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SKETCHES

OF

THE PHILOSOPHY

or THE

BIBLE.

" The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them
that have pleasure therein." Psalm, cxi, 2.

By R. H. BISHOP, D. D.

OXFORD:
PUBLISHED BY W. W. BISHOP.
MDCCOXXXII1,

Oxford:
Printed by Andrew Noble,-
Main Street.

PREFACE.

The words and works of God, proceeding from the same
great Author, must have in common some great and lead
ing characteristics. God's moral government of men and
nations must also harmonise with the great and leading
principles and facts, contained in his word. Hence, we
have three distinct, though intimately connected and insep
arable, sources of information : and, all other things being
equal, that subject will be the best illustrated, where the
greatest use is made of matter furnished from each of these
sources. Again. The bible being admitted to be God's word, it must also
follow, that whatever informotion is there given respecting
the nature or history of man, or respecting any of God's
works, must be the truth, and nothing but the truth. Hence,
any abstract principle, or fact, which is directly opposed to
any fact or principle clearly contained in the bible, cannot
be a legitimate deduction from any of the works of creation
or providence. There must have been some mistake in the
proofs, by which that principle or fact was said to have
been established.
And finally. »
If the bible is admitted to be a revelation from God to
man, it must be allowed not only to give accurate and full
information respecting the nature and condition of man;
hut we cannot suppose, that there is any thing in it, which
is not really necessary for the full developement of the in
tellectual and moral powers of man. Hence, all systems of
Mental Philosophy, and all systems of Morals and Jurispru-
denee must be defective, which do not avail themselves, to
the full extent, of all the principles and facts, respecting
msn and nations, which God has been pleased to reveal or
to preserve in the bible. ' - > -v

iv PREFACE.
These are some of the reasons, which have induced the
Author of the followingpages, to obtrude them on the atten
tion of his friends, and the public. The design has been
to shew, "that the great and leading facts and doctrines,
contained in the bible, harmonise with all the great and
leading /acts in the arrangements of nature, and in the his
tory of man; and that a regular and extensive study of the
bible, is one of the best means of intellectual and moral im
provement." How far he has succeeded in his attempt,
those , who may find it convenient to read and examine
what he has offered, must decide.
It, will be readily perceived, that what is presented on
the most of the subjects, is nothing more than a mere out
line. This is all that was proposed, and all that is includ
ed in the title of the book. But if the position taken is
tenable, and if what is offered is any way applicable, any
thinking man, who is only tolerably conversant with these
subjects, may easily find other proofs and illustrations to
almost any amount,
Oxford, Ohio, January, 1 833.

CONTENTS.

Page.
Number I. The importance of the Bible as a source
of information. 2 Kings, xxii, 8 — 13. . -1
II. Diversity of opinion. Job, xxxii, 6 — 10. 13
III, Useless Studies. Titus, iii, 9. . . 28
IV. Extract from a pastoral address with
remarks. . 42
V. System Making  48
VI. The original State of Man. . .61
VII. The nature and use of Positive Institu
tions. Gen. ii, 16, 17. . . . 73
VIII. Social Liability. Rom. v, 18. . 89
IX. Faith. John, iii, 36. . . . 118
X. The second Man. Rom. v, 18. . 131
XI. Social Relations. Rom. v, 19. . 1 47
'""*•* XIT. The weakness of man. Psalm, cxlvi, 3, 4. 164
XIII. The way to wealth. 1 Chron. iv, 9, 10. 185
XIV. The way to Prosperity. Job, xiii, 10. 196
XV. The agency of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah,
lix, 21. . . . " . . 208
XVI. Prayer. Phil, iv, 6. 226
*",» XVII. The watering of the earth. Psalm,
civ, 13.  241
"•*•"¦ XVIII. The warming of the earth. Psalm,
Ixxiv, 16, 17. . , . . 264
XIX. The value and extent of Scriptural
Knowledge. 2 Tim. iii, 14, 15. . 293

¦ **

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLE AS A SOURCE
OF INFORMATION.
II. Kings sxir. 8 — 13. And Hilkiah the high priest said
Unto Shapan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the
house of the Lord. Hilkiah gave the book to Shapan, and he
read it. And Shapan the scribe came to the king, and brought
the king word again, and said, thy servants have gathered the
jm,oney that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the
hand of those that do the work, that have the oversight in the house
oj the Lord. And Shapan the scribe shewed the king, saying,
Hilkiah ike priest hath delivered me a book. And Shapan read
it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king heard
^'he words of the book of the law, that he rent kis clothes. And
the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of
Shapan. and Arhbor the son of Michaiah, and Shapan the scribe,
and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying. Go ye, enquire of
the Lord for me, and the people, and for Judah, concerning the
words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the
Lord that is kiudled against us, because our fathers have not heark*
cned uuto the words of this book, to do according unto all that
which is written concerning us.
This passage contains a remarkable fact
in the history of the church of God. There
was a time when a complete copy of the law
of God was not known to have existed. And
yet this book was the constitution of the na
tion. , The means of preserving and commu
nicating knowledge were indeed m. those

2 IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBL&
days very different from what they now are,
but they were complete.
1. The Bible then consisted of only the
five books of Moses. And the matter of
those books being chiefly historical, and the
*last of them being only a repetition or an-
abridgment of those of the former, the com
mitting of the whole to memory could not
have been a great task ; especially when it
is remembered, that in the early stages of
society, the memory both of the old and the
young is generally exercised to a greater ex
tent than it is in a more advanced stage.
9. This law was to be read publicly and
regularly on certain occasions. They had
the weekly sabbath, and the three solemn
and annual feasts which were to be particu-*
Iarly appropriated to exercises of this kind.
3. A body of men, the Preists and the
Levites, had been appointed by God, and
had in his good providence been continued
from generation to generation, whose whole
business was to preserve a knowledge of the
law, and regularly to instruct the people in
the whole of it. These in the days of Mos
ses from thirty years old and upwards to
eighty years were 8580, and we have no
reason to believe that they were at any fu
ture period much diminished.
4. The book of Psalms had been compos
ed and arranged under the authority of God

CMP6RTANCE OF THE BIBLE. , 3
Sby David and others to be repeated and sung
in regular order daily. And a large por
tion of these Psalms is historical, and they
all have a direct reference to the law of
God given by Moses. '
5. Every head of a family was particu
larly charged to have all his household well
instructed in the whole of this law. " And
these words which I command you this day,
ohall be in thy heart: and thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children^ and shalt
talk of them when thou sittest in thy house,
and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon
thy hand, and they shall be as frontless be
tween thy eyes. And thou shalt write them
upon the posts of thy house, and on tliy
gates," Duet. VI. 6—9..
6. As the cannon of inspiration was not
completed and as the government under
which the nation was, was a Theocracy,
men were occasionally reared up (such as
Samuel) whose chief business was under a
special commission from heaven to call the
attention of the rulers and of the people to
the law of Moses. It is probable that every
generation had one or; more such men.
7. Every king or every chief magistrate
when he entered into office, was to write
©ut with his own hand,, and for his own par-

4 IMPORTANCE OF THE BIB! E.
titular use, a complete copy of the law.
"When thou art come into the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt
posses it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt
say, I will set a king over me, like as all the
^nations that are about me; thou shalt in
any wise set him king over thee, whom the
Lord thy God shall choose ; one from among
thy brethern shalt thou set king over thee ;
thou mayest not set a stranger over thee,
v Inch is not thy brother. But he shall not
multiply horses unto himself, nor cause the
people to return to Egypt, to the end that
he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the
Lord hath said unto you, ye shall henceforth
return no more that way. Neither shall he
multiply wives to himself, that his herrt
turn not away ; neither shall he greatly mul
tiply to himself silver and gold. And it
shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of
his kindom, that he shall write him a copy
of this law in a book, out of that which isr^
before the priests the Levites : and it shall be
with him, and he shall read therein all the
days of his life, that he may learn to fear
the Lord his God, to keep all the words cf
this law, and these statutes, to do them ;
that his heart be not lifted up above his
brethern, and that he turn not aside from the
commandment to the right hand or to the
left j to the end that he may prolong his days

IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLE. 5
in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the
midst of Israel."— Duet. XVII. 14—20.
Under all these circumstances, the guiifc
of being ignorant of the law was uncommon
ly great, Not only the king and priests
and. Levites ought to have been at all times
well informed in these matters but every
family ought to have been familiar with all
that *j>od had revealed and with all that God
had done for them and their nation.
And good King Josiah, whose heart was
tender, though he had now heard a portion
of the law read for the first time, did not
plead ignorance or not having had any oppor
tunity of being informed, as an excuse for his
own guilt or the guilt of the nation. "Go"
says he. "enquire of the Lord for me, and
for the people, and for all Judah, concern
ing the words of this book that is found: for
great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled
against us, because our fathers have not
hearkened to the words of this book, to do
according to all that is written concerning
us." But strange and remakable as this case is,
it is not a solitary Case in the history of the
church of God. There is a period in the
history of the world which is called the dark
ages. It was a long period : a period of sev
en or eight hundred years, and three hun
dred of these were uncommonly dark. N or

<S IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBL&-
'Were the men and the women and the child
ren who were enveloped in this darkness pa
gans; nor were they the infidels, the follow
ers of the false prophet, but they were chris
tians. Nor were they without instructors
Or religious institutions or days, and seasons
devoted to religious exercises. They had
'their weekly sabbaths, and their holy days,
and their priesthood by the hundreds aud
the thousands. And this, priesthood had
the learning and the wealth and the civil and
ecclesiastical power of the age at their cona-
jmand. And those long years of desolation
were peculiarly dark, because the book of
the law of the Lord-was not known even to
the hundreds and the thousands of the 0*11-
ciating christian instructors, and of course
the great mass of the people in all the de
partments of life knew not that there wL.
.such a book at the Bible in existence.
In reviewing these dark ages, and com
paring them with ages of a different char
acter, the following important facts may be
established and illustrated to almost any ex*-
tent; viz:
1. That the state of morals has always
been good or bad in proportion to the know-*
ledge, and influence of the Bible.
Whatever may have been mens' religious
or political creed, they have all agreed in;
paying that virtue is good and vice is bad-

IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLE. T
The terms lying and stealing and murder
and oppression have also been vised in all
languages, and in every state of society in
the same meaning. Now all writers do agree,
in saying that all these did abound and did
greatly abound during the whole of the
dark ages.
It is equally plain :
2 That learning and the useful sciences have
also been in proportion to the knowledge and
the influence of the Bible. All writers mark:
the era of the reformation as having been
favorable to literature and science. Nor
would it be a very difleult matter to show
tVit all the other causes which are said to
hf.ve produced the revival of literature
would have had a very slender influence had
it not been for the reformation.
The great principle of the reformation.
was, that the Bible was the supreme and.
the only supreme and infallible standard of
Theology ; and that every man who had a
8oul to be saved was to study the Bible for
himself. Under this great principle, all the
leading men among the reformers were men
©f thorough research and high literary at
tainments ; and under this great principle, all
who were connected with the reformation
were more or less active in establishing or
reviving schools of every descript ion, from
the ABC school whose ohief object was < $

8 IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLE.
teach the children of the poor to read
the Bible, to the College and the University
where investigations were carried on as ex
tensive as the universe. Hence the princi
ple that every man ought to think for him
self was soon applied to all matters of liter
ature and science. And it ever since has
been the great commanding and living
principle of action in all the departments
of knowledge where any improvements
have been made. The reformers also uni
form ily connected Eternity and the fear of
God with all their plans and operations.
All men see and acknowledge the vast dif
ference there is betwixt heathen and christ
ian countries as to morals literature and
science, and in the enjoyment of the most
ordinary necessaries and comforts of life.
Nor can any good cause be assigned for this
palpable difference, than the having or not
having the Bible or the institutions of the
Bible in common use.
All who are not enveloped in the dark
ness of popery also readily acknowledge
the difference there is in these respects be
twixt Catholic and Protestant countries.
Even what is called literature and science in
patholic countries or in catholic colleges is a
very different thing from what it is in pro-
testant countries and in protestant colleges.
In the one case the mind is in fetters and di-

IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLE. 9
.rected chiefly to objects which have little or
no bearing upon intellectual and moral im
provement; in the other case men are taught
both by precept and example to think and
to act for themselves, and objects of re
search as extensive as is the visible creation*
are set before them.
Farther :
When we examine the contents^of the
Bible, and the institutions of the Bible, we
will find this book is above all other books
remarkably well adapted to produce the ex
pansion and improvement of the mind — for
1. The Bible is God's book in the same
sense in which the Universe is God's work.
There God speaks and gives lis in so many
words extensive information of himself, and
of man, and of the works of creation and pro
vidence and redemption. The Bible also
not only contains truth, but it contains un
mixed truth nothing but truth, infallible truth.
And in this book he who made the human,
mind condescends to speak for the prati-
cular and special improvement of the crea
ture man. Nor is it unphilosophical to ex
pect to enjoy the divine blessing in a pe
culiar manner when we are employing our
powers under his immediate direction, and,
about the objects to which he has been
jpleased to direct our particular attention.
% The Bible as a book contains a greater

10 IMPORTANCE OE THE BIBLE.
Quantity of i important information, thof?
any other book of its size ever did. No one
book has ever given information on so great
a variety of important subjects and so
much information on every one of them.
There is also a fulness of meaning in the
thought and language of the Bible which is
to be found in other composition. Cod's
book is* like God's works, inexhaustible.
.The histories of the Bible connected with
the prophesies of the Bible embrace the
history of our world from the beginnig to
the end of time, as also, the evolutions of
the plans of the infinite mind, and illustra
tions of the principles of his moral govern
ment. < >¦
The poetry of the Bible is abundant and
rich and varied, far surpassing the test
efforts of human genius.
The study of Grecian and Roman Anti
quities form an important and an essential
part of a liberal education; but the Mosaic
institutions and the history of the Jews as
connected with these institutions open a far
more rich and extensive and important field
of investigation.
Every candid man must also acknowl
edge that in the Bible we have the most ex«
tensive information as to morals and reli
gion and the first principles of law and iu-
flsprudence, and a true and full exhibition

.IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLE. 11
of what kind of being man is. Here we
Study human nature in all its varieties.
Even in Physical Science the Bible is an
inexhaustible treasure. The heavens and
the earth, and all their productions are con
tinually brought into view, and always in
soaie new connection, or some new modifi
cations. IN or as yet among all the discove
ries of modern times has there been one fact
or principle discovered which does not har
monize with the statements and allusion of
the Bible. It is even doubtful whether a
single correct principle, or a single funda
mental fact in either Moral Or Physical Sci
ence is yet known to which there is not a
reference in the Bible.
;¦ 3. The acknowledged moral influence of
the Bible is favourable in an eminent degree
to the expansion and improvement of the
-human mind. It shows men and men of all
¦ranks the true end of their creation, and
gives specific directions as to the best means
-of obtaining that end. It teaches man ;tp>
'govern himself, and to be economical as to
the right use of his time, and the right use
ol the wealth or influence or power of any
kind which he may posses. And it every
where opens up to him immortality in all its
glory and in all its intersts.. Nor is there
^any thing mean or grovelling or unwor
thy of . <uiotl in the Bible, Even the fol-

1 2 IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLE.
lies and vices of man are exhibited in the*
Bible so as to have an elevating and digni
fying effect upon the human mind.
The missionary exertions of the last thir*
ty years have produced and will undoubt
edly continue to produce great and( exten
sive changes to the better in both christian
and heathen countries; but all these are to be
attributed to the continued and increased
study of the Bible. Nor in contemplating
these astonishing changes upon indivdual and
national character are we to forget that phi-
losphy and political economy unconnected
with the religion of the Bible have never
as yet elevated any portion of the human
family and poverty and ignorance and su
perstition and vice. Take .also the influ
ence of the Bible and of Bible men from the
exertions which are now making to elevate
the standard and extend the influence of edu
cation, and to free the world from the evils
of slavery and oppression, and all these ex*
ertions would soon cease»

*ro. in.

ON DIVERSITY OF OPINION.
And Elihu the son of Baracjiel the Buzite answered and saii,
lam young and yg are. very old; wherefore I was afraid, and
durst not show you mine opinion- I said Days should speak,and
multitude of years should; teath wisdom. But there is a spirit
.in man : and the inspiration of Ihe Almighty giveth them under
standing. Great men are not always wise ; neither do the aged
understand judgement. Therefore I said hearken unto me ; *I
also will shew mine opinion.  JOB XXXII. 6  10. ,
The book of Job is on many accounts all
'interesting book. It is probably the oldest
writing extant, having been written or trans
lated from the Arabic into Hebrew, as some
suppose by Moses while Jie sojourned in
Midian before he was called to be the de-
¦ liverer of Israel from Egyptian bondage.
i As a composition it abounds with every
classical beauty, both of thought and ex-,
pression. And it is particularly instructive
in showing us that good men and men of
strong intellectual powers and of acute ob
servation, and the favourites of Jehovah may
differ widely in explaining and applying the
great and leading doctrines of religion, as
well as in explaining and applying some of
the particular operations of providence^
<And this book as a book of controver-

14 DRHERSITY OF OPINION.
«y and debate, has the same characters
which have marked many other volumes of
controversy carried on betwixt wise and
good and able men. There is no difference
of opinion as to the abstract doctrines ; all
the difference is about the application of
those doctrines to a particular case.
Let us  ._
I. Attend to the origin of diversity of
Opinion, and then
II. Make some practical deductions from
the whole.
Suppose a large and elegant building set
in a commanding situation and accessible in
every direction, and affording specimens of
the different orders of Architecture, in the
main body, or in the wings, or in the front,
or in the rear : and also suppose all the nat
ural and artificial arrangements on the ad
joining grounds greatly diversified. And
suppose one hundred, or if you please one
thousand first rate landscape painters set in
as many different positions, some at a great
er and some at a less distance from the main
building, and each to produce a finished
painting of the whole scenery: all would be
fine, and all the pieces would be readily ac
knowledged by every one who had ever
walked around the building to be true and
striking representations of the original. And
yet no two of these paintings would be ei-

DIVERSITY OF OPINION. IS
actly alike. Nay suppose only one of the
thousand painters would make a thousand
paintings of this object and of the surround
ing scenery, but each made from a differ
ent position, and a similar diversity and uni
formity would be the result. No two of the
productions would be exactly alike, while
every one of them would be acknowledged
to be an exact representation of the origi
nal. Again ;
• Infinite diversity enstamped upon the
most rigid uniformity, forms one of the most
distinguishing features of all Gods's works.
The human face is the same every where—
in all climates— in all countries — under all
colours — in every state of society, and in eve
ry individual, from infancy to old age. Yet
every individual face, of the millions which
have been and are, has had and has, its dis
tinct, identical, and individual characteris
tic. And under all the changes, which take
place, from infancy to old age, the leading
individual features are preserved distinct.
A similar law is enstamped upon mind. The
leading features of mind as distinguished
from the brute, are the same in the savage
and the civilized man— -in the learned and
in the unlearned — in the man of high stand
ing in society, and in the man who ranks
with the^ dregs <*of the multitude« And yef

16 DIVERSITY OF OPINION.
every individual mind, has its individual
characteristics. Two minds exactly the
same, were never yet known, any more than
two faces. Two men both blest with minds
of the first order, may be educated under
the same masters, at the same time — may
study together, the same books — and may
be devotedthrough life, to the same profes
sion, in the same state of society, and yet on
every occassion as to talent and mental im
provement, be as distinctly diversified as
their faces. Nor will the attainments of any,
two men, in any one department of research
be exactly the same.
Take another view,
However extensive and astonishing the
powers of man are, he is only a creature—
and of course of limited powers — and yet
these powers are, in every stage of his ex
istence, susceptible of progressive and un
limited improvement.
Vision is the most extensive of our exter
nal senses — yet both with respect to distant
objects, and objects in our immediate neigh
bourhood, it is limited and dependant upon
a great variety of circumstances, over which
we have no controul.
Some men have great bodily strength, but
a certain weight can only be removed in a
given time, and the strength of the strongest,
can onlybe exerted during a limited period

DIVERSITY OF OPINION if
Others are distinguished for great agility*
Wt they can only pass over a definite space
in a definite time ; nor can they always be on
the wing.
The improvements which have been made
«ven in our own day, in the most of the useful
arts, are numerous and astonishing ; but still
a certain quantity nfwnrlr.nan only be per
formed by the application of a given power ;
and productive as the soil, or this or the oth
er source of wealth may be, there is always
a maximum, beyond which the most san
guine never raise their expectations.
Men, with respect to knowledge and liter
ary acquirements, have always been, and al
ways will be classed under two general di
visions, viz : the learned and the unlearned.
But those terms have always been and al
ways will be of very indefinite signification
The phrase, a learned or well informed man,
will always have a reference to some other
man, who is more or less learned than that
particular man is. And the well informed
man will always know something, which the
less informed man knows not. It is also a re
markable fact, in the lives and experience of
men of research and information, that the
most eminent of them, have always been the
readiest to acknowledge their ignoranqe;
and that with all their attainments, they knew
&ut little in comparison of what is still un-

IS DIVERSITY OF OPINION4.
jknown, or in comparison of what they might
Jiave known, had they, on all occasions, prop
erly improved their powers and opportuni
ties. Vf.
From these and similar facts, it follows,
that diversity of opinion has its origin in the
Very nature of man, and in the nature of all
the objeets. with which he is surrounded.
1st. In man's own nature. He is a being
of only limited powers. He can, under the
most favourable circumstances, acquire
knowledge only to a certain extent; and
though he is susceptible of progressive and
unlimiited improvement, omniscience is no
more an attribute of his nature, than omnipo
tence or creative power is.
2. In the nature, of things. The objects
of human investigation, both with respect to
matter and mind, are exceedingly nume
rous ; and every object of thought standi
in a thousand relations to a thousand other
objects. Add 3. That no two men, have exactly the
Same mental capacities, nor the same op
portunities of improving these capacities—.
add also, that every man who examine*
and thinks for himself, is continually chan
ging his position, and with every new posi
tion discovering some new relations of
some new properties, among the objecte

DIVERSITY OF OPINION. 19
with which he has been the most familiar.
He is, for instance, moving slowly round
the large and elegant building set on an
eminence* and with every new step, noting
a new and interesting feature.
We now,
II. Deduce a few practical inferences
from the whole. And
1. We have hence, great encouragement
to mental exertion and freedom of enquiry.
All attempts to restrain freedom of enqui
ry, is in fact attempting to make man some
thing else from what God made him.
Though comparatively few of our race
practically know the fact, yet it is true, that
man is by his very nature, a thinking and
investigating being, and he is placed under
circumstances, calculated and intended to
bring into full and vigorous exercise, all his
various and extensive powers, in an infinite
variety of forms and degrees. Even those
facts and principles with which we are most
familiar, are capable of being thrown almost
continually into some new forms, and into
some new connexions — and with every one of
these new forms and connexions, every
thinking man discovers and feels, something
still new and something still more interes
ting. Thinking is in fact, nothing but turn
ing over in our mind some one object, or some
®ae gIsiss ©f objects, and discovering and

tti DIVERSITY OF OPINIONS
feeling that with every new proposition anil
every new relation, there is some new en
joyment. And all mental improvement,
and all the improvements which ever have
been made orever will be made in govern
ment, and in social intercourse and in mode*
of living, and in the mechanic, and in th®
useful arts, havp been and ever will be tbo
legitimate results of using our intellectual
powers in this manner. And when variety
of opinion ceases,in any department of hu
man investigation, improvement will cease $
but on the other hand, while freedom of en
quiry and freedom of opinion are cherished
We can assign no limits to our improvement
and enjoyment ; every object both in the nat
ural and moral world, being in fact in thi*
sense, inexhaustible.
2. It is not true, as some good men have-
sometimes admitted, that theological contro
versies, are peculiarly marked with rancour
and malevolence. It is a melancholy fact,
that wise and good men — men of whose pie
ty there has been no reasonable doubt, have
entertained very unbecoming thoughts of
one another, and have cherished very unbe
coming feelings and have uttered a great
number of very improper expressions, re
specting one another, and have stood at a
great distance from one another, on account
of their having had diversity of opinions

DIVERSITY OF OPINION 2|
i metimes about things, which were really
things of importance ; and much more fre
quently about things which were of very
little importance. All this is true. But
it is not true that such a state of feeling and
such a kind of conduct, are peculiar to con
troversies about religion. The same facts
give character, more or less to diversity of
opinion about politics, and about matters of
mere taste and criticism, and in neigh
borhood and family intercourse. Any man
who is the least acquainted with the state
of things, in any department of life, may
with a great deal of ease, bring from any
one of these departments, numerous exam-i
pies of differences where there is as much
rancour and malevolence, as much lying
and evil speaking, as ever were exhibited, in
a given time, by an equal number of contro
versial theologians. The truth is, all those
disagreeable and disgraceful exhibitions,
belong to our common fallen nature, and of
course are not peculiar to any one class of
men, or to any state of society, or to the in
vestigation of any kind of subjects.
It is, however freely granted, that the
exhibition of these malevolent affections,
must be much more criminal in those who
profess to be under the influence of the
great law of love to God and love to man,
t^aa they are when exhibited in the tenv

32 DIVERSITY OF OPINION,
per and conduct of those who make no suctl
profession. 3. Hence we have a general rule, by
which we may, in the most of cases, distin
guish with a great degree of certainty, be
twixt truth and error. However varioui
the exhibitions of truth may be, they are
all consistent with the object described or
illustrated, and when duly examined they
will be found to be all consistent with one
another. It is not so with error or false
hood. Let us again refer to the large and ele
gant building, set on an eminence. In eve
ry one of the thousand paintings of this ob
ject, though every one has its peculiar fea
tures, because every one gives us a view of
the building and the surrounding scenery,
from different points, yet they are all recog
nized as exact representations of the ori
ginal. And even in the case of a very or
dinary painting, the leading features are
very different from what they are in a pain
ting, which never was intended to repre«
•entthat object.
Just so in the discussion of moral sub
jects. Variety, where truth and honesty
characterize the mind, gives additional evi
dence of truth ; and sameness or uniformi
ty in the statements of different persons,
s.re evidence* either of dishonesty, or eS

DIVERSITY OF OPINION. $S
Vacuity of thought. In all Legislative
bodies, there is a great variety of opin
ions, advanced on every subject which in
vites general discussion ; yet there are ve
ry few cases, in which a calm and reflecting
jnan, who is only tolerably acquainted with
the matter, is long at any loss to discover
what facts and principles advanced, are per
tinent to the subject, and what facts and prin
ciples are produced, as the effusions of th®
baser principles of human nature. In the
examination of a number of winesses, before
a court of Judicature, concerning what was
taid or done, in a particular place or a par
ticular occasion, there will be great diversi
ties, both as to statements of matter of
fact, and as to the arrangement of these
facts — and also of opinions formed upon
the spot, or afterwards, from these facts j
and yet no essential variation. The great
and leading fact or assertion, will be seen
"as a prominent part of all the narratives.
But were all the witnesses to give their nar
ratives in the very same words, and in the
very same order, the presumption would be
strong, that they had come to some agree
ment to give false testimony. The great
ami leading facts and doctrines of the Bible
have never been misunderstood, by any man
of common sense and common understand
ing, who has read the- bible with any degree
/

£4 DIVERSITY OF OPINION:
of care. The great body of men, women"
and children, who have read the bible for
themselves, have been of the Orthodox faith.
It has always required more than ordinary
labor and talent, to be an original heretic ;
and continued labor and talent, to make
Only a small portion of men believe that
these heretics, wore supported either di*
recti y or indirectly, by the bible.
Hence 4. The common infidel objection, against
having any fixed opinions in matters of reli
gion, in consequence of the supposed great
variety of opinions about religion, is afalacy*
The objection is — christians are not agreed
among themselves, and they bite and de*
vour one another — therefore there is noth«
ing of importance in religion, and particu*
larly men are excusable for not being con*
nected with any particular church.
^pply this objection to politics, or to the
study or practice of law or of medicine, or to
the engaging in any plan of neighborhood
usefulness and see to what results it will lead.
The truth is the controversies about er-»
ror or heresy properly so called, that is
about the great and leading facts and doc
trines of revelation have been and are very
few. It is only in the details and explana
tions and applications of these facts and
doctrine* that there ever have been any

DIVERSITY OF OPINION £5
*%reat diversity of opinion among the great
body of christians.
You have my young friends, young as you
are, had already opportunities of hearing
public discourses on religion, and of read*
ing books on religion, from men of differ
ent denominations, and of men of great di
versity of talent and attainment; you are
also more or less personally acquainted with
pious men of very different attainments and
of different occupations, who belong to
churches which are said to be of different
creeds, and of different modes of worship.
Now look around you, and in this as well as
in all other -matters where you have an
equal opportunity, collect facts and exam
ine and form opinions for yourselves.
The great body of all the preachers
Whom you have heard, and of the pious peo
ple with whom you are acquainted, unite in
telling you,
1. That the Bible is the word of God, and
the best book in the world, and the infal
lible and supreme Standard of all morality
and religion— and that every man ought to
be familiar with all that is in the Bible.
2. That you and all mankind are natural
ly lost sinners — that you do not naturally
love God, or love his law a*hd authority ; and
that as sinners, you are under a sentence-
ef condemnation.

26 DIVERSITY OF OPINION]
3. They tell you, that if ever you are td
be saved, your nature must be changed,
you must love Gocl with all your heart, and
love his law, and love and regard his author- -
ity ; in other words, that if you are to be
saved, your whole nature must be changed by
the powerful and special influence of the Ho-^
ly Spirit applying-divine truth to your un-;
derstanding and heart and conscience.
And, 4. They all unite in telling you, that!
there is salvation for you in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and in him only — and that to be
saved by him, you must be personally uni
ted to him by a true and living faith- — and
that the ordinary means of salvation and of
enjoying personal union with the Saviour*
are reading the Bible* and prayer, and
jneditation, and self examination, and the.
Santification of the Sabbath, and the asso
ciating with piOus and holy men. And that"
while men are indifferent about all or about
any of these means, they cannot indulge any
rational hopes of being saved. <
5. They tell you farther, that when a
inan is interested in .this great salvation, he
is to a great extent in temper and disposition
a id conduct, a very different kind of man,
from what he was before. He is a holy
man — a pious man — a man of prayer, and ar
man who loves to do good.
And,

Diversity of opinion. 27
6. And finally ; all these preachers and
all these good people unite ia telling you,
that there is a reality in the religion of the
" Bible, and that the profession and the prac
tice of this religion, is the one thing needful,
and that it ought to be attended to without
any delay ; for with all your strength and
health and flattering prospects, you may
»oon be in eternity. And then what shall
Jtprofit a man, though he should have gain
ed the whole world, if his soul is lost.
Man is by* his very nature a religious be
ing, that is, Jie always has been and ever will
be, under the influence of some kind of re-
-ligion. This proposition may be proved
and illustrated, by facts and general princi
ples to almost any extent.
It is equally matter of demonstration, that
the religion of the Bible is the best religion,
that it is in fact, the only hope of a guilty
and corrupt world.
Hence it follows,
That every young man who expects te
be useful in his day and generation, ought
not to be a single day or a single hour in a
state of indifference with respect to what
are the great and leading facts, and doc
trines of this religion. And having satis
fied himself on this point, he ought to be
connected with some department of the
church of God, and on all occasions, openly
ajjd decidedlv act as the Bible has directed

ON USELESS STUDIES.
But avoid foolish guestisns, and genealogies and strivings abo4$
the law; for they are improf table and vain.-— Tit. Ill-— 9.
It is a melancholly fact, that by far the
greater part of the history of the world, is.
as yet the history of war, or of prepara->
tions for war, and that the extensive influ
ence of the bewitching phantom of military
glory has in every generation, and in every
state of society, and among all classes of men,
been nearly universal. The evils and the
horrors of war are at the same time acknowl
edged by all. Wellington it is reported, said
at the close of the battle of Waterloo, when
be was Congratulated on the success of the
day, "that he knew only one thing that wai
worse than a victory, that was a defeat."
War in modern times and among civilized
men is said to be a science ; and it has in
every generation laid all the other sciences
physical or moral, as well as all the useful
arts under heavy contributions; and yet
war from its very nature is ruinous to all
who are engaged in it, and in ninety nine ca
ses out of the hundred it is ultimately, equally

USELESS STUDIES. 29
Jkunous to the conquerors as to the conquer
ed. From these and similar facts which might
be illustrated from history to almost any ex
tent, we infer,
1. That the almost interrupted continu
ance of war, and the almost universal influ
ence of the war spirit, is decisive proof of
the great depravity of human nature,
And2. That all the exercises of the mind and all
the application of any of the principles of
, Science either directly or indirectly to the
practice of war has in the most of cases
been a useless and a wanton waste of the
powers of the mind ; and hence one of the
characteristics of the glory of the latter days
js, "that the nations shall learn war no more."
The dark ages have been considered as
particularly distinguished for the waste of
mind in useless and unprofitable studies.
"The leading characteristic of the Schol
astic philosophy" says Enfield, "was that it
employed itself in an ostentatious display of
ingenuity in which axioms assumed without
examination, and distinctions, without any
real difference, and terms without any pre
cise meaning, were made use of as weapons
of assault and defence, in, controversies up
on abstruse questions, which, after endless
skirmishes, it was impossible to bring to an

3© USELESS STUDIED
issue, and which, notwithstanding all the vi
olence of the contest, it was of no impor
tance to determine. The Scholastic logic
is not to be confounded with the genuine art
of reasoning, from which it differs as much
as dross from pure gold. These disputants
made use of dialectics, not to assist the hu
man understanding in discovering truth con
ducive to the happiness of man, but to se
cure to themselves the honors of conquest in
the field of controversy. John of Salisbu
ry complains, that the scholars of his time
consumed, not ten or twenty years, but their
whole lives, in these disputes; and that
when, through old age, they became inca
pable of any other amusement or pleasure,
these dialectic questions still dwelt upon
their tongues, and dialectic books still re
mained in their hands.
It is scarcely to be conceived with what ar*
dour, approaching even to madness, the first
geniuses of the age applied to this kind of
study. Losing themselves in a wood of ab
stract conceptions and subtle distinctions,
the further they preceded the greater was
the darkness and confusion, till at length,'
what was commonly called philosophy no
longer deserved the name. Ludovicus Vi~
ves, one of the most intelligent writers of
the sixteenth century, speaking of the Scho
lastic philosophy, says, "From the writing*

USELESS STUDIES. St
<|f Aristotle they have selected, not the
most useful, but the most intricate and un
profitable parts ; not his books of N atural
History or his Problems, but his Physics,
and those treatises which most resemble
theirs in subtlety and obscurity : for exam
ple, his Books upon the First Philosophy,
upon Heaven, and upon Generation. For
as to the treatise On Meteors, they are so en
tirely unacquainted with the subject, that it
seems to have been admitted among the
Scholastic books rather by accident than
design. The truth is, that these philosophers
are less aquainted with nature, than hus
bandmen or mechanics ; and so much offend
ed are they with that Nature which they do
not understand, that they have framed for
themselves another nature, which God nev
er framed, consisting of formalities, haeccei-
ties, realities, relations, Platonic ideas, and
other subtleties, which they honor with the
name, of the metaphysical world, and if any
man has a turn of mind averse to the study
of real nature, but adapted to the pursuit of
these visionary fictions, they say he is pos
sessed of a sublime genius "
The topics upon which these philosophers
spent the whole force of their ingenuity,
were of a kind at once the most difficult and
abstruse, and the most trifling and useless.,
Intention and remission, proportion and de-

32 Useless studies,
gree, infinity, formality, quiddity, individual*
ity, and other abstract ideas, furnished innu*
merable questions to exercise their subtlety ^
Not contented with considering properties'
and relations as they subsist, and are perj
ceived, in natural objects, they separated*
in their conceptions, the former from the
latter, andby'this artifice transferred them
into universal notions. Then forgetting
that these notions are merHy the offspring
of the reasoning mind, they considered
them as real entities, and made use of them
as substantial principles in explaining the na
ture of things. This they did, not Only in,
metaphysics but in physics, in which these
imaginary entities confused and obscured alj
their reasonings. If these creatures of ab
straction be brought back to their natural
connexions with real objects, and with the
terms which express them^ it will appear*
that they had nothing more than an ima-'
ginary existence, and the whole contest con
cerning them will vanish into a mere War
of words. Whence some judgement may
be formed concerning this most profound* '
angelic, and seraphic philosophy."
The following are specimens of the kind
of questions which were usually discussed
in those days — viz :
Has the Pope more power than St. Petcp
had I

tJSELESS STUDIES. 9S
May a man spit immediately after h«i
has received the communion?
Can Angels pass from one point to an*
fcther without passing through the interme
diate space?
Can a thing exist which has no proper*
ties? Perhaps in our enlightened and improv
ed age, good men have had some keen dis
putes, which in an age a little more en
lightened and improved, may be considered
to have been, both as to matter and man
lier, as useless as some of the disputes of the
•eraphic and sublime Doctors of the ninth,
and twelfth, and fourteenth centuries were.
It may be also, that at some future period4
it will be very hard to understand how.,
men who were slave holders, and manufac
turers and traders, and daily consumers of
ardent spirits, could be genuine christians,
or even good citizens.
All the investigations of created intelli
gence must end in some stubborn fact which
can be resolved only into the will of the
great Creator.
Every man of common sense knows that
he is nourished, and that his animal frame
is supported by regularly eating and drinkv
ing— -and he knows also from repeated exr
periment, under certain circumstances, cer
tain meats and drinks are more agreeable

31 USELESS STUDIES*.
to the palate, and of a more nourishing na»
ture than others are, but he can give no
other reason for the fact — but just so it is— •
he may reason in other matters, but here he
stops. The Chemist attempts to go a little
farther. He tells you that certain kinds of
food in certain states contain more aliment,
by so much per cent, than others do ; and
that the matter of which the food is com
posed is dissolved, and incorporated with the
animal fluids more easily under some circum
stances, than under others. But he stop*
just as the man who never heard any thing
of Chemistry either as a science or an art*
stops. The ultimate facts are accounted
for, only because so the thing is ; and we
cannot as yet penetrate farther into the se
cret of nature.
It is equally so in Rhetoric.
"It is, says the Rhetorician, difficult to
make a full enumeration of the several ob- '
jects that give pleasure to taste ; it is more
difficult to define all those which have been
discovered, and to reduce them under prop
er classes ; and, when we would go father,
and investigate the efficient causes of the
pleasure which we receive from such ob
jects, here, above all, we find ourselves at a
loss. "For instance ; we all learn by experience,
that certain figures of bodies appear to w

USELESS STUDIES. 35
joore beautiful than others. On enquiring
farther, we find that the regularity of some
^figures, and the graceful variety of others,
are the foundation of the beauty which we
discern in them ; but when we attempt to
go a step beyond this, and inquire what is
the cause of regularity and variety produ
cing in our minds the sensation of beau-
*ty, any reason we can assign is extremely
imperfect. These first principles of inter-
naLsensation, nature seems to have covered
with an impenetrable veil."
Equally so, in all the departments of Me
chanical Philosophy. All the. phenomena
rare resolved into the single fact of gravi
tation; but that fact is resolved under
all circmstances, into the constitution of
nature ; or in other words, into the will of God.
Theology natural and revealed, has also
•ultimate facts — the mode of the divine
existence and the mode of the divine oper
ations upon both mind and matter and the
reason of many of the administrations of Prov
idence, must always to finite beings, be in
vestigations .beyond, their reach.
Farther :
All objects of investigation, are natu
rally arranged into distinct classes, and the
g eat and leading characteristics are prom-
ii ent upon every .individual of .the class.—
Y et the) universe, whether it is matter or
mind, is one erreat undivided whole ; and the

gft USELESS STUDIES
various classes, are touching as it were, e?»ea
other at a thousand points, and not only
touching, but running into one another. — •
The primary colours as exhibited in the
Tainbow, or by an experiment with a Prism,
are quite distinct and well defined, yet th©
lines of division cannot be fixed upon by the
nicest eye — the boundary lines, betwixt
animal and vegetable, rational and irration
al life, and even betwixt many of the spe
cies of animals and vegetables have never
yet been ascertained ; and likely never will
be ascertained in man's present state of ex
istence. In mixed forms of governments, all
the departments will in many cases clash
and dash upoh each other, if the spirit of
jealousy be cherished to any great extent,
The most perfect system of human govern
ment is only a variety of contrivances of mu
tual check? and balances, and the spirit of
compromise, so far from being unfavorable to
the securing important social rights, is the
only kind of spirit by which any important
right in a free government can be permanen
tly secured. That family is a very unhappy *
family where the line of demarkation betwixt
the authority of the husband and the wife
is strongly marked, and uniformly rigidl y
acted upon. And the same will hold good
in the government of all voluntary associs^

CSELESS STUDIES. 3*
^fions whether they are civil or religious.—
There are only two cases in which the ex
istence of any society, can be long either
comfortable or useful, without the spirit of
compromise. The one is, where all the mem
bers of the society are perfect beings and of
course never mistaken; and the other is,
where the government is a Despotism, and
the head of the government is infallible.
From these and a great variety of other
facts which might be adduced, we have the
general rules, for ascertaining what stud
ies are useful and profitable, and vice versa.
1. Every study is lost labor, that cannot
be made to bear upon some great and im-
' portant good. Action, vigorous, and useful
/action is the great end of life in our pres
ent state of existence. Hence all specula
tion is useless, unless it can be made to heap
upon production and improvement.
2. No investigation, however extensive,
pr profound can be profitable, which leaves
the subject as to all practical purposes, as
much in the dark, or as much involved in
; difficulties, as it was before. By far the
greater number of theories which have been
advanced in the different departments of
theology and mental philosophy will fall be
fore this rule.
3. Some kind of studies may be very
%seM asd profitable at one time of life,, oj?

S8 USELESS STUDIES.
to men engaged in a particular profession
which would be very unprofitable if pursu
ed in another period of life, or under other
circumstances. One of the great evils of useless studies,
and particularly of controversies about Lt-
tle and unimportant matters is, that they en
ervate and degrade the powers of the mind.
.Little minds will always be employed about
little things, and that mind which is continu
ally employed about little things, and mag
nifying them into matters of great impor
tance, will never be able to take large and
comprehensive views of matters and things.
Of all studies, the study of the Bible, if
conducted in the right way, is the best for
forming in the mind a taste and even apti
tude for important studies — for,
1. The general plan, or outline of the Bi
ble, is exceedingly favorable to such studies.
Great objects, and great objects only, are
presented to our attention in the Bible. It
opens with Jehovah speaking worlds, with all
their inhabitants and appendages into exis
tence, and it every where exhibits the same
Jehovah as upholding and directing and
controling all things by the word of his pow
er. ' The rise and the fall Of kingdoms and
empires, whether they are set before us in
history or prohecy are uniformily set be
fore us ia bold Relievo, The mean and fyt-

USELESS STUDIES. 3*
tie things which encumber and degrade th©
heroes of profane history, have no place in
the Bible.
The operations of nature, in the revolu
tions of the seasons, and in the falling of the
dews and rain, and snow — and in the gentle
breezes, and in the whirlwind— and in the
thunder storm, and earthquake, and pesti
lence, are also every where in the poetry,
and prophecy, and history, and devotional
portions of the Bible, exhibited just as they
are and as they have been. The same al
mighty being, who, in the beginning, gave
to nature her laws, condescends, in the Bi
ble, to describe the operations of those laws,
in his own simple, and full, and majestic lan
guage; and every description or reference,
is made to bear upon man's moral relations.
And then there is, the unfolding of the
great plan of man's salvation, in the giving
and unfolding of the first promises — and of
the promises made to Abraham — and in the
promises and prophecies, respecting the
calling of the Gentiles— and of the final de
liverance of the whole earth, and of a large
portion of the inhabitants, from the power
and the pollution of sin, in all its forms and
in all its degrees.
And then you have, all that belongs to
the history of man and of nations, connected
with the general judgement, when all the*

40 USELESS STUDIES.
transactions of all the individuals, of a thofl*
sand generations, will pass in solemn review*
before the Judge of the quick and the dead.
Also in every sentence of the Bible, every
Rnn, is directly or indirectly, reminded thafc
all that he does and all that he enjoys now*
are connected with eternity — and that eve*
ry man has a great work to do, in his little
•hare of time^— and that not only his own
destiny, but the destiny perhaps of million*
is to a great extent, depending upon the use
which he may make of his powers and of
his opportunities of doing good. And who
can trifle with his time, or with his oppor
tunities, or with his fellow- men, under &
proper sense of such responsibilities?
2. In passages almost without number*
we are, in direct terms, invited or urged td
avoid trifling studies, and to turn our attend
tion to great and important matters.
The account which we have of the live*
of Abraham, and Joseph, and Moses, and
Caleb, and Joshua, and Samuel, and David*
and Hezekiah, and Josiah, and Daniel, andj
Ezra, and Nehemiah, and Paul, and the oth
er apostles, are from beginning to end, exam
ples of what has been called "the moral sub
lime." No such heroes are to be found in
any other book.
All our Lord's parables, carry their in
struction upon thier very front.. In every'

USELESS STUDIES. 41
one of these, whatever may be the par
ticular subject of instruction or reproof, the
mind is raised from little to great things.
Our Lord's answer to the question-—
"Lord are there few that be saved ?" Luke
XIII, 23 — 30. His conversation with the
woman of Samaria, John IV, 6 — 26. And
his answer to the. question, "Lord, wilt
thou, at this time, restore the kingdom to
Israel ?" Acts I, 6, 7, 8. All these are spe
cimens of the same.
Study also the advices of the apostle to
Timothy and Titus; I Tim. 4—7. VI, 3-6:
2 Tim. II, 15-18, and 23. Tit, III, 8, 9.
It is by no means an extravagant asser
tion to say — that if the wealth or physical
force, and talent, which have been expend
ed in unjust and ruinous wars, had been ap
plied to the cultivation and improvement of
the earth, the whole inhabited globe would
have been long before this time,as the Garden
of God. And it may also be affirmed — that
if the time, and wealth and talent whick*
have been spent in useless Theological stu
dies and controversies, had been otherwise
employed, the Bible and all the blessings,of '
the gospel, would have been at this hour
enjoyed by every family, in every land, and/
nation. «V

MO. W.

Extract from a Pastoral Address of the Eas
tern Reformed Synod, met in New-York,
April 26, 1831.

" But while we are thus in perfect harmo
ny in the belief of the abstract doctrines,
it will at once be admitted, that there does
exist some difference in the Opinions of the
ministry and the people, touching the man
ner of the application of these principles,
or their reduction to practice. Such dif
ferences have always existed. They will
and must always exist. Such is the nature
of man in his present imperfect state,
whether viewed as a physical, moral, or re
ligious being. The same sensible object
will impress no two persons in precisely
the same manner. The same thing takes
place in the application of general or ab
stract principles. Opinions of men and
things are wonderfully modified and influ
enced by the original difference of intel
lect, weak or strong: Position of the in
dividual in society, as to time and place:
His education loose or strict, narroAv or lib
eral: The free or despotic character of

EXTRACT. 43
the government under which he lives : The
stale of society rude or polished : His cir
cumstances in life indigent or affluent ; His
associates in employment virtuous or vicious ;
ignorant or intelligent ; bigoted or liberal ;
in a word, how many thousand causes ope
rate insensibly in giving diversity of appli
cation to the same general principle! Let
any number of individuals be selected sev
erally out of each of the above mentioned
circumstances, which are few among the
countless shades of existing varieties ; and
let them be all perfectly unanimous in any
number of general principles, as the basis
of practical application. Let them pro
ceed to deliberate; and how diversified,
oftentimes, will be their decisions! yes;
their honest, concientious decisions! Let
the halls of legislation testify this truth. — •
Let the members of the assembly be the
most enlightened, upright men on earth —
let them all be sworn to adhere invariably
to the principles contained" in the constitu
tion. Yet how different, after all, will be
their votes in the application of the same
general principles, which they all firmly
believe, and have all sworn concientiously
to apply.
" That this liability of diversity in prac
tical application holds equally in the gen
eral abstract principles of our religious tes-

44 EXTRACT.
timony, is abundantly manifest. Its oper
ation is developed in every ecclesiastical
court, whether supreme or subordinate.—
At least, this is the case whenever there is
any diversity of sentiment expressed by an
aye, or wo; but the members generally agree
to differ ; and bear with one another ; and
rarely carry their diversity of opinion even
to the length of a protest. Yet it cannot
be denied, that such a diversity is perfect
ly consistent with all that adherence to truth,
and the production of all that practical ef
fect, which can be obtained by the main
tenance of the most faithful testimony. —
On this principle the church has uniformly
acted. This prevades every social institu
tion and arrangement among men. Indeed
independently of it, society, if in that case,
the very expression be not a misnomer,
would become a rope of sand.*'

REMARKS.

Every voluntary society can be kept to
gether, and can accomplish the great end,
for which it was formed, only by being u-
nited in opinion. But unity of opinion, in
all things, or even in a majority of things i*

REMARKS. 45
not necessary ; nor, from the nature of man
and of things, is it possible. All that is ne
cessary, and all that is possible, is, that the
members of the society be of one mind as
to some great leading object, or as to some
particular means for accomplishing that ob
ject. In log-rolling and in harvesting, united
physical force is applied, to a great extent,
where all the union of opinion is — that the
individuals, exerting their poAver, agree to
act at once, or in a given direction. Men,
in like manner, live together, in families, and
in neighborhoods, and in counties, and states
and nations, and are efficient members of a
great variety of societies, civil and religious,
and transact, in their associated capacities,
almost daily, a great variety of important
business, without requiring uniformity ofo-
pinion, or uniformity of conduct, but only
in one particular point, and that at one par
ticular time. And, in all these cases, we
see the great law of nature carried out and
acted upon, viz; — Infinite variety stamp
ed upon the most rigid uniformity.
The Church of the living God is only
one. And it is like the Universe — one great
undivided whole ; and yet it has existed,
and does exist, and will exist, under great
varieties. It at as one in the days of Abra
ham ; and yet there Avere holy men, such as

4f> REMARKS.
Melchisedec, who were accepted of God,
but did not belong to Abraham's family. It
Was one in the days of Moses, and of David,
and of Ezra, and of John the Baptist ; and
yet in no one of these periods was it exact
ly as it had been in any of the former peri
ods. The Christian dispensation was only a
new modification of the one Church ; but
from the fact, that the enjoyment of the priv-
iledges of the Society was iioav to be great
ly extended, and that the members of the
one Society were to be of aril nations, and to
live in all lands, the diversities were to be
greater than under the old dispensation.
In our day, and particularly in these U-
nited States, the members of the one church
exist, and act, and enjoy the most of what
afe called Christian priviledges, in sepa
rate communions. The evils and inconve
niences, which are necessarily connected
with such a state of things, are felt and ac
knowledged by all, while few, if any, be
lieve, that scriptural authority can be found
for the peculiarities of any of these sepa
rate divisions, unless it be for those of their
OAvn particular communion. All, also, read
ily acknowledge, that there is much wrong,
even in their own particular communion:
and all profess to say, that, were all genu
ine christians Avhat they ought to be, the u-

REMARKS. 47
nity of the one church would be visibly ac
knowledged, by the great body of chris
tians being of only one communion.
The extract, given above, was intended,
originally, to apply only to the members of
a particular communion, and that one of the
smallest in the United States. But it con
tains general principles,which may and must
be acted on in every communion. And if the
members of every separate communion un
derstood these principles, and were cordial
in their acting upon them, in their inter
course with their fellow members of the
same communion, there soon would be very
little difficulty in applying them to all the
communions, which agree in their profess
ed adherence to such a system of doctrines,
as is contained in the Westminster Confess
ion of Faith. These principles, honestly
acted upon, would, in one word, unite, suffi
ciently for all practical purposes, in govern
ment, and discipline, and ministerial com
munion, nearly the whole of the Protestant
denominations, in the United States. For,
whatever may have been said to the con
trary, the great body of these denomina
tions adhere to the doctrines of the West
minster Confession, and understand these
doctrines Substantially "in the some sense,
in which they were understood by the fa
thers of that Assembly. The great, if not

48 REMARKS.
the only, causes of the existence of these
separate communions, are,
1. The laying too much stress upon local
and technical peculiarities.
2. The want of confidential religious in
tercourse. The friends of the common Re
deemer really do not know one another,
though frequently living together in the
very same village.

NO, ¥,

SYSTEM-MAKING.
The arrangements of nature, and the ar
rangements of art, are made upon very dif
ferent principles. In the arrangements of
nature* objects, and substances, and quali
ties of the most heterogeneous kind, are
every where profusely thrown together;
but, in the arrangements of art, they are
thrown together, or kept separate, accord
ing as they agree or disagree 'in some great
leading feature. The order of nature is,
in fact, irregularity, according to the rules
and practice of art.

SYSTEM-MAKING 49
The botanist traverses the whole surface
of the earth, in search of plants and flow?
ers; and when he has found them, he ar
ranges them in his garden* or note-book, in
a very different order, from that in which
they were found in their original state. He
arranges them into classes, and he can exhi
bit them, and describe them, only under
these arrangements. A similar process is
adopted, and followed by the mineralogist,
, and the student of animated nature, and, in
fact, by every philosopher, in all the de
partments of both physical and moral sci
ence ; and, in general, a scientific arrange
ment, or a scientific system is always some
thing different from a natural arrangement.
Accurate and extensive classification is
the great object of all Philosophy ; and that
system or arrangement is always the most
perfect, Avhich includes the greater number
of facts or objects, under the fewest general
heads: or, in other words, that classifica
tion is the best, which separates the great
er number of objects, or qualities of ob
jects, from all the other objects, or qualities
of objects, with which they are naturally
connected, and exhibits, in distinct classes,
those things only, which possess some com
mon quality.
i The word of God has, in this, as well as
in a great variety of other respects, the

50 SYSTEM-MAKING?.
same characteristic with his works. The
doctrines, and the facts, and the moral pre
cepts, and even the histories of the Bible,
are not given to us in systematic form ; and
the student of the Bible, as well as the stu
dent of natural science, in analysing and ex
amining the contents of the Bible, has to
make artificial arrangements for himself,
according to the particular end, which he
may have in view. The mere philologist,
or civilian, or antiquarian, or man of taste —
or the mere disciple of a particular theolog
ical school, reads and studies the Bible, in a
different manner, and with a very different
spirit, from the manner and the spirit of the
plain and humble man of devotion, and o£
active benevolence. And, yet, each of these
is necessary and useful in his place — in fact
as necessary in theological science, as the
botanist, and mineralogist, and chemist are,
in physical researches. And an artificial
system of some kind or other, is indispen
sably necessary for the acquiring, and for
the communicating of knowledge, in all the
departments of human thought. No man
can acquire knowledge, without possessing,
and exercising, to a considerable extent,
the power of artificial classification.
There is, however, one great evil, which
marks, more or less, almost every human
system. It is an attempt to give it a great-

SYSTEM-MAKING. 51
er degree of uniformity* than the nature of
things, or the present condition of man,
Avill admit. A system, it is supposed, must
have no chasm — all the parts must coincide,
at least, with all the adjoining parts ; and
the mutual influence and connection of all
the parts, as parts of one whole, must be
seen and acknowledged every where, or the
system is considered as defective. Now, a
perfect system, according to this rule, on
any great scale, is an impossibility. An
approximation to uniformity, or consisten
cy, is all that can be obtained, in our pre
sent state. We propose to illustrate this
position, chiefly by a reference to theologi
cal studies.
Almost every man, who has read the Bi
ble attentively, must have noticed, more or
less, one great general principle, running
through the whole of what God has been
pleased to reveal, viz :- — That the fact or
doctrine revealed is plainly and distinctly
set before us ; and some_ of the practical
uses, which we are to make of that fact or
doctrine, are also fully and plainly stated ;
but the details, and many of the circum
stances, which must haAre been naturally
and necessarily connected with that fact or
doctrine, are not given: and, yet, these de
tails, or circumstances will be found to be
necessary, in order to give uniformity or

52 SYSTEM-MAKING.
consistency to any system of doctrines or
facts, of Avhich that particular fact or doc
trine is an essential part. Hence men, Avhen
they neglect to make the right use of what
is revealed, are continually, directly or in
directly, complaining of the insufficiency of
revelation. ':Nay," said the rich man, in
the place of torment, "if one went to them
from the dead, they will repent." " Not so,"
said Abraham, " if they hear not Moses and
the Prophets, neither will they be persuad
ed, though one should rise from the dead."
Let us attend to a few specimens. — And,
I. Little or nothing is said in the Bible
about the future state of infants and for
this plain reason: that the Avhole, of reve
lation is addressed to Adults, and for the
particular and personal consideration of
every individual to whom it was addressed.
For a similar reason likely, little or no
thing is said about the salvation of the
heathen who live and die Avithout the gos
pel, in the sense in which the subject is fre
quently brought up in theological contro
versy. But we are distinctly told, that the
heathen without the gospel are in a state of
great wickedness and great wretchedness,
and that all who have the gospel are under
strong obligation to send the gospel to those
who have it npt. Hence those who have
?jstems according to which some of the

SYSTEM-MAKING. 53
heathen at -least, may be saved without the
gospel are under the necessity of making
many suppositions which are.not to be found
in the bible. These suppositions may be
correct or may not be correct, but they
form no part of God's revelation to fallen
man. II. Through the Avhole of the ' Bible, we
are distinctly taught that every man is mor
tal, and must die sooner or later: but Avhen
or where or how or under what circumstan
ces he is to die, no individual can have any
information from the Bible,
The prominent facts in the matter are,
you must die, and you may die soon. Death
is a most serious matter — it dissolves all
your connections with the present life. You
enter immediately into eternity, into an un
seen and untried state of being. Your state
will there be fixed for eternity in weal or
woe, and all connected with this your future
state is depending to a great extent upon
the improvement Avhich you may make of
your present privileges. He who is satisfi
ed with the knowledge of these and similar
facts, may by the blessing of God be finally
prepared for his departure, Avhether it
should be near at hand, or at a great distance.
But one who wishes to know more as to the
time and the place, and a Variety of other
circumstances, connected ivith his passing

54 SYSTEM-MAKING.
into the eternal world, is likely to live and
die unprepared.
III. Nothing is revealed to us, concern
ing the precise mode, and time, and many
other important circumstances connected
Avith the change of a man's state, generally
expressed in systematic theology, by the
terms Justification, Regeneration, Conver
sion &c. The prominent facts on these sub
jects are these,
1. With respect to our state before God^
there are only two classes of men, and eve
ry individual of the human family must be
long to one or other of these classes. Eve
ry man is either a saint or a sinner, a child
of God or a child of the Devil. There is
no third class — no middle ground — no half
way salvation.
2. When a man becomes a saint, a great
change takes place in his relation to God,
and in his temper, and disposition, and con
duct. 3, All men, to whom the gospel is preach
ed, are commanded and encouraged to re
pent, and believe, and to read the Bible,
and to pray ; and they are particularly en
couraged to these and similar exercises,
from the promises of the Holy Spirit, to
work in them both to will and to do ; and
finally, 4. It is a prominent fact, that the great
and. leading features of a saint, or a sinner

SYSTEM-MAKING. 55
•
are never equivocal. They are plain: e-
ven the careless and the unbelieving can,
generally, very easily recognise these dis
tinguishing characteristics.
But, as to the particular moment, when
an individual may pass from death unto
life; and as to the mutual influence of hu
man and divine agency, in producing this
great moral change ; and where the partic
ular point is, which separates betwixt a
state of acceptance, and a state of condem
nation: — concerning these subjects, and a
number of other matters, which occupy a
large space in some theological controver-
cies, the Bible gives us no information.
Hence, those, Avho must have these things
explained, in order to give consistency to
their systems, must find their facts some
where else than in the Bible.
The terms, Justification, Imputation, He-
generation, Conversion, &c. &c. are mere
technical terms ; and, as such, they are ne
cessary; and, Avhen properly understood,
are of extensive and important use in Sys
tematic Theology. But all the definitions,
and explanations of them, which have ever
been given, can be of very little use to the
soul, who is seriously enquiring, "What
shall I do to be saved ?" A plain matter of
fact, resting upon the authority of God, who
cannot lie, and unconnected with, any hu-

56 SYSTEM-MAKING. #
man system, is that only, Avhich can give re
lief in such cases. Hence, a great deal may
be preached about the meaning and the im
portance of these terms, and not a soul sav
ed or edified.
IV. Nothing is said in the Bible, as to
the precise number of those who shall be
saved ; and little, if any thing, concerning
the nature and extent of the Atonement, as
these terms are used in the most of theolog
ical controvercies.
The leading facts in these subjects, are
these, 1. The Lord Jesus Christ is an all-suffi
cient Savior ; and he is the only Savior.
2. The Atonement, which he made for
the sins of man, was complete — it is suffici
ent. 3. A full and free salvation, through this
Atonement, is offered to all.
4. Every man, who believes, is personal
ly interested in this salvation. And,
5. He, who believes. Avill bring forth the
fruits of righteousness — he will be a saint,
or a holy man.
All speculation much beyond these facts,
must rest upon something else than what
God has been pleased to reveal.

Nor is there any difference betwixt sys
tems of Theology and systems of moral and

SYSTEM-MAKING. 57
physical science, in this article. Ever since
the days of Bacon and Newton, all suppo
sitions and far-fetched deductions have, in
theory at least, been denounced by all, who
have had any claim to rank among men of
science and information ; yet, in practice,
every man, who devotes his life to the Col
lecting and examining of facts, in any de
partment of inquiry, conducts the whole of
his examinations for the express purpose
of forming or explaining some system ; and
in many cases, it is a great deal easier to
give a little scope to the imagination, and
make a supposition, that will connect some
¦class of facts with another class, than to find,
by observation and experiment, a new set
ef facts, which will naturally form this de*
sired connecting link. Hence, there are
very few systems, even in physical science,
Avhich do not take for granted, a number of
facts, for the existence of which, there is
little or nO evidence, But some such facts
were necessary, to give consistency and U-
miformity to the system.
INFERENCES.
1. It is of vast importance to ascertain,
in an early period of life, or at an early pe
riod in any particular series of investiga
tion, what things are within our reach, and

58 ^ SYSTEM-MAKING.
what things are not. In theological studie*
information of this kind, is peculiarly desi
rable. The doctrines and facts, Avhich are
clearly, and which, for all practical purpo
ses, are fully stated in the Bible, are ex
ceedingly numerous — are infinitely varied ;
and they are all of vast importance. And
each of them is capable of ample illustra
tion and application. Here there is full em-
ployment for all our powers, and for all our
time. It is folly, then, as well as wicked
ness, to lose sight of these, or to lose, at
least, the sight of their importance and use,
by consuming our time and our talents, and
by laying the time and the talents of others
under contribution, in speculations about
matters, which, .after all that can be said,
are only matters of doubtful disputation.
2. In forming our religious creed, it is of
very little importance to ascertain how far
it may agree or disagree with what Luther,
or Calvin, or Arminius, or Baxter, or Wes
ley, or any other great man, among the
dead or the living, held or taught. These,
it may be allowed, were great and good
men, and useful in their day. But they
were furnished with their talents, and at
tainments, and their labors were blest, by
divine Providence, for very different pur
poses, from that of forming standards of the
ological belief, or even of christian prac-

SYSTEM-MAKING. 59
tice. It is by the Bible, and by the Bible
only, that every man can safely test his re
ligious opinions, and his religious conduct.
As a subject of general history, it is of
vast importance to be well informed what
distinguished men, in every age, have held
and taught, in the different departments, erf
literature; and it is particularly interest
ing to be familiar with the peculiarities of
those, who have been distinguished in their
day; and to ascertain the circumstances^
or the class of circumstances, which gave to
these men, and their productions, the influ
ence, which *they acquired, and which they
have maintained, over their own, and sue-.
ceeding generations. But, for the forming
of man's own character, and future usefuli
ness, recourse must be bad to the originals:
and, in all theological and religious investi
gation, the Bible is the original source of in-,
formation. The theological student has in this mat
ter greatly the advantage over the student
in most of the physical sciences. It is on^
ly an individual or so in an age, who has the
means, and opportunity of ascertain
ing and examining facts to any great ex*
tent for himself, in any of the physical sci
ences, and there is no one department in
any one of these sciences, where any one
man ever had or ever will have opportune

CO SYSTEM-MAKING.
ties of examining with his own eyes, the
one half of the facts upon which his sys
tem and illustrations depend. It is other
wise with the theological student. He can
examine the whole of the Bible, and exam
ine it too in the original languages for him
self. He is therefore Jvery criminal if he
does not make this examination.
3. It is highly probable that the most of the
peculiarities which give the distinguishing
characteristic to some of the most numer
ous and most respectabe denominations of
Protestants are only matters of doubtful dis
putation. The facts which suggest the in
ference are these,
1. The men who are most eminent for pi
ety and talent and attainment in every one of
these denominations, readily admit that the
great essential and leading facts and doc
trines of Revelation are held and taught in
the sister denominations as well as in their
own particular communion.
2. It is unquestionable that men are sanc
tified and saved by the preaching of the
word and by the administration of the or
dinances of the gospel in nearly equal pro
portion in all of these denominations. And
men are sanctified only through the truth.
3 While the member of a particular
communion may be very confident in the
belief of the divine authority of the pecu-

SYSTEM-MAKING. 61
parities of that denomination, few of the
members of any other communion have any
thing like the same confidence. In a coun
cil of four such men from four different de
nominations, there will be in every ques
tion of this nature, three againt one, and
one against three — And
4. A large portion of these distinguish
ing peculiarities are defended solely upon
the ground of expediency without even an
attempt to plead divine authority.

NO. VI.

THE ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN.
, It is of considerable importance, in all
the departments of philosophy and religion,
to understand distinctly what was the origi
nal state of man. The Bible is valuable as
a source of authentic information, on this ar-
tide. From the Mosaic account of the cre
ation, it is clear,
1. That the nature of man was, from the
beginning, of two distinct parts — a body and
a soul ; and that, in all pertaining to the bo-

62 ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN.
dy, he was nearly allied to the lower ani
mals ; but that, in his soul, he partook of
the nature of deity. His body was formed
of the earth, in the same manner, as the bo
dies of the lower animals had been formed.
But his soul was formed by an act of the di
vine mind, peculiar to the occasion. An em
anation from the divinity itself, animated
the lump of clay. "And God said, Let us
make man in our image, after our likeness ;
and let them have dominion over the fish of
the the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creep-
eth upon the earth. So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God cre
ated he him; male and female created he
them."— Gen. I, 26, 27. "And the Lord
God formed man of the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life ; and man became a living soul." — Gen.
11,7. Even the human body is fearfully and
wonderfully made ; yet there is nothing in
our bodies, which we have not in common
with the brutes. The distinguishing char
acteristic of man is, his soul — that living,
thinking, immortal spirit, which is capable
of bearing the divine image, and of knowing
and loving, and serving, and enjoying its Ma
ker.

ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN. 62
2. He was set at the head of all belonging
to this earth. "And God blessed them,, and
said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it ; and
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every liv
ing thing that moveth upon the earth." —
Gen. I, 28. Man is the only inhabitant of
this earth, which is capable of self-govern
ment. He is, of course, the only being on
earth, who is capable of governing others.
He is, also, the only inhabitant of earth, who
is capable of knowing, and loving, and serv
ing God. He is, therefore, the connecting
link betwixt earth and heaven — betwixt the
abodes and employments of mortals, and
the abodes and employments of pure spirits ;
and is the high priest of the lower world.
3. Man, as an animal, was to be support
ed, in common with the other animals, chief
ly from the vegetable productions of the
earth. " And God said, Behold, I have giv
en you every herb bearing seed, which is
upon the face of all the earth, and every
tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding
seed ; to you it shall be for meat. And to
every beast of the earth, and to every fowl
of the air, and to every thing that creepeth
upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have
given every green herb for meat: and it
was so." — Gen. I, 29, 30. He was to be the

U ORIGINAL STATE! OF MAN".
lord of the lower world. The whole snr*
face of the earth, and all that it should pro
duce ; and the fish, and the fowl, and cattle
Of every name, were to be under his com
mand, and were, by instinct, to yield to his
authority ; and the child, to this day, com
mands, with ease, the ox and the horse, and
even the camel and the elephant. But he
was not to hold his dominion as an absolute,
or supreme sovereign; but as a creature,
and a subject The lower animals were to
be at his command, but, in using them, he
Was to recognize them as his fellow crea
tures,. The same charter* which secured
to him his daily food, and daily protection,
secured also to them their daily food, and
daily protection. "Lord, thou preservest
man and beast." He was, of coure* at all
times, and under all circumstances, to be re
sponsible to the Sovereign Lord of all, for
the use, which he should make of his pow
ers and extensive dominion.
4. Marriage, and all the relations and du*
ties of the marriage state, belonged to man,
from the beginning. " And the Lord God
said, It is not good that the man should be
alone : I will make him a help meet for him.
And out of the ground the Lord God form
ed every beast of the field, and every fowl
of the air, and brought them unto Adam to
see what he would call them ; and whatso-

ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN. 6$
ever Adam called? every living creature,
that was the name thereof. And Adam
gaves names to all cattle, and to the fowl of
the air, and to every beast of the field : but
for Adam there was not found a help meet
for him. And the Lord God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and
he took one of his ribs, and closed up the
flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which
the Lord God had taken from man, made
he a woman,.and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, this is now bone of my bone,
flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Wo
man, because she was taken out of man*
Therefore shall a man leave his father and
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and
they shall be one flesh."— Gen. II, 18—24.
Hence, we are authorised to say, that it
was the original arrangement, that the hu
man family were to subsist in successive ge
nerations ; and were to live, and act togeth
er, while on earth, as social beings, and as
mutually depending on each other. — Matt.
XIX, 3—9. >
From the facts necessarily connected with
the marriage state, we infer, also, that man
had not only, from the beginning, the pow
er of forming thoughts, and of acquiring and
retaining knowledge ; but that he had also
the power of articulate speech, and that he
was originally so formed, that he could,

66 ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN.
with ease, communicate, by words, his
thoughts, to other intelligent beings, as soon
as these thoughts were formed.
The human family was at the creation,
distinguished from the Angelic, in that the
individuals, composing that family, were to
come into existence, in a series of succes
sive generations ; and the members of the
human family Avere to be distinguished from
the lower animals, in that they were to be
brought into existence, and were to be nour
ished arid trained for both time and eterni
ty, under the solemn obligations of matri
mony. 5. It is Clear, also, that man, even in inno
cence, and while the whole earth, and all
the productions, and inhabitants were at
his command, was not to be idle. He, and
his fair and delicate help-mate, were to la
bour with their hands, and to labour chiefly
in cultivating the earth. " And the Lord
God planted a garden east-ward in Eden;
and there he put the man whom he had
formed. And out of the ground made the
Lord God to grow every tree that is. plea
sant to the sight, and good for food ; the
tree of life also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And the Lord God commanded the man,
saying, of every tree of the garden thou
mayest eat." — Gen. II, 8, 9, 15. And,

ORIGINAL STATE QF MAN %
, 6. The Sabbath — a day to be peculiarly
devoted to devotion— was made for man-
was ordained and appointed for man, while
in innocence. "And on the seventh day
God ended his Avort which he had made;
and he rested on the seventh day from all
his work which he had made. And God
blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it:
because that he rested from all his work
which God created and made." Gen. II, 2
and 3. Man, in his original state, was not
to be idle, he was to subdue the earth, and
to have dominion over it. He Avas, pf course,
to labour with his head, and with his hands.
And was to travel, and examine, and im
prove his extensive estates ; and his labour
was not, as yet, in any case, to be a burden.
And, being yet in the full image of his ma
ker, all his labour, and all his movements,
and his very breath would be accompanied
with devotion; but he was, moreover, tp
have his Sabbath— his day of holy resting
—his day of superior deyotion. And it is
only because men have lost, to a great ex
tent, the image of their maker, that the
JSabbath is not still hailed as the best of all
the seven.
Man, in his original and happy state, was
to have his hours of labour, and his hours of
rest; his days, and his nights; his hours of
eating, and drinking, and of social .enjoy-

68 ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN.
ment ; and, being still a holy being, he Avould,
in all his labour, and in all his enjoyment,
enjoy the fellowship of his God. But he
was also to have one day in seven, which
was to be a day of peculiar rest, and of pe
culiar enjoyment; and a day to be peculi
arly devoted to intercourse and communion
With heaven. -.vr

GENERAL INFERENCES.
1. The original state of man was not the
state of a savage. The first mart, and the
first woman were never either in infancy or
childhood. They were created in maturi
ty, man and wife, and the united head of a
family. They were, also, created in a state
of holiness and purity, bearing the intellec
tual and the moral image of their maker ;
and they were, at once, put into the pos
session and the management of their rich
and extensive inheritance.
Farther — The whole history of the pa
triarchal age, and of the Jewish nation, as
well as all the accounts, which we have, of
the nations, with whom the patriarchs, and
the Jews had intercourse, in the early ages
of the world, are at war with the supposi
tion, that the original state of man was that^
of a savage. Nay, all antiquity bears wit
ness, through the poetry and the scraps of

ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN. 69
the history of those ages, preserved by the
Greeks and the Romans,- in their, more ela
borate productions — that the countries,
which the Scriptures assign as the original
habitations of the human race, so far from
ever having been in a savage state, were,
from time immemorial, the seats of the arts,
and of a highly cultivated state of soci
ety. It is, however, also a fact, that the inhab
itants of all the newly discovered countries,
in both ancient and modern times, have been
found in a savage state. Nor is it a very
difficult matter, to account for this fact.
The natural tendency of human nature is
to degenerate. Every child, in every state
of society, would, if left to the full force of
its own natural propensities, groAvup in idle
ness and vice. Nay more — the best regu
lated, and the most highly improved socie
ty, which ever yet has been, has been brought
to that state, and has been kept in that state,
by the persevering efforts of a few individ
uals only. The great mass of every com
munity; in every age, and in every country,
has hitherto been a dead Weight upon all
improvements. Man is naturally both an
indolent and a vicious animal. -Hence, if
from any circumstance whatever, a few inr
dividuals are cut off from all intercourse
with civilized life, and made to depend, for

70 ORIGINAI^STATE ¦ OF MAN.
their subsistence, on the chacc, or upon the
spontaneous productions of the earth, all the
arts, and all the enjoyments of civilized life
will soon be forgotten. , , , .:_»>
,- We have a sufficient illustration of all
these facts, in the history of our own coun
try. The, frontier settlements, whether
they were on the east, or the west of the
mountains, have uniformly been semi-savage:,
and it has only been by the spirited exer
tions of a few individuals, in the most of the
settlements, in establishing schools, and in
introducing religious institutions, that they
have been preserved from having become
altogether savage. All large cities, all o*
ver the world, are further illustrations.
The two extremes of society are always
seen and felt in these cities; and the ten
dency to idleness, and ignorance, and sav
age ferocity, among the lower and poorer
classes, has always been acknowledged and
lamented. The most of the first inhabitants of an
cient Greece, were probably fugitives from
justice, as Cain was, when he went out from
the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the
land of Nod ; and, after they had roamed a-
bout for generations, in a state little supe
rior to that of the brutes, they were tamed
and civilized by foreigners teaching them
to cultivate the earth, and to respect the

ORIGINAL STATE- OF MAN '71
obligations of marriage, and to worship the
gods. Nor is there a single instance, in the
history of man, of a tribe or nation rising
from the savage state, independent of the
instruction and example Of emigrants, or
missionaries from some other country,
2. The cultivation of the earth is an an
cient, and most useful and honorable em
ployment. Before the first man was crea
ted, it is particularly noticed, that there
was a great blank in the creation. " There
was not a man to till the ground."— -Gen,
II, 5.
The principle of production was infused
into all animate and inanimate creation.
The earth was to be fruitful. All the low
er animals were to multiply, and fill the
earth. But, by far the greater part of all
these productions and increase, was to be
carried on, and perfected, under the super
intendence and labors of man. Man's dai
ly labor, and care, and authority were to
foe as necessary, in all these arrangements,
as the continued influence of the sun, and
of the rain, and the dews.
. And, as it was in the beginning, so it has
ever been. The farming interest has, in ev
ery land, and in every generation, been that
upon which all other interests have depend
ed. All the means of support and enjoy
ment of all the other classes of the commu-

72 ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN.
nity, must come directly, or indirectly from
the cultivation of the soil.
Nor is mere support all. The very con
tinuance of the human species, depends on
those, who are employed in cultivating, with
their OAvn hands, the earth. It is from
these, that all the Avaste of animal life, and
animal vigor is annually supplied. A third
generation of manufacturers, or of mechan
ics, or of the inhabitants of large and pop
ulous cities, in a direct line, is not known.
If personal independence, and a sound mind
in a sound body, and healthy and happy
families are knoAvn any where, they are
found and enjoyed among those, who, like
the first man and the first woman, are help
mates to one another, in keeping and dress
ing a moderate portion of the surface of
the earth.
.3. A great deal of piety and religion
consists in feeling and acknowledging the
goodness of God in making the earth pro
ductive. The number of passages in the
Bible, of this import, is likely incredible to
those, who have not paid particular atten
tion to the subject. ., .
Sec particularly, Ps, LXV, 9 — end,
LVH, 4— end, CVII, 31—38, CXLIV, 12
—end, CXLV, 16— end, Prov. XXIV, 30
—end. XXVII, 23— end, and Matt. VI, 26
— end.

NO. VII.

THE NATURE AND USE OF POSI
TIVE INSTITUTIONS.
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every
tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat : but , of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'' — Gen. 11, 16
and 17.
Commandments and the corresponding
duties, are classed under two general divi
sions, Moral and Positive. By moral duties
we mean those which are at all times obliga
tory, upon all moral agents, of whatever rank,
and under whatever state of existence; These
arefall comprehended by our Lord, under
two general heads, viz :— Love to God, and
love to Man. By Positive, or as they are
sometiihes called arbitary commands, we
mean those which are obligatory, only un
der certain circumstances, and are obliga
tory, not from any intrinsic value, but be
cause they are commanded by competent
authority, being intended %o answer a par
ticular end, in subserviency to some
great moral purpose ; and which may there
fore be Changed, and declared no longer
obligatory, by the same, 6r by a correspond-

74 POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS,
ing authority, wherever the change is con
sidered as necessary.
The passage of Scripture, at the head of
this article, belongs~to the last class. The
prohibition given to our first Father, not to
eat of the fruit of a particular tree, was of
a positive, not of a moral nature. It was a
commandment, however, of vast importance.
The destiny of all his natural descendants,
through all generations, till the end of
time, depended to a great extent, upon the
first man's obedience, to this single pre
cept. It Avas by the one offenGeof the one
man — the one breach of the one command
ment, that judgment Came upOn all men to
condemnation. We shall attend,
I. To the nature, and the use of positive
institutions, as they are connected wit|j all
the ramifications of civil society. And,
II. To the importance of the particular
arrangement, under which the first man was
put by his Creator and Sovereign.
Under the first head, we would shew, that
positive institutions, such as that under
which the first man was placed, have mark
ed and still mark all man's intercourse with,
his fellow men, and are in fact, inseperable
from his existence, and his movement
as a social being ; Ave can only refer to a feAv
specimens, but they shall be taken from all

POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS. T5
the departments of social life, and every man
of the least reflection, may furnish himself
with thousands.
Nearly all the intercourse, which a par
ent kas with his child, from infancy to ma-
turity, is of this nature. Every parent is
uncommohly anxious to obtain evidence of
two 'feets/ respecting his child; and nearly
all his happiness and comfort as a parent
depends upon his ascertaining these facts.
The first enquiry is, is this infant in human
form a rational being, and not an idiot ? and
if it is,' what is the nature and the extent of
its powers? And the second enquiry is,
does it possess, and exercise filial affection,
and to what extent? And every parent in
every state of society, and in every rank of
life devises, and puts into execution a great
variety of arbitrary contrivances, to asser-
tain first the existence, and then the gra
dual development of these principles of feel
ing, and of action in his child.
Long before the infant has the command
of articulate language, the mother has by
means of a great variety of her OAvn arrang-
ments,had an extensive intercourse with the
opening mind, and has to her own satisfac
tion made a vast number of important dis
coveries. And from the time, that the little
fellow is master of articulate language,
till he finishes his education in the com-

76 POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS.
mon school, or the college, he is put daily
and almost hourly under a number of very
arbitary, and, sometimes, to, him very disa
greeable restraints. He must rise, and.go
to bed at a particular hour, must sit in a
particular place, and not unfrequently in a
particular position, must play at particu
lar hours, and at particular hours only;
must associate only with particular indivi
duals, and must pay his respects to his pa
rents, and instructors in a particular form.
And even all rewards and means of excite*
ment to action, are generally of an arbitary
nature. He will have a coat of a particular
cut, or of a particular cloth, or be allowed
to make an excursion to a particular place,
at a particular time, according as. he is a
good, or a bad boy, in submiting chearfully
to a set of arbitrary arrangements. Nor is
it unworthy of notice in the present connec
tion; that all the world over, and among
every class of people, all other things
being equal, that man is generally found to
be the most distinguished in active life, who
during infancy, and youth had been put un*
der the most rigid arbitrary arrangements.
The great design of all civil government
is, to secure to every member of the com-r
munity, the full and the perfect use of all
the fruits of his lawful industry; and the
moral principle is, that whatever: is the nat-r

POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS. 7T
Sural fruit of a man's labor of body or mind,
is,< strictly and properly speaking, his own;
but to apply this principle, and carry it out
into all the departments of organized soci
ety, an infinite number of positive institu
tions is necessary.
The modes of making and of witnessing
contracts, by which property or right pass
es fromone individual to another, are many
and various. Striking hands — taking off
the shoe, and giving it to another — giving
and receiving, and putting up a small piece
of money— and twenty or a hundred other
arbitrary actions have been, and still ai e, in
use,, as acknowledged evidences of a real
and proper sale. In our own country, as
well as in almost all other countries, when
a piece of landed property changes its own?
er, the fact must be written out, in a parties
ular form, which writing must be witnessed
and acknowledged before a particular per
son; and, finally, it must be recorded at ; a
particular place, and by a particular offi
cer. All the moral duties of any government
are included in a single word, Protection:
and all the*eorresponding duties of the sub
ject, or citizen, are included in one other
word, Obedience; but the arbitrary and ne-
cessary.forms,under which the mutual obliga
tions of the governed and the governors, are

78 POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS.
expressed ; and under which, the duties of
protection and obedience are mutually dis
charged, are, in the ordinary sense oif the
term, infinite.
The great moral design of all courts of
Justice is, to declare publicly to every man
in the community, what is his due. But
justice never yet was administered, and nev
er will be administered, in any country, or
in any state of society, with respect to any
class of conflicting claims, without a great
variety of arbitrary forms.
In man's social and every-day intercourse
with his fellow men, a number of positive
arrangements are equally indispensable.
Friendly visits, betwixt families and indi
viduals living in the same neighborhood, or
belonging to the same, or to different class
es of people ; and commercial, and literary,
and political transactions, of great impor*
tance to the present and to succeeding gen
erations, have, in every age, and in every
country, and in every state of society, de
pended, to a great extent, upon what was
the custom, or the fashion of the people and
the place.
A flag, whether in peace or war, is only
a little piece of cloth, of itself of very little
value ; but in the form, and under the name,
of & flag, its value is inestimable. — It is the
flag of the nation.

POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS. 79
" Once more— *
The great mass of the words, in all lan
guages, are mere arbitrary marks, having
no natural connection, either in form or in
sound, with the things which they represent.
External objects make the same impressions
upon the senses of men, and produce the
same feelings in every generation, and all
t>ver the world : but the WOrds, which ex
press the qualities of these external objects,
and which express the corresponding feel
ings, are very different in different coun
tries, and indifferent generations of the peo
ple of the same country ; and they have,
in the most of cases, no natural connection
either with the object they represent, or
with one another.
The general proposition is thus clearly
made out — That positive institutions mark
all man's intercourse with his fellow men,
and are, in fact, inseperable from his- exis
tence and movement as a social being.
Let us noAV —
-, II. Attend, more particularly, to the pos
itive or, if you will, arbitrary command
ment, under which the first man was plac
ed, on his being put in possession of his o-
riginal inheritance. "And the Lord God
commanded the man, saying, Of every tree
of the garden thou may est freely eat: but
of the, tree of the knowledge of good and

80 POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS.
evil, thou shalt not eat of i^ for in; the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die." Here we are to remember,
1. That Jehovah is and was, from the be
ginning; the sovereign Lord and proprietor
of all. He made all that is in the heavens,
and in the waters, and on the dry land.
And he preserves them all. He has, there
fore, the unquestionable right to dispose of
all these, or of any class of them, or of any
individual of a class, to whom or for what
particular purpose, and upon what particu
lar conditions, may seem good to himself.
2. That the same Jehovah was pleased to
make man just such a being as he is. He
was made in the image of his maker, and
was set at the head of all that belongs to this
earth. He was made an intelligent, a free
and moral agent, and was formed both in
body and mind^ to the natural and constant
use of such positive institutions, as We find
have marked the history of the race in
their intercourse with one another, in all
ages, and in all states of society. But,
- 3. Though man was to be in one sense,
the lord of all below the Sun; yet he^WaS
not to be an independent, but a dependent
being. He held his all — his very nature,
and all his enjoyments, and all his hopes, as
the gift of his Creator. And let us particu
larly remember, that being made after the

POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS. 81
image of God, his chief duty, and his chief
happiness were to consist in his having
regular intercourse with God, and that
though he was in consequence a perfect be
ing, yet his intellectual, and moral poeMrs
were to be«developed, and improved under
a system of means adapted to his nature as
a dependant being. Hence, acknowledging
his dependance upon God in any form,
which infinite wisdom and infinite goodness
might appoint, must have always been a
profitable mode of expressing filial affection,
and reverential confidence in the great, and
the almighty, and infinitely good father of all.
From these, and from many similar facts
it follows : —
4th. That the prohibition given to the
first man, as a test of his obedience to the
sovereign lord of all, was a reasonable and
an easy requisition ; nor will it be easy to
find in all the ramifications of Society, a sin
gle case in which a positive institution, as a
test of obedience, and as a means of intel
lectual and moral development, was more
simple, and easy, and reasonable, and better
adapted to ansAver the great end for which
it was appointed.
It was reasonable — the Sovereign Lord
of all had just put man into possession of
his ample inheritance. He had given him
dominion over the sea, and over the dry

82' POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS..
land, and over the cattle, and the fish, and
the fowl, and over all the productions of
every one, and of all of them, and he required
as a test of his obedience, that he should
not eat of the fruit of only one particular
tree. It was an easy requisition — man had no
need of the fruit of this particular tree. He
was not required to make a single sacrifice,
or to deny himself of a single enjoyment.
He was not even required to give any
portion of the regular increase of
any of the numerous, and rich substances
which were put under his command. He
was just required to be satisfied with what
he had in possession, and in prospect, and
to acknowledge his dependence upon the
giver of all, by refraining from the use of a
single tree.
As a farther illustration of the general
proposition, we may observe,
5th. That God has, in all his dealings with
men, suspended their happiness, and the
enjoyment of his favour to a great extent,
upon the observance of positive institutions.
The Sabbath is moral, as to its nature.
Some portion of our time, ought to be de
voted exculsively to the worship of God,
but it is positive as to the seventh part of
our time. It might have been the third, or
the 10th, or 20th, with equal propriety, if

POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS. 83
God had seen fit to appoint it so. A num
ber however, of other arrangements res
pecting the Physical nature of man, and of
other animals, Avould likely have also been
necessary, had any other portion of time,
but the seventh part been appointed, as the
time of rest, and special devotion.
Circumcision, the seal of the covenant
made with Abraham, and in him with all
his descendant, was a mere positive com
mandment. The safety of the whole of the
thousands of Israel, in that memorable night
when the destroying angel, passed through
the land of Eygpt, was suspended upon
the head of the family, putting his household
under the protection of blood sprinkled up^-
on the lintels, and upon the door posts of
his dwelling.
The tabernacle and the, temple, and all
the arragements for national worship under
the Old Testament dispensation, were posi
tive, or Arbitrary institutions, and the im
portant ordinances of Baptism, and the
Lord's supper, under the New Testament
dispensation, are of the same nature.
The penalty annexed to the violation of
these, and similar positive institutions was
also express and severe. It was death, cr
exclusion from all the distinguishing privi-
liges of God's people. The uncircumcised
man-child was to be cut off from the people

84 POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS
oftheLord. The man who being cerimonal-
ly clean, and who was not on a journey, and
neglected to eat the annual passover at the
appointed time and place, and in the speci
fied manner, was doomed to the same pun
ishment. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of
Aaron, died awfully in the presence of Je
hovah, because they presumed to offer in
cense otherwise, than what was commanded.
King Uzziah was struck with an incurable
leprosy, because he attempted to execute in
a single case, the office of priesthood. And
Uzzah was struck dead on the spot, because
from the impulse of the moment, and from
what no doubt, in popular language is call
ed a good motive, he ventured to touch
the ark of the covenant.
We refer to these things at this time
merely as matters of fact, in the divine ar
rangements, and as leading features in the
character of God's government of the hu
man family ; and in whatever way you may
explain the system, the general proposition
is incontrovertible. — That God has in all
his dealings with men, been pleased to sus
pend to a great extent, in a great variety of
important cases, their safety and happiness,
and their intercourse with him,as their fa
ther, and their friend, upon their regular,
and punctual attention to positive institu-

POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS. 85
tions. Nor would it be a very difficult mat
ter, did the end we have in view demand it,
to go into detail, and shew that all these ar
rangements have been of a merciful nature
— all, well adapted to the nature of man, and
the various circumstances under which his
lot is cast, and all intended to unfold, and ap
ply to fallen man, the great salvation.
And connect this general proposition with
the first, viz: — that man from his very na
ture has carried on nearly all his inter
course with his fellow men, through the
means of positive institutions.
We close the Subject with a few
GENERAL REMARKS.

1st. The establishment of Positive Insti
tutions, is in every case one of the peculiar
rights of Sovereignty. The father of a
family — the master of a school — the legis
lature of every country, under every form
of government — the judges in all courts of
law, and public opinion, in a particular
neighourhood, or through a particular class
of the community, are all in their respective
spheres, absolute Sovereigns, and as such
possess, and exercise an absolute right of
making, and changing a great variety of
arrangements to be subservient to the par-

86 GENERAL REMARKS:
ticular purposes of their respective depart
ments. It is, hoAvever, in all such cases to be re
membered, that wisdom, and fidelity, and
talent are supposed to belong to the indivi
duals who exercise such acts of Sovereignty.
Hence, though in the language of law, they
are obligatory solely because they are en*
joined by the proper authority, yet in point
of fact, that authority is supposed to have
made these enactments, because they were
in the nature of things adapted to cherish,
and perfect some great moral principle.
And if this is the true state of the case, in
human arrangements, much more must it
be so in the divine government. We are
in fact, never even in theory to seperate the
absolute, and incontrovertible right of Jeho
vah to make and manage all his creatures as
he may please, from the full execise of his
wisdom, and love, and goodness.
2nd. In all states of society, the guilt of
violating a positive institution, is estimated,
not by the intrinsic value of the act ; but
by the rank and authority of him who en*
joined obedience, and the value of the mor
al principle, that institution was designed
to secure. The mere act, by which a flag
may be insulted, may be very trifling; and
yet that act may involve the welfare and
happiness of nations, and of unborn genera
tions.

-GENERAL REMARKS. 8?
3. When any positive institution is once
Established by the proper authority, the
obligation to observe it, by all those upon
whom it is enjoined, is as strong as the obli
gation to observe any moral duty can be.
Nor is it, in any case, safe for those, whose
duty it is to obey, to cherish- speculations as
to the comparative value of these two class
es of duties. — Gen. Washington once told
an applicant for office, that he had lost the
appointment solely because he had failed
to attend, at the given hour, only by a few
minutes. Previous to its being fixed, by
the proper authority, it may be a mere mat
ter of indifference whether public worship
shall commence on the Sabbath, at a par
ticular place, at ten, or twelve, or two ; but
when once the hour is fixed, neither the
preacher nor the people can, with a good
conscience, trifle with the most rigid punc
tuality. 4. All the institutions of worship being
positive, and God alone having the right to
appoint the means and the modes of wor
ship, the receiving, and observing, and the
keeping pure and entire, all that God has
been pleased to appoint, must be a great and
important duty; and these appointments,
till they are changed by the proper autho
rity, must be binding at all times, and in all
places, upon individuals, and upon societies.

88 GENERAL REMARKS.
Hence, in this age of inquiry and revolu
tion, it is an important enquiry, to ascer
tain how far the modes of Worship, and
forms of government, adopted by the diffe
rent Protestant churches, are authorized,
directly or indirectly, by plain and express
divine authority. The awful denunciation,
which closes the canon of Inspiration, must
embrace positive, as well as moral, duties.
"Fori testify unto every man that hear-
eth the words of the prophecy of this book,
If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are
written in this book ; and if any man shall
take away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God shall take away his
part out of the book of life, and out of the
holy city, and from the things which are
written in this book."— Rev. XXII, 18, 19.
An enquiry of this nature, is peculiarly ne
cessary from the acknowledged fact, that
the natural tendency of the human mind,
has been to modify divine institutions, ac
cording to the prevalent notions of fitness
and propriety.
5. It is dangerous to suppose, even for a
moment, that any fact or principle, which
is contained in the book of God, is of little
or no use : or of little or no importance to
us, or to any portion of our felloAV men. Je
hovah never said — never did — never put

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 89
upon record, any thing of this character.
God's word is like his works — one great
whole — nothing superfluous — nothing lack
ing — nothing out of place. And he, and he
only, who takes the largest and the most
comprehensive view of the whole, will be
best qualified to ascertain the value and
the use of any of the particular parts.

no. vni.

SOCIAL LIABILITY

SECTION. I.

** By the offence of one man, judgment came upon all men to
condemnation.'' — Rom. V, 18.
This sentence has a particular reference
to the first offence of the first man, the pro
genitor of the whole human family. Nor
is there any other event in the whole his
tory of man, to which it can with proprie
ty be applied.
Condemnation always supposes guilt ; and
guilt generally supposes crime. Guilt is

90 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
being liable to punishment, and always sup
poses the violation of some law, but this
law may be either moral, or positive, and it
may have been violated either in our own
personal conduct, or in the conduct of some
other person, with whom we have been some
way or other, connected. We propose in
in this sketch, to consider liability to pun
ishment, chiefly as having been incurred
by the conduct of others. And in consider
ing the subject Ave shall,
1. Attend to some of the great and lead
ing facts of this nature, which have marked
in all ages, and in every state of Society,
Man's intercourse with his felloAV men.
Here the general proposition is, that every
Avhere in all ages, in every state of society,
and in all the departments of life, we find
men old and young, male and female, rich
and poor, high and low, virtuous and vici
ous, on various occasions, suffering to a
great extent in consequence of the conduct of
others, with whom they have some way, or
other been connected, and over whose con
duct they had no controul.
The manner in which children are made
sufferers, in consequence of the conduct,
and character of their father is familiar to
all. A drunken father conveys to all his
children, as it were by inheritance, a dis
eased body, and frequently poverty and

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 91
wretchedness in the extreme, and always
more, or less disgrace, and degradation in
society. The son of a thief, or a murderer,
or of a traitor, or of a notorious covenant-
breaker, is by some principle in human
nature always thought of with feelings of a
very different kind, which accompany our
thoughts of the son of a patriot, or of an
honest and respectable man.
In commercial society, facts of this nature
are every where seen and felt. Not only
an individual, but a whole family, and ex
tensive family connections, may all be re
duced to poverty, and degradation in soci
ety, from the weakness, or infidelity, or
misfortune of a single agent, to whom a par
ticular kind of stock, or speculation was com
mitted. And men, and all their family con
nections, are , every year great sufferers,
and in many cases reduced to absolute pov
erty, and deprived even of the means of
obtaining a comfortable subsistence, in con
sequence of their having become security
for some particular friend, who has been
unfaithful, or unfortunate, in conducting
some particular business, in Avhich he was
engaged. In every case of the kind, the
law of every country holds the security li
able, or guilty to all the extent of the origi
nal engagement; while at the same time it
is perfectly understood by all concerned,

98 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
that the individual who meets the claims,
and cancels the engagement had no agency
in managing the concern, which occasioned
the loss and the sufferings. Nor do we even
accuse the government, or officers df the gov
ernment of injustice, or oppression in their
carrying out to all their extent, engagements
of this nature.
In Politics and Jurisprudence, a nation
never dies while an efficient and indepen
dent executive is maintained. All the indivi
duals of the nation die. Every individual
who is any way connected with the Execu
tive soon disappears ; but the national acts are
binding from generation to generation, and
binding after revolutions may have succeed
ed revolutions, and the form of the govern
ment completely changed. It makes no
matter who Avere the particular individuals,
who incurred the responsibility, or under
what particular form of government they
execised their powers. The acts were na
tional acts, and as such are binding while
the nation exists, or till they are fulfilled
according to engagement.
The government of the United States has
had large demands, allowed by the existing
governments of France, and Spain for dam
ages done to the citizens of the United
States, by Frenchmen and Spaniards, un
der the government of Napoleon, or Avhen

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 93
it was scarcely known who was the head
of France or Spain. The legitimates when
restored to the thrones of their ancestors,
no doubt considered it a very hard case
that they should be held responsible for the
damages done, under the authority of him,
whom they considered as an usurper: and
it may be considered as a hard thing, that
the subjects of these countries should in any
form, or in any degree be made to account for
the robberies of men, of whom they indivi
dually knew nothing, and from whom nei
ther they, nor their country have derived
any benefit ; but the great leading princi
ple, that the nations of France and Spain
were responsible for these spoliations, and
losses has never been called in question.
The existing generation of men succeeded
by inheritance to these liabilities.
Once more,
Man, by his nature, is a social being. He
•always has existed, and always will exist,
and act, while an inhabitant of this earth,
as a member of society. Individual inter
est, and individual character must, of course
on almost all occasions, and in a great vari
ety of nameless forms, be deeply involved in
the transactions, and in the character of
the community. And again, as the charac
ter and situation of this mass have been,
and ahvays will be, formed chiefly by the

94 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
conduct and the character of a few promi
nent individuals, the destinies — the happi
ness, or the misery — of every country, and
of every age will ahvays depend, to a great
extent, upon the conduct of these few indi*
viduals ; and, in ninety nine cases out of the
hundred, the mass of the individuals thus
depending upon the conduct and the char
acter of one or two, will have little or no
control over that conduct, which, in the orr
dinary language of men, is to fix their des
tiny. From these and similar facts, found in
every portion of the history of man ; and
which are also matters of daily observation
every where, the following conclusions are
unavoidable : —
1. That every man is, by his very na
ture, intimately connected, in a great varie
ty of ways, with thousands of his fellow men,
whom he has never seen ; and that the con
duct and the character of a single individu
al may have an extensive, and a lasting in
fluence upon millions of his fellow men, who-
are far removed from him, both as to time
and place.
2. That these liabilities may be class
ed under two general heads, viz: —
Natural and Positive. The son inherits a
diseased or a healthy body, and, in many
cases, also an intellectual or moral charac-

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 95
ter; and generation after generation sus
tains the character of their ancestors, by
what may be called a natural influence.
Like produces and continues like. But, in
commercial and political tranffiictions, last
ing and important liabilities are created and
continued by positive arrangements.
3. That, in all cases of social liabilities,
individual and representative responsibility
are always kept distinct. Nor is it, in the
most of cases, a very difficult thing to have
a clear and distinct conception of these two
distinct responsibilities.
Every citizen of these United States, who
thinks at all, must feel that himself and his
children, and his children's children are
deeply interested in the conduct and char
acter of the President of the U. S., for the
time being. An able and virtuous Presi
dent, with an able and wise and faithful cab
inet, must be a great blessing to the millions,
both the born and unborn, on both sides of
the Atlantic. And, on the other hand, a
weak and a wicked President, and cabinet,
must be the occasion of inconceivable incon-
Veniencies, and real privations, and suffer
ings to countless millions, both of the pre
sent, and of succeeding generations. But
yet no man ever thought of attributing to
himself, or to his children, the personal wis
dom, or intellectual ability, or inflexible in-

96 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
tegrity, which has marked the character of
any distinguished executive officer ; nor, on
the other hand, has he ever thought of be
ing charged individually, or of having his
children changed individually, with the
weakness, or the Avickedness of a bad exec
utive officer. He, and his children, and his
neighbors, and their children feel and ac
knowledge, that they are personally and
deeply involved in the consequences of the
official acts of these men, whether these
consequences are of a beneficial or a hurt
ful tendency ; but, at the same time, indi
vidual and personal merit and demerit, and
individual and personal responsibility, are
clearly understood, and never, for a mo
ment, merged in social representative trans
actions. From a view of the above facts it follows,"
4. That the terms, guilty and innocent,
must, with every thinking man, be used in
a different sense, when they are applied to
responsibilities incurred by the conduct of
another, from that in Avhich they are used
Avhen applied to personal conduct. In the
former application, guilty can only mean li
ability to suffer punishment; and innocent
to be not liable. But in the latter applica
tion, they mean, having violated, or having
not violated, some moral or positive com
mandment. In the one case, the terms ap-

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 97
ply to a personal act, and to personal cha
racter, but in the other they only mark the
nature and the consequences of a certain act,
or acts, as»these consequences are felt by
another person. f||?
5. In every case of Sociaf Liability, unity
is recognised. The individuals concerned
may be millions, or only two, and they may
be in every other respect and bearing, dis
tinct and seperate; but in the particular
case in which liability applies, they are in
law, only one moral person.
The father and the1 son, the ancestor,
and the descendant, have only one common
nature, or one common right. In commer
cial transactions, the company is one, though
composed of many individuals ; and the na
tion acting by the constituted authorities,
with all her other varieties, and differences,
while a nation, continues one and indivisible.

SOCIAL LIABILITY.

SECTION. II.

From the fact, that men generally in
every age, and generation, and in every
state of society, and in all ranks, and con
ditions have acted extensively upon the

98 SOCIAL LIABILITY,
principle of social liability, the inference is
fair, that the principle itself must be an orig
inal, and inherent principle in human nature.
It is in fact utterly impossible tljat men in
such a great^djjbersity of situations, should
have acted, anaXshould continue to act so
uniformly upon the principle, and yet the
principle not be original, and common to
our nature.
We propose in this section to view it as
connected with the divine administration.
And the general proposition here is,
That the application of the principle, is
prominent in the whole of God's government
of his creature man.
We shall attend,
I. To it as a mere matter of fact in the
history of man, as given by the spirit of
God. Systematic writers have here gene
rally adopted the phrase, Federal representa
tion, and some of the many facts of this class
are these,
1. The promise made to Noah, Gen. VIII,
20 — 22. The covenant made with Noah,
and his Sons, Gen. IX, 8 — 17. And the
curse denounced upon Canaan by Noah, and
the blessing pronounced by him on Shem
and Japheth. Gen. IX, 24 — 27.
2. The case of Abraham, Gen. XVII, 1-
14. Refered to in almost every page of
Jewish history. See particularly Exodus,

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 99
VI, 1—8. 2 Chron. XX. 6 and 7. Neh. I,
5—9. Act, VII, 17.
In fact, nearly the whole of thp divine
administration to the 4$ws, as a body
is only an application of the principle of
federal representation. w*^
3. The promise made to Hagar, respect
ing her son Ishmael, Gen. XVI, 10 — 12. —
And made to Abraham in answer to his
prayer, Gen. XVII, 20. Compared with
the history of the Arabians, in every gene
ration. 4. The case of Phinehas the son ©f Elea-
zer, Numb. XXV. 10—13.
5. The case of David mentioned, Psalm,
LXXXIX, 3 and 4, and 2 Samuel, VII, 12
— 17. And often refered to, in the history
of the Kings of Judah, see particularly,
1 Kings,XI, 34—36. 2 Chron. XXI, 5—7.
6. The case of the Gibeonites, Joshua,
IX, 1 — end. And acted upon, 2 Samuel,
XXI, 1—9.
7. The case of Amelek, Exodus, XVII,
13 and 14. And acted upon generations
afterwards, 1 Sam. XV, 1 — 9.
8. The case of Jehu, 2 Kings, X, 30, and
XV, 12.
These cases as mere matters of fact, may
suffice as an illustration of the principle.
In whatever way we may explain the thing,
there can be nO doubt, but that God as the

100 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
righteous governor of families, and of nations,
has dealt with the individuals of one gene
ration in a particular way, in judgment, or
in mercy, in consequence of the particular
conduct, or privileges of a former genera
tion, and hasjfealt with them very different
ly from what they would have been dealt
with, had they not been the natural descen
dants of particular parents.
II. The principle, that a nation while it
retains its political independence never
dies, though the individuals composing that
nation, are continually changing, is recognis
ed, and acted upon in every page of the
Bible. 1. The iniquity of the Amorites, was not
full in the days of Abraham ; but it was full
in the days of Joshua. Gen. XV, 16.
2. Moses through the whole of the book
Dueteronomy addresses the children of
those who acted at Mount Sinai as having
been parties to the covenant then made, see
Deut. V, 1 — 5. Joshua, also in his last ad
dress, speaks of the nation as one unbroken
unit, from the days of Abraham, till that
period. Joshua, XXIV, 1—13.
3. The principle runs through the whole
of the devotional, and historical Psalms. See
particularly, Ps. CV, and CVI. See also
the confessional prayers. Ezra IX, 5 — end.
and Nehemiah, IX, 1 — end.

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 101
4. It is upon the same principle that na*
tions are addressed and spoken of in the
Prophecies, as moral persons. Ez. XXV
— XXXII. Amos, I and ILchapters — and
Revelation, XVIII. ,VJ|
III. The principle is expff^ed in direct
terms, and incorporated into the doctrines
of the Bible. It is an important clause in the
second commandment. "I the Lord thy God,
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children, unto the third
and fourth generation of them who hate
me, and shewing mercy to thousands of
them who love me, and keep my command
ments." Repeated and made an important
part of a prayer. Numb. XIV, 17, 18, 19.
Refered to in many of the devotional parts
of Scripture; See particularly, Ps. CHI,
17 and 18, and Ps. CIX, 9—14.
Consult also the declaration of our Lord,
concerning the men of that generation.
Matt. XXIII, 34—37.
IV. Children from infancy to maturity
Avere destroyed, by the visitation of God's
providence, in consequence of the iniquity
of their fathers, in the destruction of the
old world, and in the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorah;' and in the destruction of
Jerusalem according to the threatening.
Deut. XXVIII, 49—57.
All the children of the Canaanites, with-

102 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
out any exception, were destroyed by the
express command of God, along with their
parents. It was to be otherwise with the
children of any other nation, against which
the Israelites might wage war. See Deut.
XX, 10 — 18/ The sons and the daughters
of Achan perished also in his iniquity.
Joshua, VII, 24.

The declarations in Deut. XXIV, 16,
and in Ezekiel, XVIII, 20, can never with
any propriety be argued against the princi
ple expressed, and included, and acted upon
in so many other passages — to meet how
ever, any such objections which may be
urged, let it be remembered,
1. That the whole of the Bible is a ma
nifestation of mercy, and that the whole is
addressed to adults, and that the execution
of the sentence, of a violated law upon the
children, and upon the property of Avicked
men, is no doubt among other reasons, intend-
as a special Avarning to all future genera
tions. Nor is there a single temporal cala
mity of a more alarming nature to a parent,
than the thought, that his children are to
foe involved in his ruin.
2. That by far the greater number of the
applications of social liability to children,

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 103
is peculiarly a dispensation' of mercy.
Wicked and ungodly men are not cast off,
but they are continued in the enjoyment of
particular privileges, on account of their
having been connected by parentage, or
otherwise, with holy men. Tsee Ps. CV, 8,,
and CVI, 42—48. 1 Kings, XI, 12, 13, and
2 Chro. XXI, 6, 7.
3. That adults being the children of wick
ed men, and connected with a wicked gene
ration, are generally warned of the ap
proaching judgments, and exhorted, and
encouraged to repent, and forsake their
sins, by a promise of mercy. The whole of
XVIII, Ezekiel, is evidently of this charac
ter. Men, who were themselves wicked,
and the children of wicked men, and inti
mately connected with an uncommonly
wicked generation, are told that they may
escape from their own iniquities, and from
the iniquities of their fathers, by repent
ance and amendment of life.

SOCIAL LIABILITY.

SECTION. III.

" By the offence of one man, judgment came upon all men to
condemnation.'" — Rom. V, 18.
We enquire now what was the condem-

104 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
nation, which has come upon all men, by the;
offence of the one man. We cannot go into
details, nor is it safe, or profitable to go very
far into details on this subject. We ought
to be satisfied? here with a few plain, and
prominent facts, which are either clearly re
vealed, or evidently implied in what is con
tained in the Bible.
And, 1. Every man in consequence of the one
offence, of thje one man, is subject to death,
and to all the infirmities, and diseases, which
produce and accompany death. A great
change was thus produced in man's physical
nature. Rom. V, 12.
2. All connected with man, as an inhabi
tant of the earth, was laid under a compli
cation of evils. The ground was cursed for
the sin of man. Gen. III. 17, 18.
The lower animals had their situations,
if not their nature to a considerable extent
also changed. Romans, VIII, 20  22.
Man being now a rebel, the protection,
and the blessing of heaven upon his exten
sive, and rich, and varied inheritance was
forfeited. 3. His moral nature underwent a great
change. He was now a sinner, and not a
holy being. The image of his maker, ori
ginally instamped upon his nature, though
not destroyed Avas greatly defaced. The

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 105
scripture is very plain, and express on this
view of the subject. Hence, those who set
themselves against -the commonly received
doctrine of human depravity, find great dif
ficulty in explaining these passages, and ac
counting for some stubborn Tacts occuring
in every portion of the history of man.
This great fact is expressed in Systema
tic Theology by the phrases, " the corrup-
on of our nature," " human depravity," " o-
riginal sin," &c. &e. In systems of philoso
phy and moral essays, it is called, "evil
propensities," "vicious dispositions," "de
praved habits," &c. &c.
The language of scripture on the subject,
is strong and varied. " The heart is de
ceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked; who can know it?" — Jer. XVII, 9.
" Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
falsewitness,blasphemies " Mat. XV,19. This
corruption of nature is the sin, that dwells
in us, Rom. VII, 17 and 29 ; and works in
us all manner of concupiscence, Rom. VII,
,j 8; reigns in us, and over us, Rom. VI, 11,
12, 14 ; and deceives us and slays us, Rom.
VII, 11. It is called lust, Jas. I, 15; the
flesh, Rom. VIII, 1 ; the body of sin, Rom.
VI, 6 ; the body of death, Rom. VII, 24 ;
the law of the members, Rom. VII, 23 ; the
law of sin and death, Rom.; VIII, 2. The

106 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
term law, in these and similar passages, is
evidently used in the same sense, in which
it is used in modern philosophy, when we
speak of a laAv of nature; that is, an ulti
mate fact, inherent in the subject of Avhich
we are speaking.
The first three chapters of the Epistle to
the Romans, may be considered as a proof
and illustration of the general and univer
sal corruption of human nature. A summa
ry of the proof from the Old Testament
scripture, is given chapter III, 10 — 18.

The facts which corroborate and illustrate
the doctrine, are also numerous, and Varied,
and open to the observation of every reflect
ing mind.
All wise, and good, and reflecting men in
in every age, and of every country, and sect,
have in substance acknoAvledged and lamen
ted, that human nature is somehow, or ether
greatly corrupted. The great object of all
the labour of Moralists, and the work of
lawgivers, has been to eradicate, or counter
act the natural tendency of men to evil.
Improvements in morals have always been
suggested, and carried on by the suggesti
ons and unwearied efforts of only a few, in
direct opposition to the character, and con-

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 107
duct, and disposition of the great mass of the
community. Every man„ young or old, and
every body of men, large or small, when
left without regular moral instructions, and
from under the restraints of government,
have sunk very rapidly into ignorance and
vice; the natural tendency of every man,
and of every society, has every where been
to degenerate — children who have been kept
at the greatest distance from the influence
of bad example, have alwaj^s required great,
and continued labour to form them into ha
bits of morality and religion ; while if just left
to themselves, they in the most of cases, easily
and rapidly become idle and vicious. Every
honest man, readily acknowledges that he
does not love God as he ought to do, and
that it generally requires a considerable ef
fort to bring his mind to contemplate de-
vine things ; while no effort is necessary at
any time to attend to what is opposed topiety
and devotion. And finally, it is a distinguish
ing feature in the experience of all truly pious
people, that the more extensively they be
come acquainted with themselves, and with
Giod's law, and the greater advances they
make in personal holiness, they are the more
deeply impressed with a sense of their na
tural, and original depravity. "Behold, I
was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mo
ther conceive me. -. Cleanse me from secret

103 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
faults. Keep back thy servant also from
presumptuous sin. Search me O God, and
knoAv my heart : try me, and knoAV my heart,
and see if there be any wicked way in me.
I find then a law, that Avhen I would do
good, evil is present with me. O wretched
man than I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death." Hence,
4. A change of man's relation to God, and
a* change of his moral nature must be realis
ed in every man, or he must sink into eternal
death. " That which is born of the flesh, is
flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit,
is spirit Marvel not that I said unto you,
ye must be born again." " He that believ
eth on him, is not condemned : but he that
believeth not, is condemned already."
Through the whole of the Bible, there are
only two classes of men spoken of: those
who are sinners, and are under a sentence of
condemnation; and those who have become
saints, by being interested in the great sal
vation. "He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not
the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of
God abideth on him."
The above four particulars, may be con
sidered as the prominent facts, which belong
to this important subject. They may be
dwelt upon to almost any extent. Some of
them are capable of greater illustrations,

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 109
and application^ to practical subjects, than
others, and some of them may have been
carried into detail on some occasion, with
greater minuteness than was for edification ;
but they cannot be too often referred to,
where either the religious or moral im
provement of man is at stake. Till we
know thoroughly the nature of the disease
under which we are languishing, we will not
very likely understand, and appreciate the
remedy, which is provided and offered to
us in the gospel. The great defect in per
haps thousands of pulpit discourses is, that
the depravity of our nature is not exhibited,
as it is exhibited in the Bible ; and in by
far the greater part of religious, and moral
instructions, which have been given in our
public schools and colleges, and addressed to
what are considered the higher classes of
Society, this important doctrine has been
systematically kept out of view.

INFERENCES.
From all that is known of the condemna
tion, which has come upon all men, by the
offence of one man ; it is evident,
1. That this condemnation, whatever it
may be, is not divided or parcelled out

110 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
among the descendants of the one man ; but
the whole, undivided condemnation, falls
upon every individual of the race.
2. That in the relations, Avhich the one
man in this case stood to his descendants ;
there was no necessary reference to the
number of the individuals, who were to be
involved. The system from its very nature
was capable of indefinite application. It
might cover the destinies of ten, or one hun
dred, or one thousand, or millions of millions,
and still continue the same in all its essenti
al features. 3. In attending to the details of this sub
ject, it is of importance to bear in mind the
difference there is between a sentence, and
the execution of a sentence. Every indivi
dual of the descendants of the one man, is
by virtue of his connexion Avith that one
man, under the condemnation ; but the full
execution of the sentence is suspended with
respect to all during the present state of
existence ; nor shall it be executed to the
same extent upon every individual, nor in
the same form, upon the same individual in
different stages of his existence ; all are lia
ble to death and disease, and all suffer dis
eases and death; but all are not visited
with the same diseases, nor have all the
same agonies in the hour of dissolution ; all
have by inheritance a corrupt nature, but

SOCIAL LIABILITY. II f
all are not under the influence of the same
vicious dispositions, and to the same extent.
There are infinite varieties of the carnal
mind, which is enmity against God, and of
the workings of the heart, which is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked,
and though all are under the sentence of
eternal exclusion from the image, and en
joyment of God, many shall be delivered
from the infliction of the sentence in this last
and most awful form. Still it is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God— -
nor is-there any half-way of being saved- —
the Condemnation, if not removed, must end
in inconceivable, and endless woe.

SOCIAL LIABILITY,

SECTION. IV.
•' ¦ ; . ¦' ' ' ¦ ' ' i * bo-. J
K By the offence of one man, judgment came upon all menfo
tondemnation." — Rom. V, 18. **
We enquire now what was the particu
lar connexion which existed between the
one man, and all other men, in consequence
of which condemnation hath come iipOn all
men, by the offence of one man ? The most
consistent answer which' ever has been giv
en to this imprtant question is, "That the
first man was for holy, and wise, and bene-

112 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
Tolent purposes, constituted by God him
self, the federal head, or representative of
all his natural descendants." A summary
of the proof of this position, follows.
"Man was created a moral agent, capable
of understanding obligation, of being direct
ed by law, and of being influenced by mo
tives. Thus constituted, God might, consistently
with his justice and goodness, have placed
him under the moral law, which was adapt
ed to his nature, without any limited period
of probation, in his Avhole existence. Or,
He might have' suspended his confirmation
in holiness and happiness, upon his obedi
ence to the whole moral law, for a limited
time. In the latter case, had he obeyed,
his confirmation would have been an act of
grace, which he could not have claimed un
der the law.
But God manifested his grace to man still
more conspicuously, by suspending his
whole probation on a single precept. And
this single precept was presented to him in
a very impressive manner ; because the ob
ject of it was clearly set before his eyes,
and accompanied with a view, at the same
time, of the " tree of life" the sign and seal
of his confirmation in happiness, when his
probation should be terminated.
This transaction between God and Adam

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 113
appears substantially, though not formally,
as far as revealed, a covenant transaction.
The disparity between the parties is no valid
objection ; because God has since condescend
ed to covenant with man. Nor is the want of
formality, as it appears in the sacred record,
a substantial objection, because the record
of the whole transaction is evidently no
more than a brief outline.
A covenant is an agreement between two
or more parties, that on condition of some
thing being done by one party, some good
or privilege shall be conferred by the other ;
and upon failure to perform the condition,
some penalty shall accrue. A covenant
may, and often does extend its proniised be
nefits to a third party, who has no agency
in performing the conditions.
The following are some of the evidences
of a covenant transaction between God and
Adam as the representative of his race.
1st. Man's probation was for a limited
time ; but this could not have been so under
mere law, for then it must have been co-ex
tensive with his existence.
2nd. His probation was suspended on a
positive precept, and not on the moral law,
or any part of it. The only condition
which he was to observe, was, not to eat of
" the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

114 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
3rd. The tree of life was appointed as
the seal of confirmation in his holy charac
ter and assured happiness, at the end of his
probation. 4th. The name of the sign or seal, u The
tree of life," clearly implied the promise of
life on the part of God.
5th. This promise is also implied in the
threatening of death to the act of eating the
forbidden fruit ; because a threatening to
one kind of action implies a promise to the
opposite. 6th. A promise is clearly implied on the
part of God, to secure man, by grace, from
transgression in all points of the moral law,
upon his obeying the one positive precept.
And this we infer from the record, in which
there is neither promise nor threatening, in
relation to any part of the moral law.
7th. There seems to be implied in this
transaction, on the part of God, a promise to
Adam, which he doubtless understood, that, "
upon his obedience, not only himself, but his
posterity also, would he forever confirmed in
holiness and happiness. This we infer par
ticularly, from the consequences to his pos
terity of his disobedience.
8th. There was something in the transac
tion very different from the operation of
mere law. The tree of life Avas instituted
as a sign or seal of the life promised. This

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 115
was grace, and not a claim of law. And
this life was to be enjoyed, not for obedience
to a moral but to a positive precept.
But was Adam (including Eve) a contract
ing or consenting party ? I answer^he ap--
pears to have been.
1st. -Because it is fair to suppose, that he
would willingly accede to terms proposed
by his Creator; especially such as were so
reasonable in themselves, and fraught with
so much good to himself and to his race.
2nd. Because, in reply to the serpent,
Eve admitted both the prohibition and-
threatening. — Gen. Ill, 3»
3rd. Because neither Adam nor Eve,
when arrainged, make the plea ; that they
did not consent to the terms.
4th. Formal assent was not necessary on*
the part of Adam ; though it was probably
given, and the mention of it omitted, in the
very brief account, which the sacred histo
rian has given of the matter.
The transaction does not accord with the
nature and operation of simple law ; but it
has all the substance of a covenant between
the parties, and it ought therefore to be re
garded as a covenant.
The posterity of Adam was to be effect*
ed by his obedience or disobedience, as the
representative of the race. The effects of
his disobedience on his posterity, are thus-

116 SOCIAL LIABILITY.
stated in the epistle to the Romans ; " By
one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin ; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. Death reign
ed from Adam to Moses, even over them
that had not sinned after the similitude of
Adam's transgression, who is the figure of
him that was to come." — Rom. V, 12, 14, 19.
The first and direct effect of Adam's disobe
dience, on his posterity, is here stated to
be, their sinfulness ; "by one man's disobedi
ence many were made sinners."
The second effect is stated to be their
death, and this is the consequence of their
sinfulness; for 'death passed upon all men
for that (or because that) all have sinned ;"
even those, " that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression;" who
Were not chargeable with actual transgres
sion. Now, just the reverse would have taken
place in relation to Adam and his posterity,
had he obeyed during the time of his pro
bation. He would have been permitted to
partake of the tree of life, and have been
confirmed in holiness and happiness. His
posterity would have been holy, and secur
ed in that holiness by grace; and they
would have been entitled to life through the
probationary righteousness of Adam, their
covenant head. We infer this from the fact

SOCIAL LIABILITY. 117
that they are subject to sin and death,
through his disobedience.
Adam's disobedience of the law, in cove
nant form, would place his posterity in no
worse condition, in any point of view, than
they would have been in, by his disobedi
ence of mere law. The consequence in
either case would have been sin and misery.
But had not God dealt with the whole race
of man through a representative, there is lit
tle, if any reason to believe, that a Mediator
would have interposed. Having, however,
concisely exhibited the representative cha
racter, and probation of -Adam, with some
of the general results, it is not my purpose
to dwell on the great wisdom and goodness
of God, manifested in this arrangement." —
Extract from "Cottage Theology," published
in the "Philadelphian" January 12th, 1832.
To all these considerations, it may be
added, That the reasoning of the Apostle, in
Rom. V, 14— end, and in 1 Cor. XV, 21, 22,
47, 48, 49, is altogether without force but
upon the supposition, that Adam and Christ
were both covenant heads.

NO. IX

FAITH.

John, iii, 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlast
ing life : and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life;
but the wrath of God abideth on him.
What is faith Or believing, upon which
such tremendous results depend ?
In the ordinary concerns of life, no man
is at any loss in answering this question.
A Child long before it has the command of
articulate language, knows what it is to be
lieve, and knows also the nature of that obe
dience which is in every case inseperably
connected with believing. The mother is
continually communicating to the object of
her care and affection information, and com
mands respecting a great variety of subjects.
The child in the most of cases believes with
out any difficulty, and yields implicit obedi
ence to all that is required. A man of
veracity tells you, that he saw your parti
cular friend, on a particular occasion, and
that he was well, and desired to be remem
bered most affectionately to you and yours.
You pass the house of a stranger, when you

FAITH. 119
are from home, and you ask the distance
from his house to the next house, or to the
next village, and he gives you the desired in
formation. You read, or hear every day
of the transactions of the day. The Reform
Bill has passed the house of Lords — the
political state of things generally in Europe
is fluctuating — the prices of such articles in
the foreign markets, are rising or falling, &c.
&c. &c. In all these and in every such
case, every man exercises faith or believing,
and no man needs any other man to tell
him what faith is.
It is exactly so in reading the Bible, God
there tells us, that the world was made by the
word of his power — that Adam was the first
man — that Cain was the first murderer — that
the inhabitants of the old world were very
wicked, and all destroyed by a deluge — that
there were such men in old time as Abra
ham, and Joseph, and Moses, and Samuel,
and David, and Daniel, and Paul, and Peter,
and sUch nations as the Egyptians, and As
syrians, and Jews, and Romans. And while
you read these, or similar statements in the
Bible, you either believe or disbelieve, and
yOu exercise your mind in believing or dis
believing. these and similar statements, ex
actly as you exercise your mind in believ
ing what you read or hear of the ordinary
transactions of the day.

120 FAITH.
Those and similar historical facts present
the subject in its most plain and simple
form; but we believe or disbelieve the doc
trines, and Prophecies, and threatenings
contained in the Bible, and the doctrines,
and abstract propositions, and rules of any
of the physical or moral sciences, precisely
in the same way. And in every case of the
kind there can be possibly only three distinct
states of mind. We believe, or we do not
believe, or we are in a state of doubt, and
suspend our belief, or disbelief till we ob
tain farther information.
We proceed, then to suggest some gene
ral remaks on the nature, and use of faith,
particularly as it is connected with personal
salvation, and holy living. And,
1. Faith is always placing confidence in
the veracity of the person who gives the
testimony, or information ; and our confid
ence is always in exact proportion to our
previous belief in his capacity and integri
ty. "If we recieve," says the Apostle John,
"the witness of men, the witness of God is
greater." If a child can depend upon the
bare word of its parent — if one neighbour
can depend upon the Avord of another
neighbour — if in the daily concerns of life,
we are continually placing almost implicit
confidence in the declarations of our fellow-
men ; much more ought we to depend upon

FAITH. 121
the word of God who cannot lie — who can
never be mistaken himself — and who can
have no possible inducement to decieve any
of the creatures which he has made. Im-
plicittfsbnfidencc in "all that Jehovah has
been pleased to reveal is in fact the most
reasonable thing, that a reasonable mind
can do.
2. In believing there is always an acknow
ledgement of our weakness, or ignorance,
and reliance on the ability, or superior skill
of the person in whom we have confidence.
What we believe, is something which we
have neither seen nor examined for our
selves ; and in the most of cases we have had
no opportunity of making the examination
personally, but we rely upon the Testi*
mony of another. Abraham at the com
mand of God went forth, not knowing
whither. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country ;
and, by faith, when he was tried, he offered
up Isaac. See also our Lord's reasoning,
Matt. VI, 21 — end. Upon this principle,,
faith is also opposed to sight or vision. 2
Cor. V, 7. " These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of
them, and embraced them? and confessed^
that they were strangers, and pilgrims on
the earth."

122 FAITH
In every case of belief, whether in htr-
man, or divine Testimony, the terms of the
proposition must be understood; but the
.results, and a number of other important
facts, and circumstances are not made
known. Abraham, for instance, understood
distinctly, that he was to leave his father's
home, and go into a distant country, but he
knew not whither, nor what was to be. his
particular situation in that unknown coun
try. The apostles were commanded to go
into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every nation, and the proriiise was, that
their master was to be with them alwaysj
even fo the end. They believed the pro
mise, and obeyed the command ; but how,
and in what manner, and to what extent
they were to enjoy the presence, and sup
port of their master, they knew not. At
the Red Sea, Moses was to speak to the
people, to go forward ; there was an implied
promise, that their safety and deliverance
were to be connected with their obedience,
but how these were to be secured, they
had no means of knowing. , The same fact
is known, and acted upon extensively in our
daily intercourse with one another. Were
we never to act upon the information which
we receive from our superiors, or inferiors,
till every circumstance connected with the
subject was fully stated, and fully explain-

FAITH. 123
edj very little business would be done in
the world.
3. Every person in the exercise of faith,'
er believing, knows the difference there is
betwixt the confidence which he has in a
plain statement of a matter of fact made
by a person of Undoubted veracity, and the
confidence he has in the truth, or correct
ness of an Opinion, though given by an in
dividual of the first standing. Your Phy-
Scian tells you, that your system is serious
ly affected, and that unless you submit to
a certain course of medicine, you will in all
probability soon be a dead man ; you have
not the least dOubt of his sincerity, and you
have a high opinion of his talent, and expe
rience, yet you doubt of the correctness of
his opinion in the present case — he may be
mistaken. He proceeds to reason the mat
ter with you'; he tells you that such a
friend was exactly affected as you are^ and
that he submitted to the course prescribed,
and is now a healthy man ; and that another
friend had all the symptoms, but that he
would not submit to the course, and in a short
time died. These are strong cases, nor
can you dOubt, in the least, the facts.
One friend has recovered his health, and
another is in the Eternal world; but still
you may be disposed to doubt, as to your
own particular case. The Physcian with
all his skill and experience, and affection to

124 FAITH.
you, may in this particular opinion be mis
taken. It is believed that most of the misunder
standing, and confusion, and error which
have marked many of the discussions res
pecting faith, in both systematic and prac
tical Theology, has been owing to not at
tending to a distinction of this nature. The
leading facts respecting the great, and im
portant doctrines of the gospel, are clearly
and fully stated in the divine record; but a
mere statement of the fact is not enough
for the human mind in its present state of
alienation and rebellion. It must have ex
planations and additions, and if these are
not to be found in the Bible, they will be
found some where else, and will be connect
ed with these plain matters of fact, in all our
reasonings on these subjects, and in all our
practical applications of them. And though
these additions, and explanations are only
the opinions of men, they become in such
connexion, objects of our faith, or belief,
and from their orgin and nature, they
must always bring along with them a cer
tain degree of darkness and doubt. It ought
to be also stated here, that there is no such a
thing as an opinion in the Bible, in the sense
which we use opinions in human compositi
on. All that is in the Bible is plain matter
of fact, whether we call it doctrine, or pre-

FAITH. 125
cept, or promise, or prophecy ; and though
all the circumstances necessarily connected
with the doctrine, or precept, Or promise, or
prophecy may not be revealed ; yet what is
revealed and stated, is plain matter of fact,
infallible truth, and demanding our implicit
confidence as a mere matter of fact.
4. The evidence of a man possessing faith
can never be long a matter of doubt. In
every case, whether we consult human, or
divine testimony, our faith is shewn by our
conduct. If you believe the te'stimony, and
the opinion of your Physician, you submit
immediately and implicitly to his direction,
and as you value your life, you Avill not wil
lingly vary in a single instance from his pre
scriptions. In like manner if you believe*
that you are a lost sinner, and that there is
salvation no where but in the Lord Jesus
Christ ; and that it is by reading the word,
and by prayer, and meditations, and self ex
amination, &c. &C, that men enjoy this sal
vation, you will shew your faith, by your
works. Your conduct in all these things
will be very different from what it was when
you did not believe.
5. In all matters of divine testimony, there
can be no medium betwixt belief, and un
belief. "He that believeth not God, hath
made him a liar." You may on many oc
casions doubt the correctness of the opinion,

126 FAITH.
of a fellow man, and not impeach in the
slightest degree, his veracity ; but when he
States to yOu as a plain matter of fact,
what he has seen, or actually performed,
there is no altenative ; you either believe
him, or give him the lie — but all that is in the
Bible, and particularly all the declarations
which are made respecting God's plan of sal
vation, are plain matters of fact, resting up
on the veracity of Jehovah. If you do not
then implicitly submit your understanding,
and your heart to' this authority, you give
God who cannot lie, the lie. And every
time that the tender of salvation is made to
you in the reading, or the preaching of the
Avord, and you do not receive the message^
you repeat the charge — you make God a liar.
6. From a calm and full review of all the
cases of belief and 'unbelief, that can possi
bly be mustered up, it is evident, that as a
mere exercise of the powers of the mind,*
there can be no difference betwixt Avhat is
Called human and divine faith. We believe
or disbelieve our fellow men by the same
kind of mental exercise, that we believe or
disbelieve the God who made us, or the Sa
vior who shed his blood for us. But it does
not from this fact follow, that a sinner,
when he closes in with the offers of mercy,
and becomes one in law with the head of
the new Covenant, performs this important

FAITH. 127
act, by the mere exercise of his own natu
ral and unassisted powers. The act is his
own act, but it is also an act produced by
the special operation of God's Spirit. A
living faith is the act of a mind, which has
been quickened and made anew; hut as to
the particular manner in whieh the Spirit
operates, in creating a man anew in Christ
Jesus, and in making him willing to be sav
ed in God's way, and where the exact point
is, betwixt human and divine agency in this
great and important operation, we know
nothing. It is enough for a sinner to know
that though, he is dead in trespasses and
sins, he is not only commanded, but encour
aged to repent and believe, and to put forth
all his energies, from the plain and express
declaration, that it is God who worketh in
him both to will and to do — and that he will
give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him.
7. In the particular act and exercise of
what, in systematic theology, has been called
saving faith,the folio wing facts must, from the
very nature of things, be always more or
less distinctly noted, and dwelt upon by the
believing mind: —
(1.) I am, in myself, a lost helpless sinner,
destitute of every thing which can recom
mend me to the favor and protection of him
who made me. I am under a just sentence
of eoi^demnation. ^fj«.._

128 FAITH.
(2.) The Lord Jesus Christ is able and
willing to save me. He is able to save„t*
the very uttermost, all who come unto God
by him. And his salvation is a complete
salvation, exactly suited to my particular
case. And there is salvation no where else.
(3.) The religious exercises of reading
the bible, and prayer, and praise, and self-
examination, &c. &c, are found to be a-
greeable and profitable exercises. And,
(4.) The individual, in some form or oth
er, makes a solemn surrender of himself,
and his all to the Lord. "One shall say, I
am the Lord's : and another shall call him
self by the name Of Jacob : and another shall
subscribe by his hand unto the Lord, and
surname himself by the name of Israel." —
And while he lives in the exercise of such a
faith, he will exhibit more or less, all the
appropriate evidences of faith. He will be
. a holy man, and separated from the world.
8. The exercise of faith upon God's bare
word, may, if you please, in the language of
philosophy, be called a cause : or it may,
in the ordinary language of theology, be
called a means, or an instrument; but call
it by whatever name you please, it is an ul
timate fact. We know only, that God has
been pleased to connect our being interest
ed in the great salvation, and our gradual
progress in conformity to his image, with

FAITH. 129
this special exercise of mind. "He that be
lieveth on the Son hath everlasting life;
and he that believeth not the Son, shall not
see life ; - but the wrath of God abideth on
him." As to the nature of the connexion
betwixt a man's believing, and his being sav
ed, or betwixt his believing this or the oth
er promise, and his obtaining, in due time,
the promised blessing, We know nothing.
But we know, in this matter, just as much
as we know in any other case, of the con
nexion betwixt cause and effect. God has
been pleased so to appoint it. If one ball,
under certain circumstances, strike another
ball, motion will be communicated from the
one ball to the other; the ball which was
struck and which was previously at rest, will
be put in motion ; and the ball which struck,
and which was previously in motion, will
remain at rest. And the philosopher, who
has pored over this simple experiment,
which any child may perform* for days and
nights, and months and years, and who has,
perhaps, written a volume or two on the
subject, knows no more than the simple
fact — So it is. And the child knows the
fact also. All the difference betwixt the
child and the philosopher here is, that the
philosopher can apply the fact extensively
to the explanation of the operations of na
ture, or to the mechanical arts — the child

130 FAITH.
as yet, is ignorant of all practical applica
tions. 9. Nothing of merit can, in any case, be
attached to merely believing; though the
most aggravated guilt may be attached to
the opposite state of mind — a state of un
belief We do not attach any merit to the
man, who has been justly condemned, being
willing to accept of a pardon, when it is ten
dered to him. Nor is there any merit in a
hungry man receiving food from the hand of
benevolence ; or in the diseased being will
ing to be healed : or in the captive being
willing to enjoy his liberty: or in an heir
of hell being willing te become an heir of
glory. Much less can there be any merit
in a weak, helpless, and ignorant creature
simply believing what Jehovah the Creator,
who cannot lie, in direct and plain terms de
clares. When it is said, "God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him, should not
perish, but have everlasting life," why not
believe him?

NO. X.
THE SECOND MAN.

Romans, v, 18. — Therefore, as by the offence of one judg
ment came upon all men to "condemnation, even so by the righte
ousness of one, the gift of righteousness came upon all men un
to justification of life.
In our common version, it reads "free gift
came;" and the words " the free gift " are a
supplement, not being in the original. I
prefer taking the supplement from the pre
ceding verse, and reading the gift of righte
ousness, Sfc.
From these words, as they stand connect
ed with the paragraph, of which they are
a part, it is evident— That Adam the first
man, and the man Christ Jesus stand in a
peculiar relation to the human family.
In this passage as well as in 1 Cor. XV, 45
— 59, the apostle speaks of these two men,
as if they were the only two men of the
whole family, the misery of all men, both
for time, and eternity depending to a great
extent upon the the disobedience of the
first one man,, and the eternal happiness of

132 THE SECOND MAN:
all who shall be saved, depending in a like
manner upon the obedience of the second
one man. We have in a former number
considered at some length the nature, and
the consequences of our original connexion
with the first man, and we propose now, to
take a similar view of our connexion with
the second man.
The leading facts on this subject are
these, 1. The second man is the Lord, from
heaven, 1 Cor. XV, 49. The only begotten
son of God. John, III, 16. He who thought
it no robbery to be equal with God. Phil.
II, 8. He who made all things, and upholds
all things, whose throne is for ever, and
ever, and whom all the angels are comman-
ed to worship. Heb. I, 3 — end. From all
these, and a great variety of similar passages,
we are authorized to say that this second
man was from the beginning, the eternal and
unchangeable Jehovah.
2. He, in the fulness of time assumed hu
man nature, and thus became man, and the
second man — being the seed of the woman
— the seed of Abraham — the seed of David
— and the Son of man. John I, 14. Gal.
Ill, 16, and IV, 4.
3. He assumed human nature in all its
original purity. Though made of a woman,
and the son of man, he did not descend

THE SECOND MAN. 133
from the first man by ordinary generation.
He was that holy thing which was born of
the Virgin Mary. Luke, I, 35. He was
the high priest, who was holy, harmless, un
defined, and seperate from sinners, and who
needed not to offer sacrifices first for his
own sins. Heb. VII, 16, and 27. He was
thus constituted the second man. Formed
as the first man was in a manner peculiar
to the occasion, and set at the head of a new
creation. 3. He in human nature bore to the ut
most extent, the penalty of the violated
law, and of the broken covenant. He was
made under the law to redeem them who
were under the law. Gal. IV, 4, and 5.
He was made a curse for us, to redeem
us from the curse. Galatians, III, 13. He
who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that
we might become the righteousness of God
in him. 2 Cor. V, 21. He, his ownself bore
our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sin should live
unto righteousness. Peter, II, 24.
4. His thus bearing our sins is called in
Systematic Theology, "the Atonement," and
in the systems of the two last centuries, "his,
Satisfaction" And it is evident from the very
nature of the transaction, as well as from
the language which is uniformily used in
Scripture when speaking of this subject,.

134 THE SECOND MAN.
that in his being made a curse, and sin for us,
he was substituted in our room, and stead.
He was our legally constituted representa
tive, and hence that which he did, and suf
fered, was put to our account.
It is pretty evident, also, that his being
thus substituted in the room of guilty men,
was the result of what in human language is
called a solemn covenant engagement enter
ed into* between the divine father, and the
divine, and eternal Son. See particularly. —
Psalms, XL, 6—8. Isaiah, LIII, 10—12.
Heb. VII, 22. VIII, 6. IX, 15. Isaiah,
XLII, 1— 7- XLIX, 1—9. John VI, 37-
40. XVII, 2, 3, 5.
5. He Avas in a state of obedience, and
sufferings for upwards of thirty years. His
obedience to the precept of the law was
perfect, and complete, and the sufferings
which (particularly in the garden, and on
the cross,) he endured in consequence of
his being made under the curse, were incon
ceivably great ; they were equivalent to the
pains of the second death. J3ut the intrinsic
value of his satisfaction, is to be reckoned
chiefly, if not solely from the dignity of his
divine nature. He, himself bore our sins
in his own body. He by himself purged our
sins. Heb. I, 3. The church was purchas
ed by the blood of God. Acts, XX, 28.
& Whatever Avas the nature and the ex->

THE SECOND MAN- 135

tent of the obedience and suffering of th®
Surety, the satisfaction, which he rendered,
was complete and sufficient. This is explir
citly contained in the most of the passages
already refered to, and in many others,
which may be easily found by any person,
who is only tolerably acquainted with his
bible. There are also a number of facts in
terwoven with the whole developement of
the plan, which prove and illustrate this
position. He did not yield up the ghost,
till he had said, " It is finished : John XIX,
30; and then he cried, with a loud voice,
and said, " Father, into thy hands I com
mend my spirit ;" Luke XXIII, 26 ; com
pare this fact with his declaration, in his
last prayer with his disciples, John XVII, 4.
God, the Father, raised him from the dead,
having loosed the pains of death : because
it was not possible that he should be holden
©fit, Acts II, 24. He was received into
glory, leading captivity captive : and seat
ed at the right hand of the majesty on high,
as the head and representative of his peo
ple: and received of the Father, the prom
ise of the Holy Ghost^ Acts, II, 32, Ep. I,
20— end, and IV, 8—13. Pardon, and the
remission of sins have been extensively and
most efficaciously proclaimed in his name,
beginning at Jerusalem — and all through
the nations of the earth:, and millions of ev-

136 THE SECOND MAN.
ery generation have been saved by the ap
plication of the blood of his atonement to
their souls, Luke XXIV, 46, 47: Acts V,
30—32: and XIII, 26, 28, 29.— And, final
ly, the Apostle establishes the sufficiency
of the atonement, from the fact, that there
was no occasion to have it repeated, Heb.
X, 1—14.
That the atonement is, in all respects,
sufficient and complete, is probably the lead
ing fact, upon which the command to preach
the gospel to every creature — to every son
of man, rests. It is, without doubt, chiefly,
if not solely, from a feeling sense of this ful
ness and sufficiency, that every one of our
lost family, who believes, is encouraged to
make immediate and direct application.
This is the fountain, which is opened to the
house of David, and to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness, Zee.
XIII, 1. This is the full and deep river of
life, which is continually issuing out of the
throne of God and of the Lamb, concerning
which the invitation is given, " Ho, every
one who thirsteth, come ye to the waters,"
and, " The Spirit and the bride say come,
and let him that heareth say come, and let
him that is athirst come, and whosoever
will, let him take of the water of life free
ly," Rev. XXII, 17. This is a faithful say
ing, and Avorthy of all acceptation, that

THE SECOND MAN. 137
Christ Jesus came into the world to save
Binners: of whom I am chief. Howbeit, for
this cause I obtained mercy, that in me, a
first rate sinner, Jesus Christ might shew
forth all long suffering, for a pattern to them
who should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting." After Saul was saved, the
blasphemer — -the persecuter — the injurious
— no sinner of the human family, out of the
place of torment, need despair. "Him who
cometh unto me, I will, in no wise, cast out.
He is able to save to the uttermost, them that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them."
7. Men are interested in this atonement,
and saved by it, when they believe, and not
till. they believe. It is by believing, that
, they receive the gift of righteousness. They
are accepted in the beloved. Justified by
faith : Rom. V, 1. He that believeth hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into con
demnation: but is passed from death unto
life, John V, 24. And believing is just tak
ing God at his word — resting our souls' sal
vation upon the great and important facts,
concerning the person and work of our
Lord Jesus Christ, which God has been
pleased to reveal. It is counting it a faith
ful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
thajj. Christ Jesus came into the world to
t»ave sinners. Upon a lost sinner, simply

believing the declared facts, on the authori
ty Of God, the obedience and sufferings of
the Surety, otherwise called his righteous-
ness, is placed to the account of that sinner,
so as to secure the acceptance of his person
— the renovation and sanctification of his
nature — and his complete salvation.
This is a full and a free salvation, and is
tendered, upon the authority of God to eve-
T?y son of man, to whom the gospel is preach
ed : and it is offered and pressed upon him
in his very worst character — as a sinner —
a scorner — a fool — stout hearted and far
from righteousness.

, The above are the great and the leading:
facts, upon which the mind of every sinner
acting faith upon the Lord Jesus Christr
chiefly rests. It is by the believing appli
cation of these facts, that the just live by
faith. "I am crucified," says the apostle,
"with Christ; nevertheless, I live; yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life that
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gate
himself for me."— Gal. II, 20.
These facts are, therefore,.: essential to
the gospel. Without some knowledgejianict
some practical application of these facts, we

THE SECOND MAN. 139
have no reason to believe that any sinner
can be saved: — and the gospel is preached,
amd men are saved, and built up in their
most holy faith, just in proportion as these
are exhibited in all their fulness and impor
tance. There are, however, two other po
sitions, and a great number of facts connect
ed with each position, which have occupi
ed, and still do occupy, a large space in
theological discussions, which cannot and
ought not to be neglected,.
The first position is —
That the second man died solely, or at
least died' peculiarly, for the salvation of on
ly a select number of the human family*
Some of the many passages of scripture,
by which this position is supported, are
the following*— Is. X, 1—16, and 27, 28?
Romf VIII, 29, 30; Eph. I, 3, 4, 5; 1 Pet.
2—4 ; John, VI, 37, 65, and XVII, 2.
It is farther argued — "That the tenet of
Christ's dying equally for all men, or for any
that are not elected, and actually saved, is
pregnant with the most glaring absurdities*
viz : that as but few of mankind, compara
tively taken, are actually saved, God hath
in a great measure lost his end, in his princi
pal work of mens' redemption ; that either
through want of wisdom, he hath laid his
plan extremely ill, or through want of wis
dom, power, or mercy, he is unable to exe*

140 THE SECOND MAN.
cute it in opposition to the corrupt inclina
tions of men ; that multitudes of wicked men,
for whom he put his Son to death, must be
much more wise and powerful than himself;
so that he cannot make them willing in the
day of power, or keep them through faith
unto salvation ; that Christ, to no good pur
pose, threw away his infinitely precious life
for the most of mankind, who are never
saved; that he threw it away for millions,
who, at that very time, were in hell, beyond
the reach of all mercy, for millions whom
he never informs of it, or of the salvation
thereby purchased, and never calls to be
lieve on him any more than if they were
devils. Job, XVIII, 20. Psalm, IX, 17.
2 Peter, II, 5, 6. Jude, 7. Psalm, CXLVII,
19, 20. Romans, X, 14—17. Nay, for
millions whom he forbade his ministers to
call to faith, and gospel repentance. Matt.
X, 5, Acts, XVI, 6, 8. And who are
left without all hopes of redemption. Acts,
IV, 12. Eph, II, 12. 2 John, 9. Proverbs,
XXIX, 18. To pretend, that Christ died
for men upon conditon of their truly believ
ing, and repenting of their sins, which are
not only infinitely above, but contrary to
their corrupted natural powers, is to repre
sent God as insulting the misery and weak
ness of men, and sporting with the death of
his Son, in suspending the whole efficacy,

THE SECOND MAN. 141
and good fruits of it upon an infinitely im
probable, nay impossible, ^condition." 
Brown's System of Religion.
There is another fact which is'not without
its weight in support of the position. Every
man who gives any evidence of piety, what
ever may be his speculative creed on this
article, readily acknowledges that it is by
the grace of God, he is, what he is. No
man who gives any evidence of piety, in
direct terms maintains, that he converted
himself, or that he can continue a single
hour in a state of salvation without the gra
cious influences of the Holy Spirit. And
all pious people, of all the different Theo
logical Creeds, pray on this subject nearly
in the same words. The good pleasure of
God, therefore by the acknowledgment of
all pious people, somewhere at some parti
cular point limits either the providing,
or the application of salvation through the se
cond man: all even of those to whom salvation ,
is fully and freely offered, are not eventually.
saved. No one who is saved, ascribes his
salvation either in its* commencement, or
progress, or perfection to any thing else,
than to the unmerited mercy of Jehovah.
He never deserved in himself, or by^any of
his exertions to be an heir of glory. And
this is undoubtedly the great practical use
which the Bible teaches us, to make of

I4£ THE SECOND MAN.
whatever is revealed concerning election,
and predestination. It is to stain the pride
of all human glory.
The second position is —
That Christ died, in some sense or oth
er, for all men. The following are some of
the many passages of scripture, which have
been urged in support of this position^—
John, III, 16; Rom. V, 18; 1 Cor. XV, 22:
I Tim. II, 6, IV, 10 ; Heb. II, 9: and 1 John,
1 and 2.
Upon these and similar passages, when
compared with the passages and facts,
which are produced in support of the first
position, wise and good men — men, of whose
piety, and general information, there has
been no doubt, have made such remarks as
these: —
1. It is indeed true, that the terms, all,
and every man, and the vforld, and the whole
world, are, in all languages, and in almost
every application, used in a restricted sense :
but it is equally evident, that in these, and
in many other passages they must be under
stood in a larger sense, than including only
the all who shall be eventually saved: but
unless it is Clearly made out that they are
restricted to these, and to these only it must
follow, that some perish, for whom the Re
deemer in some sense or other, laid down
iris life. ci

' 2. It has been farther said, that the
Lord Jesus Christ having assumed our com
mon nature, and having in that nature made
the satisfaction which the law required, he
stands in a common relation to every son of
man. He is bone of our bone, and flesh of
our flesk And the satisfaction which was
thus made is adapted to the particular situ
ation, and state of every individual of the
human family, and just as well adapted fpr
one man as for another ; and moreover it is
intrinsically of value sufficient for the salva
tion of all. And as such it is offered to all;
offered fully and freely, by the authority of
-God to every man, woman and child-
Hence, the greater number of the advocates
for the restricted application, admit, that
Christ is officially the saviour of all — the
saviour of the world, in the same sense in
which the Physician and the Chaplain of a
regiment, are the Physician and the Chap-
Iain Of every man who belongs to that regi
ment. And hence also, they generally ad
mit that every individual to whom the gos-
ipel is preached, who perishes will be con
demned chiefly for his individual unbelief —
condemned because he did not make perso
nal, and particular application of the decla
ration, "that God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him, should not perish, but
have everlasting life*"

IU THE SECOND MAN.
-: 4S. And • finally it has been said, that all
men, and particularly all men who are any
way connected with christian society, do
actually? enjoy many invaluable privileges
which they would not have enjoyed, had
there been no mediation. The full execu
tion of the sentence of condemnation passed
-upon men has been suspended; and a full
and a free pardon offered at least to all gos-
' pel hearers, and time, and space, and ,en-
• cOuragement are thus given to all to repent,
and believe. The parable of the barren fig
tree, and our Lord's weeping over Jerusa
lem, appear to shew also, that wicked men
who do eventually perish are somehow, or
other the object of our Lord's intercession.
The faithful chaplain of a regiment, certain
ly prays most affectionately for every indi-
'• vidual of his charge. And it is undeniable,
explain it upon what system you may, that
all connected with every body of those who
fear God, and keep his commandments are
blest, and protected, and make attainments,
and are encouraged to cherish hopes, which
they never would have enjoyed had it not
been for the mediation of the Second man.
Ten such men as those who fear God, would
have saved Sodom.

THE SECOND MAN. 145
We close the whole subject, with two
general remarks,
1, The plan of salvation, through our
Lord Jesus Christ, is Jehovah's great plan*
— one great whole, and yet exhibited un
der a great variety of aspects. It reaches
from eternity to .eternity, and through eter
nity. It covers and effects an innumerable
company of our fallen race, in a great vari
ety of very different ways : and, at the very
best, we see, in our present state of exis
tence, only a very small portion of its de
velopement, and are personally acquainted
with its applications in, comparatively
speaking, but very few cases. But,
2. It is not necessary for our personal
salvation, nor for our usefulness and com
fort, that we should know and understand it
in all its parts and applications. It is only
necessary for us to believe the great and
leading facts, which he has been pleased to
reveal. And faith is not reasoning about
fitness and consistency. Nor is reasoning^
faith. Faith is submitting our understand
ing and our heart to the authority of God.
Men also in all their intercourse and con
nexion with their fellow men, act upon this
principle. The father, when he commands?
the child, and the master, when he com
mands the servant, present only one or two
prominent facts, as objects of their faith or

146 THE SECOND MAN.
obedience. But the results, and the man
ner, in which these facts or these results
may be very intimately connected with oth
er matters, and matters, too, in which the
child and the servant may have a very deep
interest, are not exhibited : or if exhibited,
they are, in cases without number, not ex
plained. And, in the government of an ar
my, or a nation, or any large body of men,
the going into details and explanations, is
altogether out of the question. The word
is,^ — Hear, believe, and obey; and leave the
results, and details, and explanations to an
other department.
Abraham, and all the Old Testament
saints were justified and saved by faith in
God?sword. Yet no one of them had any
adequate conception of the manner, in
which the promise, upon which they rested
their all, both for time and eternity, was to
be fulfilled. The apostles were in a justifi
ed state, and were making progress in sanc-
t^tfication and meetnessfor heaven, and were
employed in preaching the gospel, long be
fore they had any just conception of the
true nature of Messiah's kingdom. Gradu
al development is one of the distinguishing
characteristics of the whole of God's works,
and of the plan of salvation, eminently so.
The path of the just is as the shining lights
which shineth more and more, unto the per
fect day.

NO. XI.
SOCIAL RELATIONS.

.Romans, v, 19. — : For as by one plan's disobedience many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be
made righteous.
-•< Every child knows, to a considerable ex
tent, the nature and the importance of soci
al relations. The terms, father and mother,
and sister and brother, and playmate and
classmate, invariably bring along with them
a vast train of peculiar privileges and obli
gations. It is natural also, for every child
to be pleased with all the circumstances,
under which his early character is formed.
His father is the best father — his mother
is the best mother, and all the leading ar
rangements, which regulate his intercourse
with his brothers and sisters, and playmates
and classmates, do, upon the whole* com
mand his decided approbation. Hence, all
reflecting men have been uniform in their
opinion on the vast importance of early as
sociations. , In a thousand cases for one
that it is otherwise, the character and the
destiny of the man, both for time and eterni
ty, are formed during the period of infancy

148 SOCIAL RELATIONS.
and youth ; and are formed chiefly by the
character and influence of those, with Avhom
he is associated.
Men have, of course, in every generation,
and in every state of society, acted exten
sively upon this fundamental fact. ,. When
you know the character of a father, or a
mother, or ,a playmate, or an associate, you
decide, and generally decide with a great
degree of confidence, respecting the char
acter of the son, or the daughter, or other
associate. The very grandchildren are, in
many cases, supposed, without any farther
investigation, to carry the features, natural
and moral, of the grand-parent. Change
the head of any department, and, though
all the other members may remain nearly
as they were, you generally are supposed
to change the character of the whole con
nexion, be it a family j or a school, or a lite
rary or commercial association, or an army,
or a state, or a kingdom. Hence, we read
very distinctly in very distant generations,
the peculiar characters of the first settlers
of the country ; and the characters of the
founders of religious, and political, and phi
losophical sects: and of kingdoms and of
empires. All men, in short, in every state
of society, and in every rank of life, who
possess anything of what is called influence,
impress something more or less of their own

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 149
peculiar character, not only upon their as
sociates : but upon many who come into ex
istence long after they have ceased to act,
or to enjoy.
Farther — In all states of Society,' and
among all Classes of men, and in every ge
neration, men have as it were instinctively
Claimed, and allowed privileges, and inflict
ed, and submitted to punishment, upon the
ground of social connexions, without any re
ference to personal merit, or demerit. The
son succeeds to his father's estate to the
exclusion of all others, simply because he
is the son. The having been able to say, "I
am a Roman Citizen," protected the apostle
Paul, and thousands of others during that
period of the world, while other thousands
who could not urge this plea, but who. in all
other circumstances Avere upon an equal
footing had to submit to inconveniences, and
sufferings ; and every subject of Great Bri
tain, and every Citizen of the United States
enjoy at this day, nearly all around the
world a similar protection, and upon the
same principle. In all fraternities, or bro
therhoods, the principle also has been, and
from the very nature of the case, always
will be extensively acted upon. According
as man is a Christian, or a Jew, or a Heath
en — a Roman Catholic, or a Protestant — a
Divine, or a Lawyer, or a Physician, or a

150 SOCIAL RELATIONS,
Mechanic, is from this, or the other Country,
or City, or Corporation, so are a large
portion of his privileges, or disabilities, and
so are his hopes, or his fears, in his inter
course with his acquaintances, and in his
making himself known to strangers. A
principle so extensively acted upon, must
have some deep root in human nature. It
must in some respect, or other be essential
to man as a social being. It should not
therefore seem strange, or unnatural, or un-
philosophical when we find God dealing with
the whole human family upon this principle.
Whether we are able to explain the nature
of the connexion, or not, we are informed in
direct terms, and upon the very best au
thority, "That as by the disobedience of
one man many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made right
eous.,' Not only this globe, and all belonging to
it but the whole solar system, and probably
the whole universe, though composed of a
great variety of parts — is one undivided
whole. Every particle of matter, and every
class of beings, and every principle, or pro
perty belonging to any class, or to any in
dividual has each its appropriate place^ and
its peculiar sphere, and kind of influence;
And were any one of these destroyed, or
removed — the system would be impaired — •

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 151
the whole would be something else from
what it is.
One of the great objects of philosophy is
to classify, or to bring into one view as
they agree, or disagree an infinite variety
of separate, and distinct existences, or of
separate, and distinct events, and transac
tions ; and all other things being equal, that
system of philosophy is on all hands allow-4
ed to be the best which brings under one
head, or into one view, the greater number
of particular, and . otherwise separate, and
independent facts. It is found also, that
while every- class of beings is intimately
connected by- a Variety of ties to a number
of other classes, the individuals of any par
ticular class, are connected with one another
by ties, or principles peculiar to the class.
Now; it hath pleased the Creator of all,
"to form man, as he formed all other classes
of beings, and- to put him under the same
general law of all other classes, viz: — That
while he was to be intimately and exten
sively connected with other beings, he was
to have in himself peculiar and distinguish
ing characteristics. He was to have a phy
sical and moral nature, and was to have, in*
himself, all the principles of matter and
mind. He was to come into existence," and
te subsist in- a succession of generations.
In these successive generations, like was t&

152 SOCIAL RELATIONS.
produce like, and though consisting of un
numbered millions, and though springing
up, and acting as voluntary agents, and as
suming an infinite variety of character du
ring thousands of ages ; yet the family was
to be one undivided whole.
It pleased him also to connect the desti
ny, to a great extent, of the unborn millions
with the character and conduct of their
first progenitor. As his Conduct, in a par
ticular case, should be, so should be the
destiny of all, who should spring from him.
This first man was the natural root of all.
He was brought into existence a perfect
man, and in the full use of all his intellectual
and moral powers. He was put into pos
session of all belonging to the earth. He
had to contend with no incumbrance or
temptation, growing out of a previous state
of disorder. He knew his Creator and his
God, and the nature of that good and holy
and just law, under which he was created,
and by which he was to be governed. He
had, with the other principles of human
nature, natural affections: and though he
cannot be supposed to have been informed
of all the eventful consequences depending
upon his conduct, he must have known e-
nough to convince him of their vast and mo
mentous importance. The alternative was
nothing else than — life or death.

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 153
And yet, with all these peculiar advan
tages, the first man failed ; and by " the dis
obedience of this one man, many were made
sinners.^ — Judgment came upon all men to
condemnation." It farther pleased the Creator and Gov
ernor of all, not to leave the Avhole of our
lost race to perish, in a state of connexion
with their first natural and federal head.
He, immediately after the commission of the
first transgression, revealed a plan of de
liverance, which was to be procured by the
obedience of another man, at the head of
another system. This second headv was
made known to the first man, " as the seed
of the woman," and we have every reason
to believe, that as much information con
cerning the nature of the plan of deliver
ance Avas communicated, as was sufficient for
his salvation, and for the salvation of many
of his descendants, for many generations.
All the Old Testament saints in fact, had
their only hope fixed upon the second man,
whether he was contemplated, "as the seed
of the woman," or. "as the seed of Abraham,"
or "as the Shiloh," or "as the Great Pro*
phet like unto Moses," or "as the Son of
David," or "as the Angel of the Covenant,"
or "God's elect," or "as the light of the Gen
tiles." " These all died in the faith, not
having received the promises, but having

154 SOCIAL relations:
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of
them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they Avere strangers, and pilgrims in
the earth."
At last in the fulness of time the promise-
made to the fathers was fulfilled. " God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made un
der the law to redeem them, who were un
der the law, that we might receive the adop
tion of sons." "The word was made flesh,.
and dAvelt among us, and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten
son of God, full of grace and truth." "And
Jehovah was well pleased for his righteous
ness/ sake, for he- magnified the law, and
made it honourable."
It did not seem good to the father of mer
cies to unfold the whole of his great plan, of
deliverance all at once. It in fact bears one of
the great characteristics of God's works,gra-
dual developement. Man's greatest works,
and greatest plans may soon be explained,
and soon fully understood. It is not so with
any of God's ivorks, or God's plans. The
Old Testament saints had only a feAv lead
ing facts made known to them — all compre
hended in this one ; that at some future pe
riod, in some Avay,. or other, the son of God
in human nature would procure for them,.
and for a multitude of our felloAV race, com
plete deliverance from sin, and all the conse-

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 155
quences of sin. And as Abraham did, they
believed God, and rested there all, both for
time and eternity, upon Jehovah's faithful
ness ; nor were they disappointed. Under
the New Testament dispensation, the plan
has been still farther unfolded, chiefly in
two ways. First, — the leading facts upon,
which the faith of the Old Testament saints
rested have been exhibited in detail, in the
birth, and in the life, and in the death,
and resurrection, and ascenti-on of the Son of
-God. And second. — 'There has been an ex
tensive application ef these facts in the gos«
pel, being preached to the Gentiles, and in
the wonderful moral changes, which have
been produced by the preaching, of the
gospel, for the long period of nearly tAVO
thousand years. Still however, we in our
present embodied, and imperfect state, be
come acquainted with only a small portion
•of the " unsearchable riches of Christ ;" and
the Angels, the principalities, and powers
in heavenly places are still bending from?
their thrones in heaven^ and learning from
the church on earth, age after age, the un
folding of the "manifold Avisdom of God."
But limited as our knowledge of this
great plan may be, the following facts- ap
pear to be prominent and essential.
1. We are saved, as we were lost upon
the principle of federal representation.

156 SOCIAL RELATIONS.
"For as by one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous." "For
he hath made him to be sin for us, Avho
knew no sin, that Ave might become the
righteousness of God in him." All who have
been saved, and all who ever shall be saved
are, in one important, and commanding
view, one with the head of the new covenant.
2. The obedience, and the sufferings of
the one man standing in the room of all,
who were to be saved, was adequate to the
demands of the law under which he Avas
made. Whatever was the obedience, and
whatever was the suffering, which the viola
ted law demanded, for the the pardon of
the sin, and the acceptance of the person,
and the sanctification of the nature, of
those who were to be saved, the second man
who was the Lord from heaven, fully yield
ed. N
3. This obedience and suffering, other-
VA'ise'expressed by the phrase, "the righte
ousness of God," Rom. Ill, 21 and 22, was
of such a nature that it is was adapted to
the situation of every son of man, and may
therefore be offered as a ground of accept
ance, and pardon to every individual of the
human family. And every individual to
Avhom the message is sent, is encouraged
from the fact, as well by the express decla-

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 15Tf
ration of Jehovah to plead for himself all
the benefits procured for man, by the me
diation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
hence, every gospel hearer who perishes
— perishes with his oavii blood upon his own
head. 4. Upon a lost sinner thus making appli
cation, his state, or social relation is .chang
ed. His connexion with the first Adam, as
a covenant head, is dissolved, and he be
comes personally a member of the new
and living system. He passes from under
condemnation — from death to life. John,
V, 24 He is no longer under the law, but
under grace. Rom. VI, 14. He becomes
a son, and receives the spirit of adoption.
Gal. IV, 5, 6. Becomes, an heir of God, and
a joint heir with Christ. Rom. VIII, 17.
And is, of course, dealt with by Jehovah, in
the character of a judge, as a pardoned man
and an heir of glory. This change of state,
or of social relation, is what is called in sys- ,
tematic theology, " Justification?
These, and perhaps some similar facts,
on this important subject, are plainly re
vealed; and being revealed, they are given
us as objects of faith, and as grounds of
hope. And they are exhibited to us, as
the first promise, and the gradual develope
ment of it, were exhibited to the faith of
the Old Testament saints — not to gratify

158 SOCIAL RELATIONS.
our vain curiosity, but for personal and In*
dividual application — as God's appointed
means, by which men are to be delivered
from the wrath which is to come. Many
of the details, which may be necessary for
the full understanding of the whole scheme,
may, therefore, be still with-held from our
view; but enough is revealed for accom
plishing the great end of revelation.

"For as by the disobedience of oner
many were made sinners, so by the obedi
ence of one, shall many be made righteous."
There have been few, if any, of the millions,
who have studied the bible, under the influ
ence of the spirit of piety, who have under
stood it as teaching, either in this passage,
or any where else, that the same number
of individuals, who were made sinners by
the disobedience of the first one man, were
to be saved by the obedience of the second
one man. Many, who were involved in the
transgression of the first man, have already
been lost ; and many of them, who are still
unborn, will, no doubt, also be lost. And
they have been lost, and those, who shall
be lost, will be lost, not as a piece of matter
is lost, when it is destroyed, or has its prop
erties changed; but they are lost, by

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 155
being excluded from the service and enjoy
ment of Jehovah, and still retaining their
intellectual and moral powers ; and in en
during, as intellectual and moral beings, the
**wrath which is to come." We know, also,.
that no salvation was provided for the an
gels who sinned ; but that they are 'reserv
ed in chains, till the judgment of the great
day;' and the sentence, pronounced upon
the millions of the human family, who will
be finally lost, will be, "Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for
-the devil and his angels."
How far, to what an extent, and upon
what principle, those of the human family,
who shall finally perish, shall be condemn
ed in consequence of their federal connex
ion with the first man, Jehovah has given
us no information. Nor has he, any where,
informed us of the reason, why salvation has
been provided for, and is offered to, men,
and no salvation either provided or offered
to devils. But the Judge of all the earth
will do right.
"By the obedience of one, many shall be
made righteous." We can have no ade
quate conception of the number, who shall
be ultimately saved. "All that the Father
hath given unto me, shall come to me ; and
him that cometh unto me, I will, in no wisey
cast out. So shall he sprinkle many na-

160 SOCIAL RELATIONS'.
lions. Men shall be blessed in him, and all
nations shall call him blessed. Who are
these, that fly as a cloud, and as doves to
their windoAvs? Surely the isles shall wait
for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to
bring my sons from far, their silver and
their gold with them, unto the name of the
Lord thy God, and to the holy One of Isra
el, because he hath glorified thee."
In the very Avorst of times, and in every
generation, there has been a great multi
tude made righteous by the obedience of
the one man. -'Lord," said a good man, in
a very dark time, "they have killed thy
prophets, and digged down thine altars, and
I am left alone, and they seek my life."
But, what saith the answer of God unto him ?
" I have reserved to myself, seven thousand,
who have not boAved the knee to the image
of Baal." Already there arc in glory, a great
multitude, which no man can number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and tongues, and peo
ple. And the gospel is to be preached, in
its full power, to men of all nations. And
there is to be a long period of one thousand
years, when the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cov
er the sea. The earth shall be stocked full
of inhabitants, and the people shall be gen
erally holy, and thousands of redemned im
mortals Avill be every day passing from earth
to heaven.

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 161
My friend, this full and free salvation is
tendered to you. Will you receive it for
yourself, or will youloose your own soul in
the fruitless enquiry, " Lord are there few,
who shall be saved?"
INFERENCES.
1. Every one of the human family, with
respect to his state before God, must belong
to one, or other of two classes; there is no
middle state, or -third class. Every man
is either in what has been called his natural
state, still connected with the first man, and a
sinner, and under condemnation ; or his state
has been changed, and he is connected with
the second man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
in a state of acceptance, or justification.
He is either a child of wrath, or a child of
mercy, an heir of Hell, or an heir of Glory.
There is no half salvation, or half way of
being saved.
2. JThe gospel is preached in its fulness,
and native simplicity, in proportion as hu
man corruption is exhibited in its extent,
and traced to its proper origin, and con
trasted with God's plan of salvation by faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ. The first six
chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, may
be read, and studied as an illustration of this
inference ; accordingto the Apostle in these

162 SOCIAL RELATIONS.
chapters, every man whether he be Jew, or
Gentile, is naturally , a sinner, and under
condemnation — having a sinful corrupted
nature derived from the first man, and there
is no changing of this nature till his state,
or social connexion is changed.; till his le
gal connexion with the first man, is dissolv
ed, and till he is in law, and in fact connect
ed with the second man.
, 3. Man is by his very nature formed for ex
erting an extensive moral, as well as intel
lectual influence upon his fellow men; and
he is in every state of society under great
responsibility for the manner, and the ex
tent in which he exercises this influence.
No individual of our race goes into the
weal, or woe of the eternal world, by him
self. From his very nature as a social be
ing he must lead, or drag along with him, a
multitude of his contemporaries and associ
ates ; and in many cases, multitudes of those
who shall live, and act many generations af
ter he has ceased to live and act. No man
can in any given case make any proper es
timate of the extent of this influence ; it is
exerted more,or less in a thousand nameless
forms, in all our social intercourse with our
friends,, and our foes, with the young and
the old, and with the learned, and the un
learned. Omniscience in fact only knows-
what influence a single look, or a single re--

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 163
mark, or a single movement shall have upon
the destiny of immortals with whom we are
associated; much more, nothing less than
omniscience can assertain what is the extent
of the influence of a particular, and steady
course in virtue, er vice ; in obedience, or
disobedience to the authority of God during
the ordinary period of human life.
It is particularly incumbent on those who
are in possession of God's plan of salvation
to think of this, and to think of the millions
who are perishing without even the means
ef being informed in this great matter.
There was a time when our fathers were
without the gospel ; and had some Aposto
lic men not preached the gospel to them
at the time they did, their children for
many generations, and perhaps we our
selves, and our children would have perish
ed. Had only the one tenth of the genuine
fearers of the Lord, among our fathers been
men of Apostolic spirit, and had they felt
how much depended upon the exertion
which they might have made, the gospel
would have been preached several genera
tions ago, to every nation, and to every
family under heaven. To what an extent the
good people of the present generation, are
responsible for the present salvation of
the Heathens, of the present day, and for
the salvation of their children* the great
A^v nnlr xviii make, known.

NO. XII.

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.
Psalm, cxlvi, '3, 4. — Put not your trust in princes, nor in
the son of man, in whom there is. no help. His breath goeth
forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts
perish.
Man, with all his most extraordinary pow
ers, is in himself a weak and dependant be
ing. He comes into the world the most
helpless of all animals. His existence on
earth could not likely, in any case, be pro
longed many hours, were it not for the care
and attention of those with whom -he is sur
rounded. His state of infancy and youth,
requiring the continued help of his fellow
men, in a thousand nameless forms, is also
much longer than that of any other inhab
itant of this globe ; and he obtains the com
mand of his powers, both physical and men
tal, only after he has been, for years, under
laborious nursing and correction and train
ing and government.
In his most perfect state, he is only
weakness. He did not create himself, nor
had he the smallest control over an infinite
number of agents and circumstances, under

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 165
which his early life was passed, and under
which also his permanent character is gen
erally formed. He cannot make one hair
of his head either white or black. With all
his research, and with the wisdom and ex
perience of ages, he is ignorant of the prin
ciple of animal life, and equally ignorant of
the essences of the various substances, upon
which the nourishment of life depends, eith
er in a healthy or diseased state ; and he
cannot, under certain circumstances, (and
those circumstances also exceedingly vari
ed,) prolong life, either in himself or others,
beyond a certain, but to him unknown and
indefinite, period. Great improvements
have indeed been made in the healing art ;
but men still die, and still suffer the most
excruciating agonies in sickness and in
death— and they die, and thus suffer in ev
ery stage, from infancy to three score years
and ten ; and in as great numbers in every
stage, as ever they did. New diseases, or
old diseases, under a great variety of hew
forms, are yearly making their appearance,
and baffling the united and accumulated
wisdom and experience of one hundred gen
erations of enquiring and scientific men.
It is sometimes said, that man, as an indi
vidual and unconnected with his fellow men,
and particularly in a savage state, is a weak
and helpless being; but that man, united

166 THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.
with his fellow men, and in a state of civili
zation, under the direction of a particular
individual of superior wisdom and experi
ence, possesses and exerts power, approach
ing almost to omnipotence. This is, in a cer
tain sense, the truth. Union of council and
union of action, both with respect to physi
cal and mental labor, is employing our wis
dom and power to advantage ; and separate
council and separate action is, in the most of
cases only proclaiming our weakness. But
still there is a limit with respect to the ex
tent of even united human effort^and in
the most united effort which ever yet was
made, there have always been in operation
a multitude of opposite, and conflicting
principles of action. Rarely indeed, in the
history of our race, d,o we find the powers
which were supposed to be exclusively un
der the controul of a single individual, made
to bear undividedly upon one given point ; or
if perchance, they have been after a great
deal of contriving and labour, made to bear
upon this one point, they have been contin
ued only a small portion of time, or if in
few cases of uncommon interest, they have
been continued in one direction, till the de
sired object was obtained, the very object
in the most of these very few cases, has
been found, to have been "vanity and vex
ation of spirit," — nothing but disappoint-

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 167
fnent — nothing but an exhibition of human
folly and weakness.
There is no one subject connected with
the history of man, in which there has been
a greater display of consolidated power,
than in the case of war and conquest.
Thus far, nearly all that belongs to national
greatness, and national power, and national
glory, have been absorbed in this one ob
ject ; all the physical, and intellectual, and
moral powers of provinces, and kingdoms,
and empires have hitherto in the policy of
.the world, been almost universally devoted
to this object, or to measures subservient to
it. Nor is there any one phrase in any
language, by which mankind of every gene
ration, and of every land, and of every class,
have been so much deceived as by the
phrase, "Military Glory." We shall there
fore glance at a few prominent facts of this
kind, as an illustration of human Aveakness,
and human folly, in the form of great politi
cal wisdom, making the consolidated power
of nations, act upon a given point.
We may set Philip of Macedon at the
head of the list. Philip was a man of un
common talent: He was truly a great man,
in the political sense of that term. For
penetration into the characters of men, and
into the characters of nations, he has likely
never been surpassed. He, in fact, knew

168 THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.,
more of the philosophy of man, than all the
Grecian philosophers ever exhibited. But
his story of glory and real enjoyment is
soon told. His public life was about twenty
years. The obtaining of the command of
Greece, Avas the great object ©f his policy
and exertions, during that period. This he
at last obtained. Greece was at his com
mand, and all the States had entered hear
tily with him, into another great plan —
the subduing of the Persian Empire. But
the hand of an assassin, in revenge for a pri
vate insult, in less time than this, his short
story, can be told, cut him short of all his
prospects. His account, then, stands thus :
Twenty years of hard struggling.
Nine months, or one year of supposed en
joyment. Alexander, his son and successor, may
come next under our review. He was the
goat, spoken of in Daniel, VIII, 3 — 8 ; and
all the figures used in this passage, exhibit
the transitory nature of worldly policy and
power. Alexander had, in his day, the desire- of
his heart, so far as success could gratify
that desire. The riches and the strength
of the Persian Empire, and the riches and
the strength of all the nations and tribes, with
which he came into contact, became his own.
His career of glory was twelve years, and

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 169
it is yet unequalled in the history of man.'
But he was cut off in the midst of his days,
and just when he was making extensive
preparations to enjoy the countries, and
the people, which he had conquered. He
died in a drunken frolic, and his funeral,1 as
he himself had predicted, was celebrated
by the wars, and desolations of generations.
His account stands thus: —
Twelve years of most incessant toil — en
joyment properly speaking — none. You
may however, if you please, call the whole
of his public life, an uninterrupted career
of glory, and of the successful application of
consolidated power ; but he died as a fool
dieth, and of all the glory which encir
cled his brow, not a ray remained to light
his steps into eternity; nor unless it is
in the founding of the City of Alex
andria, is there a single act of his life, which
has been of any lasting benefit to the world.
Julius Caesar is the next in order. Like
Alexander, the command of the world, was
the object of his ambition. For twenty, or
twenty -five years he fought and conquered,
in the name, and in the behalf of the Ro
man People. He then turned his armies
against the legal authority of the Ronlan
People, and the battle of Pharsalia gave him
the command of the Empire. He had now
his full share of military glory, and for three,

TTv ~iiiL WEAKNESS OF MAN.
pr four years his hands, and his heart were
full of plans of future aggrandizement, and of
works of great usefulness. But he was
murdered in the Senate House, in a full, and
supposed friendly assembly, and by the
hands of some who had been his warmest con
fidants. He enjoyed the object of his ambi
tion — the command of the Roman. Empire
¦ — only four years ; and he had obtained
this by wading through seas of blood for
thirty years ; and of the good that he did
to individuals, or to mankind, there was
not, in a very few days, even a remnant.
The leading events in the history of Bou-
naparte, the modern Alexander, are still
fresh in our recollection. He made his ap
pearance in Italy, in the summer of 1796.
He was declared chief consul in 1802. He
was proclaimed Emperor in 1804, and for
the eight following years, which may be
called the period of his glory and triunaph,,
he commanded in some form, or other, the
whole of continental Europe. His disasters
began in the fall of 1812. His retreat from
jVtoscow must have been a scene of suf
fering such as never before had been wit
nessed. His. disasters increased in number
and in magnitude, till in the summer of 1815,
in the field of Waterloo, he was shorn of all
his glory, and became weak; and harmless
as another man. And thus, passes away,,

^ THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 171
the glory and the power of the world.
" Put not your trtist in prinCes, nor in the
son of man, in Whom there. is no help. His
breath goeth forth, he returneth to his
earth ; in that very day his thoughts per
ish." UpOri these facts, we make the following*
Observations. L The history of the men, whose riameS
have been mentioned, affords a correct spe
cimen of military glory, and of the applica
tion of consolidated power, according to the
maxims of worldly policy. These four
men, haAririg lived in different ages, and hav
ing wielded the destinies of different nations;
and having been, in the language of the
world, successful, they must have enjoyed;
in their day, all that possibly can be enjoy
ed of glory of this kind ; and they must
have achieved all that can reasonably be
expected from the use of such means. If
there is airy personal satisfaction, or any
national advantages to be derived from a
career Of this kind, they will be found em
bodied in the history of these men. And
let sober reason, arid common sense, this
day say what these are.
2. Let us mark the expense of blood and
treasure — of public and private happiness,
at which these men purchased their glory.
The man, who would, at this hour, order

172 THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.
every able-bodied man, in any of our small
est villages, to be put to the s>vord, and all
the buildings of the place and neighbor
hood, to be laid in ashes, would be ranked,
by every individual of us, as a monster. And
we have no name to express the horror,
with which we would Ariew the man, who,
year after year, for ten, fifteen, or twenty
years, would order every able-bodied man,
in the State of Ohio, to be put to death.
But such is the infatuation of this thing, call
ed 'military glory,' that while a single in
stance of the kind, makes a man a monster,
the calm and deliberate ordering of thous
ands upon thousands, to be put to the sword,
forms the hero — forms just such men as Philip
of Macedon, and Alexander, and Julius
Caesar, and Buonaparte Avere. Each of the
three last of these men, occasioned the death
of at least three millions of men, in the
prime of life: — yes, three millions of men
were, on account of the plans and policy of
each of these three men, calmly and delib
erately ordered out to destruction. — Add,
3. That a very large portion of the ten
or twelve millions of those, who were sacri
ficed to the mad ambition of these four men,
were themselves deceived by the phantom of
military glory. They rushed into eternity,
altogether unprepared for eternity; and
each of these immortals, lost a soul of more

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 173
value than the world. They died in the
very act of murder. And while thousands
upon thousands were thus drawn up in rank
and file, murdering each other, these men
of glory and renown were standing by and
enjoying the scene.  Add,
4. That thousands upon thousands of our
race, whose names were never heard any
where, but on calling the muster-roll, have,
in all generations, and in all states of socie
ty, in this way sacrificed themselves. They
have been dazzled with the names, or with
the exploits of some military chief; and
they have fancied, that they themselves
have been identified with . him. And for
mere sound, they have sacrificed their souls,
and their bodies, and their domestic com
fort, and their all. 'Nor have even their
'names been enrolled in the chronicles of
their country: They form only the name
less units, which make up the nameless
thousands, whose blood has stained the tri
umphal car of some lord, or duke, or chief
captain, whose name also, in a generation or
two, has perished. And this is the memo
rial — the lasting renown of military dpory.
This is the result, which has been obtained
by the consolidation of the wealth and pow
er of empires.  For,
5. There is not a single instance, in the
history of the world, in which success in

174 THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.
foreign wars and conquests, has not been
one of the chief sources of the destruction
of the nation, which was crowned with vic
tory, and covered with glory.
One observation more.
6. They are much deceived, who supr
pose that military glory can be of any Ser
vice to any mortal, after his lot is with de
parted spirits. Yet some kind of delusion
of this kind, is not among the least of the
delusions of our poor unhappy race. But
let sober reason and common sense speak
to this point.
Is there a single individual, who can be
lieve, that the gods of ancient Greece and
Rome had any existence, but in the imagi
nation of the multitude? Yet the most of
these objects of veneration, were originally
military heros.
Let the bible also speak. Are the quali
fications, which are essentially necessary
to form a military hero, the qualifications,
which the bible says will afford a man a
ready admission into a happy immortality ?
Are pride, and profanity, and murder, and
sporting with the miseries of mankind, and
setting all human and divine laAvs at defiance
— are these the qualifications, which, accor
ding to the bible, or which, according to
any approved system of morals, will pre
pare a man for the society of the God of

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 175
peace and pf love, and for the enjoyment
of the privileges of that kingdom, which is
the kingdom of righteousness and peace,
and of joy in the Holy Ghost ?
The greater part of the most splendid
displays of consolidated national power,
have as yet, therefore, been only exhibitions
upon a large scale, of human weakness and
human folly.

In common, as well as public life, the
weakness of man, both as an individual and;
as acting in concert with his fellow men, is
equally, on many occasions, sufficiently ma
nifest. Hpw often are the supposed just
expectations of men disappointed, in their
sons and daughters, and in their friends and
neighbors, in whom they had the most un
shaken confidence ? How often is proper
ty, in "all the departments of life, lost by the
weakness or wickedness of those, to whom
it was entrusted ? And how often do. com:
mercial speculations turn put very different
from previous calculations, when the ut
most sagacity, and energy, and fidelity, on
the part of all, who were concerned, have
been exhibited ? "A man may devise his
ways, but the Lord only can direct his steps.
Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou,

176 THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.
knowest not what a day may bring forth."
" Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-mor
row we will go into such a city, and continue
there a year, and buy, and sell, and get
gain: whereas ye' know not what shall be
on the morrow. For what- is your life? It
is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little
time, and then vanisheth away. For that
ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall
live, and do this, or that." James, IV, 13-15.
A portion of the chapter of accidents, fills
a space in every page of the history of man.
A very trifling thing, belonging to mind or
matter, under the management of a wise
man, as well as under the direction of a fool,
has, in cases without number, blasted the
hopes, and sported with the efforts, of a
whole life, and swept away, in a moment
the accumulated treasures of the inheri
tance of fathers.
" Great men are not always wise, neither
do the aged understand judgment." The
strongest man that is, may soon be in a sit
uation, in which he will not need any com
mentator, to tell him what is meant by-" the
grass-hopper being a burden." And some
of the most gigantic minds, which ever were
known on earth, have passed the lust years
of their sojourning, in a state of second
childhoocl.

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 177
J One of the distinguishing characteristics
of the bible is, That, while it uniformly
brings into full view, man's weakness, both
physical and moral, it uniformly also1 di
rects him to the never-failing source of his
strength. " Put not your trust in princes,
nor in the son of man, in whom there is no
help. His breath gOeth forth, he returneth
to his earth ; in that very day his thoughts
perish." Then follows, " Happy is he that
hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose
hope is in the Lord his God: which made
heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that
therein is : which keepeth truth forever :
which executeth judgment for the oppress
ed: which giveth food to the hungry. The
Lord looseth the prisoners : the Lord open-
eth the eyes of the blind : the Lord raiseth
them that are bowed down: the Lord lov-
eth the righteous: the Lord preserveth the
strangers: he relieveth the fatherless and
widow: but the way of the wicked he turn-
eth upside down. The Lord shall reign
forever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all gen
erations. Praise ye, the Lord." Psalm,
CXLVI, 5— end. To the same purpose is
the declaration in Jeremiah, " Thus saith
the Lord : Cursed be the man that trusteth
in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose
heart departeth from the Lord. * For he
shall be like the heath in the desert, and

178, THE WEAKNESS OF.MA^.
shall not see when good cometh; but shall
-inhabit the parched places in the Avilder-
ness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Bless
ed is the man that trusteth in the Lordr
and whose hope the Lord is» For he shall
be as a tree planted by the waters, and. that
spreadeth out her roots by the river, and
shall not see when heat cometh, but her
leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful
in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit." XVII, 5— 8. In the
cases of warfare, the children of Israel were
particularly directed to have their confi
dence in the Lord their God, and not in the
multitude, or the supposed strength, of
their troops. "When thou goest out to
battle against thine enemies, and seest
horses, and chariots, and a people more than
thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord
thy God is with thee, which brought thee
up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall
be when ye are come nigh unto the battle,
that the priest shall approach and speak.
unto the people, and shall say unto them,
Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day Unto
battle against your enemies : let not your
hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble,
neither be ye terrified because of them; for
the Lordyour God is he that goeth with
you, to fight for you against your enemies,.
to; save you. Deut. XX, 1- — 4. The value

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 179
of a policy of this kind, was often illustra
ted in the history of the Jews ; particular
ly in the case of Jehoshaphat, as recorded
in 2 Chron. XX, " O our God," said the
good king, on that occasion, " wilt thou not
judge them, for we have no might against
this great company, that cometh against us:
neither know we what to do ; but our eyes
«pon thee." Nor was he disappointed.
The prayer amdthe confidence of faith prer
vailed. A leading maxim ih Bacon's philosophy
is, that man subdues nature, by submitting
to the laws of nature. This is also the phi
losophy of the bible, as well as the philoso
phy of common lifeV and common, sense.
¦" Behold we put bits into the horses mouths,
that they may obey us ; and we turn about
their whole body. Beheld also the ships*
which though1 they be so great, arid are
driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned
about Avith a very small helm, whitherseA
ever the governor liketh."
Large masses of matter are moved by
the art, and the ingenuity of man with great
ease. But to do so, power must be applied
in a particular way4 By attending to thisy
a child may move with ease and safety,
what any number of the strongest of men
might attempt in vain.
He who is the most successful in making
tiio o-nr-tii ¦nr»nrliip.i-ivF>. nr in producing and

180. THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.
supporting, and in bringing to market the
greatest number of cattle of the finest breed,
must study in theory, and practice, the na
ture of soils, and vegetables, and animals, and
climates, and seasons. I
Every substance in nature has some pe
culiar properties, or some peculiar combina
tions of properties, and the power of man
is applied to advantage in every case just in
proportion, as he is acquainted with these
peculiarities. He makes hay while the sun
shines — he beats iron while it is hot— and he
watches the rise and the fall of the flood,
and the shifting of the winds, and thrusts
his vessel into the current. AH the im
provements which have been made in the
dreadful science of gunnery, and in ship
building, and navigation, and in all labour-
saving machinery, are nothing but the re
sults of men becoming better acquainted,
than their fathers were with the essential,
and inherent properties of matter. Hence,
that man is the wisest, and the strongest,
who understands best the nature, and the
right application of the greater number of
these peculiarities; and all other things
being equal, that nation will have at her
command the greatest amount of power,
where the abstract principles of science are
applied most extensively to the arts of life.
w Had man abvays been a holy being,

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 181'
these astonishing powers, would never have
been applied by man, to any other purpose,
than to promote the good of his fellow men.
The lamentable waste of human power- in
wars, and in infinitely multiplied, and vari
ed acts of oppression, would of course never
have been known. Nor "is there a stronger
proof of the universal, and continued cor
ruption of human nature, than the; fact;
that nearly the whole of the history of na
tions, is as yet little else than the history of
wars, arid of preparations for war; and
that the great mass of men in every gene-
rationj and in every nation, and in every
state of society, and of all classes, have been
so deceived with the phantom, military
glory. Hence, we infer; the importance, and
necessity of moral, and religious principles.
Increase the physical power of any class of
men, or of any nation, without increasing
the influence of moral, and religious princi
ples, and you only raise them nearer the,
rank of devils.
Man's physical strength consists in his
submitting to the laws of nature, or, in oth
er words, in his acting, in all cases, agreea
bly to the nature of things. He only wastes
the little strength which he has, when he
acts in opposition to the established course
of nature. It is equally so in morals and
religion. Man's moral strength does not

182 THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.
consist in rebellion, but in submission. The
second and twentieth Psalms, with many
other passages of scripture, may be read
and studied, as illustrations of this. He
who can, for a moment, indulge the thought
that he shall ultimately succeed in opposing
any of the arrangements of God's moral gov
ernment, acts just as foolishly, as if he
should attempt to pull the sun out of the
firmament. Ps. II, 1—4, and LXXIV, 16,
17. And let it always be remembered, that
of all the moral arrangements of Jehovah,
his plan of salvation,1 through the Lord Je
sus Christ, holds the chief place. He who
can, for a moment, suppose, that any com
bination of created beings, can successfully
oppose the progress of the gospel, thinks as
foolishly as if he should suppose, that his
earthen pots would remain unhurt, under
the action of an iron rod, in the hands of a
giant; or that a mortal could lay his hand
upon the mountains and the flood, and keep
them from moving, Avhen Jehovah was shak
ing the earth to its centre.
It has pleased the Creator of all, to give
to man a nature capable of knowing and
loving and Serving his Maker ; and this is
man's great and distinguishing characteris
tic. Hence, he is strong, and will fulfil the
great end of his creation, and will exercise
hil dominion over the lower world, to ad-

THE WEAKNESS OF MAN. 18$
Vantage, just in proportion as he acts agree*
ably to this, his distinguishing peculiarity.
.; It hath pleased the Father of mercies; to?
make known to fallen and degraded man, a
plan of salvation, every way adapted to his
nature. It is addressed to his understand
ing, and to his heart,, and to his conscience.
It makes known to him, his weakness, and
his misery, and points him to the only rem
edy. Hence, he is strong, as he turns his
attention to the remedy* and hopes to be
delivered from ail the misery and degrada
tion of his nature, in the way that God hath
been pleased to appoint. He is strong,
when he submits unconditionally to "the
righteousness of God"— r" the righteousness
of faith"'— to God's mode of acceptance of
sinners, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is acting the part of a fool and a mad
man, and dashing his head against the rock
of ages,; when he expects salvation, in any
other way.
It hath pleased the Governor of the world,,
to give to his creature man, " the moral law."
It is exceedingly broad ; but it is also ex
ceedingly good ; and man's moral, and in
tellectual, and physical strength is insepa
rably connected with his knoAving and ob.-
servring this law. It is, in fact, the great
law of his nature. He is strong, just in pro
portion as this law is written on his heart,

184 THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.
and is seen and felt in its poAver and spirit/
in the whole of his conduct. Hence he acts
foolishly, and is impairing the energies of
his nature, when, for a moment, he cherish
es the wish, that that law should be, in any
one point, any other thing than what it is.
" When I am Aveak," says the Apostle,
•'then am I strong;" and, says the wise man,
" Pride goeth before destruction, and a
haughty spirit before a fall ;", and again,
" Better it is to be of an humble spirit, with
the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the
strong." Genuine philosophy consists in
knowing our proper place in the scale of
being, and in social life — in knowing our
place and character. Particularly in know
ing how dependant we are as creatures, and
how; worthless and hell-deserving Ave are, as
sinners. But at the same time, knowing
the- encouragement, Avhich we have, to come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that Ave
may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
in time of need.

NO. XIII.
THE WAY TO WEALTH.
1 Chron. iv, 9, 10. — And Jabez teas more honourable than
his brethren; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, be
cause I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of
Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and en
large my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that
thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me !
And God granted him that which he requested.
We know nothing of the parentage, or
family of this remarkable person. His
short, but instructive story is introduced
among a long list of bare, and to us barren
names. It is like the fragrant rose sur
rounded with thorns, or the refreshing
streams in the midst of the desert.
He was eminent in his day for wisdom, for
wealth, for valour, and for piety. His
maxims of wisdom, and his advice to his
friends, and contemporaries have however,
been forgotten in the revolution of ages.
The wealth which he acquired, and which
he transmitted to his children has long ago
perished, or has passed into other hands.
Of his numerous battles and victories there
is now no memorial. His piety as having

186 THE WAY TO WEALTH.
been the source of all, for which he Avas dis
tinguished, is all of which the Holy Ghost
has preserved any record.
And Jabez was more honourable than his
brethren — and Jabez called on the God of
Israel, &c, &e.
Let us attend,
I. To the matter of this good man's pray
er, and
II. To its success.
1. He prayed first for a special blessing.
" Oh that the God of Israel would bless me
indeed." He was not disposed to be satis
fied with an ordinary blessing.
He was not disposed to be satisfied with
the portion of Lot. See Gen. XIII, 10—13.
Nor with that of Ishmael. Ge*i. XVII, 20.
Nor with that of Esau. Gen. XXVII, 30
and 40. It was the blessing of Abraham,
and of Isaac, and of Jacob, upon which his
heart was set.
" Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed.
Bless me, in making me a son and heir, and a
son, and an heir under the covenant establish
ed with Abraham and his seed ; when the
Lord God of heaven said, I will be a God to
thee, and in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed." Read and compare
Gen. XVII, 1—14. Romans, IV, through
out, and Gal. Ill, 8, 14. A personal inter
est in the salvation through our Lord Jesu*

THE WAY TO WEALTH 187
Christ is the first of blessings, and no man
is blest, but is under the curse, the curse of
heaven, till he is personally interested in
this salvation. And of the infinite value of
this blessing, the Old Testament saints
had a "distinct- conception. See Luke, 1,30
—end, and II, 25—32, and Heb. XI, 13.
Gospel hearer, hast thou this day any de
sire to be thus blessed ? Thou mayest if
thou Avilt. The blessing of Abraham is this
hour proclaimed to thee, an outcast Gentile.
We tell you again what you have often
heard: "God so loved the world, that he
gave h'is only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." — John, III, 16. God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto him
self, not imputing their trespasses unto them ;
and hath committed unto us the word of re^
conciliation. Now then we are ambassa
dors fiir Christ, as though God did beseech
you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made
him to .be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that
we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. 2 Cor. V, 10, 20, 21.
2. Jabez prayed that the God of Israel
would enlarge his coast — that is, that he
would give him of the good things of thi*
life in abundance.

188 THE WAY TO WEALTH.
It was by the special command of heaven
that the children of Israel under Joshua
took possession of the land of Canaan — and
this was the fulfilment of the promise long
before made to Abraham. The land when
conquered was divided by lot among the
different tribes, and families, according to
their numbers. Every pious head of a
family then took possession of his portion
under the charter of heaven, and when he
went out to war, he went out in the spirit of
devotion. And the holy man, in the text
was particularly distinguished for acknow
ledging the Lord God of Israel, in his wars
with his neighbours the Canaanites. See
the Books of Joshua and Judges throughout.
It was God's will in the beginning that all
the human family should enjoy all the good
things of this life in abundance. And it is
his will still, that as our families increase,
the means for supporting these families
should also increase. And it is the sin of
man, and the sin of man alone, which is the
real cause of all the poverty and want, and
distress about temporal concerns, which
have marked the history of man. Read
and compare Gen. I, 26 — end, III, 17 — 19,
and Deut. XXX, throughout.
And what is the order of the new cove
nant, with respect to the enjoyment of the
good things of this life ? Seek ye first the

THE WAY TO WEALTH. 189
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things shall be added unto you.
Read Matt. VI. 24— end.
And being blessed >vith the blessing of
Abraham, recognised as a son and an heir,
put in your claim daily for the portion of a
son and of an heir. Heavenly Father, give
me and my family this day our daily bread.
Plead the promise of support, — He shall
dwell on high, his place of defence shall be
the munition of rocks, bread shall be given
him, and his water shall be sure. The
meek shall inherit the earth ; and shall de
light themselves in the abundance of peace.
Isaiah XXXIII, 16. Ps. XXXVII, 11.
3. Jabez prayed . that the hand of the
God of Israel might be Avith him — that is,
that, while his family was increasing, and
the good things of this life, necessary for
the support of his family, Avere increasing,
he might enjoy all evidently under the
blessing and protection of heaven. Read
Deut. XXXIII, 7, Job I, 9, 10, and XLIL
10, 11, 12.
Temporal prosperity, under the blessing
of heaven, is then an object, for which we
are to pray. And let us here mark the dif
ference between the prosperity of the wick
ed, and the prosperity of the righteous, un
der the special blessing of heaven. The
temporal prosperity of the Avicked, js their

190 THE WAY TO WEALTH.
destruction, and their destruction is chiefly
occasioned by their prosperity leading their
hearts farther and farther from God. The
more they prosper, the more unmindful are
they of God — and their pride, and their sel
fishness, and their earthly-mindedness in
crease. Not so that temporal prosperity, under
the blessing and special protection of heav
en. If Jehovah's hand is with us, it will be
felt. A spirit of devotion — acknowledging
the Lord in all our ways, and imploring his
blessing upon all our enjoyments, will mark
eur character. The love of God, as the
giver of all good, and particularly as having
bestowed upon us his inestimable gift, will
be shed abroad in our hearts. And heav-
enly-mindedness, and being devoted to God's
service, will be the result of all. All these
good things will be to us only the earnest
of better blessings, in a better world. The
language of our hearts, and the language of
our conduct, will be, "We are. not our own
— nor is anything, which we command, our
own — we are ourselves bought Avith a price,
even the precious blood of Christ — and Ave
hold the property, Avhich Ave command, on
ly as steAvards — to him are we accountable
for the use, which Ave make of it — and to his
service let it be devoted."

THE WAY TO WEALTH. 191
It was in this way, "my friends, that the
holy man in the text, prayed for, and enjoy
ed, temporal prosperity. And it has been
in some such way as this, that God's people,
in all ages, and in all generations, have en
joyed the temporal prosperity, which they
have enjoyed. And one chief reason, why
God's people have not*-eirjoyed temporal
prosperity, to the extent that others have
done, no doubt is, because they have not
habitually prayed for it, as the holy man in
the text did. , Our heavenly Father is mer
ciful — he will not give us the prosperity of
fools, to our destruction : and if we are not
disposed to ask and to enjoy the prosperity
of the righteous — the prosperity of a son,
and of an heir — we must endure the chas
tisement of a child, till our education is com
pleted. 4. Jabez prayed that the God of Israel
would keep him from evil — that is, the evil
grief attending a state of worldly prosper
ity. Pain and suffering of any kind, or in any
degree, Can never be the object of desire —
and God has no pleasure in the mere suffer
ing of any of his creatures — all the evil and
suffering, to which man is exposed, is the
result of the fact, that man is a sinner and
a rebel. Now as God has commanded and
encouraged us to pray for the pardon of

192 THE WAY TO WEALTH.
our sins, and that Ave may be dealt with as
a son and a citizen — he hath commanded
and encouraged us to pray for deliverance
from all the evils, and pains, and sorrows,
which are the results of sin.
"Father of mercies — God of Israel," said
the holy man in the text, "keep me from
evil, that it may not grieve me — from all
the evils, which are generally connected
with a state of worldly prosperity. When
my family, and my property are increasing,
let not my heart be estranged, in any de
gree, from the source of all good — let not
the spirit of devotion within me, be in any
measure diminished."
Even in the most unbounded prosperity,
there are innumerable evils. Vanity and
vexation of spirit, occasioned by losses and
crosses, and by the very fear of losses. But
the man, who can trust the God of Israel,
with his temporal prosperity, shall be kept,
not only from evil itself, but from the very
fear of evil. His prayer for daily bread, is
always good, whatever changes may take
place in other matters.
The multiplication of our friends, as well
as the increase of our enemies, increase, in
a great variety of ways, the pain and anxie
ties of a state of worldly prosperity. Keep
me, God of Israel, from these evils. Let
the love of God be shed abroad daily, not

THE WAY TO WEALTH. 193
only in my oAvn heart, but also in the hearts
of all my increasing friends ; and then, with
an increase of friends, and an increased in
tercourse with friends, there will be also,
an increase of joy and peace, and of all the
other fruits of righteousness.
And, my christian friends, if the evils
and sorrows even of prosperity, have been
with you numerous, it must have been be
cause you have not taken the method, which
this holy man took, to be kept from these
evils. God granted this holy man, that
which he requested. God was of old, ready
to hear prayer, and his ear is not yet heavy.
Jabez prayed for the pardon of sin, and
for a personal interest in the great salva
tion. And God granted him his request.
He prayed that he would give him a suffi
ciency and abundance of the good things of
this life. And God granted him his request.
He prayed that his temporal prosperity
might be a blessing to him, and to his fami
ly. And God granted him his request. He
prayed that he and his friends might enjoy
all the good things of a bountiful providence
with which they were furnished. And the
God of Israel granted him that which he
requested^ He was more honorable than any of his
brethren. He prospered remarkably, in
all that he undertook — in his studies — in

194 THE WAY TO WEALTH.
his worldly business — in his conflicts Avith
the Canaanites — in his enjoyment of his
friends, and the other good things of this
life ; and all this was because he Avas, from
his youth and through life, a man of prayer.
His name spake sorrow. His mother
called his name Jabez, saying, because I
bare him with sorrow. But his life and
character spake joy and satisfaction. It
was his happiness, that he had knoAvn, at
an early period of his life, his original weak
ness, and what is the real source of all sor
row : and it was equally his happiness, that
he knew, at an early period of his life, that
the God of Israel was his only help, and his
only strength, and his only comfort. My
friend, let the God of Israel be your strength,
and your hope, and the portion of this holy
man, shall also, in the main, be your portion.
My friends and fellow mortals, take the
God of Israel's method of being rich and
prosperous and honorable, and this method
will not fail. He tenders to you, on the
spot, the gift of himself — and the gift of his
Son — and the gift of the Holy Spirit of
promise, and, with this inestimable gift, all
other things. "He, who spared not his
own Son, but delivered him up for all, how
shall he not with him freely give us alL
things."

THE WAY TO WEALTII. 195
Be exhorted and encouraged to ex-tend
your views and desires, beyond the things
of earth ; and in this way, and in this way
only, will you secure to yourselves and
your families, the real enjoyment of the
good thingsjof this earth. Lay hold at oncej
of the uncorruptible, unchangeable, ever
lasting good. Bring home to your under
standing and to your heart, the great fact,
that God so loved the Avorld, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever be
lieveth in him, might not perish, but hare
everlasting life. And resting upon this great
fact, plead with him as your heavenly Fa
ther, the accomplishment of his promises.
His promise of pardon, of peace, of the full
supply of all your temporal wants, of an en
largement of heart, and of increased com
forts of every kind. Thus daily approach
to Jehovah, as reconciled to the world in
Christ Jesus. And when our God shall
come, and all his saints with him, tell me
then — tell all the world then, if he has not
granted you that which you requested of
him.

no. xnr.
THE WAY TO PROSPERITY.

Job, Xlii, 10 — And the. Lord turned the captivity of Job,
when he prayed for his friends : also the Lord gave Job twice as
much as he had before.
The leading facts in the history of Job,
and his friends, are well known. They
were probably of common ancestry. The
descendants of Abraham, in the third or
fourth generation, by Keturah, Abraham's
second wife.
They had lived at no great distance from
each other, for many years, in peace and
prosperity, and in the habit of mutually ex
changing the offices of friendship. The
state of society, in which they lived, Avas
that of the patriarchal and shepherd state
— a state of all others, the most favorable
to unreserved, sincere and ardent friendship.
Their families, and their flocks, and the un
adulterated productions of nature, being
their chief earthly enjoyments. And with
Job and his friends, all these Avere. sweet
ened by their hearts being 'daily led, by
social and secret devotion, to the bountiful
and almighty source of all good.

WAY TO PROSPERITY. 197
In the midst of all this prosperity and
happiness, Job, who had held the chief
place among these prosperous, and happy
men, was in the course of a feAv hours stript
of his all. His five hundred yoke of oxen,
with a proportional number of servants,
who were folio Aving them in the field, and
his five hundred she-asses which were feed
ing beside them, became the prey of the
Sabeans. And Avhile these freebooters were
carrying off safely, such a large portion of
this good man's possession, the fire of God
fell from heaven, and consumed his seven
thotisand sheep, and the servants who were
attending them, on the neighbouring moun
tains. And scarcely had these disasters
been announced to their master, when anoth
er messenger informed him that his nine
thousand camels had been carried off by the
Chaldeans. And immediately upon the
back of this, he was informed by a fourth
messenger, that a great wind from the Avil-
derness had buried his seven sons, and three
daughters, with their wives, and husbands,
and children, in the ruins of the habitation,
in which they had been assembled for the
purposes of feasting.
Nor did his calamities end here. A few
hours more, and his body was smitten with
sore biles from the sole of the foot to the
croAvn. And in this situation, his three

198 WAY TO PROSPERITY.
friends who had heard of all this evil which
was come upon him — found him, " for they
had made an appointment together, to come
to mourn with him, and to comfort him.
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off,
and knew him not, they lifted up their voice
and wept; and they rent every one his man
tle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads to
ward heaven. So they sat down Avith him
upon the ground seven days and seven
nights, and none spake a word unto him:
for they saw that his grief was very great."
Job, II, 12 and 13.
Now, my friends, Avhat Avould have been
your conclusion respecting the real state,
and character of Job as a professor of reli
gion, had you witnessed this sudden, this
awful transition from the highest state of
earthly prosperity, and happiness to the
lowest state of poverty and wretchedness ?
Fix your attention for a moment upon any
individual of your friends and acquaintances,
and suppose that he, and his family should
be visited as Job, and his family were,
would you not conclude that, that man must
somehow, or other be a most atrocious sin
ner ; whatever may have been his profes
sion, and standing, and character in former
days? Now this was the very conclusion
which Job's friends drew from Job's cala
mities. They misrepresented the dispen-

WAY TO PROSPERITY. 199
sation of Providence, as if this world had
been the state of retribution, and laboured
hard to convince their suffering friend, that
in his state of prosperity, he must have been
conscious of some concealed, but enor
mous iniquity. They considered extraor
dinary afflictions, as demonstrations of ex
traordinary wickedness. And, on this
ground alone, they condemned a most emi
nent servant of God, of hypocrisy, and atro
cious iniquity, and treated him with severi
ty, and disdain, while he was enduring the
extremest suffering, and struggling with va
rious temptations.
But the Father of mercies Avill not chide
always. Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning. However,
irreverently Job had vindicated himself, the
sentiments which he uttered in his defence
were upon the whole true, and his argu
ments conclusive. When, therefore, the
Lord had brought Job to a deep repent
ance, and to a proper frame of mind, he
answered his confidence, and decidedly
took his part.
Hear his confession. " Then Job answer
ed the Lord, and said, I know that thou
canst do every thing, and that no thought
can be with-holden from thee. Who is he
that hideth counsel without knowledge?
Therefore have I uttered, that I understood

200 Way to, prosperity.
not, things' to Avonderful for me, which I
knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will
speak: I will demand of thee, and declare
thou unto me. I have heard of thee, by
the hearmg of the ear: but uoav mine eye
seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes." Job,
XLII, 1—6.
Hear also Jehovah's acceptance of this
confession. "And it Avas so, that after the
Lord had spoken these Avords unto Job,
the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, my
wrath is kindled against thee, and against
thy tAvo friends : for ye have not spoken of
me, the thing that is right, as my servant
hath. Therefore take unto you now sev
en bullocks, and "seven rams, and go to my
servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a
burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall
pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I
deal with you after your folly, in that ye
have not spoken of me the thing which is
right, like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the
Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zo-
phar the Naamathite went, and did accord
ing as the Lord commanded them: the Lord
also accepted Job." Job, XLII, 7 — 9. Four
times in two sentences God called Job his
servant, as if he gloried in him, in the mids.t
of his poverty and distress, and when he
was condemned by his friends as a hypo*

WAY TO PROSPERITY. 201
crite: him alone the Lord would accept,
and his friends would have their own pray
ers answered only when they were reconcil
ed, to him. And when Job prayed for his
friends, his own captivity was turned.
Now, my christian friends, from these
facts, we have these instructions.
I. That we hold all our temporal enjoy
ments directly of God. He has only to
give the word, and the fire, and the water,
or the hurricane — or an invading enemy—
or a faithless — or mistaken friend — are
made the instruments of sweeping from un
der our command the accumulated fruits of
the labour, and industry of years ; or he has
only to give the word, and the man who
yesterday had nothing, may be a man of
wealth and affluence. And if this is the
fact, we live as atheists, if we do not daily
acknowledge God in all our ways, if we do
not daily in some form or other, implore
God's blessing upon our flocks, and upon our
herds — upon our houses, and upon our
fields — upon the fruit of our body, and the
fruit of our land — upon the labour of our
hands, and the labour of our heads. See,
Psalm, CXLIV, 12— end, and Luke, XI, 3.
II. When a man has any evidence of his
personal iniquity being forgiven, his heart
is melted into tenderness, towards his mis
taken, and offending friends*,,. Job's friends

202 WAY TO PROSPERITY.
had used him ill, extremely ill, almost, in the
language of the world, too badly to be for-f
given. Yet he is no sooner himself humbled
before his God, and has the evidence within
him, that he is personally accepted of God,
than he is ready to pour out his heart in
sincere, and ardent player in behalf of these
friends. Nor is this a solitary case. Read, my
friend, and consider, and pray over Luke,
VII, 36 — end, and Luke, XI, 4, and Eph.
IV, 30, 31, 32.
Gospel hearer, professed believer in our
Lord Jesus, is your personal iniquity for
given ? If so, you Avill be disposed to pray
ardently, fully^Vnd perseveringly for those
who have injured you. Now, just look
about you, and fix your attention upon the*
individuals with whom you have been at vari
ance, or with whom you are now at vari
ance, and try yourself by this mark.
III. Nothing cements the affections of be
lievers who have jarred, or disputed, so
much as praying with, and for each other.
When*U;hey enjoy communion with their
common; Saviour, they feel a disposition to
delight in the communion of each other, and
in the communion of their fellow saints* It
is in the attitude of prayer that pride, and
selfishness, and their kindred tempers are
destroyed, if -ever they are destroyed. It

WAY TO PROSPERITY. 20§
is in this position that we feel, ^that Ave are
all under a common sentence of condemna-
tion, and that if we are to be saved, we
must be made partakers of the same com
mon salvation. "God be merciful to me a
sinner," is the only common ground on
i which those who have had^differences can
meet. My christian friends, do 'you Avish to en
joy the communion of the saints, as fully as
itfpossibly can be enjoyed ? This is not to be
obtained by disputing about orthodoxy, and
about creeds, and the forms, and modes of
worship^ (all these things may be good in
their place) much less is this precious bless
ing to be obtained by ostentatiously mea
suring, and valuing the particular gifts of
^God, with Avhich this, or that individual, or
this, or that society may be blest. The
blessing of the communion of saints is to be
enjoyed only by fervent, ardent„and perse
vering prayer for our religious friends.
Again, Do you wish the communion of the saints
to be restored, in any case where it has been
interrupted by mistake, and misrepresenta
tion, and personal injuries both given and re
ceived ? This is not to be obtained by dwell
ing upon, these mistakes, and misrepresen
tations, and injuries, much less is it to be ob
tained by minute investigation,and by balanc-

204 WAY TO PROSPERITY.
ingyour accounts, injury against injury, and
favour against favour. This precious bless
ing when once lost, or interrupted can only
be regained by mutual, and frequent, and
fervent, and persevering prayer. See Jer.
I, 4 and 5.
IV. " The Lord turned the captivity of
Job, when he prayed for his friends ; also
the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had
before. Then came there unto him all his
brethren, and all his sisters, and all they
that had been of his acquaintance before,
and did eat bread with him in his house,
and they bemoaned him, and comforted him
over all the evil, that the Lord had brought
upon him : every man also gave him a piece
of money, and every one an ear-ring of
gold." Job XLII, 10, 11.
When a man's ways please the Lord, he
maketh even his enemies to be at peace
with himv Sin is the real and the only
cause of all our sorrows ; and if the hearts
of our friends are, in any degree, alienated
from us, it is because their hearts, or our
hearts^or likely all our hearts, are alienat
ed from God.
The heart only knoweth its own bitter
ness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle
with its joy. Jehovah alone knoweth the
heart, and can touch the heart. And real
ly all our social happiness and usefulness

WAY TO PROSPERITY. 205
depend on the state of our affections to
wards each other. And we all know that a
very little thing indeed may change the
whole state of our affections, favorably or
unfavorably, towards each other. Now Je-r
hovah, Avho only knovvs the heart, and who
is the hearer of prayer, alone can open up
or close the sources of joy or sorrow, Avhich
depend upon the state of the affections.
Children of God, of every name, and to
whatever church you belong, the exhorta
tion is, pray for one another, and pray also
for all your neighbors and friends by name,
as Job prayed for his friends.
We call those our friends, who are relat
ed to us by blood — or who worship with us
the same God, through the same Mediator,
— or who live with us in the same neighbor
hood, and with whom we occasionally ex
change the offices of friendship — or who
are generally candid and honest in their
dealings with us — or who agree with us in
the main as to views, and plans, and objects.
We acknowledge all these as our friends,
though many, very many, very disagreeable
things may occasionally occur, which con
siderably interrupt that full flow of the af
fection of the heart, which constitutes the
essence of genuine friendship. Now the
exhortation, christian friends, is, pray daily,
pray fervently, pray particularly for all

206 WAY TO PROSPERITY.
these your friends. And in this way, you
will have a mighty, a most extensive concert
of prayer. See Matt. XVIII, 19.
Make out lists of your particular friends
and acquaintances, and pray for them fre
quently, and particularly by name.
Pray for the pardon of despised gospel
privileges, and consider your oavu personal
share in this guilt. Read and pray over
Daniel IX, 3—19.
Pray for a blessing yet to be bestowed
upon gospel ordinances, which Avere enjoy
ed by you and your friends many years
ago. With this vieAV, plead again and a-
gain the accomplishment of such promises
as these: Is.. XLI V, 3—5, Joel II, 28— end,
and Zech. XII, 10— end. And for your
encouragement in these exercises, read
Acts II, 37— end, IV, 31, and VI, 6, 7.
Friends of the Lord Jesus, we have the
same living and exalted Head that the apos
tles had, and God is as really the hearer of
prayer now, as he was in the days of the
apostles. Try him.
We repeat the exhortation, pray daily
and earnestly and frequently for your
friends by name. God only knows the par
ticular state of their minds — the tempta
tions to which they are exposed, and the
convictions which they have experienced —
and be assured, that a greater number of

WAY TO PROSPERITY? 207
your friends and acquaintances are likely
under the operation of God's Spirit, than
you are aware of. And the most harden
ed, and the most hopeless are not more
hardened and more hopeless than Saul of
Tarsus Avas on the morning that he left Je
rusalem for Damascus.
And the Lord will turn your own captiv
ity, as he turned the captivity of Job, when
you shall thus pray for your friends. As
the return of such a concert of prayer, we
may expect with confidence, that our heav*
enly Father, who sees in secret, will, in his
own time and way, reward us openly, and
give us and our children, better days — far
better days, both Avith respect to this world
and the next, than either we or our fathers
have seen.
May the Father of mercies dispose and
enable the writer, and every child of God,
who may be a reader, thus to unite in pray
er for our friends.

NO. XV.
THE AGENCY OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT.

Isaiah, lix, 21 — As for me, this is my covenant with them,
saith the Lord;, my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which
I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor
out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's
teed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.
The object of all philosophy is, to trace
effects to their causes, and to explain, as
far as possible, the mutual influence of what
are called second causes. Sound philoso
phy admits of only one efficient, , self-exist
ent, eternal and independent first cause;
but secondary causes are as numerous as the
infinitely multiplied and varied parts of the
universe. The universe is one great whole,
consisting of an infinite variety of modifica
tions of the two great substances, matter
and mind, mutually acting and reacting up
on one another. Nor can we, perhaps, in
any one case, say with precision, at what
particular point, the agency of a particular
cause commences or ceases. All we know,
in the most of cases, is, that, in an extended
chain of causes and effects, the same event

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. 209
or fact, or modification of matter, may be
considered either as a cause or an effect,
according to the particular direction, in
which the mind surveys the whole. If you
pass along from one end to the other, all
the different steps may be considered as
effects ; but if you pass in the other direc
tion, all that intervenes betwixt the two ex
tremes, may be considered as causes. The
truth is, that in one sense, the particular ob
ject of thought is a cause, but in another
sense it is an effect. Wind, for instance,
when considered, merely as in air, mo
tion-, is an effect, but when considered as ac
ting upon the sails of a vessel it is a cause.
It is also to be particularly remembered,
that in all sound Philosophy, the Words
energy, and influence, and power, when they
mean any thing, are used only to express,
"an ultimate fact." This, or the other
substance, or principle, or event, or fact,
whether it is a primary, or secondary cause
in the matter which we are examining,
has under certain circumstances an influ
ence, or an energy, or a power solely, be
cause, such is the will of the great first
cause. Hence, sound philosophy recog
nizes in every step, the direct agency of
the almighty. The great first cause has
impressed upon every agent, in all our va
ried ranges of thought, that particular

210 AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT
quality Avhich renders it an agent in that
particular case; and the same almighty
poAver by his continued agency, continues .
to all secondary causes, all these energies,
or special,<*ind peculiar qualities. He who
at first produced all created beings out of
nothing, can alone sustain these beings in all
their movements, and in all their influences
upon one another.
The Bible, in this as Avell as on other
matters, corresponds exactly Avith the first
principles, and with the results of# sound
philosophy. The great first cause, accord
ing to the Bible, pervades by his omni
presence, and direct agency all things, and
every thing. "God that made the world,
and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord
of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in tem
ples made with hands; neither is worship
ed with men's hands, as though he needed
any thing, seeing he giveth to all, life, and
breath, and all things; and hath made of
one blood all nations of men for to dwell on
all the face of the earth, and hath determin
ed the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation ; that they should
seek the Lord, if haply they might feel af
ter him, and find him, though he be not far
from every one of us : for in him Ave live,*
and move, and have our being; as certain
also of your own poets have said, For we

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. 211
are all his offspring," Acts XVII, 24— 28s.
Nay, more — the Bible not only every
where informs us of the fact, that the direct,
and immediate agenc/ of Jehovah is every
where, but it also gives much information
as to the mode in Avhich this angency is ex
ercised. This agency is generally, if not
always said to be the peculiar province of
the Holy GhoM.
The information which Jehovah has been
pleased to give us of the mode, of his OAvn
existence, is upon the same general ' plan,
upon Avhich he has made, all his other com
munications to us, either by his Avord, or
by his works; He has simply set before us
a feAV of the most important facts, Avithout
going much into the detail, as to the connex
ions, Avhich may naturally and necessarily
exist among these facts. He has been pleas
ed, distinctly to state, that, while there is a
sense, in which there is only one Jehovah,
yet there is also a sense, in which, in the
language of systeriaatic theology, there are
three distinct persons in the one Jehovah:
that these three bear the respective names
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Ghost: and that, in the execution of the ex
tended plans of the one mind, these three
persons perform a number of distinct and
personal actions. — In the great plan of sal
vation, for instance, the Father gives and

212 AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT.
sends the Son — the Son»is sent, assumes our
nature, and makes an atonement for 'sin —
and the Holy Ghost, in a manner peculiar
to himself, applies the atonement to all who
shall be eventually saved. Nor is his agency
confined exclusively to the application of
the plan of salvation. It is probable, that
it extends to all communications of the divine
influence throughout the universe.
In respect of order, the Holy Ghost fin
ished the work of creation. Gen. I, 3, Ps.
XXXIII, 6, Job XXVI, 13. "He qualifi
ed Moses, Bezaleel, Aholiab, Othniel, Ehud,
Barak, Deborah, Gideon, and his. three hun
dred soldiers, Samson and others, with un
common strength of body, wisdom, or cour
age of mind, for their respective works.
Deut. XXXIV, 7, Exod. XXXI, 3—6, Ju.
Ill, 10, 15, IV, 9, 14, 21, VI, VII, XIII—
XVI. He inspired the prophets and apos
tles with an infallible knowledge of the will
of God. 1 Pet. I, 11, 2 Pet. I, 21. He en
dowed Balaam, Caiaphas, and others, with
prospects of future events. Num. XXIII,
XXIV, John XI, 50—52, I Kings XIII, 11
— 20. He wrought miracles unnumbered,
by Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Christ, the apos
tles, and others. Exod. IV — XVII, Num.
XVI, XVII, 1 Kings I— VII, XIII, Matth.
XII, 22—38, Heb. II, 4. He framed the
body, and created the soul, of Christ in

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. 213
union to his divine person. Luke I, 34, 35.
He sanctified his manhood, forming it with
every gift and grace of which it was capa-;
ble. Isa. XI, 2, 3, John III, 34. He in
creased this grace in proportion to the
growing faculties of that manhood. Luke
II, 40, 52. He solemnly anointed and qual
ified him for his ministerial ' work. Matth. '
III, 16, Isa. LXI, 1, "2, 3, XI, 2—4, Luke
IV, 18, John III, 34. He directed him to,
and carried him through, all his temptations
from Satan. Matt. IV, 1.' He assisted him
in his working miracles. Matt. XII, 28;
and in offering up himself a sacrifice to God»
Heb. IX, 14; He raised him from the dead.
Rom. I, 4, VIII, 11, VI, 4. He justified
him as our public Representative. 1 Tim.
Ill, 16. He filled his manhood with heav
enly joys. Psalm XLV, 7, Acts II, 28. By
miraculous and saving influences, he vindi
cated. him, as perfectly righteous in all his
conduct — as the fulfiller of all righteousness
for men — and as ascended to his Father's
right hand.. Acts I— XIX, Luke ' XXIV,.
49, John XVI 7—17, XV, 26. He calls
men to, and fits them Avith gifts and graces
for, public office in the church. Acts II,.
XIII, 2—4, XX,. 28, Matt. IX, 38, 1 Cor..
xii, xiv. He directs, assists, and succeeds
them in their work. Acts xvi, 6, 7, Heb. iiy
4, 1 Pet. i, 11, 12, 1 Thess. iy4, Acts viii, 17,

2U AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT.
x, 44, xix, 6, 7, Rom. xv, 16," 19. He con-*
vinces men of their sin and misery. John
xvi, 8, 9. He enlightens their minds in the
knowledge of Christ. John xiv, 26, xv, 26,
xvi, 13, 15, Eph. i, 17, 18, iii, 17—19, 1 Cor.
ii, 10 — 12. He renews their will, John iii,
5, 6, Tit. iii, 5. He justifies them. 1 Cor.
vi, 11. He sanctifies them. 2 Thess. ii, 13,
1 Pet. i, 2, Rom. xv, 161 He comforts them.
John xiv, 16, 26, xv, 26, xvi, 7, Acts ix, 31.
He directs, leads, and draAvs them. 2 The.
iii, 5, John xiv, 16, 17, Psal. cxliii, 10, Rom.
viii, 1, 4, 14, Gal. v, 18, 25. He enables
them to mortify their sinful corruptions.
Rom viii, 13. He upholds their graces in
their spiritual life and courage. Ps. li, 11, 12,
Gal. v, 18, 25. He actuates and enables
their neAV nature to bring forth fruits of
holiness. Eph. v, 9, Gal. v, 22, 23, Ezekiel
xxxvi, 27. He directs and assists them in
prayer. Rom. viii, 15, 26, 27, Jude 20, Gal,
iv, 6, Zech. xii, 10. He assists them in self-
examination, bears Avitness with their spir
its, that they are the children of God — and
marks them as such by his presence in them.
Rom. viii, 9, 16, 1 John iii, 24. He, as an
earnest, seals them to the day of redemp
tion. Eph. i, 13, 14, iv, 30, 2 Cor. i, 21, 22.
He teaches them spiritual mysteries. 1 Jo.
ii, 20. 27, 1 Cor. ii, 10-^12, 15. He is vex
ed and grieved, when his influences are not

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. 215
cherished. Isa. lxiii, 10, Eph. iv, 30, 1 The.
v, 19. He will raise their dead bodies at
the last day. Rom. viii, 11."  Brown's
View of Religion.
The operation of the holy spirit in apply
ing to fallen man, the great salvation, com
menced with the publication of the first pro
mise. There was from the beginning only
one salvation. All the old testament saints
had their darkened understandings illumi
nated, and their hearts changed, and the
work of sanctification begun, and carried
on, and perfected in them, in the same Avay,
in which the saints of the present day en
joy these blessings. Still, however, the in
fluences of the spirit, through the whole of
the old dispensation were scanty, and limit
ed when compared with the abundant, arid
extensive effusions under the new. It is to
the new dispensation, and to the triumphs
of the the gospel among the gentiles, that
the great body of the prophecies, and pro
mises of the old testariient announcing the
outpouring of the spirit particularly refer*
Such as, "I will pour water upon him that
is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground:
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and
my blessing upon thine offspring : and they
shall spring up as among the grass, as wil
lows by the water courses. One shall say,
I am the Lord's ; and another shall call him-

216 AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT.
self by the name of Jacob f and another
shall subscribe with his hands unto the
Lord, and surname himself by the name of
Israel." Isaiah, xliv, 3, 4, 5. And on the
the memorable day of Pentecost, Peter said
to his audience. " This is that which Avas
spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall
come to pass in the last days, saith God, I
will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and
your sons and your daughters shall pro
phesy, and yoUr young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams : and
on my servants, and on my hand-maidens, I
will pour out in those days of my Spirit ;
and they shall prophesy." Acts, ii, 16, 17,
18. Nay more. We have every reason to
believe that the most abundant, and the
most extensive effusions of the Holy Spirit,
which have ever yet been, are only as the
occassional droppings before the general,
and universal waterings. In the fulness of
millenial glory, " the light of the moon shall
be as the the light of the sun, and the light
of the sun shall be seven fold, as the light of
seven days." "The feeble among them that
day shall be as David, and the house of
David shall be as God, as the angel of the
Lord." The ordinary christians of that day
shall enjoy more, and shall perform greater
deeds of faith, and of christian activity,
than the most distinguished even among

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. 217
apostolic men, have as yet either enjoyed
or peformed. Nothing, which ever yet has
been seen or felt, comes up to either the
letter or spirit of the folloAving, and. many
other prophetic declarations : — " For as the
rain cometh clown, and the snow from heav
en, and returneth not thither, but Avatereth
the earth, and maketh it to bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, arid
bread to the Pater: so shall my word be,
that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall
not return unto me void, but it shall accom
plish that Avhich I please, and it shall pros
per in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye
shall go out with joy, and be led forth with
peace: the mountains and the hills shall
break forth before you into singing, and all
the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-
tree, and instead of the brier, shall come up
the mortle-tree : and it shall ' be to the
Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign,
that shall not be cut off." Isaiah lv, 10—
end. In this, as Avell as in all other important
particulars, the application of salvation
bears the characteristics of all Jehovah's
plans and works — " gradual enlargement."
" The path of the just, and the triumphs of
the cross are as the shining light, which shin-
eth more and more, unto the perfect day."

§18 AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT.
John xiv, 16, 17, xv, 26, 27, xvi, 7—14,
and Acts i, 6 — 8, are important passages,
and deserve to be carefully and frequently
studied by all, who Avould wish to under
stand the scriptural doctrine of the opera
tions of the Holy Spirit. If there is any
meaning in language, or if the Redeemer
spoke so as to be understood by men gene
rally, these passages afford.
1. Direct proof of the distinct personali
ty and peculiar agency of the Holy Ghost :
and that the agency or influence of the Ho
ly Ghost is, in every case, something dis
tinct from what we call the influence of
truth, or moral suasion.
2. That the influence or agency, there
spoken of, is a something, Avhich Avas not to
be peculiar to the apostles. We must in
terpret these passages, as we interpret the
commission to preach the gospel to all na
tions, and the promise annexed, " Lo, I am
with you alway, even to the end of the
world." Matt, xxviii, 20.
Hence, of course,
3. These passages do not refer particu
larly to the miraculous poAvers, with which
the apostles vrerq endowed ; but chiefly to
the intellectual and moral qualifications,
which they had, and Avhich they were to
exercise in common with all the redeemed.
"He shall teach you all things, and bring all.

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. 219
things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto ypu. He will guide you in
to all truth : for he wi|l not speak of him
self, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall
he speak." No new revelation was. made
on the day of Pentecost, nor on any similar
occasion. The minds of the apostles and of
others, were only directed, in a peculiar
manner, to what God had already revealed,
and, in the most of cases, to passages of old
Testament scripture, with Avhich they had
been very familiar. And while their minds
were thus directed to old Testament scrip
ture, the veil was removed from their un
derstanding — they, in the light of heaven,
saw light clearly — they particularly under
these influences, got new views of the na
ture of Messiah's kingdom, and of the means
which were to be used, to bring all the na
tions of the earth into the obedience of
faith. These views may be farther illustrated
by comparing these passages with other
passages, in which the apostles speak of the
operations of the Holy Spirit upon them
selves and others. See particularly Rom.
viii, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 26, 27, Eph i, 13, 14,
and iv, 29 — end.
The influences of the Holy Spirit, are fre
quently represented under the notion of
water, particularly in the form of dew, and

220 AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT
rain. "I will be as the dew unto Israel ; he
shall come down as the rain upon the morn
ing grass, and as showers that water the
earth." The nature, and use of water for
all practical purposes, have always been
known. Water is a common blessing — all
creation enjoys it ; the continued applica
tion of water in some form, or other, is es
sentially necessary for the nourishment of
animal, and vegetable life, in all their vari
ous forms. Water is the free gift of God,
and from God only — none of the vanities
of the Gentiles can cause rain. The with
holding of the necessary rain, and dew is in
every case to be considered as one of the
sorest calamities, which can befall any land.
"The word of the Lord that came to Jere
miah concerning the dearth. Judah mourn-
eth, and the gates thereof languish they are
black unto the ground ; and the cry of Jeru
salem is gone up. And their nobles have
sent their little ones to the water: they
came to the pits, and found no water ; they
returned with their vessels empty ; they
were ashamed and confounded, and covered
their heads. Because the ground is chapt,
for there was^ no rain in the earth, the
ploughmen were ashamed, they covered
their heads. Yea, the hind also calved in
the field, and forsook it, because there was
no grass. And the wild asses did ( stand in

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. 221
the high places, they snuffed up the wind
like dragons; their eyes did fall, "because
there was no grass." Jer. xiv, 1—6 "Ye
looked for much, and lo, it came to little;
and when ye brought it home, I did blow
upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts.
Because of my house that is waste, and ye
run every man unto his own house. There
fore, the heaven over you is stayed from.
dew, and the earth is stayed from the fruit.
And I call for a drought upon the land,- and
upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and
upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and
upon that which the ground bringeth forth,
and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon
the labour of the hands." Haggai, i, 9, 10,
11. Hence the giving of rain, in its season
is a continued evidence that God is good.
"Nevertheless he left not himself without
witness, in that he did good, and gave us
rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, fill
ing our hearts with food and gladness."
Acts, xiv, 17. In all these, and a number
of other particulars, therefore, water is a
fit emblem of the penetrating, softening,
cleansing, quickening, and fructifying influ
ences of the holy spirit. All these repre
sentations also unite in intimating to us
main's utter dependance upon the God of all
grace, for these necessary, and valuable
operations.

222 AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT.
Upon the important subject of grieving,
and resisting the Holy Ghost, concerning
which much has been said, and Avritten, we
suggest only the following remarks.
1. There is such a thing as grieving, and
resisting the Holy Ghost. Acts, vii, 51.
Eph. iv, 20.
2. There is such a thing as a man's being
given up of God, and left wholly to himself,
and when any individual is thus given up,
he is as near the state of devils, as any of
the human family out the place of torment
can be. Prov. i, 24 — 32. Psalm, lxxxi, 11,
and 12.
3. The dividing line betwixt human, and
divine influence, or betwixt good, and bad
influence of any kind, is no where marked
out in the word of God: nor are we any
where informed by God how long, and to
what an extent his Spirit will strive with
man; much less are we informed how long,
and to what an extent the Spirit will strive
with any individual ; there are no doubt
.great diversities in the divine adminstration
in cases of this kind. And,
4. Whatever may be the peculiar cha
racteristic of the unpardonable sin ; from its
being called the sin against the holy ghost,
we are authorised to say, that resisting the
operations of the holy spirit is one of the
essential ingredients in that sin.

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT 223
The practical improvement which every
hearer of the gospel, ought to make of these
facts is obvious.
Beware of trifling Avith convictions of sin.
Beware of trifling with the offers of
mercy. BeAvare in every case of sinning against
light. I
The'greatest curse1" Avhich can be inflict
ed upon an immortal attempting to get out
of the reach, of the means of grace, is that
he may be alloAved to succeed.

From the Avhole subject, we deduce the

following

INFERENCES.

1. The gospel cannot be preached in its
original simplicity and purity, where the
distinct personality, and the peculiar agen
cy of the Holy Ghost have not a prominent
place. The gospel is preached to men as
sinners — dead in tresspasses and sins: and
they must be renewed and quickened. The
tree must be made good — the corrupt na
ture, derived from the first man, must be
changed by the peculiar agency of the Ho
ly Ghost, before any good fruit can be pro-

224 AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT.
duced. And the christian graces, to be gen
uine, must be the fruits of the Spirit. Jer.
iii, 5, 6, 7, Rom. viii, 13—17, Gal. v, 19—
end. Hence, all attempts to produce or to
cherish and perfect any of the christian
graces, must fail, unless men's attention and
hopes are continually directed to the regen
erating and sanctifying influences of the
Holy Spirit. In the religion of the Bible,
as Well as in philosophy, no effect can be ex
pected, without the agency of an adequate
cause. In preaching the gospel, Ave are to
stand among the dry bones, and night and
day, say, " Thus saith the Lord God, Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe
upon these slain, that they may live."
2. All other things being equal, that man
will give the best evidence of his being a
subject of the gracious operations of the
holy spirit, Avho is most conversant Avith his
Bible. Let it be distinctly remembered
that we are to expect no new revelations
from the influences of the holy ghost. If
we are taught by the unerring spirit, our
attention will be turned to the Bible ; and
we Avill understand, and feel the importance
of Avhat God has there revealed, just in pro
portion as Ave enjoy the quickening, and il
luminating influences of that Spirit. It was
chiefly by comparing scripture Avith scrip-

AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT. 225
ture, that the apostles and other holy men
in their day, acquired their religious know^
ledge, and had their feelings deepened and
sanctified; and we have no reason to be
lieve, that the mode of the divine teaching
has been changed.
3. The spirit of prayer and devotion may
always be expected to accompany the teach
ing of the Holy Spirit. Rom. viii, 15, 26,
27. Prayer is the great mean, by which
these holy influences are procured, and
cherished, and strengthened. "And I say
unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you ;
seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall
be opened unto you. For every one that
asketh, receiveth ; and he that seeketh, find-
eth ; and to him that knocketh, it shall be
opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of
you that is a father, will he give him a stone ?
or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give
him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg,
will he offer him a scorpion? If ye, then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts un
to your children: how much more shall
your heaverily Father give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask him?" Luke xi, 9—13.

NO. XVI.
PRAYER

Thimfpians, iv, 6. — Be careful for nothing ; but in every
thing, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known to God.
" Prayer is an offering up of our desires
to God, for things agreeable to his will, in
the name of Christ, with confession of our
sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his
mercies." The distinguishing characteris
tic of man is, that he is capable of carrying
on a social intercourse with his Maker ; and
prayer is one of the most direct means, by
which this intercourse is carried on.
God has been pleased to connect with
prayer of the right kind, great efficacy.
In proof of this, we have,
1. The direct arid plain declarations of
scripture. " Whatsoever ye shall ask the
Father in my name, he will give it you.
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name :
ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy
• may be full." John xvi, "23, 24. See also
James v, 14, 15, Ps. xx, 1 — 4, Luke xi, 1 —
13, and xviii, 1 — 8.

PRAYER. 227
We have, \
2. A vast number of historical facts.
. The case of Abraham praying for Lot*
Gen. xviii, 23 — 33, and xix, 29. The case
of Jacob, when he had left his father's
house. Gen. xxviii, 16 — 22 ; and when he
was returning home, after an absence of
twenty years*, Gen. xxxii, 2.4—32, compar
ed with xxxiii, 10. The case of David and
Ahithophel. 2 Sam. xv, 31. The case of
Asa. 2 Chron. xv, 1 — end : and of Jehosh
aphat. 2 Chron. xx, I— end. The case of
Ezra and his companions.; Ezra viii, 15 —
23; and nearly the whole of the books of
Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel.
See also, Acts iv, 31 — 33, vi, 5 — 8. The
whole of the history of Cornelius, chap, x;
case of Peter, Acts xii, 5 — 23; and of Paul
and Silas, Acts xvi, 35 — 40.
We have to the same amount,
3. The testimony of the pious of all lands*
and of all generations. There is no one
thing, in which the godly — the genuinely
pious of all classes, and of every state of
society, are so uniform, as in their testimo
ny, " that Jehovah is the hearer of prayer,
and that prayer is one of the most effectual
means of obtaining assistance and deliver
ance, in every case^ of distress and disap
pointment." The experience of the Psalm
ist has been realised in a thousand cases

228 f, PRAYER.
yearly, by people, who have had no direct
intercourse with each other. " I cried un
to the Lord with my voice : with my voice
unto the Lord did I make my supplication.
I poured out my complaint before him ; I
shewed before him my trouble. When my
spirit was overwhelmed within me, then
thou knewest my path. In the way where
in I walked, have they privily laid a snare
for me. I looked on my right hand, and
beheld, but there was no man that would
know me: refuge failed me: no man cared
for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord : I
said, Thou art my refuge and my portion
in the land of the living." Ps. cxlii, 1 — 5.
The book of Psalms, and the whole of the
devotional portions of scripture, and nearly
the whole of what has b,een called experi
mental religion, or the narratives, which
holy men have given of their own private ex
perience, are little else but the united and
repeated and varied testimony of saved sin
ners, to the efficacy of prayer.

Let us now pause, and open our bibles,
and consult the passages, which have been
refered to, with other parallel passages,
and any other authentic sources of informa
tion on the subject, which we may have at

PRAYER, 229
command, and examine this body of evi
dence. It is testimony, and it is human
and divine testimony united. It is extend
ed through a long series of ages. It is the
record of the observations and experience
of men of every generation, and of men of
every class in society, and from every state
of society, and of men of almost every land.
The great body of these men. in whatever
rank of society they have moved, have also
been distinguished, their enemies being
judges, for their candor, and simplicity, and
honesty, and integrity, in all other matters :
and not a few of them, in every generation,
have been men, who stood high for intellec
tual powers, and intellectual research, and
intellectual attainments: and in no other
case, have they been even under the suspi
cion of weakness, or of being in any degree
the dupes of delusion. And add to all —
that the great point, upon which the whole
bears, is a matter which, in all ordinary cir
cumstances, may be put to the test of ex
periment, by every individual, to whom the
testimony is addressed ; and that thousands,
who had long doubted that God was the
hearer of prayer, have afterwards given
their own testimony to the truth of the pro
position, and have continued, till their dying
hour, to declare, that they uniformly found
it so, when they sought him with their
whole heart. *

230 PRAYER.
Let us look, then, at these facts again,
and say if the philosopher has any stronger
evidence than this, to believe in the univer
sality of the influence of gravitation.

Prayer, to be efficacious must be,
1. The prayer of faith. We must ask
only sueh thing as are agreeable to God's
will : and we know God's will, only by what
he has been pleased to reveal. The pro
mises of the gospel are given us particular
ly as a ground, and rule of Prayer. "Where
by are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises ; that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption tl|at is in the world
through lust." 2 Peter, !,' 4.
And again,
" Having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all fil-
thiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." 2 Cor. vii, 1.
These promises are remarkably numerous,
and various, and remarkably well adapted
to every possible situation of man as a crea
ture, and as a sinner — as an inhabitant of
the earth, or as an heir of immortality.
There are promises of a full, and free
pardon of all our sins: such as Isaiah, i, 18.

PRAYER. 231
xliii, 25. lv, 6 and 7. lvii, 15, 16, 17, 18.
There are promises of a new nature, and
evangelical repentance : such as Is. xliv, 3,
4, 5. Jer. xxxi, 18, 19. Ezk. xxxvi, 25, 26,
27. Zee. xii, 10 — end. There are pro
mises of daily bread, and for all that may be
necessary for our temporal support: such
as Psalm, xxxiv, 1— end.
There are promises of protection in the
midst of all the dangers to which we may
be exposed: such as Psalm, xci, 1 — end.
Isaiah, xliii, 1, 2.
There are promises of fatherly chastise
ment, and that these shall be made to pro
mote our greater good, and be particularly
one of the great means by which the great
work of sanctification shall be carried on
and perfected : such as Psalm, lxxxix, 30 —
33 Heb. xii, 5—11.
There are promises of the necessary di
rection, and support in all ordinary, and ex
traordinary cases of difficulty: such as Is.
xiii, 15. Psalm, xxxii, 7, 8, 9.
There are promises of the continued in
fluences of the Holy Spirit, and of gradual
progress in the great work of sanctification :
such as Jer. xxxii, 40. Isaiah, liv, 7 — 10
and xxxv, 8, 9, 10.
There are promises of safety and triumph
in death ; and of a glorious ressurection,
and happy immortality: such as Hosea, xiii,
14, and 1 Thess. iv, 13 — end.

232 PRAYER.
And these are only a small specimen of
the exceeding great and precious promises.
The good words of Jehovah, which he hath
given as grounds of hope, and of faith, and
prayer to lost man ; and as the great means
of social intercourse betwixt earth and hea
ven. Let us then "be not slothful, but fol
lowers of them who through faith and pati
ence inherit the promises. For when God
made promise to Abraham, because he
could swear by no greater, he swore by
himself, saying, surely blessing I will bless
thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
And so, after he had patiently endured, he
obtained the promise. For men verily
swear by the greater: and an oath for con
firmation is to them an end of all strife."
Hebrews, vi, 12 — 18.
But,
2. Prayer, to be efficacious must be per
severing. Our Lord spake a parable to
this end, that men ought always to pray,
and not faint. See again Luke, xviii, 1 — 8.
If we understand the nature and the use of
the promises, prayer will be persevering.
If we have any thing of the spirit of adop
tion, we will love to dwell upon these prom
ises, and repeat them, and pray them over
and over. With the Psalmist, we will say,
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider
my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of

*

PRAYER. 233
my cry, my King, and my God ; for unto
thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear
in the morning, O Lord ; in the morning,
will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will
look up." Psalm v, 1, 2, 3. Examine also
the reasoning of the apostle James, chapter
v, 7 — end.

We may here again pause, and examine
testimony. The united testimony of thou
sands of every generation, declare, that it
was by musing over, and praying over such
passages of scripture, as have been refered
to, that they were made partakers of a new
nature — that they had their affections ele
vated above the things of earth, to the
things of heaven-1— that they had thereby
imparted to them, a moral courage, which
supported them under difficulties, under
which they had otherwise sunk : — and that,
in these and similar cases, they could no
more doubt that they enjoyed the comfort
ing and supporting influences of the Holy
Spirit, than they could doubt of their own
existence. It is not fiction, but sober histo
ry and fact, that men have, through faith
and patience and prayer, " subdued king
doms, wrought righteousness, obtained pro
mises, stopped the mouths of lions, quench-

234 PRAYER.
ed the violence of fire, escaped the edge of
the sword, out of weakness Avere made
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to
flight the armies of the aliens. Women re
ceived their dead raised to life again : and
others were tortured, not accepting delive
rance ; that they might obtain a better re
surrection: and others had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of
bonds and imprisonment : they were stoned,
they were sawn asunder, were tempted,
were slain with the sword : they wandered
about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins ; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom
the world was not worthy :) they wandered
in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and
in caves of the earth. And these all, hav
ing obtained a good report through faith,
received not the promise: "God having pro
vided some better thing for us, that they
without us should not be made perfects
Heb. xi, 33 — end.

All men ought to pray. Men are not
wise when they do not pray ; they forsake
their own mercies. Every situation in life,
and the circumstances of every day, and of
every hour, demand continual application
to the Father of mercies, in the form of pe
tition, or confession, or thanksgiving.

PRAYER. 235
All the objections, which ever were, or
which ever can be urged against frequent
and fervent prayer, are comprehended in
one great fact, — " estrangement of heart
from the Source of all good." We love to
think, and talk, and to have intercourse with
objects, just in proportion as they are ob
jects of interest and affection.
He who never, whatever may be his at
tainments, prays, needs no other evidence,
that he is still in a state of condemnation.
He who seldom prays, can have no satisfac
tory evidence of his being in a state of re
conciliation ; and he whose heart is not free
and easy in prayer, possesses, at the time,
but little of the spirit of adoption. Hence,
our state and our frame — our true charac
ter before God, may, at all times, be pretty
accurately ascertained from the state of
our minds with respect to prayer.

GENERAL INFERENCE
The devotion of the bible is in perfect ac
cordance with the fundamental maxims of
sound philosophy. According to the max
ims of sound philiosophy, that man under
stands the nature of things best, who uses
the most appropriate means, for obtaining

236 PRAYER.
the desired end. But, if we can believe ei
ther human or divine testimony, prayer is
one of the chief appointed means of heaven,
by which weak, and helpless, and sinful
man is to obtain, in all ordinary cases, all
the blessings, which he may need, both for
time and eternity. Nor is the evidence,
under which the husbandman yearly acts,
in turning up the soil under the genial in
fluence of the spring and summer atmos
phere, more satisfactory. In both cases,
God has been pleased to connect certain de
sirable results, with the right and seasona
ble use of certain means ; and in both cases,
a wise man says, " So is the gracious ap
pointment of heaven."
Again — The object of all sound philoso
phy is, to elevate and dignify human nature :
and one of the principle rules, given by phi
losophy here is, that we should cultivate an
intimacy with those, who are in possession
of higher attainments, than any which we
have yet attained. But man is, by his very
nature, formed to carry on an extensive so
cial intercourse with his Maker — the source
of all good and of all perfection; and pray
er is one of the principal appointed means,
by which this intercourse is begun and car
ried on And in the various acts of devo
tion, of which prayer is always an essential
part, " we all, with open face beholding as

PRAYER. 237
in a glass the glory of the Lord, are chang
ed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor.
iii, 18.
Farther — Though we are entirely igno
rant of the nature of the connexion, which
exists betwixt cause and effect, yet the
more extensively we are acquainted with
any of the great arrangements of nature,
the deeper is our conviction of the natural
fitness of all the means, which are employ
ed to secure any particular result. All the
arrangements respecting the eye, for in
stance, are admirably adapted for easy and
perfect vision. And closely connected with
this, is another important fact. In the most
extended chain of causes and effects, the
greatest simplicity reigns. Great and im
portant results are produced by the most
simple and easy contrivances. The almost
infinite variety of the important results, con
nected with the regular return of the sea
sons, are all brought about by a contrivance
remarkably simple. The axis of the earth
is not perpendicular, but inclined to the
plane of the ecliptic. Nor will the devo
tion of the bible suffer, when tried by these
and similar established facts in natural phi
losophy. " Prayer as a means, is remarkably well
adapted for securing all the results, for

238 PRAYER.
which it was appointed. It is the medium
of intercourse betwixt a weak, and helpless,
though intelligent, and immortal creature,
and his wise, and good, and almighty crea
tor. The God whom we address in prayer,
is our father. "And as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth those who fear
him." Our almighty father ia every Avherc
present ; and by the very constitution of our
nature we feel strong, when we know that
we are in the presence of our friends, and
are under their special care and protection.
All connected with prayer of the right
kind, is well adapted to make us acquainted
with our own wants and weakness, and with
the goodness of Jehovah, who is the Lord
of heaven and of earth, and who is our God
and everlasting portion. Nor is it possible
to conceive of a means more simple and easy.
It is simply expressing the desire of our
hearts, in so many thoughts, or words, or
sighs, or groans, to him who is every where
present, and who is intimately acquainted
with all the circumstances of our case, and
expressing those desires through the medi
um of the intercession of Immanuel, who in
glory wears our nature, and has a fellow
feeling of all our infirmities.
Nor is the deep feeling, which is cherishe d
by the devotion of the Bible unphilosophi-
cal. Sound philosophy proposes to follow

PRAYER, 239
nature, and directs man to act in every case
according to the known established laws of
nature. But a man who knows that he is a
sinner, and under condemnation must feel,
and a man Avho has the love of God shed
abroad in his heart, must feel. And in both
"cases, these feelings of the heart will be na
turally expressed in confessions, and suppli
cations, and- thanksgivings. Nor would he
have the proper feelings of our common na
ture, did he express himself otherwise.
Farther — Prayer, and the proper feel
ings accompanying prayer, are not en
thusiasm any more than the cool calcula
tions of philosophy are enthusiasm. The
prayer of faith rests upon the declaration — ¦
the plain, and express, and the tried decla
ration of Him who cannot lie. Nor in the
religion of the bible, any more than in the
affairs of common life, does confidence des
troy action. The contrary is the fact. The
"more confident any man is of success, the
more vigorous is he in action. Hence, from
this principle, common to our nature, the
stronger a man's faith in the promises of
God, is, the more frequent and fervent will
be his devotions, and the more vigorous and
extensive will be his exertions.
Finally — A philosopher is a man of re
search. He is continually extending his in
quiries, and daily making some additions to

240 PRAYER.
his stock of facts, to confirm or to illustrate
his favorite theory. Just so is it with the
man of faith and devotion. He finds, by
every day's experiment, that the Jehovah,
Whom he addresses, is the same Jehovah,
who was the help and the confidence of Mo
ses, and David, and Peter, and Paul, and of
the army of the confessors and martyrs :
and he finds that the promises, on which
they relied, are as firm, and as full, and as
suitable to him, as they were to them ; and
that the more extensively he is acquainted
with them, the more abundant are the
sources of his support, and comfort, and di
rection. And let philosophy herself say,
where a created being can expect to find
fuller, and more satisfactory information,
than from the lips of the Creator of all —
from the Father of mercies — from the Fa
ther of light, who is continually addressing
fallen man, and saying, " If any of you lack
wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth all
men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it
shall be given him." James i, 5.

no. xvn.
THE WATERING OF THE EARTH.

Psalm civ, 13. — He waterelh the hills from his chambers:
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
The atmosphere is a composition of a
great number of extremely subtil and elas
tic fluids. It surrounds the whole of this
globe ; and extends upward from the surface
of the earth, at least forty or forty -five miles.
And this vast mass of matter, and all the
particles of the mass, are in a continual state
of motion, in every direction — upwards,
downwards, and cross-wise. " The wind
goeth toward the south, and turneth about
unto the north ; it whirleth about continu
ally, and the wind returneth again accord
ing to his circuits." Eccl. i, 6. These mo
tions are sometimes so gentle, as scarcely
to be perceptible by the most accute feel
ings ; but, at other times, so rapid and vio
lent, as to level, in a moment, the strongest
works of man, and the forests of a thousand
years' standing. And it is chiefly to this
wonderful construction of fluids, that we
are indebted, for the support of animal and

242 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
vegetable life, and for the communication of
heat, and light, and sound, and to the regu
lar and abundant supply of rain, and snow,
and dew. These- are the chambers, from
'which the great Jehovah regularly water-
eth the earth.
I. The quantity of water, which is upon
the surface of the earth, is immense, Near
ly three fourths of the whole surface of the
earth, is covered with the sea. And the
sea is, in many places, of an immense depth.
— Look at the Atlantic, and Pacific, and In
dian oceans.
The dry land is also cut, in every direc
tion, by creeks, and large rivers, and fresh
water lakes, and arms and bays of the sea.
The waters in these creeks and rivers, are
in continual motion. And many of these
rivers discharge hourly into the common
reservoir, immense volumes. Look at the
Ganges, and the Nile, and the St. Lawrence,
and Mississippi, and Amazon. " All the
rivers run into the sea ; yet the sea is not
full: unto the place from whence the rivers
come, thither they return." Eccl. i, 7.
II. We have considerable reason to be
lieve, that there is, at all times, as much water
in the atmosphere, as there is on the surface,
and in the bowels of the earth. Look at
the vast extent of the atmosphere. Forty
five miles high all round the globe. And

WATERING OF THE EARTH, 243
filled with water, even in the driest seasons,
or warmest lattitudes. We walk in water,
and inhale and exhale water, with every
breath. , , . . - A
" And God said. Let there be a firmament
in the midst of the waters, and let it divide
the waters from the waters. And God made
the firmament, and divided the waters which
were under the firmament, from the waters
which were above the firmament: and; it
was so." Gen, i, 6, 7.
III. There can be no doubt but there is
a, continual passage of water, from the earth
into the atmosphere, and from the atmos
phere to the surface of the earth. The
passage upward is by evaporation : the pass
age downwards is in the form of rain, and
hail, and snow, and dew.
Water is a very gross and heavy fluid,
when compared with any of the other flu
ids, with which it is combined in the consti
tution of the atmosphere. The art and in
genuity of man have been exhibited, to a
great extent, in conveying water in canals,
and particularly in raising it a few feet a-
bove the level of the adjoining river, in or
der to supply a city, or some machinery,
with the quantity which was necessary.
But the most splendid and extensive of
these contrivances, are the mere play-things
of children, when coihpared with the great

244 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
arrangements of heaven, for the regular Ava-
tering of the earth. Take your stand some
where, and cast your eyes from pole to
pole, and survey the Atlantic, and Pacific,
and Indian oceans, and the Andes, and Alps,
and Rocky Mountains ; and behold unrival
led displays of Jehovah's wisdom, and pow
er, and goodriess. "Whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth,
in the seas, and all deep places. He caus-
eth the vapours to ascend from the ends of
the earth ; he maketh lightnings for the
rain ; he bringeth the wind out of his trea
sures." Psalm cxxxv, 6, 7.
And again:
"They also that dwell in the uttermost
parts are afraid at thy tokens : thou makest
the out-goings of the morning and evening
to rejoice. Thou visitest the earth, and wa-
terest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the
river of God, which is full of water: thou
preparest them corn, when thou hast so
provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges
thereof abundantly: thou settlest the fur
rows thereof: thou makest it soft with show
ers: thou blessest the springing thereof.
Thou crownest the year with thy goodness ;
and thy paths drop fatness. They drop
upon the pastures of the wilderness ; and
the little hills rejoice on ever side. The
pastures are clothed with flocks ; the val-

WATERING OF THE EARTH. 245
leys also are covered over with corn ; they
shout for joy, they also sing," Psalm, Ixv,
8— end.
The great and leading facts in the philo
sophy of evaporation, are these:
1. That heat, or the element of fire, or what
has been called Caloric, is the great agent
employed in this process. The simple, and
familiar experiment of a wet cloth drying
in the sun, or before a common fire, will suf
ficiently confirm, or illustrate this.
2, That one of the peculiar characteris
tics of heat is its expansive power. Heat
enlarges the surface of every substance, to
which it is applied. Hence, when heat is
applied to any body of water, all the par
ticles of Avhich the body is composed, are ex
panded ; fill a larger space, and have their
specific gravity changed. In common lan=-
guage, any quantity of water converted in
to vapour by the agency of heat, is lighter
than when it was, in its original state.
3. Every fluid, and every particle of any
fluid will always naturally find its level
among other fluids, or among the particles
of the same fluid, It will always move in
the direction where there is the least re
sistance. Hence, water being by the action of
heat transformed into vapour, will rise in the
atmosphere in the same way, that a piece
of cork will rise in water. And, since by

246 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
the continued action of several causes which
need not now be enumerated, the state of
the atmosphere with respect to density is
continually changing, * both in the higher,
and the lower regions, both at the Equater,
and Poles ; water in the form of vapour can
be carried to any distance, and in any quan
tity, and with any velocity, all round the
Globe, the rising and falling of the clouds,
, and the moving of the clouds in every di
rection makes this great, and. important
fact, plain and familar to every observer.
:„ 4. The tendency of all the water upon
the suface of the globe, by the natural ac
tion of gravitation is' downwards; from the
higher to the lower grounds, all tending to
the oce,an, and the whole surface of the ocean,
is lower than any part of the dry land.
** Hence, the largest quantity of water upoi>:
the surface of the earth, will always be in
the low lands. Now connect this fact with
another, viz : *
5. That evaporation1 will always be in
proportion to the quantity of heat. The
greater the degree of heat, upon any given
spot, the greater quantity of the water of
that spot, will be elevated by evaporation.
But by the continued operation of another
class, of causes, which we need not mention
at this time, the lower regions of the
atmosphere, and the lower region^ on the

WATERING OF THE EARTH 247
surface of the earth, and the vallies, and th<?
surface of the ocean,, are always considera
bly warmer than the .higher regions. It is
also to be particularly noticed, that there is
comparatively very little dry land under
the equator, where the heat, in all seasons,
is always the greatest. Hence, the quantity
of water, which is raised every hour, nearly
all round the globe, is immense. The
quantity of water, which* is daily rais
ed by evaporation, from the Mediterranean,
considerably exceeds, ^he quantity Avhich is
discharged into it by the rivers. Hence,
the continual current from the Atlantic, in
to the Mediterranean, through the Straits
of Gibralter.
6. Every man, who, has observed any
thing about the motions of the atmosphere
has observed, that the tendency of all va
pours, whether in the form of mists, or
clouds is upwards—from the sea to the dry
land — from the vallies to the hills, and from
the lower regions of any. tract of country, to
the higher grounds; and every man also
knows, that, rains are more frequent, and
moreheavy in a hilly country, than in a
level country ; and in the higher parts of
a country — among ranges of mountains,
than in the level grounds ; and those "who
have made observations at sea, have uni
formly attested, that there is compartively

248 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
speaking, but little rain at sea, and that
clouds raised from the sea uniformly, rise
higher, and are carried to a far greater ex
tent, than clouds raised from the land.
These facts, then, comprehend the out
line of the extensive and efficient arrange
ments, by which water is continually -carri
ed, in great abundance, from the earth into
the atmosphere, and from the lower regions
of both the atmosphere and the earth, to the
higher ; and in this way, the chambers or
great reservoirs, from whieh the earth is
regularly watered, are continually kept
foil. Water in abundance, being thus deposi
ted in these chambers, it is, by a process
equally easy, carried through the vast re
gions of the heavens ; or is made to fall au
gain upon the earth, on any spot, or in any
season, or in any quantity, in the form of
rain, or hail, or snow, or dew, as it may
seem good to him, who, is the Lord of heav
en and earth.
"He looketh unto the ends of the earth,
and seeth under the whole heaven. To
make the weight for the winds: and he
weigheth the waters by measure. When
he made a decree for the rain, and a way
for the lightning of the thunder." Job
xxviii, 24, 25, 26.

WATERING OF THE EARTH. 249
In bringing water back again from the
atmosphere to the earth, there is always a
change of temperature, and a concussion,
more or less, of the various substances, of
which the atmosphere is composed. The
electric fluid is supposed, by many, to be
the chief agent in this operation. We give
the leading facts, on this part of the subject,
in the words of Dr. Franklin.
" The particles of air are kept at a dis
tance from each other by their mutual re
pulsion. Every three particles, mutually and
equally repelling each other, must form an
equilateral triangle.
All the particles of air gravitate towards
the earth, which gravitation compresses
them, and shortens the sides of the trian
gles, otherwise their mutual repellency
would force them to greater distances from
-each other.
Whatever particles of other matter (not
endued with that repellency) are support
ed in air, must adhere to the particles of
air, and be supported by them ; for in the
vacancies, there is nothing they can rest on.
Air and Avater mutually attract each oth
er. Hence water will dissolve in air, as salt
in water.
The specific gravity of matter is not al
tered by dividing the .matter, though the

250 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
superficies be increased. Sixteen leaden bul
lets, of an ounce each, weigh as much in wa
ter as one of a pound,whose superficies is less.
Therefore the supporting of salt in water
is not owing to its superficies being increas
ed* A lump of salt, though laid at rest at the
bottom of a vessel of water, will dissolve
therein, and its parts move every way, till
equally diffused in the water, therefore there
is a mutual attraction betAveen water and
salt. Every particle of water assumes as
many of salt as can adhere to it ; when more
is added, it precipitates, and will not re
main suspended.
Water, in the same manner, will dissolve
in air, every particle of air assuming one
or more particles of water. When too
much is added, it precipitates in rain.
But there not being the same contiguity
between the particles of air as of water, the
solution of water in air is not carried on
without a motion of the air, so as to cause a
fresh accession of dry particles.
Part of a fluid, having more of what it
dissolves, will communicate to other parts
that have less. Thus very salt water, com
ing in contact with fresh, communicates its
saltness till all is equal, and the sooner if
there is a little motion of the water."
* gee Note at the end of No.

WATERING OF THE EARTH. 251
<l Air, suffering continual changes in the
degrees of its heat, from various causes and
circumstances, and consequently, changes
in its specific gravity, must therefore be in
continual motion.
A small quantity "of fire mixed with wa
ter (or degrees of heat therein) so weakens
the cohesion of its particles, that those on
the surface easily quit it, and adhere to the
particles of air.
Air moderately heated will support a
greater quantity of water invisibly than
cold air ; for its particles being by heat re
pelled to a greater distance from each oth
er, thereby more easily keep the particles
of water that are annexed to them from run
ning into cohesions that would obstruct, re-
" fract, or reflect the light.
Hence when we breathe in warm air,
though the same quantity of moisture may
be taken up from the lungs, as when we
breathe in cold air, yet that moisture is not
so visible.
Water being extremely heated, i. e, to
the degree of boiling, its particles in quit
ting it so repel each other, as to take up
vastly more space than before, and by that
repellency support themselves, expelling
the air from the space they occupy. That
degree of heat being lessened, they again
mutually attract, and having no air particles

352 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
mixed to adhere to, by which they might
be supported and kept at a distance, they
instantly fall, coalesce, and become water
again. The water commonly diffused in our at
mosphere never receives such a degree of
heat from the sun, or other causes, as water
has when boiling ; it is not, therefore, sup
ported by such heat, but by adhering to air."
"Very warm air, clear, though supporting
a very great quantity of moisture, will grow
turbid and cloudy on the mixture of colder
air, as foggy turbid air will grow clear by
warming. Thus the sun shining on a morning fog,
dissipates it ; clouds are seen to waste in a
sun-shiny day.
But cold condenses and renders visible
the vapour ; a tankard or decanter filled with
cold water will condense the moisture of
warm clear air on its outside, where it be
comes visible as dew, coalesces into drops,
and descends in little streams
The sun heats the air of our atmosphere
most near the surface of the earth ; for
there, besides the direct rays, there are
many reflections. Moreover, the earth it
self being heated, communicates of its heat
to the neighbouring air.
The higher regions, having only the di
rect rays of the sun passing through them,

WATERING OF THE EARTH. 253
are comparatively very cold. Hence the
cold air on the tops of mountains, and snow
on some of them all the year, even in the
torid zone. Hence hail in summer.
If the atmosphere were, all of it (both a-
bove and below) always of the same temper
as to cold or heat, then the upper air would
always be rarer than the lower, because the
pressure on it is less ; consequently lighter,
and therefore would keep its place.
But the upper air may be more condens
ed by cold, than the lower air by pressure ;
the lower more expanded by heat, than the
upper for want of pressure. In such case
the upper air will become the heavier, the
lower the lighter.
The lower region of air being heated and
expanded heaves up, and supports for some
time the colder heavier air above, and will
continue to support it while the equilibrium
is kept. Thus water is supported in an in
verted open glass, while the equilibrium is
maintained by the equal pressure upwards
of the air below ; but the equilibrium by any
means breaking, the water descends on the
heavier side, and the air rises into its place.
The lifted heavy cold air over a heated
country, becoming by any means unequally
supported, or unequal in its weight, the
heaviest part descends first, and the rest
follows impetuously. Hence, gusts after

254 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
heats, and hurricanes in hot climates. Hence
the air of gusts and hurricanes are cold,
though in hot climates and seasons ; it com
ing from above.
The cold air descending from above, as
it penetrates our warm region full of watery
particles, condenses them, renders them vi
sible, forms a cloud thick and dark, over
casting sometimes, at once, large, and ex
tensive ; sometimes when seen at a distance,
small at first, gradually increasing; the
cold edge, or surface of the cloud, condens
ing the vapours next it, Avhich form smaller
clouds that join it, increase its bulk, it de
scends with the Avind, and its acquired
weight, draAvs jiearer the earth, grows den
ser with continual additions of water, and
discharges heavy showers.
Small black clouds thus appearing in a
clear sky, in hot climates, portend storms,
and warn seamen to hand their sails.
The earth, turning on its axis in about
twenty-four hours, the equatorial parts must
move about fifteen miles in each minute ; in
northern and southern latitudes, this motion
is gradually less to the poles, and there no
thing. If there was a general calm over the face
of the globe, it must be by the air's moving
in every part, as fast as the earth, or sea it
covers."

WATERING OF THE EARTH. 255
" The air under the equator, and between
the tropics, being constantly heated and ra
refied by the sun, rises. Its place is sup
plied by air from northern and southern
latitudes, which coming from parts wherein
the earth and air had less motion, and not
suddenly acquiring the quicker motion of
the equatorial earth, appears an east wind
blowing westward ; the earth moving from
west to east, and slipping under the air.
Thus, when Ave ride in. a calm, it seems a
wind against us: if we ride with the wind,
and faster, eAren that will seem a small wind
against us.
The air rarefied between the tropics,
and rising, must flow in the higher region
north and south. Before it rose, it had ac
quired the greatest motion the earth's rota
tion could give it. It retains some degree
of this motion, and descending in higher
latitudes, where the earth's motion is less,
will appear a westerly wind, yet tending to
wards the equatorial parts, to supply the
vacancy occasioned by the air of the lower
regions flowing thitherwards.
Hence our general cold winds are about
north west, our summer cold gusts the same.
The air in sultry weather, though not
cloudy, has a kind of haziness in it, which
makes objects at a distance appear dull and
indistinct. This haziness is occasioned by

256 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
the great quantity of moisture equally dif
fused in that air. When, by the cold wind
blowing down among it, it is condensed into
clouds, and falls in rain, the air becomes pu
rer and clearer. Hence, after gusts, dis
tant objects appear distinct, their figures
sharply terminated."
"The sun supplies (or seems to supply)
common fire to vapours, whether raised from
earth or sea.
Those vaponrs, Avhich have both common
and electrical fire in them, are better sup
ported than those which have only common
fire in them ; for when vapours rise into the
coldest region above the earth, the cold will
not diminish the electrical fire, if it doth
the common.
Hence clouds, formed by vapours from
fresh waters within land, from vegetables,
moist- earth, &c. more speedily, and easily
deposite their water, having but little elec
trical fire to repel and keep the particles
separate. So that the greatest part of the
water raised from the land, is let fall on the
land again; and winds blowing from the
land to the sea are dry ; there being little
use for rain on the sea, and to rob the land
of its moisture, in order to rain on the sea,
would not appear reasonable.
But clouds, formed by vapors raised from
the sea, having both fires, and particularly

WATERING OF THE EARTH. 257
a great quantity of the electrical, support
their water strongly, raise it high, and being
moved by winds, may bring it over the mid
dle of the*broadest continent from the mid
dle of the widest ocean.
How these ocean clouds, so strongly sup
porting their water, are made to deposite
it on the land where it is wanted, is next to
be considered.
If they are driven by winds against moun
tains, those mountains being less electrified
attract them, and on contact take away
their electrical fire ; (and being cold, the com
mon fire also;) hence the particles close to-
Avards the mountains and towards each oth
er. If the air was not much loaded, it only
falls in dews on the mountain tops and sides,
forms springs, and descends to the vales in
rivulets, which, united, make larger streams
and rivers. If much loaded, the electrical
fire is at once taken from the whole cloud ;
and, in leaving it, flashes brightly and cracks
loudly; the particles instantly coalescing
for want of that fire, and falling in a heavy
shower. When a ridge of mountains thus dams
the clouds, and draws the electrical fire
from the cloud first aproaching it; that
which .next follows, when it comes near the
first cloud, now deprived of its fire, flashes
into it, and begins to deposite its own water ;

258 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
a*
the first cloud again flashing into the moun
tains ; the third approaching cloud, and all
succeeding ones, acting in the same manner
as far back as they extend, which may be
over many hundred miles of country.
Hence the continual storms of rain, thun
der, and lightning on the east side of the
Andes, which running north and south, and
being vastly high, intercept all the clouds
brought against them from the Atlantic o-
cean by the trade winds, and oblige them to
deposite their Avaters, by which the vast
rivers Amazon, La Plata, and Oroonoko are
formed, which return the water into the
same sea, after having fertilized a country
of very great extent.
If a country be plain, having no moun
tains to intercept the electrified clouds, yet
it is not without means to make them de
posite their water. For if an electrified
cloud, coming from the sea, meets in the air
a cloud raised from the land, and therefore
not electrified ; the first will flash its fire in
to the latter, and thereby both clouds shall
be made suddenly to deposite water.
The electrified particles of the first cloud
close when they loose their fire ; the parti
cles of the other clouds close in receiving
it: in both, they have thereby an opportu
nity of coalescing into drops. — The concus
sion* or jerk given to the air, contributes al-

WATERING OF THE EARTJI. 259
so to shake down the water, not only from
those two clouds, but from others near
them. Hence the sudden fall of rain imme
diately after flashes of lightning."
Only one fact more. — All the Avater, which
is taken from the earth into the atmosphere,
is more or less in a corrupted state, and un
fit particularly for the support of animal
life. But all the water, which falls from
the atmosphere upon the earth, whether in
the form of rain, or snow, or hail, or dew,
and in all latitudes, arid in every season, is
strongly impregnated with a vivifying prin
ciple. Every person, from infancy to old
age, and all animals, and all vegetables, feel
the influence of this principle, particularly
in the spring and summer showers. These
showers—
" Drop upon the pastures wide,
That do in deserts lie;
The little hills on every side,
Rejoice right pleasantly.
With flocks the pastures clothed be,
The vales with corn are' clad ;
And now they shout and sing to thee,
For thou hast made them glad."

GfeNERAL INFERENCE;

*

The leading inference from the whole of
the subject is, the importance and necessity
of knowing and feeling, at all times, and un-

260 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
der all circumstances, our depend ance upon
the Creator and Preserver of all. Man,
with all his boasted powers, is a mere in
sect when brought into competition with the
God of the universe. Hear Jehovah himself
speak to this point. "Hast thou entered
into the treasures ofthesnow? orhastthou
seen the treasures of the hai?, which I have
reserved against the time of trouble, against
the day of battle and war ? By Avhat way is
the light parted, which scattereth the east
wind upon the earth? Who hath divided
a water course for the overflowing of wa
ters, or a way for the lightning of thunder ;
to cause it to rain on the earth, Avhere no
man is: on the wilderness, wherein there is
no man ; to satisfy the desolate and waste
ground ; and to cause the bud of tender
herb to spring forth? Hath the rain a fa
ther? or who hath begotten the drops of
the dew? Out of whose Avomb came the
ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who
hath gendered it?" Job, xxxviii, 22 — 29.
Is there any passage in heathen poetry,
or oratory, equal to this ? How awful must
it be for any individual, or nation* or any
body of men, to have this being for their
enemy ?
Consider,
1. The extent of these arrangements, all
round the globe — sea, and islands and con-

WATERING OF THE EARTH. 261
tinents, mountains and hills, and vallies, and
through the still more extended, and vari
ed, ?and ever changing regions of the atmos
phere. Consider,
2. The simplicity of the whole. All car
ried on by different modifications of the flu
id of heat.
Consider,
3. The length of time, in which they'
have been in operation. From the begin
ning. Nearly six thousand years. Nor
has the machine, or any part of it, ever been
out of repair. It is perfect in all its parts,
and performs with as much ease and expe
dition this day, as it did at the beginning.
"He spake* and it was done: he command
ed, and all things stood fast." Ps. xxxiii, 9.
4. That mighty being, who made and who
upholds all these things, made man. He
made us — has made us capable of knoAving
him, and loving him, and .serving him, and of
bearing his image, and of enjoying him.
And he has given us his written Avord, by
which we are instructed ; and he has -given
us his sabbaths, in which he condescends to
hold familiar intercourse Avith all, who call
upon him. And he has given us his Son, to
be the Savior of the world ; and his Holy
Spirit, to enlighten, and regenerate, and
sanctify. Why not, then,^ be obedient?

262 WATERING OF THE EARTH.
Why exert our feeble physical or intellec
tual strength only in rebellion ? Why not
say, "lam thy servant, thy servant, the
son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my
bonds."

Note. — p. 250. Every fluid however substile, consists
of an infinite number, of separate, and independent parti
cles, and each of these particles however minute, and how
ever far removed from the observation of any, of our senses,
being matter, must, occupy a certain space to the exclu
sion of .every other substance. The specific gravity of a
piece of matter is changed by having the particles of which
it is composed, expanded, or contracted; if they are ex
panded, they are spread over a larger space, having a
greater number of interstices, or openings between them;
and in common language, the whole mass is said to be light
er; and vice versa, in all respects if they are contracted;
but in philosophical language, the real weight, or gravity
of every particle of matter, whatever may be the space over
which it is spread, is always the same. Hence, a feather
falls in an exhausted receiver, with the same velocity, that
a piece of gold does. Again,
Every particle of every perfect fluid, gravitates inden-
pendently of all the rest. Hence, every body of fluid (a
quantity of water, or air, for instance in a vessel of a given:
dimension,) is to be conceived of as consisting, of an infinite
number of columns of particles, perpendicular to the centre
of the earth, and each is supported by the whole part of
the column, immediately under it. Hence, while every
one of these particles, is of the same specific gravity, that
is. while" every particle in the supposed vessel, is extended
over a space, equal lo the space over which every other
particle in the vessel is extended, the whole body of the
fluid will remain at rest. But expand the particles in the
lower portion of the columns, while the particles in the up
per portion remain as they were, or are contracted, and the
higher, and the lower particles will immediately change
places. A process of this kind, is continually taking place
jd a pot of boiling water. But farther,

WATERING OF THE EARTH. 263
All the particles of matter, whether in the form of solids,
or fluids, or whether contracted, or expanded, are philoso-
philcally speaking of equal weight, and contain equal quan
tities of matter. But particles which are compressed, or
contracted into asmall space, have their power of resistance
increased: and, vice versa, when they are expanded orspread
over a larger space. Hence, the strength of timbers and
metals, is tbund generally, if not always, to be in proportion
to their specific gravities. Hence, a particl&of water ex
panded into vapour, is supported by a definite number of
columns of air or water, by the same principle, that a solid,
say a log or a block of marble, is supported with ease, on
the shoulders of a definite number of men, which would
crush or prostrate any one of them.
The true account of the rise and fall of substances in flu
ids, appears then.to be this:- — That as you compress the par
ticles of which any substance is composed, you make the
gravity of a greater number of particles, aet together in the
same direct line; and, vice versa, when they are expanded.
And— Hence, the compressed particle will, by the increas
ed action of gravity, in a particular line, pass through the
openings or interstices of the substance, whose particles are
less compressed, and press them upwards.
Hence, all the motions of the atmosphere- may be resolv
ed into the expansion and contraction of '.he particles of the
various substances of which it is composed.
This account of the matter appears, to the writer at least,
to be more satisfactory, than the account given in the
text from Franklin. Still, however, the whole process, so
far as the atmosphere is concerned, must be considered as
connected with the doctrine of chemical affinities. A
beautiful illustration of which is given in the dissolving of a
quantity of salt, in a given quantity of water. This famili
ar experiment also explains and illustrates the important
fact, that |*Ii matter is porous, or full of interstices. Till
the water, in which you dissolve the given quantity of salt,
is fully saturated, there is no addition made to the bulk of
the fluid, though the_ weight is increased in proportion to
the quantity of salt dissolved. Every person, who is in the
habit of making up mixtures, is well acquainted with simi
lar examples. A bushel of water, and a bushel of sand,
and a bushel of slacked lime, make, separately, three bush
els; but mix them together, and they will make only one.

no. swut.

THE WARMING OF THE EARTH

PsalSi, lxxiv, 16, 17. — The day is thine, the night is also
thine : thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set
all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
The space occupied by the different
bodies, which compose the solar system, is a
circle, whose diameter is at least 3,600 mil
lions of miles. Within this space, there
revolves round the sun, as a common cen
tre, and at different distances, seven pri
mary planets, of which the earth is one ; eigh
teen secondary planets ; four bodies called
Asteroids; and an unknown number (suppos
ed to be some hundreds) of bodies called Co
mets. All these bodies are immense masses of
matter. The least of the primary planets,
which is our morning and evening star, is
upwards of seven thousand miles in diame
ter ; the largest, and the most distant from
the sun, is upwards of thirty four thousand
miles in diameter. The distance of our
earth from the sun, is ninety five millions
of miles, and the diameter is nearly eight

warming of the earth. 26&
thousand miles. The moon which is a se
condary planet is upwards of two thousand
miles in diameter.
Each of these bodies has a two-fold mo*
tion. A diurnal — round its own axis, which
makes its day, the one half of its surface be
ing always exposed to the sun ; and annual
— around the sun, which makes its year.
The nearest to the sun, makes his annual
revolution, in about eighty seven of our
days ; the most remote, at the distance of
1,800 millions of miles ; has a year of up
wards of eighty of our years.
All these vast bodies have moved on, each
in its place, from the beginning — for the
long period of nearly six thousand years.
And yet the whole space in Avhich they
move, is only a mathematical point in the
empire of Jehovah. "He telleth the number
of the stars ; he calleth them all by their
names ; great is our Lord, and of great pow
er, his understanding is infinite." "When I
consider thy heavens, the work of thy fin
gers ; the moon and the stars, which thou
jiast ordained ; What is man, that thou art
mindful of him ? and the son of man, that
thou visitest him ? For thou hast made
him a little lower than the angels, and hast
crowned him with glory and honour. Thou
madest him to have dominion over the
works of thy hands ; thoubast put all things

266 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and
the beasts of the field ; the fowl of the air,
and the fish of the. sea, and whatsoever
passeth through the paths of seas. O Lord
our Lord, how excellent is thy name in the
earth." Psalm, viii, 3 — 9.
Hear Jehovah asserting his claims to
universal uncontrouled empire. " Canst thou
bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or
loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou
bring forth Mazzaroth in his season ? or
canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven?
canst thou set the dominion thereof in the
earth ? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the
clouds, that abundance of waters may cover
thee? Canst thou send lightnings, that
they may go, and say unto thee, here we
are?" Job, xxxviii, 31 — 35.
The sun is universally acknowledged, to
be the source of all the light, and heat
which enlightens, and fructifies, and renders
habitable all these vast bodies, both prima
ry and secondary.
Light, and heat are still in the most ap
proved systems of philosophy considered
as matter. But no satisfactory theory has
yet been given, of the manner in which the
sun is regularly supplied with these impor
tant fluids ; or in other words ; no satisfac
tory account has yet been given, how the

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 26?
waste occasioned by a continual emission
of these fluids, from the body of the sun to
such a vast extent, and to such a vast number
of immense bodies is repaired. It was long
the opinion of both the pilosophers, and
the vulgar, that the sun was a huge mass of
liquid fire, and the whole space occupied
by the planets was enligthened and warmed
pretty much as a large room is enlightened,
and warmed by a common fire. But how
the fuel demanded by such a vast consump
tion was regularly furnished, few either
of the wise, or unwise attempted to give any
explanation. The Whole theory, and all
connected with it, is now too absurd for the
•advanced state of science.
The most plausible theory, which has
been given is, that the body of the sun, is a
mass of solid opaque matter, similar in all
respects to the matter of Avhich the other
planets is composed ; but surrounded with
an atmosphere of a peculiar kind, and that
the light, and heat, continually emitted from
this atmosphere returns again to the'eentre,
and the source, pretty much in the same
Avay as the water on the surface of our
earth, is continually returning to our at
mosphere. This theory has at least the re
commendation of simplicity, and it accords
in its leading features, with other great
arrangements in nature, with which we are

268 WARMIWG OF THE EARTH.
better acquainted. It appears also to be
supported by a considerable number of well
established facts, which we cannot at this
time give in detail.

Psalm, lxxiv, 16, 17; — The day is thine, the night is also
Ihine : thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set
all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
The first and most obvious thing in the
arrangements, which produce summer and
winter, is, the regular lengthening and short
ening of the days. Within the tropics, the
days and nights are nearly equal all the
year round, and little of twilight, or of the
variety of seasons, is known; but in all
countries beyond the tropics, whether in
north or south latitude, the appearances and
results are different. . The days and the
nights are continually either lengthening or
shortening: and the sun, at rising and set
ting, and at mid-day, occupies every day a
point in the heavens, a little different from
the point, which he occupied at the same
hour, the day before; and as you travel
from the equator to the pole, on either side
the twilight, in all seasons, increases. And
this regular lengthening and shortening of
the days or nights, gives intimation to the
inhabitants of all lands, of the regular revo-

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 269
mtion of the seasons — summer and winter,
seed-time and harvest. And all those vari
eties, and all the important results connect
ed Avith them, are secured by a very simple
contrivance: viz, the inclination of the axis
of the earth to the plane of its orbit. The
Creator, in adjusting the machinery of the
universe, did not set the earth in a perpen
dicular, but in an inclined, position. Hence,
in her annual revolution, her north pole is,
during our summer months, turned towards
the sun ; but during our winter months, it
is in an opposite -direction: and hence, also,
those months, which, are the summer months
to those, aviio are on one side of the equa
tor, are the winter months to those, who are
on the other: and, at equal distances from
the equator, the days and nights are of e-
qual length, at the corresponding seasons.
TAvice in the year, at the vernal and au
tumnal equinoxes, the days and nights are
of equal length all the earth over: at all
other times^ they are unequal. From the
vernal equinox, (twenty second of March)
till the twenty second of June, the days are
gradually increasing in length, and the
nights growing shorter, in all northern lati
tudes: and the contrary in all southern lat
itudes; and from the autumnal equinox,
(twenty second of September,) till the twen^
ty second of December, the days groAV gra-

270 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
dually longer in all south latitudes, and short
er in north latitudes, till it is the middle of
summer in the south, and the middle of the
winter, in the north.
The most distinguishing difference be
twixt summer and winter, is in the state of
vegetation. While the day is increasing,
vegetation is generally on the increase : and
in the middle of Avinter, unless it is within
the tropics, vegetation is, in all ordinary ca
ses, scarcely visible. In high northern and
southern latitudes, the winters also are in
variably longer than the summers. It is
only within the temperate zones, that they
are nearly equal: while winter is scarcely
known within the tropics.
Every season and every parallel of lati
tude, and every climate has its peculiar
beauties and advantages. As a general rule,
the tender and delicate productions of na
ture are found within the tropics, and in
the temperate climates: while the hardy,
and robust, and lasting, arc the natives of
higher latitudes. And, Avhile every parallel
of latitude, both in the land and in the Ava-
ter, and in the atmosphere, is teeming Avith
animal life, the instincts, and anatomical
structure, and habits of all the lower ani
mals, are adapted fo the particular situa
tions, in which they arc usually found; and
food and abundance fear both summer and

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 271
winter, is furnished for all the natural inha
bitants of each region. And Avhile particu
lar vegetables, and particular animals, and
particular minerals arc found only in par
ticular portions of the globe : and while all
the arrangements of the climates and soil,
appear to be adapted for the production and
the perfecting of those animals, and vegeta
bles, and minerals, which are usually found
there, Man, as the lord of the lower worlds
lives comfortably every where — finds him
self at home every where : and makes all the
varied productions of every land, and of ev
ery sea, and of every soil, and of every cli
mate, subsarvient to his own immediate
Wants and conveniences, and to the wants
and conveniences and luxuries of his fellow
men, in every portion of the globe. And,
while every season and every climate has,
J;o man, its peculiar and appropriate labors,
and enjoyments, the pious man, in every
land, and on every sea, and of every class
and occupation, recognise* in the revolu
tion of the seasons, the power, and the good
ness, and the faithfulness of Jehovah, in ful
filling his own declaration, "While the earth
remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold
and heat, and summer and winter, and day
and night, shall not cease." Gen. viii, 22.
And a pious man, whether he is in his closets
or on the mountain top, while surveying

272 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
these extensive, and varied, and efficient ar
rangements, will, with the Psalmist, lift up
the voice of praise and thanksgiving, and
say, " Thy kingdom is an everlasting king
dom, and thy dominion endureth throughout
all generations. The Lord upholdeth all that
fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed
doAvn. The eyes of all ay ait upon thee: and
thou givest them their meat in due season.
Thou openest thy hand, and satisfiest the
desire of every living thing. The Lord is
righteous in all his Avays, and holy in all his
Avorks. The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon him, to all that call upon him
in truth." Psalm cxlv, 13—18.

The great leading fact upon which vege
tation depends, is the combined influence of
heat and moisture. All over the earth vege
tation is vigorous, and the fruits are abun
dant in proportion to the combined action of
these two fluids. Heat is produced, or com
municated, chiefly by the operation of the
following causes:
1. The sun is the great, if not the only
source of all the heat, Avhich is enjoyed up
on the surface of the earth. All men, and
in every state of society, have been familar
with- the warmth of the rays of the sun ;

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 273
and the fluid of fire can be extracted from
these rays, at almost any time. It is evident
also, that perpendicular rays have more in
fluence than oblique. The reason is obvi
ous ; when the rays fall perpendicular, they
are concentred, so that a greater number
fall upon a given spot ; but when they fall
oblique, they are scattered. Hence, all
other things being equal the Warmth of any
country, is in proportion to its distance
from the equator. The nearer, the warmer.
Hence, also the sun has more influence at
mid-day, than in the morning, or towards
the evening ; and in summer, than in win
ter. 2. The heat actually enjoyed, is always in
proportion to the length of time, that the
sun is above the horizon. Hence, in sum
mer the warmest time of the day, is fre
quently found to be not at mid-day, but
at mid-afternoon. Hence, also the warmest
weather in summer, is frequently not at the
longest day, but a month, or six weeks af
ter, and hence, the Avarmth of high northern
latitudes, where the longest day is 18 hours,
and the night only 6, is frequently equal to
that which is enjoyed by countries, a great
deal nearer the equator. Some men of
considerable note, have from calculation
affirmed, that in the course of the year,
there is as much heat emitted from the

274 WARMING OF THE EARTH;
sun, in the latitude of St. Petersburgh, as
in the latitude of Lisbon.
3. The temperature of all countries, is
much influenced by their being in the neigh
bourhood, or at a distance from, or above
the level of the sea. LoAvlands are always
warmer than the adjoining high lands, chief
ly, because the lower regions of the atmos
phere, are^denser than the higher regions,
and consequently contain in any given
space, a larger quantity of the fluid of heat.
Islands and the sea coast, generally are not
exposed to the extremes of heat and cold,
which are realized in the interior, and in
continents: the reason is, that the surface
of the ocean being ahvays in motion, can
neither be heated, nor cooled, to the extent.
that the surface of dry land can be.
4* The temperature of a country, de
pends to a considerable extent upon the
nature of the soil, and upon the state of cul
tivation. Some substances reflect, and oth
er substances absorb the rays of heat.
Hence, where the face of a country is fully
exposed to the rays of the sun, and where
there are a number of reflecting sub
stances, the heat will be more intense, than
where the country is shaded, or covered
with a vigorous vegetation. The difference
of temperature betwixt those portions of
Africa, and of South America, which aro

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 275
within the. tropics sufficiently confirm, and
illustrate this position.
It is evident also, that all the countries
of Europe, must be considerably warmer
now, than they were in the days of Caesar,
and Horace. No such winters are now,
as they were then in Italy, and France, and
along the Danube. But the days, and the
nights, are of the same length now, as they
were two thousand years ago. The change
in the temperature of the atmosphere,
which has taken place in these countries,
must be the result, chiefly of the changes
which have been produced on the surface
of the earth, by means of cultivation.
Heat like every, other fluid, where there
are no obstructions will always find it's
level: different substances placed in a close
room, with different degrees of heat, will
very- soon be all of the same temperature
of the atmosphere of the room ; and every
hot substance placed in the neighbourhood
of cold substances, will gradually part with
its heat, till there is an equilibrium. In
summer the atmosphere is generally warm
er than the earth; but in winter the reverse
is the case; during the summer in coun
tries which are not much shaded, and par
ticularly where the earth is turned up by
cultivation; the rays of the sun penetrate
to a considerable depth into the soil, and

276 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
remain there till the commencement of win
ter. Hence, the earth is warmer than the
atmosphere in winter, and gives out its heat
to objects upon its surface, much in the
same way as the walls and furniture of a
room, remain heated, and give out heat, a
considerable time after the fire, by which
they had been heated, has ceased to act.
Heated air will always ascend. Hence,
there will be always a lateral current of cold
air, to the spot that is most heated : in the
same way that there is always a current of
cold air towards our common fires : and the
colder the weather, the stronger the cur
rent is.
.The water of the surface of the ocean be
ing continually in motion, cannot be heated
during the day, to the same degree, that
the solid substances, on the surface of the
adjoining land, are heated. Hence, in all
islands and coasts, during warm weather,
and invariably within the tropics, there is,
during the day, a current of cold air from
the sea, to the land. But during the night,
the reverse is the case. The principle of
this can be illustrated by a very easy expe
riment. If a water plate be filled with
warm water, and placed in a tub of cold wa
ter; and if a lighted candle be blown out,
and the smoking wick be held over the cold
water, the smofce will move towards the

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 277
plate, and ascend there. But you will se&
a contrary motion of the smoke, if the ex
periment be reversed, by filling the plate
with cold water, and placing it in a tub of
warm water.
It is also asserted by those, who have
been at some pains to ascertain the fact,
that the sea, within the tropics and the tem
perate zones, is generally twice every twen
ty four hours, of the same temperature with
the atmosphere: and that, during the day,
the passage of heat is from the atmosphere
to the sea ; but that, during the night, the
passage is from the sea to the atmosphere.
These, then, may be considered as the
principal permanent circumstances, by
which the temperature of the earth, and
of the lower regions of the atmosphere, is
regulated. And if there were no other cir*
cumstances of a different nature, the de
grees of heat felt and enjoyed, would be
nearly the same on the same day of the
year, in the same latitude, and upon the
same level, and on a similar state of cultiva
tion, all round the globe. But this is not
exactly the fact. There is a general same
ness and regularity, sufficient to authorise
the belief, that it must be the result of some
permanent and unchanging causes. But
there are also very considerable diversities.
We have, for instance, in our own country,

~&78 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
spring, and summer, and autumn, and win
ter, generally of nearly the same tempera
ture. But the seasons of some years are of
a very different temperature, from the
same seasons of other years: and the tem
perature of christmas-day, or christmas-
week, in one year, is no criterion, by which
we can judge of what will be the tempera
ture of next christmas-day, or next christ-
mas-week. Nay, more — great and very
sudden changes are experienced frequently
in the course of a single day. We may have
this day, (twenty second of December,) an
atmosphere, and the surface of the earth,
similar to what is usually enjoyed in the
middle of May; but by to-morrow noon,
or even before sun-set this day, the whole
aspect, and all our feelings may corres
pond with our notions of the depth of
winter. And similar changes are felt, more
or less, in all latitudes, and in all the months
and seasons of the year: We are, in this
case, therefore, as well as in many other
cases, both in physical and moral science,
to loo"k about for some class or classes of
circumstances, which we may call contin
gent, which will so modify the operations of
these permanent causes, as to produce these
sudden, and these extensive transitions, from
heat to cold, and from cold to heat

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 279
The fluid which produces the sensation
of heat, called in common life, fire, and a-
mong the learned, caloric, is matter: not a
quality, but a real, distinct, • and indepen
dent substance. It is an inconceivably sub
tile and elastic fluid, and of the most pene
trating nature. It pervades the whole heav
ens, and the Avhole earth — is, more Or less,
incorporated Avith all substances, and is one
of the great agents, Avhich produces all the
changes, visible and invisible, which are
continually taking place in the forms and
qualities of the particles of all bodies. A
large portion of this fluid, of course, per
vades the whole atmosphere, and is combin
ed particularly with the air and the water,
which is in the atmosphere: and just in pro
portion as it is in a combined or a free state,
the atmosphere is cold or hot. When it is
combined, or embodied in the air or water,
the atmosphere is, comparatively speaking,
cold; but Avhen it is loose, or free, or active
— that is, Avhen it is passing from one sub
stance to another, as from air to water, or
from the atmosphere to the earth, or vice
versa — we feel its influence, and the atmos
phere is Avarm.
We are to remember also, that the atmos
phere is a large body of fluids, and of fluids
only. It may therefore with respect to th©
present subject, be considered as one un**

280 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
broken mass of fluids — no solid any way
connected with it. But it is one of the dis
tinguishing characteristics of a fluid ; that
every particle gravitates independent of all
the rest ; and that the pressure of all the
> 'particles, is in all directions. Not only
dowmvards, as in the case of solids, but la
teral and even upwards. Look now at the
vast extent of the atmosphere, and remem
ber that all the fluids, which compose this
vast mass, are of infinite elasticity ; and as
the result of the whole, a very slight change
in the specific gravity of any portion of the
atmosphere, or a very slight concussion any
where, may under certain circumstances
produce a concussion, and a variety of mo
tions to a vast extent — perhaps, half-round
the globe. Change only the position of a
single drop of water in a vessel, of a given
size, and all the particles above, and upon
the same level with that drop, will be put
into motion.
Heated air, as we have seen, will always
ascend, and there will be always a current
of cold air;' to the spot that has the highest
degree of heat Apply this fact to the at
mosphere as a whole. There is always a
spot in the surface of the earth, and there
is always a portion of the perpendicular
columns of the atmosphere, to which the sun
is perpendicular, and upon which of course

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 281
there falls the greater quantity of caloric'
And as the earth turns upon her axis, from
west to east, that portion of heated atmos
phere, and that portion of the heated sur
face of the earth, will have a regular, and
uniform westward motion. Let us also now
remember, that a very large portion of the
surface of the earth within the tropics, is
covered with water, and let us see what
will be the natural results of this arrange
ment. 1. An immense quantity of water in the
form of vapour, or in the form of an infi
nitely elastic fluid, will be carried from the
earth into the atmosphere.
2. A vast quantity of caloric, or of the
matter of heat, will be combined with this
water, and with the air, with which the wa
ter is combined. And Avhen the caloric is
once combined with these, it passes, accord
ing to Dr. Black's theory, into a latent or
inactive state.
3. A strong current of cold air from each
side of the equator, will be continually
pressing towards the heated region: and as
this region has a westward motion, the reg
ular trade winds will be produced.
4. The air, and the water, and caloric, all
combined into the form of vapour, while as
cending will be carried by the lateral and
inward pressure of the cold currents, into

285 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
the higher regions of the atmosphere : and
in the higher regions, will be carried from
the equator towards the poles, and towards
the higher portions of the land, such as the
Andes and Alps : and will be there, by the
Agency of electricity, or some other agent,
dissolved into rain, or hail, or suoav, or dew.
5. When this dissolution takes place, the
caloric, Avhich, Avhile combined with the air
and the water, was in a latent state, will
pass into a free or active state, and will pro
duce the sensation of heat.
All men have been sensible that the fogs,.
and mists, and vapours of the higher lati
tudes, and of the higher portions of the
earth, while descending are warmer than
the atmosphere is, in a clear and dry state,.
or when vapour is ascending. Prof. Robin
son of Edinburgh, applied Dr. Black's the
ory of latent heat, to the explanation of this
fact, and said, ' that by this simple arrange
ment, (literally, carrying caloric from the
equator to the poles, in the form of vapour)
the winters, particularly in all the higher
latitudes, were rendered much more tern-
perate, than they otherwise would have
been.' The principle, if correct, will ap
ply to all high lands, and to every spot, up
on which rain falls during winter.
Prof. Robinson has made another re
mark, which Avill illustrate our present sub*

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 283
ject, viz : — ' That while the higher and more
distant latitudes are warmed by the vast
quantity of water that is carried from with
in the tropics to these regions, the atmos
phere and the surface of the earth, where
the evaporation takes place, is cooledhy the
operation.' This is effected in two ways.
1. Free or active caloric goes into a la
tent state, in the process of evaporation.
Hence, wherever evaporation is going on, a
certain portion of sensible heat is taken
from the surrounding atmosphere ; and,
2. Such a vast quantity of vapour contin
ually ascending within the tropics, acts as a
kind of cover or screen to the surface of
the earth, and, of course, to all the animals
and vegetables exposed to the perpendicu
lar rays of the sun.
The result of the whole of these observa
tions and facts, is, that by the continual ac
tion of the sun upon a particular portion of
the atmosphere, within the tropics, all the
particles of the whole mass of the atmos
phere, all round the globe, are, more or less,
put into motion : and, in all the motion thus
produced, the warmer and the colder por
tions of the atmosphere exchange places.

284 WARMING OF THE EARTH.

DEW AND SNOW.

The most important facts respecting dew,
bearing upon the present subject, are the
following :
1. In spring and summer, there is gene
rally, more or less, a regular falling of wa
ter, in the form of dew ; — in the evening,
immediately after sun-set, and in the morn
ing, immediately preceding sun-rise. This
is called the evening and the morning dew.
2. These dews are heavy, in proportion
to the warmth of the season, and latitude of
the place. They increase with the heat of
of the season, and decrease as you go to^
wards the poles. And,
3. They always produce a cold sensation.
From these facts, their use, in the general
arrangements of the God of the universe, is
evident. They are the regular means,
1. Of moderating the intense heat of a
warmer season, or a warmer latitude: and,
2. They supply all the tender plants, par
ticularly in warmer and dry seasons, with
that quantity of moisture which is indispen-
sibly necessary for their preservation and
growth. Reference to the goodness of God, in re
gularly bestowing the dew of heaven, is

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 285
made. Gen. xxvii, 28. Deut. xxxii, 2. Is.
xxvi, 19. Hosea, xiv, 5; and Mich, v, 7.
Snow is water, or vapour slightly con
gealed. The most important facts respect
ing it, asconnected with our present subject,
are: 1. That while snow is falling, the atmos
phere, and the surface of the earth, are
barely at freezing point. There is always
more or less an evolution of caloric while
snow is falling.
2. That the quantity of snow, which falls
on any place, and the length of time, that
it lies on the ground, are regulated gene
rally by the latitude of the place, or by its
elevation above the level of the sea. The
depth of snow, and the length of time, that
it lies on the ground, are generally in pro
portion to the length of the winters, and
the length of the winter nights.
From these facts, the use of snow is evi
dent. It greatly moderates the rigour of the
winters in high northern latitudes. It serves
also as a covering to wheat, and grass, and
other roots during the severe blasts of win
ter. Whatever may be the temperature
of the atmosphere, while the ground is co^
vered with snow, the roots and blades upon
the surface, or a little below the surface of
the earth, can never be much below freez-

286 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
ing point. The Psalmist says, "He giveth
snow like wool." The flakes of snow not
only resemble wool in their appearance,
but in their use. They form a close cover
ing for the- earth, and its productions. •
Let us connect this with two other facts.
The earth receives, and retains from the
rays of the sun, a considerable quantity of
heat during summer. This heat is given
out during Avinter, or in other words; a
heated body will part with its heat to a
cold body, in its immediate neighbourhood.
Snow is a cold body, though very little be
low freezing point ; and snoAv is also a non
conductor of heat. Hence it acts upon the
surface of the earth in the same Avay that
our clothes act in keeping us warm. It
keeps the heat which is issuing from the
earth, upon the surface of the earth — that
is, it makes the heat of the earth act upon
the roots, and the blades which are co
vered with snow, and which need the action
of both heat and moisture. Hence tho
freshness of wheat, and grass, and other
roots, and blades, when the show under
which they have been covered for weeks,- or
months is dissolved.

Ranges of mountains, deep and extended
vallies ; large rivers, fresh Avater lakes, bays
and arms of the sea, promontories, volca^

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 287
noes, and even cities, and large manufactu
ring establishments; have separately, and
combinedly extensive, and varied influence
on the state and temperature of the atmos
phere. The passage of the electric fluid in
every possible direction, is particularly
connected with the courses of rivers, and
the ranges of mountains. Add to all — that
whatever may be the particular arrange
ment under which the electric fluid, is
made to accumulate in any region, so as
to produce thunder, the fact may be con
sidered as highly probable, that it is daily
thundering somewhere, and the concussion
produced by thunder, must in every case
extend to a great distance.
When, hoAvever, all these, and similar
causes of the changes in the state of the at
mosphere, are particularly examined, they
will be all found to be resolved into one
great result. In every case, the warmer,
and the colder regions of the atmosphere
exchange places.

Only one other elass of facts. A child,
in looking over the map of the world, read
ily discovers, that the largest portion ofland
is north of the equator. This is not with
out design. However useful the sea may

288 WARMING OF THE EARTH
be, in the great arrangements of the Crea
tor and Preserver of the universe, the land
was designed for the permanent habitation
of man, and for the habitation of all those
animals, which are more immediately under
his dominion. It was therefore evidently
the design of Jehovah, that the largest por
tion of the human family, should have their
abodes, and obtain their support north of
the equator. Connect this with another
fact: all navigators unite in testifying, that
the sea is closed by the ice, a great deal
sooner in southern, than in nothern latitudes.
The southern ocean is not navigable on ac
count of the ice much beyond the latitude
50, which is equal to the latitude of the
English Channel. The weather on mid
summer day at Cape Horn, is not generally
much warmer than it is in the north of
England, at the same distance from the
equator, at Christmas. This remarkable
difference betwixt the extremities of the
northern and southern hemisphere, is un
doubtedly owing to the eccentric form of the
orbit of the earth, and to her having differ
ent degrees of velocity in different parts of
her orbit ; so that a larger portion of the
rays of the sun, fall in the course of a year
upon the northern, than upon the southern.
The probability is indeed strong, that while
the ice is annually accumulating around the

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 289
south pole; it is diminishing around the
north pole. And this is likely one of the
chief causes of the great change, which has
taken place in the temperature of the coun
tries of Europe, during the last two thou
sand years.

REFLECTIONS.
Let us now open eur bibles at the pass
age, which has suggested the collection and
arrangement of these facts,. (Psalm lxxiv, 16,
17,) and see what particular use, the Spirit
of God directs us to ¦ make of the whole.
Read the whole Psalm.
1. The church is oppressed by Avicked
men: complete destruction appears almost
inevitable. But tho God of grace is also the
God of nature. His power, as the God of •
nature, had been displayed, on former occa
sions, in behalf of the church. See verses
12, 13, 14, 15. Thou art the same God now,
that thou wert in the days of old: — the
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever: and
thou hast been our dwelling place, in all
generations. Thou hast the same care and
affection for the church, that thou ever
hadst : and the promises for the protection
of the church, are as plain and express as

290 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
ever. "No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper ; and every tongue that
shall rise against thee in judgment thou
shait condemn. This is the heritage of the
servants of the Lord, and their righteous
ness is of me, saith the Lord." Isa. liv, 17.
" Can a woman forget her sucking child, that
Bhe should not have compassion on the son
of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet
will I not forget thee. Behold, I have gra
ven thee upon the palms of my hands ; thy
walls are continually before me. Thy chil
dren shall make haste ; thy destroyer and
they that made thee waste shall go forth of
thee." Isa. xlix, 15,16,17. "The day is
thine, the night also is thine: thou hast pre
pared the light and the sun. Thou hast set
all the borders of the earth : thou hast made
summer and winter." Ps. lxxiv, 16,17. The
same power, which made the light and the
sun, and which made the summer and the
winter, is pledged to preserve the church
from her enemies. And when these; ene
mies can pluck the sun out of the firmament,
and can put a stop to the revolution of the
seasons, they will succeed in their attempt
against the people of God. See also Jer.
xxxi, 35, 36, 37. The church may have
her winters, as well as her summers, and
her unfavorable, as well as her favorable,
seasons ; but even these winters, and the

WARMING OF THE EARTH. 291
most severe of them, shall be made to con
tribute to the fruitfulness of the harvest.
2. The God, whose are the day and the
night, and who hath prepared the light and
the sun, and who hath set all the borders of
the earth, has a right, and the best right, to
all the creatures, which inhabit this earth:
and particularly he has a right to the Avhole
of the services of the creature, man. Ver.
18, 19, 20. These utttermost parts of the
earth — these habitations of cruelty — are
given to the Redeemer, by covenant. See
Ps. ii, 2, and xxii,. 17 — end. And they are
to become the habitations of peace; And
the very men, whom these sons of cruelty
are attempting to destroy and cut off, are
to be the messengers of peace, to these des
titute regions. See Matt, v, 38 — 48, and
Rom. xii, 17 — end.
And the same power, which has been'
desplayed in making the light and the sun,
and in continuing the revolutions of the
seasons, will attend these messengers, to
give success and permanency tothe preach
ing of the gospel.
My friend, how stands the matter with
you? Are you still in a state of rebellion?
While you are surveying extensively Jeho
vah's works, and partaking richly of his a-
bundance, are you still in a state of rebel
lion? "Hast thou an arm like God? or

292 WARMING OF THE EARTH.
canst thou thunder with a voice like him ?
Deck thyself now with majesty and excel
lency; and array thyself with glory and
beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath :
and behold every one that is proud, and a-
base him. Look on every one that is proud,
and bring him low; and tread down the
wicked in their place. Hide them in the
dust together ; and bind their faces in se
cret Then will I also confess unto thee
that thine own right hand can save thee."
Job xl, 9 — 14. But rather be encouraged
to submit your understanding, and your
heart, and your whole man to him, who is
good, and ever doing good — who is kind
even to the unthankful and the evil. "Be
wise now therefore, O ye kings : be instruct
ed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord
with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss
the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish
from the way, when his wrath is kindled
but a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in him." Psalm ii, 10, 11, 12.

NO. XIX.

THE VALUE AND EXTENT OF
SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.

2 Timothy, m, 14, 15. — But continue thou in the things
which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of
¦whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast
known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith which is i7i Christ Jesus.
Man is distinguished from all other ani
mals, by his being capable of acquiring, and
retaining, and communicating knoAvledge.
The object of his research is the universe.
His duration, though commencing in time,
is to be continued, with increased vigor, and
with increased and enlarged opportunities,
through eternity. He is destined to be
come acquainted with perhaps the whole of
the creation of God ; and his existence is
to be commensurate with the existence of
Jehovah himself.
It hath pleased the creator and preser
ver of all, to give to man, even in his pre
sent state of existence, ample and varied
opportunities of acquiring knowledge. He
is placed in the centre of a vast concave,

294 SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.
called the starry firmament, and he has been
led in the gradual developement of his pow
ers, to adopt a great variety of means by
which he has become acquainted to a con
siderable extent with the magnitudes, and
the distances, and revolutions, and general
laws of many of the vast bodies, which
move in this extended space. He is placed
on the surface of the earth, a huge mass
when compared with any of the bodies,
which belong to it. And he is constituted,
by the sovereign of all, the lord of the
earth, and he has subdued it, and had do
minion over it. He has passed over, and
surveyed, and examined, its continents, and
islands, and seas, and mountains, and rivers,
and lakes ; and has not only become familiar
with the cattle, and fish, and the fowls, and
the creeping things, and the vegetables, and
the minerals,with which the land, and the wa
ter, and the atmosphere, are stocked ; but as
he has enlarged his knowledge of these, he
has also extended his power, and has made
all these, in some form or other, subservi
ent to his numerous and various wants, and
desires, and conveniences, and luxuries.
And the farther hehastpursued his enquiries
into the greatand extended, and varied de
partment of Physical science, the more he
has been pleased, and the greater number of
neAV, and still more interesting objects have

SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE. 295
been presented to him ; and every new ac
quisition has been converted by his ingenu
ity and experience, to a new instrument by
which he has been enabled to make other
new discoveries, and to exert powers, pre
viously unknown. Every discovery of a
fact, or neAV application of principle, has as
yet been only the opening up of another
new, and inexhaustible source of knowledge.
Every new art has as yet generated a num
ber of other arts, and every new applica
tion of a principle to any of the mechanic
arts, has been only preparing the way for a
more extensive, and a more successful ex
ertion of the powers of man. And how far
discoveries, and applications of this nature
may be made by man in his present state
of existence, we can form no adequate con
ception. In examining the progress of intellectual
and moral improvement in every age, and
in every state of society, the following facts
will be found prominent.
1. Improvement of every kind has always
been inseparably connected with social in
tercourse. Mind, to be improved, must
come into contact- with mind, and there
must be a mutual excitement.
2. Though the human mind is by its very
nature, formed for acquiring knowledge by
inference, or deduction, no case can be pro-

296 SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.
duced in Avhich any individual, and much
less any community has made any advances
in acquiring knoAvledge of any kind, or up
on any subject, Avithout the enjoyment of a
systematic communication of facts, and prin
ciples ; nor is a communication of this kind
merely necessary in the infancy or early
periods of reasoning, or deduction. It has
to be continued in the most advanced stages
of improvement, both in the individual and
society. The deductive powers of every
man, arc unfolded, and manifest their un
common strength in every case, just in pro
portion as the mind is furnished with facts,
and principles obtained by the observations
and experience of other men. And,
3. No advancement in knowledge to any
great extent has ever yet been realized
without the continued, and increasing la
bours of a class of men, acting in the capa
city of teachers.
The case of self-made, or self-taught men,
will upon a minute examination, be found to
be no exception from any of these facts ;
and the whole rapge of bible instruction,
and bible institutions will be found to be
proofs and illustrations of each.
Jehovah made man not only capable of
holding intellectual, and moral intercourse
with his fellow men, but he was made capa
ble of holding extensive intercourse with

SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE. 297
his maker. And his maker has conde
scended to become his teacher. He has in
the bible communicated to him, in so many
words, a vast quantity of first principles, and
important facts in all the departments of
human investigation. And he has more-
OArer, been pleased" to give an illustration,
or amplification of these facts and princi
ples in the history, which he has given us
of individuals, and of nations. Waggon
loads of other books, must be turned over,
and examined before any thing like such
an extensive collection of facts and prin
ciples, can be made from any other source
than the bible.
It is readily allowed by all, that the bible
abounds with facts, and principles belonging
to all the various departments of moral sci
ence. Every fact and principle respecting
the nature of man, as an individual, and as
a member of society, as an inhabitant of this
earth, or as passing on to an endless eterni
ty, are again and again seated in the Bible.
But always stated in some new connexion,
or under some new modification, and thus
made to illustrate the great extent, and the
vast importance of the study of human na
ture. The moral law is given us in so many
words, plain and express ; not as deductions
from the nature of man ; but then again the

298 SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.
principles of this law are extensively appli
ed in the history of individuals, and of na
tions, under God's government of individuals,.
and of nations: so that, in examining these
extensive and varied applications, all the
deductive powers of the most improved hu
man intellect, are brought into full and pro
fitable exertion.
A similar remark is applicable to what
God has been pleased to reveal respecting
his own nature, and perfections, and mode
of existence, and respecting the various re
lations, in which he stands to his creature,
man, as Creator, Preserver, Redeemer and
Judge : and respecting the application of his
great plan of redemption, to particular in
dividuals, by means of the word read and
preached, and by the dispensations of his
providence. In all these and similar sub
jects, as stated in the bible, there is an inim
itable union of the principles of theory, and
of the matters of fact in practice : and all
intended to have an extensive bearing upon
the intellectual and moral improvement of
the human family. *
It is unquestionable also, that there is
In almost every page of the bible, refer
ence made to the various departments of
physical science — to the revolutions of the
heavenly bodies, and to the various animal,.
and vegetable, and mineral productions of

SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE. 299
the land and of the water, and to the phy
sical and scientific powers, which man must
exert in maintaining his dominion over his
lawful possessions. The moral use, which
is to be made of these references, is gene
rally very plain :¦ — as when the sluggard is
sent to learn of the ant : or when the sons
of the mighty are called upon to contem
plate the thunder and the earthquake. But
it is equally certain, that these references
nre also made, that the subjects particular
ly refered to, may be examined and studied
in all their details and bearings. The full
use of them cannot be understood, till
they are, in the most of cases, minutely ex
amined. The command given to subdue
the earth, and to have dominion over it, cer
tainly also must not only include the per
mission, but a command, scientifically to ex
amine the various productions of the earth:
as it is chiefly, if not solely,, by understand
ing the proper nature of the productions of
the earth, that they are made subservient to
the wants of man. See Isa. xxviii, 23< — 29.
The general inference from the whole of
these views, then, is, that if the human mind
is improved and becomes strong, and capable
of comparing and making deductions, just
in proportion to the number and the varie
ty of important objects, which are present
ed to it, there is no book> of either ancient

300 SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.
modern date, which can be a better text
book for mental improvement, than the Bi
ble. No where, in such a small compass, is
there a greater range of thought and re
search, presented. God's word is, in fact,
the exact counterpart of his works, for ful
ness and variety of interesting matter ; and
the more extensively, and the more minute
ly the Avord and the works of God are ex
amined, the proofs and illustrations' will mul
tiply, of their being the productions of the
same infinite mind.
It is indeed true, that the great design of
the holy scriptures is, to make " men wise
unto salvation, through faith which is in
Jesus Christ." And it is equally true, that
a man is wise unto salvation, who simply
knows that he is a lost sinner, and that the
Lord Jesus Christ is able and willing to
save, and who, by virtue of faith in the Re-
deeiher, "denies ungodliness and worldly
lusts, and lives soberly, righteously and god
ly in this world ;" nor are we prepared to
say how little knowledge may be perfectly
consistent with being an heir of glory. But
still we say, that the salvation of the bible
is something more than barely being deliv
ered from hell. It is the delivery of our
nature from all the degradation connected
with the fact, that we are, and that we -have
been sinners; and it is the elevation of this
nature again to the likeness of Jehovah.

SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE. 301
Besides — Salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ, is Jehovah's great work — the
great work, to which all his other works of
creation and providence, are made subser
vient: and to reveal and illustrate some of
the great outlines of this great work, is the
chief and the only design of the bible. But
we call things great, only as they are com
pared with other things. And we can have
no adequate conception of the greatness of
any thing, till we have some adequate con
ception of-the greatness of the things, to
which it is compared. Now in the bible,
every thing that is great, in- the works of
creation and providence, and every thing
that is great, in the history of man, are a-
gain and again brought up to illustrate the
infinite magnitude and importance of the
plan and the application of the great salva
tion. We must,- then, study all these great
things, in order to understand fully, as it is
revealed in the bible, this great and impor
tant thing.
Knowledge without piety, is indeed a
curse, and not a blessing; and extensive
knowledge without piety, only raises a man
nearer to the rank and situation of devils.
But it does not follow that extensive know
ledge with piety can be hurtful, or that the
piety of the bible is inconsistent with the
full use of our intellectual powers, in be-

302 SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.
coming acquainted with the nature, and the
use of all the objects, with which we are
surrounded. All men ought to study carefully, and re
gularly, and daily, the holy scriptures ; and
those who like Timothy have known these
records from their childhood, are peculiar
ly happy. Generally speaking, they will
be preserved in the way of truth, and duty,
and usefulness, when others who did not en
joy that advantage, will be among "the evil
men, and the seducers who shall wax worse,
and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
All men ought to study the holy scrip
tures: for,
1. All men are naturally ignorant of God,
and of themselves, and of the way of salva
tion, and of the great end of their creation ;
and it is in the bible only, that God has
been pleased to give to lost man, the full
and the necessary information on these
and similar important subjects.
2. All men to be happy and useful, and
to be in a state of preparation for entering
into eternity, must maintain intercourse
with God, who made them, and who preser
ves them, and who is be to their judge ; and
the bible is the great appointed means by
which this intercourse is to be begun and
carried On. And,
3. All men need, and all men are in some

SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE. 303
measure sensible of the value of intellectual,
and moral improvement. But it is Clear as
day, that all the world over, and in every
state of society, the intellectual and moral
improvement of man, has been in propor
tion to the influence of the doctrines, and
the institutions of the bible.

<> GENERAL INFERENCE.
Those who are to be the official instruc
tors of their fellow (men, ought to be men
of extensive, and increasing > knowledge.
They must be men who shall be able to
keep up with the march of improvement in
all the departments of literature and sci
ence. It is the will of God, and it is inseparable
from the very nature of civil society ; that
the largest portion of the human family
should be employed in manual labour, and
have comparatively speaking, very few op
portunities for reading and study. But it
is not the will of God, that any' portion of
the human family should remain in igno
rance, or even in a stationary state, with
respect to intellectual improvement It is
the will of God that all men should know,
and understand all that is in the bible; and

304 SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.
the bible cannot be fully understood with
out an extensive acquaintance with God's
Avorks of creation and providence.
All the improvements which distinguish
the civilized from the savage state of man,
are to be traced to the division of labour ;
and among the institutions of the bible,
public and private instructers hold a distin
guished place. Men who are to devote
their time, and their talents, and their at
tainments exclusively to the intellectual,
and moral, and religious improvement of
their fellow men.
It has been but too common with those,
who have spent years in preparing them
selves to be public instructers, to suppose
that by far the greater part of what they
have studied, can be of no great use to the
mass of the community. It is not so. The
facts, and principles, and general arrange
ments of the bible, proclaim that it is not so.
It Was God's will, in giving the bible, that
all men should, to a considerable extent, be
come acquainted with all that is contained
in it. That matter is very extensive ; and
the applications of it still more diversified
and extensive. And pubiic instructers are
appointed by God to explain, and enforce
upon their fellow men, all these varieties,
and to exhibit them in all the connexions and
applications, in which God has exhibited

SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE. 305
them. This cannot be done without, in the
first place, having an extensive stock of
knoAvledge : and in the next place, without
having a mind in a progressive state of im
provement, so that all the knowledge, ac
quired by reading and observation, may be
easily applied to the ever varying state of
society. By the helps, which are now enjoyed, a
young man of ordinary capacity and appli
cation, may, in a very few months, make
himself fully acquainted with what requir
ed, in former ages, the labor of a life time
fully to understand. Every year is also
distinguished by some vigorous and success
ful attempt to introduce a more extended,
and a more scientific course of education in
to schools of every description. Hence,
that young man must have spent his time
very unprofitably, whatever number of vol
umes he may have turned up, and what
ever may be his supposed attainments, who,
after he has been seven or nine years in
close study, cannot, in the course of a few
hours, make any thing, which he has studi
ed, intelligible and useful to any man of or
dinary understanding.

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