human nature in its lowest stage of degradation ; if we could penetrate the cell of the convicted mui derer, on whom the law hasa'fixed its brand; if we could mark those feelings frozen into apathy, that haggard countenance over which the passions have 62 IKE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. ceased to rave, but on which they have left deep the scars of their devastation, the traces of those team which were wrung by remorse, and have been dried by despair; those convulsive throbs of heart which shake the whole frame, and give sad omen of ap- proaching" fate ; if at such a moment we could at once unfold the volume of life, and with an angel voice proclaim, that even for him there is hope beyond that dark scene of ignorance, that even for him there is forgiveness before the Eternal Throne — Why, sir, would it not be opening Heaven to his view ? Would not a sudden warmth thrill his^bosom ? Would not that hardness be dissolved, and those lixed eyes melt down with tears of penite-ncefand prayer ? 4. We are about to return to our ordinary pursuits and pleasures : but in the midst of that career let us sometimes pause, and recollect, that while we are immersed in business or amusement, these sacred volumes, like the eternal laws of nature, are silently performing their destined functions; are still continu- ing their progress, visiting the abodes of vice and con- tagion, descending into the haunts of poverty and sor- row, cheering the cottage, making glad the solitary place, and brightening the desert with new verdure. 5. We cannot indeed trace these effects, we cannot perceive the hopes which are awakened, the griefs which are assuaged, the hearts which are bound up. the consolations which are administered : But there is an Eye which traces them ; and one day, perhaps, the page, in which those hopes, and griefs, and con- solations are recorded and treasured up for remem- brance, may be unfolded to our sight. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 63 6. On that day we shall not repent that we have contributed, in our humble measure, to supply to millions of our fellow-creatures the means of consola- tion in this life, and of happiness in a future state of existence. EXTRACTS FROM A SPEECH OF REV. W. DEALTRY. Delivered before the British and Foreign Bible Society. 1814, 1. It has sometimes been said, that we should pres- ently droop and die ! that there were marvellous symptoms of decline upon us already ! We ought to blush at the very thought of it. 2. What ! Shall our nerves be unstrung, when Ethiopia is stretching out her hands unto God ? Shall our hearts be frozen, when Finland and Siberia are melting ? Shall we slumber, when Prussia and India are awaking ? Can we faint, when the World is rising ? 3. What cheering prospects are now presented to us ! We seem at once to have emerged into a dif- ferent climate. " The winter is past ; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth ; * the time of the singing of birds is come ; and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." 4. It was but as yesterday, that we seemed to be placed upon the brow of a mountain, from which we beheld the moral world below us in clouds and com- motion : wherever we turned, "We viewed a vast immeasurable abyss, 81 Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild." 64 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 5. But the clouds are now breaking ; the moral darkness is clearing away ; the landscape is widening and extending ; many worshippers are seen advanc- ing to the courts of the Lord ; many sanctuaries glad- den the prospect ; many harps of Zion fling to the passing breeze their sweet and varied melody. The nations appear to be animated with a new life ; and the inhabitants of the farthest East as well as of the Western world, are turning their steps to the city of God. 6. Many links are added to that golden chain of charity, which ere long will encircle the whole fam- ily of man. It reaches even now from Moscow to Massachusetts, from Calcutta to Labrador. 7. Christian harmony and Christian fellowship flourish and abound, wherever the influence of this Society is felt. Its Auxiliaries may be remote from each other, -but their views, and their hopes, and their spirit, are the same. 8. They are to be considered as the solid pillars and magnificent arches of a building fitly framed togeth- er, and growing " unto a holy temple in the Lord."* EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH OF CHARLES GRANT, JR. ESQ Delivered before the British and Foreign Bible Soci ety. 1814. 1. There is indeed, my lord, something singula] in this Institution. In the course of a few years, it has sprung up from obscurity to eminence, not •Amidst peace and tranquillity, not under the fostering influence of universal approbation ; not under skies THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 65 always serene and suns always genial ; but amidst storms and tempests, amidst calumny and invective, amidst alarming predictions and presages of ill suc- cess. 2. It has sprung up with a solidity and strength which ensure its duration ; and at the same time with a rapidity of growth which mixes somewhat of awe with our surprise and satisfaction. It is successively enlarging its dominions. Every new day announces the acquisition of a new province, of a new kingdom, I had almost said, of a new world. These are con- quests which we love to celebrate. 3. In conquests of another nature, however sacred the cause in which the sword has been drawn, there is always something which detracts from the joy, and wounds the feelings of humanity. 4. In the midst of all the glow and exultation, there is something which secretly tells us of unwitnessed grief, of hearts that are breaking in solitude and silence ; something which tells us of those, to whom these acclamations are but the memorials of deep- er anguish, and speak only of fathers, and husbands, and brothers, bleeding and desolate on the plains of death ; of those, in a word, on whom the war, without shedding any of its glory, has poured forth all its curses. 5. But with respect to the conquests which we this day celebrate, there is no secret misgiving, no 9hade which can even for a moment pass over the brilliancy of the scene. Here indeed is ample scope for the widest views. 6. But after having abandoned our imagination to Hie utmost warmth of philanthropic ardor, after F 2 66 liiE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. having" satisfied our largest feelings, we may fear- lessly descend into more minute investigations, and inquire how far individual and domestic happiness are affected by this general benefit. We may enter into the lowest details — and what are the details of these triumphs ? Griefs allayed, tears wiped away, remorse appeased, gleams of joy diffused over the house of sorrow, sickness divested of its bitterness, the tomb itself sanctified as the threshold of fairer hopes and nobler prospects. 7. These are circumstances which we may chal- lenge the purest of spiritual beings to witness. The angels of pity and love might descend to trace with rapture every step of our victorious march. 8. Let that spirit of benevolence which has already achieved such wonders, now go forth with new strength, and renovated ardor. Let it rush, in the fulness of its blessings, from one extremity of the world to the othef| kindling in its course all the elements of moral Sfetion, elevating the depressed, consoling the wretched, transforming vice into purity, and folly into wisdom, dissipating the chains of igno- rance, trampling on the necks of superstition and idolatry, and every where renewing on the face of desolated nature some image of ancient happiness and primeval paradise. ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN fclBLE SOCIETY, TO THE PEO- PLE OF THE UNITED STATES, IMMEDIATELY AFTER ITS FORMATION IN THE YEAR 1816. People of the United States ; 1. Have you ever been invited to an enterprise of such grandeur and glory ? Do you not value the THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 6 3 Holy Scriptures ? Value them as containing- your sweetest hope; your most thrilling joy ? Can you submit to the thought that you should be torpid in your endeavours to disperse them, while the rest of Christendom is awake and alert? 2. Shall you hang back, in heartless indifference, when princes come down from their thrones, to bless the cottage of the poor with the gospel of peace; and imperial sovereigns are gathering their fairest honors from spreading abroad the oracles of the Lord your God ? Is it possible that you should not see, in this state of human things, a mighty mo- tion of Divine Providence ? 3. The most heavenly charity treads close upon the march of conflict and blood ! The world is at peace ! Scarce has the soldier time to unbind his helmet, and to wipe away the sweat from his brow, ere the voice of mercy succeeds to the clarion of bat- tle, and calls the nations from enmity to love ! Crown- ed heads bow to the head which is to wear u many crowns ;" and, for the first time since the promulga- tion of Christianity, appear to act in unison for the re- cognition of its gracious principles, as being fraught alike with happiness to man and honor to God. 4. What has created so strange, so beneficent an alteration? This is no doubt the doing of the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes. But what instrument has he thought tit chiefly to use? That which con- tributes, in all latitudes and climes, to make Chris- tians feel their unity, to rebuke the spirit of strife, and to open upon them the day of brotherly con- cord — the Bible ! the Bible ! — through Bible Soci- eties ! 68 -THE CHRISTIAN ORATO:;. 5. Come then, fellow-citizens, fellow Christi ins, let us join in the sacred covenant. Let no heart be cold; no hand be idie : no purse reluctant! Come, while room is left for us in the ranks whose toil is goodness, and whose recompense is victory. Come cheerfully, eagerly, generally. 6. Be it impressed on your souls, that a contribu- tion, saved from even a cheap indulgence, may send a Bible to a desolate family ; may become a radiating point of u grace and truth" to a neighbourhood of error and vice; and that a number of such contribu- tions made at really no expense, may illumine a large tract of country, and successive generations of im- mortals, in that celestial knowledge, which shall secure their present and their future felicity. 7. But whatever be the proportion between expec tation and experience, thus much is certain : We shall satisfy our conviction of duty — we shall have the praise of high endeavours for the highest ends — we shall minister to the blessedness of thous- ands, and tens of thousands, of whom we may never see the faces, nor hear the names. 8. We shall set forward a system of happiness, which will go on with accelerated motion and aug- mented vigor, after we shall have finished our career; and confer upon our children, and our children's children, the delight of seeing the wilder- ness turned into a fruitful field, by the blessing of God upon that seed which their fathers sowed, and themselves watered. 9. In fine, we shall do onr part toward that expan- sion and intensity of light divine, which shall visit, m its progress, the palaces of the great, aod tbe THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR, t 69 hamlets of the small, until the whole " earth be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea!" EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH OF THE REV. DR. MASON. Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the British and For- eign Bible Society, May, 1817. 1. My lord, it would create a smile, if the subject were not infinitely too serious for smiles, that an apprehension of injury to* the cause of sound Christianity, from the labours of such a society as this, should find its way into a Christian bosom. If, as your own Chilling worth has exclaimed, "The Bible, the Bible i§ the only religion of Protestants,' 9 it is passing strange, that any good man should be afraid of dispersing it abroad, that is, spreading his his own religion. 2. My lord, the man who reads and reverences the Bible, is not the man of violence and blood : he will not rise up from the study of lessons which the Holy Ghost teaches, to commit a burglary : he will not travel with a Bible under his arm, and meditating upon its contents as forming the rule of his conduct, to celebrate the orgies of Bacchus, or the rites of the Cyprian Venus. Assuredly they were not the leaves of the Bible which in 1780 kindled the flames of Newgate; nor is it from the stores of inspired eloquence that the apostles of mischief draw those doctrines and speeches which delude the understanding, and exasperate the passions of an ignorant and ill-judging multitude. 70 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 3. The influence of the Bible, upon the habits the community, is calculated to set up around every paternal government a rampart better than walls, and guns, and bayonets — a rampart of human hearts. 4. For the same reasons, the Bible, in proportion as it is known and believed, must produce a general- ly good effect on the condition of the world. In form- ing the character of the individual and the nation, it cannot fail to mould also, in a greater or less degree, the conduct of political governments towards each other. 5. It is not in the Bible, nor in the spirit which it infuses, that the pride which sacrifices hecatombs, and nations of men to its lawless aggrandizement, either finds, or seeks for, its aliment ; and had Europe been under the sway of the Book of God, this age had not seen a monster of ambition, endeav- ouring to plant one foot on the heights of Mont- martre, and the other on the hills of Dover ; and while he scowled on the prostrate continent, streach- ing out his right hand to rifle the treasures of the East, and his left to crush the young glorieS of the West. Such a spirit was never bred in the bosom, nor drew nourishment from the milk of a Bible Society. 6. The cause and interest of the Bible Society are not the cause and interest of a few visionaries, inebriated by romantic projects. — It is the causo of more than giant undertakings in regular and progressive execu- tion. The decisive battle has been fought ; opposi- tion comes now loo late. 7. He who would arrest the march of Bible Socie- ties, is attempting to stop the moral machinery of THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 71 the world, and can look for nothing but to be crush- ed to pieces. The march must proceed. Those disciplined and formidable columns, which under the banner of divine truth are bearing down upon the territories of death, have one word of command from on high, and that word is u Onward." — The command does not fall useless on the ears of this Society. May it go " onward, " continuing to be, and with increasing splendor, the astonishment of the world. 8. A word more, my lord, and I shall have done. It relates to a topic on which 1 know not whether my emotions will allow me to express my- self distinctly ; it is the late unhappy difference between my countrv and this — between the land of my fathers and the land of their children. 9. I cannot repress my congratulations to both, that the conflict was so short, and the reconcilia- tion so prompt ; and, I trust, not easily to be broken. Never again, my lord, (it is a vow in which I have the concurrence of all noble spirits and all feeling hearts,) never again may that humiliating spectacle — two nations to whom God has vouchsafed the enjoy- ment of rational liberty ; two nations who are ex- tensively engaged, according to their m^ans, in en- larging the kingdom, in spreading the religion of the Lord Jesus — the kingdom of peace — the relig- ion of love — those two nations occupied in the un- holy work of shedding each other's blood. Never again may such a spectacle be exhibited to the eyes of afflicted Christianity ! May their present concord, written not merely with pen and ink, but on the living tablets of the heart, enforced by the senti- 7:2 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. ment of a common origin, by common language, principles, habits, hopes, aDd gaaranteed by an all gracious Providence, be uninterrupted! May t bey, and their Bibie Societies, striving together with one heart and one soul to bring glory to God in the high- est, and on earth to manifest good will towards men, go on, increasing in their zeal, their efforts, and their success ; and making stronger and stronger, by the sweet charity of the Gospel, the bands of their concord. EXTRACT FROM THE SFEECH OF CHARLES GRANT, JOT. ESQ. Delivered before the British and Foreign Bible Society, at their 12th Anniversary, on a motion of thanks to Aux- iliary Societies. 1. " But what is it that shall render our thanks worthy of this universal acceptance? What is our connection with those to whom we offer them? By what ties are we bound to thr^m ?" 2. " We are bound to them by sacred ties, by congenial feelings, by kindred affections : we have with them common joys, and common sorrows ; — hopes interwoven with our immortal nature : union endeared by those common hopes and common sor- rows. 3. I speak of sorrows, and yet I have called this a festival. In ordinary festivals we exclude every thing of distress: in the ordinary scenes of festal relaxations we forget (if we can forget) that there are in the world around us griefs most agonized THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 73 which cannot be relieved, — sympathies most dear which must be broken — friendships most united, which must be dissolved — hearts most knit together, which must be torn asunder. 4. We forget, that there is one pillow on which every head must rest, every eye be closed. We forget that there is one narrow house, to which no wealth can impart comfort, to which no dignity can confer lustre, from which no power can give ex- emption. 5. But here these topics are legitimate and neces- sary ; because here, as the basis and motive of our meeting, we aver the frail and precarious tenure, on which we hold and enjoy life ; because it is the very charm of our Society, that it connects together the common wants and common sorrows of mankind. 6. But our connection with those to whom we are offering our thanks does not rest here ; it is not only because we have common sorrows, but because we have common hopes also. Whatever is most inter- esting to the reason, elevating to the affections, con- solatory to the sorrows, animating to the hopes of all mankind, is combined in the volumes which we distribute. 7. To every pain, they give its suitable alle- viation ; to every distress its best remedy ; to parted friendship, they hold forth re-union ; to sickness, un- fading health; to death, they open prospects beyond this world ; to the anguish that kneels over the grave, the hope that triumphs in the resurrection. 8. These are the etherial visitants that descend to mix with men. It is in the solitude of grief, in the desertion of anguish, that the eye, purified by JT4 1HE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. tears, discerns the celestial guests : In the ordinary commerce of the world they are more obscured. 9. These hopes are like the stars that brighten the firmament of night. In the glare of day, in the meridian brightness of the sun, they are unobserv^ ed ; but when the traveller is alone in the darkness, when he anticipates an impenetrable night, he then observes the fires that are kindled in the firma- ment to guide and cheer his steps. 10. It is on these hopes, and these sorrows, com- mon to our whole race, that our union is founded. To sustain these hopes, and to cheer these sorrows, is the common object which binds every patron to our society. So long as we rely on these two emotions of our common nature, our union will be profound as our sorrows, and unfading as our hopes. No weak- ness will be produced by extending our efforts : the more we enlarge our limits, the deeper will be our foundations ; the wider we diffuse our exertions, the more triumphant will be their energy." THE BIBLE ABOVE ALL PRICE. From a Discourse before the Bible Society of Maine, bv Rev. Edward Payson. PART I. 1. The Bible is not only the most ancient book, but the most ancient monument of human exertion, the oldest offspring of human intellect, now in exist- ence. Unlike the other works of man, it inheriti uot his frailty. All the contemporaries of its infancy have long since perished, and are forgotten ; yet THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 75 this wonderful volume still survives. Like the fabled pillars of Seth, which are said to have bid de- fiance to the deluge, it has stood for ages, unmoved in the midst of that flood, which sweeps away men with their labors into oblivion. 2. We contemplate, with no ordinary degree of interest, a rock, which has braved for centuries the ocean's rage, practically saying, " Hitherto shall thou come, but no farther ; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." With still greater interest, though of a somewhat different kind, should we con- template a fortress, which, during thousands of years, had been constantly assaulted by successive genera* tions of enemies : around whose walls millions had perished ; and, to overthrow which, the utmost ef- forts of human force and ingenuity had been exerted in vain. 3. Such a rock, such a fortress, we contemplate in the Bible. For thousands of years this volume has withstood, not only the iron tooth of time, which de- vours men and their works together, but all the physical and intellectual strength of man. Pretend- ed friends have endeavoured to corrupt and betray it : kings and princes have perseveringly sought to banish it from the world ; the civil and military pow- ers of the greatest empires have been leagued for its destruction ; the fires of persecution have been often lighted to consume it • 4. Yet still the object of all these attacks remains uninjured ; while one army of its assailants after a- nother has melted away. Though it has been ridi- culed more bitterly, misrepresented more grossly, opposed more rancorously, and burnt more fre- 76 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. quently, than any other book, and perhaps than all other books united ; it is so far from sinking under the efforts of its enemies, that the probability of its surviving until the final consummation of all things is now evidently much greater than ever. The rain has descended ; the floods have come 5 the storm has arisen and beaten upon it ; but it falls not, for it is founded upon a rock. 5. Who would not esteem it a most delightful privilege, to see and converse with a man, who had lived through as many centuries, as the Bible has ex- isted ; who had conversed with ail the successive generations of men, and been intimately acquaint- ed with their motives, characters, and conduct ? What could be more interesting than the sight ; what more pleasing and instructive, than the society of such a man ? Yet such society we may in effect enjoy, whenever we choose to open the Bible. In this volume we see the chosen companion, the most intimate friend of the prophets, ihe apostles, the martyrs, and their pious contemporaries ; the guide, whose directions they implicitly followed ; the*mon- itor, to whose faithful warnings and instructions they ascribed their wisdom, their virtues, and their hap- piness. 6. This too is the book, for the sake of which our pious ancestors forsook their native land, and came to this then desolate wilderness ; bringing it with them, as their most valuable treasure, and at death be- queathing it to us, as the richest bequest in their power to make. From this source they, and millions more now in heaven,, derived the strongest and pur- est consolation ; and scarcely can we fix our atten- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR, 77 tion en a single passage in this wonderful book, which has not afforded comfort or instruction to thou- sands, and been wet with tears of penitential sorrow or grateful joy, drawn from eyes, that will weep no more. There is probably not an individual present, some of whose ancestors did not, while on earth f prize this volume more than life ; and breathe many fervent prayers to heaven, that all their descendants, to the latest generation, might be induced to prize it in a similar manner. 7. To this volume we are also indebted for the reformation in the days of Luther ; for the conse- quent revival and progress of learning ; and for our present freedom from papal tyranny. Wherever it comes, blessings follow in its train. Like the stream, which diffuses itself, and is apparently lost among the herbage, it betrays its course by its effects. Where- ever its influence is felt, temperance, industry, and contentment prevail ; natural and moral evils are banished, or mitigated ; and churches, hospitals, and asylums for almost every species of wretchedness a- rise, to adorn the landscape, and cheer the eye of be- nevolence. PART II. 1. In the fabulous records of pagan antiquity we iread of a mirror endowed with properties so rare, that, by looking into it, its possessor could discover any object, which he wished to see, however re- mote ; and discover with equal ease persons and things above, below, behind, and before him. Such a mirror, but infinitely more valuable than this ficti- tious glass, do we really possess in the Bible. By cm- G 2 78 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. ploying this mirror in a proper manner, we may dis- cern objects and events, past, present, and to come. 2. Here we may contemplate the all enfolding cir- cle of the Eternal Mind ; and behold a most perfect portrait of Him, whom no mortal eye hath seen, drawn by his own unerring hand. Piercing into the deepest recesses of eternity, we may behold Him, existing independent and alone, previous to the first exertion of his creating energy. We may see heav- en, the habitation of his holiness and glory, u dark with the excessive brightness" of his presence ; and hell, the prison of his justice, with no other light than that, which the fiery billows of his wrath cast, " pale and dreadful," serving only to render "dark- ness visible." 3. Here too we may witness the birth of the world, which we inhabit f stand, as it were, by its cradle ; and see it grow up from infancy to manhood, under the forming hand of its Creator. We may see light at his summons starting into existence, and dis- covering a world of waters without a shore. Con- trolled by His word, the waters subside ; and islands and continents appear, not, as now, clothed with verdure and fertility, but sterile and naked, as the sands of Arabia. 4. Again he speaks ; and the landscape appears, uniting the various beauties of spring, summer, and autumn ; and extending farther than the eye can reach. Stiil ail is silent; not even the hum of the insect is heard ; the stillness of death pervades creation ; til), in an instant, songs burst from every grove; and the startled spectator, raising his eyes from the carpet at his feet, sees the air, the earth, THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 79 and the sea filled with life and activity, in a thousand various forms. 5. By opening this volume, we may, at any time, walk in the garden of Eden with Adam ; sit in the ark with Noah ; share the hospitality, or witness the faith of Abraham ; ascend the mount of God with Moses ; unite in the secret devotions of David ; or listen to the eloquent and impassioned address of St. Paul. Nay, more ; we may here converse with Him, who spake, as never man spake ; participate with the spirits of the just made perfect in the employments and happiness of heaven. 6. Destroy this volume, as the enemies of human happiness have vainly endeavoured to do, and you render us profoundly ignorant of our Creator ; of the formation of the world, which we inhabit ; of the origin and progenitors of our race ; of our pres- ent duty and future destination ; and consign us through life to the dominion of fancy, doubt, and conjecture. 7. Destroy this volume; and you rob us of the consolatory expectation, excited by its predictions, that the stormy cloud, which has so long hung over a suffering world, will at length be scattered ; you forbid us to hope that the hour is approaching, when nation shall no more lift up sword against nation ; and righteousness, peace and holy joy shall univer- sally prevail ; aud allow us to anticipate nothing, but a constant succession of wars, revolutions, crimes, and miseries, terminating only with the end of time, 8. Destroy this volume ; and you deprive us, at a single blow, of religion, with all the animating con- solations, hopes and prospects which it affords ; and &0 THE CHRISTIAN" ORATOR. leave us nothing-, but the liberty of choosing' (miser- ble alternative !) between the cheerless gloom of infidelity, and the monstrous shadows of paganism — you unpeople heaven; bar forever its doors against the wretched posterity of Adam ; restore to the king of terrors his fatal sting : bury hope in the same grave, which receives our bodi :s ; consign all who have died before us, to eternal sleep, or endless misery ; and allow us to expect nothing at death, but a similar fate. In a word, destroy this volume, and you take from us at once every thing which pre- vents existence from becoming of all curses the greatest : You degrade man to a situation, from which he may look up with envy to u the brutes that perish." SPEECH OF GEORGE GRIFFIN, ESQ. Delivered before the American Bible Society, immediate- ly after its formation, in New-York, May, 1816. PART I. 1. I am persuaded that there is no person present, who does not feel the inspiration of this occasion. For myself, I congratulate my country, that we now find on her annals the name of The American Bible Society. 2. This is an occasion to awaken the best feelings of the heart. We are assembled, not to rouse the ran- cour of political zeal ;— not to arrange plans of for- eign conquest ;— not to shout the triumphs of vic- tory. We have a nobler object ;— to aid the march of the everlasting Gospel through the world,— to THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 81 spread abroad a fountain, whose waters are intended for the healing of the nations. 3. The design of this august institution is not mere- ly to relieve the wants of our own country, but to extend the hand of charity to the most distant lands • to break asunder the fetters of Mahometan impos- ture ; to purify the abominations of Juggernaut : to snatch the Hindoo widow from the funeral pile ; to raise the degraded African to the sublime con- templation of God and immortality ; to tame and baptize in the waters of life the American savage ; to pour the light of heaven upon the darkness of the Andes ; and to call back the nations from the al- tars of devils to the temple of the living God. 4. These high objects are to be accomplished by the universal promulgation of the Bible ; the Bible — that volume, conceived in the councils of eternal Mercy, containing the wondrous story of redeeming love, blazing with the lustre of Jehovah's glory ; — that volume, pre-eminently calculated to soften the heart, sanctify the affections, and elevate the soul of man ; to enkindle the poet's fire, and teach the phi- losopher wisdom ; to consecrate the domestic rela- tions ; to pour the balm of heaven into the wounded heart ; to cheer the dying hour, and shed the light of immortality upon the darkness of the tomb. 5. I reiterate the mighty term — the BIBLE; that richest of man's treasures — that best of Heaven's gifts. Amazing volume ! In every one of thy pages, 1 see the impress of the Godhead. 6. How divine are thy doctrine?, how pure thy precepts, how sublime thy language ! How unaffect- 82 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. ing is the tenderness of an Otway, or an Euripedes. when compared with the heart-touching pathos ot thy David or Jeremiah ! How do the loftiest effu- sions of a Milton or a Homer sink, when contrasted with the sublimer strains of thine Isaiah or Ha- bakkuk ! 7. And how do the pure and soul-elevating doctrines of thy Moses or thy Paul look down, as from the height of heaven, 'upon the grovelling systems of a Mahomet or Confucius ! Give this Bible an em- pire in every heart, and the prevalence of crime and misery would yield to the universal diffusion of mil- lennial glory. 8. Destroy this Bible ; let the ruthless arm of in- fidelity tear this sun from the moral heavens, and all would be darkness, and guilt, and wretchedness ; again would " Earth [feel] the wound, and nature from her seat, " Sighing through all her works, [give] signs ot wo, "That all was lost." PART II. 1. Eighteen centuries ago, the divine Author of our religion, about to ascend to his native heavens, pro- nounced with his farewell voice, u Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." A little band of Christian heroes obeyed the heav- enly mandate ; and, clothed in their Master's ar- mour, encountered and overcame the united powers of earth and hell. 2. But the apostolic age did not always last. Sev enteen hundred years have since elapsed, and more THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 85 than three-fourths of the human family are still en- veloped in Pagan or Mahometan darkness. A leth- argy, like the sleep of the sepulchre, had long fast- tened itself on the Christian world. 3. It was the tremendous earthquake of modern atheism, that roused them from this slumber; and while, during the last twenty years, the vials of God's wrath have been pouring upon the nations, convuls- ing to its centre this distracted globe, the Bible has re-commenced its triumphs. 4. This tree of Heaven's planting has stood and strengthened amidst the prostration of thrones, and the concussion of empires. The apostolic age is returning. The countries of Europe, which lately rung with the clangor of arms, are now filled with Societies for the promulgation of the Gospel of peace. 5. Through those fields, but lately drenched in hu- man blood, now flow the streams of salvation. Eu- rope is bending under the mighty effort of extend- ing redemption to a world. Kings and emperors are vieing with the humblest of their subjects in this stupendous work. The coffers of the rich are emptied into heaven's treasury, and there also is received the widow's mite. 6. But there is one nation which has stood forth pre-eminent in this career of glory. With the pro- foundest veneration, I bow before the majesty of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This illus- trious association, (its history is recorded in heaven, and ought to be proclaimed on earth,) has been in- strumental in distributing a million and a half of vol- 84 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. umesof the word of life; and has magnanimously ex- pended, in a single year, near four hundred thousand dollars for the salvation of man. This transcendent institution is the brightest star in the constellation of modern improvements, and looks down from itseeles- tial elevation on the diminished glories ol the Grecian and Roman name. 7. The electric shock has at length reached our shores. Local Bible Societies have been heretofore established in this country ; but they wanted extent of means, comprehensiveness of design, and consoli- dation of action. 8. It was to be expected, and the Christian uorld had a right to expect, that the American nation would arise in the majesty of its collected might, and unite itself with the other powers of Christendom, in the holy confederacy for extending the empire of religion and civilization. This auspicious era has now ar- rived. 9. The last week has witnessed an august assem- blage of the fathers of the American Churches, of every denomination, convened in this metropolis from all parts of the country, not to brandish the sword of religious controversy, but to unite with one heart, in laying the foundation of the majestic superstructure of the American Bible Society. 10 Athens bonsted of her temple of Minerva ; but our city is more truly consecrated, by being the seat of this hallowed edifice. It is not a mosque con- taining, or reputed to contain, the remains of the A- rabian prophet, but a fabric reared and devoted to the living God by the united efforts of the American Churches, #r- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 85 II. Fellow-citizens ! will you coldly receive this honor, or will you not rather show yourselves wor- thy of this sacred distinction ? I am persuaded, that your muniti< euee and zeal in this holy cause will be recorded as an animating example to the nation. For to whom should it he reserved to electrify this west- ern continent, but to the London of America ? Our country has long stood forth the rival of England in commerce and in arms ; let her not be left behind in the glorious rareer of evangelizing the world. SPEECH OF PETER A. JAY, ESQ. Delivered before a meeting held in the city of New-York, immediately after the formation of the American Bible Society. PART I. 1. When we consider the multiplied divisions ■which exist in this extensive country ; the animosi- ties of political parties, the multitude of our religious sects, the local interests and jealousies, that have so often impeded or defeated the most salutary under- takings, we have reason to be astonished at the per- fect unanimity, which has in this instance prevailed among delegates from widely distant parts of the union, and of various political and religious denomi- nations. It marks, indeed, the finger of Providence, that always provides means for the accomplishment of his own great and beneficent purposes. 2. Under Providence, this unanimity can only be ascribed to the strong sense of duty in those who H4* 86 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. composed the constitution, which we have heard, and to the singleness oT object they had in view. The latter, I esteem the great characteristic, which, I trust, will render the American Bible Society an honor to the country, and a blessing to the world. 3. Our efforts in the great cause of diffusing Chris- tianity, when compared with those of other nations, have hitherto been small. Not that we have want- ed means ; for, except during a short interval, we have been blessed with peace and with abundance. Nor will I impute it to want of zeal for the happi- ness of mankind. But our efforts have been sepa- rately made, and were, therefore, feeble. We have now T a common centre in which we can unite ; we have now a cause in which all can join. 4. Our object is to distribute the Holy Scriptures without note or comment. At this, no politician can be alarmed, no sectary can be reasonably jealous. We shall distribute no other book, we shall teach no disputed doctrine. Laying aside for this purpose the banners of our respective corps, we assemble under the sole standard of the great Captain of our salvation. We endeavor to extend his reign, and in his name alone we contend. 5. Do we wish to improve the temporal condition of the human race ? Then experience has shown, that Christianity is the most efficient agent. Sur- vey the world — W T here have barbarism and igno- rance, and superstition, and cruelty, and all the demons of darkness, their abodes ? Where, but in those unhappy regions that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, deprived of the light of the gospel of Christ? And where do you find knowledge, and THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 87 humanity, and charity? Where do the sciences and the arts reside ? Where does commerce flourish ? Where does liberty dwell ? No where but in the Christian world. 6. Christianity enlarges the mind while it purifies the heart. It expands our views, it animates us with the most powerful motives, and while it teaches that we are members of the great family of mankind, it enables us to perform the duties which that relation imposes. 7. While Mahommedan nations have long been stationary or retrograde ; while the inhabitants of India continue to practise their bloody and abomina- ble rites ; while most other pagans are sunk almost below the condition of the brutes that perish ; the Christian world has advanced with rapid strides in civilization, in wealth, in humanity, in every thing that contributes to temporal prosperity, as well as in the virtues which fit us for immortality. PART II. 1. An irrevocable decree has gone forth, an in- violable promise has been made, that they, who turn many to righteousness, shall shine like stars forever and ever. But how shall those who are doomed to business and labor, turn many to righteousness ? Such is the constitution of human society, that all cannot be misionaries ; all cannot apply themselves to the spir- itual concerns of others. This Society enables all to contribute to the spiritual improvement of all. 2. The Bible is the best of missionaries. It will reach where no preacher can penetrate ; it will preach where he cannot be. heard ; it will reprove, alarm, ad 88 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. vise, console in solitude, when no passion interferes to drown its voice. Of these missionaries thousands may be sent abroad, and where the seed is abundantly sown, we may reasonably hope for an abundant harvest. 3. Though the diffusion of the scriptures is the great end of our Institution, yet another blessing will also spring from it. Too long have Christians been divided. Sect has been opposed to sect ; angry con- troversies have agitated tne church ; misrepresenta- tions have been made, and believed ; and good men, who ought to have loved each other, have been kept asunder by prejudices, which were the offspring of ignorance. 4. In this Society the most discordant sects will meet together, engaged in a common cause ; prejudices will abate ; asperities will be softened ; and when it 16 found, as undoubtedly it will be found, that the same love of God and of man animates all real christians, whatever may be their outward rites, or forms of ec- clesiastical discipline, that most of them agree in fun- damental doctrines, and that their differences princi- pally relate to points of little practical importance, there must be an increase of brotherly love, and of a truly catholic spirit. 5. Sir, I pretend not to see more clearly than others through the dim veil of prophecy, but if the predic- tions which foretel a millennial period of happiness ou earth are ever to be literally fulfilled, it can only be by the accomplishment of another prophecy, that " The knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea." Let us then be bless- ed instruments in the diffusion of this knowledge, that having contributed to the triumph of the Redeemer's THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 89 cause, we may be permitted to partake it. Then we shall be entitled to address the Christian Church in the exalting strains : The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay ; Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away ; But fix'd his word, his saving power remains, Thy realm forever lasts, thy ov/n Messiah reigns. Missionary Speeches. THE OFFICE OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY, NOBLE ANB ELEVATED. From Rev. R. Hall's Address to E. Carey. 1814. 1. If to survey mankind in different situations, and under the influence of opposite institutions, civil and religious, tends to elevate the mind above vulgar prejudice, by none is this advantage more eminently possessed than by Christian Missionaries. In addition to the advantages usually anticipated from foreign travel, their attention is directly turned to man in the most interesting light in which he can be viewed. 2. An intelligent Missionary, in consequence of daily conversing with the natives on the most momentous subjects, and at the most affecting mo- ments, has opportunities of becoming acquainted, not merely with the surface of manners, but with the interior of the character, which can rarely fall to the lot of any other person ; besides that, Christian- ity, it may be justlv affirmed, is -the i?est decvpherer 90 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. of the human heart, and is that alone which can solve its contradictions and explain its anomalies. 3. Hence it may be fairly expected, nor will the expectation disappoint us, that an experienced Missionary, possessed of the talent and habit of obser- vation, will, in every country, deserve to be classed amongst the most enlightened of its inhabitants. 4. Few things more powerfully tend to enlarge the mind, than conversing with great objects, and engaging in great pursuits. That the object of the Missionary is entitled to that appellation, will not be questioned by him who reflects on the infinite advan- tages derived from Christianity, to every nation and clime, where it has prevailed in its purity, and that ihe prodigious superiority which Europe possesses over Asia and Africa, is chiefly to be ascribed to this cause. 5. It is the possession of a religion which compre- hends the seeds of endless improvement, which maintains an incessant struggle with whatever is barbarous, selfish, or inhuman, which by unveiling futurity, clothes morality with the sanction of a di- vine law, and harmonises utility and virtue in every combination of events, and in every stage of exist- ence ; a religion, which by affording the most just and sublime conceptions of the Deity and of the moral relations of man, has given birth at once to the loftiest speculation, and the most child-like hu- mility, uniting the inhabitants of the globe into one iamrly, and in the bonds of a common salvation ; it is this religion, which, rising upon us like a finer sun, has quickened moral vegetation, and replenished Europe with talents, virtues and exploits, which, in THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 91 spite of its physical disadvantages, have rendered it a paradise, the delight and wonder of the world. . 6. An attempt to propagate this religion among the natives of Hindostan, may perhaps be stigmatized as visionary and romantic ; but to enter the lists of con- troversy with those who would deny it to be great and noble, would be a degradation to reason. CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM CONTRASTED. A Speech of the Rev. G. T. Noel. 1815. 1. My lord — there are peculiar seasons under which the mind is enabled to form a more striking contrast than at others, between the blessings of Christianity and the miseries of Paganism — seasons when only perhaps some single point of difference is present to the view. It occurred to me a short time ago, to fill up the interval before the appointed hour when I was to witness the proceedings of a Bible Association among the poor, by w r andering in the church-yard of a country village. 2. The day w T as fine, and the surrounding country was exceedingly lovely. My feelings were much ex- cited as I stopped at the grave of an humble individ- ual, who had quitted this vale of sorrow at the age of twenty-one ; on her tomb stone was this inscription — 4t By faith on Jesus' conquests she relied, On Jesus' merits ventured all, and died !" 3. I was led immediately to compare the circum- stances of such a death, and the blessedness of such a hope in eternity, with the uncertainty and gloom of 92 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. a heathen's departure from this world. I could im- agine to myself a place of burial in some idolatrous land, where the sun might shine as brightly, and the surrounding scenery be yet more beautiful. 4. But if 1 should ask what memorial would be written on some youthful grave, I was aillicted at the thought that all must be dark and cheerless here ! Nc ray from heaven could gleam on such a grave. Many traces of fond remembrance, many anguished memo- rials of the poet, many tender associations might be recorded on the stone that marked so sacred a spot ; but no hope of future re-union, no accredited prospect of an immortal existence, no certain assurance of par- don, and mercy, and peace, could be written there ! 5. No tidings of a Saviour's love, no consolations of his Spirit, no foretaste of his salvation, could cheer the victims sinking into the dust, or bind up the mourn- ers' hearts who deposited in silence the form which they had loved so long. In that land none tells them, in those striking words of your Report, that they have God for a Father, Christ for a Saviour, the. Holy Spirit for a Guide, and Heaven for a home, where they shall separate no more. 6. Oh, then, how beautiful upon th-e mountains should we esteem the feet of him who would carry the glad tidings of peace to scenes so desolate, and to hearts so broken by sorrow and sin i THE CLAIMS OF AFRICA. Extracts from a Speech of John S. Harford, Esq. 1815. 1. Over the greater part of Africa, every baleful form of savage barbarism broods. Who could have THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 93 believed, in the second century, when Christianity appeared to have obtained a firm hold on her north- ern shores, and the presence of no less than seventy bishops dignified the council of Carthage, that, in the progress of ages, whilst surrounding nations were ad- vancing in knowledge and civilization, the rising sun of Africa's glory was not only to be arrested in its course, but suddenly to sink in a hideous night ? 2. Who could have believed, when the great Bishop of the African church reflected, by his heroic martyr- dom, so much honor on the Christian cause, that the name of Cyprian was so soon to be forgotten, where most of all its memory should have been cherished, or that the Crescent was destined so soon to triumph over the Cross ? Who could have believed, that, where Mahometanism was shut out, there a still more odious faith should prevail, and the worship of devils be united to a profligacy almost equally improbable ? 3. The picture of 300* millions of people thus en- thralled, should at least excite the inquiry, " Can we devise no means for their illumination ? Are there no instruments within our reach, which may be thus no- bly directed ?" 4. But Africa has stronger claims upon us than those of humanity. She has large arrears upon our justice unpaid. We have been the authors of enor- mous evils to that unhappy country. The dreadful wounds which our influence opeced there are not yet healed. 5. I will not dwell on the horrors of the slave trade, farther than to assert the moral necessity which is thence laid upon us of supporting every rational * 150 millions. 94 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. scheme of reparation. We have wiped away the guilt and shame, it is true, of this odious traffic, so far as the mere abolition of it goes ; and hereby we have perhaps averted impending judgments : but are we not bound to reverse the horrid scenes of the past by the mild glories of the future ? 6. Africans say, " that, before Christians visited them, they lived in peace ; hut that wherever Chris- tianity comes, there comes with it a sword, gun, pow- der, and ball." Is this the impression which our countrymen have left behind them of that religion, one of whose leading attributes is, Peace and good will to men ? Be it our care to blot out this foul stain, and to revive the remark forced from the lips of infidelity in the primitive ages : u See Jbow these Christians love one another '" 7. Were I disposed to strengthen my own state- ments by an appeal to high authority, I could point to that of a much lamented and illustrious statesman, Mr. Pitt. In one of his speeches*pn the slave trade, which ranks among the fairest models of modern elo- quence, he strongly dwells upon the duty of our pro- moting the civilization of Africa : and, in the glowing visions of his brilliant fancy, he realizes the scene for which his heart pleaded. 8. He anticipates a day, when the beams of science and philosophy shall break'inupon Africa ; and, unit- ing their influenre to that of pure religion, shall il- luminate and invigorate the most distant extremities of that immense continent. Could the warmest ad- vocate of Missionary Institutions have suggested to himself a more satisfactory consummation of his ob- ject ? THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 95 AN OBJECTION TO MISSIONS ANSWERED. Extracts from a Speech of J S. Harford, Esq. 1813. 1. The state of Pagan nations, Sir, is such, that it would be easy to press the arguments which I have used much more strongly; but I am well aware, that after all which can be urged, there are persons who will be ready to object, " This is a Quixotical, crusad- ing scheme. What right have we to interfere in the faith or the regulations of other nations ? What should we say, were the Grand Turk to send us 10,000 copies of the Koran, accompanied by a set of mission- aries, to make us Mahometans ; or still more, in what way should we receive a mission of Bramins ?" 2. To such a question I would simply reply, What right had St. Paul (who I shall take it for granted, ac- cording to the learned theory of the present Bishop of St. David's, first preached the Gospel in Britain) what right had he to visit this country when the thick film of Pagan darkness involved the minds of its inhabitants? What right had he to brave the terrors of our stormy seas, and to encounter the still more savage manners of our ancestors ? 3. What right had he to oppose himself to their horrid customs, to throw down by his doctrine their altars stained with the blood of human sacrifices, and to regenerate the code of their morals disgraced by the permission of every crime which can brutalize and de- grade human nature ? What right had he to substitute, for the furious imprecations of their druids, the still small voice of Hifli who was meek and lowly in heart? / i)Q 'illE CHRISTIAN CKA'IOK. 4. What right had he to exchange their horrid turcs of the imisihle world, recking with. Mood and stained with characters of revenge, for the glorious prospects of the heavenly Mount Sion, the ini.umera- bie company of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect ? What right had he to plant, by such a pro- cedure, the seminal principle of all our subsequent glory and prosperity as a nation, our boasted liberty, our admirable code of law, the whole inimitable frame and constitution of our government in church and state ? 5. This quarrel with the memory of St. Paul I shall leave with the opponents of Missionary institutions to settle ; and when they have made up their minds as to the degree of infamy which is to cleave to him, for having been (in a remote sense at least) the first con- veyancer to us of the best blessings which we now en- joy, I will then consign over the Missionaries of the present day to their severest reprehension. Theirs is the same noble fault ! theirs, the same great enter- prise ! 6. To countries situated as Britain once was, im- mersed in equal wretchedness, barbarity, and vice, they carry the same infallible panaceum : they hope that, under the blessing of the great Head of the church, a success equally striking will, in process of time, by a gradual progression, smile upon their la- bors. They trust that, wherever the song of Sion is heard, its influence, as is fabled of the lyre of Am- phion, will cause the moral chaos to leap into beauty, order, and harmony. 7. And why should it not ? Is the arm of God short- ened? Are the strong holds of Satan's kingitom be- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 97 some impregnable ? Do we expect that a mission of angels will be employed to fulfil the predictions of prophecy in relation to the universal diffusion of Christianity ? or can we suppose that any beings but men are to be its honored propagators? 8. We live in awful and critical times. Around us lie scattered the fragments of ancient states and ven- erable establishments. The only sure foundation on which we can build a hope, that the pillar of our country's glory will still lift its august head erect amidst this heap of desolation, and still continue to be a rallying point for oppressed nations, is the preva- lence within its confines of pure religion. 9. 1 admire, as much as any man the valor of our armies, and the skill of our commanders. I honor them as instruments of national security. But we have lately seen how the most consummate skill may become infatuated, and armies apparently irresistible be so swept away, that their bleaching bones alone can testify that they once existed. !0. If true practical Christianity should still gain ground among us ; if it should so prevail as to exhibit, amidst all our national sins, a strong and concentrated union of good men (however separated in minor points) striving in the spirit of mutual good will, in their sev- eral spheres, for the diffusion of domestic piety, and for the promotion of the Redeemer's kingdom through- out the nations of the earth ; then we may calmly re- gard the efforts of our enemies, confident in the pro- tecting shield of Omnipotence : then, we may expect ere long to behold the halcyon forms of peace and love building their nests upon the agitated waves of I 98 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR, human trouble : then, the world will be taught to know that a nation, in which the fear of God is no less eminent than the spirit of valor and freedom, is in- deed invincible. EXTRACTS FROM A SPEECH OF THE REV. J. H. RINGER, Delivered before an Irish Missionary Society. 1815. 1. I cannot, my lord, avoid congratulating myself that Ireland has at length taken her proper station among the glorious fellow-workers with God ; that the country of my birth, and the religion of my choice, the land with which I nave associated all my hopes of hap- piness, and the faith which I trust has sanctified these hopes, have not remained idle spectators of the exer- tions of others, but that they too have come down to assist the Lord against the mighty. 2. Is it not, my lord, to be ranked among the strangest anomalies of the human mind, that this great, this interesting object, should have met with heads so prejudiced, or hearts so hard, as to oppose its success ? 3. Is it not strange, that a cause which appeals by every motive which should move the politician, the philanthropist, the Christian — which should bind the worldling by his interests, the moralist by his human- ity, the Christian by his hopes — a cause whose only means are benefits and persuasion, whose end is but happiness and salvation to millions of our benighted species, whose tendency is but peace and good will on earth — that such a cause, the cause of God and man, of ourselves and of our fellow creatures, should be oppos- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 99 ed, maligned,,calumniated — that rank and influence and learning should be arrayed against the simple Mis- sionary — that facts should be misrepresented or denied, reasoning perverted or silenced ; nay, that the morality of the Koran and the mildness of the Vedas, should have been placed in impious competition beside the law of God, beside the Gospel of Christ ! 4. Would you preserve your possessions in the East, an empire, at which the cupidity of an Alexan- der or a Cassar might blush ; an empire, from which, by a thousand channels, wealth and industry and com- merce have poured into your country, have new strung the exhausted sinews of war, and conducted you unharmed through the mighty contest from which you are just now reposing — would you pre- serve this empire in peace, and hand it down entire to your posterity, that they too may stand forth in their day as the liberators of Europe — Christianize the East. 5. Should the whirlwind of war again be turned against your territories directed by anew Tamerlane or a Jenghis, beware of a divided faith, of an alien- ated population : if you would bind your subjects to your interests by a tie stronger than art or policy ever devised, if you would rest in security from for- eign invasion, and domestic treason — Christianize the East. 6. Nor is it by policy alone that I would induce you to an act of justice. Humanity has her claims ; and millions of your fellow subjects, groaning under the aggravated miseries of despotism and priestcraft, pre- sent an object for benevolence more extended and 100 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOK. more urgent than was ever offered to the contem- plation of man. 7. Would you relieve these wretched victims of superstition? — would you rescue the pilgrim from tlje agonizing hook, snatch the aged parent from the monster of the desert or the flood, save the trem- bling matron from the devouring flames, or prevent the wretched infant from becoming the victim of its more wretched mother's bigotry ? — would you restore the parent to the child, and the child to the parent ? — Christianize the East. 8. But we have yet, my lord, a higher principle of action. We regard the Hindoo and the African not merely as subjects, or as men, but as immortal and responsible agents, in whatever climate born, or with whatever colour tinged ; equally with ourselves to stand before the bar of God, to be judged by an infinite and perfect Being ; equally with us to have sinned and fallen short of the law ; equally to want a Saviour, whose merit9 and sufferings they, may plead on that dreadful day. 9. Will you suffer millions of your fellow creatures to remain ignorant of that Saviour, until they see him as their judge ? Is there aught on earth would purchase from you the knowledge of Christ and his salvation ? And can you refuse them the preacher, that they may hear, that they may believe, that they may live? Oh, if you indeed think that there is no other name undar heaven whereby man can be saved % but the name of Jesus — if you do not think our faith to be foolishness, and its promises delusions — if you do not expect that Brahma, and Mahomet, and Christ shall . be alike powerful to save — Oh Christianize the East THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 101 ON THE DANGER OF SENDING MISSIONARIES TO THE HEATHEN. Extracted from the Speech of Rev. Mr. Bicker steth, before an Association of the Church Missionary Society, Sept,, 1815. 1. If the danger be objected to us, I answer by asking how do we reason in worldly matters ? If a hostile kingdom is to be invaded, Wellington shall have his 100,000 of our noblest and bravest men — - the first men in the country : they shall be exposed to most tremendous danger ; thousands of them shall fall; and yet Wellington will not stop till he reaches the head-quarters, and triumphs in the very capital of our enemy. I need not speak the praise of Well- ington — then blame not in us, what you commend in him. 2. We are called upon to send an invading army into the kingdom of darkness, under the banners of that Mighty Prince, who never yet failed of success. Let not British Christians be less valiant than Brit- ish Soldiers. Our hope is more glorious, our re- ward more illustrious, our success more certain, and it will bring more abundant benefits to man. 3. The love of country induces the soldier to give up friends and relatives, and all that is dear to him. The love of country , A the love of mankind, and the love of the Saviour — all unite to constrain the Mis- sionary to give up all he can for Christ ; and if it does 30, is it not ours to support him in this welfare ! 4. If it be saicf, M We see few signs of success id Africa,'* I answer, It is the peculiar property of faith, I 9 102 JHE CHRISTIAN ORATOR, to excite us to labor in the performance of a plaia duty, though the reward be unseen, depending upon the promise that it shall eventually succeed ; and I answer again, many Missionary attempts^ which have ultimately been greatly blessed, have at the begin- ning had great discouragements. That noble Mission of the Baptists, which now fills the Christian world with admiration, did not, for a long season, seem at all to prosper : nor, as you have heard, are we with- out success in Africa. 5. My lord — when I look back upon the long, dark, and dreary night of Paganism, and when 1 ob- serve again the various degrees of success which God has given to the prudent exertions of all his servants, of every denomination, in every part of the world, methinks I see the first appearance of the dawn of a better day. 6. I behold the Sun of Righteousness rising, with healing in his wings, upon a benighted world — the first streaks of his approach paint the horizon — a cheering and comfortable tinge glows in the sky — the edges of the clouds grow brighter and brighter — the shades of night recede, and the people that walk in darkness shall yet see the great Light of the world. 7. Did our opponents wish to hinder our success, which I will never believe they do, they could soon- er stop the advance of the splendid luminary of the heavens, than retard the progress of that infinitely more glorious Sun, which is the light to lighten the Gentiles, and will yet be the glory of Israel 8. Africa may indeed now be ^s still as the wa- ters of the most retired and embosomed lake ; but, my lord, that stone of the gospel is yet to be throwD THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 103 in, which will not only make a circle in its own im- mediate neighbourhood, but a wider and wider and still wider circle, till it embraces the whole surface, end Africa is moved to its farthest bounds." Speeches on War. ON THE HORRORS OF WAR. From a Sermon of Rev. Robert Hall, delivered in England, June, 1802, on a day of Thanksgiving for a general Peace. PART I. 1. Real war, my brethren, is a very different thing from that painted image of it, which you see on a pa- rade, or at a review ; it is the most awful scourge that Providence employs for the chastisement of man. It is the garment of vengeance with which the Deity arrays himself, when he comes forth to punish the in- habitants of the earth. 2. Though we must all die, as the woman of Tekoa said, and are as water spilt upon the ground which cannot be gathered up, yet it is impossible for a hu- mane mind to contemplate the rapid extinction of in- numerable lives without concern. To perish in a moment, to be hurried instantaneously, without prepa- ration and without warning, into the presence of the Supreme Judge, has something in it inexpressibly awful and affecting. 3. Since the commencement of those hostilities which are now so happily closed, it may be reasona- bly conjectured that not less thau half a million of 104 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. our fellow creatures have fallen a sacrifice. Haifa million of beings, sharers of the same nature, warmed with the same hopes, and as fondly attached to life as ourselves, have been prematurely swept into the grave ; each of whose deaths has pierced the heart of a wife, a parent, a brother, or a sister. How ma- ny of these scenes of complicated distress have oc- curred since the commencement of hostilities, is known only to Omniscience : that they are innume- rable, cannot admit of a doubt. In some parts of Europe, perhaps, there is scarcely a family exempt 4. In war death reigns without a rival, and without control. War is the work, the element, or rather the sport and triumph, of death, who glories not only in the extent of his conquest, but in the richness of his spoil. In the other methods of attack, in the other forms which death assumes, the feeble and the aged, who at the best can live but a short lime, are usually the victims ; here it is the vigorous and the strong. 5. It is remarked by the most ancient of poets, that in peace children bury their parents, in war parents bury their children : nor is the difference small. Children lament their parents, sincerely in- deed, but with that moderate and tranquil sorrow, which it is natural for those to feel who are con- scious of retaining many tender ties, many animating prospects. Parents mourn for their children with the bitterness of despair; the aged parent, the wid- owed mother, loses, when she is deprived of her children, every thing but the capacity of suffering ; her heart, withered and desolate, admits no other THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 105 object, cherishes no other hope. His Rachel weep" ing for her children, and refusing to be comforted^ be- cause they are not. PART II. 1. To confine our attention to the number of those who are slain in battle, would give but a very inad- equate idea of the ravages of the sword. The lot of those who perish instantaneously, may be considered, apart from religious prospects, as comparatively hap- py, since they are exempt from those lingering dis- eases and slow torments, to which others are liable. We cannot see an individual expire, though a strang- er, or an enemy, without being sensibly moved, and prompted by compassion to lend him every assistance in our power. Every trace of resentment vanishes in a moment : every other emotion gives way to pity and terror. 2. In these last extremities, we remember nothing but the respect and tenderness due to our common nature. What a scene then must a field of battle present, where thousands are left without assistance, and without pity, with their wounds exposed to the piercing air, while the blood, freezing as it flows, binds them to the earth, amidst the trampling of horses, and the insults of an enraged foe ! 3. If they are spared by the humanity of the en- emy, and carried from the field, it is but a prolonga- tion of torment. Conveyed in uneasy vehicles, often to a remote distance, through roads almost impassable, they are lodged in ill prepared receptacles for the bounded and the sick, where the variety of distres? 106 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. baffles all the efforts of humanity and skill, and ren- ders it impossible to give to each the attention he demands. 4. Far from their native home, no tender assidu- ities of friendship, no well known voice, no wife, or mother, or sister, is near to sooth their sorrows, relieve their thirst, or close their eyes in death. Unhappy man ! and must you be swept into the grave unnoticed and unnumbered, and no friendly tear to be shed for your sufferings, or mingled with your dust ! 5. We must remember, however, that as a very small portion of a military life is spent in actual com- bat, so it is a very small part of its miseries, which must be ascribed to this source. More are consumed by the rust of inactivity than by the edge of the sword ; confined to a scanty or unwholesome diet, ex- posed in sickly climates, harassed with tiresome marches and perpetual alarms ; their life is a contin- ual scene of hardships and dangers. They grow fa- miliar with hunger, cold, and watchfulness. Crowd- ed into hospitals and prisons, contagion spreads amongst their ranks, till the ravages of disease ex- ceed those cf the enemy. 6. We have hitherto only adverted to the suffer- ings of those who are engaged in the profession of arms, without taking into our account the situation of the countries which are the scene of hostilities. How dreadful to hold every thing at the mercy of an en- ercry, and to receive life itself as a boon dependent on the sword. How boundless the fears which such a situation must inspire, where the issues of life and THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 107 death are determined by no known laws, principles, or customs, and no conjecture can be formed of our destiny, except as far as it is dimly decyphered in characters of blood, in the dictates of revenge, and the caprices of power. 7. Conceive but for a moment the consternation which the approach of an invading army would im- press on the peaceful villages in this neighbourhood. When you have placed yourselves for an instant in that situation, you will learn to sympathize with those unhappy countries which have sustained the ravages of arms. 8. But how is it possible to give you an idea of these horrors ? Here you behold rich harvests, the bounty of Heaven, and the reward of industry, con- sumed in a moment, or trampled under foot, while famine and pestilence follow the steps of desolation, There the cottages of peasants given up to the flames, mothers expiring through fear, not for themselves but their infants ; the inhabitants flying with their helpless babes in all directions, miserable fugitives on their native soil ! 9. In another part you witness opulent cities taken by storm ; the streets, where no sounds were heard but those of peaceful industry, filled on a sudden with slaughter and blood, resounding with the cries of the pursuing and the pursued; the palaces of nobles de- molished, the houses of the rich pillaged, the chas- tity of virgins and of matrons violated, and every age, sex, and rank f mingled in promiscuous massacre and win. 108 THE CHRISTIAN OB A TOR. PEACE AND WAR CONTRASTED. From the same. 1. The morality of peaceful times is directly op- posite to the maxims of war. The fundamental rule of the first is to do good ; of the latter, to inflict in- juries. The former commands us to succour the op- pressed ; the latter to overwhelm the defenceless. The former teaches men to love their enemies ; the latter to make themselves terrible to strangers. 2. The rules of morality will not suffer us to pro- mote the dearest interest by falsehood ; the maxims of war applaud it when employed in the destruction of others. That a familiarity with such maxims must tend to harden the heart, as well as to pervert the moral sentiments, is too obvious to need illustration. S. The natural consequence of their prevalence is an unfeeling and unprincipled ambition, with an idol- atry of talents and a contempt of virtue ; whence the esteem of mankind is turned from the humble, the beneficent, and the good, to men who are qualified by a genius fertile in expedients, a courage that is never appalled, and a heart that never pities, to become the destroyers of the earth. 4. While the philanthropist is devising means to mitigate the evils and augment the happiness of the world, a fellow worker together with God, in explor- ing and giving effect to the benevolent tendencies of nature ; the warrior is revolving, in the gloomy re- cesses of his capacious mind, plans of future devasta- tion and ruin. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 109 5. Prisons crowded with captives, cities emptied of their inhabitants, fields desolate and waste, are among his proudest trophies. The fabrick of his fame is cemented with tears and blood; and if his name is wafted to the ends of the earth, it is in the shrill cry of suffering humanity ; in the curses and imprecations of those whom his sword has reduced to despair. CHARACTER OF THE EUROPEAN WAR. From the same. part i. 1. To acknowledge the hand of God is a duty in- deed at all times ; but there are seasons when it is made so bare, that it is next to impossible, and there* fore signally criminal, to overlook it. It is almost unnecessary to add that the present is one of those seasons. 2. If ever we are expected to be still, and know that he is God, it is on the present occasion, after a crisis so unexampled in the annals of the world ; during which, scenes have been disclosed, and events have arisen, so much more astonishing than any that history had recorded or romance had feigned, that we are compelled to lose sight of human agency, and to behold the Deity acting as it were apart and alone. 3. The contest in which we have been lately en- gaged is distinguished from all others in modern time? by the number of nations it embraced, and the ani- mosity with which it was conducted. Making its first K 110 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. appearance in the centre of the civilized world, like a fire kindled in the thickest part of a forest, it spread during ten years on every side ; it burnt in all direc- tions, gathering fresh fury in its progress, till it in- wrapped the whole of Europe in its flames ! an awful spectacle not only to the inhabitants of the earth, but in the eyes of superior beings ! 4. What place can we point out to which its effects have not extended ? Where is the nation, the family, the individual, I might almost say, who has not felt its influence ? It is not, my brethren, the termination of an ordinary contest, which we are assembled this day to commemorate ; it is an event which includes for the present (may it long perpetuate) the tran- quillity of Europe and the pacification of the world. 5. We are met to express our devout gratitude to God for putting a period to a war, the most eventful perhaps that has been witnessed for a thousand years, a war which has transformed the face of Europe, and removed the land-marks of nations and limits of empire. FART II. 1. The war in which so great a part of the world was lately engaged has been frequently styled a war of principle. This was indeed its exact charac- ter ; and it was this which rendered it so violent and obstinate. 2. Disputes which are founded merely on passion or on interest, are comparatively of short duration. They are, at least, not calculated to spread. How- ever they may inflame the principals, they are but little adapted to gain partisans. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. Ill 3. To render them durable, there must be an in- fusion of speculative opinions. For, corrupt as men are, they are yet so much the creatures of reflection, and so strongly addicted to sentiments of right and wrong, that their attachment to a public cause can rarely be secured, nor their animosity be kept alive, unless their understandings are engaged by some ap- pearances of truth and rectitude. Hence speculative differences in religion and politics become rallying points to the passions. 4. Whoever reflects on the civil wars between ihe Guelphs and the Ghibbelines, or the adherents of the Pope and the Emperor, which distracted Italy and Germany in the middle ages : or those betwixt the houses of York and Lancaster, in the fifteenth cen- tury, w T ill find abundant confirmation of this re- mark. 5. This is well understood by the leaders of par- ties in all nations ; who, though they frequently aim at nothing more than the attainment of power, yet always contrive to cement the attachment of their followers, by mixing some speculative opinion with their contests, well knowing that what depends for support merely on the irascible passions soon sub- sides. 6. Then does party animosity reach its height, when to an interference of interests sufficient to kin- dle resentment, is superadded a persuasion of recti- tude, a conviction of truth, an apprehension in each party that they are contending for principles of the last importance, on the success of which the happi- ness of millions depends, 112 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 7. Under these impressions men are apt to indulge the most seltish and vindictive passions without sus- picion or control. The understanding indeed, in that state, instead of controlling the passions, often serves only to give steadiness to their impulse, to ratify and consecrate, so to speak, all their movements. 8. When we apply these remarks to the late con- test, we can be at no loss to discover the source of the unparalleled animosity which inflamed it. Never before were so many opposing interests, passions, and principles, committed to such a decision. 9. On one side an attachment to the ancient order of things, on the other a passionate desire of change ; a wish in some to perpetuate, in others to destroy ev- ery thing ; every abuse sacred in the eyes of the for- mer ; every foundation attempted to be demolished by the latter ; a jealousy of power shrinking from the slightest innovation ; pretensions to freedom pushed to madness and anarchy ; superstition in all its dotage, impiety in all its fury ; whatever, in short, could be found most discordant in the principles, or violent in the passions of men, were the fearful ingredients which the hand of Divine justice selected to mingle in this furnace of wrath. 10. Can we any longer wonder at the desolations it made in the earth ? Great as they are, they are no more than might be expected from the peculiar nature of the warfare. When we take this into our consideration, we are no longer surprised to find that the variety of its battles burdens the memory, that the imagination is perfectly fatigued in travelling -iver Its scenes of slaughter, and that falling, like the THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 113 mistic star in the Apocalypse, upon the streams and the rivers, it turned the third part of their waters into blood. THE Sx'LENDOR OF WAR AN OBSTACLE TO ITS EXTINCTION. From a Sermon of the Rev T. Chalmers delivered in Glas- gow, Jan 1816, on a day of National Thanksgiving 1 for the Restoration of Peace. 1. The first great obstacle then to the extinction of war is the way in which the heart of man is carried off from its barbarities and its horrors, by the splen- dor of its deceitful accompaniments. There is a feeling of the sublime in contemplating the shock of armies, just as there is in contemplating the devour- ing energy of a tempest, and this so elevates and en- grosses the whole man, that his eye is blind to the tears of bereaved parents, and his ear is deaf to the piteous moan of the dying, and the shriek of their desolated families. 2. There is a gracefulness in the picture of a youth- ful warrior burning for distinction on the field, and lur- ed by this generous aspiration to the deepest of the animated throng, where, in the fell work of death, the opposing sons of valor struggle for a remem- brance and a name ; and this side of the picture is so much the exclusive object of our regard, as to dis- guise from our view the mangled carcasses of the fal- len, and the writhing agonies of the hundreds and the hundreds more who have been laid on the cold ground, where they are left to languish and to die. K 2 114 illL CHRISTIAN ORATOR, 3. There net eve pities them. No sister is there to weep over them. There no gentle hand is pres- ent to ease the dying posture, or bind up the wounds, which, in the maddening fury of the combat, have been given and received by the children of one com- mon father. There death spreads its pale ensigns over every countenance, and when night comes on, and darkness gathers around them, how many a despairing wretch must take up with the bloody field as the un- tended bed of his last sufferings, without one friend to bear the message of tenderness to his distant home, without one companion to close his eyes. 4. I avow it. On every side of me I see causes at work which go to spread a most delusive colouring over war, and to remove its shocking barbarities to the back ground of our contemplations altogether. I see it in the history which tells me of the superb appearance of the troops, and the brilliancy of their successive charges. 1 see it in the poetry which lends the magic of its numbers to the narrative of blood, and transports its many admirers, as, by its images; and its figures, and its nodding plumes of chivalry, it throws its treacherous embellishments over a scene of legalized slaughter. 5. I see it in the music which represents the prog- ress of the battle ; and where, after being inspired by the trumpet-notes of preparation, the whole beauty and tenderness of a drawing-room are seen to bend over the sentimental entertainment ; nor do I hear the ut- terance of a single sigh to interrupt the death-tones of the thickening contest, and the moans of the wound- ed men as they fade away upon the ear, and sink into lifeless silence. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 115 6. All, all goes to prove what strange and half- sighted creatures we are. Were it not so, war could never have been seen in any other aspect than that of unmingled hatefulness; and I can look to nothing but to the progress of Christian sentiment upon earth, to arrest the strong current of its popular and pre- vailing partiality for war. Then only will an impe- rious sense of duty lay the check of severe principle, on all the subordinate tastes and faculties of our na- ture. Then will glory be reduced to its right esti- mate, and the wakeful benevolence of the gospel, chasing away every spell, will be devoted to simple "but sublime enterprises for the good of the species. THE HOLY LEAGUE. Interesting State-Paper.* j. In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, Their Majesties, the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and Emperor of Russia, in consequence of the great events which have distinguished Europe, in the course of the three last years, and especially of the blessings which it has pleased Divine Providence to shed upon those states whose governments have placed their confidence and their hope in it alone, having acquired the thorough conviction, that it is necessary for ensuring their continuance, that the several powers, in their mutual relations, adopt the * This document is thought to be of such importance, that we insert it in this book, though not in exact accordance with its design We do it that it may be preserved and read, and become familiar to the youth'of our country— and its influence be universally diffused among our citizen's. 116 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. sublime truths which are pointed out to us by the eternal religion of the Saviour God ; 2. Declare solemnly that the present act has no other object than to show in the face of the universe their unwavering determination to adopt for the onlj rule of their conduct, both in the administration of their respective states, and in their political relations with every other government, the precepts of this holy religion, the precepts of justice, of charity, and of peace, which, far from being solely applicable to private life, ought, on the contrary, directly to in- fluence the resolutions of princes, and to guide all their undertakings as being the only means of giv- ing stability to human institutions, and of remedying their imperfections. 3. Their majesties have therefore agreed to the following articles. Art. I. In conformity with the words of the holy Scriptures, which command all men to regard one another as brethren, the three contracting monarchs will remain united by the bonds of a true and indisso- luble fraternity, and considering each other as co- patriots, they will lend one another on every occa- sion, and in every place, assistance, aid, and support; and regarding their subjects and armies, as the fath- ers of their families, they will govern them in the spirit of fraternity with which they are animated, for the protection of -religion, peace and justice. 4. Art. II. Therefore, the only governing princi- ple between the above mentioned governments and their subjects, shall be that of rendering reciprocal services ; of testifying by an unalterable beneficence the mutual affection with which they ought to be an- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 117 imated ; of considering all as only the members of one Christian nation, the three allied princes looking, upon themselves as delegated by Providence to gov- ern three branches of the same family; to wit: Aus- tria, Prussia, and Russia ; 5. Confessing likewise that the Christian nation, of which they and their people form a part, have really ao other sovereign than Him, to whom alone power belongs of right, because in him alone are found all the treasures of love, of science and of wisdom; that is to say, God our Divine Saviour Jesus Christ, the word of the Most High, the word of life. Their Maj- esties therefore recommend, with the most tender solicitude, to their people, as the only means of en- joying that peace which springs from a good con- science, and which alone is durable, to fortify them- selves every day more and more in the principles and exercise of the duties, which the divine Saviour has pointed out to us. 6. Art. III. All powers which wish solemnly to profess the sacred principles which have dictated this act, and who shall acknowledge how important it is to the happiness of nations, too long disturbed, that these truths shall henceforth exercise upon hu- man destinies, all the influence which belongs to them, shall be received with as much Teadiness as affection, into this holy alliance. 7. Made tripartite, and signed at Paris, in the year of our Lord, 1815, on the 14th (26) of September. Francis, Frederic William, Alexander. A true copy of the Original. Alexander. St. Petersburg^ the day of the birth of our Saviour the 25th of December, 1815. 118 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. Speeches on Infidelity. CONCISE HISTORY OF FRENCH INFIDELITY. From Dr. Dwight's Sermon on the public Fast, July 23, 1812. 1. About the year 1728, the great era of Infidelity, Voltaire formed a set design to destroy the Christian religion. For this purpose he engaged, at several succeeding period's, a number of men, distinguished for power, talents, reputation, and influence ; all deadly enemies to the Gospel'; atheists; men of profligate principles, and profligate lives. 2. They inserted themselves into every place, office, and employment, in which their agency might become efficacious, and which funvr'ied an opportu- nity of spreading their corruptions. They were found in every literary institution from the Abeceda- rian school, to the Academy of Sciences ; and in ev- ery civil office, from that of the bailiff, to that of the monarch. 3. With a diligence, courage, constancy, activity, and perseverance, which might rival the efforts of demons themselves, they penetrated into every cor- ner of human society. Scarcely a man, woman, or child, was left unassailed, wherever there was a sin- gle hope, that the attack might be successful. 4. Books were written, and published, in innume- rable multitudes, in which infidelity was brought down to the level of peasants, and even of children ; and poured with immense assiduity into the cottage, and the school. Others of a superior kind, crept into the shop, and the farmhouse ; and othen of a THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR, 119 still higher class, found their way to the drawing room, the university, and the palace. 5. A sensual, profligate nobility, and princes, if possible still more sensual and profligate, easily yield- ed themselves, and their children, into the hands of these minions of corruption. 6. With these was combined a priesthood, which, in all its dignified ranks, was still more putrid ; and which eagerly yielded up the surplice and the lawn, the desk and the altar, to destroy that Bible, which they had vowed to defend, as well as to preach ; and to renew the crucifixion of that Redeemer, whom they had sworn to worship. 7. By these agents, and these efforts, the plague was spread with a rapidity,, and to an extent, which astonished heaven and earth : and life went out, not in solitary cases, but by an universal extinction. BRIEF ACCOUNT OF ILLUMINISM. From the same. 1. The Illuminees were Atheists, who, previous to ihe French revolution, were secretly associated in every part of Europe, with the view of destroying re- ligion, and of engrossing to themselves the govern- ment of mankind. Dr. Adam Weishaupt, Professor of the Canon Law, in the University of Ingoldstadt in Bavaria, established he Society of Illuminees. 2. They were distinguished beyond every other class of men, for cunning, mischief, an absolute des- titution of conscience, an absolute disregard of all r< 120 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. the interests of man, and a torpid insensibility to mor- al obligation. No fraternity, for so long a time, or to so great an extent, united within its pale such at mass of talents ; or employed in its service such a succession of vigorous efforts. 3. Their doctrines were, that God is nothing ; that government is a curse, and authority an usurpation ; that civil society is the only apostasy of man ; that the possession of property is robbery ; that chastity and nat- ural affection, are mere prejudices ; and that adultery^ assassination, poisoning, and other crimes of a similar nature, are lawful, and even virtuous. 4. Societies holding these abominable doctrines spread with a rapidity, which nothing but fact couljj, have induced any sober mind to believe. Before the year 1786, they were established in great num- bers throughout Germany, in Sweden, Russia, Poland, Austria, Holland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Etngland, Scotland, and even in America. 5. Voltaire died in the year following the estab- lishment of Illuminism. His disciples with one heart, and one voice, united in its interests ; and, finding a more absolute system of corruption than themselves had been able to form, entered eagerly into all its plans and purposes. Thenceforward, therefore, all the legions of infidelity were embarked in a single bottom ; and cruised together against order, peac£, and virtue. When the French revolution burst upon mankind, an ample field was opened for the labors of these abandoned men. . 6. Had not God taken the wise in their own crafti- ness, and caused the wicked to fall into the pit which they digged, and into the snares which their hands had THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 121 set ; it is impossible to conjecture the extent to which they would have carried their devastation of human happiness. But, like the profligate rulers of Israel, those who succeeded, regularly destroyed their pre- decessors. 7. The spirit of infidelity has the heart of a wolf, the fangs of a tiger, and the talons of a vulture. Blood is its proper nourishment : and it scents its prey with the nerves of a hound, and cowers over a field of death on the sooty pinions of a fiend. Unlike all other an- imals of prey, it feeds upon its own kind ; and, when glutted with the blood of others, turns back upon these, who have been its coadjutors. ► 8. Between ninety and one hundred of those, who were leaders in this mighty work of destruction, fell by the hand of violence. Enemies to all men, they were of course enemies to each other. Butchers of the human race, they soon whetted the knife for each others throats : and the tremendous Being, who rules the universe, whose existence they had denied in a solemn act of legislation, whose perfections they had made the butt of public scorn and private insult, whose Son they had crucified afresh, and whose word they had burnt by the hands of the common hangman ; swept them all by the hand of violence into an un- timely grave. 9r*The jtale made every ear, which heard it. tingle, and every heart chill with horror. It was, m the lan- guage of Ossian, " the song of death." It wars like the reign of the plague in a populous city. Knell tolled upon knell ; hearse followed hearse ; and coffin runv bled after coffin ; without a mourner to shed a tear upon L 122 IHL CJUtlSTIAN ORATOR. the corpse, or a solitary attendant to mark the place of the grave. From one mw moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, the world went forth and looked after the carcasses of the men, who transgressed against God ; and they were an abhorring unto all flesh. THE PUNISHMENT OF AN INFIDEL K ATI Oil. From a Sermon of Rev. R. Hall. 1. The scenes which have lately been presented to you furnish the most awful and momentous in- struction. From them you will learn, that the safety of nations is not to be sought in arts or in arms ; that ♦ science may flourish amidst the decay of humanity; that the utmost barbarity may be blended with the ut- most refinement; that a passion for speculation, unre- strained by the fear of God and a deep sense of human imperfection, merely hardens the heart : and that as religion, in short, is the great tamer of the breast, the source of tranquillity and order, so the crimes of volup- tuousness and impiety inevitably conduct a people, be- fore they are aware, to the brink of desolation and anarchy. 2. If you had wished to figure to yourselves ?i country which had reached the utmost pinnacle of prosperity, you would undoubtedly have turned your eyes to France, as she appeared a few years before the revolution ; illustrious in learning and genius;' the favourite abode of the arts, and the mirror of fashion, whither the flower of the nobility from all countries resorted, to acquire the last polish of which . the human character is susceptible, LHE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 3. Lulled in voluptuous repose, and dreaming of a philosophical millennium, without dependence upon God., like the generation before the flood, ihey ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage. In that exuberant soil every thing seemed tc flourish, but religion and virtue. 4. The season, however, was at length arrived, when God was resolved to punish their impiety, as well as to avenge the blood of his servants, whose souls had for a century been incessantly crying to him from under the altar. And what method did he em- ploy for this purpose ? When he to whom vengeance belongs, when he whose ways are unsearchable, and whose wisdom is inexhaustible, proceeded to the ex- ecution of this strange work, he drew from his treas- ures a weapon he had never employed before. 5. Resolving to make their punishment as signal as their crimes, he neither let loose an inundation of barbarous n .'ions, nor the desolating powers of the universe : he neither overwhelmed them with earth- quakes, nor visited them with pestilence. He sum- moned from among themselves a ferocity more terri- ble than either ; a ferocity which, mingling in the struggle for liberty, and borrowing aid from that very refinement to which it seemed to be opposed, turned every man's hand against his neighbour, and sparing no age, nor sex, nor rank, till satiated with the ruin of greatness, th£ distresses of innocence, and the tears of beauty, it terminated its career in the most un- relenting despotism. 6. Thou art righteous, Lord, which art, and which was, and which shall be, because thou hast judged thus,') 124 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they arc worthy. THE FOLLY OF INFIDELITY. From Dr. D wight's Sermon at tlie Ordination of Mr. Taylor. 1812. 1. Educated infidels covet the character of men of taste ; and boast of possessing it in a superior degree. The primary objects of taste are novelty, grandeur, beauty and benevolence. The three former are ex- tensively diffused over the natural world ; the moral world is replenished with them all. 2. The beauty and grandeur of the natural world , the beauty of the landscape, and of the sky ; the grandeur of the storm, the torrent, the thunder, and »he volcano ; the magnificence of mountains, and the ocean ; and the sublimities of the heavens ; may un- doubtedly be relished by the mind of an infidel, as really as by that of a Christian. But how insignificant are even these splendid scenes of nature, if the uni- verse is only a lifeless mass; a corpse devoid of an animating principle ? 3. How changed is the scene ; how enhanced the sublimity ; when our thoughts discern, that an infi- nite Mind formed, preserves, controls, a£#j,4tckens, the whole ; that this mind is every where* present ; lives, sees, acts; directs, and blesses the beings, whom it has made ; that, if we ascend into heaven, God is there ; if we go do'wn to hell ; lo, He is there ! if we take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost even there his hand will lead us, and THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 125 his right hand hold us. At the same time, how in- finitely more sublime is such a Mind, than all the works, which it has created ! 4. In the moral world the loss of the infidel is en- tire. Of the beauty and greatness of that world they form no conceptions. For these objects their taste is not begun. The pleasures, derived from this source, are the privilege only of minds, which are invested with moral beauty, and adorned with the loveliness of the GospeL 5. In the field of intellectual enjoyment they are not more happy. Their learning is usually mischievous to them ; and their science, of no value : for both serve only to inflate them with pride, and estrange them from their Maker. 6. What is the world in the eye of an infidel ? A product of fate, chance, or necessity ; without de- sign ; without government ; without a God : its in= habitants born, none knows why ; and destined to go, none knows whither. 7. Of duty, virtue, worship, acceptance with God, and the rewards of obedience, they know, and choose to know, nothing. To them the moral universe is a chaos. The Gospel, looking on this mass of confu- sion, has said, " Let there be light :" and there is light, CHRISTIANITY CONTRASTED WITH INFIDELITY, From R. Hall's Sermon on Infidelity. 1800. 1. Religion being primarily intended to make men wise unto salvation, the support it ministers to social order, the stability it confers on government and L 2 126 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. laws, is a subordinate species of advantage, which we should have continued to enjoy without reflecting on its cause, but for the development of deistical prin- ciples, and the experiment which has been made ol their effects in a neighbouring country.* 2. It had been the constant boast of infidels, that their system, more liberal and generous than Chris- tianity, needed but to be tried, to produce an im- mense accession to human happiness ; and christian nations, careless and supine, retaining little of reli- gion but the profession, and disgusted with its re- straints, lent a favourable ear to these pretensions. 3. God permitted the trial to be made : in one country, and that the centre of Christendom ; rev- elation underwent a total eclipse,t while atheism, per- forming on a darkened theatre its strange and fearful tragedy, confounded the first elements of society, blended efery age, rank and sex, in indiscriminate proscription and massacre, and convulsed all Europe to its centre : that the imperishable memorial of these events might teach the last generations of man- kind, to consider religion as the pillar of society, the safeguard of nations, the parent of social order, which alone has power to curb the fury of the passions, and secure to every one his rights ; to the labo- rious, the reward of their industry, to the rich, the enjoyment of their wealth, to nobles, the preserva- * France. | It is worthy of attention that Mercier, a warm advocate of the French Revolution, and a professed deist, in his recent work, entitled " New Paris," acknowledges and laments the extinction of religion in France. " We have, 11 says he, u in proscribing superstition, destroyed all religious sentiment : tut this is not the way to regenerate the world," THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 127 tion of their honors, and to princes, the stability of their thrones. 4. We might ask the patrons of infidelity, what fu- ry impels them to attempt the subversion of Christian- ity ? Is it that they have discovered a better system? To what virtues are their principles favorable, or is there one which christians have not carried to a high- er perfection than any of whom their party can boast ? Have they discovered a more excellent rule of life, or a better hope in death, than that which the Scrip- tures suggest ? 5. Above all, what are the pretensions on w r hich they rest their claims to be the guides of mankind ; or which embolden them to, expect that we should trample upon the experience of ages, and abandon a religion, which has been attested by a train of mira- cles and prophecies, in which millions of our fore- fathers have found a refuge in every trouble, and consolation in the hour of death ; a religion which has been adorned with the highest sanctity of char- acter and splendor of talents, which enrols amongst its disciples the names of Bacon, Newton, and Locke, the glory of their species, and to which these illus- trious men were proud to dedicate the last and best fruits of their immortal genius ? 6. If the question at issue is to be decided by argu- ment, nothing can be added to the triumph of Chris- tianity; if by an appeal to authority, what have our adversaries to oppose to these great names ? 7. Where are the infidels of such pure, uncon- taminated morals, unshaken probity, and extended benevolence, that we should be in danger of being 123 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOH. sedfeed into impiety by their example ? Into what obslure recesses of misery, into what dungeons, have . their philanthropists penetrated to lighten the fetters, and relieve the sorrows of the helpless captive ? What barbarous tribes have their apostles visited, what distant climes have they explored, encompassed with cold, nakedness and want, to diffuse principles of virtue and the blessings of civilization ? 8. Or will they rather choose to wave their pre- tensions to this extraordinary, and in their eyes, ec- centric species of benevolence, (for infidels, we know, are sworn enemies to enthusiasm of every sort) and rest their character on their political exploits, on their efforts to reanimate the virtue of a sinking state, to restrain licentiousness, to calm the tumult of popu- lar fury, and by inculcating the spirit of justice, mod- eration, and pity for fallen greatness, to mitigate the inevitable horrors of revolution ? Our adversaries will at least have the discretion, if not the modesty, to recede from this test. INFLUENCE OF INFIDELITY ON MORALS. From Rev. Robert Hall. 1. The skeptical or irreligious system subverts the whole foundation of morals. It may be affirmed as- a maxim, that no person can be required to act con- trary to his greatest good, or his highest interest, com- prehensively viewed in relation to the whole duration of his being. It is often our duty to forego our own in- terest partially ; to sacrifice a smaller pleasure for the THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 129 sake of a greater; to incur a present evil in pursuit of a distant good of more'consequence ; in a word, to ar- bitrate, amongst interfering claims of inclination, is the moral arithmetic of human life. But to risk the hap- piness of the whole duration of our being in any case whatever, admitting it to be possible, would be foolish, because the sacrifice must, by the nature of it, be so great as to preclude the possibility of compensation. 2. As the present world, upon skeptical principles, is the only place of recompense, whenever the prac- tice of virtue fails to promise the greatest sum of pre- sent good, cases which often occur in reality, and much oftener in appearance, every motive to virtuous conduct is superseded, a deviation from rectitude be- comes the part of wisdom ; and should the path of virtue, in addition to this, be obstructed hy disgrace, torment or death, to persevere would be madness and folly, and a violation of the first and most essential law of nature. Virtue on these principles, being, in numberless instances, at war with self preservation, never can or ought to become a fixed habit on the mind. 3. The system of infidelity is not only incapable of arming virtue for great and trying occasions ; but leaves it unsupported in the most ordinary occurren- ces. In vain will its advocates appeal to a moral sense, to benevolence and sympathy; in vain will they expatiate on the tranquillity and pleasure attendant on a virtuous course ; for it is undeniable that these im- pulses may be overcome, and though you may remind the offender, that in disregarding them he has violated his nature, and that a conduct consistent with them 130 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. is productive of much internal satisfaction ; yet, if he reply that his taste is of a different sort, that there are other gratifications which he values more, and that every man must choose his own pleasures, the argument is at an end. 4. Rewards and punishments awarded hy Omnipo- tent Power, afford a palpable and pressing motive, which can never be neglected without renouncing the character of a rational creature ; but tastes and relishes are not to be prescribed. 5. A motive in which the reason of man shall ac- quiesce, enforcing the practice of virtue, at all times and seasons, enters into the very essence of moral obligation ; modern infidelity supplies no such mo- tive ; it is, therefore, essentially and infallibly, a sys- tem of enervation, turpitude and vice. 6. This chasm in the construction of morals, can only be supplied by the firm belief of a rewarding and avenging Deity, who binds duty and happiness, though they may seem distant, in an indissoluble chain, without which, whatever usurps the name of virtue, is not a principle, but a feeling, not a deter- minate rule, but a fluctuating expedient, varying with the tastes of individuals, and changing with the s< of life. 7. Nor is this the only way in which infidelity sub- verts the foundation of morals. All reasoning on morals, presupposes a distinction betwixt inclinations and duties, affections and rules : the former prompt, the latter prescribe ; the former supply motives to action, the latter regulate and control it. Hence, it is evident, if virtue has any just claim to authority, it THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 131 must be under the latter of these notions, that is, un- der the character of a law. It is under this notion in fact, that its dominion has ever been acknowledged to be paramount and supreme, 8. But without the intervention of a superior will, it is impossible there should be any moral laws ex- cept in the lax, metaphorical sense, in which we speak of the laws of matter and motion : men being essen- tially equal, morality is, on these principles, only a stipulation or silent compact, into which every man is supposed to enter, as far as suits his convenience, and for the breach of which he is accountable to nothing but his own mind. His own mind is his law, his tribunal and his judge, STATE OF FRANCE AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF HER REV- OLUTION, 1794. From Obeirne's Fast Sermon. 1. From the day that the spirit of innovation first seized and put in motion the great mass of the peo- ple, all that was base, profligate, and vicious amongst them, has been rapidly working up to the suppres- sion of whatever was left of religion, virtue, honor, justice, or equity, yet uncorrupt and untainted. 2. Instead of those grave and solemn deliberations, those dignified and energetic councils, those cool, steady, and magnanimous exertions that have distin- guished such revolutions as have given freedom, with all its blessings, to an oppressed people, all the mean passions, and sordid propensities of our degen- 132 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. » crate nature, were immediately brought into alliance with the usurping power. The reins were instantly thrown loose to licentiousness, and the very dregs of the people brought forward, as the only instruments that could be employed with effect in such a cause. 3. All authority was declared to be an usurpation on their rights — all subordination was slavery — all distinctions of condition, and all difference in proper- ty, whether acquired by honest industry, or inherit- ed from wise and prudent ancestors, was represent- ed as an unjust encroachment on that equality whioh nature had established between man and man. 4. In the dreadful excesses which such doctrines naturally invited, the government itself took the most active part. It became an accomplice in all the hor- rors, which, it has been hitherto the object of all governments to prevent. Every new regulation pro- vided for disorder — Every new decree was an en- forcement of violence, rapine and murder. 5. To the daggers of the assassins, and the pike? of the sanguinary banditti, who appeared to be satiat- ed w T ith the summary acts of justice, that had so long deluged the streets of Paris with the blood of inno- cent victims, were substituted a legalised massacre, the inexorable sentence of the revolutionary tribunal, and the terrors of that fatal instrument of execution/ that never knows rest, that never admits reprieve. 6. Atheism was proclaimed to be seated on the altars of religion. Under its tutelary protection their empire, like that of ancient Rome, was to know no limits of territory or of time. * The Guillotine. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOfi. 133 7. The faith of Jesus Christ, with all its mild and humane injunctions, with all its charities, and all its salutary provisions for the order, peace, and tranquil- lity of society, was denounced as a system unworthy of the ardent, daring, and uncontrollable spirit that in- flamed the legislators of France. In their infidelity they triumphed over its doctrines — in their practice they violated its duties — in the plunder of its churches they gratified their rapacious avarice — and in the massacre of its ministers they satisfied their thirst for blood. 8. In the course of these increasing disorders, the unhappy nation became a prey to a succession of ty- rants, each supplanting the other, as from his charac- ter, his habits, or his profession, he appeared best qualiiied to act a part on the horrid scene. The ac- cession of every individual to the confederacy of pow- er, was marked by a nearer approach to the extremes of oppression, cruelty and intolerance ; and in this race of insatiable, shameless, remorseless ambition, the most forward and daring of their own accom- plices rushed to their ruin. 9. The executioner of one day became the crimi- nal of the next ; and, O ! the inscrutableness of the divine justice ! the advisers and actors in the murder of their injured sovereign, were, in their turn, deni- ed, by their own confederates, that mercy, which they had themselves denied to him. They clashed with the private designs of some new conspirator ; and meeting the fate of the impious and cruel Jeze- bel, 'where dogs licked the blood of their innocent vic- tim, dogs, in a few days, licked their blood, M. 134 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. Speeches on Education. ADVANTAGES OF KNOWLEDGE. From Rev. R. Hall's Sermon, " Advantage of knowledge to the lower classes." 1810. 1. Knowledge in general expands the mind, ex- alts the faculties, refines the taste of pleasure, and opens innumerable sources of intellectual enjoy- ment. 2. By means of it, we become less dependent for satisfaction upon the sensitive appetites ; the gross pleasures of sense are more easily despised, and we are made to feel the superiority of the spiritual to the material part of our nature. Instead of being continually solicited by the influence and irritation of sensible objects, the mind can retire within herself, and expatiate in the cool and quiet walks of contem- plation. 3. The poor man who can read, and who possesses a taste for reading, can find entertainment at home, without being tempted to repair to the publick house for that purpose. His mind can find him employment when his body is at rest ; he does not lie prostrate and afloat on the current of incidents, liable to be carried whithersoever the impulse of appetite may direct. 4. There is in the mind of such a man an intellect- ual spring urging him to the pursuit of ?nental good ; and if the minds of his family also are a little cultivated, conversation becomes the more interesting, and the sphere of domestic enjoyment enlarged. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 135 5. The calm satisfaction which books afford, puts him into a disposition to relish more exquisitely, the tranquil delight inseparable from the indulgence of conjugal fmd parental affection : and as he will be more respectable in the eyes of his family than he who can teach them nothing, he will be naturally in- duced to cultivate whatever may preserve, and shun whatever would impair that respect. 6. He who is, inured to reflection will carry his views beyond the present hour; he will extend his prospect a little into futurity, and be disposed to make some provision for his approaching wants ; whence will result an increased motive to industry, together with a care to husband his earnings, and to avoid un- necessary expense . 7. The poor man who has gained a taste for good books, will in all likelihood become thoughtful, and when you have given the poor a habit of thinking, you have conferred on them a much greater favor than by the gift of a large sum of money, since you have put them in possession of the principle of all le- gitimate prosperity. OBJECTIONS TO THE EDUCATION OF THE POOR ANSWERED. From the same. 1; So>rE have objected to the instruction of the lower classes, from an apprehension that it would lift them above their sphere, make them dissatisfied witf^ their station in life, and by impairing the habit of sub- 136 THE CHRISTIAN OKAiOH. ordination, endanger the tranquillity aftl ; an objection devoid surely of all force and validity. 2. It is not ea-y to conceive in v> hat manner instruct- ing men in their duties can prompt thc#h to neglect those duties, or how that enlargement of reason which enables them to comprehend the true grounds of authority and the obligation to obedience, should indispose them to obey. 3. Nothing in reality renders legitimate govern- ment so insecure as extreme ignorance in the people. It is this which yields them an easy prey to seduction, makes them the victims of prejudice and false alarms, and so ferocious withal, that their interference in a time of public commotion, is more to be dreaded than the eruption of a volcano. 4. Look at the popular insurrections and massacres in France ; of what description of persons were those ruffians composed who, breaking forth like a torrent, overwhelmed the mounds of lawful authority ? Who were the cannibals that sported with the mangled car- cases and palpitating limbs of their murdered victim*, and dragged them about with their teeth in the gardens of the Thuilleries ? Were they refined and elaborat- ed into these barbarities by the efforts of a t ed education ? Xo : they were the very scum i populace, destitute of all moral culture, whose a1 ty was only equalled by their ignorance. 5. Who are the persons who, in every country, are. most disposed to outrage and violence, but the mo-r ignorant and uneducated of the poor ? to which els- chiefly belong those unhappy beings who are doomed to expiate their crimes at the fatal tree ; few THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 13 i it has recently been ascertained, on accurate inquiry., are able to read, and the greater part utterly destitute of all moral or religious principle. EVILS OF IGNORANCE, From the same. 1. Ignorance gives a sort of eternity to prejudice, and perpetuity to error. When a baleful superstition, like that of the church of Rome, has once got footing among a people in this situation, it becomes next to impossible to eradicate it : for it can only be assailed, with success, by the weapons of reason and argument, and to these weapons it is impassive. The sword of ethereal temper loses its edge, when tried on the scaly hide of this leviathan. 2. No wonder the church of Rome is such a friend to ignorance ; it is but paving the arrears of grati- tude in which she is deeply indebted. How is it pos- sible for her not to hate that light which would un- veil her impostures, and detect her enormities ? 3. If we survey the genius of Christianity, we shall ■ find it to be just the reverse. It was ushered into the world with the injunction, go and teach all nations, and every step of its progress is to be ascribed to in- struction. 4. At the reformation, the progress of the reform- ed faith went hand in hand with the advancement of letters : it had every where the same friends and the same enemies, and next to its agreement with the holy Scriptures, its success is chiefly to be ascribed, M 2 138 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR, under God, to the art of printing, the revival of clas- sical learning, and the illustrious patrons of science attached to its cause. 5. In the representation of that glorious period, usually styled the Millennium, when religion shall universally prevail, it is mentioned as a conspicuous feature, that men shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. That period will not be distin- guished from the preceding, by men's minds being more torpid and inactive, but rather by the consecra- tion of every power to the service of the Most High. 6. It will be a period of remarkable illumination, during which the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun as that of seven days. Every useful talent will be cultivated, every heart, subservient to the interests of man, be improved and perfected ; learning will amass her stores, and ge- nius emit her splendor ; but the former will be dis- played without ostentation, and the latter shine with the softened effulgence of humility and love. Speeches on the Slave Trade. EXTRACTS FROM MR. WlLBERFORCF.'s SPEECH. Delivered on the 2nd of April, 1792, in the House of Com- mons, on a motion for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. 1. Would you be acquainted with the character of the Slave Trade — look to the continent of Africa, and there you will behold 9uch a scene of horrors as no tongue can express, no imagination can represent to THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 139 itself. One mode adopted by the petty chieftains of that country to supply our traders with slaves is, that of committing depredations upon each other's terri- tories : This circumstance gives a peculiar character to the wars in Africa. They are predatory expedi- tions, of which the chief object is the acquisition of slaves. 2. But this, Sir, is the lightest of the evils Africa suffers from the Slave Trade. Still more in- tolerable are those acts of outrage which we are con- tinually stimulating the kings to commit on their own subjects. Instead of the guardians and protectors, those kings have been made, through our instrument tality, the despoilers and ravagers of their people. 3. A chieftain is in want of European commodities, He sends a party of soldiers by night to one of his own defenceless villages. They set fire to it ; they seize the miserable inhabitants as they are flying from the flames, and hurry with thera to the ships of the Christian traders, who, hovering like vul- tures over these scenes of carnage, are ever ready for their prey. 4. Nor is it only by the chieftains that these disor- ders are committed; every one's hand is against his neighbour. Whithersoever a man goes, be it to the watering-place, or to the field, he is not safe. He never can quit his house without fear of being carri- ed off by fraud or force ; and he dreads to come home again, lest, on his return, he should find his hut a heap of ruins, and his family torn away into per- petual exile. Distrust and terror every where pre- vail, and the whole country is one continued scene of anarchy and desolation. 140 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 5. But this is not all. ISTo means of procuring" slaves is left untouched. Even the administration of justice itself is made a fertile source of supply to this inhuman traffick. Every crime is punished by slave- ry ; and false accusations are continually brought, in order to obtain the price for which the criminal is sold. Sometimes the judges have a considerable part of this very price. Every man, therefore, is stimulated to bring an action against his neighbour. 6. But these evils, terrible as they are, do not equal those which are endured on board ship, or in what is commonly called the middle passage. The mortality during this period is excessive. The slaves labor under a fixed dejection and melancholy, inter- rupted now and then by lamentations and plaintive songs, expressive of their concern for their relations and friends and native country. 7. Many attempt to drown themselves ; others ob- stinately refase "to take sustenance ; and when the whip and other violent means have been used to compel them to eat, they have sometimes looked up in the face of the officer who executed this task, and consoled themselves by saying, in their own lan- guage, u presently we shall be no more." 8. O, Sir ! are not these things too bad to be any longer endured ? I cannot but persuade myself that whatever difference of opinion there may have been, we shall be this night at length unanimous. 1 cannot believe that a British House of Commons will give its sanction to the continuance of this infernal traffick. Never was there, indeed, a system so big with wick- edness and cruelty. To whatever part of it you di- rect your view, the eye finds no relief. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 141 J. It is the gracious ordinance of Providence, both in the natural and moral world, that good should often arise out of evil. Hurricanes clear the air, and per- secution promotes the propagation of the truth. Pride, vanity, and profusion, in their remoter conse- quences contribute often to the happiness of mankind. Even those classes of men that may seem most nox- ious have some virtues. The Arab is hospitable The robber is brave. We do not necessarily find cruelty associated with fraud, or meanness with in- justice. 10. But here it is otherwise. It is the preroga- tive of this detested traffick to separate from evil its concomitant good, and reconcile discordant mischiefs ; it robs war of its generosity ; it deprives peace of its security. You have the vices of polished society without its knowledge or its comforts ; and the evils of barbarism without its simplicity. 1 1. No age, sex or rank is exempt from the influ- ence of this wide-wasting calamity. It attains to the fullest measure of pure, unmixed wickedness ; and, scorning all competition or comparison, it stands in the undisputed possession of its detestable preemi- nence. • MR. PITT S SPEECH. Delivered on the same occasion with the preceding*. PART I. 1. Sir, I now come to Africa. That is the ground •jn which I rest ; and here it is. that I say my right 142 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. honorable friends* do not carry their principles to their full extent. 2. Why ought the Slave Trade to be abolished ? because it is incurable injustice. How much stronger then is the argument for immediate, than gradual abolition ! by allowing it to continue even for one hour, do not my right honorable friends weaken — do not they desert, their own argument of its in- justice ? If on the ground of injustice it ought to be abolished at last, why ought it not now ? Why is in- justice suffered to remain for a single hour ? 3. From what I hear without doors, it is evident that there is a general conviction entertained of its being far from just, and from that very conviction of its injustice, some men have been led, I fear, to the supposition, that the Slave Trade never could have been permitted to begin, but from some strong and irresistible necessity; a necessity, however, which, if it was fancied to exist at first, I have shown cannot be thought by any man whatever to exist now. 4. This plea of necessity, thus presumed, and pre- sumed, as I suspect, from the circumstance of injus- tice itself, has caused a sort of acquiescence in the continuance of this evil. Men have been led to place it among the rank of those necessary evils, which are supposed to be the lot of human creatures, and to be permitted to fall upon some countries or in- dividuals, rather than upon others, by that Being, whose ways are inscrutable to us, and whose dispen- ' sations, it is conceived, we ought not to look into. * Mr. Ddndas, now lord Melville ; Mr. Addingtun, now lord Sidmouth. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 143 5.- The origin of evil is indeed a subject beyond the reach of human understandings ; and the per- mission of it by the Supreme Being, is a subject into which it belongs not to us to inquire. But where the evil in question is a moral evil, which a man can scrutinize, and where that moral evil has its origin with ourselves, let us not imagine that we can clear our consciences by this general, not to say irreli- gious and impious way of laying aside the question. 6. If we reflect at all on this subject, we must see that every necessary evil supposes that some other * and greater evil would be incurred were it removed : I therefore desire to ask, what can be that greater evil, which can be stated to overbalance the one in question ? — / know of no evil that ever has existed, nor can imagine any evil to exist, worse than the tearing of eighty thousand persons annually from their native land, by a combination of the most civilized nations, in, the most enlightened quarter of the globe ; but more es- pecially by that nation, which calls herself the most free and most happy of them all. PART II. 1. Think of Eighty Thousand persons carried away out of their country, by- we know not what means ; for crimes imputed ; for light or inconsider- able faults ; for debt perhaps ; for the crime of witch- craft, or a thousand other weak and scandalous pre- texts. Think on all the fraud and kidnapping, the vil- lanies and perfidity, by which the Slave Trade is sup- plied. Reflect on these eighty thousand persons thus annually taken off. There is something in the horror of it that surpasses all imagination, 141 THE CHRISTIAX OIIATOE. 2. But that country, it \< said, lias been in seme degree civilized, and civilized by us. It is said they have gained some knowledge of the principles of justice. What, Sir, have they gained principles of justice from us ? Is their civilization brought about by us ! 3. Yes, we give them enough of our intercourse to convey to them the means, and to initiate them in the study of mutual destruction. We give them just enough of the forms of justice to enable them to add the pretext of legal trials to their other modes of perpetrating the most atrocious iniquity. We give ' them just enough of European improvements to en- able them the more effectually to turn Africa into a ravaged wilderness. 4. But I refrain from enumerating half the dread- ful consequences of this system. Do you think nothing of the ruin and the miseries in which so many other individuals, still remaining in Africa, are involved in consequence of carrying off so many myriads of people ? Do you think nothing of their families, which are left behind \ of the connexions which are broken ; of the friendships, attachments, and relationships that are burst asunder ? 5. What do you yet know of the internal state of Africa ? You have carried on a trade to that quarter of the globe from this civilized and enlightened country ; but such a trade that, instead of diffusing either knowledge or wealth, it has been the check to every laudable' pursuit. Long as that continent has been known to navigators, the extreme line and boundaries of its coasts is all with which Europe is yet acquainted. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 145 G. As to the whole interior of that continent you are by your own principles of commerce entirely shut out. Africa is known to you only in its skirts. Yet even there you are able to infuse a poison that spreads its contagious effects from one end of it to the other ; which penetrates to its very centre, cor- rupting every part which it reaches. You there subvert the whole order of nature; you aggravate every natural barbarity, and furnish to every man living on that continent, motives for committing, un- der the name and pretext of commerce, acts of per- petual violence and perfidy against his neighbour. 7. Thus, Sir, has the perversion of British com- merce carried misery to one whole quarter of the globe. How shall we ever repair this mischief ? How shall we obtain forgiveness from Heaven if we refuse to use the means reserved to us for wiping away the guilt and shame with which we are now covered ? 8. If we refuse even now to put a stop to them, how greatly aggravated will be our guilt. What a blot will these transactions forever be in the history of this country ! Shall we then delay to repair these injuries ? Shall we not rather count the days and hours that are suffered to intervene and to delay the accomplishment of such a work? part in. 1. There was a time, Sir, when even human sac- rifices are said to have been offered in this island, Nay, the very practice of the Slave Trade once pre- vailed among us. Slaves were formerly an establish- N 146 THE CHftlftTLAN ORATOR. ed article of our export?. Great numbers were ex- ported like cattle from the British coast, and were to be seen exposed for sale in the Roman market. 2. Now, Sir, it is alleged that Africa labors under a natural incapacity for civilization, that it is enthusi- asm and fanaticism to think that she can ever enjoy the knowledge and the morals of Europe ; that Prov- idence never intended her to rise above a state of barbarism. Allow of this principle, as applied to Af- rica, and I should be glad to know, why it might not al- so have been applied to ancient and uncivilized Britain? 3. Why might not some Roman Senator, reasoning on the principles of the honorable gentlemen, and pointing to British barbarians, have predicted with equal boldness, u there is a people that will never rise to civilization — there is a people never destined to be free — a people without the understanding nee- essary for the attainment of useful arts ; depressed by the hand of nature below the level of the human species; and created to form a supply of slaves for the rest of the world." Might not this have been said, according to the principles, which we now hear stated in all respects as fairly and as truly of Britain herself at that period of her history, as it can now bo said by us of the inhabitants of Africa ? 4. We, Sir,have long since emerged from barbarism. We have almost forgotten thafc-we were once barba- rians. Yet we were once, as obscure among the na- tions of the earth, as savage in our manners, as de- based in our morals, as degraded in our understand- ings, as these unhappy Africans are at present. But in the lapse of a long series of years, by a progres- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 147 si on slow, and for a time, -almost impreceptible, we have become rich in a variety of acquirements, unrivalled in commerce, preeminent in arts, foremost in the pursuits of philosophy and science, and estab- lished in all the blessings of civil society. 5. We are in the possession of peace, of happiness, and of liberty. We are under the guidance of a mild and beneficent religion ; and we are protected by impartial laws, and the purest administration of jus- tice. From all these blessings we must forever have been shut out, had there been any truth in those prin- ciples which some gentlemen have not hesitated to lay down as applicable to Africa. Ages might have passed without our emerging from barbarism ; we might at this hour have been little superior either in morals, in knowledge, or refinement, to the rude in- habitants of Guinea. 6. I trust we shall no longer continue this com- merce, to the destruction of every improvement on that wide continent. If we listen to the voice of rea- son and duty, and pursue this night the line of conduct which they prescribe, some of us may live to see a reverse of that picture, from which we now turn our eyes with shame and regret. 7. We may live to behold the natives of Africa, eiv gaged in the calm occupations of industry, in the pur- suits of a just and legitimate commerce. We may behold the beams of science and philosophy breaking in upon their land, which at some happy period in still later times, may blaze with full lustre ; and join- ing their influence to that of pure religion, may illu- minate and invigorate the most distant extremities of tbat immense continent. 148 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 8. Then may we hope that even Africa, though last of all the quarters of the globe, shall enjoy at length in the evening of her clays those blessings, which have descended so plentifully upon us in a much earlier period of the world. MR. FOX'S SPEECH. On the same occasion with the preceding. PART I. 1. The honorable gentlemen call themselves moder- ate men ; but upon the subject of the Slave Trade, I confess, I neither feel, nor desire to feel, any thing like moderation. Sir, to talk of moderation upon this matter, reminds me of a passage in Middleton's Life of Cicero. He says, " to enter a man's house and kill him, his wife, and family, in the night, is certainly a most heinous crime, and deserving of death. But to break open his house, to murder him, his wife and all his children, in the night, may still be very right, provided it is done zvith modera- tion /' 2. This is absurd, it will be said; and yet, sir, it is not so absurd as to say, the Slave Trade may be car- ried on with moderation. For if you cannot break into a single house, if you cannot rob and murder * a single man, with moderation; with what modera- tion can you break up a whole country — can you pil- lage and destroy a whole nation ? Indeed — indeed, Sir, in an affair of this nature, I do not profess mod- eration ! I could never think of this abolition, but as a question of simple justice. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 149 3. I will suppose, that the West-India islands are likely to want slaves, on account of the dispropor- tion of thesexes. How is this to be cured? A right honorable gentleman proposes a bounty on an im- portation of females : or in other words, he propos- es to make up this deficiency, by offering a premium to any crew of unprincipled and savage ruffians, who will attack and carry off any of the females of Af- rica ! a bounty from the parliament of Britain that shall make the fortune of any man, or set of men, who shall kidnap or steal, any unfortunate females from that continent! who shall kill their husbands, fathers or relations, or shall instigate any others to kill them, in order that these females may be pro- cured ! 4. I should like to see the right honorable gen- tleman bring up such a clause. 1 should like to see how his clause would be worded. I should like to know, who is the man that would pen such a clause. For my part, I complain of the whole system on which this trade is founded. 5. The mode too, by which the honorable gen- tleman proposes to abolish slavery in the West Indies^ is not a little curious. First of all, the children are to be born free ; then to be educated at the expense of those to whom the father belongs. The race of future freemen, he says, shall not be without educa- tion, like the present miserable slaves. But then it occurred to the right honorable gentleman, thai they could not be educated for nothing. In order therefore, to repay this expense, says he, when ed- N 2 150 XHB CHRISTIAN ORATOR* ucated, they shall be slaves for ten or fifteen year? \ and so we will get over that difficulty. 6. They are to have the education of a #eoman. in order to qualify them for being free : and after they have been so educated., then they shall go and be slaves. Now what can be more visionary than such a mode of emancipation? If any one scheme can be imagined more absurd than another, I think it is the one now proposed. PART II. 1. The mode of procuring slaves in Africa has nothing like fairness in it. The most reputable way of accounting for the supply of slaves is to represent them as having been convicted of crimes, by legal authority. But, Sir, the number of slaves annually exported from Africa is so great, that it is impossi- ble to believe that all of them have been guilty of crimes. Britain alone takes off no less than thirty or forty thousand Africans every year. 2. But allowing all these men to have been con- demned by due legal process, and according to the strictest principles of justice ; surely, Sir, in this view it is rather condescending in our country, and rather new also for us, to take on ourselves the task of transporting the convicts of other parts of the world, much more of those whom we call barbarous. 3. Suppose now the court of France or Spain were to intimate a wish that we should perform this office for their criminals ; I believe we should hardly find terms strong enough to express our sense of the in- sult. But for Africa— for its petty states— for its THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 151 lowest and most miserable criminals, we accept the office with satisfaction and eagerness. 4. Now,**Sir, a word or two as to the specific crimes for which the Africans are sold as criminals. Witchcraft, in particular, is one. For this we enter- tain so sacred a horror, that there being no objects to be found at home, we make, as it were, a crusade to Africa, to show our indignation at the sin ! 5. As to adultery, the practice to be sure, does not stand exactly on the same ground. Adulterers are to be met with in this country. lermined, however, to show our indignation at tibis crime also, we send to Africa to punish it. We there prove our anger at it to be not a little severe, and lest any one in the world should escape punishment, we are willing to go even to Africa to be the" executioners. 6. The house will remember that what I have here stated, is even by their own account, the very best state of the case which the advocates for the Slave Trade have pretended to set u] • But let us see how far facts will bear them out even in these miserable pretexts. 7. In one part of the evidence, we find known black trader brings a girl to a slave ship to be sold. The captain buys her. Some of her rela- tions come on board afterwards, and ascertain by whom she was sold. They, in return, catch the ven- der, bring him to the same ship, arid sell him for a slave. What, says the black trader to the captain? "Do you buy me your grand trader ?"' . " Yes, says the captain, I will buy you or any one else." 8. Now, Sir, there is great reason for dwelling on this story. Certainly at the first view, it appears 152 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. to be an instance of the most barefaced vnlany, and of nothing else. Lut if we examine well into the sub ject, we shall see that what happened tse is, and ever must be the common and ordinary conduct, that results from the very nature and circumstances of the trade itself. 9. How could this captain decide ? What means had he even of inquiring who was the real owner of this girl ? Whether the grand trader or not ; or who was the owner of the grand trader. 10. The captain said when they sold the grand trader, the same thing which he said when the tra- der sold the girl ; and the same thing too which he always had said, and always must say, namely, u I can- not know who has a right to sell you ; it is no affair of mine. If they'll sell you, I'll buy }'ou. I cannot enter into these controversies. If any man offers me a slave, my rule is to buy him, and ask no ques- tions."' 11. That the trade is, in fact, carried on in this manner, is indisputable ; and that wars are made in Africa, solely for the purpose of supplying the Eu- ropean Slave Trade, is equally so. PART III. 1. I now come, Sir, to that which I consider really as the foundation of the whole business. The more I think on the subject, the more I reflect on all the arguments, feeble as they are, which our adversaries bring forward in their defence, the more am I con- vinced that there is one ground, and only one ground THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 153 on which it is possible for their side of the question to stand. 2. It is an argument, which, though they- did re- sort to at first, they have not used to-day; but which really, Sir, if I were to advise them, they should again employ, and rest their whole case upon it. I mean that there is a difference of species, between black men and white, which is to be assumed from the difference of color. ,: 3. Driven as our antagonists have been, from this position, and ashamed of it, as they now are, they reaily have no other. Why, Sir, if we can but es- tablish that blacks are men like ourselves, is it pos- sible that we can have any patience on the subject ? Apply the same case to France which is happening every day in Africa. The difference, in fact, is only in the color of the people of the two countries. 4. There exists now in France, or in several of its provinces, a very great degree of animosity between the two contending parties. Let us suppose now that at Marseilles, for instance, or some other port, the aristocrats were to sell the democrats as fast as they could catch them ; and the democrats were to sell the aristocrats in like manner, and that we had ships hovering on the coast, ready to carry them all off as slaves to Jamaica, or some other island in the West Indies. 5. If we were to hear of such a circumstance, would it not strike us with horror ? What is the reason ? Because these men are of our own color. There is no other difference in the two cases what- ever. It would fill us all with horror to authorize 154 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. slavery any where, with respect to white men. Is it not quite as unjust, because some men are black, to say there is a natural distinction as to them ; and that black men, because they are black, ought to be slaves ? 6. Set aside difference of color, and is it not the height of arrogance to allege, that because we have strong feelings and cultivated minds, it would be great cruelty to make slaves of us ; but that because they are yet ignorant and uncivilized, it is no injury at all to them ? Such a principle, once admitted, lays the foundation of a tyranny and injustice that has njD end. 7. I remember to have once heard or read long before the present question was agitated, a well Jinown story of an African, who was of the first rank za his own country, and a man of letters. He was ta- ken in one of those plundering wars, which the Slave Trade excites, was carried to Maryland, and sold, as it happened, to a remarkably humane and very excellent man. His master inquired into the case, found out that he was educated in the Mahometan religion, that he could read and write Arabic, that he was a man of rank, as well as literature, and all the circumstances being taken into consideration, he was, after a full examination of facts, redeemed and sent home to Africa. 8. Now, Sir, if this man with all his advantages had fallen into the hands, 1 do not say of a hard hearted, but even an ordinary masier, would he not inevitably have worn out his life in the same Egyp- tian bondage in which thousands of his fellow-Am- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 155 cans drag on their miserable days ? Put such cases as these home to yourselves, and you will find the Slave Trade is not to be justified, no r to be tolerated for a moment, for the sake of any convenience. Speeches on various Occasions, THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW-ENGLAND. From an Oration, delivered at Plymouth, Dec. 22d, 1802, on the Anniversary of the landing of the Plymouth settlers, By the Hon. John Quincy Adams. 1. In reverting to the period of their origin, other nations have generally been compelled to plunge into the chaos of impenetrable antiquity, or to trace a lawless ancestry into the caverns of rav- ishers and robbers. It is your peculiar privilege to commemorate in this birth day of your nation, an event ascertained in its minutest details : an event of which the principal actors are known to you fa- miliarly, as if belonging to your own age ; an event of a magnitude before which imagination shrinks at the imperfection of her powers. It is your further happiness to behold in those eminent characters, who were most conspicuous in accomplishing the settlement of your country, men upon whose virtues you can dwell with honest exultation. 2. The founders of your race are not handeddown to you, like the father of the Roman people, as the suck- lings of a wolf. You are not descended from a nauseous compound of fanaticism and sensuality, whose only ar- 156 THE CHI1IS1IAN ORATOR. gument was the sword, and whose only paradise was a brothel. No Gothic scourge of God— No Vandal pest of nations. No fabled fugitive from the flames of Troy — No bastard Norman tyrant appears among the list of worthies, who first landed on the rock which your veneration has preserved as a lasting monument of their achievement. 3. The great actors of the day we now solemnize were illustrious by their intrepid valor, no less than by their christian graces ; but the clarion of conquest has not blazoned forth their names to all the winds of Heaven. Their glory has not been wafted over oceans of blood to the remotest regions of the earth. They have not erected to themselves, colossal stat- ues upon pedestals of human bones, to provoke and insult the tardy hand of heavenly retribution. 4. But theirs was u the better fortitude of patience 2nd heroic martyrdom." Theirs was the gentle temper of christian kindness — the rigorous obser- vance of reciprocal justice — the unconquerable soul of conscious integrity. Worldly fame has been parsi- monious of her favors to the memory of those gen- erous champions. 5. Their numbers were small — their -stations in life obscure — the object of their enterprise unosten- tatious — the theatre of their exploits remote : how could they possibly be favorites of worldly fame ? That common crier, whose existence is only known by the assemblage of multitudes — that pander of wealth and greatness so eager to haunt the palaces of fortune, and so fastidious to the houseless dignity of virtue — that parasite of pride, ever scornful to meek- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 157 nesB, and ever obsequious to insolent power — that heedless trumpeter, whose ears are deaf to modest merit, and whose eyes are blind to bloodless, distant excellence. RELIGION A SECURITY AGAINST NATIONAL CALAMITIES From Rev. R. Hall's Sermon, " Reflections on War." 1. Our only security against national calamities is a steady adherence to religion, not the religion of mere form and profession, but that which has its seat in the heart ; not as it is mutilated and debased by the refinements of a false philosophy, but as it exists in all its simplicity and extent in the sacred Scrip- tures ; consisting in sorrow for sin, in the love of God, and faith in a crucified Redeemer. If this religion revives and flourishes amongst us, we may still sur- mount all our difficulties, and no weapon formed against us will prosper ; if we despise or neglect it, no human power can afford us protection. 2. Instead of showing our love to our country, therefore- by engaging eagerly in the strife of par- ties, let^us choose to signalize it rather by benef- icence, hy piety, by an exemplary discharge of the duties tff private life, under a persuasion that that man, in the final issue of things, will be seen to have been the best patriot, who is the best Christian. 3. He who diffuses the most happiness, and miti- gates the most distress within his own circle, is un- doubtedly the best friend to his country and the world, since nothing more is necessary, than for all men to O 158 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOK. imitate his conduct, to make the greatest part of the misery of the world cease in a moment. 4. While the passion, then, of some is to shine, of some to govern, and of others to accumulate, let one great passion alone inflame our breasts, the passion which reason ratifies, which conscience approves, which Heaven inspires ; that of being and of doing good. DUTY OF VISITING THE POOR. From a Sermon of Rev. R. Hall, delivered before a Society lor the relief of the poor. 1. It is, in my humble opinion, a most excellent part of the plan of the Society, in whose behalf 1 ad- dress you, that no relief is administered without first personally visiting the objects in their own abode. By this means the precise circumstances of each case are clearly ascertained, and imposture is sure to be detected. 2. Where charity is administered without this pre- caution, as it is impossible to discriminate real from pretended distress, the most disintereste^benevo- lence often fails of its purpose ; and that is yielded to clamorous importunity, which is withheld from lone- ly want. 3. The mischief extends much further. From tht frequency of such imposition, the best minds are in danger of becoming disgusted with the exercise of pecuniary charity, till, from a mistaken persuasion that it is impossible to guard against deception, they THE CHRISTIAx\ T ORATOR. 159 treat the most abandoned and the most deserving with the same neglect. Thus the heart contracts into sel- fishness, and those delicious emotions which the benev- olent Author of nature implanted to prompt us to re- lieve distress, become extinct; a loss greater to ourselves ihan to the objects to whom we deny our compassion, 4. To prevent a degradation of character so fa- tal, allow me to urge on all whom Providence ha* blessed with the means of doing good, on those es- pecially who are indulged #ith influence and leisure, the importance of devoting some portion of their time in inspecting, as well as of their property in re- Ueving, the distresses of the poor. 5. By this means an habitual tenderness will be cherished, which will heighten inexpressibly the happiness of life ; at the same time that it will most effectually counteract that selfishness which a con- tinual addictedness to the pursuits of avarice and am- bition never fails to produce. 6. As selfishness is a principle of continual opera- tion, it needs to be opposed by some other principle, whose operation is equally uniform and steady ; but the casual impulse of compassion, excited by occasion- al applications for relief, is by no means equal to this purpose. Then only will benevolence become a prevailing habit of mind, when its exertion enters into the system of life, and occupies some stated por- tion of the time and attention. 7. In addition to this, it is worth w T hile to reflect how much consolation the poor must derive from rind- ing they are the objects of personal attention to their more opulent neighbours, that they are acknowledg- 160 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. ed as brethren of the same family, and that should they be overtaken with affliction or calamity, the\ are in no danger of perishing unpitied and unnoticed. With all the pride that wealth is apt to inspire, how seldom are the opulent truly aware of their high destination ! 8. Placed by the Lord of all on an eminence, and intrusted with a superior portion of his goods, to them it belongs to be the dispensers of his bounty, to suc- cour distress, todraw merit from obscurity, to behold op- pression and want vanish before them, and, accompani- ed wherever they move with perpetual benedictions, to present an image of Him, who, at the close of time, in the kingdom of the redeemed, will zvipe away tear? from all faces. ON THE DANGER OF NEGLECTING THE POOH. From the same. 1. To descant on the evils of poverty might seem entirelj unnecessary, (for what with most is the great ijusiness of life, but to remove it to the greatest pos- sible distance ?) were it not that besides its being the most common of all evils, there are circumstances peculiar to itself, which expose it to neglect. The seat of its sufferings are the appetites, not the pas- sions ; appetites which are common to all, and which, being capable of no peculiar combinations, confer no distinction. 2. There are kinds of distress founded on the pas- sions, which, if not applauded, are at least admired in their excess, as implying a peculiar refinement of sen THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 161 sibility in the mind of the sufferer. Embellished by taste, and wrought by the magic of genius into innu- merable forms, they turn grief into a luxury, and draw from the eyes of millions delicious tears. 3. But no muse ever ventured to adorn the dis- tresses of poverty or the sorrows of hunger. Disgust- ing taste and delicacy, and presenting nothing pleasing to the imagination, they are mere misery in all its na- kedness and deformity. Hence shame in the sufferer, contempt in the beholder, and an obscurity of station, which frequently removes them from the view, are their inseparable portion. 4. Nor can I reckon it on this account amongst the improvements of the present age, that by the mul- tiplication of works of fiction, the attention is diverted from scenes of real, to those of imaginary distress ; from the distress which demands relief, to that which admits of embellishment : in consequence of which the understanding is enervated, the heart is corrupted, and those feelings which were designed to stimulate to active benevolence are employed in nourishing a sickly sensibility. 5. Leaving therefore these amusements of the im- agination to the vain and indolent, let us awake to na- ture and truth, and in a world from which we must so shortly be summoned, a world abounding with so many real scenes of heart-rending distress, as well as of vice and impiety, employ all our powers in relieving the one, and in correcting the other, that when we have arrived at the borders of eternity, we may not be tor- mented with the awful reflection of having lived in vain. o r> 162 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. ON PROFANE SWEARING. From R. Hall's Sermon, "Sentiments proper to the presciu crisis." 1809. 1. Among the proofs of the degeneracy ofour man- ners is that almost and universal profaneness which taints our daily intercourse. In no nation under heaven, prohably, has the profanation of sacred terms been so prevalent as in this christian land. 2. The name even of the Supreme Being himself, and the words he has employed to denounce the pun- ishments of the impenitent, are rarely mentioned, but in anger or in sport ; so that were a stranger to our history to witness the style of our conversation, he would naturally infer that we considered religion as a detected imposture ; and that nothing more remained than, in return for the fears it had inspired, to treat it with the insult and derision due to a fallen tyrant. 3. It is difficult to account for a practice which gratifies no passion, and promotes no interest, unless we ascribe it to a certain vanity of appeaving superior to religious fear, which tempts men to make bold with their Maker. If there are hypocrites in relig- ion, there are also, strange as it may appear, hypo- crites in impiety, men who make an ostentation 'of more irreligion than they possess. 4. An ostentation of this nature, the most irration- al in the records of human folly, seems to lie at the root of profane swearing. It may not be improper to remind such as indulge this practice, that they need not insult their Maker to shew that they do not * fear him ; that they may relinquish this vice without THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 163 danger of being supposed to be devout, and that they may safely leave it to other parts of their conduct to efface the smallest suspicion of their piety. THE DIGNITY A:.D IMPORTANCE OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. From Rev. R. Hall's Sermon on the discouragements and supports of the christian ministry. 1811. 1. If the dignity of an employment is to be estima- ted, not by the glitter of external appearances, but by the magnitude and duration of the consequences involved in its success, the ministerial function is an high and honorable one. 2. Though it is not permitted us to magnify our- s elves ) we may be allowed to magnify our office ; and, indeed, ^thejuster the apprehensions we entertain of what belongs to it, the deeper the conviction we shall feel of our defects. 3. Independently of every other consideration, that office cannot be mean which the Son of God con- descended to sustain : The word which we preach fir si began to be spoken by the Lord ; and, while he so- journed upon earth, that Prince of life was chiefly employed in publishing his own religion. 4. That office cannot be mean, whose end is the recovery of man to his original purity and happiness — the illumination of the understanding — the commu- nication of truth — and the production of principles ^vhich will bring forth fruit unto everlasting life. 5. As the material part of the creation was formed for the sake of the immaterial ; and of the latter the 164 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. most momentous characteristic is its moral and ac- countable nature, or, in other words, its capacity of virtue and vice ; that labor cannot want dignity, which is exerted in improving man in his highest character, and fitting him for his eternal destination. 6. Here alone is certainty and durability : for how- ever highly we may esteem the arts and sciences, which polish our species, and promote the welfare of society ; whatever reverence we may feel, and ought to feel, for those laws and institutions whence it de- rives the security necessary for enabling it to enlarge its resources and develop its energies, we cannot for- get that these are but the embellishments of a scene, which we must shortly quit — the decorations of a the- atre, from which the eager spectators and applauded actors must soon retire. 7. The end of all things is at hand. Vanity is in- scribed on every earthly pursuit, on all sublunary la- bor ; its materials, its instruments, and its objects will alike perish. An incurable taint of mortality has seized upon, and will consume them ere long. The acquisitions derived from religion, the graces of a renovated mind, are alone permanent. 8. How high and awful a function is that which proposes to establish in the soul a\i interior dominion — to illuminate its powers by a celestial light — and introduce it to an intimate, ineffable, and unchanging alliance with the Father of spirits ! 9. What an honor to be employed as the instru- ment of conducting that mysterious process by which men are born of God ; to expel from the heart the venom of the old serpent ; to purge the conscience THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. I§5 from invisible stains of guilt ; to release the passions from the bondage of corruption, and invite them to soar aloft into the regions of uncreated light and beauty ; to say to the prisoners, go forth — to them that are in darkness* shew yourselves I 10. These are the fruits which arise from the suc- cessful discharge of the Christian ministry ; these the effects of the Gospel, wherever it becomes the pow- er of God unto salvation : and the interests which they create, the joy which they diffuse, are felt in other worlds. BOLDNESS OF REPROOF. Calvin's Speech to his flock, on his return from exile in 1541, 1. If you desire to have me for your pastor, cor- rect the disorder of your lives. If you have with sincerity recalled me from my exile, banish the crimes and debaucheries which prevail among you. 2. I certainly cannot behold, within your walls here, without the most painful displeasure, discipline trodden under foot, and crimes committed with im- punity. I cannot possibly live in a place so grossly immoral. 3. Vicious souls are too filthy to receive the purity of the Gospel, and the spiritual worship which 1 preach to you. A life stained with sin is too contra- ry to Jesus Christ to be tolerated. 4. I consider the principal enemies of the Gospel to be, not the pontiff of Rome, nor heretics, nor se- ducers, nor tyrants, but such bad Christians ; because 166 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. the former exert their rage out of the church, while drunkenness, luxury, perjury, blasphemy, impurity, adultery, and other abominable vices, overthrow my doctrine, and expose it defenceless to the rage of our enemies. 5. Rome does not constitute the principal object of my fears. Still less am I apprehensive from the almost infinite multitude of monks. The gates of hell, the principalities and powers of evil spirits, disturb me not at all. 6. I tremble on account of other enemies, more dangerous ; and I dread abundantly more those car- nal covetousnesses, those debaucheries of the tavern, of the brothel, and of gaming; those infamous re- mains of ancient superstition, those mortal pests, the disgrace of your town, and the shame of the reformed name. 7. Of what importance is it to have driven away the wolves from the fold, if the pest ravage the flock ? Of what use is a dead faith, without good works ? Of what importance is even truth itself, where a wicked life beKes it, and actions make words blush ? 8. Either command me to abandon a second time your town, and let me go and soften the bitterness of my afflictions in a new exile, or let the severity of the laws reign in the church. Re-establish there the pure discipline. Remove from within your walls, and from the frontiers of your state, the pest of your vices, and condemn them to a perpetu.',* banishment THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 167 ON INTEMPERANCE. From Rev. Dr.Appleton's Address before the Massachusetts Society for suppressing Intemperance. May, 1816. 1. Parents may view, with more indulgence than alarm, occasional irregularities in a favorite son. By a repetition of these, some uneasiness is produced in spite of parental partiality. They begin with sug- gesting cautions, rise to mild remonstrance, and, as the case becomes more urgent, they make warm and reiterated appeals to his regard to interest, his love of character, his affection for them, his sense of moral obligation, and the well known effect of irreg- ular habits in shortening human life. 2. They flatter themselves, that all these efforts are not abortive. Some tender emotions, some in- genuous relentings, are perceived. These are gladly hailed, as the witnesses of penitence, and the harbin- gers of reformation. Hopes thus suddenly formed, are found to be premature. The anxiety of the par- ents is renewed and augmented by recent evidence of profligacy in the son. 3. To reclaim him, their affection prompts them to make new exertions, — to repeat arguments, which have hitherto been, found ineffectual, — to exhibit these in new and various connexions. From re- monstrance they proceed to entreaty, to supplication, and tears. The old bow before the young; the in- nocent pray to the guilty. 4. As a last expedient, they will change his place of residence. New scenes and new companions may be more propitious to virtue ; at least they will ex- 168 l HE CHRIS i IAN OJtAXOJ hibit fewer temptations to vice. The experimem 13 made, and with apparent success. His mind is so oc- cupied with new associations, as, for a time, to yield little attention to the cravings of appetite. 5. His friends again indulge a trembling hope, that notwithstanding past irregularities, all may yet be well. Delightful, but vain illusion ! The novelty gradually disappears ; but the strength of inclination is unsubdued. 6. The taste, which has been so unhappily formed, is now incorporated into his constitution, — it has be- come a permanent part of his character ; it is always ready to be acted upon, when circumstances are pre- sented, favorable to its indulgence. He become- callous to shame, and deaf to remonstrance. 7. Or, if there are some remains of moral sensi- bility, to avoid the stings of solitary reflection, he seeks relief in the excitement produced by dissipa- tion. That, which he denominates pleasure, is nothing but a tumultuous agitation of the passions. As if visited by the curse of Kahama, u There is a fire in his heart, and fire in his brain." 8. I once knew a young man of reputable connex- ions, and of more than ordinary powers of mind, who, conscious that he was verging towards intemperance, commenced his professional studies in a place, where rural scenes, and the prevailing state of morals, seem- ed well calculated to cherish sobriety, and repress vice. He profited by his situation, and imagined, that his good resolutions were gaining strength. . 9. At one disastrous hour, being visited by some of his former associates, he consented to renew, for THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 169 once, the scenes of their former conviviality. Ecces- sivc- indulgence was the result. The hours of re- turning sobriety were spent in self reproach. He justly considered his recent defection as a fatal crisis in his probation. Having no longer any confidence in himself, and thinking it useless to contend, he yielded to inclination, and became its unresisting captive. 10. Of the sufferings endured by the parent of an intemperate son, that cruel suspense, already suggest- ed, is not the least. His expectations, which, to day are gathering strength, will be dead to morrow, With tormenting rapidity, he passes from hope to fear, and from fear to hope. Nor, because it will be un- availing, can he divest himself of all anxiety. Nat- ural affection prevents it. He is, therefore, chained to a load, which is always ready to recoil upon him. 11. Id the case, which has been supposed, the dis- ease was not suffered to become inveterate, before remedies were applied. Proportionably greater will be the difficulty of recovery, should the disorder be confirmed by long indulgence. To reclaim the in- veterate drunkard, reason acknowledges the inad- equacy of her powers. The object of reasoning is to produce conviction. But the sinner in question is convinced already. 12. With intentions, the purity of which he ear- not call in question, you remind him of his estate, already embarrassed and partially squandered ; of rm family, either corrupted, or impoverished, degraded, mortified, and comfortless ; of his limbs, become fee- ble and tremulous ; of his countenance, inflamed, dis P 170 IHE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. figured, and rendered at once the hideous image of sin and death ; and of many, whom habits, similar to his own, have brought prematurely to the grave ; remind him, that, in the death of these, he has a sure and direful presage of his own. 13. In aid of all these motives, appeal to his faith in revelation ; point out to him that terrific sentence, which declares, that no drunkard shall inherit the king- dom of God — What have you gained by all thi^ array of motives ? He acknowledges, that your argu- ments are conclusive, and that your remonstrances are rational and weighty. He weeps under the mingled influence of terror and self reproach. With- out being able to hide from his eyes the precipice before him, he advances towards it with tottering, but accelerated steps. The grave, ever insatiable, is prepared for him. It shrouds hitn from every eye, but that of his Maker. ALARMING SYMPTOMS OF NATIONAL DEGENERACY. i/rom Rev. R. Hall's Sermon on a National Fast. 1803. TART I. i. Among the most alarming symptoms of national degeneracy, I mention a gradual departure from the peculiar truths, maxims, and spirit, of Christianity. 2. Christianity, issuing perfect and entire from the hands of its Author, will admit of no mutilations nor improvements ; it stands most secure on its own basis ; and without being indebted to foreign aids, support* itself best by its own internal vigor. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 171 When under the pretence of simplifying it. we attempt to force it into a closer alliance with the most approved systems of philosophy, we are sure to con- tract its bounds, and to diminish its force and authorit} over the consciences of men. It is dogmatic ; not capable of being advanced with the progress of science^ but fixed and immutable. 4. We may not be able to perceive the use or neces- sity of some of its discoveries, but they are not on this account the less Jbinding on our faith ; just as there are many parts of nature, whose purposes we are at a loss to explore, of which, if any person were bold enough to arraign the propriety, it would be sufficient to reply that God made them. They are both equally the works of God, and both equally partake of the myste- riousness of their author. 5. This integrity of the Christian faith has been in- sensibly impaired ; and the simplicity of mind with which it should be embraced, gradually diminished. While the outworks of the sanctuary have been de- fended with the utmost ability, its interior has been too much neglected, and the fire upon the altar suffered to languish and deca} r . 6. The truths and mysteries which distinguished die Christian from all other religions, have been little attended to by some, totally denied by others ; and while infinite efforts have been made, by the utmost subtlety of argumentation, to establish the truth and authenticity of revelation, few have been exerted in comparison to show what it really contains. 172 THE CHRISTIAN OllAi. 7. The doctrines of the fall and of redemption, v. are the two grand points on which the Christian dispen- sation hinges, have been too much neglected. Though tt has not yet become the fashion (God forbid it eve: should) to deny them, we have been too much accus- tomed to confine the mention of them to oblique hints, and distant allusions. 8. They are too often reluctantly conceded, rather than warmly inculcated, as though they were the weaker or less honorable parts of Christianity, from which we were in haste to turn away our eyes, all- ihough it is in reality these very truths, which have in every age inspired the devotion of the church, and the rapture of the redeemed. 9. This alienation from the distinguishing truths of our holy religion, accounts for a portentous peculiarity among Christians, their being ashamed of a book which "hey profess to receive as the word of God. 10. The votaries of all other religions regard their supposed sacred books with a devotion, which con- secrates their errors, and makes their very absurdities . enerable in their eyes. They glory in that which is : tieir shame: we are ashamed of that which is our ^lory. 11. Indifference and inattention to the truths and mysteries of revelation, have led, by an easy transition. *o a dislike and neglect of the book which contains ihem ; so that, in a Christian country, nothing is i bought so vulgar as a serious appeal to the Scrip- tures ; and the candidate for fashionable distinction would rather betray a familiar acquaintance with the THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 173 most impure writers, than with the words of Christ and his apostles. 12. Yet we complain of the growth of infidelity, when nothing less could be expected than that some should declare themselves infidels, where so many had completely forgot they were Christians. They wh© sow the seed can with very ill grace complain of the abundance of the crop ; and when we have ourselves ceased to abide in the words, and to maintain the honor, of the Saviour, we must not be "surprised at seeing some advance a step further, by openly declaring they are none of his. The consequence has been such as might be expected, — an increase of profaneness, im- morality, and irreligion. 13. The traces of piety have been wearing out more and more, from our conversation, from our man- ners, from our popular publications, from the current literature of the age. In proportion as the maxims and spirit of Christianity have declined, infidelity has prevailed in their room ; for infidelity is, in reality, nothing more than a noxious spawn (pardon the met- aphor) bred in the stagnant marshes of corrupted Christianity. PART II. 1. A lax theology is the natural parent of a lax morality. The peculiar motives, accordingly, by which the inspired writers enforce their moral les- sons, the love of God and the Redeemer, concern for the honor of religion, and gratitude for the inestima- ble benefits of the Christian redemption, have no P 2 • 174 THE CHRISTIAN OBAT0K. place in the fashionable systems of moral instruc- tion.* 2. The motives almost exclusively urged are such as take their rise from the present state, founded on reputation, on honor, on health, or on the tendency of the things recommended to promote, under some form or other, the acquisition of worldly advantages. Thus even morality itself, by dissociating it from re- ligion, is made to cherish the love of the world, and to bar the heart more effectually against the ap- proaches of piety. 3. Here I cannot forbear remarking a great change which has taken place in the whole manner of rea- soning on the topics of morality and religion, from what prevailed in the last century, and, as far as my information extends, in any preceding age. This, which is an age of revolutions, has also produced a .strange revolution in the method of viewing these subjects, the most important by far that can engage the attention of man. 4. The simplicity of our ancestors, nourished by the sincere milk of the word, rather than by the tenets of a disputatious philosophy, was content to let morality remain on the firm basis of the dictates of conscience and the will of God. They considered virtue as something ultimate, as bounding the mental prospect. They never supposed for a moment there was any thing to which it stood merely in the rela* tion of means, or that within the narrow confines * If the reader wishes for a further statement and illustra- tion of these melancholy facts, he may find it in Mr. Wilber- force's celebrated book on Religion ; an inestimable work, which has, perhaps, done more than any other to rouse the insensibility and augment the piety of the age. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 175 of this momentary state any thing great enough could be found to be its end or object. 5. It never occurred to their imagination, that that religion, which professes to render us superior to the world, is in reality nothing more than an instrument to procure the temporal, the physical good of indi- viduals, or of society. In their view, it had a nobler destination; it looked forward to eternity: and if ever they appear to have assigned it any end or object be} 7 ond itself, it was an union with its Author, in the perpetual fruition of God. 6. They arranged these things in the following order : religion, comprehending the love, fear, and service of the Author of our being, they placed first ; social morality, founded on its dictates, confirmed by its sanctions, next ; and the mere physical good of society they contemplated as subordinate to both. 7. Every thing is now reversed. The pyramid is inverted : the first is last, and the last fir^t. Religion is degraded from its pre-eminence, into the mere handmaid of social morality ; social morality into an instrument of advancing the welfare of society; and the world is all in all. THE HUMILITY AND DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN. From a Sermon of Rev. R. H all. 1. Humility is the first fruit of religion. In the mouth of our Lord there is no maxim so frequent as the following, Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abas- cof, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Relig- ion, and that alone teaches absolute humility, by 17G THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. which I mean, a sense of our absolute nothingne-. in the view of infinite greatness and excellence. 2. That sense of inferiority, which results from the comparison of men with each other, is often an un- welcome sentiment forced upon the mind, which may rather imbitter the temper than soften it : that which devotion impresses, is soothing and delightful. 3. The devout man loves to lie low at the footstool of the Creator, because it is then he attains the most live- ly perceptions of the divine excellence, and the most tranquil confidence in the divine favor. In so august a presence he sees all distinctions lost, and all beings reduced to the same level ; he looks at his superiors without envy, and his inferiors without contempt ; and when from this elevation he descends to mix in socie- ty, the conviction of superiority, which must in many instances be felt, is a calm inference of the under- standing, and no longer a busy, importunate passion of the heart. 4. The wicked^ says the Psalmist, through the prich of their countenance, will not seek after God ; God is all their thoughts. When we consider the in- credible vanity of the atheistical sect, together with the settled malignity, and unrelenting rancor with which they pursue every vestige of religion ; is it uncandid to suppose, that its humbling tendency is one principal cause of their enmity: that they are eager to displace a Deity from the minds of men, that they may occupy the void ; to crumble the throne of the Eternal into dust, that they may elevate themselves on its ruins ; and that, as their licen- tiousness is impatient of restraint, so their pride dis- dains a superior ? THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 177 5. As pride hardens the heart, and religion is the only effectual antidote, the connexion between irre- iigion and inhumanity is, in this view, obvious. But there is another light in which this part of the sub- ject may be viewed, in my humble opinion, much more important, though seldom adverted to. 6. The supposition that man is a moral and account- able being, destined to survive the stroke of death, and to live in a future world in a-never ending state of happiness or misery, makes him a creature of in- comparably more consequence^ than the opposite sup- position. 7. When we consider him as placed here by an almighty Ruler in a state of probation, and that the present life is his period of trial, the first link in a vast and interminable chain which stretches into eter- nity, he assumes a dignified character in our eyes, Every thing which relates to him becomes interesting ; and to trifle with his happiness is felt to be the most unpardonable levity. 8. If such be the destination of man, it is evident, *bat in the qualities which fit him for it, his principal dignity consists : his moral greatness is his true greatness. Let the skeptical principles be admitted, which represent him, on the contrary, as the offspring o( chance, connected with no superior power, and sinking fhto annihilation at death, and he is a con- temptible creature, whose existence and happiness are insignificant. The characteristic difference is lost betwixt him and the brute creation, from which he is no longer distinguished, except by the vividness and multiplicity of his perceptions 178 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR-. MOTIVES TO SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF THE GOSl'EL From Rev. Dr. Dwight's Sermon at the ordination of Rev N. W. Taylor. 1. To this'divine, this indispensable employment, every motive calls you, which can reach the heart of virtue, or wisdom. The terms, on which these blessings of the gospel are offered, are of all terms the most reasonable. You are summoned to no sac- rifice, but of sin, and shame, and wretchedness. No service is demanded of you, but services of gain and glory. iC My son, give me thine heart " is the requisi- tion, which involves them all. 2. Remember how vast, how multiplied, how noble, these blessings are ! Remember, that the happiness of heaven is not only unmingled and consummate ; not only uninterrupted and immortal : but ever progressive. 3. Here all the attributes of body and mind ; the peace within, and the glory without ; the knowledge, and the virtue ; the union of minds, and the benefi- cence of the hand ; gratitude to God, and his com- placency in his children ; together with the pecu- liarly divine system of providence in that delightful world ; will advance with a constant step toward- the ever retreating goal of absolute perfection. 4. The sanctified infant will here hasten#mward to the station, occupied by Abraham. Moses, and Paul These superior intelligences will regularly move forward to that of angels | and angels will lift their wings to a summit, to which hitherto no angel ever wandered, even in the most vigorous excursions of thought. THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 179 5. Thus will this divine assembly make a perpet- ual progress in excellence and enjoyment, towards bounds, which ever retire before them, and ever will retire, when they shall have left the heights, on which seraphs now stand, beyond the utmost stretch of recollection. 6. To this scene of glory, all things continually urge you. The seasons roll on their solemn course ; the earth yields its increase, to furnish blessings to support you. Mercies charm you to their Author. Afflictions warn you of approaching ruin ; and drive you to the ark of safety. Magistrates uphold order and peace, that you may consecrate your labors to the divine attainment. 7. Ministers proclaim to you the glad tidings of great joy ; and point out to you the path to heaven. The Sabbath faithfully returns its mild and sweet season of grace, that earthly objects may not engross your thoughts, and prevent your attention to immortality. The sanctuary unfolds its doors ; and invites you to enter in, and be saved. The Gospel still shines to direct your feet, and to quicken your pursuit of the inestimable prize. 8. Saints wait, with fervent hope of renewing their joy over your repentance. Angels spread their wings to conduct you home. The Father holds out the gold- en sceptre of forgiveness, that you may touch, and live. The Son died on the cross, ascended to heaven, and intercedes before the throne of mercy, that you may be accepted. The Spirit of grace and truth de- scends with his benevolent influence, to allure and persuade you. 180 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR, 9. While all things, and God at the head of all things, are thus kindly and solemnly employed, to en- courage you in the pursuit of this inestimable good, will you forget, that you have souls, which must he saved, or lost ? Will you forget, that the only time of salvation is the present ? that beyond the grave there is no Gospel to be preached? that, there, no of- fers of life are to be made ! that no Redeemer will there expiate your sins ; and no forgiving God receive your souls ? 10. Of what immense moment, then, is the present life ! How invaluable every Sabbath ; every mean of salvation ! Think how soon your last Sabbath will set in darkness ; and the last sound of mercy die upon your ears ? How painful, how melancholy, an object, to a compassionate eye, is a blind, unfeeling, unrepent- ing immortal ! 1 1. But, O ye children of Zion, in all the perplexi- ties and distresses of life, let the Gospel be an anchor to your souls, sure and steadfast. To the attainment of the happiness, which it unveils, consecrate every pur- pos£, and bend every faculty. In the day of sloth, let it quicken you to energy. In the hour of desponden- cy, let it reanimate your hope. In the season of wo, let it pour the balm of G Head into your hearts. 12. View every blessing as a token of love from the God, to whom you are going ; as a foretaste of immor- tal good. Stretch your imaginations to the utmost ; raise your wishes higher and higher, while you live ; not a thought shall miss its object ; not a wish shall be disappointed. Eternity is now heaping up its treas- ures for your possession.' The voice of Mercy, with THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 181 a sweet and transporting sound, bids you arise, and come away. Your fears, your sorrows, your sins, will all leave you at the grave. 13. See the gates of life already unfolding to admit you. The first-born open their arms to welcome you to their divine assembly. The Saviour, who is gone before to prepare a place for your reception, informs you, that all things are ready. With triumph, then, with ecstasy, hasten to enjoy the reward of his infinite labors in an universe of good, and in the glory, which he had with the Father before ever the world was. THE SURPRISE OF DEATH, From Masillon. 1. The surprise which you have to fear is not one of those rare, singular events which happen to but a few unhappy persons, and which it is more prudent to disregard, than to provide for. It is not that an instantaneous, sudden death may seize you, — - that the thunder of heaven may fall upon you,— that you may be buried under the ruins of your houses, — that a shipwreck may overwhelm you in the deep : nor do I speak of those misfortunes whose singularity renders them more terrible, but at the same time less to be apprehended. 2. It is a familiar event ; there is not a day but furnishes you with examples of it ; almost all mev are surprised by death ; all see it approach, when 182 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. they think it most distant ; all say to themselves, like the fool in the gospel ; " Soul, take thine ease, thou hast much goods laid up for many years/' 3. Thus have died your neighbours, your friends, almost all those of whose death you have been in- formed ; all have left you in astonishment at the suddenness of their departure. You have sought reasons for it, in the imprudence of the person while sick, in the ignorance of physicians, in the choice of remedies ; but the best and indeed the only rea- son is, that the day of the Lord always cometh by surprise. 4. The earth is like a large field of battle where you are every day engaged with the enemy ; you have happily escaped to-day, but you have seen many lose their lives who promised themselves to escape as you have done. To-morrow you must again enter the lists ; who has assured you that fortune, so fatal to others, will always be favor- able to you alone ? And since you must perish there at last, are you reasonable in building a firm and permanent habitation, upon the very spot which is destined to be your grave ? 5. Place yourselves in whatever situation you please, there is not a moment of time, in which death may not come, as it has to many others in similar situations. 6. There is no action of renown, which may not be terminated by the eternal darkness of the grave ; Herod was cut off in the midst of the foolish ap- plauses of his people : No public day which may not finish with your funeral pomp ; Jezebel was THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 183 thrown headlong from the window of her palace, the very day that she had chosen to shew herself with unusual ostentation : No delicious feast which may not bring death to you ; Belshazzar lost his life when seated at a sumptuous banquet : No sleep which may not be to you the sleep of death ; Ho- lofernes, in the midst of his army, a conqueror of kingdoms and provinces, lost his life by an lsraelitish woman, when asleep in his tent : No crime which, may not finish your crimes ; Zimri found an infa- mous death in the tents of the daughters of Midian : No sickness which may not terminate your days ; you very often see the slightest infirmities resist all applications of the healing art, deceive the ex- pectations of the sick, and suddenly turn to death. 7. In a word, imagine yourselves in any circum- stances of life, wherein you may ever be placed, and you will hardly be able to reckon the number of those who have been surprised by death when in like circumstances; and you have no warrant that you shall not meet with the same fate. You acknowl- edge this ; you own it to be true ; but this avowal, so terrible in itself, is only an acknowledgment which custom demands of you, but which never leads you to a single precaution to guard against the danger. THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. From the same. 1. The hour of death is uncertain ; every year, every day, every moment may be the last. It is then a mark of folly to attach one's self to any thing which 184 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. may pass away in an instant, and by that means lose the only blessing which will never fail. Whatever, there- fore, you do solely for this world, should appear lost to you ; since you have here no sure hold of any thing; you can place no dependence on any thing; and you can carry nothing away but what you treas- ure up for heaven. 2. The kingdoms of the world, and all their glo- ry? ought not to balance a moment the interests of your eternal state ; since a large fortune and an elevated rank will not assure to you a longer life than an inferior situation ; and since they will pro- dace only a more bitter chagrin on your death beds, when you are about to be separated from them for- ever. All your cares, all your pursuits, all your de- sires ought, then, to centre in securing a durable in- terest, an eternal happiness, which no person can ravish from you. 3. The hour of death is uncertain : You ought then to die every day : — not to indulge yourselves in an action in which you would be unwilling to be sur- prised ; — to consider all your pursuits as the pursuits of a dying man, who every moment expects his soul will be demanded of him ; — to perform all your works as if you were that instant to render an ac- count of them ; — and since you cannot answer for 'he time which is to come, so to regulate the present that you may have no need of the future to make reparation. 4. In fine, the hour of death is uncertain : Do not :hen defer repentance ; do not delay to turn to the Lord : the business requires haste. You cannot as- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR* 185 sure yourselves even of one day ; and yet you put off a preparation for death to a distant and uncertain futurity. 5. If you had imprudently swallowed a mortal poison, would you delay, to some future time, to apply a remedy which was at hand, and which alone could preserve life ? Would the death whicji you carried in your own bosom admit of delay and re- missness ? This is precisely your condition. If you are wise, take immediate precaution. 6. You carry death in your souls, since you carry sin there. Hasten then to apply a remedy ; every instant is precious to him who cannot assure himself of a single one. The poisonous draught which in- fects your soul will not permit you to continue long ; the goodness of God as yet offers you a remedy ; hasten then to improve it, while time is allowed you. 7. Can there be need of exhortations to induce you to resolve upon this ? Ought it not to suffice that the benefit of the cure is pointed out to you ? Would it be necessary to exhort an unfortunate man, borne on the billows, to make efforts to save himself from de- struction ? Ought you then to have need of our min- istrations on this subject ? 8. Y6ur last hour is just at hand ; in the twink- ling of an eye you are to appear before the tribunal of your God. You may usefully employ the mo- ment which remains. The most of those who die daily under your eyes, suffer that moment to pass, and die without improving it. You imitate their negligence ; the same fate awaits you ; like them, you will die before you have begun to lead better 186 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. lives. They were warned of their danger, and you also are warned ; their unhappy lot makes no impres- sion upon you, and the death which awaits you will have no more effect upon those who shall survive. 9. There is a succession of blindness which pi from parents to children, and which is perpetuated on the earth ; all determine to reform their lives, and yet most people die before they commence the work of reformation. THE STATE OF THE JEWS. By Rev. J. W. Cunningham, before the London Jews' Society. PART I. 1. Let us now come to a fourth period, viz. to our own days. And here it is necessary to observe that, notwithstanding the continued unbelief and dis- obedience of the Jews, the merciful intentions of God towards his prostrate people are as obvious and prom- inent now, as at any other period of their history. 2. It is true that they are fallen, — fallen as those must expect to fall, who " trample under foot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing"" — fallen as you and I must expect to fall, if, when God stretches out the golden sceptre of mercy, we refuse to take hold of it. 3. They are indeed fallen, — but is the patience of God, therefore, towards them exhausted,— has he no mercies in store for them,— does he mean to leave them in the dust,— shall the banner of falsehood for- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 187 ever float upon the towers of the Holy City, — shall the daughter of Zion sit forever in her gate mourn- ing and desolate ? 4. u Search the scriptures," my brethren, unrol any page of the prophetical volume, and what do you find ? Promises I may venture to say, almost count- less in their number, and immeasurable in their ex- tent, renewing to the Jews the charter of their hopes, and triumphs, and joys, promising the Messiah for a King, and " the uttermost parts of the earth for their possession !" 5. " I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph; and I will bring them again to place them ; for I have mercy upon them, and they shall be as though I had not cast them off;' for I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them ; 1 will hiss for them, and gather them ; for I have re- deemed them : They shall remember me in far countries ; and they shall live with their children, and turn again." — But it is needless to multiply ex- tracts of this kind. They abound in the sacred vol- ume. 6. Whenever the harp of Zion sounds, the song of their future triumph is heard. Whenever the hand of prophecy rends the veil from future events, and displays to us the glories of the last days, it always points to the Jews as first in the procession of wor- thies — as leading the march of universal victory — as resuming their lost precedency over an evangelized world. 7. The ultimate triumphs of Christianity itself are represented as, in a measure, suspended upon the 188 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. conversion of the Jews. The world is to wait for them. The hand of eternal mercy is to be unchain- ed only by their conversion. The earth is not to be watered by the richest dews of heaven, till the vine flourishes upon the holy hill. 8. The principle on w T hich the Society pro- ceeds, is this : It discovers in the sacred writings a general injunction to preach the gospel to all na- tions. No people being excluded from the blessing, the servant of God naturally searches out those points of the universe where his attempts are likely to be most profitably conducted. Amongst others, he finds a people partly mixed up with the mass of Christian society, and partly collected in the very centre of Europe ; either living in the light of Christianity, or touching upon the confines of it. 9. He finds, moreover, that the conversion of that nation, thus eligibly circumstanced for instruction, is to precede the general conversion of the world. He discovers that this people have always been a pecu- liar object of the divine dispensations, and that almost every movement of Providence points to them. . 10. Is it then wonderful that their conversion should become a favorite object to the devout stu- dent of the Bible, — that he should begin his labors at a point, where he knows that partial success will pave the way to the general success, — that he should cheer his fainting hopes with looking on the star which God hath lighted up in the dark horizon of Judea, — that he should follow its guidance, and should there choose to combat with unbelief, at the point where the triumph of faith is to be achieved ? THE CHRISTIAN ORATOS, 189 PART II. 1. It has been said by some, "We discover no particular encouragement to undertake the conver- sion of the Jews at the present moment, either in the present circumstances of our own country, or in those of the world in general." 2. To this, I reply, that I do discover such en- couragement. I discover it in the dislocation of the Mahometan power, which has always been the grand political barrier to Jewish restoration. I discover it in the concurrent testimony of the most able interpre- ters of prophecy, that the period for the restoration of the Jews is fast approaching. I discover it in the fact that many of the Jews themselves entertain the same opinion. I discover it in the remarkable cir- cumstance, which seems to be well authenticated, of many Jews having manifested of late a singular dispo- sition to migrate to their own land. 3. I discover it in the unprecedented facilities provided in our own age and country, by our com- mercial connexions, and above all, by the very gen- eral spirit of religious zeal and enterprise which God has so mercifully awakened in this favored country, I discover it in the means supplied for the opera- tions of this Society, and the operations of other So- cieties ; by the circulation of Bibles, and of Mission- aries abroad, and by the erection of 'schools, upon a new and powerful principle at home. 4. I discover it in the fact of the almost instan- taneous ejection of a Society, combining so much of 190 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. the virtue, talents, and wealth of the country, and successful beyond all hope in its application to public benevolence. These are facilities, my brethren, which, in my judgment, no individual can safely neg- lect to employ. These are calls which I, for one, am afraid not to obey. 5. We have much lost time to redeem, — many past injuries to cancel, 5 — many and countless obliga- tions to this afflicted people to repay. As I stand here I seem to hear the voices of those Jews who e- vangelized the world, calling for some return to their country. I hear again the voice of Him, who conde- scended to spring from a Jewish mother, and to dwell upon its favored soil, calling upon us to teach all na- tion, " beginning at Jerusalem" And hearing such invitations, I desire myself to obey them ; and I feel it incumbent on me to say to you — Come, and let us join hand and heart in this great work. PART III. 1. I remember to have heard the late venerable Bishop Porteus, not long before his death, standing as it were upon the verge of heaven, and thence, per- haps, catching some more than common glimpse of the glories within, use his expiring strength to stimu- late his countrymen to become the Apostles of the land of Israel. And surely there is no title and no apostleship, which we should more anxiously covet. 2. There are some who imagine that we are too prodigal in the distribution of the Bible. To them I say— look at Judea. Behold a people suffering a famine of the word of God. Remember that Chris- THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 191 tians have never repaid the ancient people of God for the gift of their Scriptures, by the present of ours in their own language. Remember that the oracles of the promised land are now silenced, the Urim and the Thummim removed, the Shechinah withdrawn, the altar overthrown, and its fires extinguished. 3. Instead then of indulging a penurious spirit in the distribution of these celestial treasures, as you have freely received, freely give. Endeavor to turn back the stream of divine knowledge to fertilize the land in which it rose. 4. There are others who conceive that our Missionary efforts are fruitlessly exhausted in barbar- ous regions. To them I say — Behold in Judea a sphere precisely adapted to your wishes. You may there find the mind in every stage of advancement or degradation, from the wandering Arab, to the super- stitious Monk. 5. You may there try every experiment upon men, which zeal or benevolence can dictate. You may there, under the divine blessing, attempt the work of evangelizing under every modification ; either, as it were, to hew out the Christian from the rock of Mahometanism, or to chisel and mould him to the standard of the sanctuary from the disfigured forms of popery. 6. You have, there, in short, a sphere of Mis- sionary enterprise, in which literature and talents may assist to do the work of religion ; in which the genius of devotion may be still supposed to linger ; in which a new spark may re-illumine the decayed fires, where zeal, instead of exhausting itself in the unpropitious atmosphere of idolatry, will be refresh- 192 THE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. ed by every surrounding scene — where the Missiona- ry will see in every spot some beacon for the apos- tate, some record for the religion of his fathers, some memorial of his Saviour and his God. VANITY OF WORLDLY GOOD. From a Sermon of Rev. Dr. D wight, delivered after his re- covery from a severe sickness, to the students of Yale College. June, 1816. 1. u To him who stands on the brink of the grave, and the verge of eternity, who retains the full pos- session of his reason, and who at the same time is dis- posed to serious contemplation, all these things become mightily changed in their appearance. To the eye of such a man, their former alluring aspect vanishes, and they are seen in a new and far different light. 2. " Like others of our race, 1 have relished seve- ral of these things, with at least the common at- tachment. Particularly, I have coveted reputation and influence, to a degree which I am unable to jus- tify. Nor have I been insensible to other earthly gratifications ; either to such, as, when enjoyed with moderation, are innocent ; or, such as cannot be pur- sued without sin. 3. " But in the circumstances to which I have re- ferred, all these things were vanishing from my sight. Had they been really valuable in any sup- posable degree, their value was gone. They could not relieve me from pain ; they could not restore me to health ; they could not prolong my life ; they ikiE CHRISTIAN ORATOR. 193 could promise me no good in the life to come. What then were these things to me ? 4. — A person, circumstanced in the manner, which has been specified, must necessarily regard these objects, however harmless, or even useful, they may be supposed in their nature, as having been hostile to his peace, and pernicious to his well- being. In all his attachment to them, in all his pur- suit of them, it is impossible for him to fail of per- ceiving, that he forgot the interests of his soul, and the commands of his Maker; became regardless of his duty, and his salvation ; and hazarded for dross and dirt, the future enjoyment of a glorious immor- tality. 5. It is impossible not to perceive, that in the most unlimited possession of them, the soul would have been beggared, and undone ; that the gold of the world would not have made him rich ; nor its esteem honorable ; nor its favor happy. For this end he will discover, that nothing will suffice but treasure laid up in heaven ; the loving-kindness of God ; and the blessings of life eternal. 6. Let me exhort you, my young friends, now engaged in the ardent pursuit of worldly enjoyments, to believe, that you will one day see them in the very light in which they have been seen by me. The attachment to them which you so strongly feel, is unfounded, vain, full of danger, and fraught with ruin. You will one day view them from a dying b