♦ 
 
 I 
 
 **| CHEAP REPOSITORY. ♦** 
 Sunday Readings 
 
 On the Religious Advantages of the prefent 
 Inhabitants of Great Britain. 
 
 Sold -by J. MARSHALL, 
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m THE RELIGIOUS ADVANTAGES 
 
 OF THE PRESENT 
 
 INHABITANTS of GREAT BRITAIN 
 
 I 
 
 T has often been obferved by travellers that an 
 Englifliman can have no juft idea of the fupe- 
 rior comforts which he enjoys in his own country, 
 until he has been abroad. A.rcmark of the fame 
 kind maybe applied to the fubjecl: of our religious 
 advantages ; for we are apt to undervalue thefe alfo 
 A in proportion as we fee them to be common, and 
 it may therefore be ufeful to let our imaginations 
 carry us occasionally both into foreign countries 
 and into diftant ages of the world. 
 
 Reader I why was not your lot caft in fome region 
 of Africa, among fome tribe of Savages, millions 
 0f whom at this time dwell on the earth, hunting 
 iti the woods, or cro fling the defert in feareh of 
 food, naked, and blinded,- and deftitute ; many ©f 
 them wild as their own beads of prey, and fome of 
 them even devouring one another ? you have in 
 no wife deferved to be put on any better footing, 
 as to vour earthly exiftenc, than even the leaft fa- 
 vored of your race. He who appointed to the 
 African his place of birth, might with equal juflice 
 feayeaffigned the fame lot to you ; and'you ought 
 therefore to thank that God who alone « hath made 
 you to differ" 
 
 $ Or 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 Or why, it may again be afked,. arc you- not 
 groping, as millions of others are,, in Mahometan 
 darknefs ; who are taught even by their religion, 
 t& indulge their pride and their paflions, and 
 to feign to themielves an earthly and fenfual 
 heaven, to be beftowed as the vcA' reward of cruel 
 rage and perfec.ution ? — Or. why it mar Mill be ad- 
 ded are you not palling your life as a (lave to fome; 
 European mailer, toiling for him with your body, 
 while you are without initruftion as to your mind r* 
 A^aim even if born in Britain, vet why had you not 
 your being in it in thole days when the GofpeL had 
 not yet enlightened it ; when the Priefts, inftead 
 of preaching peace and good-will in the name o£ 
 Chrift, and teaching men the love of each other, 
 dealt in human facrifices, pretended to prophsfy 
 from the manner in which the blood flowed from 
 the wounds, worihipped their native oak, and 
 endeavoured to blind the people by the fame fu- 
 perftition ? — -Or if indeed in fome degree more 
 favoured than they, why were you not born when 
 chriftianity was corrupted in this land, as it was 
 for many hundred years by Popery ;. when abfotu- 
 tions for fin were bought and fold, when a corrupt 
 clergy poffeffed both- the power and the wealth* 
 and when high and low, Prince and people, were 
 alike reduced into fubje&ion to th em ?* And» 
 
 * It is not intended to imply that the prefent Papiils referable, 
 exadlv thofe who are here fpokenof : there >s now a confider- 
 able diftinaion alfo between thofe who are merely called Catho- 
 lies, and the Papjfts. 
 
 jgi ^ ones 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 once more it may be ad tied, allowing you to have 
 had your being iince the days of the reformation,, 
 yet why was it not in the time of the civil wars, 
 •when political as well as religious hatred burnt even 
 among Protectants ; when the throne of this Realm 
 was difpuied, and when the blood of its inhabitants 
 was flowing freely over its orwn plains. 
 
 We have been living indeed in happy times, 
 when this hath been a favoured country; We have 
 been born, perhaps it may be fafely fa id, in one 
 of the mofl favoured countries of the earth, and 
 alfo in fome of the mo ft favoured times of that 
 country.-— Indeed fo fa voured, and fo long favoured 
 have we been, that we have almoft learned to forget 
 the general confufion and mifery which prevail in 
 the woild ; for this is net the ufuai courfe of God's 
 dealings with it— -We lofe fight, amidft our own 
 extraordinary bleftings, of the common corruption 
 of man, as well as of the common confequences 
 of that corruption. We forget that " the world 
 lieth in wnckednefs," and that He who made it 
 liath ever had a controversy with it. 
 
 But let us now fpeak more dire&ly of our own 
 peculiar privileges. In the firft place, We have 
 been bleffed in general with great national prof* 
 ferity. The voice of war has been heard indeed, 
 hut it has been heard only at a diftancc ; for even 
 when our foldicrs and failors have been engaged 
 
 it, iwe ourfelvcs have been living quietly at 
 home, each of us fitting under his own vine and his 
 
 own 
 
HHHHIHHHBH^HHHBHHflHBBHHNBnNflNHHflflHHHHHffinHHHI 
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 ■cwn Ivg-tre^ no one maketh Mm afraid; arid flrrcty 
 it may be confidercd as offe great mercy, in fuch at 
 troubled world e-s this, and as no fmall advantage 
 to religion alfo, to be thus placed at adifUnce from 
 foreign enemies, and to be at the fame time pro* 
 totted by wholefome laws from the terror of thofe 
 violent and wicked men who may dwell amongus. 
 
 This alfo is a land in which I will next obferve 
 that religions liberty has been enjoyed more than m 
 •moft other nations : no Englifhman has been hin- 
 dered from worfhippmg God 3$ fuch a manner as 
 might feem bed to his own conference, and thatf 
 fpirit of perfection which formerly difgraced even 
 the chriftian church f is now both reftrained by 
 •Statute, and is generally difavowed by -chrifnans. 
 
 Here alfo let it in the next place be thankfully' 
 remembered that the fabbath is, fet apart peculiarly 
 for religious ufes. On this facred day the poor 
 man reds from his toil, and both the rich and' the 
 poor are invited to lay afide their caresand anxieties*, 
 their worldly corrverfation and employment, in 
 order that they may improve their religious know- 
 ledge, and may repair that decav of their chriftiart 
 principles, which is apt to arife on other days even 
 from our lawful commerce with the world. 
 
 But I proceed to name a further blefftng. The 
 
 Jcriptures have been pubiifhed in the land, having 
 been tranflated into our own language; -and owing 
 to the bounty of religious focieties, or to the zeal 
 
 ^ individuals, they have been freely given among 
 
 B 3 the 
 
( 1 
 
 <fne poorer ranks, who have been alfo taught to 
 .read -them in their infancy, through that abun- 
 dance either of Sunday or weekly fchoolsj,, which 
 public charity JiaS alfo fet up. 
 
 1 add Iaftly, that while the people, both high and 
 }ow, have thus been enabled to examine the fcrip- 
 tures for themfelves, that gofpel which they contain 
 lias been alfo fhuediy preached, and even without 
 cxnence to a great proportion of the bearers. 
 
 Let us hetepaufe in order to make fome re- 
 flections on the greatnefs of the laft mentioned 
 •bleflings, in doing which however I mail only 
 fpeak fhortly of chriftianity in general, and chiefly 
 of that vaft importance which every one who 
 gives any credit to the facred writings mufl ne- 
 •ceflarily afciibe to it. 
 
 In the representation which is there given of it, 
 every circiim (lance is introduced which can raife- 
 our ideas on fuch a fubject. In the very beginning 
 of the world we find that prophecies were made 
 concerning it : the general difpenfations of provi- 
 dence, and in particular the eftabliftiment of the 
 Jewifti -nation tended for fome thoufand years be- 
 fore to make way for the coming of Chrift; all the 
 Prophets are dei'cribed in the New Teftament as 
 SI inquiring and fearching diligently before hand in- 
 to the Sufferings of Chrift and the glory that fhould 
 follow." When the time of his appearance draws 
 near John the Baptift is fenttotell of his approach ; 
 and when lie us born, a multitude of the heavenly 
 holr are heard i; prajfing QqsL and faying, glory 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 to Cod in the Sighed, on earth peace, good wlH 
 towards men/' The wife men draw near to the 
 infant Saviour and "-rejoice with exceeding joy/* 
 Apofties count it an unipeakable honor to be per- 
 mitted to lay out their lives in fpreading his name 
 over the earth, and the body of chriftians who lived 
 either in the fame days, or thofe immediately fol- 
 lowing, are defcribed as " rejoicing even in him 
 whom they had not feen, with joy unfpeakable and 
 full of glory." We read alfo that the furrounding 
 heathens who are rep re fen ted as "fitting'' before this 
 lime "in darknefs,and in the region of the fhadow 
 of death" are now congratulated that to them "the 
 light had fprung up, and that the day-fpring from 
 on high had vifited them," and every where in 
 fhort chriftianity is f<£>oken of in the loftieft terms, 
 as the glorious gofpel of the ever bleffed God, and 
 as the jnoft precious blefiing that was ever fent 
 to the human race. 
 
 It is plain then that the gift of the gofpel was 
 confidered as the greateft of all God's gifts in the 
 days of which I have been fpeaking. It is alfo eafy to 
 prove that thisblefting even in itslargeft extent, be- 
 longs jufh as much to us, if we are real chriftians, as 
 to thofe who lived in the time of Chrift : when our 
 Saviour prayed for his difgiples, he " prayed not 
 for them only, but for all who mould believe on 
 him through their word that they all might be one." and 
 accordingly St. Peter in his fir ft fermon declares to 
 his hearers " for the promife is -to y©u and to your 
 
 children^ 
 
X 8 ) 
 
 •■dil!dre»> and to all that are afar cfff 3 even as man^ 
 .as the Lord our God fhall call." I add another 
 'ftjbfcrvation ; it feems equally plain that they w'no 
 now remain without the gofpel muft be conn- 
 Tidered as in much the fame (late with thofe who 
 were formerly without it, and whom the Apoflles 
 laid out their lives in endeavouring to convert : 
 let *i be remembered therefore that as the Gofpel 
 is the fame, fo believers are the fame, and unbe- 
 lievers the fame in all ages. 
 
 Indeed without appealing fo particularly to fcrip- 
 ture it appears even from the nature of man that 
 he clearly (lands in need of that very ble fling 
 -which it is >the objecl of chriflianity to hold oui 
 to him, and that he needs it now juft as much as 
 in any former time. For does he not continue 
 to be a being that is naturally very dark and ig- 
 norant concerning his own future flat©? Is he 
 not alfo full of wants and weaknefTes, and of 
 pamons which need restraint ? left to himfelf does 
 he not corrupt himfelf as he did formerly ? and 
 is he not therefore in like manner a creature that, 
 is guilty before God ? Thus blind and ignorant and 
 prone to warder fn.m his duty, and loaded with 
 the bur, i his guilt, he finks down into the 
 grave ; it foUows therefore that he needs the fame 
 gofpel to r< i ve his darknefs, to retrain and di- 
 ? recl his fteps into -life, to give him pence in his 
 conscience, and a cheerful hope in his latter end. 
 This then is that groat and fuperior privilege of 
 
 the 
 
( I ) 
 
 the inhabitants of Great Britain, on which it he- 
 comes us to dwell, the privilege of having the gof- 
 pel publifhed among us with all its important doc- 
 trines, precepts, warnings, encouragements and 
 confolations. Other bleflmgs have been alio named, 
 each of them tending to promote our religious im- 
 provement, by which it has been further fhewn, how 
 remarkably we have been favoured as a nation. 
 
 And now let it be briefly and generally afked what 
 are the returns which we have made for all that care 
 and kindnefs of Providence, which we have expe- 
 rienced. The Prophet Ifaiah fpeaking of that once 
 favoured but now rejected nation the Jews, likens 
 them to * s a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, the own- 
 er of which had it fenced and gathered out the ftones 
 thereof, and planted it with the choiccft vines, and 
 built a tower in the mid ft of it. and alfo made a wine 
 p re fs therein/' It is added, " what could I have done 
 more to my vineyard that I have not done to it ? 
 wherefore I looked that it fhould bring forth grapes, 
 but when I looked for grapes, it brought fortk 
 wild grapes.' 1 What then are the fruits brought 
 forth among us who are that vineyard, which the 
 fame hand of the Lord hath in thefe latter days of 
 the world, both fenced, and digged, and planted. 
 
 Great Britain calls itfeif a Chriftian nation,. 
 Are Britons then diftinguifhed every where over 
 Hie aula by all the virtues and graces of that 
 Chridian religion ? Are we fpoken of abroad for? 
 i a 1 ' g 1 1 c s ai s remark abl« chiefly for the chri ftkm 
 
 mecknefs* 
 
( io ) 
 
 meekne fs, and felf-denial and purity, and humility, 
 and piety of our national character. Are we known 
 by the devout worihip of God, which wherever 
 Britons carry either their arras or their factories 
 they are ohferved to fet up. Does our name (land 
 high in Africa as well as in Afia, and all the 
 I lies of America, on account of our dirinterefted 
 and holv zeal to extend our own gofpel among 
 the people of thofe benighted parts ? 
 
 But it may be faid perhaps that oar foreign adven- 
 turers and diftant fettlers may not carry with them 
 the mod favourable {'ample of the religion of their 
 own country, and that thefeare apt to be the more 
 corrupt part of a communitv. What are we then 
 at home ? Is Chriftian baptifm undertaken every 
 where, in Great Britain with deep folemnity, and 
 and are the vows then entered into remembered 
 and laid to heart in order that they may be fcrupu- 
 loufiy fulfilled. Again is the fabbath duly honoured 
 and obferved, and turned to a religious ufe ? Are 
 the churches and places of worihip every where 
 full of worfhippers, and is the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's fupper,that appointed memorial of our faith 
 in Cfrrift, pioufly, conftantly, and very generally, 
 as well as worthily received? In a word, does that 
 gofpel which has been fpoken of flourifh every 
 where within the land evidently warming r.very 
 heart, regulating every life, and exciting the joy- 
 ful praifes of every tongue. 
 
 All Lrdsed ate not fetventin religion^ it will per- 
 
( II ) 
 
 haps be admitted. But furely we may hope that 
 our morals at lea ft are every where pure, 
 and that the groffer iins cannot have any place in a 
 country io blelTed with the gofpel, as we are fo 
 reformed from all the errors of Popery, and now 
 fo eminently chriftian. Is there then no fraud or 
 difhonefty praclifed in the land— No drunkenrreis 
 kiaown in it ? Doft chaflity diftinguifh both out" 
 male and our female youth? Is marriage that ordi- 
 nance of God, the dilufe of which is the reproach 
 of even Heathen nations, duly regarded in every re- 
 fpeci ? Is profanenefs alfo banifhed from the land. 
 Is the name of God never trifled with nor blaf- 
 phemed? Is there no fwearing in our ftreets ? 
 
 But then it is only the few, it may be hoped, who 
 are aftually vicious, while the many, as it fhould 
 be charitably fuppofed, even if not religious are at 
 leaft very moral people. But what are the proofs 
 of this general morality. Is vice out of countenance ? 
 Are the vicious fo few that they hide themfclves 
 in corners, and are evidently afhame^." When, for 
 inftance, a number of men happen to meet toge- 
 ther in this land, do the bulk of them agree to al- 
 low of no unchriflian jeft, or toaft or fong. And 
 again, to mention another teflof general corruption 
 when a corrupt beok is publifhed, will my read- 
 ers all bear folemn witnefs that it finds no lale. 
 
 But perhaps it will be faid and with fome degree 
 ofjuftice, that the religious advantages which aavc 
 been fpoken of are not common to all, that the 
 
 gofpel is not fully known } or even preached among 
 
 us 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 as, ami that we ought not to wonder at the mill- 
 cdnefs of the land, fince the means of our cure 
 aje fo much neglefted. 
 
 This is a iubject which muft be refeived for fu- 
 ture con fider alio n, bein^one which will naturallv 
 be treated of in the oourfe of oi*r further Sunday 
 Reading, 
 
 T H E E N D,