V *... *: #: A: *: *:: 3. **formatinºmoråls practicalle and ifiliareusable. * *g A SERMON DELIVERED AT NEW-HAVEN ON THE EVENING QF OCTOBER 27, 1812. * *ººm BY LYMAN BEECHER, A. M. PASTOR OF THE FIRST CHURCH IN LITCHFIELD, •=sººn-se 38toni, gāilitigit, *== ANDOWER : FLAGG AND GOULD, PRINTERs. 1844. 5-75-74 3-#. o SERMON. EZEKTEL xxxiii. 40. *HéREFore, Thou, o son of MAN, speak UN2'o "HE House of Is RAEL, PH.Us re SPEAK, SA r1NG, IF our º'RANSGRESSIONS AND our s 1Ns BE Upon Us AND WE PINE AWA r IN THEM, How should WE THEN LIVE 8 AT the time this direction was given to the prophet, the nation of Israel had become very wicked and were suffer- ing in captivity the punishment of their sins. And yet they did not reform—They affected to doubt whether the Most High would pardon them if they should reform. But if he would, it would afford them no consolation, for reformation; they insisted, had become hopeless. “Our transgressions and our sins be upon us and we pine away in them and die, how should we then live P” The burthen has increased until we are crushed beneath it. The disease has pro- gressed until it has become incurable. They were correct in the inference that if they did not reform they must die; but they erred lamentably in the conclusion that reformation was hopeless. To wipe off such an aspersion from his character, and to banish from the minds of his people such desponding ap- prehensions, the Most High condescends to expostulate with them. Have I any pleasure in the death of him that dieth P Is it my fault that nations are wicked? Do I con- strain them to sin or prevent their reformation ? As Ilive, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wick- ed but that the wicked turn from his way and live : “turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel P” We are brought therefore by the text and its connexions to the doctrine, That a work of reformation in a time of 'great moral declension is a difficult but by no means an impracticable work. In the illustration of this doctrine it is proposed to consider I. Some of the difficulties which may be expected to im- pede a work of reformation. II. Show that such a work is, notwithstanding, entirely practicable. 4. III. Consider some of the ways in which it may be successfully attempted. And IV. The motives to immediate exertion. With respect to the difficulties which may be expected to attend a work of reformation, one obvious impediment will be found in the number and character of those who must be immediately affected by such a work. The sons of Belial, in a time of declension, are numerous and daring. Emboldened by impunity, they have declared themselves independent both of God and man, and are leagued by a common interest and a common feeling to de- fend their usurped immunities. They are watchful and zealous, and the moment an effort is made to execute the laws, every mouth is open against the work; and their clamours, and sneers, and threatenings, and lies, like the croakings of Egypt, fill the land. This direct opposition may be expected to receive, from various sources, collateral aid. In this wicked world, where the love of money is the root of evil, there are not a few who traffic in the souls and bodies of men. Not immoral always. in their own conduct, they thrive by the vices of other men and may be tempted to resist a reformation, which would dry up these impure sources of revenue. They would not justify intemperance, nor the means of promoting it, but pretexts are never wanting to conceal the real motives of men and justify opposition to whatever they deem inconsis- tent with their interest. Though reformation, therefore, might be admitted to be desirable, either the motives of those who make the attempt, or the means by which they make it, will always be wrong; and it will be impossible ever to devise a right way, till their interest is on the other side. In many cases it is to be hoped that integrity would get the victory over cupidity; but in many more it is to be feared that avarice, secretly or openly, would send recruits to the standard of opposition. This phalanx may receive some augmentation from those whose pride may be wounded through the medium of their unhappy relatives. They could endure to see them live in infamy and die in despair—while they shrink from the imagined disgrace of applying a remedy which may rescue the victim, or Himit the influence of his pestilent example. 5 How long shall it be ere men will learn that sin is infamy, and that reformation is glory and honour ! To the preceding must be added the opposition of all the timid, falsely called, peace makers. They lament bitterly, the prevailing evils of the day, and multiply predictions of divine judgments and speedy ruin —But if a voice be raised or a finger be lifted to attempt a reformation, they are in a tremorlest the peace of society be invaded. Their maxim would seem to be, “better to die in sin, if we may but die quietly, than to purchase life and honour by contending for them.” If men will be wicked, let them be wicked, if they will but be peaceable. But the mischief is, men freed from restraint will be wicked and will not be peaceable. No method can be devised more effectual to destroy the peace of society, than tamely to give up the laws to conciliate the favour of the flagitious. Like the tribute paid by the degenerate Romans to purchase peace of the northern barbarians, every concession will in- crease the demand and render resistance more hopeless. Another class of men will encamp very near the enemy through mere love of ease. They would have no objection that vice should be sup- pressed, and good morals promoted, if these events would come to pass of their own accord; but, when the question is asked, what must be done? This talk of action is a terrific thing, and if in their panic they go not over to the enemy, it is only because the enemy also demands courage and enterprise.—In this dilemma, it is judged expedient to put in requisition the resources of wisdom, and gravely to caution against rashness, and innovation, and zeal without knowledge, until all about them are persuaded, that the safest and wisest and easiest way is to do nothing. There is another class of men, not too indolent, but too exclusively occupied with schemes of personal enterprise, to bestow time or labour upon plans which regard only the general good. If their fields bring forth abundantly, if their profession be lucrative, if they can buy, and sell, and get gain it is enough. Society must take care of itself. Distant conse- quences are not regarded, and generations to come must provide for their own safety. The stream of business hur. ries them on, without the leisure of a moment, or an anxious thought concerning the general welfare. 6 Another impediment to be apprehended when the work of reformation is attempted is found in the large territory of neutral ground, which, on such occasions, is often very populous. Many would engage in the enterprise cheerfully, were they quite certain it could be done with perfect safety. But erhaps it may injure their interest or affect their popularity. They take their stand, therefore, on this safe middle ground —They will not oppose the work, for perhaps it may be popular: And they will not help the work, for perhaps it may be unpopular—They wait, therefore, till they perceive whether Israel or Amaleck prevail, and then, with much self-complacency, fall in on the popular side. This neutral territory is especially large in a republican government, where so much emolument and the gratification of so much ambition depend upon the suffrages of the peo- ple. It requires no deep investigation to make it manifest to the candidate for suffrage, That if he lend his influence to prevent travelling on the Sabbath, the Sabbath breaker will not vote for him; if he lay his hand upon tippling shops, and drunkards, the whole suffrage of those who are impli- cated will be turned against him. Hence many, who should be a terror to evil doers, do bear the sword in vain. They persuade themselves that theirs, is a peculiar case, and that for them it is not best to volunteer in the work of reformation. To reduce the power of this temptation, it may be laid down as a maxim, that when the toleration of crimes be- comes the price of public suffrage—when the people will not endure the restraint of righteous laws, but reward ma- gistrates who violate their oath and suffer them to sin with impunity; and when magistrates will sell their conscience and the public good for a little brief authority, then the public suffrage is of but little value, for the day of liberty is draw- ing to a close, and the might of despotism is at hand. The people are prepared to become slaves, and the flagitious to usurp the government and rule them with a rod of iron. No compact, formed by man, is more unhallowed or pernicious than this tacit compact between rulers and subjects, to dis- pense with the laws and tolerate crimes. In the midst of these difficulties, there are not a few who greatly magnify them by unmanly dejection. Hike the captive Israelites they sit down and fold their hands, and sigh, and weep, and wish that something might y be done, but inculcate unceasingly, the disheartening pre- diction that nothing can be done. ... “It is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Jinak, which came of the giants, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” Because the work cannot be done at a stroke, they con- clude it can never be done. Because all that might be desirable cannot be obtained, perhaps ever, they conclude that nothing can be obtained. Talk of reformation, and the whole nation, with all its crimes, rises up before them, and fills them with dismay and despair. It seems never to have occurred to them, that if we cannot do great good it is best to do a little : and that, by accomplishing with persevering industry all that is practicable, the ultimate amount may be great, surpassing expectation. There is yet another class of people who by no means despair of deliverance. But they have no conception that human exertion will be of much avail. If we are delivered God must deliver us, and we must pray and wait till it shall please him to come and save us. But we may pray and wait forever, upon this principle, and the Lord will not come. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of means, and though the excellency of the power belongs to him exclusively; human instrumentality is indispensable. It is by no means improbable that some may be aroused to oppose any special efforts at reformation, merely from their novelty. It is lamentable that such efforts should be a novelty in a world where they are always so necessary to keep back the encroachments of vice. But so it is. And however good and proper the exertions may be, if they have not been made before, that is deemed a sufficient reason why they never should be made. “What new thing is this? Did our fathers ever do so?” They had not the same occasion. But because they did not make special efforts to repel an enemy which did not assail them, shall we neglect by appropriate means to resist an enemy which is pouring in like a flood, and threatening to sweep us away? There are some who look with cold, philosophic eye up- on the progress of crimes, as a part of that great course of * 8 events which will roll on resistless in spite of human en- deavour. And we know that the genius of the government, the progress of science, and the refinements of wealth and luxury, will draw after them a train of consequences, which no human efforts can prevent. But are these consequences evil only P Are not certain vices left behind in the rude age, and certain virtues produced by the age of refinement? If there be greater facilities of committing crimes, are there not also increased facilities of preventing them P And if the balance be on the whole against us, is this an argument that we can do nothing, or only that we should double our diligence as dangers increase ? Because nations have not resisted this tide of human events, does it follow that it can- not be resisted 2 May not the deleterious causes be modi- fied and counteracted, and their result delayed if not avert- ed? Will the christian religion and its institutions exert no saving influence in our favour? Because Greece and Rome, who had not this precious system, perished by their vices, is it certain that nations must perish now who expe- rience its preserving influence? We have seen what idols can do, and we have before us the result of atheism. I.et us water now with double diligence the tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, and not despair of its re- storinginfluence till the experiment has been faithfully made and has failed. But not a few, after all, it may be feared, will stand aloof from the work of reformation, from the persuasion that we are in no danger. The world is no worse than it always has been, and this pretence of growing wickedness is only a song of alarm, sung by superstition from age to age. Surely then, if we may credit testimony, the world has heen uniformly bad enough to make reformation desirable, and if, without special efforts, it has been stationary, the prospect of improvement by exertion is bright, and we are utterly inexcusable if we do not make the attempt. But is it true that nations do not decline P whence then the punishment of the Israelites for this sin, and whence the maxim we have just combatted, that they must and will decline? Were the morals of the Roman empire as good when it was sold at auction as at any antecedent period? Was the age of Charles the Second in England as favoura- ble to virtue as any preceding age P Did the late war pro- duce in our own land no change for the worse P Are the 9 morals of New-England as pure now as they ever have been P Is the God of heaven as universally worshipped in the family P Are children as much accustomed to subor- dination, and as faithfully instructed in religion? Are the laws against immorality as faithfully executed, and the occasions for their interference as few as at any former pe- riod P Has there been no increase of slander, falsehood, and perjury? Is the Sabbath day remembered and kept holy with its ancient strictness? Did our fathers journey, and labour in the field, and visit, and ride out for amuse- ment on that holy day, and do these things with impunity? Has there been no increase of intemperance 2 Was there consumed in the days of our fathers the proportion of five gallons of ardent spirits for every man, woman, and child in the land, and at an expense more than sufficient to sup- port the gospel, the civil government, and every school and literary institution? Did our fathers tolerate tippling-shops all over the land, and enrich merchants and beggar their families by **** their estates to pay the expenses of intemperance? Did the ardent spirits consumed by la- bourers amount not unfrequently to almost half the price of their labour, and did they faint often ere the day was past, and fail before the summer was ended, and die of intempe- rance in the midst of their days P. It is capable of demon- stration that the vigour of our countrymen, the amount of productive labour, and their morals are declining together under the influence of this destructive sin. We are to shew II. That, notwithstanding all these impediments, a re- formation is entirely practicable. If it were not practicable, why should it be commanded and disobedience be followed with fearful punishment? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Are not all his requisitions according to what a man hath, and not ac- cording to what he hath not? The commands of God are the measure and evidence of human ability. He is not an hard master, reaping where he has not sowed, and gather- ing where he has not strawed. The way of the Lord is not unequal. He never demands of men the performance of impossibilities. We conclude, therefore, that reforma- tion is practicable, because it is the unceasing demand of heaven that nations, as well as individuals, do turn from their evil ways, 2 £0 But facts corroborate theory. Reformations, great and difficult, have been achieved. Such was the reformation from Popery, begun by Luther. Who would have conceiv- ed it possible before the event, that an individual could awake half of Europe from the slumber of ages, and shed upon the nations that light, which is shining more and more to the perfect day? The abolition of the Slave Trade in England, and in our own country, is a memorable exhibition of what may be done by well directed, persevering efforts. The inhu- man trafic was sanctioned by custom, defended by argu- ment, and still more powerfully, by a vast monied capital, embarked in the trade. It is not yet fifty years, since this first effort was made, and now the victory is won. Who produced this mighty revolution? A few men at first, lifted up their voice and were reinforced by others, till the im- mortal work was done. Athousandth part of the study, and exertion, and expense, and sufferiag, endured to achieve our independence, would pe sufficient, with the divine blessing, to preserve our mo- rals, and perpetuate our liberties forever. Should a for reign foe invade us, there would be no despondency; every pulse would beat high, and every arm would be strong. It is only when criminals demand the surrendry of our laws and institutions, that all faces gather paleness and all hearts are faint. Men who would fly to the field of battle to rescue their country from shame, tremble at the song of the drunk- ard, and flee, panic struck, before the army of the aliens. But we have facts to produce; facts, more decisive than a thousand arguments, to prove that such reformation as we need is practicable. Desperate as the state of the Jews was in their own esti- mation, they were reformed, and did not at that time pine away and die in their sins. And never, perhaps, was such a work attended with circumstances of greater difficulty. The whole order of God’s worship had been deranged by the captivity, and was again to be restored. Many of the people had contracted unlawful marriages, and husbands and wives were to be separated, and parents and children. Some had been in the habit of treading the wine press on the Sabbath day, and bringing in sheaves, and wine, and grapes, and figs, and all manner of burthens. The people held also constant intercourse with Syrian merchants, who i 1 came into their city on the Sabbath and traded with them, But great as were the difficulties, Nehemiah and Ezra, and the elders of the land undertook, and by the help of ‘God accomplished the work of reformation. Other efforts of the same kind have been crowned with similar success. A society was established in 1,0ndon, about the year 1697, to suppress vice, by promoting the execution of the laws. The moral state of the city and nation at that time, and the success of their association, are thus described by a respectable historian : “It is well known to our shame, that profane swearing and cursing, drunkenness and open lewdness, and profana- tion of the Lord’s day, have been committed with great impunity and without control, without either shame or fear of laws: so that they were seen and heard at noon-day, and in the open streets—Debauchery had diffused itself through the whole body of the nation, till at last our morals were so corrupted, that virtue and vice had with too many changed their names. It was reckoned breeding to swear, gallantry to be lewd, good humour to be drunk, and wit to despise serious things. En this state of things reforma- tion was indeed talked of, as an excellent thing; but vice was looked upon as too formidable an enemy to be pro- voked, and public reformation was thought to be so difficult a thing, that those who gave it very good words, thought it not safe to set about it. When things were in this dismal and almost desperate state, it came into the hearts of five or six private gentlemen, to engage in this hazardous enter- prise. This was such an undertaking, as might well be expected soon to alarm the enemy, and which the patrons of vice would attempt to defeat, before any progress could be made. And so it proved. The champions of debauchery put themselves in array, to defend their infamous liberties: to ridicule, to defame, and to oppose this design. And others, whom in charity we could not look upon as enemics, were forward to censure these attempts, as the fruit of an imprudent zeal. But notwithstanding a furious opposition from adversaries, and the unkind neutrality of friends, these gentlemen not only held their ground, but made advances into the territory of the enemy. The society commencing with five or six, soon embraced numbers and persons of ominence in every station. In imitation of this society, and for the same purpose, other societies were formed in every 42 }. of the city, and among the sober of almost every pro- ession and occupation. Beside these there were about thirty-nine religious societies in and about London, who, among other objects, made that of reformation a prominent OFlø. “The effects of these combinations were favourable be- yond the most sanguine expectation. From their vigilance and promptitude, the growing vices of the day were check- ed, insomuch that it was soon found difficult to detect a sin- i. criminal in the streets and markets, where a little before horrid oaths, curses, and imprecations might be heard day and night. Multitudes of drunkards, profaners of the Ilord’s day, besides hundreds of disorderly houses, were brought to justice and such open vices suppressed. Nor were the good effects of these associations limited to the city. They soon extended to most of the principal towns and cities of the nation, to Scotland and Ireland, so that a great part of the kingdom have been awakened in some measure to a sense of duty, and thereby a very hopeful pro- gress is made towards a general reformation.” Similar societies have been formed in England, at different times, ever since. In 1802, a very respectable soeicty of the above description was established in London. It expe- rienced at first most virulent opposition, but has completely surmounted every obstacle, and now commands fear and res- pect, and gratitude. Such has been its influence in prevent- ing erimes, that at one annual meeting, the number of con- victions reported was an hundred and seventy-eight, at the next only seventy. As it respects the observation of the Sabbath particularly, the whole city of London exhibits, to a considerable degree, a new face. A vast number of shops are closed, which used to be open on that day. The butch- ers of several markets have thanked the society, for com- pelling them to an act which they find productive of so much comfort to themselves, and have even associated to se- cure that triumph, which the labours of the society had won. Their useful and disinterested labours have received the commendation and thanks of the Lord Chief Justice, of more than one of the judges, and of a variety of magistrates. We desire also to bring our gift to their altar, (says the Christian Observer, from which work we have taken this account,) and to add the feeble testimony of our opinion, that this society deserves well of its country. 43 In this country, about the year 1760, a society was formed in the state of Maryland to aid the civil magistrate in the execution of the laws. And so well, it is said, did the so- ciety succeed, as to induce numbers, in different states, to imitate their example. From that time to the present, si- milar associations have been formed in various places, as exigencies have demanded, and with good effect, whenever their exertions have been made with prudence and decision. We consider the fact, therefore, as now established, that reformation, in a season of prevailing moral declension, is entirely practicable. And if it be so, it is a glorious fact shedding light upon the darkness of the present day. We are to consider——III. Some of the ways in which this great work may be successfully attempted. And doubtless in the first place, the public attention must be called up to this subject, and the public mind must be impressed with a proper sense of danger and the necessity of reformation. rom various causes, nations are prone to sleep-over the dangers of moral depravation, till their destruction comes upon them. A small pertion only of the whole mass of crimes is seen at any one point. A few tippling shops are observed in a particular place, impoverishing families and rearing up drunkards. But, it is not considered that thou- sands, with like pestilent influence, are at work all over the land, training up recruits to hunt down law and order. A few instances are witnessed, of needless travelling or la- bour or amusement on the Sabbath, which excite a momen- tary alarm. But it is not considered, that a vast army, probably three millions of people, are assailing at the same time this great bulwark of christian lands. The progress of declension is also so gradual, as to attract from day to day but little notice, or excite but little alarm. Now this slow, but certain approximation of the community to destruction must be made manifest. The whole army of conspirators against law and order, must be brought out and arrayed before the public eye, and the shame, and the bondage, and the wo, which they are preparing for us. This exposition of public guilt and danger is the appro- priate work of gospel ministers. They are watchmen, set upon the walls of Zion, to descry and announce the approach of danger. And if through sloth, or worldly avocations, or fear of man, they blow not the trumpet at the approach i4 of the enemy, and the people perish, the blood of the slain will the Lord require at their hands. Civil magistrates are also ministers of God, attending continually upon this very thing. It is their exclusive work, “to see to it that the commonwealth receives no detriment.” Indeed, every man is bound to be vigilant and firm, and unceasing in this great work. And by sermons, and conversation, and tracts, and news-papers, and magazines, and legislative aid, the point may be gained. The public attention may be called up to the subject, and just apprehensions of danger may be excited, and when this is done, the greatest danger is past. The work is half accomplished. The next thing to be attempted is the reformation of the better part of the community. * In a time of general declension, some who are compara- tively virtuous, perhaps professedly pious, yield insensibly to the influence of bad example. Habits are formed, and practices are allowed, which none would indulge in better days, but the openly vicious. Each says of his own indul- gence, “is it not a little one?” But the aggregate guilt is great, and the aggregate demoralizing influence of such licence, in such persons, is dreadful. It annihilates the in- fluence of their good example, tempts the inexperienced to enter, and the hardened to go on in the downward road, and renders all efforts to save them unavailing. If we would attempt therefore, successfully, the work of reformation, we must make the experiment first upon ourselves. We must cease to do evil and learn to do well, that with pure hands and clear vision we may be qualified to reclaim others. If our liberty, even in things lawful, should be- come a stumbling block to the weak or the wicked, it may be no superfluous benevolence to forego gratifications, in- nocent in themselves, that we may avoid the appearance of evil, and cut off occasion of reproach from all whom our exertions may provoke to desire occasion.* The next thing demanding attention is the religious edu-