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CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BEQUEST 
 
 OF 
 
 STEWART HENRY BURNHAM 
 1943 
 
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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924031 3201 65 
 
LECTURES 
 
 FORMATION OF CHARACTER, 
 
 t^mftatious atilr Sl^^^w^ 
 
 YOUNG MEN. 
 
 EEV. KUFUS W. CLAKK, 
 
 AUIHOE or "BEXTES AND IT3 HttBlEMS," "CHMSHAH'S GITI," EIO. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 ALBEE.T COLBY & COMPANY, 
 
 20 WASniNGTON Steeet. 
 
 1861. 
 
fi^j^ihi 
 
 r^~. 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 
 
 JOHN P. JEWETT AND COSfPANT, 
 
 In the Olerk's Office of the District Court for the district of Uassachuseits 
 
THE LATE 
 
 THOMAS M. CLARK, ESQ., 
 
 OP NEWBUBYPOKI, MASS., 
 
 VHOSE LIFE, FSOM HIS YOUTH, WAS AN EXAMPLE OF STB CI 
 
 IKTEGRITY, AND FIBM EELI8I0U3 PRINCIPLE, 
 
 ?ri)is Volume 
 
 IS 
 AFPEOTIONATBiT INBOEIBED. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 NoTwiTHSTANDiNa the efforts which have been made to pro- 
 mote the moral culture of the youngj and to guard them against 
 the perils to which they are exposed, it js a lamentable fact 
 that multitudes of those who come from the country to the 
 Bity, every year, fall victims to the power of vice. Unwilling 
 to take warning from the bitter experience of those who have 
 gone before them, — unwilling to believe that the bright visions 
 that, allure them into forbidden paths can fade away, and be 
 succeeded by dark clouds and tempestuous skies, — they press 
 on until evil habits become fixed, and one star of hope after 
 another becomes extinct, leaving a night of deep despair. 
 
 Those who have already broken away from the restraints of 
 virtue, and cast down their moral principles, we can hardly 
 expect to reach through motives and considerations such as are 
 presented in this volume. The hardening influences through 
 which they have passed, — the wild excitements to which they 
 have been accustomed, — have rendered them indifferent to the 
 voice of warning, or the accents of kindness and persuasion. 
 So many of the chords of their hearts are broken, that scarcely 
 any remain to vibrate under appeals prompted by a sense of ■ 
 their danger, afid a deep interest in their welfare. 
 
VI - INTRODUCTIOHr. 
 
 But over the young, who- are fresh from their Christian 
 homes, and who have yet lingering in the ear of their memory 
 the counsels and prayers of pious parents and friends, we hope 
 to gain an influence ; and to such this volume comes upon its 
 friendly mission. It comes to follow up the influences of early 
 religious instruction, and to lead those who will accept of its 
 aid in the paths of virtue, honor and happiness. It comes to 
 point out the moral dangers that surround the young, — the 
 sunken rocks, the quicksands, eddies, and perilous currents, to 
 which they are exposed. 
 
 There is, just at the entrance of Boston harbor, a reef of 
 rocks, so dangerous and so completely hidden at certain states 
 of the tide, that it is called by the sailors " The Graves." 
 Upon this reef, almost every year, some ship strikes and is 
 wrecked. Many a poor mariner, within sight of the city 
 church-spires, and with beaoon-Hghts around him, has here 
 found a grave. But there are dangerous reefs within the city 
 that might well be designated by the same title. Against them 
 many youth have struck, and suffered the wreck of all their 
 hopes and happiness. In the darkness of night, or in storms 
 of temptation, or when the mists of error or delusion have 
 gathered about them, they have been driven against them and 
 have perished. 
 
 If it is important to save men from temporal suffering, it is 
 at least, equally important to save them from calamities that 
 are disastrous to their spiritual and eternal interests. And if 
 this volume but serves as another beacon-light along the shore 
 of time, to guide the young safely to a haven of rest, the object 
 of the writer will be accomplished. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHARACTEE. 
 
 - HOKE rNSLTJENCES 9 
 
 n. FORMATION OF CHARA,OTBB. .1 28 
 
 ni. ENEEOY OF CHABACTEB 42 
 
 JT. EXAMPLES OF ENEKQT. 69 
 
 TEMPTATIONS. /, I 
 
 
 V. PERNICIOUS LTTERATTIEE. 
 
 TL THE THEATRE 108 
 
 VH. GAMBLINa. 132 
 
 Vin. GAMBLING IN CONNECTION WITH OTHER TtCES 165 
 
 IX. THE HOUSE OF DEATH 180 
 
 X. MODERN SCEPTICISM '. 200 
 
 MISSION AND DUTIES. 
 
 XI. PRINCIPLES OF TRADE 224 
 
 Xn. DUTIES ,0F EMPLOYERS 248 
 
 Xm. DUTIES OF CLERKS AND APPRENTICES 265 
 
 XIT. THE SABBATH 282 
 
 XV. THE BIBLE 301 
 
 XVI. SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE 322 
 
 XVH. CLAIMS OF OUR TIMES 342 
 
 XVnl. THE GREAT EXAMPLE 362 
 
HOME mJLUENCES. 
 " God setteth the solitary in families." — Psalm 68 : 6. 
 
 There is qq word in tlie Englisli language sc full of 
 thrilling and intense meaning as the word "home." It 
 is entwined around the tenderest chords of the heart, and 
 sweetest remembrances of hfe. We carry through life 
 the pictures of its quiet scenes, hung around the cham- 
 bers of the memory. We remember the bright faces 
 that first greeted us; the windows through which we 
 first looked out upon the world; the scenery that 
 painted its bright colors upon our vision; the trees, 
 flowers, and the green fields where we sported in our 
 childhood. These images not only follow us, but often 
 soothe the mind when agitated by life's .cares and per- 
 plexities. They relieve the dark shadow that the clouds 
 of adversity throw over our pathway. 
 
 May it not b^ true that the character of one's birth- 
 place, the scenery around it, as well as the influences 
 within, have an effect upon the disposition and the happi- 
 ness of after lifo? If moral impressions are abiding 
 
10 LECTURES TO YOUNft MSH. 
 
 and salutary, the impressions made by a beautiful and 
 variegated landscape may be permanent, and may aid 
 in moulding the taste and feelings. How often, when 
 one looks upon a beautiful sunset, is he reminded of 
 the golden hues and delicate tints with which the 
 sunsets of his childhood were painted ! When we meet 
 with flowers, far from home, that were favorites with 
 us in a father's garden, they seem to recognize us, 
 and smile upon us. They tell us that the same kind 
 Being who made the flowers of our early years made 
 them ; and that the same omniscient eye that watched 
 over our infancy will watch over us to the end of life's 
 pilgrimage. 
 
 Home is one of the blessings that has escaped the ruins 
 of the fall. It is the oasis in the moral desert that sur- 
 rounds us. It is the morning star of the dawning of our 
 existence, and the evening star of our declining years. 
 It is the rainbow, upon the storm-cloud, that tells us of a 
 quiet retreat from tempests of misfortune and calamity. 
 Its pleasures remain when all other sources of worldly 
 happiness are dried up. Its love and sympathy con- 
 tinue, when all beside is neglect or cold indifference. 
 
 In addressing you upon home influences, I would 
 speak, in the first place, of the power of the family, in its 
 ' relations to society and individuals. The family relation 
 is not only a source' of pleasure and benefit to the mem- 
 bers of the household, but it is a force or agency in 
 society of immense power. It gives character to the 
 public morals, and to the socis.1 institutions of a nation. 
 In a thousand ways it acts upon the public taste, Intel- 
 
HOME INFLtJENCES. 11 
 
 ligence and virtue. In heathen communities, where 
 there are virtually no families, where conjugal . fidelity 
 and paternal affection are scarcely known, society is in a 
 state of barbarism. There are no social organizations 
 ■for mutual protection and benefit, such as exist in 
 civilized communities. No general principles of human- 
 ity, justice and integrity, are recognized. Property is 
 insecure. Human life is unprotected. Systems of educa- 
 tion and pure religion are unknown. „__-«-—- — "" 
 
 Christian inissionaries can efiecTlittle towards enlight- 
 ening and elevating such a people, until they have estab- 
 lished the family relation. They see clearly that 
 domestic virtue must precede and create public virtue, — 
 that mutual confidence, integrity and faithfulness, must 
 exist in the family, before they will appear as elements 
 in the national character. Hence, they aim at restoring 
 the dominion of the natural affections, and abolishing 
 those customs that lead to the destruction of infants, the 
 burning of widows, and the desertion of aged parents. 
 They impress parents with a solemn sense of the duties 
 they owe to their children; and one of the first lessons 
 taught to children is obedience to the reasohable com- 
 mands of their parents. 
 
 In more favored communities, where there is a degree 
 of culture and refinement, the state of the family stamps 
 the national character. Napoleon never uttered a more 
 important truth than when he said, "What France most 
 needs is mothers ; " the benign influence of virtuous, 
 Christian homes ; and at this hour this is the great want 
 of the nations of Europe. They are without a pur© 
 
12 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 faith, without liberty, without many of the advantages 
 and blessipgs of life, hecause there are no mothers to 
 guide aright the rising generation. France is again 
 under an iron despotism because her -sons had none to 
 instil into their minds the principles of true freedom, 
 and to teach them how to maintain their rights. It is a 
 significant fact that in the French language there is no 
 word corresponding to our word " home." The name, 
 even, does not exist. Russiar and Austria hold their 
 power by brute force, because brute passions control the 
 masses of the people. Let those people possess the, 
 strength, and moral and intellectual force, that flow from 
 enlightened Christian families, and they would tear 
 asunder their chains, as so many gossamer threads. 
 They would sweep tyrants from their thrones, and estab- 
 lish and maintain a free government. 
 
 In New England the family lies at the basis of 
 all that is valuable in our public institutions. Home 
 government maintains the national government, and the 
 reverence for law which characterizes the community. 
 Home religion is the source of the church religion that 
 prevails in New England. Parents and children come 
 up from the family altar to the sanctuary of God. 
 The religious instruction of the nursery inclines our feet 
 towards the temple of worship. Abolish family religion, 
 and these churches would soon be vacant. Religion would 
 degenerate into mere outward forms. The Sabbath, 
 with its rich privileges and precious hopes, would pass 
 away. 
 
 Our charitable and benevolent societies, too, depend 
 
HOME INFLUENCES. , 13 
 
 upon the family relation. They are the emfcodiment 
 of the kind feelings that are cherished in Christian 
 homes. They are fed from the ten thousand family 
 rivulets of affection and love. Those great enterprises 
 that provide houses for the poor, asylums for the unfor- 
 tunate, hospitals for the sick, — that are securing the 
 printing of the Bible in various languages, that send 
 missionaries of the gospel to the destitute portions of our 
 land^ and embrace within their far-reaching charity the 
 interests of distant islands and continents, — all rest upon 
 Christian homes. 
 
 But it is the influence of the family upon its individ- 
 ual members which specially concerns us at the present 
 time. Home is the garden of the affections. The 
 strongest attachments and warmest endearments of life 
 are found here. A kind father feels that his family are 
 a part of himself He loves to provide for the wants of 
 his dependent offspring. He enters into their sorrows, 
 participates in their joys, makes their welfare identical 
 with his own. Sacrifice after sacrifice he is willing to 
 make for their benefit. I well remember a remark n;iade 
 by the late venerable Judge Daggett, in one of his lec- 
 tures upon law, before the students of Yale College. He 
 said that in the long course of his' legal profession he 
 had met with several sons who had, in circumstances of 
 difficulty, abandoned their fathers ; but he never met 
 with a father who would not cheerfully part with his last 
 shilling to save a son. 
 
 Home, too, is the sanctuary of a mother's love. What 
 ties that unite human hearts are so imperishable as those 
 2 . 
 
14 LBCTTJBES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 that bind her to her children 1 How constant her care, 
 how deep her anxiety, how unwearied her toil ! With 
 what interest does she watch the opening faculties and 
 dawning intelligence of her child. . His education, moral 
 culture, and prospects for life, absorb her thoughts. Is 
 he sick, — her sleepless nights, unremitting attentions, 
 and personal sacrifices for his benefit, bear testimony to 
 her faithfulness and affection ; and when that son leaves 
 his home, to seek business or prosecute his studies, her 
 warm benedictions follow him, her earnest prayers ascend 
 to God that He would watch over him, and keep him from 
 surrounding temptations and perils. Should he become 
 unfortunate, and clouds of sorrow gather about his path- 
 way, and those who had been friends in prosperity desert 
 him, there is the warm sanctuary of a mother's heart, to 
 which he can return. There is one voice that will cor- 
 dially welcome him; one countenance that will smile 
 upon him ; one being who will calm" his agitated spirit, 
 and soothe his aching heart. 
 
 If, too, a son shall break away from the restraints of 
 ■home, and plunge into vice, still will the yearnings of a 
 mother's heart follow him. Her happiness may give 
 way, but not her love. The prodigal is still her son, — 
 a son around whose infancy she watched so tenderly, and 
 in whose career she has invested- so many hopes. He 
 may forget her, may disregard her warning voice and be 
 unmoved by her tears and anguish ; but she cannut for- 
 get him. His name is engraved -upon her heart. His 
 shildhood is entwined around her fondest recollections. 
 She cannot think of her boy, about whom so many bright 
 
HOME INFLUENCES. 15 
 
 visions of honor and usefulness had floated in her 
 imagination, as blighted by vice, as mingling with hard- 
 ened profligates and profane scoffers. The cup is too 
 bitter. The anguish is too keen. Would that son but 
 return to the paths of virtue ! Would he but break 
 away from the fascinations that have enticed and deluded 
 him ; from the spell that binds him ; from the delirium 
 that hurries him on in his perilous career ! As the 
 thought flashes into her heart that his immortal soul is 
 in danger, the agony is too intense. 0, that he had died 
 when the bloom of childhood was upon him ; when at his 
 mother's side he offered to God his infant prayer; when 
 he spoke of Jesus, and asked about heaven, and the 
 angels, and his Father above ! Sad as would have been 
 that hour, melancholy as would have been the sight 
 of the little coffin, the shroud, the cold form, silent, 
 motionless, about to leave its home to return no more, it 
 would have been supportable, compared with this. 
 
 And, should that son reform, — should he pause in his 
 career ; should some thought of childhood scenes, or a 
 mother's prayers, guide him back to virtue, the first and 
 warmest welcome would gush from a mother's heart. 
 She would not only forgive, but forget the past. She 
 would strengthen, by every means in her power, his good 
 resolutions, and with her dying breath commend him to 
 that Father who could keep him from falling, and enable 
 him to obtain the victory. 
 
 We may go still further, and follow a son through a 
 career of crime. He may violate the laws of his country; 
 he may become a murderer, and be incarcerated in a 
 
16 LECTURES TO YOUNG, MEN. 
 
 gloomy dungeon ; disgrace, infamy, and a felon's death, 
 may be his portion ; yet there is one who. will not desert 
 him, — one who will weep over him, — will, in her agony, 
 plead with God to have mercy upon him. Though the 
 officers and spectators around may regard him wifh in- 
 difference or aversion, her heart is ready to burst with 
 affection, solicitude and anguish. Any sacrifices on her 
 part would be cheerfully made, could she but avert the 
 terrible doom that hangs over him ; but, his fate being 
 unalterable, as he dies her hopes die. The spring of 
 life breaks, dark shadows fall around her, and her soul 
 enters upon a night to which there is no morn, a night 
 without one s^ar of hope ! 
 
 Home is also a school for the culture of the strongest- 
 religious feelings and principles. The impressions made 
 by a parent's religious teaching, prayers and example, 
 are the deepest and most abiding that the mind receives. 
 They linger about the memory long after impressions 
 from all other sources have faded away, They touch the 
 heart, influence the conduct, and hold one back from a 
 career of sin, long after other chords are broken. No 
 one can wander so far from a Christian home as to be 
 beyond the reach of its religious associations and in- 
 fluences. He may take up his residence in a distant 
 city, where new scenes and duties engage his attention. 
 He may plunge into the gayeties, and even dissipation 
 around him, and in the midst of his revelry whispering 
 voices will tell him 'of his home, — of a pious father's 
 anxiety, of a mother's solicitude concerning him. As 
 he hears the pre fane oaths of his guilty companions he 
 
HOME INFLUENCES. 17 
 
 cannot but think of the many devout prayers that he 
 has heard offered up to the holy Being who is thus 
 insulted. As he listens to the licentious song, there will 
 come up from the depths of his memory the hymns which 
 his mother taught him when a child. As he takes the 
 intoxicating cup, to drink the fiery fluid, the hand of 
 his mother, as though grasping his, will hold it back, 
 and the tones of her warning voice will thrill through 
 his soul. At every step in his downward career he must 
 sever some tie, or do violence to some tender association, 
 that binds him to his Christian home. Wherever he 
 may be, in whatever society or condition, these influences 
 will follow him, as so many angel-messengers thronging 
 his pathway, and pointing back to his home. He may 
 drive them from him; but, faithful to their mission, they 
 will return again. In his hours of retirement and 
 meditation, in the quiet of night, they will visit him, and 
 urge the claims of virtue and the duties of religion. 
 
 If the son of pious parents is out upon the broad 
 ocean, he will carry with him the remembrances of his 
 Christian home. The Bible in his chest, placed there by 
 a mother's hand, will remind him of her tender care and 
 pious counsels. As the Sabbath returns, he will think 
 of the church in which he worshipped, the pew in which 
 he sat so many years, the Sabbath-school with its hal- 
 lowed associations : the very tones of the church-bell, 
 that from his infancy echoed amid his native hills, will 
 seem to vibrate upon his ear. The voice of his pastor 
 will be heard, discoursing of the love of Jesus and the 
 hazards ol eternity. In hours, too, of danger, when the 
 2* 
 
18 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 fierce winds howl around his ship, and the angry ivavea 
 threaten to sweep all before them, the sailor-boy. will 
 think of his Lome, and of the warm interest that is felt 
 there in his welfare. I remember reading somewhere an 
 account of a terrible storm at sea, which came On so sud- 
 denly, and with such violence, as to spread the greatest 
 consternation among the crew of a ship that was exposed 
 to its fury. The maddened winds, .the foaming surges, 
 the heavy crashes of thunder, the bending masts, the 
 wild, melancholy music of the shrouds and strained ropes, 
 all seemed so many precursors of the approach of death. 
 At the moment that the tempest was at its height, a 
 sailor-boy hastened to the captain, and assured him that 
 they would be saved. "What reason have you for think- 
 ing so 7" asked the captain. "Sir," said he, "this is the 
 hour for evening prayer at home ; and I know that father 
 is praying for me." Nor was he disappointed. The 
 storm abated. The dark clouds broke away, and the 
 bright stars shone down upon them ; and it was found 
 subsequently, that at that hour the family were engaged 
 in evening prayer, and that the absent son was fervently 
 commended to Him who controls the waves, and can hnsh 
 the fury of the storm. 
 
 We might cite numerous instances illustrative of the 
 power of home influences over absent sons. A clergy- 
 man in a southern port, in the discharge, of his duties 
 as a chaplain, was called to visit a sailor who was sup- 
 posed to be dying from a malady occasioned by his 
 profligacy. He addressed him, with great earnestness 
 and afiection, upon the subject of his soul's salvation. 
 
HOME INFLUENCES. 19 
 
 With an oath, the sick man ordered him to leaye the 
 room, and not trouble him in his dying hours. The 
 clergyman, however, idsisted upon warning him of his 
 danger, and urgfid him to repent of his sins before it was 
 too late. The man remained apparently unconcerned, 
 and prjetended to sleep during a prayer which was 
 offered in his behalf. Again and again the chaplain 
 visited hipi, but with no apparent success. One day, the 
 sick man made use of an expression which led his bene- 
 factor to suspect that he was a Scotchman. In order to 
 ascertain the fact, he repeated the stanza of a psalm from 
 the Scotch version of Psalms, which was familiar to him." 
 Immediately the sailor roused up, and manifested the 
 deepest emotion. Tears started in his eyes, indicating 
 that a tender chord of liis heart had been touched. The 
 minister, knowing the universality of family religious 
 instruction among the Scotch, ventured to inquire about 
 his mother. At the mention of the word, the prodigal 
 son burst into tears, amd seemed for a time overwhelmed 
 by the intensity of his feelings. He acknowledged that 
 he had a pious mother, who early taught him the great 
 truths of religion. Long siuoe he had left her, and been 
 a jpoor wanderer upon the ocean and the land, exposed to 
 temptations and dangers of every kind. The chaplaim 
 now secured his confidence, and gained access to his 
 heart. Through .the home influences that had remained 
 entwined around his affections during a long course of 
 dissipation, he reached his conscience, and led him to the 
 cross of Christ On recovering his health, the sailor 
 gave satisfactory evidence that he was a child of God. 
 
20 LBCTTJKBS TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 I hare read of an orphan sailor who left his home at 
 an early age, and, after years spent in yice, returned to 
 his native village, in search of his widowed mother. 
 Approaching his residence, he knocked at the door, but 
 no one came to admit him. He called aloud, but no reply" 
 was received. AH was silent as the tomb. At length, a 
 neighbor, seeing his anxiety and distress, inquired of 
 him whom he was seeking. Scarcely able to give utter- 
 ance to his words, — for he feared the worst, — he stam- 
 mered out the names of his mother and little brother. The 
 neighbor, in tones of pity and with a heart touched with 
 sympathy, informed him that the boy died a year since, 
 and that this severe affliction, in connection with the 
 mother's distress and anxiety for a son, long absent at 
 sea, had hurried her to the grave. But yesterday, the 
 good woman was buried. The intelligence was like a 
 lightningjstroke to the young man's heart. He could 
 not find words to express his bitter anguish, and sense of 
 his own wickedness, in being the cause of so much grief 
 to a pious, devoted mother. Could he have seen her 
 but for an hour ! Could he have implored her forgive- 
 ness ! Could he have mingled one drop of consola- 
 tion in her cup of sorrow ! But yesterday she was 
 lowered in the cold and silent grave. The fresh sods 
 marked her resting-place, whither the youth would have 
 gladly gone, that he might die with her. 
 
 The neighbor, on learning that the young man was the 
 widow's eldest son, said that she had a letter for him 
 which his mother wrote a few days before she died 
 
HOME INELUENCBS. , 21 
 
 and desired might be given to him, should he ever return 
 It was in these words : 
 
 " My dearest, only Son : When this reaches you 
 I shall be no more. Your little brother has gone before 
 me, and I cannot but hope and believe that he wa3 pre- 
 pared. I had fondly hoped that I should once more 
 have seen you on the shores of mortality; but this 
 hope is now relinquished. I have followed you, by 
 my prayers, through all your wanderings. Often, while 
 you little suspected it, even in the dark, cold nights in 
 winter, have I knelt for my lost son. There is but one 
 thing that gives me pain at dying, and that is, my dear 
 William, that I must' leave you in this wicked world, as 
 I fear, unreconciled to your Maker. I am too feeble 
 to say more. My glass is run. As you visit the sods 
 which cover my dust, 0, remember that you, too, must 
 soon follow ! Farewell ! The last breath of your mother 
 will be spent in. praying for you, that we may meet 
 above." 
 
 This letter from his dying mother stirred the deepest 
 fountains of feeling in his heart. All the warm associa- 
 tions connected with his childhood and his home, rushed 
 upon his memory. ' The thousand instances of a mother's 
 kindness came up before him. He thought of her coun- 
 sels, prayers, tears, hours of anxiety ; her sickness, the 
 last struggle, the cold form, the new-made grave ; and 
 he resolved that he would abandon his sinful course, and 
 s«rve his Maker. The resolution, with divine, aid, he 
 
22 ' LECTURES TO YOtNG MEN. 
 
 was enabled to keep; and lie became a useful member of 
 society, and a devoted Christian. 
 
 Tbe world, indeed, is full of the rich fruits of a 
 father's faithfulness and a mother's prayers. What 
 multitudes of youths have been saved from a career of 
 profligacy, disgrace and ruin, by the restraining influence 
 of home ! What multitudes have been prevented from 
 entering the dark regions of infidelity by the remem- 
 brance of some sacred hymn, or passages, of scripture, 
 that a pious mother taught them in their infancy ! The 
 eccentric but distinguished John Randolph once made to 
 an intimate friend the following statement: "I used to be 
 called a Frenchman, because I took the French side in 
 politics ; and, though this was unjust, the truth is that 
 I should have been a French atheist, if it had not been 
 for one recollection, and that was the memory of the 
 time when my departed mother used to take my little 
 hands in hers, and cause me on my knees to say, ' Our 
 Father which art in heaven.' " 
 
 Many, too, of the most holy and eminent men who 
 have adorned the Christian faith, and secured an im- 
 perishable influence, have been indebted for their power 
 to home religious culture. We might trace along from 
 the earliest periods of Christianity the long line of illus- 
 trious heroes who have stood forth for God and truth 
 amid prevaihng error, superstition and persecution'; and 
 we should find that, in almost every instance, parental 
 instruction was at the foundation of the eminent virtues 
 and heroic fortitude of these men. St. Chrysostom, the 
 earnest and devoted Bishop of Constantinople, enjoyed 
 
SOME INFLUENCES. 23 
 
 the best early advantages. His pious nwtlier instilled 
 into his infant inind the precious doctrines of the Bible, 
 and gave direction to those mental powers that were con- 
 secrated to the service of the church. 
 
 The conversion and eminent usefulness of St. Augus- 
 tine afford a striking example of the power of a mother's 
 influence. Although in early life he embraced error and 
 wandered from the paths of virtue, yet the faith of his 
 mother was strong that the seed which she had sown 
 in his young mind would not be lost ; and although it was 
 not until he reached his thirty-first year that he became 
 a penitent believer in Jesus, yet afterwards, so great was 
 his zeal and devotion, that the lustre of his genius and 
 the light of his holy example spread over the whole 
 church. I need not point you to Doddridge, who, when 
 a little boy, was taught by his pious mother the Bible 
 truths that were printed upon the tiles at the fire-side. 
 I need not remind you Qf the history of the Rev. John 
 Newton, or that of the heavenly-minded Payson, the 
 glow of whose piety was kindled by the instructions and 
 prayers of his mother ; or that of President Dwight, or 
 the devoted Samuel J. Mills, the self-denying Swartz, 
 and a host of others, whose lives illustrate in a remark- 
 able manner the blessing of God upon family religious 
 instruction. These eminent members of the Christian 
 church stand out as enduring monuments of the power 
 of parental faithfulness. 
 
 At this hour how many youth theire are in our cities, 
 upon the broad ocean, and in foreign countries, who are 
 daily feeling the influences that flow from early culture : 
 
24 LECTUBBS TO TOUNG MEN. 
 
 from the family altar around which they kneeled in theii 
 morning and evening devotions ; from the church ir. 
 which they worshipped ; from the Sabbath-school where 
 their powers were developed amid sacred -influences and 
 the voice of prayer and praise ! These chords of interest 
 and love that hind them to the past are so many tele- 
 graphic wires, along which they are constantly receiving 
 messages to remember the instructions of home, to avoid 
 the paths of temptation and vice, to obey God, love the 
 Saviour, live for eternity. 
 
 These Christian homes, too, have awakened an interest 
 in these youth in the far-distant regions of the universe. 
 The eye of a covenant-keeping God, to whom they were 
 solemnly dedicated in baptism, rests upon ' them. The 
 Saviour, who died to redeem them, is anxious to enroll 
 their names in the book of life. Hosts of angels and 
 glorified saints bend over the battlements of the new 
 Jerusalem, watching, with the deepest solicitude, for 
 their return, and ready to rejoice over their salvation. 
 Pious fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, who have 
 gone to the spirit-land, are anxious to meet the surviving 
 members of their family in the streets of the celestial 
 city, and rejoice with them in the blessings and glories 
 of redemption. If there are ties of affection and 
 interest here, who will say that death severs these ties, 
 and that in the spirit- world they cease to exist? Have 
 we not rather reason to suppose, that these ties are in- 
 creased by the experiences of the future life, and that a 
 mother in heaven is even more desirous of the salvation 
 of her children than she could have been while upon the* 
 
HOME INFLUENCES. 25 
 
 «artli 1 Certainly, her estimate of the value of the soul 
 Aas increased; her conceptions of the love of the 
 Saviour, and th« glories of heaven, are more vivid than 
 they could have been while she was upon the earth. 
 
 I beheve that there are sacred home influences that 
 descend upon us from the skies. I have lost a Christian 
 father, and yet he is not lost. He still lives, — lives, I 
 trust, near to the throne of God, — lives anxious to wel- 
 come those who were dear to him on earth in that bright 
 world, upon the splendors of which he has already 
 gazed, and the enrapturing joys of which he has already 
 experienced. 
 
 Some of you have buried pious mothers ; but, if the 
 spirit of the departed mother Hves, her affection for you 
 lives. That can never die. 
 
 Nor are the home influences on earth, of which we 
 have spoken, confined to the past. This Sabbath night, 
 in ten thousand New England homes, prayers are ascend- 
 ing from as many family altars, for the blessing of God 
 to rest upon absent children. You who are far from 
 your Christian homes are remembered at the throne of 
 grace. The supplications that are ofiered in your behalf 
 are Ernest and importunate ; perhaps they are accom- 
 panied with strong crying ' and tears. You may be 
 strangers here, but there are hearts that beat with 
 intense solicitude for your welfare. The world may seem 
 to some of you cold, selfish, unsympathizing ; but there 
 is a warm family circle where your name is mentioned 
 ■ffith affection, where a deep interest is felt in all that 
 3 
 
26 LECTURES TO TOUN& MEN. 
 
 concerns you, where kind hearts rejoice in y^ur joys, 
 and mingle their sympathies with your sorrow?. 
 
 But with the advantages and blessings of a Christian 
 home there are connected solemn obligations and duties. 
 If there is a being upon the earth who is under special ob- 
 ligations to love God and obey his commands, that being 
 is the child of Christian parents. For in infancy he was 
 dedicated to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 
 His powers and faculties opened amid the genial in- 
 fluences of Christian faith and love. The first words 
 that he learnt to utter were the broken words of an 
 infant -prayer. The first scenes that impressed his 
 imagination and excited emotion were connected with the 
 birth of Christ, thevisitof the angels, the miracles, the 
 crucifixion, death and resurrection, of Jesus. Thus the 
 mind, in its earliest stages, had infused into it the spirit 
 and principles of the gospel. It was born and nurtured 
 amid holy influences ; and, in the career of an account- 
 able and immortal being, I cannot Conceive anything more 
 awful than for such a youth to break away from these 
 early instructions, and plunge into infidelity or vice. To 
 break up the influence of early religious associations 
 amid scenes of revelry and dissipation, to hush the 
 whisperings of conscience, to -blast the hopes oi fond 
 parents, exhibits a recklessness that language cannot ex- 
 press. Kemember, that if you fall you do not fall alone. 
 You drag down others with you. You smite, as with a 
 pestilential blast, the home that nourished you. Its sun- 
 shine you turn into darkness ; its gayety into mourning 
 its bright prospects into despair. 
 
HOME INFLUENCES. 27 
 
 If you are resolved to walk in the paths of sin, far bet- 
 ter for you had you been born in a heathen land, and 
 been taught to bow in worship before rude idols, and been 
 reared amid ignorance, superstition and naoral darkness ! 
 Far better had no light from Calvary dawned upon your 
 pathway, and no voices of mercy reached your ears ! 
 
 Before closing, let me point you to another home, 
 beyond the stars ; a home bright with celestial glory ; a 
 home of enduring friendship and angelic love. Let me 
 persuade you to aspire to reach that ; for it is worthy of 
 your highest efforts. It will repay you for the toil, self- 
 discipline, and struggles of a life. There a Heavenly 
 Father will greet you with smiles. Jesus, your elder 
 brother, will conduct you to mansions prepared for you. 
 In that home no sickness, sorrow or death, will ever 
 enter. No cloud will obscure its brightness. No tears 
 will mingle with its joys. No funeral processions will 
 move through the streets. No graves will be opened. 
 No sad partings will be experienced. The union, the 
 harmony, the happiness, will be immortal. 
 
 *' What shall the unveiled glories he of our celestial home. 
 
 Where waves the glorious tree of life, where streams of bliss gush 
 
 free, 
 And all is glowing in the light of immortality ? 
 To see again the home of youth, when weary years have passed. 
 Serenely bright as when we turned and looked upon it last ; 
 To hear the voice of love, to meet the rapturous embrace. 
 To gaze, through tears of gladness, on each dear familiar face. 
 0, this, indeed, is joy ! though here we meet again to part;- 
 But what transporting bliss awaits the pure and faithful heart. 
 When it shall find the loved and lost, those who have gone before. 
 Where every tear is wiped away, where partings come no more ! " 
 
II. 
 
 FORMATION OP CHAEACTEE. 
 
 ♦' Wliei vw.lh. shall a young man cleanse his way ? By taking heed 
 thareto, according to thy word." — Psaim 119 j 9. 
 
 Thb primary meaning of the word character is a 
 mark made by cutting or engraving on any substance, as 
 wood, stone, or metal. Hence, as applied to man, it 
 signifies the marks or impressions made upon the mind. 
 The instruments in producing diese impressions are 
 the thoughts, words, and deeds. Every thought that 
 enters the mind, every purpose that is formed, as well 
 as every external action, leaves its mark. Besides, a 
 variety of influences and circumstances contribute to the 
 formation of the character. The natural endowments 
 of the intellect, the susceptibilities and passions of the 
 soul, the circumstances of birth, edjication, social position, 
 all help to form the character. It is the product of 
 many forces, some of which act upon us from without, 
 and others from within. 
 
 Character is, in one sense, the whole of a man's being. 
 Tt is all that is really vital, that possesses genuine worth 
 
SOEMATION OF CHARACTER. . 29 
 
 and permanent infljience. It i3 the revelation that we 
 make to the ■world of^ our inward force, virtues, and prin- 
 ciples. It defines one's position in society, affords the 
 means of success in life, renders one distinguished or 
 obscure, happy or wretched. 
 
 Every man has some character, some distinctive marks 
 by which he is known, and with which his name is 
 always associated. We can no more think of a person 
 without calling to mind his character, than we can think 
 of the sun without the idea of light, or of a flower with- 
 out the idea of beauty. We cannot pass an acquaintance 
 in the' street without feeling that his character touches 
 us, and affects us for good or evil. We cannot mingle in 
 the society of another without every moment receiving 
 impressions from his principles, habits, and course of 
 life. 
 
 The importance and value of a good character cannot 
 be over-estimated. Without it, wealth, learning, or any 
 external advantages, can be of but little real service. 
 A person may be surrounded with luxuries, may enjoy 
 the most ample opportunities for mental culture, may be 
 appointed to a position of honor and responsibility, and 
 yet, without sound, virtuous principles, he can be neither 
 useful nor happy. 
 
 We have intimated that there are two classes of forces 
 that contribute to the formation of character, — those which 
 are external and those which are internal. Over the 
 former we cannot always have control. The latter are 
 in our power, and are the most influential in creating the 
 character. Let us notice some of them. 
 S* 
 
30 , f ECTUEBS TO TOTJWa MEN. 
 
 One of the most potent of these internal agencies is 
 thought. Such is the nature of mind that the processes 
 of thought, during our wakeful hours, are as continuous 
 as the emission of light from the sun, or the motion of 
 the earth in its orbit. Ideas of some kind are contin- 
 ually passing through the mind, and leaving behind them 
 a distinct impression. They constitute the society in 
 which the spirit lives and moves. Inspiration has said, 
 ''As a man thinbeth, so is he." His thoughts make up 
 the substance and essence of his being. They form the 
 blood that courses through the mental system, give sen- 
 sibility and healthful action to the nerves, and produce 
 the bona and muscle of our executive power. They 
 shape the motives, form the principles, and enter into all 
 the mental and moral machinery of the soul. 
 
 It may not always be in one's power to decide what 
 thoughts shall, by the laws of association, or the suggest- 
 ive influence of surrounding objects, enter the mind ; but 
 we can decide what shall be retained or cherished. If 
 evil thoughts or sceptical views force themselves upon the 
 attention, it is in the power of the will to retain or banish 
 them. If fostered, they will leave their mark, and 
 spread their poisonous influence over the soul. They 
 will prepare the way for an infidel character, by drawing 
 off the afiections from God, ipreoccupying the mind with 
 tendencies to error, arid excluding the influences of divine 
 truth. If impure thoughts are ch&rished, their weaken- 
 ing and debasing influence will soon be felt. The youth 
 may indulge himself in ideal views of forbidden pleasure, 
 and may imagine that there is no danger in entertaining • 
 
FORMATION OF CHAKACXEK. 31 
 
 them in the inner and secret chambers of the soul. He 
 may admit these thoughts under the full intention of 
 never allowing them to ripen into purposes, or to mould 
 his character. ~ The gates are thrown open, and the army 
 allowed to enter and pitch their tents, under the idea that 
 those tents can he easily struck, and the host be easily 
 routed. But a possession thus obtained by the enemy is 
 not so readily relinquished. Those frail tents afford 
 shelter to forces that are busy in erecting citadels, which 
 in after years the deluded youth may in vain attempt to 
 demolish. 
 
 Some persons may complain of their liability to be 
 thus assailed by evil thoughts, at a peiiod of life when 
 the mind is so susceptible to their influence. But it may 
 be true that the benefits accruing from resisting these 
 foes are such as can be derived from no other source. A 
 strong and lofty character may need as much the self- 
 discipline which arises from the exercise of resistance, as 
 it needs the beneficial influence of pure and holy thoughts. 
 Indeed, we cannot see how one can acquire moral 
 strength without the disciplinary exercise of resisting 
 temptation in some of its forms. The blessing is pro- 
 nounced, not upon the man that escapeth, but upon him 
 who " endure th temptation." 
 
 Our words also aid in forming the character. Words 
 have been called ''the incarnation of thought." They 
 are to ideas what tne body is to the soul. They endow 
 them with a personal and visible existence ; and, if it is 
 true, as some writers tell us, that words once uttered 
 produce vibrations upon the atmosphere that never cease, 
 
82 LECTUBBS TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 » 
 
 and make an indelible impression upon the universe, how 
 much more must they affect the sensitive nature of man ! 
 How much more must they impress the youthful mind, 
 when, in its plastic state, it is susceptible to the faintest 
 breath of influence, and feels the pressure of every 
 object with which it comes Jn contact.. 
 
 We are all aware of the lasting impressions that one 
 receives from the conversation and sentiments of those 
 with whom he habitually associates. So well understood 
 is this, that it is a common saying that "a man is known 
 by the company he keeps." But it is equally true that 
 our own words have a marked effect upon ourselves. 
 They exert a reflex influence, which tends greatly to 
 strengthen the sentiment or principle to which they give 
 utterance. An impure word sends back into the soul an 
 impure influence. It taints the source from which it 
 sprung. It is sure to demoralize the speaker, though it 
 may fail to injure the listener. The rebound of a can- 
 non is certain, though the shot may not hit the mark at 
 which it is aimed. A blasphemous word flashes back 
 atheism into the heart. Each repetition of the oath 
 blasts the moral virtues and sentiments, until they all 
 wither and die. A false word renders the speaker more 
 false, and disturbs the foundations of all integrity. 
 Every nerve is a telegraphic wire, that conveys th^ 
 sound to the seat of vlife, and transmits it through all the 
 chambers of the soul. Let one with sceptical tendencies 
 give utterance to his views, and attempt by arguments to 
 sustain them, and, though his opponent may not be con- 
 
FORMATION OP CHARACTER. 33 
 
 vinced by his reasoning, he will himself return from the 
 field more confirmed itt his scepticism. His words will 
 increase the blackness of the dark cloud which previously 
 overshadowed his spirit. 
 
 On the other hand, we are beneficially impressed by 
 every truthful and virtuous utterance. A holy thought, 
 clothed ia suitable language, stands out bef6re the mind 
 as a beauteous figure in white robes, pointing its author 
 towards the skies. It becomes a spiritual companion, to 
 lift the soul upward, to aid it in its noblest aspirations. 
 How much of the power of prayer may lie in the reflex 
 influence of the uttered words upon the suppliant! 
 With the very expression of the desire may be connected 
 the reception of the blessing. In fact, how often it hap- 
 pens that the words scarcely escape the lips before the 
 soul feels that the request is granted ! 
 
 How hgp^ful, then, is the condition of the praying 
 youth ! With his faculties opening and his powers 
 developing under the warm breath and amid the sacred 
 influences of prayer, how speedily will they ripen into a 
 holy character ! How stimulating to him to know that 
 not only every prayer, but that every holy word, is 
 listened to and remembered by the supreme Father ! 
 "Then tiiey that feared the Lord spake often one to 
 another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it ; and a 
 book of remembrance was written before him, for them 
 that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name." 
 
 Besides our thoughts and words, our deeds contribute 
 to the formation of the character. Every action is a 
 stone or pillar in the structure which we are daily 
 
34 LBCTUEBS TO YOUNa MEN. 
 
 employed in erecting. The idea prevails, to some extent, 
 that the conduct in the season of youth, for instance, 
 need not sensibly impress the character ; and that it will 
 be time enough to cultivate the stern principles of integ- 
 rity, virtue and piety, in maturer age, when the ardor of 
 youth shall have abated, when reason shall have gained 
 dominion over the passions, and the mind be more sus- 
 ceptible to the claims of duty than to the enticements of 
 pleasure. But an idea more false, more destructive to 
 an exalted character and noble achievements, cannot be 
 entertained. As well might the husbandman delay sow- 
 ing his seed until the spring and summer are past, and 
 the ground hardened ,by the frosts of a rigorous winter. 
 As well might one who is desirous of enjoying firm 
 health inoculate his system with the seeds of disease, — 
 with the plague or the cholera, — and expect at such time 
 as he may see fit to_recover from its effects, and banish the 
 malady. It is true that, by the special favor of heaven, 
 a reformation may be wrought in mature or advanced 
 age ; but a moral constitution once shattered can never 
 fully, in this life at least, recover from the shock which 
 it has received. Sins may be repented of, but they can- 
 not be annihilated. God may grant forgiveness, and the 
 soul may have faith in rehgion ; but that faith must be 
 maintained by many a struggle against the evil tendencies 
 of a perverted nature. Progress may be made in virtue 
 and holiness ; but every step in that progress is a victory 
 over hostile forces. Every inch costs intense efforis, 
 perhaps burning teirs and soul-consuming agonies. The 
 battle rages, not simply with external, but also with 
 
FORMATION OB CHARACTEK. 35 
 
 iiiternal foes. A double conflict must be carried for- 
 ward, that requires unceasing vigilance and indomitable 
 energy. 
 
 In the case of the reformed inebriate, how difficult, in 
 many instances at least, is it for him to hold on to his 
 reformation ! How hard the struggle to keep down the 
 TOlcanic fires that are burning and raging within him ! 
 How many weighty motives, drawn from a regard to 
 health, reputation, peace of mind, — drawn from the 
 eternal world, — must be piled upon the tyrant appetite, to 
 keep it from springing upon him, and overmastering his 
 good resolutions, and hurling him back into disgrace, 
 agony and ruin ! He may, it is true, be successful ; but 
 what a price njiust he pay, what a wealth of energy must 
 he expend, to obtain the victory ! 
 
 A person, too, who in youth indulged in sin, may, in 
 after life, become, a useful member of society ; but a far 
 higher degree of usefulness would have been reached, 
 could he have brought to his work the strength of un- 
 impaired faculties, .and the power of a culture thg,t com- 
 menced with the earliest development of the mind. Life 
 is too short, time is too valuable, to permit any to waste 
 the most precious years of their existence. Our mission 
 is too solemn, our work too mighty, to be entered upon 
 with crippled energies and weakened powers. 
 
 But our actions give a rapid growth to character, be- 
 cause they early bring it under the power of habits that 
 bind the soul as with chains of iron. This power of 
 habit, which may be defined the ability of doing that 
 easily which we do frequently, was conferred upon us by 
 
36 LEOTUKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 the Creator with the most beneficent design. Its pur- 
 pose was to aid a moral being in forming a vigorous and 
 holy character, and to give strength to right principles. 
 A temptation resisted in successive conflicts is deprived 
 of its power over the mind, and the very resistance ripens 
 into a habit with which it is in vain for the adversary to 
 contend. A habit of prayer renders the duty easy and 
 delightful. So, in a course of holy obedience, or benevr 
 olent effort, the propelling influence of this power is 
 strongly felt. Nor is it unreasonable to suppose that 
 this power contributes ia a great- measure to the stability 
 of the holiness and happiness of heavenly beings. 
 
 But, if perverted, it acts with fearful energy in an 
 opposite direction.. It confirms one in a sinful course, 
 and hurries him down from one stage of wickedness to 
 another with accelerated velocity. The youth, by failing 
 to resist the first temptation, finds the difficulties increased 
 in the second conflict, and in the third they become still 
 more formidable. Besides, he approaches his enemy, 
 after lip first defeat, with impaired energies, with the 
 consciousness of rectitude gone, with the stain of sin 
 upon his soul. His repeated acts of wickedness soon 
 become a habit that holds him within its terrible grasp • 
 and it may shortly be as easy for an Ethiopian to change 
 his skin, or a leopard his spots, as for one accustomed to 
 do evil to learn to do well. 
 
 After experiencing some of the disastrous conseq^uences 
 of his vicious course, and feeling the degradation of hia 
 slavery, the youth may desire to escape,. He may, 
 in bis moments of meditation and remorse, strive to tear 
 
EOKMATION OF CHARACTER. 37 
 
 the manacles from his limbs, and break the chiins that 
 bind him to his cruel task-masters. But those manacles 
 and chains are not so easily shaken off. The tyrant vice 
 whom he has enthroned in his heart is not so easily 
 hurled from his seat. While he is able, he will retain 
 his position, and blast with his foul breath the fine sen- 
 sibilities and noble aspirations of the soul. He will 
 make, if possible, a wreck of that which was designed as 
 " a temple of the living God." 
 
 lii how many instances, even before the season of 
 youth has passed away, is a miserable character formed, 
 concerning which there is no hope of reformation or im- 
 provement ! As though the blasts of a fearful pestilence 
 had swept over it, as though the fires of a conflagration 
 had consumed it, the virtues are withered, and all that 
 was pure or noble is destroyed. 
 
 Were vice presented to the young in all its odious 
 features and destructive consequences, they would shrink 
 back with dismay from its contaminating influence. But, 
 veiling her deformities, she appears in an alluring and 
 attractive form, attended with music and dancing, and a 
 thousand fascinating pleasures. She invites her votaries 
 to break away from the restraints of a rigid and coH 
 virtue ; to disregard the threatenings of the Bible and the 
 admonitions of conscience, and drink the cup of pleasure 
 ■v^hile the spirits are buoyant, and the springs of life are 
 fresh and active. And truly her path seems, at first, to 
 be strewed with flowers, and her bowers to be decked 
 with garlands of the richest hue. The soul is enchanted 
 with her music, and all anxious thoughts are drowaed in 
 4 
 
88 LECTURES TO TOUNG MEN. 
 
 revelry and mirth. But soon the scene clianges, — rapidty 
 fearfully clianges. The hright prospects begin to fade 
 and conscience whispers of remorse ! Spectral forms 
 rise up before the victim of sin, and breathe in his ear 
 the words judgment, retribution, eternity ! The tide 
 of agony, deep, rapid, begins to flow, — a tide that no 
 sighs, tears or pleadings, can check. The voice of reason 
 having been slighted, the laws of heaven having been trod- 
 den under foot, — all that is valuable in infinite wisdom, 
 awful in authority, and touching iri goodness, having been 
 disregarded, — the deluded man must chng to what he can 
 gather from the wreck of his happiness. But, with his 
 hopes shattered and prospects blasted, he wakes up to a 
 consciousness of his situation when it is too late to 
 remedy the evil. He struggles to tear off his chains, 
 when they are too heavy and too strong to be broken. 
 
 In addition to these inward forces that contribute to the 
 formation of the character, there are external influences 
 and- circumstances which materially aid in its develop- 
 ment. The advantages of early education, the society 
 into which the youth is thrown, the companions of his 
 boyhood, the spirit of the age in which he lives, the state 
 of learning, science and the arts, the civil institutions 
 under which he is reared, the current theology of the 
 day, all have their influence in moulding the character. 
 
 Extreme poverty or 'excessive wealth are obviously 
 unfavorable to the fullest development and highest cul- 
 ture. The enervating influence of wealth exerts, per- 
 haps, a more disastrous influence than the discourage- 
 ments of poverty. For, while one is surrounded with 
 
SOKMATION OE CHAEACTEK. 39 
 
 every luxury, and has the means of gratifying every 
 desire, it is extremely difficult for him to arouse himself, 
 and shake off the natural indolence of the mind. Hence, 
 comparatively few of this class have attained to eminence 
 in any branches of learning, or made a marked im- 
 pression upon the world's history. On the other hand, 
 those who have early been called upon to face the evils 
 of poverty have felt the necessity of making strenuous 
 efforts in order to rise above the adverse circumstances 
 vrhich surrounded them. They have felt that they must 
 struggle against the tide, or be swept away by it. 
 Especially, if they would attain to eminence, they have 
 seen that, in the absence of wealth, influential friends, 
 and other external advantages, they must supply their 
 place by persevering toil, and energetic effort. 
 
 It is a favorable circumstance for- the youth of our 
 country, that the means of subsistence are to so great an 
 extent equally distributed, and that the advantages of 
 education, and mental and rehgious culture, are within 
 the reach of all classes. The barriers which in past 
 ages limited these benefits to the -few whose wealth or 
 rank elevated them above the masses have been thrown 
 down. The gates of the temple of religion and knowl- 
 edge are thrown open to all, affording to the high and 
 low, the rich and the poor, the same opportunities for 
 mental culture and honorable distinction in society. All 
 may start in the race together, and compete for the prizes 
 before them ; knowing that they will be distributed, not 
 according to the accidents of birth, wealth or patronage, 
 but as the rewards of industry, and high intellectual and 
 jnoral attainmelits. 
 
40 LBCTDRES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Each compi.!!titor, too, may feel the stimulus that flo-vrs 
 from our free institutions ; from the general intelligence 
 around him; the enterprise of the age; from a pure 
 religious faith, and from those great schemes of philanr 
 thropy and Christian benevolence that distingukh our 
 times, and embrace within their far-reaching charity the 
 interests of a world. As he breathes the air of liberty, 
 he cannot fail to experience its exhilarating and quick- 
 ening influence. He cannot fail to contrast his advan- 
 tages with those of multitudes in other lands, who are 
 fettered in thought, as well as in person, by the systems 
 of despotism, or the tyranny of arbitrary social dis- 
 tinctions, under which they live. As he is impressed by 
 the spirit of activity around him, he cannot allow his 
 own energies to slumber. As he sees the inviting fields 
 for usefulness and" honorable effort that are spread out 
 before him, he cannot but have his desires kindled ta 
 accomplish something worthy of the age in which h« 
 lives, and of the country which has given him birth. 
 Everything around and above him raises its cheering 
 voice, and bids him "onward." The heroes of the past, 
 who have toiled and suffered to secure these rich advan- 
 tages, send up their earnest appeals to him, to be faith- 
 ful and reap the glorious harvest before him. They 
 plead with him not to throw away his inheritance ; not 
 to squander his birthright; not to trample beneath his 
 feet those golden opportunities which have cost ages of 
 toil, and which, once lost to him, are lost forever ! 
 
 How many of the aged, whose career on earth is soon 
 l» close, reflect with the keenest sorrow upon the follies 
 
FORMATION OF CHARACTER. 41 
 
 of their youth, — upon their failure to form a character 
 based upon the principles of virtue and integrity ! They 
 can now see what a noble theatre for action and achieve- 
 ment they have neglected to enter ; what an amount of 
 happiness that was within their reach they have failed to 
 secure ; what splendid prizes they might have obtained, 
 but which are now beyond their grasp. ^Had their oppoi"- 
 tunities been less favorable for success and distinction, — 
 had they been born under despotic institutions, or in an 
 age of ignorance, or amid the darkness of heathenism, — 
 there would be circumstances to alleviate their anguish. 
 But, to have breathed the air of freedom, and yet 
 voluntarily become the slaves of sin ; to have been sur- 
 rounded with the treasures of knowledge, and yet re- 
 mained poor in thought and intellectual culture ; to have 
 been reared amid Christian churches, and yet have 
 infidel hearts ; to know of a heaven for which no pre- 
 paration has been made, — this is anguish which can be 
 realized only by experience. 0, prize a virtuous, holy 
 character ! Its value cannot be estimated ! The bless- 
 ings flowing from it cannot be numbered ! It " is 
 more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst 
 desire are not to be compared unto" it. It is your life, 
 the very substance of your being here, and your hope 
 for immortality. For, when you die, you must leave 
 behind friends, riches, and all worldly advantages; but 
 you will take your characters, and as these are true or 
 false, holy or sinful, in the view of the great J^dge, 
 your djstiny will be decided for eternity. 
 
 4* 
 
III. 
 
 ENERGY OP CHAUACTER. 
 
 " I must vork ie works of him that sent me, -while it is day : th« 
 night oometh when no man can work." — St. John 9 : 4. 
 
 Such was the earnest and sublime utterance of Hinji, 
 who, though a divine being, yet felt the importance of 
 making the most strenuous efforts for the accomplishment 
 of his mission. Conscious that he had but a short time 
 in which to work, — that the night of death was at hand, 
 when no labor could.be performed, — he aimed at filling 
 up every day and every hour with useful endeavors. 
 He never lost sight of the fact that he had a great work 
 to achieve, a vast system of truth to unfold, — principles 
 to illustrate, virtues to develop, a world to redeem and 
 save. He 'must work ; for he had come to change the 
 face of society, — to revolutionize empires, undermine 
 systems of iniquity, lift mankind from their degradation, 
 superstition and moral darkness, into the regions of light, 
 truth, and heavenly blessedness. Hence we find him 
 constantly employed in instructing his .disciples, or 
 preaching to the multitude, or healing the sick, or en- 
 
ENERGY OF CHAKACTBR. 43 
 
 gaged in soma duty bearing upon his great mission t© 
 earth. 
 
 Although our work can by no means compare, in mag- 
 nitude and importance, with that of the divine Redeemer, 
 yet it is true that every one who is born intff the world 
 has a mission to accomplish. He is sent forth by the 
 Creator, endowed with mental and moral faculties, — with 
 reason, judgment, conscience, and will, — that he may per- 
 form a specific work. This design is as apparent as that 
 the sun is placed in the heavens to shine, or the earth, 
 with its atmosphere, vegetation and treasures, is adapted to 
 the nature of man. Each individual is an agency in the 
 moral universe of God, that, for aught we can tell, is 
 indispensable to the carrying forward of his plans, and 
 the accomplishment of his highest purposes. Each one 
 has heights to climb, or depths to explore, or fields of 
 knowledge to traverse, or mysteries to unravel, or some 
 principle or virtue to illustrate, which renders his 
 being of great importance. If the minutest insect is cre- 
 ated with a specific design ; if each one of the millions 
 of animalculse that find accommodation, sustenance and 
 employment, in a drop of water, is summoned into being 
 to aid in fulfilling some plan upon which the infinite 
 Jehovah has entered ; if not a sparrow falleth to the 
 ground without our Heavenly Father's notice ; and if the 
 very hairs of our head are all numbered, — can we regard 
 as unimportant the existence and mission of an intellect- 
 ual and immortal being? "Are ye not of more value 
 than many sparrows'?" One human life, however short 
 or obscure, may be vital with interests and consequences 
 
44 LECTURES TO YOTJNG MEN. 
 
 of infinite moment. There may stream forth from it 
 currents of influence, that shall flow on, deepening, 
 widening, and increasing in force, forever. Even the 
 infant, whose existence is limited to a day, may come to 
 fiilfil an important missiop. It may stir some affection 
 in the maternal heart, or teach some lesson of mortality, 
 that may be attended with infinite consequences. It may 
 come as an angel messenger from the eternal throne, to 
 bestow immortal blessings, though it tarry but for a day. 
 
 In fulfilling, with honor and success, the great mission 
 of life, it is of high importance that the youth possess 
 energy of character. Other qualities, however valuable, 
 can be of little service without this. One may possess 
 talents, imagination, a fine taste ; he may have admirable 
 moral qualities, — conscientiousness, integrity, benevo- 
 lence ; but the propelling-power of his being imist be 
 energy. These other qualities are indeed essential to 
 success ; but there must be executive force in the soul to 
 render them operative. There must be fire within, to 
 quicken them into life, and to give them a glow that will 
 cause them to shed their radiance upon others. 
 
 Many youth, endowed with excellent mental and moral 
 qualities, fail of success in life for the want of this single 
 principle. "Their plans are constantly fluctuating. They 
 cannot fix upon any defiinite course Of action. A purpose 
 formed to-day is abandoned to-morrow. A slight diffi- 
 culty, an unexpected obstacle, the advice of a friend or 
 the taunt of an enemy, is suiBcient to break up a pkn, 
 which had been formed under a ^ow of enthusiasm, and 
 with the njDst confident eispectalion that it would be 
 
ENERGY OB CHARACTER. 45 
 
 BuccesaMly prosecuted. Even the different moods in 
 wliicli the mind is thrown from day to day, or at different . 
 periods of the same day, may exert a controlling influ- 
 ence over the purposes of life. While the mind is 
 indulging in a revery, the future may ssem filled 
 with lasting joys and unfading honors. Bright castles 
 float in the air, and adorn the vision upon which the 
 mental eye is fixed ; the prizes of ambition appear to be 
 almost within the grasp ; the ascent up Mount Parnassus 
 seems easy, and the gold of Ophir sparkles amid the 
 brilliancy that overspreads the scene. But soon the 
 mists set in, and gradually obscure the vision. The 
 ardor of the mind abates. The castles fade away ; 
 dark shadows fall fast and thick ; and all looks dreary 
 and hopeless. But the reality has not changed. The 
 objects are as fixed under one view, or state of mind, as 
 another. A city with its streets, habitations, churches 
 and towers, is as real in the darkness of midnight as 
 when under the blazing light of a meridian sun. Though 
 we may not see it, this does not affect the fact of its 
 existence. Its business, too, may be suspended without 
 being destroyed. And he who, with the return of each 
 morning's light, improves the opportunities that the day 
 affords, is as sure to make progress as though the light 
 was continuous and the day uninterrupted. So with the 
 youth in prosecuting the great work of life. Let him at 
 all times, and under all circumstances, have faith in the 
 reality and value of the prizes that are before him, — let 
 him, amid darkness and storms, as well as in sunshine 
 
46 LELTXJEES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 and prosperity, be under tlie control of an inflexible 
 energy of purpose, — and he cannot fail of success. 
 
 Among tbe constituent elements that enter into de- 
 cision of charapter, we would specify, in the first place, 
 a strong self-reliance. By this we do not mean an 
 undue estimate of one's powers or attainments, or a 
 dogged adherence to our own opinions, simply because 
 we hare formed them. We would not hare a person 
 confound energy with obstinacy, or resolution of purpose 
 with an irrational self-will ; for the presence of these lat- 
 ter qualities is as fatal to success as the absence of the 
 former. They shut the door to improvement, obstruct 
 the progress of a healthful mental and moral culture, and 
 excite disgust in those who might befriend the youth. 
 But we mean, by this element, a just confidence in one's 
 ability to do the work which the Creator has assigned to 
 him ; an abiding consciousness that the actiye, thinking, 
 energizing principle within him has not been made in 
 vain ; a deep conviction that he has not only an import- 
 ant mission to accomplish, but that he has faculties and 
 powers adequate to the task. He need not flatter him- 
 self that he is a genius, or that his talents are of a supe- 
 rior order, or that there are aily special reasons why he 
 should succeed while others fail. It is enough for him 
 to feel that an infinite God made him, and that an in- 
 finite God has made nothing in vain. There are the 
 marks of a divine workmanship upon his soul; and into 
 that soul may have fallen a spark of ethereal fire, which 
 if kindled, may shed light upon the world. The youth 
 may have but one talent. Let him, then, rely upon that • 
 
ENERGY OF CHARACTER. 47 
 
 let him cultivate it ; let him resolve that, God helping 
 him, it shall do the work assigned to it. Let km not, 
 because he has not five or ten talents, go and bury it in 
 a napkin. It is one talent, — a spiritual gift from the 
 infinite Deity. It is a gem which admits of a lustre that 
 may shine long after suns shall have become dim, and 
 stars shall have faded from the heavens. According to 
 the parable, there is a responsibility connected with this 
 humble gift which the possessor cannot shake off. The 
 inquiry for him to institute is not " How many talents 
 has tho Great Master given to me 7" but, "What use 
 shall I make of what he has given? — How shall I best 
 fulfil my mission, be that mission great or small 1 The 
 Creator, for the wisest reasons, has seen fit to grant me 
 but one talent. These reasons it does not concern me to 
 investigate, or criticize, or quarrel with. My duty is 
 plain, and it is imperative, — to use that talent to the best 
 possible advantage." 
 
 It is by no means the most brilliantly endowed intel- 
 lects that are the most useful, or attain to the highest 
 distinction. The lustre of many a genius has faded 
 early ; and mental endowments that gave promise of the 
 richest fruits have been wasted by irresolution or pro- 
 crastination. It is not the "most fertile portions of the 
 earth where we find the greatest wealth and prosperity. 
 With the richest soil, and most abundant vegetation, and 
 even inexhaustible mineral resources, are often connected 
 a people marked for their imbecility, ignorance and pov- 
 erty ; while, with few natural advantages, — as, for ex- 
 ample, in New England, — a community may thrive, and 
 
48 LECTURES TO TOUNG MEN. 
 
 be distinguished not only for wealth, but for the highest 
 intellectual and moral attainments. With a rough soil, a 
 rigorous, chmate, and few important articles of export be- 
 side granite and ice, a people, by the force of energy, may 
 surround themselves with luxuries, and live in splendor ; 
 they may have leisure- to traverse the various depart- 
 ments of literature, and explore the mines of science ; 
 have the means of relieving the wants of the poor, and 
 sustaining a system of charities unparalleled in the his- 
 tory of the world. And what may be done, under the 
 power of this principle, by a community, may be done by 
 an individual. Indeed, the force of a community is only 
 the aggregate of individual forces. A nation's power is 
 only an organization of the powers of the individual 
 members or subjects. And it is true, both of nations and 
 individuals, that, without internal force, all external 
 advantages can be of but little service. A fertile soil, 
 mineral wealth, fine 'harbors, noble rivers, will be no 
 more, to a people without energy, than refined society, 
 books, institutions of learning and' other advantages, will 
 be to a youth destitute of this principle. We see in the 
 same latitudes the greatest diversity of national charaotei 
 and power. And we see, on the same arena, one youth 
 attaining to the highest excellence, and seizing the noblest 
 prizes, while another utterly fails, and is the victim of 
 disappointment and wretchedness. Within the circle of 
 the same family are often found the purest virtues and 
 the most debasing vices, the highest intellectual culture 
 and an entire neglect of the mental faculties, the loftiest 
 and holiest ambition and the most grovelling desires 
 
ENERGY OF CHAEACTER. 49 
 
 With precisely similar early advantages, and from tinder 
 the tuition of the same teacher, one youth may pursue 
 a path which is " as a shining light, shining brighter and 
 brighter unto the perfect day," while another may take 
 a downward course, in which every step involves him in 
 deeper darkness and more intricate perplexities. 
 
 The great mistake of many a youth is, "in depending 
 upon external advantages, rather than internal force. 
 One prides himself upon the high respectability of his 
 family ; another, upon his father's wealth ; another, upon 
 having been educated within the walls of a distinguished 
 college ; • another, upon having travelled in foreign lands, 
 and visited places and scenes connected with eminent 
 heroes, poets or philosophers. Now, either or all of 
 these, if relied upon without accompanying inward force, 
 will prove to be but broken reeds. A claim to regard or 
 distinction based upon aristocratic relations is, in this 
 republican land at least, calculated to excite intense and 
 universal disgust. Aristocracy, indeed, is a relic of bar- 
 barism, that is at war with the best interests and highest 
 culture of society. It has as much to do with a man's 
 real worth as the shape or quality of his coat has to do 
 with his character. And, in most instances, with those 
 who depend upon this, circumstance, all that is vital in 
 the race became long since extinct, in the death of their* 
 ancestors. The only real glory that remains is found 
 around tomb-stones. I have seen specimens of this class, 
 whose destitution of every other quality was calculated 
 to excite one's pity ; specimens that might appropriately 
 5 
 
50 LECTURES TO TOTJNG MEN. 
 
 be deposited in a museum, in the department assigned to 
 fossil remains. 
 
 A youth who inherits the virtues of his ancestors — 
 their stem integrity, patriotism or philanthropy — is 
 indeed deserving of regard. But, to claim respect on 
 the ground of their services, is to present drafts to the 
 American people -which they -will not be likely to honor. 
 
 Neither can the youth rely upon the wealth of his 
 family; for this inay prove to him more of a curse than 
 a blessing. It may weaken more than it strengthens 
 him. Money will furnish his table, but it will not fur- 
 nish and discipline his mind. It will enable him to con- 
 form to the usages of fashionable society, — to live in 
 splendid apartments, to entertain his friends with costly 
 luxuries, — but it will not elevate and ennoble his soul. 
 
 It is humiliating to observe what multitudes in wealthy 
 and fashionable circles live a mere butterfly existence, 
 sporting from flower to flower, and chasing one shadow 
 after another, with no adequate views of the responsibil- 
 ities and duties of life. Their greatest excitement is 
 derived from the most trivial sources. The changes in 
 the weather, the last novel, a new fashion, aflbrd them 
 the highest mental' stimulus. Their most important 
 principles are the laws of etiquette. They are more 
 anxious to enter a drawing-room with grace than they 
 are to enter heaven, — more concerned about the violation 
 of some arbitrary rule, or conventional custom, than 
 about the violation of the laws of God. "Wealth, there- 
 fore, may impoverish rather than enrich the soul ; and 
 may, in seasons of trial, like the gold about a drowning 
 
ENERGY OF CHARAT3TER. 51 
 
 man, sink its possessor deeper, and render his destruction 
 more certain. 
 
 To an earnest soul, bent upon self-culture, wealth may 
 be of service in securing the means for improving the 
 intellect, refining the taste, and exercising the noblest 
 feelings of the heart.' But, to rely upon it as something 
 that is to take the place of personal effort, virtue or 
 resolution, is to fall into a fatal delusion. And the 
 same is true of any external advantage; it cannot be 
 substituted for self-reliance- The force of one's being — 
 if it has any force — must come from within. The fire 
 must proceed from the deep recesses of the soul, if it 
 would dissipate the surrounding darkness, and shed light 
 upon the world. One may suppose that he can safely 
 imitate another ; that, by following in the footsteps of a 
 favorite hero, he can gain distinction or enjoy prosperity. 
 But, at best, he can only be successful in his imitation ; 
 and surely in such a career there can be nothing effect- 
 ive. The shot from a cannon does not come with the 
 echo, but with the original report. Nor is there any 
 more vitality in a servile imitator than in the object 
 that produces the echo. 
 
 Perseverance is another constituent element of an 
 energetic character. There may be self-confidence with- 
 out perseverance. The former may be fitful and incon- 
 stant ; it may be under the control of feeling, rather than 
 strong, steady principle. It may expend its force, too, 
 upon a variety of objects. 
 
 Now, self-reliance must obviously be continuous, in 
 order to produce any great results. ' The business of life 
 
52 LECTURE? TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 having been carefully selected, it must be persevered in, 
 whatever diiEculties or obstacles may be encountered. 
 The e'ye must be steadily fastened upon the object before 
 it, resolutely resisting the temptations to turn to the 
 allurements that would draw off and absorb its attention- 
 The flowers by the way-side may be beautiful, the 
 scenery may be enchanting, the music of the gay and 
 frivolous may entice the ear; but the earnest soul is 
 willing to toil now that it may accomplish its mission ; 
 and, in the future, enjoy flowers that never fade, scenery 
 of greater brilliancy and music of more exquisite melody 
 than this. world can afibrd. 
 
 This steadiness of purpose, this unwavering decision, 
 this willingness to labor on amid darkness or in sunshine, 
 in storms or when all is serene, in adversity or pros- 
 perity, is indispensable to success. To those who would 
 dissuade one from pursuing his object he should say, " I 
 am doing a great work, and cannot come down. I am 
 engaged in promoting the good of mankind, and the honor 
 of my Master ; and the work demands all my energies 
 and all my time. Life is too short and valuable to allow 
 of the waste of its hours upon trivial objects." - 
 
 It is true that the embarrassments and obstacles that 
 the youth must encounter are often of a most discourag- 
 ing character. It is true that there are periods in almost 
 every young man's history, who is thrown out upon the 
 world to battle with its selfishness and hardships, when 
 his heart sinks within him, and he feels as though he 
 must give up the contest. After struggling long and 
 manftiUy, he asks himself to what purpose is all this toil, 
 
ENERGY OF CHAKACTBK. 53 
 
 this effort to maintain integrity and virtue, these endeav- 
 ors to rise to wealth, or distinction, or extended useful- 
 ness, when every door is shut against me ? 
 
 With some, the dark cloud may be pecuniary embar- 
 rassments ; with others, infirm health. Others may be 
 suffering from the dishonesty or cold-hearted selfishness 
 of those whom they have for years faithfully served. 
 Could the history of many youth in our cities be accu- 
 rately known, their trials and discouragements would 
 awaken the deepest sympathy. But, although fortune 
 may frown, and serious difficulties beset one's path, yet, 
 let him cling to his faith and resolution, and his final 
 triumph is not doubtful. These very tr^s may prove to 
 have been real blessings in disguise. They may bring 
 out mental qualities and a force of soul that could have 
 been brought out in no other way. They may teach 
 lessons of wisdom the benefits of which will be e-xperi- 
 enced through life. Oftentimes these seasons of per- 
 plexity and gloom are the turning-points in one's career, 
 — -the test-conflicts, the Waterloo battles, that decide 
 great interests, and fix a man's destiny. And he who, 
 in such an hour, conquers, will, ere. long, see the dark 
 -clouds breaking away, and the stars of hope shining down 
 upon him. Circumstances will bend and yield to the 
 energy of his iron will. Their force will acknowledge 
 the presence of a superior force, against which it is in 
 vain to struggle. 
 
 Indeed, such is the power of the human will, that it 
 may make even apparently adverse circumstances con- 
 tribute to its ends. A ship, in crossing the ocean, may 
 5* 
 
54 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 encounter storms and head -winds ; but the faithful cap- 
 tain will keep his vessel constantly directed towards his 
 destined port, and, by the proper adjustment of his sails, 
 and management of the helm, will make even the storms 
 and head winds bear him onward in his course, and bring 
 him safely into port. 
 
 By consulting the biographies of distinguished men, we 
 find that, in most cases, they had in early life some 
 severe trials to contend against, and that their indom- 
 itable energy in overcoming diflBculties, and persevering 
 m spite of the most formidable obstacles, laid the found- 
 ation of their eminence, and constituted their glory. 
 Had they yielded to despondency, and felt that these 
 adverse circumstances were too formidable to be resisted, 
 how different would have been their career, and the 
 h'story of civilization and of the world ! 
 
 The principle of perseverance is impaired, in many 
 ininds, by an undue desire to grasp at once the full ben- 
 efits of industry, or study, or rigid virtue. The youth 
 is unwilling to wait the slow movements and develop- 
 ments of time. He wishes often to pluck the fruit before 
 it is ripe, or seize the prize before he has reached the 
 goal. 
 
 Now, it is a law in the natural and social world that 
 all great results, or important achievements, must be 
 preceded by a long course of preparation, or series of 
 efforts. Vegetation does not at once reach maturity; 
 but, after the soil is prepared and the seed sown, the 
 husbandman must patiently wait for the early and tho 
 latter r-^in. The oak, by slow yet steady accretions. 
 
ENERGY 01" CHARACTER. 55 
 
 attains to its Ml size and strength. It must feel the 
 genial warmth of many springs, put forth its leaves to 
 catch the showers of many summers, and pass through 
 the hardening processes of many winters, before it becomes 
 the stately and majestic tree. Geologists inform us that 
 ■n the preparation of the earth as a residence for man 
 Icng ages were consumed; that the vast deposits of coal, 
 rock-salt, limestone, &c., are the result of processes in 
 nature that in magnitude and duration seem almost 
 incredible. 
 
 In~the social world this same law reigns. The student 
 must spend years in patient study, deep research and 
 earnest thought, before he can attain to the highest intel- 
 lectual culture, or accomplish anything in the depart- 
 ments of literature worthy of attention. You know that 
 Newton once modestly remarked that he mainly excelled 
 other men in the exercise of patience. The statesman 
 too must toil on for years, heedless of opposition, and of 
 even the basest attacks upon his character and motives. 
 
 In no department does one attain to eminence, or a 
 sphere of extensive usefulness, at a single leap. The 
 progress is gradual. The .prize is the reward of perse- 
 vering, long-continued eifort. In the spiritual world, 
 the highest and noblest arena of action, the crown of 
 life is promised only to those who "are faithful unto 
 death." 
 
 But, indispensable and mighty as is the principle of 
 energy, it must be combined with certain other qualities 
 in order to attain the noblest ends of existence. It must 
 work with other elements — with a sound judgment, wise 
 
56 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 measures, and unwavering moral principles, — if we 
 would have it effective and useful. Oxygen is an im- 
 portant element of the atmosphere ; but no one would 
 desire an atmosphere exclusively of this gas. . It must 
 ■combine in certain proportions with another in order tc 
 furnish a pure and healthful air. Steam is a mighty 
 agent; but it is only in connection with suitable and 
 powerful machinery that it is of service to man. Besides, 
 after its force is generated, it must be restrained within 
 certain limits, and must be under the control of the 
 human will. Let it gain the mastery, and it becomes a 
 most destructive element, scattering abroad desolation 
 and death. So, let energy exist without moral principle, 
 and in proportion to its strength it becomes potent for 
 evil. Allied to a reckless and successful ambition, it 
 becomes a scourge to mankind. It ripens almost into a 
 principle of evil. In the breast of a Caesar or a Napo- 
 leon it kindles a fire that devastates the earth far more 
 than volcanic eruptions, a fire that wraps cities in flames, . 
 and spreads, its conflagrations over vast continents. It 
 excites a thirst for power that can only be satiated by the 
 sacrifice of the liberties of millions of people. -It fills the 
 soul with the one purpose Of self-aggrandizement, — a 
 purpose that absorbs every humane feeling, swallows up 
 every noble sentiment, leads its possessor forward through 
 oceans of blood, through scenes of agony and horror, that 
 would move and melt any but an incarnate fiend. . The 
 resolution displayed by such an one is the resolution of 
 the ocean-tempest, that rages on until every ship within 
 its fatal grasp is a wreck, and every shrieking victim is 
 
ENERGY OF CHASACTBK. 57 
 
 hushed in the waters of death. The vrorld may admire 
 such a display of energy, and call it heroism; but as 
 well might they admire the lightning flash, that strikes 
 its death-stroke into ten thousand hearts, on account of 
 its display of force. The greater the energy displayed in 
 such a career, the greater should be our feelings of indig- 
 nation and scorn for the abuse of such powers, that might 
 have blest as extensively as they curse. I would as 
 readily eulogize Satan for the magnitude of his concep- 
 tion, and the accomplishijient of his design in ruining 
 man, and entailing upon posterity the horrible conse- 
 quences of sin, as to praise the military hero for his 
 success in destroying the lives of thousands of his fellow- . 
 men, tearing up the foundations of social order and 
 happiness, and trampling out the existence of nations 
 that have fallen under the bane of his displeasure. 
 
 The only energy, therefore, that is worthy of com- 
 mendation or cultivation, is that which is associated with 
 virtue, with the principles of humanity, justice and 
 religion. This alone, too, will confer lasting influence 
 and enduring distinction. For, while the " name of the 
 wicked shall rot," " the righteous shall be in everlasting 
 remembrance." 
 
 This is the energy that is enthroned above us, that 
 created the universe, that lighted up the stars, that has 
 filled immensity with the floating habitations of life and 
 happiness. The omnipotence that is displayed all 
 around us is the omnipotence of love. Let us possess 
 this divine principle, and we shall reflect the image of our 
 Creator, and cooperate with the Infinite One in carrying 
 
58 LECTURES TO TCUNG MEN. 
 
 forward his plans of benevolence. We shall create an 
 influence that will endure long after the stars have faded 
 away; an influence that will flow on with the current of 
 time, and mingle with the ocean of etenity. 
 
IV. 
 
 EXAMPLES OF ENERGY. 
 
 " Be followers of them who through faith and patience inlaerit thi 
 promises." — Hebeews 6 : 12. 
 
 Having discoursed upon the principle of energy, I 
 propose now to exhibit a few examples of this principle 
 united with religious enthusiasm. In order to feel the 
 full force of a precept or principle, we must see it exem- 
 plified in a life, see its practical workings upon individual 
 character. The theory, we may say, is good enaugh; 
 the principles of indomitable energy, rigid virtue and 
 religious zeal, are important and indispensable ; but it is 
 one thing to reason about them as abstractions, and quite 
 another to behold them as living forces upon the theatre 
 of human action. We can all give in our cordial assent 
 to a high standard of excellence ; but the- vital question is, 
 Can we attain to that standard in our daily life 1 
 
 if it has been reached in one case, it may be in another ; 
 and I know of nothing more encouraging and stimulating 
 than to study the living examples of heroic virtue which 
 adorn human nature. By examininar the career of great 
 
60 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 and good men, entering into the priyacy of their thoughts 
 and feelitigs, observing the workings of the inward prin- 
 ciples which gave them power and success, noticing their 
 conduct under severe temptations, or in emergencies .that 
 demanded the exercise of the highest qualities of the 
 soul, — we ourselves learn how to follow in their' foot- 
 steps, and to reach the eminences upon which they stand. 
 Great and good men are the beacon-lights along the 
 shores of time, whose- rays relieve the darkness of 
 long nights of ignorance, and shine calmly amidst the 
 boisterous waves of human passions. They not only 
 point out the port of safety, the city where wealth, honor, 
 luxury, dwell; but also indicate the shoals, quicksands 
 and rocks, upon which the careless and the weak have 
 suffered shipwreck. Preeminently may we say of dis- 
 tinguished Christian heroes, "Ye are the light of the 
 world. Ye are the stars in the moral firmament, that 
 shed light upon all nations, and in all ages ! " 
 
 By studying great men, too, we gain access to the 
 forces that have formed society and ruled the world; 
 forces to which science is indebted for its development, 
 the arts for their discovery and achievements, civilization 
 for its progress, and all our social and civil institutions 
 for their existence.- Whatever external advantages we 
 enjoy,. — whatevjer literature has done for the intellect of 
 man, or freedom has accomplished for his social comfort, 
 or /justice and humanity have achieved in the caus»of 
 human rights and happiness, — were once but ideas and 
 purposes in the minds of great men. As the material 
 universe was once but a thought in the breast of the 
 
EXAMPLES OF ENERftY. 61 
 
 infinite Creator, and as this thougtt was developed and 
 embodied in external- suns, stars and planets, by the 
 energy of Omnipotence, so all human institutions were 
 once but thoughts or theories in the minds of human cre- 
 ators, and obtained their realization by the energy of 
 their authors. Many of them were brought into exist- 
 ence only through- hard-fought battles, and by the sacri- 
 fice of valuable lives. Heroes have died that systems 
 of truth might live. Martyrs have fallen that civil and 
 religious institutions might rise to bless the world. 
 
 The mass of mankind have been satisfied with the con- 
 dition of things around them; have conformed to the 
 usages of society, and the customs of their fathers, with- 
 out the thought of going beyond them. But the few in 
 whose souls the fire of energy was kindled have longed 
 for changes, improvements, better systems of govern- 
 ment, a greater diffusion of knowledge, or a purer faith. 
 They have overleaped the barriers which surrounded soci- 
 ety, and penetrated into regions unexplor.ed by others. 
 They have dared to assail systems of error and oppression. 
 They have toiled to enlighten mankind, and to elevate 
 them to a higher life. 
 
 The society of such cannot but be profitable, as well as 
 stimulating. We see in them great principles and 
 Virtues in action. We feel in our own souls the electric 
 influences that emanated from them, — are fired by their 
 enthusiasm, and encouraged'by their success. . 
 
 In citing examples of energy, I shall select them from 
 the religious department, because my present purpose is 
 to excite in your minds religious ardor, and because W9 
 6 
 
62 LECTURES TO YOUflG MBS. 
 
 find in this department some of the noblest instances of 
 heroism that the history of the world furnishes. I pro- 
 pose, therefore, to speak of Luther, Howard, Edwards, 
 and Whitefield, as the representatives or types of energy 
 in the Reformer, the Philanthropist, the Scholar, and the 
 Preacher. 
 
 Luther's early history had certainly trials enough 
 in it for all disciplinary purposes. Bom of obscure 
 and poor parents, all in the future was dark, except 
 occasional flashes from the fire of his own energy. 
 The struggles of the little boy to obtain an education 
 while he could scarcely obtain bread ; his lonely wander- 
 ings through the streets, singing his Christmas carols tc 
 excite the pity of the charitable ; the harsh treatment 
 that he often received fi-om those who should have be- 
 friended him; the secret struggles of his noble spirit 
 against adversity, — afiFord us some insight into the severe 
 hardships that surrounded his youth. We wonder that 
 his young heart was not crushed under the burdens that 
 were so early'laid upon it. We wonder that he could 
 maintain the conflict with such formidable obstacles and 
 difficulties. On one occasion, indeed, his resolution 
 almost gave way. Having been coldly repulsed from 
 several houses, to which he had applied for the means 
 of satisfying the cravings of hunger, he paused before 
 the house of an honest burgher, absorbed in thought. 
 His heart was so full that he could not sing. He stood 
 motionless. A tear was in his eye ; severe pangs were 
 shooting through his heart ; cloud after cloud gathered 
 about his spirit. Shall I, thought he, return home, 
 
EXAMPLES OE ENEEGT. 63 
 
 and work -with my poor father at the mines, where 
 I can obtain bread, or shall I press forward here? 
 Momentous question! History waits for the answer. 
 Princes, cardinals, popes, millions of men, are interested 
 in the issue. Human knowledge, human freedom, Pro- 
 testE^nt institutions, Protestant America, — all hang in 
 the scale ! Go or stay 1 — yield or conquer 1 How little 
 do the careless passers-by imagine what is transpiring 
 in that poor boy's mind ! But, while thus depressed, 
 unwilling to retreat, and yet scarcely knowing how to 
 advance, a door is suddenly opened. A benignant coun- 
 tenance smiles upon him-, and a kind voice bids him enter.. 
 From that countenance a" ray of light passes over his 
 darkened soul. The tones of that voice touch the springs 
 of his being, and restore to action the mighty energies of 
 his spirit. He accepts the invitation, passes the thresh- 
 old of the door, and thus decides the destinies of Europe. 
 The law of his being henceforth is indomitable energy. 
 Destined to live amid stern realities ; to meet new diffi- 
 culties in every new path; to climb, one day, dark 
 mountains, and the next descend into deep valleys, or 
 walk on the edge of frightful precipices, — he needed this 
 principle to nerve and sustain him. 
 
 But his mightiest struggles were with inward doubts 
 and distresses, rather than with outward grievances. Dis- 
 satisfied with the religioiis institutions around him, weary 
 with forms, penances and fastings, he longed for truth ; 
 for a living ;feith, for some spiritual reality to relieve 
 him in his wretchedness. He desired to serve his God ; 
 but the perplexiDg question was, how shall he do it? He 
 
64 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 desired tc drink at the fountain of living waters ; but who 
 would guide him to that fountain 1 After groping his 
 way for years in, darkness, and, at times, walking upon 
 the borders of despair, his footsteps are directed to the 
 Erfurth library, where he finds the word of God. He 
 opens the .book, and reads it. His interest is strongly 
 excited. As one great doctrine after another flashes upon 
 nis mind, his countenance lights up with new joy, his 
 eye kindles with warm desires. He has discovered the 
 fountain of life, — the pure stream, unadulterated by the 
 errors of a corrupt priesthood. As he ponders over the 
 book, the twilight of divine -truth breaks in upon the 
 darkness of his soul, — harbinger of that light that would, 
 ere long, stream from his spirit over a depressed, bewil- 
 dered church. Hjs attention becbmes riveted, and his 
 strong powers grasp the principles that open before him. 
 His keen perception pierces the mysteries of the wonder- 
 ful volume. His imagination is delighted with its beau- 
 tiful imagery, and with the gorgeous scenes of heavenly 
 bliss which it portrays. Leaving the library, he returns 
 to his studies, absorbed by the rich discoveries which he 
 has made. Dim visions of the future rise up before him. 
 His destiny is assuming form and shape, though he sees 
 not the hand that is moulding it. The Reformation has 
 commenced ; but he knows it not. Again and again he 
 returns to his treasure. The precious seed is taking 
 root ; the harvest Europe shall one day behold. Heaven 
 has found one listener to its voice ; and, could a prophet 
 whisper in the ear of kings and popes, he would tell thorn 
 that a mightier than they was at hand.; that an energetic 
 
EXAMPLES OF EIirB)i3T. 65 
 
 spirit was kindling its fires,, the light of which would be 
 unwelcome to their halls of despotism. He would an- 
 nounce to them that a force was being prepared that 
 would shake their thrones, disturb their councils, and 
 smite with giant blows their systems of iniquity. 
 
 In the resolution that Luther formed to etter a con- 
 vent, in spite of the entreaties of,parents and the remon- 
 strances of his literary friends, he displayed his wonted 
 energy of character. The death of his fellow-student, 
 Alexis, who was struck dead at his side by lightning, 
 made a deep and soleran impression upon him. The 
 realities of eternity seemed to open at once before his 
 vision. All earthly objects — honors, riches, preferments 
 — dwindled into insignificance in his view. His purpose 
 is formed, to seek in the seclusion and supposed religious 
 advantages of a convent preparation for' the future life. 
 In the darkness of night, to avoid the opposition of his 
 friends, he wends his way alone to the convent of the 
 hermits of St. Augustine. The stars look out upon him, 
 and watch over him. Unseen beings hover around him. 
 In the silence of the hour he approaches the convent-gate; 
 it swings open, and he enters. He forsakes the world ; 
 but not forever. His earnest spirit seeks for peace ; and 
 he shall find it, but not in the way that he supposes. 
 The same force of will that carries him to the convent 
 will bring him forth from it. He enters for fehgious 
 culture ; but, in reality, to experience, in his own person, 
 the corruptions of that system which Providence is pre- 
 paring him to assail: After performing the most humil- 
 iating ser^ces, and experiencing inward conflicts and 
 6* 
 
66 LECTURES TO T0UN9 MEN. 
 
 agonies that would have broken any ordinary spirit, he 
 came forth to perform his part upon the broad field of 
 human action. 
 
 Whatever posi;ions Luther was called to occupy, or 
 whatever duties he had to 'discharge, we find in him the 
 same unwavering fortitude and energy. Whether as a 
 professor in the University of Wittemberg, lecturing on 
 physics and dialectics, or as a preacher of Christian doc- 
 trines in the dilapidated wooden chapel at Wittemberg, 
 or witnessing and protesting against the luxuries and 
 gross impieties of the highest officers of the church at 
 Rome, or encountering Tetzel, the grand pedler of in- 
 dulgences under Leo the Tenth, or nailing up his famous 
 theses at the church-door of the Castle of Wittemberg, — 
 his resolution never deserts him. He formed, indeed, no 
 definite or extensive plan to reform the church. He had 
 no desire to disturb the peace of her communion. He 
 reverenced authority, and was ready to yield to all the 
 just requisitions of his superiors. After he became a 
 reformer, in writing to Duke George of Saxony, he'said : 
 " Verily I was a devout monk, and followed the rules of 
 my order so strictly that I cannot tell you all. If ever 
 a monk entered into heaven by his monkish merits, cer- 
 tainly I should have obtained an entrance there." But 
 Luther had resolved to follow the dictates of an enlight- 
 ened conscience, whatever might be the consequences. 
 He determined to obey the commands, and walk in the 
 footsteps, of his divine Master ; and no opposition, threats 
 or danger, could bend his iron purpose. He had conse- 
 crated his whole bei'rig to the service of God, ^nd he felt 
 
EXAMPLES OB ENERGY. 67 
 
 that it was his mission to utter God's truth fearlessly, 
 earnestly. 
 
 His preaching soon arrested the public attention, and 
 aroused the spirit of inquiry. By the power of his elo- 
 quence he communicated his own zeal and fire to other 
 jiinds. His hearers soon became admirers, — partook of 
 his fervor and energy, and were fired by his burning 
 thoughts. It was at this period that he felt that real life 
 was opening before him. No more shadows or phantoms 
 remained to delude and torment him. He had exchanged 
 the drudgery and stupidity of the cloister for a field of 
 active exertion, — a field suited to the exercise of his 
 mightiest energies, and the development of his loftiest as- 
 pirations. Instead of dark clouds overhanging his spirit, 
 — instead of expending his energies in the vain endeavor 
 to find satisfaction and comfort in the dull routine of con- 
 vent duties, — he was out under the broad light of heaven, 
 breathing a pure and invigorating atmosphere, and in 
 contact with the intellect and heart of the living world. 
 
 In assailing the system of indulgences, he displayed a 
 moral courage which few possess. Indignant that such 
 a system of deception and fraud should be practised upon 
 a confiding people, and be sustained by the authority of 
 the church, he brought against it the whole power of his 
 influence", and the weight of irresistible argument. In 
 this conflict the great battle opened in which such vast 
 interests, and questions of solemn moment, were to be 
 decided. This, in fact, was the first thunderbolt from 
 the clouds which had been so long gathering, — a peal 
 that shook the foundations of despotic Rome, that rever- 
 
68 LECTUEES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 berated through the halls of tyrants, and aroused thou- 
 sands from the slumber of ages. Soon many, convinced 
 of the justice of his cause, and the truth of his doctrines, 
 ralhed around 'him. His principles every day made 
 progress, and gained converts. 
 
 But it ■was not so much in periods of success as in 
 seasons of adversity, that the peculiar traits and noble 
 qualities of Luther's character were developed. After 
 the first wave of excitement had passed over Europe, 
 there was a sudden calm. In -some minds a reaction took 
 place. Many distinguished philosophers and eminent 
 divines, upon whose support Luther had depended, were 
 either silent or disapproved of his course. He was not a 
 little disturbed and dejected. He felt that he was alone 
 against Rome, — alone against the towering citadel, that 
 seemed to defy the blows from his puny arm. He trem- 
 bled at the thought of facing the whole authority of the 
 church, and of provoking the wrath of powers that kings 
 and nations had not, for ages, dared to resist. But what 
 shall he do ? Shall he retreat 1 — Conscience answers No ! 
 Shall he advance 7 — But the future is dark, and full of 
 peril. , Shall he, risking all, come out in open opposition 
 to the Pope? — But that Pope he has not yet ceased 
 to reverence; his church he has not ceased to love. 
 Shall he deny the truth of the doctrines which he has 
 preached and published to the world? — This would be 
 treason against Heaven. He pauses in deep meditation. 
 Soon light breaks in upon his mind, and his resolution 
 returns ; the energies of his mighty spirit recover their 
 strength. His faith kindles with new life. He deter- 
 
EXAMPLES OF ENERGY. 69 
 
 mines to advanc s, though the path before him is obscure 
 and intricate. Trusting in God, conscious of the purity 
 of his motives and the justice of his cause, he resolves 
 fearlessly to do his duty. 
 
 Again is Germany aroused. The writings, discourses, 
 and letters of Luther flow like streams of fire over 
 the frozen hearts of men, kindling* a fresh flame of 
 enthusiasm. The inmates of the Vatican are alarmed. 
 Tyrannies, that have stood for ages undisturbed, are 
 shaken. Formalism lose* its hold upon the masses. 
 Superstition is exchanged for thought, and bhnd sub- 
 mission yields to the spirit of free inquiry. The Pope 
 attempts to silence his adversary ; but the task is not so 
 easily performed. A papal decree is issued that his 
 writings be burnt, and that Luther be arrested and sent 
 to Eome, probably for the same purpose. But popish 
 fire and decrees have suddenly lost their efficacy. The 
 paper flames up, but the principle will not burn, — cannot 
 be burnt. Soon the papal bull comes thundering over the 
 Alps, to annihilate, at a single blow, the insolent dis- 
 turber. But he has no disposition, at present, to be 
 annihilated, nor even to. be excommunicated. His com- 
 munion is with higher powers than those with which 
 Popes have dealings, and he cannot, by any earthly 
 authority, be excommunicated. Taking the document, 
 he returns to the Pope the compliment paid to his own 
 writings, — kindles a fire, and, in the presence of crowds 
 of .professors, students, and citizens of Wittemberg, com- 
 mits it to the flames. In this fire there vjas efficacy. 
 It was as a beacon-light kindled upon a mountain's 
 
70 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 summ'.t, t3 guide the nations ti liberty, to knowledge, to 
 happiness. 
 
 The qualities of Luther's character are also conspic- 
 uously seen in his appearance at the Diet of "Worms, — a 
 scene of moral grandeur, and sublime interest, unsur- 
 passed in modern European history.' This council was 
 summoned, among other purposes, to take in hand the 
 Reformation, and to break, if possible, the power of its 
 hero. The Eeformation had become too vast to be man- 
 aged by any ordinary means ; and hence it was necessary 
 that a combination of ecclesiastical and civil forces should 
 try their united strength upon it. 
 
 The Diet calls together princes, dukes, archbishops, 
 barons and lords of the empire, whose splendid equipages 
 pour through the avenues leading to the city of Worms. 
 Luther having been summoned to appear, many of the 
 adherents of the Pope had as much to fear as to hope 
 from his coming. They were aware of the progress 
 that the Reformation had made, — aware that nobles, 
 lawyers, the inferior clergy, even many monks, and 
 vast numbers of the people, had embraced its prin- 
 ciples ; and they felt that to bring Luther there was to 
 bring the very heart and spirit of the Reformation into 
 the midst of a powerful and brilliant assembly, over 
 which an influence unfavorable to their cause might be 
 exerted. But, notwithstanding their remonstrances, it 
 was decided that Luther should appear. His journey to 
 ■ Worms resembled a triumph. Everywhere the people 
 flocked around him. They gazed with intense interest 
 upon the man who, single-handed, was going to meet the 
 
EXAMPLES 01' ENERGY. 71 
 
 power and pomp of the world. At the gates of the city 
 a vast concourse of people gave him a most enthusiastic 
 reception. Thousands followed him through the streets. 
 The inhabitants rushed to the doors, crowded at the win- 
 dows, to catch a glimpse of the hero. The courtiers of the 
 Pope were in a panic of excitement. Charles the Fifth 
 instantly convoked his counciL To his confidential 
 advisers, whose fears were aroused, he said : "Luther has 
 come; what must we do?" Important question! — 
 growing every hour, every moinent, more important ! 
 A man with living powers and vital energies has come ; 
 a man with an intellect to think, a heart to feel, and a 
 strong arm to strike for truth, for right, for humanity, 
 for God. One person recommended that he should share 
 the fate of John Huss. But the burning of such a 
 heretic would not suit the time, nor the place, nor the 
 occasion. It might be difficult to put out the fire after 
 it was kindled. He must be heard; and, accordingly, 
 he is commanded to appear before the council the next 
 day, at four o'clock. 
 
 As he approaches the hall, the masses of the people 
 block up the streets, and it is only by the greatest effort 
 that the soldiers are able to open a way to the council- 
 chamber. As Luther enters, a solemn silence reigns over 
 the vast and imposing assembly. Every eye is fixed 
 upon him; every heart beats with intense emotion. 
 Luther, too, is silent, — calm, firm. Not a muscle is 
 agitated; not a trace of fear is discoverable upon his 
 countenance. His very appearance there is a triumph ; 
 
72 LECTtJKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 for he has been condemned by the Pope, and yet has a 
 hearing before that august body. 
 
 The case is opened. On one side are princes, dukes, 
 ambassadors, — in all two hundred distinguished person- 
 ► ages, — representatives of the world's pomp and power; 
 on the other, the poor miner's son, — solq representative 
 of God's truth. There he stands, — alone, defenceless. 
 How easy to crush him ! — Yet not so easy. Far easier 
 to conquer a whole nation than him. He, standing on 
 the rock of truth, is mightier than them all ! The prop- 
 osition is made to him to retract. Retract ! — He will 
 not utter the word, — he cannot utter it. His conscience, 
 his sense of right and justice, his reverence for truth and 
 for God, forbid it. In answer to inquiries, he frankly 
 acknowledges all his writings, and firmly adheres to 
 every position that he has taken. Efforts are made, at 
 one time, to win him over by ilatteries ; at another, to 
 move him by threats. But his granite nature resists 
 every assault. His purposes cannot be shaken ; his iron 
 will cannot be broken. 
 
 The assembly soon find that they have taken in hand 
 more than they can manage. Their very endeavors to 
 weaken Luther give him strength. By attempting to 
 bend him, he becomes more inflexible. His Reformation 
 they cannot beat down, nor vote dowji, nor decree out of 
 existence. In spite of their committees and sub-com- 
 mitteesj their negotiations, compromises and debates, it 
 continues to grow and extend. Protests and anathemas 
 are only fuel that feed the flame. The mighty man 
 leaves the council in triumph. 
 
EXAMPLES OF- EISERGY. 73 
 
 Such a character cannot be studied witliout benefit. 
 No one can watch the beatings of that gref.t heart, with- 
 out feeling its life-giving power. No one can perceive 
 the deep breathings of his earnest, fiery soul, without 
 partaking of its electric energy. Ho one can contemplate' 
 his colossal influence, mighty deeds, sublime energy, and 
 active faith, without emotions of the highest admiration, 
 and intense desires to possess the qualities that gave him 
 his power, and rendered his name immortal. 
 
 HOWARD, THE PHILANTHBOPIST. 
 
 We would next cite an example of energy associated 
 with philanthropy. Nor can we summon before us a 
 more brilliant instance than that furnished by the name 
 of John Howard. This remarkable man stands out 
 before us not only as the embodiment of goodness, but 
 t;S the representative of gobdness in action, producing 
 fruits. 
 
 If pure benevolence is the highest virtue ; if extensive 
 usefulness constitutes true greatness; if surmounting 
 obstacles in the path of stern duty is real heroism ; if 
 brilliant achievements in the great battle against inhu- 
 manity are worthy of renown, — then Howard has the 
 highest claims to distinction. His example should in- 
 spire every youth with a holy ambition to walk in his 
 footsteps, and strive to -reach the glorious eminence to 
 which he attained. 
 
 In his early years Howard developed traits of charactei 
 which won the respect and affection of all who knew him 
 7 
 
74 LECTURES TO TOUNG MEN. 
 
 Being an invalid, he did not indulge, to any great extent, 
 in youthful sports ; but gave himself up to serious medi- 
 tation, and to contributing to the happiness of others 
 After various trials and misfortunes, he sailed for Portu 
 gal in pursuit of health, when he was taken prisoner, 
 and thrust into a prison at Brest. There he had sud- 
 denly revealed to him the horrors of a European prison ; 
 and the impression made upon his mind, by what he saw 
 and experienced, aroused his warmest sympathies, and 
 decided his future career. As Luther was led by Prov- 
 idence to become a monk, and to experience in his own 
 person the superstition and wretchedness connected with 
 monastic life, that he might be qualified to smite the 
 more efieotually the systems of corruption around him, 
 so Howard was made to. experience those fearful evils 
 which it was the work of his life to remedy. 
 
 Having been appointed to the office of sheriff of Bed- 
 ford, he attended not only the proceedings of the trials 
 of criminals, but employed his leisure in inspecting the 
 prisons of England, and thoroughly informing himself 
 respecting the physical and moral condition of the pris- 
 oners. He had not proceeded far in his investigations, 
 before he was impressed with the wretchedness and 
 degradation of the unfortunate felons, and the abominable 
 features of the whole prison-system. He found the 
 courts corrupt, officers of justice guilty of thewoist forms 
 of injustice, jailers without humanity, and the inmates 
 of prisons without any moral restraint, and abandonei 
 to every vice and crime. Oaths, curses, and the most 
 revolting language, were freely used. Intemperance 
 
EXAMPLES OF ENEKGT. 75 
 
 And licentiousness prevailed; and the very atmosphere 
 seemed impregnated witli the seeds of moral death. The 
 prisons themselves were in a dilapidated and filthy con- 
 dition. Many of the apartments had no windows ; and, 
 in several instances, the walls were broken to admit the 
 air and light. Multitudes qf the prisoners died from 
 absolute neglect, and from fevers caused by the poisonous 
 air that they weire compelled to breathe. 
 
 After surveying this mass of human wretchedness, 
 Howard proposed to himself the question. How shall such 
 enormous evils be remedied 1 At what point can they 
 be approached with any hope of success in removing 
 them? 
 
 - Ordinary minds would have regarded the enterprise as 
 too gigantic and hopeless to be entered upon. But 
 before the mind of Howard the path of duty was plain ; 
 and he resolved to follow it. Impelled by the intense 
 benevolence of his nature, — taking conscience as his 
 guide, and acting under a sense of his responsibility to 
 God, — he determined, if possible, to reform the prisons 
 of England, and rescue the wretched inmates from their 
 horrible doom. 
 
 Gathering up his startling array of facts, he seized the 
 first opportunity to lay them before the House of Com- 
 mons. The members were astonished at the revelations 
 which he made. The extent of his knowledge, the mi- 
 nuteness of his details, the enthusiastic ardor with which 
 he had prosecuted his researches, surprised them. His 
 unexampled philanthropy won their admiration ; and 
 
76 LECTURES TO TOTJNG MEN. 
 
 ttey could not avoid listening to liis appeals, and yielding 
 to his requests. 
 
 Having accomplislied his purpose in England, he "pro- 
 ceeded to Scotland and Ireland, where he prosecuted his 
 work with the same diligence. Although his consti- 
 tution was naturally weak, and his health was seriously 
 impaired by unremitting labor, and exposure in damp 
 dungeons, and pestikntial vapors, yet no obstacles could 
 deter him from his work. Wherever there was a prison, 
 he desired to penetrate into its recesses, to explore its 
 darkest dungeons, to measure the extent and depth of its 
 wretchedness. 
 
 Leaving Great Britain, he passed, as an angel of 
 mercy, through France, Belgium, Holland and Ger- 
 many. Never did he lose sight of the one great object of 
 his mission. It absorbed his whole attention, engaged all 
 his affections, and employed every energy of his soul. 
 Neither the luxuries that were within his reach, nor the 
 palaces of kings, nor the halls of learning, nor the monu- 
 ments and antiqfuities of ancient cities through which he 
 passed, could divert him from his grand purpose. Hav- 
 ing at one time entered Petersburg in disguise, in order 
 to avoid the attention which his fame induced the great 
 to bestow upon him, he was discovered by the police, and 
 cordially invited by the Empress Catharine to her court. 
 But he respectfully informed her majesty that he had 
 come to Russia to seek out the captive in his dungeon, 
 and not to visit the palaces of kings and queens ; and, as 
 his time was limited, he begged her to excuse him. 
 
 Wliilc at Eome, he did not give himself leisure even 
 
EXAMPLES OF BNERGT. 77 
 
 to visit its magnificent ruins, and view tlie pictures, 
 statues £tnd monuments of art, wliicli are the first objects 
 of inquiry with travellers who throng the city. He was 
 by no means destitute of taste and culture ; but, with 
 him, the claims of duty were more pressing and impe- 
 rious than thos.e of pleasure. He felt that he had a mis- 
 sion to fulfil, a work of vast moment to accomplish ; and 
 he desired infinitely more to relieve human suffering 
 than to gaze upon the noblest specimens of art, or the 
 most magnificent ruins. While at Rome, he wished to 
 see the dungeons of the Inquisition ; but access to them, 
 as well as to the Bastile in Paris, was denied him. All 
 other prisons were open for his inspection ; and, on his 
 return from his European tour,' the blessings of the poor 
 prisoner followed him. The. amount of relief that he had 
 furnished was immense. But, more than all, he had 
 aroused the public attention to a subject with which the 
 best interests of society are vitally connected. He had 
 led governments to adopt measures to seciire more fully 
 the ends of justice, by protecting the ianocent, saving 
 the young criminals from the baneful influence of older 
 felons, and breaking up the system of extortion which 
 prevailed among officers and jailers. For twelve years 
 he was employed in traversing the countries of Europe, 
 during which period he travelled more than forty-two 
 thousand miles, visited and carefully inspected the jails 
 in all the prominent cities, and expended over thirty 
 thousand pounds in the prosecution of his sublime 
 mission. 
 
 Up to the day of his death, his ardor never abated, his 
 7* 
 
78 LBCTUKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 lofty energy of purpose never forsook him. Regardless 
 of sellf, indifferent to the applause of the multitude, studi- 
 ously avoiding the honors that ^is friends were anxious 
 to bestow upon him, he lived an ornament of his race, a 
 blessing to humanity, and an illustrious instance of 
 inflexible energy united with the purest philanthropy. 
 
 EDWABDS, THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 The name of Jonathan Edwards is one of the brightest 
 ornaments of the American church. We cite him as an 
 example of intellectual force. In very early life he man- 
 ifested a love for profound and abstract questions, and 
 displayed unusual skill in investigating them. When 
 but thirteen years of age, he took delight in the study Of 
 Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, and works 
 of a similar character. Such was his thirst for knowl- 
 edge that he read and studied every valuable book within 
 his reach, and his progress was very rapid in the 
 sciences, in. moral philosophy, and theology. 
 
 On entering the ministry, he devoted himself with the 
 greatest diligence and resolution to his work. Although 
 his constitution was feeble, yet he usually studied thir- 
 teen hours a day. He was careful to note down every 
 valuable thought that occurred to him; and, such 
 was his mental activity,, that, even in his seasons of 
 recreation, or hours of rest, he would commit to paper 
 any important truth that was suggested to his mind. 
 His writings bear the marks of extensive research, close 
 reasoning, and a profound reverence for truth. Indeed, 
 
EXAMPLES OF ENERGY. 79 
 
 as a patient and protracted thinker, a clear and thorough 
 analyst, a resolute worker in philosophy and theology, 
 he stands unrivalled. 
 
 Robert Hall says that Edwards is the greatest of the 
 sons of men. His works on the wHl and the affections 
 he perused with great delight before he was nine years 
 of age ; and, for sixty years, he studied, the writings of 
 Edwards with undiminished pleasure. Dr. Chalmers 
 bears witness that " in the arena of metaphysics Edwards 
 stood the highest of all his contemporaries; and that, 
 too, at a time when Hume was aiming his deadliest 
 thrusts at the foundations of niorality, and had thrown 
 over the infidel cause the whole eclat of his reputation." 
 " The American divine aiFords," he says, " perhaps the 
 most wonderful example, in modern times, of one who 
 stood richly gifted both in natural and spiritual discern- 
 ment; and we know not what most to admire in him, — 
 whether the deep philosophy that issued from his pen, or 
 the humble piety that issued from his pulpit ; whether 
 when, as an author, he deals forth upon his readers the 
 subtilties of profoundest argument, and impresses by his 
 writings the schools and high seats of literature, or 
 when, as a Christian ^minister, he deals forth upon his 
 hearers the simplicities of the gospel." 
 
 But this remarkable man, with all his mental force 
 and spiritual fervor, met with severe trials in his min- 
 istry at Northampton. Having on several occasions 
 insisted upon a more exemplarj- life on the part of those 
 who partook of the Lord's supper, and having labored to 
 induce the young to abstain from reading works of a 
 
80 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 demoralizing character, a bitter opposition arose against 
 him in the congregation. His peace was disturbed, and 
 his continued faithfuhiess brought upon him renewed 
 attacks from his persecutors. Yet, throughout the whole 
 struggle, he maintained 'the same calm self-reliance, 
 devotion to his Master's work, and diligence in his 
 studies, that had characterized his life. After a series 
 of bitter persecutions, which continued for nearly six 
 years, his troubles resulted in his dismission from his 
 people. 
 
 On taking up his residence subsequently in Stock- 
 bridge, he prosecuted his literary labors with unabated 
 ardor. Here, in coinparative retirement from the world 
 and freedom from its vexations, he prepared his most 
 valuable works, while he was assiduous in his efforts to 
 benefit the souls of men. 
 
 No changes in his outward circumstances could impair 
 the force of his intellect, or quench the fire of his piety. 
 Up to the hour of his death, he maintained the same 
 inflexible resolution, and the entire devotion of his being 
 to the cause of truth. 
 
 WHITEFIELD, THE PREACHBE. 
 
 Of energy in the preacher we might cite many illus- 
 trious examples. But a single instance will suffice our 
 present purpose. 
 
 The energy of Whitefield was an energy that was bap- 
 tized with the Holy Ghost. That which gave to this 
 principle its vitality and success, was personal piety. 
 
EXAMPLES OF ENERGY. 81 
 
 His lips "ffere touched with, a live coal from the altar of 
 God ; aai this not only made him eloquent, but the fire 
 reached his heart, kindled his affections, and produced a 
 glow of religious enthusiasm that no waters could quench 
 or floods drown. 
 
 In early life his condition was humble, and, being sur- 
 rounded with strong temptations, he yielded to their 
 influence, and was, according to his own account, an idle 
 and wicked youth. He spent his leisure in reading 
 romances and plays, and, at times, manifested a disposi- 
 tion to indulge in theatrical representations. But he 
 had an intense desire to receive a liberal education, and, 
 through the kindness of friends, he was enabled to enter 
 Pembroke College, Oxford. Here the great change was 
 wrought in him, by the power of divine grace, which 
 decided his future destiny. His religious experiences, 
 his spirit of self-denial, his earnest longings after holiness, 
 with frequent seasons of despondency and mental agony, 
 rendered his preparatory discipline not unlike that 
 through which Luther passed. His desire was to devote 
 his whole being to the work of saving immortal souls. 
 He felt that men must repent and have faith in Christ, or 
 perish. The great truths of the Bible stood out before 
 his mind as living realities. They were constantly in hia 
 view. Their glories shone upon his path, and their ter- 
 rors sent lightning-flashes through his spirit. He longed 
 to lead iieri fo Jesus, to bid them flee from the wrath to 
 come. At the age of twenty-one he was admitted to 
 holy orders ; an 1 his first sermon made a deep and 
 Eflarked imj ression. His eloquence, fervor, pathos <and 
 
82 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 earnestii ess, moved every heart. His words, in this and 
 subsequent discourses, reacted with" electric effect upon 
 his own spirit, and kindled the fire of deep, strong emo- 
 tion. He could not speak long, before this emotion would 
 be seen pouring forth through all the avenues of his 
 physical and spiritual nature. It flashed from his eye. 
 It breathed forth from the varied expressions of his coun- 
 tenance. It escaped from the tones of his voice, from 
 the movement and compression of his lips. It glowed iii 
 the warmth that was diffused over his whole frame. It 
 enveloped him as a bright cloud, impregnated with the 
 spirit of inspiration. We do not wonder that all classes 
 were affected by his earnestness, that even philosophers 
 listened, spell-bound, to his eloquence, and that Hume 
 went twenty miles to hear him. 
 
 Although he entered upon his career under the aus- 
 pices of the established church, yet its forms and ritual 
 had but little influence over him. He had no respect for 
 mere external and ceremonial observances. He soon 
 broke through the solemn pageantry by which he was 
 surrounded, and aimed directly at the hearts of his 
 hearers. Hfe- demanded faith, sincerity and earnestness, 
 here. He demanded that religion be a living, soul-per- 
 vading power, — that it be a spiritual force, prompting 
 its possessor to the full discharge of duty, and the entire 
 consecration of his being to God. 
 
 Not a few hs-.d their fears lest his earnestness and 
 reformats ry zeal might weaken the hold of the church 
 upon the people, or bring into disrepute some of its 
 ancient rites. But Whitefield had one object before him; 
 
EXAMPLES OB ENERGY. 8'd 
 
 and, compared -with that, all else Tvas secondary. He 
 respected the church, and loved its members ; but God's 
 truth, in his view, was above all hierarchies, and the 
 divine will more imperative than the highest ' human 
 authority. Hence we find him fearlessly pouring the 
 great truths of revelation into the consciences of all 
 classes, the high and low, the learned and ignorant, 
 the spiritual and the profligate. The trumpet-blasts of 
 his voice aroused the lethargic hearer. His sententious 
 and pungent utterances startled the indifferent. His 
 powerful arguments disarmed the infidel. His overpower- 
 ing presentations of eternal truths silenced the scoffer. 
 His pathetic and fervent appeals melted the rocky heart, . 
 and drew tears of penitence from the most hardened and 
 abandoned. 
 
 Nor was this zeal ephemeral or spasmodic. It pervaded 
 a ministry of thirty years, increasing, rather than dimin- 
 ishing, as the preacher advanced. The flame of his 
 enthusiasm never grew dim. The fire of his devotion 
 never went out. The more he preached, the more he 
 desired to preach. His labors and achievements were 
 only stimulus for future effort. On one occasion he said, 
 " Everything I meet with seems to carry this voice with 
 it, ' Go thou and preach the gospel, be a pilgrim on the 
 earth;' my heart echoes back, ' Lord Jesus, help me to 
 do or suffer thy will.' " 
 
 So absorbed was he in the accomplishment of his great 
 mission, that he appeared to be entirely forgetful of self. 
 He sought no favors from man, desired u d preferments, 
 liad no possessions, — not even a house. He was liter- 
 
84 LBCTTJEES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 ally a stranger and pilgrim on tlie earth. He took no 
 thought for the morrow, what he should eat or drink, or 
 what he should put on. When a proposition was made, 
 in Edinburgh, to obtain funds for him by private sub- 
 scription, he said, " I will not admit of any such thing. 
 I make no purse. What I have I give away. ' Poor, 
 yet making.many rich,' shall be iny motto still.'' 
 
 But, while this devotion and holy energy arrested the 
 attention of the masses, and resulted in blessing thou- 
 sands of souls, it also excited the bitter opposition of the 
 depraved heart. As is usually the case when one becomes 
 eminently useful, he was the object of intense hatred, as 
 well as ardent love. Some who had been his early 
 adyiirers became violent opposers. Churches, that had 
 been opened to him were afterwards closed against him. 
 His course was not regarded as sufficiently canonical by 
 the dignitaries of the church. He was too much in 
 earnest for them. His fire did not correspond well with 
 the coldness of their forms. He was unwilling to float 
 with these icebergs in the waters of arctic regions, with 
 only a dim twilight, and occasional flashes of* truth. In 
 his preaching he rose above the dead level of stupid 
 monotony and feeble thought which characterized i^any 
 of the pulpits of the establishment ; and hence he was a 
 dangerous man, — dangerous to stupidity, formalism, and 
 authority based upon arrogance and dulness. He com- 
 mitted the sin of meaning what he said ! He allowed 
 the dootrinea of immortality to touch his heart, to stir the 
 depths of his soul ; and he spoke to his auditors as a 
 living man, and not as a machine, or a galvanized corpse. 
 
EXAMPLES 01' ENERGY. 85 
 
 To those who ■wished only the twilight he gave laghtning 
 from heaven. Against those who came to be soothed 
 with the words "peace, peace," he hurled the thunders 
 of divine wrath. 
 
 The opposition that he experienced, instead of reduc- 
 ing, increased his ardor. It gave new strength to his 
 energy. Being excluded from temples of brick and 
 mortar, he went forth into God's great temple. From 
 this he was not excluded. Like his divine Master, he 
 selected a mountain for his pulpit. The broad canopy 
 above was the roof of his great cathedral. The sun gave 
 him light, and the vast plains below afforded ample 
 accommodations for all who would come and partake of 
 the bread of life. The JEolian harp of nature furnished 
 him with music ; for the mountains and hills broke forth 
 into singing, and the trees of the field clapped their 
 hands. And emphatically might it have been said, as 
 the multitude listened to the eloquence of the gifted 
 preacher, " The Lord is in his holy teniple." For often 
 was there the solemnity and stillness of death over the 
 immense auditory. Often the dews of divine grace 
 descended, and many souls were converted. 
 
 In this manner of preaching Whitefield took special 
 delight. He loved to be in the open air, where his mind 
 and heart might have free play, where he could feel the 
 inspiration of the scene before him. He loved to stand 
 where he could pour his burning thoughts and intense 
 emotions directly into the heart, without their being 
 chilled by passing through prescribed forms. He loved 
 8 
 
Ii6 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEIT. 
 
 to gather from the ohjects of nature the incidents and 
 illustrations to set home the truth upon the conscience. 
 
 Suchi was the earnestness of his desires to be about his 
 Master's work, that, in spite of rain, storms and cold, he 
 would go forth to deliver his message to dying men. He 
 thus refers to one of these occasions : 
 
 " At seven in the evening I preached in the open air, 
 to a great multitude. All was hushed, and exceedingly 
 solemn. The stars shone brightly. Then, if ever, I 
 saw by the eye of faith Him who calleth them all by 
 their names. ■ My soul was filled with a holy ambition, 
 and I longed to be one of those who shall shine as the 
 stars, for ever and ever. My hands and my body were 
 cold, — but what are outward things, when the soul 
 within is warmed by the love of God.? 0, that I may 
 die in the field ! " 
 
 He did die in the battle-field, as a faithful soldier of 
 the cross. With his armor on, with the shield of faith, 
 and the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, 
 he fell, and is now enjoying the rewards of his uncon- 
 querable zeal and heroic achievements.-, 
 
 Young men, shall not the mantles of these heroes fall 
 upon some oT you 1 Have we not need, at the present 
 day, of men inspired by this principle of. holy energy 1 
 Do we not need them in the pulpit, in the study, and in 
 the various departments of philanthropy ? Let the zeal 
 of these champions kindle your enthusiasm, and arouse 
 your energies, and the light of your example will mingle 
 
EXAMPLES OF ENERGY. 87 
 
 Vfith theirs, and your life will be a force in the mcral 
 Tforld that will be felt ■while time shall endure. 
 
 " Iiiyes of great men aU remind us 
 We can make our lives sublime. 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 Footprints on the sands of time, — 
 
 " Foot-prints that perhaps another, 
 Sailing»o'er life's solemn main, 
 A forlorn and shipwrecked brother. 
 Seeing, shall take heart again. 
 
 " Let us, then, be up and doing. 
 With a heart for any fete ; 
 Still achieving, still pursuing. 
 Learn to labor and to WaiL" 
 
Y. 
 
 PEBNICIOtrS MTEKATUBE. 
 " Of making many books there is no end." — Ecomsiasies 12 : 12. 
 
 This is epiphatically an age oiF books. . We find them 
 in all classes of society ; in the richly-furnished draw- 
 ing-room, the workshop, the car, hotel, and wherever 
 men congregate. Not confined, as formerly, to the 
 retreats of philosophy and the studies of the learned, 
 they mingle in the circles of fashion, afford instruction 
 to the laborer after the toils of the day, solace the aged, 
 'and cheer by their presence the sick chamber and the 
 house of sorrow. They are omnipresent silent forces, 
 from which streams of influence, for good or evil, are 
 constantly flowing. 
 
 Their character is as various as the classes of persons 
 among whoin they mingle. Some go forth to bless, 
 and others to curse, the community. Some fill the 
 mind witb valuable truths, holy thoughts atnd noble . 
 aspirations; while others teach fatal error, inflame the 
 passions, and pour their poison through the most secret 
 chambers of the soul. Some lift the reader to heaven, 
 
PERNICIOUS LITBRATURB. 89 
 
 drawing his spirit neal-er^o God, and aiding him in 
 preparing for immortal life ; ivliile others allure the 
 soul towards hell, and fit it for companionship, with the 
 spirits of the bst. 
 
 Such.a power abroad in the community, and every day 
 rapidly increasing, cannot by ihe friends of virtue and 
 religion be regarded with indifference. It must, if pos- 
 sible, be kept within proper bounds, and in the right 
 channels ; else it will become a torrent, that will sweep 
 away the barriers of virtue, and all the valuable institu- 
 tions of society. Yes, books have in them a force to 
 undo the work of our pulpits, destroy the benign influ- 
 ence of the Sabbath-school, undermine Eimily ffeligion, 
 and make our moral precepts but so .many gossamer 
 threads before the tide of tetaptation. By their plausi- 
 ble reasonings, or seductive charms, or fascinating pic- 
 tures of pleasurable life, they take captive the .reader 
 ere he is aware of the least danger, and lead hiin by 
 silken cords into the paths of sin. A bad author, in 
 whom a powerful intellect and corrupt heart unite," 
 wields an influence that no king can claim, that no 
 conqueror ever possessed. He does more with his 
 words than Napoleon ever did with his armies. The 
 military leader destroys the body, but the bad authoi 
 destroys the soul. He pours his fire directly into the 
 seat of life. The former lays waste earthly empires ; 
 the latter wastes spiritual empires. He breaks down 
 citadels of virtue. He blasts immortal hopes. He 
 drives 6bd out of his own teinple, and then demolishes 
 the temple itself. EverJ- book that the bad author sends 
 8* 
 
90 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 forth is an apostle of evil, a messenger of Satan, a 
 teacher of vice. It is an apostle, too, whom he cannot 
 recall, f he -would. It goes forth, but it does not return. 
 It lives after he is dead. Through it, he corrupts others 
 while he is himself mouldering in the grave. 
 
 In no way can one so^ surely extend and perpetuate 
 the infamous principles that are in him as by putting 
 them, in a popular form, .upon the printed page.- This 
 will give him victims in more than one generation. 
 Long after the mischief produced by others has reached 
 its hmits, his will be extending. His books may pro- 
 duce a multitude of others similar in their character 
 and effects, — a multitude that shall come upon the 
 land like the frogs of Egypt, entering the chambers and 
 secret apartments of the inhabitants, and destroying all 
 before them. Thus one bad author may. become the 
 founder of a dynasty in the kingdom of literature, — a 
 dynasty gathering its revenue from the vices of men, 
 sustained by heroes collected from among profligates and 
 criminals, and distinguished for its conquests over virtue 
 and good morals. With such a dynasty, . the Uberty of 
 ■the press is the liberty of publishing to the world the 
 foulest creations that issue from the brains of unprinci- 
 pled men, — the liberty of introducing thieves, murder- 
 ers and libertines, into refined society, and claiming for 
 them sympathy instead of reprobation, and respect in- 
 stead of intense scorn. The heroism they inculcate is 
 a heroism in wickedness. Courage, in their estimation, 
 is bravery in resisting the remonstrances of conscience, 
 and breaking through the restraints of society. The 
 
PERNICIOUS LITERATURE. 91 
 
 ambition they recommend is that of aspiring to heights 
 of iaiquitj, and extending their power oyer the innocent 
 ■ ind unwary. 
 
 These authors attempt to defend themselves with the 
 plea that they only copy nature in their writings, and 
 present scenes from real hfe. Vice and crime, they tell 
 us, abound ; and for every picture which they represent 
 there are in the world many corresponding realities. 
 
 But it is one thing to present sin in its odiousness and 
 accompanying miseries, and quite another to clothe it 
 in the garb of virtue, and decorate it with the, attractions 
 and charms that a cultivated genius can throw arourtd it. 
 It is one thing to paint a true picture of a career of vice 
 or villany, and quite another to divorce that villany 
 from guilt and remorse. We may behold the criminal 
 before the court, or in his dungeon, or swinging from 
 the gallows, and the sight will not probably tempt us 
 to the commission of crimes. We may visit the vicious 
 man after his health and strength have been expended in 
 debauchery, and we shall find, I assure you, little of 
 pleasing romance in his condition and prospects. The 
 interview will excite in us no desire to follow in his 
 footsteps. Unless a diseased, emaciated form and tor- 
 turing pains have attractions, — unless the wreck of a 
 mind in the wreck of a body, both blasted as though by 
 lightning from heaven, can recommend vice, — then there 
 is no danger of temptation here. We may retire, with 
 the bold blasphemer and scoffer at religion, into his sick 
 chamber ; stand over him in his dying hour, watch his 
 agitated countenance, Ms glaring eye, compressed Ups, 
 
92 LECTURES TO TOUNS MEN. 
 
 and convulsed frame; listen to the last words and 
 prayers that he utters, and we shall not depart saying, 
 "Let me did the death of the blasphemer, and let liiy 
 last end be like his." 
 
 Should these novelists do what they profess to do, and 
 represent real life, giving us the whole of the picture, 
 true to nature, they would be among the most effective 
 teachers of morality in the community, — if, indeed, they 
 could obtain purchasers of their books. But the hypo- 
 crites have no intention of following such a course. 
 Their object is to ■ pander to the depraved inclinations 
 and worst passions of men, that their own avarice, ambi- 
 tion or misanthropy, may be gratified. They are well 
 aware that their patrons, who in luxurious apartments 
 and on soft couches greedily devour, their works, have 
 no disposition to visit the prison, the alms-house or the 
 hospital, the future residence of their heroes. They 
 willingly accompany ' the murderer while he is senti- 
 mental, the libertine while he is polite, the sceptic while 
 he has wit, and Satan himself, if decked in the livery of 
 heaven ; but the skilful writer is sure to let the curtain 
 drop before the storm of divine vengeance is seen gath- 
 ering, or the light of the fires of hell flashes upon the 
 scene. 
 
 Among the founders of corrupt dynasties in English 
 literature, we might mention the name of Byron. This 
 author combined, as you well know, the most brilliant 
 intellectual qualities with the deepest moral depravity. 
 He h&d genius, imagination and eloqiieace, associated 
 with contempt of the principles of virtue, and a bittey 
 
PEKNICIOUS LITEKATUKE. 98 
 
 hatred of mankind. His rank, with his talents, gave 
 him a position in society most favorable for securing an 
 extensive influence ; and at an early age we find him 
 occupying a lofty eminence in the literary world, sur- 
 rounded by admirers, and receiving applause from the 
 ranks of fashion, learning and political distinction. 
 Whatever could gratify ainbition, or stimulate to'high and 
 honorable achievement, in mental resources, personal 
 advantages, or outward prosperity, was in his possession. 
 But we find him devoting the whole force of his being to 
 disturbing the order of society, unsettling the funda- 
 mental principles of virtue, inverting the precepts of 
 humanity, and assailing the vital doctrines of religion. 
 With a mind filled with the spectral forms of infidelity, 
 with a heart overflowing with misanthropy, with a 
 contempt for mankind that amounted to a violent pas- 
 sion, with a command of the language of invective and 
 scorn peculiarly his own, he sought by the imperial 
 force of his genius to command admiration and sympathy 
 for principles which only merited pity and abhorrence. 
 
 He taught that true heroism was found among profli- 
 gates and criminals, and that the highest wisdom con- 
 sisted in hatred of our fellow-men, and fortitude in 
 enduring their ' hatred of us. "Prom maniac laughter 
 to piercing lamentation," says Macaulay, "there was 
 not a single- note of hurnan anguish of which he was not 
 master. Year after year, he continued to repeat that to 
 be wretched is the destiny of all ; that to be . eminently 
 wretched is the destiny of the eminent ; that all the 
 desires by which W3 are cursed had alike to misery. 
 
94 LECTURES TO YOUNfl MEN, 
 
 His principal heroes are men who have arrived by 
 different roads at the same goal of despair ; who are sick 
 of life, who ■ are at war with society, who are supported 
 in their anguish only by an unconquerable pride, resem- 
 bling that of Prometheus on the rock, or of Satan in 
 the burning fiiarl ; who can master their agonies by the 
 force of their will, and who, to ' the last, defy the"~ whole 
 power of earth and heaven. He always described himself 
 as a man of the same kind with his favorite creations, — 
 as a man whose heart had been withered, whose capacity 
 for happiness was gone and could not be restored, but 
 whose invincible spirit dared the worst that could befall 
 him here or hereafter." 
 
 In our pity for the man we might almost forgive his 
 absurdities and wickedness, were it ngt for the ruin they 
 effected, both in their living and pdsthumous influence. 
 Not without caution should any one approach his writ- 
 ings ; for, just in proportion to our abandonment to his 
 power is that power felt to our injury, and I am not quite 
 sure that even the time necessary to acquaint one's self 
 with his works sufficiently to form an opinion of them is 
 not worse than wasted. Is any one conscious of possess- 
 ing too warm a philanthropy, or too earnest a zeal in the 
 service of God and his fellow-men, that he should seek a 
 counteracting influence in the contagious misanthropy 
 of one whose insane egotism led him to represent "every 
 man's hand " as " against him," and who certainly took 
 great pains to raise his own hand against every man's? 
 
 Maddened and miserable himself, he threw from him, 
 an all sides, with reckless fury, fiery darts, which, like 
 
PERNICIOUS LITERATURE. 95 
 
 the arrows of Indian warfare, poisoned all whom they 
 pierced. Living, he was mighty for evil ; and, dying, he 
 was like one "carried off by tjie plague, who, though he 
 dies himself, does execution upon others by a surviving 
 infection." 
 
 I need hardly point you to Bulwer, another caterer to 
 public depravity, whose writings have exerted no slight 
 influence over the public mind. Without the genius of 
 Byron, he has great talents, an energetic and lively 
 style, and descriptive powers of a high . order. But his 
 aim in his early novels seems to have been to exalt and 
 render fashionable human wickedness, to garnish vice 
 with seductive charms, and to introduce into circles of 
 refinement and rank, .characters who deserve imprison- 
 ment or hanging. • If he attempts to portray integrity 
 or purity, or any generous qualities of the soul, the 
 representation is feeble and heartless. It is adapted to 
 a class of readers who mistake a sickly sentimentalism 
 for philosophy, who are incapable of appreciating gen- 
 uine sincerity, and who, taking themselves as a standard, 
 regard all religion as hypocrisy. A true manly virtue 
 can derive no stimulus from delineations so meagre and 
 superficial. • 
 
 We might cite other instances of authors, in the Eng- 
 lish and Prench schools, of demoralizing literature, whose 
 works are extensively read, and whose doctrines are 
 widely diffused through society. But these will serve as 
 the representatives of a large class, against whom we 
 would warn the young. To indulge in such reading 
 before the character is formed, cr the principles are fixed. 
 
96 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 is to expose the soul to destructive influences at a period 
 when their fatal effects are most sure to be experienced. 
 A false sentiment, or a bad principle, deposited in the 
 mind just as its powers are opening, is placed in the very 
 seat of life, to work with the earliest exercise of the fac- 
 ulties, to grow .with their growth and strengthen with 
 their strength.. Life is poisoned at its fountain; and it 
 may be impossible, in after years, to dislodge that senti- 
 ment, or to free the mind from its baneful influence. 
 
 I would not be understood as assailing fictitious writ- 
 ings simply because they are fictitious ; neither would I 
 deprive one of the pleasure or instruction to be derived 
 from a story inculcating sound principles or noble feel- 
 ing. But it is because the writings to which we have 
 alluded are false, full of error, misrepresentations, and 
 doctrines destructive to virtue and happiness, that we 
 . condenin them. We protest not against novel-writers as 
 a class,, but against the shameless impudence, the glaring 
 profligacy, of those, who are corrupting the stream of' 
 literature ; who, not content with the use of the ordinary 
 means of debasing their fellow-men, are willing to em- 
 ploy, for this purpose, the channels which have served to 
 refine and elevate society.* A nation's literature is its 
 intellectual life. It comprises not only historical records, 
 but the choicest thoughts and principles of the wisest 
 and best men in the land. We naturally resort to books 
 for instruction, for mental stimulus, for maxims that 
 will purify and elevate the soul. Through them we 
 converse with the sages of the past, with philosophers, 
 poets, orators, and the wise of every age. " Books," 
 
PERNICIOUS LITEKATURE. 97 
 
 says one, " are light-houses erected in the great sea of 
 time. Books, the precious depositories of the thoughts 
 and creations of genius, — books, by whose sorcery times 
 past become time present, and the whole pageantry- of 
 •the world's history moves in solemn procession before 
 our eyes ; — these visit the firesides of the humble, and 
 lavish the treasures of the intellect upon ^the poor. 
 Could we have Plato and Shakspeare and Milton in 
 our dwellings, in the full vigor of their imaginations, in 
 the full freshness of their hearts, few scholars would be 
 affluent enough to afford them physical support ; but the 
 living images of their minds are within the eyes of all. 
 From their pages their mighty souls look out upon us in 
 all their grandeur and beauty, undimmed by the faults 
 and follies of earthly existence, consecrated by time. 
 Precious and priceless are the blessings that books scatter 
 around our daily paths. We walk in imagination with 
 the noblest spirits, through the most sublime and enchant- 
 ing regions, — regions which, to all that is lovely in the 
 forms and colors of earth, 
 
 * Add the gleam. 
 The light that never was on sea or land, 
 The consecration and the poet's dream.' " 
 
 He, therefore, who sends forth a bad book, poisons the 
 fountains of knowledge, and corrupts the sources of intel- 
 lectual health and strength. He acts as destructively 
 upon the mental character and moral condition of the 
 people as a person would upon the public health who 
 should poison the reservoirs upon which a city is depend- 
 9 
 
58 LBCTORBS SO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 ■ent for pure water. The deadly streams i lom sach a 
 fountain flow throui^ the streets, enter the houses, 
 shops, stores and public institutioi®, penetrate hito the 
 chamber and retired apartmefit, and thousanads at the 
 same moment partake of the fatal fluid. 
 
 We have several specific objections to this class of 
 works, which we would impress upon lie attention of the 
 young. 
 
 In the first place, these writings comg>i the taste, 
 and destroy the relish for profitable reading. It is as 
 important to preserve and cultivate a pure taste as to 
 establish right principles in the heart ; for the taste 
 and inclinations often give character to one's principles. 
 They give direction to the energies, control the affections, 
 and select the objects of pursuit. If the love for ficti- 
 tious works is awakened and cherished, the mind will 
 soon become absorbed by them, and will " live, move 
 and have its being" in the creations of the popular 
 novelists of the. day. Other and profitable d^artments 
 of literature will be neglected. The rich mines of scieik- 
 tific truth, the stirring facts and incidents of history, the 
 beauties of poetry, the pleasures of philosophical studies, 
 present no attractions to one whose taste is thus per- 
 verted. He has no disposition to leave the fairy castles 
 in which he has floated, to withdraw from the scenes 
 which haTC so excited and fascinated him, or to jartfirom 
 the company of heroes whoi, though vicious, are accom- 
 plished, amd who, though criminal, are adroit bi their 
 villany. 
 
 The- mischief is the more serious, becaiose it b done at 
 
PBKNICI0T7S LITEEATUKE. 99 
 
 a period when the mind should be laying in its stores of 
 iiseM knowledge, when a taste should be cultivated for 
 the solid branches of learning, and when the higher facul- 
 ties of the soul should have all the advantages, in their 
 conflict with youthful passions, that a healthful literature 
 can impart. Instead of weakening the authority of reason, 
 and increasing, the -proclivity of the mind to sinful in- 
 dulgence, and adding fuel to the flames of passion, the 
 youth should be fortifying himself against the evil_ tend- 
 encies of his nature. He should give a direction to the 
 force of his being that will elevate, and not debase him, 
 — that, will start him in a career of honor and happiness, 
 and not press him into paths that lead^o disgrace atid 
 infamy. 
 
 It should be considered, also, that the youth cuts him- 
 self oif from these advantages at a period in the history 
 of human knowledge when the greatest facilities exist 
 for the prosecution of scientific researches ; when the 
 richest fields are unfolding their treasures to the diligent 
 inquirers after truth ; when poetry comes to us clothed 
 in robes of purity, and bearing sentiments of a lofty and 
 truthful character ; when history is presented with every 
 attraction which felicity of style, beauty of imagery and 
 force of illustration, can impart. Never was there an age 
 when the choicest treasures of knowledge were scattered 
 abroad with so lavish a hand as at the present time. 
 And shall the youth, for the momentary excitement that 
 a pernicious novel afibrds him, fling away this rich in- 
 heritance, which the wise and good of past generations 
 have left to bins ? Shallhe-be so fooUsh as to sell his 
 
100 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 birthright for a mess of pcttage ? Shall he so lightly 
 esteem that which has cost the toil and industry of 
 centuries, as to I'elinquish it for so paltry and ephemeral 
 a gratification? The inebriate, who parts with health, 
 and the enjoyment of life, for the excitement of the 
 intoxicating cup, is not more mad than he who, with 
 these splendid fields open before him, and rich prizes 
 within his grasp, gives himself up to the polluting and 
 deadly influences of a corrupt literature. 
 
 Let a youth experience the refined pleasures which a 
 wise and lofty intellectual career affords ; let him ex- 
 plore any one of the sciences, — let him soar amid the 
 grandeurs of astronomy, or trace out the marks of divine 
 skill and goodness in geology, or observe the beautiful 
 laws that are developed in chemistry,-^ and he will no 
 longer waste his time and peril his principles with the 
 villanous productions of villanous authors. 
 
 In the next place, these pernicious works tinfit the 
 reader for the practical duties and stern realities of 
 life. They fill the mind with false notions, extravaganji 
 desires, and expectations that are never realized. They 
 prepare thousands for bitter disappointments. Many, 
 who, at this hour, are surrounded with every comfort, 
 and surfeited with luxuries, are full of repinings and 
 murmurings at the allotments of Providence, because 
 their minds have been poisoned by the false views of life , 
 which their favorite novelists have given them. They 
 have revelled . in scenes, which have no counterpart in 
 anything that has transpired upon the earth. They 
 hare -been dazzled by visions, and excited by ideal de- 
 
PERNICIOUS LITBKATUEE. 101 
 
 lights, tliat have no corresponding realities. Now, life is 
 not, and was never intended to be, a scene of romantic 
 adventure, of sickly sentimehtalism, of visionary bliss. 
 It is no May-day amusement, with its frivolous sports, 
 but a stern, solemn reality. It is a battle-field, in which 
 we have foes to encounter, severe struggles to pass 
 through, victories to gain, and crowns to win. For its 
 duties and conflicts we need something more than the 
 armor of fictitious heroes, or the courage displayed ia 
 encounters with imaginary rivals. 
 
 We need the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, 
 and the sword of the Spirit. We need a strong arm, a 
 stout heart, invincible energy, and those manly quahties 
 and firm principles which corrupt authors ridicule and 
 aim to destroy. 
 
 But we may be met with the assertion that it is not 
 the design of these writings to .instruct but to amuse the 
 reader, — not to gravely inculcate moral sentiments, but 
 to afibrd recreation and excitement. Yet, before I in- 
 dulge in such reading, and make these volumes my 
 bosom companions, — before I allow the sentiments that 
 they contain to engross my affections, and to mingle with 
 my daily thoughts, — I am bound to ask what their influ- 
 ence will be upon my character, prospects, and success 
 in life. Will they aid me in discharging the great 
 duties of my mission on earth 1 Will they make me a 
 wiser or better man ? Will they enable me to resist 
 temptation with more resolution, or bear trials with more 
 fortitude, or serve my God with more faithfulness and 
 acceptance? Will they help me to prepare for the 
 9* 
 
102 LECTUBES TO YOUNS MEN. 
 
 solemnities of a dying houBf t Will they tkrow any rays 
 of ligtt across the dark valley^ or awaken any" sweet 
 voices that will whisper peace to my mvll These ques- 
 tions I am bound to ask- And, if I am told that these, 
 writings will do just the opposite of all this, — will 
 undermine right principles, weaken every good resolu-v 
 tion, nnfit me for duty, and make me a mere thing of 
 weakness and sentimentality, to be tossed about with 
 every changing circumstance, — then I must spurn thera 
 from my presence ; if need be, I must trample them 
 beneath my feet, Life is too short,- its duties are too 
 pressing, its responsibilities are too mighty, to allow me 
 to waste days, months, years, upon these frivolous and 
 corrupting productions. I have evils enough to contend 
 against, without intoxicating my brain and inflaming my 
 passions with the scenes of pollution and crime which 
 these authors portray. 
 
 Another objection to this species of literature is, that 
 it injures the tone of the sensibilities. It has been 
 said, by the advocates of fictitious writings, that they are 
 positively beneficial, inasmuch as they excite sympathy 
 for sorrow, and admiration for heroic deeds. But we 
 would ask what practical benefit ia derived from the 
 emotions thus excited. It is a law of the human mind 
 that the repeated excitement of a sensibility that does 
 not result in action tends to deaden that sensibility. It 
 soon becomes inoperative as fer as relates to practicai 
 effects. Team may feiU abundajatly over descriptioiK of 
 fictitious sorrow ; but they are most likely to prodoc^ 
 fictitious benevolence. What habitual novel-read^^ aitei 
 
PEaNICIOTO LITBRATURB. 10^ 
 
 beiag melted by a tale of distress, is seen leaving Yaet 
 riohly-furaisliad apartment, and hastening to an abode 
 of poverty or sorrow, to relieve a case of actual want ? 
 From what class in the community do we select the 
 members and officers of charitable societies 1 Whom dij 
 we commission to carry food to the hungry, clothing to, 
 the naked,, and comfort to the distressed ? . Do we select 
 the most ijiveterate novel-readers? The simple truth is, 
 that, a suffering world derives as much benefit from their 
 tears as from the tears of crocodiles. Their sympathies 
 may he kindled in a glow, but no warmth from them, 
 reaches the abodes of want and distress. Their charity 
 may be greatly excited-, but it is not permitted to ripea 
 into deeds of benevolence. 
 
 Yet we find able writers gravely ad vocajting fictitious, 
 writings., because of the exercise they give to the sensi*. 
 bilities aad emotions of the soul. In so respectable a 
 periodical as the North American Review (vol, lvi. p. 
 271) I find the following remarks on this point : " Act- 
 ual experience does not always furnish a sufficient 
 number of trying occasions on which the mind may be 
 purified and exalted by pity, wonder or admiration,"- 
 And,, again, " Opportunities for the exercise of , the 
 heroic virtues are certainly rare; ",and, therefore, fictioQ 
 must come in, to supply the deficiency. 
 
 It almost takes away one's breath to read such declar- 
 ations. " Opportunities for the^ exereke of the heroic 
 virtues certainly rare ! " Was such the case when our 
 Saviour visited the world and went about doing good 1 
 Did Wilberfoxce, Howarl, Martyn and Brainerd, find 
 
104 LECTUKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 that "actual experience does nQt" furnish a sufficient 
 number of trying occasions, on which the mind may be 
 purified and exalted by pity, &c. ? Imagine John How- 
 ard arousing his sensibilities by consuming day after day 
 in reading fictitious works ! Imagine a band of city 
 missionaries, whose daily duty it is to visit the poor and 
 sick, drawing their stimulus from the same source ! If 
 these works are so well adapted to excite "the heroic 
 virtues," why should not the secretary of every charita- 
 ble society be supplied with a complete set of Bulwer'& 
 novels, and the members, before going forth upon their 
 , missions of mercy, spend a. few hours inlistening to the 
 reading of several chapters? The writer, however, to 
 whom we have referred, in the North American Review, 
 admits "that these remarks (which I have quoted) are 
 not very applicable to the novels of the. present day, in 
 very few of which do we find any exhibition of estimable 
 characters, or of noble principles of conduct." A very 
 important admission, surely, and one that materially 
 qualifies the statements that precede it. 
 
 But we object to a very large portion of the fictitious 
 literature of the present day, because, as we have 
 already intimated, it is so demorahzing and atheistical. 
 Many of the cheap works which are sold in shops, news- 
 paper depots, and in cars, steamboats, and places of 
 public resort, are of a licentious and grossly immoral 
 character. They are a moral pestilence that walketh in 
 darkness and wasteth at noonday. . They seek to destroy 
 every noble trait, every refined and generous senti- 
 ment, every lofty and pure principle of action. They 
 
PERNICIOUS LITERATURE. 105 
 
 amplify and dicorate whatever, can deform or degrade 
 human, nature. The most abhorrent vices are exhibited 
 in the garb of the highest virtues. The most abandoned 
 knaves are presented to the reader as gentlemen of 
 honor. The apostate from religion and the hypocrite 
 are favorite characters with this class of writers. If 
 they can only succeed in working up their revolting 
 materials into an attractive and vivid picture, they care 
 not what becomes of the interests of religion, or the 
 moral principles of their reader. " Having," to use the 
 language of another, "too little principle to care for or 
 be conscious of the injury they do, they can, by means 
 of a temporary popularity, spread an infection anlong 
 thousands, simply because the minds of their readers are 
 too. passive to understand their danger. Thus there are 
 those whose whole employment seems to be to turn vice 
 into virtue and shame into glory, till' all moral distinc- 
 tions are worn away by the perpetual dropping ; and the 
 blindfolded reader- will accept some poor knave, not only 
 as a gentleman and a man of honor, but high-souled, 
 whole-hearted, and whatever other fair name these 
 writers think proper to bestow." 
 
 These men, from Byron down to Bulwer, — and many 
 a fathom down it is, --have labored to represent human 
 nature, when defiled, iegraded and passion-stained, aa 
 more elevated than before its fall, — Herod eaten of 
 worms as more graceful and commanding than Solomon 
 in all his glory. There cannot be a more impudent 
 affront offered to the common sense of mankind. The 
 artist might as well maintain that the drunkard's redness 
 
106 LECHJBBS TO YOXTSGt MEW. 
 
 is more beautiful than the school-boy's bloom, or the 
 features wasted by sensuality more honorable than the 
 care-worn countenance of the devoted philanthropist.'^ 
 
 Such, are the works that enter our fanalies, and 
 destroy multitudes of our youth. Unconscious of the 
 dangers that surround them, the young indulge in this 
 species of reading, until their imagination, reason and 
 will, are taken captive, and they are ensnared by the; 
 seductive charms of these popular and profligate writ- 
 ers. The bowers that are wreathed for them seem 
 attractive and beautiful. The words of the author fall 
 like sweet music upon the ear. lulling the conscience to 
 rest. His imagery plays before the fancy, and takes 
 captive the affections of the heart. He leads his fol- 
 lowers through enchanted grounds, scatters flowers ia 
 their pathway, spreads over them a canopy of fleecy 
 clouds tinged with rainbow hues, and by his magic arts 
 dispels all sense of danger. But ere long these bright 
 visions begin to fade, and the darkness of a misty and 
 gloomy night gathers over the scene. The strains of 
 music gradually die away, and the rumbling of distant 
 thunder is heard. Occasional flashes of lightning startle 
 the conscience. The dread reahty begins to fasten upon 
 the consciousness, that the great interests of Ufe have 
 been neglected, — .that the solemnities of eternity are 
 upproaching, for which no preparation has been made. 
 Soon the storm breaks, in all its fury, upon the deluded 
 victim. The black heavens, the howling winds, the 
 trembling earth, reveal the presence of Him whose 
 
PERNICIOUS LITEEAJORB. 107 
 
 messages have been unheeded, whose laws have been 
 broken and trodden under foot. 
 
 0, young man, and young woman too, poison not 
 your soul by this pernicious literature ! For that soul 
 has in it a value that outweighs the stars. It is more 
 precious than the material universe. An infinite Sav- 
 iour died upon the cross to redeem it. Angels watch 
 over its destiny with the deepest solicitude. The Holy 
 Spirit hovers around it, anxious to enter and take pos- 
 session, and consecrate it as a temple to the living God. 
 Your Father in heaven is anxiously watching for your 
 return 4a himself. 
 
 Take this holy Book as your guide. Here you have 
 a celestial literature, — principles that are more precious 
 than rubies, knowledge that will make you wise unto 
 salvation. 
 
 Here you may learn the character of the purest, 
 wisest Being in the universe, — the great I Am, who has 
 spread out the heavens, and lighted up the stars, and 
 who offers to you enduring joys. Here you may follow 
 writers inspired by the Holy Ghost, — writers who give 
 you not fiction, but eternal, truth ; who point you not to 
 shadows, but glorious realities ; not to delusive phantoms 
 and airy castles, but to mansions in the skies, — to a 
 city that hath foundations whose builder and maker is 
 God. May you all enter the gates of that city, gaze 
 upon its splendors, listen to its music, and enrich your 
 intellects with its stores of knowledge, and its. ennobling 
 and sUiWme truths ! ^ 
 
VI. 
 
 THE THEATRE. 
 " Every tree is knoTm by its oim fruit." — Luke 6 : 44. 
 
 I PROPOSE to discuss, to-night, the question, "Is a 
 new theatre needed in the city of Boston?" * You are 
 aware that recently measures have _been adopted to 
 secure the erection of a large and elegant theatre in the 
 most densely crowded part of our city. TJje reasons 
 assigned for this movement are, that the people desire 
 such a place of amusement for their own gratification, 
 that the business interests of the city demand it, and that 
 it will serve as an attraction to strangers, and those who 
 may take up their residence here. 
 
 These considerations have led many wealthy and fash- 
 ionable citizens to embark in the enterprise, and we are 
 informed that the prospects of success are in the highest 
 degree flattering. 
 
 The necessity or utility of such an establishment we 
 
 * The views advanced in this lecture ore applicable to theatres in all 
 our oities. 
 
THE THEATRE. 109 
 
 propose to discuss, viewing the matter in tte light of 
 unexceptionable evidence, and citing such arguments as 
 will commend themselves to intelligent and unprejudiced 
 minds. 
 
 We may, however, be met, at the outset, with the 
 inquiry, " What business is it of yours, if some of the 
 citizens of Boston choose to build a theatre, and attend 
 plays for their amusement 1 Are you not meddling with 
 that which does not belong to you 7 If you have no taste 
 for the drama, and no desire to witness theatrical exhibi- 
 tions, may not others, who have, be gratified, without 
 'being assailed from the pulpit, and exposed to the shafts 
 of intolerance and bigotry 1 " 
 
 We would reply, that, if the enterprise is a good one, 
 and such as will benefit society, or afford innocent 
 amusement, it will not suffer by being fairly discussed. 
 If it will, advance the true interests of Boston, promote 
 the public health, or morals, or intelligence, then the 
 publicity of a pulpit discussion will aid rather than 
 injure it, will increase rather than diminish the value of 
 the stock, and will tend to enlist the cooperation of those 
 citizens who are more frequently found in churches tha,n 
 in theatres. But, if the enterprise is a bad one, — if a 
 theatre is an institution calculated to demoralize society, 
 corrupt the young, destroy the force of religion, blast the 
 hopes of parents, — if it is a school from which its grad- 
 uates go forth to indulge in every species of vice, then, 
 surely, it ought to. be examined. "Its tendencies and 
 evils ought to be exposed by every pulpit in the city, by 
 every friend of virtue and religion. That pulpit that 
 
 Id 
 
110 LBCTtJRBS TO YOXING MEN. 
 
 refeses to lift up its •warning voice, that withlKMa ita 
 solemn and earnest protest against such an institution, is 
 recreant to its duty and false to its trust. A question so 
 yitally connected with the. virtue and happiness of society 
 concerns us all. You, yt)ung men, are interested in it. 
 Foi" it may sensibly affect your welfare, influence your 
 character, and even decide jrour immortal destiny. It 
 falls withiH the legitimate sphere of your inquiry, 
 whether the temptations that already surround tfee young 
 are not sufficiently numerous and powerful, whether the 
 dangers that now threaten your Welfare and immortal 
 hopes are not fearful enough, without opening another 
 avenue to the chambers of death. 
 
 Ye who are parents are interested in this matter. It 
 is a reasonable inquiry for you to institute. How high 
 are the floods of temptation to be permitted to rise, while 
 the pulpit, the church and the community, are silent 
 upon the subject? Your children are dear to you aa 
 your own life. Their happiness is identified with yours. 
 The perils tiiat surround them you feel, and you have a 
 right to inquire into the character of the public institu- 
 tions which are to mould the society in which they "move. 
 
 In investigating the principles and the eflects of 
 theatres, we have the advantage of examining an institu- 
 tion that is well known. For centuries it has been 
 before the world in various forms, and under various sys- 
 tems of government and religion. It is a tree which has 
 yielded its fruits,-^ fruits that lie scattered over the civ- 
 ilized world. We have on record the opinions of pagan 
 and Christian philosophers in regard to it, the testidiony 
 
THE THEATEE. Ill 
 
 of legislators, the views of the church in all ages. If it 
 is a beneficial institution, a promoter of good morals, an 
 important agency in forming a refined taste and a sound 
 literature, as its advocates contend, it has certainly had 
 ample time and facilities for yielding these fruits. In 
 Greece, Italy, France, England and America, money has 
 been lavished upon the institution in the greatest pro- 
 fiision. Costly theatres have been erected. The best 
 actors have been employed. Rich dresses, gorgeous 
 scenery, and the charms of music, have added to the 
 attractions of the play. All that art, wealth, fashion 
 tod strenuous eflfort could do, has been done to render the 
 institution successful and papular. 
 
 But its history proves, as we shall show, that it has 
 uniformly exerted a pernicious influence upon society, 
 corrupted the youth, promoted irreligion, and vastly aug- 
 mented the tide of profligacy, debauchery and ruin. 
 Instead of being a blessing, it has everywhere been a 
 curse. It has debased rather than elevated the miud, 
 brutalized rather than refined the taste, blasted rather 
 than improved the character, made shipwreck of man's 
 prospects for this life, and his hopes for eternity. 
 
 Let me direct your attention, in the first place, to the 
 origin of the theatre. The word theatre is derived 
 from the Greek word O-eaofim^ which means to see, to 
 behold a spectacle, and was applied by the ancients to 
 the edifice in which shows were exhibited for public 
 amusement. Some of tie ancient theatres were costly 
 and magnificent structures^ and were built entirely of 
 marble. The Theatre of Baeehus, at Athens, was suf- 
 
112 LECfUKBS TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 ficiently capacious to accommodate thirty thousand per- 
 sons. The Greeks often built their theatres upon the 
 side of a hill, in order to aid the view of the vast audi- 
 ences that assembled to witness the play. Within these 
 immense edifices dramatic and tragical scenes were per- 
 forjned which were in the highest degree licentious, both 
 in languag* and action. 
 
 The dramatic art took its rise from the heathen cere- 
 monies and tumultuous festivities of the Greeks. In the 
 worship rendered to the gods, and especially to Bacchus, 
 choirs were introduced, who, with singing, dancing, and 
 instrumental music, represented some story or fabulous 
 conquests connected with the deity. Often, the choir, in 
 the delirium of intoxication, were loud in the praises of 
 their favorite deity, and by gestures and rude dances 
 manifested their devotion to the god of the vine. Grad- 
 ually, the singing was interrupted' by the introduction of 
 some scene or action, to add to the excitement of the 
 occasion. The murder of Bacchus, or of Osiris, by 
 Typhon, or some grotesque scene, /Was introduced. 
 
 Tragedy was regarded as an improvement upon these 
 choirs ; and in the selection of subjects and arrangement 
 of the performance, the aim was to excite the passions of 
 the auditory. Its heroes were very far from being 
 patrons of virtue, or examples of noble and elevating 
 principles. Thespis, who lived about five hundred and 
 fifty years before Christ, is regfirded as the inventor of 
 tragedy, although OEschylus, who flourished in the time 
 of the Persian war, is spoken of as its real father. Pre- 
 vious to the time of Thespis, the actors were masked aa 
 
THE THEATRE. 113 
 
 satyrs ; and; for the amusement of their auditors, they 
 indulged in the most licentious freedom. Thespis, how- 
 ever, rendered the performances more decent, although 
 under him they were exceedingly rude. " The stage is 
 said to have heen a cart, the chorus a froop of itinerant 
 singers, the actor a, sort of mimic, and the poem itself a 
 motley combination of the serious and the trifling, the 
 ludici'3us and the pathetic." 
 
 While tragedy thus sprang from the wild and 'demor- 
 alizing festivals ield in honor of the god of wine, comedy, 
 we are told, had its origin in the country. In the wards 
 or boroughs of Attica, the custom prevailed of singing 
 songs in which the greatest licentiousness was allowed.' 
 "■" The performers, drawn in cars, proceeded from borough 
 to borough; their numbers increased at every station, and 
 they strolled about the country until their excesses forced 
 them to seek repose. Hence, comedy derives -its name 
 trom,xo>M, a village." The -materials for comedies were 
 ■derived from the passing events and politics of the day 
 — the characters and deeds of state officers and other 
 distinguished men. Soon, however, this sp#cies of writ- 
 ing and acting was grossly abused, and made the vehicle 
 for attacking private character, and holding up to ridi- 
 cule persona- who were unpopular or obnoxious to the 
 people. The comedy included allegory, and satire often 
 abounded in images and allusions of 'the most obscene 
 character. No regard was paid to the restraints of virtue, 
 or the interests of truth or religion. If a laugh was only 
 excited, or the passions aroused, it was of but little con- 
 sequence what became of sound principle and -virtue. 
 10* 
 
114 LECTURES TO YOUNGt MEN. 
 
 And these features of the drama have characterized ^ 
 in almost every stage of its progress, from that period to 
 the present day. "Where the plays themselves have 
 contained in the text nothing demoralizing or objec- 
 tionable, allusions, images or •words, have been thrown 
 in, which' ministered to the depraved desires of the 
 auditors. 
 
 The remark, however, is often made by. the advQcates 
 of dramatic exhibitions, that the theatre is a school of 
 morals, — that here one may become . acquainted with 
 human nature in its various grades and aspects. But 
 those best acquainted with the theatre know that the 
 improvement of the morals of the community is the very 
 last thing which it aims at, or accomplishes. As well 
 might one contend that the slave-trade promoted human- 
 ity, or that gambling enlarged the benevolent affections, 
 or that the Romish inquisitions were founded upon the 
 principle of mercy, aa that the theatre promoted good 
 morals. Who ever heard of a dramatic exhibition being 
 opened with prayer, or closed with singing the praises of 
 God 1 Who ever heard of a youth going to the theatre 
 for the express purpose of improving his character, or 
 obtaining strength to resist temptation, and serve his 
 God? 
 
 But we are met with the assertion, by the advo- 
 cates of the drama, that the evils of which we speak 
 result from the abuses of the theatre, and not from its 
 legitimate tendency and use.. Those who are engaged in 
 erecting the new theatre in our city propose to have one 
 that shall be free from all objections. They promise 
 
THE THEATRE, 115 
 
 that it shall be an institution devoted to purity and good 
 morals, and that 'the performances shall be such as* 
 parents and guardians can safely patronize. But I caii 
 assure these gentlemen, without being a prophet, that if 
 their promises are fulfilled the income -of their theatre 
 ■will not be sufficient to pay for the lights and the door- 
 keeper. Experiments of this sort, as we shall see, have 
 been tried, and have uniformly failed. If the theatre 
 has at any time been a school of morals, I wOuld ask 
 ■whence have the good influences come 1 Have they 
 been furnished by the authors of the plays 1 Have they 
 come from the teachings or private character of the 
 actors 7 Have they risen from the immaculate purity of 
 the auditors in the pit ? Or have they descended from 
 the gallery ? Have the females who occupy the third 
 tier taken that elevated position in order to discharge 
 their duties as teachers of morality ? Let us look at 
 these points, that we may be enabled to decide upon the 
 real tendency and character of theatres.* 
 
 We have seen what kind of influences would naturally 
 flow from the origin of the theatre.- Let us next ex- 
 amine the character of the plays which have been most 
 generally performed. I am ready to allow that in the 
 department of dramatic literature we have many speci- 
 mens of fine writing. Some of the ancient Greek 
 tragedies, and some plays in the English tongue, are 
 distinguished for purity,, vigor of style, splendid imagery 
 and noble sentiments. Minds of the highest order have 
 given us the fruits of their genius in dramatic produc- 
 tions of exquisite beauty and enduring reputation. 
 
116 LECTXnS,BS TO TODNG MEN. 
 
 Sophocles, one of the most eminent of the Oreek poets, 
 A presents in his tragedies a high ailll noble standard, to 
 which man should aspire. His language is bold, rich, 
 and flowing ; his conceptions lofty and striking, and hi? 
 sentiments and character were such as secured the admi- 
 ration of his countrymen. Euripides was distinguished 
 among the ancient writers of tragedy for his purity and 
 morality. In Shakspeare it is almost superfluous to 
 say that there is much to admire, and even love. We 
 find in his writings a profusion of noble thoughts, grand 
 conceptions, splendid images, and excellent maxims. 
 But those parts of his plays that are free from the stain 
 of vice may be far more profitably read in private, than 
 listened to amid the glare and tumult of a crowded 
 theatre. 
 
 The fact, however, that there have been a few unex- 
 ceptionable plays, does not prove that all are pure, 
 truthful and harmless. We are Tiot to rest our argu- 
 ment upon isolated instances, that have escaped cor- 
 rupting influences, but upon these writers as a whole. 
 What, then, are the characterisHiic features of the plays 
 which have been acted in the theatres of Greece, Rome, 
 France, England and America ? 
 
 In the first place, they are marked by a reckless dis- 
 regard of moral truth. They violate the principles of 
 justice, integrity and honesty. Historical facts are per- 
 verted, and truth is distorted, in order to add to the 
 excitement and effect of the performance. 
 
 Every principle that contributes to a sound morality, 
 or that is deemed essential to the good of society, is 
 
THE THEATEB. 117 
 
 sported with or despised to accomplish the Writer's ends. 
 A reader of the old English dramatiste, says a writer in 
 the North American Review t* "would see the nature 
 of man revealed in its most terrible aspects of crime 
 and suffering ; all the restraints, both on depravity and 
 virtue, torn violently away, and the heart, in its naked 
 reality, laid open to view. All the conventional pro- 
 prieties and even decencies of. language he would find 
 continually violated. The bad* and the good, the great 
 and the mean, wisdom and folly, mirth and grief, he 
 would see jostling each other in seeming inextricable 
 confusion. He would hear not only the natural language 
 of passion, even to the lowest tone that the heart half 
 ^whispers to itself, but that . language as modified by a 
 thousand diversities of character. .'Oaths and vulgar- 
 ities would ring through his brain, just as some exquisite 
 strain of poetry had died away on his ear." 
 
 Dramatic literature, as a whole, is also eminently 
 anti-Christian in its character. Much of it is thoroughly 
 pervaded with the spirit of infidelity and atheism. It 
 abounds in the most shameless profanity, and the most 
 irreverent allusions and appeals to the Almighty. The 
 doctrines of the Bible, the mission, deeds and holy 
 words of the Messiah, the lives and characters of emi- 
 nent saints, are caricatured, and held up to ridicule, 
 amid the laughs and plaudits of the auditory. The 
 pulpit, the church, the holy rites of religion, are treated 
 with the most intense mockery. There is a play called 
 
 * Vol. Lxm. p. 82. 
 
118 'LBCTUKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 The Hypocrite, wlich has often been performed in the 
 Park Theatre, New York, and elsewhere, the express 
 design of which is to bring religion into contempt. A 
 pulpit is placed upon the stage, which an infamous actor 
 ascends, and from which he delivers, in a boisterous and 
 ranting style, a mock sermon. In irony, he warns his 
 hearers .against attending theatr'es", and indulging in 
 demoralizing amusements. , He refers in the most impi- 
 ous manner to the principles and requirements of the 
 Christian faith ; and his most atheistical utterances 
 and blasphemous jests are received with the greatest 
 applause. From the gallery down to the pit, these 
 sentiments an^ blasphemies meet with a cordial response. 
 The great mass of tragedies, and comedies too, are 
 steeped in impiety. • They display the most bitter hos- 
 tility to everything pertaining to Christianity. All that 
 is tender, merciful, refined, devotional, is often hooted 
 from the stage ; and the most flagrant crimes, low vul- 
 garities and passions, are exhibited and applauded. The 
 most powerful language, striking imagery, bold -meta- 
 phors, impassioned eloquence and action, are employed 
 to give force to these corrupting principles. 
 
 Yet we are gravely told that the theatre is the school 
 of good morals, — that it is an eflicient' auxiliary in pro- 
 moting virtue and truth ! The stage and the pulpit are 
 classed together in the noble work of reforming man- 
 kind ! What a delightful spectacle, to see the. wall of 
 bigotry, so called, broken down, and Christian ministers 
 and stage-actors laboring together ir. the bonds of frater- 
 
THE THEATRB. » 119 
 
 nal affection ! How auspicious to the cause of vital 
 piety, to see Christian professors crowding into the pit 
 of the theatre, and listening to the lessons of morality- 
 taught in this school ! 
 
 I wonder where the proprietors of the new theatre in 
 our city intend to procure their' teachers, under whbse 
 tuition, they assure us, parents and guardians may 
 safely place their children ! In what institution of 
 learning are* they now receiving their education 1 When 
 will they probably graduate? What testimonials will 
 they bring of having trained up youth in the principles 
 and practice of morality 1 The school-house, we are 
 informed, is to' be very large, costly and magnificent. 
 Architects are called upon to draft plans that will pro- 
 vide for the greatest number and greatest comfort of the 
 pupils ; and, surely, the teachers of such an institution 
 should be selected with the greatest care ! 
 
 But I ha-ve another plain truth to utter concerning 
 dramatic literature, namely, it is grossly licentious. 
 It panders to the corrupt desires of the soul, by its 
 obscene witticisms, by weaving in the play and connect- 
 ing with tragical scenes the passion of love. The. plots 
 are laid and the performance arranged with skill, in 
 order to excite impure desire, and weaken the hold of a 
 rigid virtue upon the minds of the audience. Conjugal 
 §delity is regarded with almost contempt, and excuses 
 are found for the worst sins and follies of youth. If "the 
 hero has rank, fashion, or wealth to shield him, he is 
 encouraged to pursue a vicious course, at wha,tever sacri- 
 fice of the peace and happiness of others. -Libertinism 
 
120 . LBCTURIS TO TOUIfG MEN. 
 
 is< stripped of 'its odiousness and deformity, presented ia.- 
 fescinating colors, and asaoeiated ■witk a generous, free 
 and noble nature. Everything is done in the arrange-, 
 ment of the parts, the acting and the scenery, to render 
 this vice attractive, and to exalt lewdness into a mere 
 indiscreticm. Hence, thousands of youths have here 
 taken their first lessons in a career of profligacy, or in 
 the arts of seduction. They have been taught to regard 
 ■with favor that which they had formerly looked upon 
 with loathing and disgust. I hesitate not to affirm that 
 the theatres of our large cities are the most powerful 
 auxiliaries of the brothels that exist. They are but 
 richly decorated and splendid gateways to the haunts of 
 prostitution, to the chambers of death. 
 
 Bedford, an able writer on the drama, enumerates 
 seventy thousand instances of impiety and immorality 
 in the plays that he examined, many of which are still 
 retained upon the stage. Another writer spes^s. of the 
 Greek comedies as thoroughly pervaded with the spirit 
 of pollution ; and he remarks upoa the corrupt character 
 of the audience that would tolerate such revolting inde- 
 cencies. ■' 
 
 Plato denounced the theatre as dangerous to morality; 
 and Socrates never attended except when a play of 
 Euripid^ was to be performed, on account of the im- 
 moral influences that corrupted his mind. Seneca says 
 of theatrical exhibitions,. " Nothing is so pernicious to 
 good morals as to be present at any of these spectacles. 
 Vice easily finds its way into the heart throu^ the; 
 pleasurable emotions -which they excite- iVom such^ 
 
. THE THBATKB. . 121 
 
 scenes I depart more avaricious, more ambitious, more 
 luxurious, than before." Ovid advised the Emperor 
 Augustus to suppress this kind of amusement, because it 
 was, in his view, a grand source of corruption. Even 
 the infidel Rousseau wrote against the stage with much 
 eloquence and force. When it was .proposed, in Geneva, 
 to establish a theatre, he vehemently opposed the measure, 
 and declared that no friend of virtue could approve of 
 it. Julian, the apostate from Christianity, also speaks 
 of theatres and actors as so many corrupters.of mankind. 
 And yet, in this nineteenth century, in this Christian 
 tity of Boston, men of wealth", respectability and influ- 
 ence, are found who are zealously engaged in the erection 
 of a new theatre ; and the enterprise is going forward 
 with scarcely, as far as I am aware, a breath of opposi- 
 tion. Do we not need some pagan philosopher,, or a 
 Rousseau, to rise up and enter his solemn protest against 
 the measure? 
 
 It will also aid us materially in forming a just estimate 
 of theatrical exhibitions, to inquire into the lives of 
 actors and actresses, and into the views which are 
 entertained respecting them by the refined and intel- 
 lectual classes in society. If the theatre, as its advocates 
 contend, is the school of good morals, the profession of 
 the actor should not only be deemed reputable, but 
 should be held in the highest estimation.^ These teach- 
 ers of morality should be admitted to the most intel 
 leetual and cultivated circles, and should be encouraged 
 and sustained by all the Mends of. virtue. But wfll the 
 proprietors and palrons of the new theatre in our city 
 11 
 
122 tBCTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 receive at their tables those whom they may einploy 
 upon the stage, and allow them to associate freely with 
 their wives and daughters 1 Will they accompany them 
 to the halls of literary' instruction, or invite them to take 
 seats in their pews on the Sabbath 1 
 
 Look -at the profession itself. Is there anything in it 
 dignified, ennobling, or calculated to inspire respect, con- 
 fidence and esteem 1 The best that we can say of the 
 actor is, that it is ' his aim to amuse the public, to afford 
 a temporary excitement and enjoyment. He does not 
 expect to go beyond this. He does not aim at making 
 any lasting and salutary impressions. All his energieSj 
 time, talents, eloquence,- powers of imitating and portray- 
 ing character, are devoted to the sole purpose of amuse- 
 ment. He is inspired by no lofty purposes, is stimulated 
 by no hopes of achieving any great and noble ends, is 
 rewarded by no satisfactory reflections upon the benefi- 
 cent results of his industry and toil. When the actor 
 has laid aside his kingly and glittering robes, and the 
 lights are extinguished, and the curtain falls, and the 
 audience disperse, what is there left of him? After 
 assuming a, fictitious character, and struggling to per- 
 sonify another, — to enter into his views, feelings, prin- 
 ciples and conduct,— what is his preparation of mind for 
 the discharge of the real duties of life, and meeting its 
 vicissitudes and trials 1 How much of a disposition has 
 his employment awakened in his mind to attend to the 
 solemn interests of eternity ? 
 
 Were this profession only trivial, and the object of 
 the actor simply to afford innocent amusement to the 
 
THE THBATKB. 123 
 
 public, we should not be so earnest in our censure. But 
 this public will not be satisfied with innocent amusement. 
 The patrons of the new theatre in Boston' will not be 
 satisfied with it. Those who resort to the play-house 
 go to have their depraved tastes gratified, their strongest 
 palssions excited, their sensibilities moved by tragical and 
 horrible scenes. And these desires the actor must grat- 
 ify, or he will have thin houses and lose his support. 
 He must open his mind and his heart to the full influ- 
 ences of envy, jealousy, malice, revenge and licentious- 
 ness. One night, he must act the part of a highway 
 robber, watching for his prey, laying snares to entrap the 
 unwary traveller. The next night, he must realize the 
 character of a murderer, — imbibe his cruel spirit, per- 
 sonify his lawless revenge, utter his profane words, and 
 do his bloody (ieeds. On another occasion he becomes a 
 foul seducer, practising all the arts and stratagems of the 
 accomplished libertine. The actress too, with a refined 
 and delicate nature, must cater to the taste of rude and 
 profligate spectators ; must personate characters lost to 
 all modesty and moral principle ; must, by her attitudes, 
 dress, language and acting,- minister to the corrupt 
 desires of the vicious. 
 
 Now, I would ask, is it possible for any man or 
 woman to pass through such a process, night after night, 
 and remain uncoritaminated ? Can a person breathe the 
 spirit, think the thoughts and perform the deeds, of vile 
 and polluted characters, and not be touched by their 
 vileness nor tainted by 'their pollution 1 Besides, when 
 we consider how much easier it is to yield to temptation 
 
124 LECTURES TO TOUNQ MEN. 
 
 than to resist it, and to how great an extent this clasa of 
 persons exclude themselves from the benefits of religious 
 instruction and the restraints of pure and refined society, 
 we see at once how great is the improbabiUty that they 
 will escape the power of such pernicious influences. And 
 the history of the theatre abundantly proves that they 
 have not escaped. From the time that Thespis went 
 about with his itinerant gingers and actors in a rude cart, 
 down to the present hour, the mass of stage-players have 
 been far from examples of virtue and rigid morality. A 
 few, indeed, have maintained a respectable position in 
 society; but where there is "one Garrick, or Siddons, 
 there are thousands who have led profligate and aban- 
 doned lives. The infldel Rousseau, to whom we have 
 already referred, says, " I observe, in general, that the 
 situation of an actor is a state of licentiousness and bad 
 morals ; that the men are abandoned to disorder ; that 
 the women lead a scandalous life: that the one and 
 the other, at once avaricious and profane, ever over- 
 whelmed with debt and ev^r prodigal, are as unrestrained 
 in their dissipation as they are void of scruple in respect 
 to the means of providing for it. In all countries their 
 profession is dishonorable. * ** * These, are incon- 
 testable facts. You will say that they result only from 
 prejudices. I agree to it. But, these prejudices being 
 universal, we must seek for a universal cause ; and 1 do 
 not see where we can find it, except in the profession 
 itself I might impute these prejudices to the declama- 
 tion of priests, if I did niit find tlfem established among 
 the Romans before the birth of Christianity ; and not 
 
THE THEATRE. ' 125 
 
 only vaguely scattered in tlie minds pf the people, but 
 authorized by express laws, which declared actors infa- 
 mous, and took from them the title and rights of Roman 
 citizens." 
 
 Many other writers, ancient and modern, infidel and 
 Christian, have left on record testimony similar -to that 
 of Rousseau. Among the Christian fathers, and in all 
 ages of the church, the stage has been condemned as a 
 prolific source of vise and debauchery. And all the 
 eiforts that have been made to purge the stage of its 
 impure and impious tendencies, to reform the theatre in 
 its various departments, and to elevate the morals and 
 improve the character of actors, have proved abortive ; 
 showing, conclusively, that the evils which we denounce 
 are inherent in the System itself, in the plays that are 
 performed, in. the style of acting that is demanded by the 
 auditory, and in the principles on which the theatre is 
 hased, and by which it is supported. '' There is no part 
 of the theatrical economy," says one, "with which I am 
 unacquainted ; and it is my personal and complete knowl- 
 edge of that economy which forces upon me the convic- 
 tion that, were another Ezekiel to arise, and another 
 angel to descend to exhibit to him the greater and 
 greater abominations of this land, he would reserve for 
 the astonished and indignant prophet a display of the 
 iniquities of a London theatre, as the last and most 
 fearful chambers of imagery." 
 
 We would next inquire, By what classes in the cowf- 
 munity are our theatres mainly supported 7 If they 
 are sustained by the virtuous, benevolent and Christian 
 11* 
 
126 LBCTUKES TO TOTJNG MEN. 
 
 portions of society, then this is strong evidence in their 
 favor. If those who are seeking useful knowledge, men- 
 tal culture, or moral improvement, attend upon these 
 exhibitions, then we will give up the contest, and allow 
 that our opposition results from prejudice and ignorance. 
 But what are the facts in the case? It is notorious 
 that the theatre is sustained by the frivolous, the immoral 
 and the worthless classes in society. The audiences are 
 chiefly made up of the devotees«of fashion; idle prof- 
 ligates, whose only business is to seek amusement and 
 excitement; broken-down merchants, who have cheated 
 their creditors and retired upon the spoils ; husbands who 
 have no taste for domestic peace and enjoyment ; fathers 
 who have no care for the morals of their children ; liber- 
 tines whose highest aim is the gratification, of their lusts, 
 and that unfortunate class of females whose miseries are 
 equalled only by their vices. And such audiences the 
 theatre must gratify, or it will perish. The idea that it 
 can be sustained on any other principle is in the highest 
 degree absurd. Let the managers and actors attempt to 
 contribute to the moral and intellectual improvement of 
 their auditors, and the effort would be treated with the 
 greatest contempt and scorn. The cry from the rude 
 and vulgar throng in the pit, and echoed from the boxes 
 and gallery, would be, "Away with such sermonizing, 
 cant, puritanism ! We come here to be amused, not ben- 
 efited." If religion is alluded to, it must be in ridicule 
 .or mockery, in order to be acceptable to the auditors. 
 And it is a fact which cannot be disputed, that, in pro- 
 portion as religion haa been disregarded, and the gospel 
 
THE THEATBE. 127 
 
 despised, aid its sacred truth trodden under foot, theatres 
 have prospered. 
 
 During the bloody revolution in France, theatres 
 greatly increased. "While courts of justice," says 
 Burke, "were thrust out by Jacobin tribunals, and 
 silent churches were only the funeral monuments of de- 
 parte'd religion, there were in Paris no fewer than twenty- 
 eight theatres, great and small, most of them kept open at 
 the public expense, and all of them crowded every night. 
 Among the gaunt forms of famine, — amidst the yells of 
 murder, the tears of affliction, and the cries of despair, — 
 amid, these, the song, the dance, the mimic scene and 
 the buffoon laughter, went on as regularly as in the gay 
 hour of festive peace." 
 
 In a report made by a committee of one of the royal 
 theatres of London, it is stated that when a proposition 
 was made to exclude vicious females, in comphance with 
 the wishes of many who threatened to withdraw their 
 support if such persons were admitted, the measure was 
 rejected, on the ground that, if adopted, the institution 
 could not be supported. But we have a case bearing upon 
 this point nearer home. The late Tremont Theatre, in 
 this city, was, for a time, conducted upon the principle 
 of reform. The sale of intoxicating drinks was abolished, 
 in consideration of which the manager was not required 
 to pay the usual tax for a license. The announce- 
 ment was also made that n6 females would be admitted 
 to the theatre unaccompanied by gentlemen, as many 
 moral persons, who loved the drama, would not attend if 
 such profligate characters were admitted. But the loss 
 
128 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 consequent upon the removal of the bar and the exclu- 
 sion of these characters, ~and upon those "who remained 
 away because prostitutes were not to be found there, 
 was 80 great, that the theatre could not be sustained. 
 It was stated, in a published report, that, if the manager 
 had the building rent free, he could not, under this 
 reform system, make his income suflScient to defray the 
 other expenses. Thus it was proved that rum arid 
 prostitutes must come to the rescue of the theatre, or it 
 •must perish. 
 
 Now, we would ask where are the proprietors of the 
 new theatre to find the pure and select audifences, and 
 the immaculate actors and actresses, who are to sustain 
 their large and costly institution ? Are thSy now in a 
 course of preparation, under the good moral influences 
 that have emanated from those who are interested in this 
 enterprise? Are they being prepared by the firm resist- 
 ance which has been made against the Maine law ; by the 
 , fifteen hundred grog-shops that are kept in full blast in 
 our city,^ by the public desecration of the Sabbath, in 
 running the mail on that sacred day ? Are these, and 
 other things that might be mentioned, preparing the 
 public mind to receive and sustain this pure and unex- 
 ceptional theatre 1 
 
 Even admitting that the plays shall have a good moral 
 tendency, and that vicious females are excluded, and no 
 rum sold in or near the theatre, — (which latter supposi- 
 tion can hardly amount to a probability at present,) —^ 
 can we expect that the industrious, virtuous ana devout 
 portion of the community, will firequerit the theatre in 
 
THE THEATRE. 129 
 
 sufficient numbers to sustain it ? Aad, if they do, what, 
 in the mean time, will become of the large class of feshion- 
 able profligates and scoffing atheists whom actors are to 
 help ministers of the gospel to reform 1 Who will look 
 after their interests while their precious "school of 
 morals " is occupied by those sedate and pious classes 
 with whom they have no sympathy, and have no desire 
 to associate ? » 
 
 But they need not be under any apprehensions that 
 these seats will be taken from them by this class of per- 
 sons. Piety, benevolence and devotion, will seek other 
 retreats beside those which the play-house offers ; while 
 in this school -the same lessons will be taught which 
 have charaaterized and supported it in times past. 
 . Let a new theatre be planted in a large city, and at 
 once the force of every species of temptation is aug- 
 mented, and the power of every vice to destroy the 
 bodies and souls of men is increased. The temples of 
 Bacchus rise up around it, which are thronged with the 
 votaries of the god of wine, revelling in debauchery and 
 shouting the praises of their deity ; temples, from which 
 piay be seen issuing at midnight the delirious inebriates 
 to wander or perish in the darkness, or stagger to their 
 homes, a curse to those whom they shojcild cherish and 
 love. The snares of her whose " house inclineth imto 
 death," an(/ whose victims are in the depths of hell, will 
 be laid within its walls. The weak, the unwary, the 
 young man void of understanding, will be taken in her 
 toils, and led to the slaughter. Anrid the music, be- 
 wildering excitements, and fascinating pleasures, of the 
 
130 LECTURES TO TOUNG MEN. 
 
 play-house, multitudes of youth will make shipwreck of 
 their moral principles, and prepare to pltinge into every 
 form of vice and crime. Some will enter upon a career 
 of profligacy and wretchedness that -will end in suicide. 
 Others will imbibe principles that will lead them on to 
 robbery and murder, and consign them to infamy and 
 a miserable death., 
 
 Snail we,' then, countenance an institution that is so full 
 of evil, from which flow so many destructive- and deadly 
 streams 1 Shall we refuse to utter our solemn protest 
 against an institution that had its origin amid the wild 
 festivities and orgies of Bacchus ; thait has been the 
 prolific source of impiety, sensuality and wretchedness ; 
 that has been condemned by pagan philosophers, and 
 heathen legislators ; that has been strenuously opposed 
 by the Christian church in all ages ; that has cursed the 
 civilized world for two thousand years, and sent, by its 
 damning influence, multitudes of souls to the regions of 
 despair ? I appeal to you as patriots who love your 
 . country, and who 'vR)uld see the interests of "society pro- 
 tected against such baneful influences ! I appeal to you 
 as Christians. By your love of the church, and the 
 truths of the Bible, and the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, I plead with you to join in the crusade against 
 this infiiiel and profane institution ! I appeal to you, as 
 parents, to warn your children against the deadly atmo- 
 sphere, the pernicious and soul-destroying influences, of 
 the play-house ! O, could we summon from the spirit- 
 world the thousands to whose profligate and fatal career 
 the theatre was but a fascinating and brilliant gateway, 
 
THE THEATRE. ISl 
 
 — wto went down, down into the darkness of a horrible 
 death, amid the music and bewildering fascination of the 
 play-house, — how would the testimony from their burn- 
 ing lips and agonized countenances thrill and appal' every 
 heart ! With what absorbing ihterest should we listen 
 to the details of their ruin, and hear how they were first 
 ■led astray, — how the voice of conscience was hushed, the 
 heart hardened, their moral principles shattered, their 
 passions inflamed, and the whole soul spell-bound by the 
 delusive phantoms of vicious pleasure ! With what in- 
 tense emotion and fiery eloquence would they depict the 
 horrors of that hour, when the bright visions that had 
 allured them on faded away, and the dark shadows of 
 sorrow fell upon their pathway, and the dim, spectral 
 form of remerse beckoned them on, and pointed to the 
 regions of eternal despair ; when the wicked deeds of the 
 past thronged around the memory, and mocked at the 
 agony of the distressed spirit ; when the shrieks of the 
 fiends around the gates of hell first pierced their ears 
 and the last ties that bound them tS hope and to happi- 
 ness were severed ! 
 
YII. 
 
 GAMBUNG. 
 
 "Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 0, my soul, come 
 not thou into their secret ; unto their assembly, mine honor, he not 
 thou united I "—Gen. 49 : 5, 6. 
 
 I WOULD next direct your attention to Gambling, 
 another maelstrom in the great ocean of" life. I would 
 warn you against its dark waters, bid you beware how 
 you enter its outermost ring, tell you how rapidly the 
 force of the current increases, and point out the fearful 
 vortex that has swallowed up its thousands of wretched 
 victims. 
 
 This vice is so monstrous^ the evils flowing ftom it 
 are so numerous and glaring, that it would seem as 
 though it needed only to be exposed, to be shunned by 
 every young man who is not bereft of his reason. Let 
 the case be fairly stated, without exaggeration, or any 
 false coloring given to the pictures which are presented, 
 — let the youth know beforehand the consequences of 
 indulging in this sin ; its efiects upon his character, habits 
 and prospects; the deceit, stratagems and frauds, con- 
 
GAMBLING. 133 
 
 nected with it ; the kindred vices into which its victims 
 inevitably, fall, — and he would no more enter a gambling- 
 hall for amusement, than li^rould sport upon the crater 
 of a raging volcano. Men are not so insane as to ruin 
 themselves deliberately, and with their eyes open. No 
 man becomes a professed gambler under the expectation 
 of blasting- his hopes, planting daggers in his heart, and 
 bringing ruin upon his soul. The youth who for the 
 first time finds himself in a fashionable gambling-saloon 
 has no intention of making shipwreck of his moral prin- 
 ciples, disappointing the cherished hopes of friends, fill- 
 ing a mother's heart with anguish, and bringing down a 
 father's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Convince 
 him that such will be the end of this night's beginning, 
 and he would flee from that hall as from the jaws of 
 death. But he has been enticed there, and he tarries 
 there under a fatal delusion. His attention is absorbed 
 by the brilliancy of the scene, the gay company, the 
 exhilaration of the hour, the excitement connected with 
 the thought that he may win in a few moments, by 
 chance or skill, large sums of money. He has come 
 xjnly for a little amusement, or to gratify a friend, or to 
 try his fortune. But he knows not where he stands. 
 He knows not that he is breathing a deadly atmosphere ; 
 that beneath the fair exterior and winning manners of 
 the company before him tha fiercest passions are raging. 
 He sees not the burning ajvarice which pervades every 
 heart, and has consumed to ashes all the virtues that 
 l)elon-g to humanity. He sees not the " instruments of 
 eruelty" that are in these habitations, and is not con- 
 12 
 
134 LECTURES- TO TOUNG MEN. 
 
 scious tlaat he is surrounded by fiends, who will, if they 
 can, take from him his last drop of blood. All is bright 
 now. The dark shadows are yet to come. The cup 
 that is pressed to his lips seems pure, sparkling and 
 attractive. The poison which it contains has not yet 
 touched his vitals. His heart is fresh, buoyant and 
 confiding. It is warm with affections. It is pervaded by 
 a sense of honor, and ennobled by generous sentiments. 
 It has not yet been -corrupted, brutalized and laid waste, 
 by fierce passions and base principles. 0, if my warn- 
 ing voice shall save one youth from the snares and 
 fascinations of this vice, I shall not have spoken this 
 night in vain ! 
 
 In treating this subject, I would include, under the 
 term Gambling, all games of hazard, whether played 
 with cards, dice or billiard-balls, for money or its 
 equivalent. The objections that lie against the system 
 lie against every department of it, and every avenue 
 that leads to it. It matters not how trivial is the 
 amount that is staked, or how firm may be one's 
 resolutions not to risk large sums and not to become 
 an habitual gambler, — the principle involved, and the 
 dangers connected with the evil, are the same. The 
 most inveterate gambler, who is dead to all moral con- 
 siderations and humane feelings, whose swindling opera- 
 tions are carried on upon 3, gigantic scale, commenced 
 his career by playing for a glass of wine, or an oyster- 
 supper, or a small amount of money, just to give interest 
 to the game. He, perhaps, laughed at the idea that he 
 should ever play except occasionally for amusement, or 
 
' GAMBLING. 135 
 
 to gratify his associates. No man reaches the lowest 
 depths of vice or villany at a single leap. His progress 
 is gradual. Step by step he descends. One restraint 
 after another is removed. One moral principle after 
 another is shattered. The process of hardening the 
 heart and blunting the sensibilities goes on from day to 
 day. Conscience is gradually hushed, until the mind, 
 bereft of every virtue, lost to all honor and humanity, 
 partakes of the nature of a fiend. 
 
 The ruinous effects of gambling are sure to follow 
 from small beginnings, because the inherent, vital princi- 
 ple of the systeni is itself wrong. - Gambling is based 
 upon the unjust principle of taking the property of 
 another without an equivalent being rendered. It 
 starts openly with this specific design. It does not pre- 
 tend to give a just remuneration for what is received. 
 It is virtually a system of robbery ; differing, however, 
 from ordinary theft in these particulars, that each party 
 designs to fleece the other, and each is willing to riin the 
 risk of being robbed for the privilege of having an 
 opportunity of robbing hil neighbor. It is true that the 
 gambler does not, like the highwayman, present a pistol 
 at the head of his antagonist, and -demand his money or 
 his life. But he does, with cards, dice or billiard-balls, 
 demand his money, and the life of his principles and his 
 soul. The idea that one can gamble without doing vio- 
 lence to his moral nature is absurd. For, by yielding 
 to the temptation in a single instance, he adopts as his 
 own the vicious principle that is inherent in gambling. 
 He aims at getting possession of another's property 
 
136 LECTUBES TO TOTJNO MEN. 
 
 Tritbout making to him any return. Ths fact that each 
 party acts voluntarily does not take awaj the injustice 
 of the principle, any more than the crime of the duellist 
 is lessened because he goes voluntarily into the field. 
 Indeed, the duellist is guilty of a double crime; for Jie is: 
 both a murderer and a suicide. 
 
 So the gambler pursues a course that is ruinous to 
 himself, as ^ell as bis opponent. If he does not lose his 
 mdney, he loses that which is infinitely more valuable 
 than money. Besides, he sins against the great law tfiat 
 gives stability and prosperity to society. He disturbs 
 the relations of the principles of right and justice to the 
 peace and welfare of the community ; and, were hia 
 example universally followed, all honorable dealingft 
 would be at an end, mutual confidence would be broken 
 up, and the bonds of society would be severed. 
 
 I scarcely know of a vice that makes so complete 
 wreck of man's moral nature ; that tears away so 
 e^tually the restraints of virtue, honor and religion ; 
 that increases so rapidly the proclivity of the human 
 heart to other vices ; that gives' such intensity to the evil 
 passions of the soul, as gambling. We look upon a pro- 
 fessed gambler as an outcast from society, as one who 
 has no ^rmpathies or feelings in common with the rest of 
 mankind. We regard him as an accomplished villain, — 
 as an emin^it scoundrel among the common herd of 
 scoundrels. His lust for gain is not like ordinary 
 avarice. It is more intense and absorbing. His indif- 
 ference to the welfare of his victims is the most com- 
 plete that is attainable this side of hell. His cruelty is 
 
QAMBLINQ. 137 
 
 of tke most cool and deliberate and merciless sort. The 
 distresses of a youth who has been stripped of his last cent, 
 — the agonies of a dying father, whom sorrow over his 
 lost son has brought to the grave, — the sight of 'a starv- 
 mg mother, whom his rapacity has rendered penniless, 
 makes no more impression upon him than the passing 
 wind. I have read of instances where fhe death of one 
 of a circle of gamblers has not interrupted the game, 
 and where a suicide in a gambling-hall has made only a 
 sHght and temporary impression. 
 
 In regard to the extent of the evil, it is the universal 
 testimony of those persons who have examined the 
 subject, that gambling prevails, more or less, in every 
 state, city and town, throughout our land. Prom the 
 most fashionable and refined circles down to the lowest 
 haunts of infamy, ^ among statesmen, particularly at 
 the South and West, who make our laws, and are ap- 
 pointed for the defence of the honor, integrity and virtue, 
 of the nation, — among the judges in our courts, law- 
 yers at the bar, — among merchants, mechanics, clerks, 
 apprentices, and even by prisoners in their gloomy cells^ 
 gambling is carried on. In the city of New York there 
 are iiearly six thousand gambhng-hells ; and, in the 
 judgment of the editor of the New York Tribune and 
 other distinguished men, one thousand young men are 
 every year ruined in that city by this vice. Who can 
 estimate the amount of agony, of crime, of distress, to 
 fathers, mothers, wives and children, produced annually 
 by these fountains of iniquity ! The ruin of one young 
 man is an awful calamity. It is a terrible thing to him- 
 12.* ' . 
 
138 LECTURES TO YOVSd MEN. 
 
 self to haye his moral principles shattered, his . hopes 
 blasted, his energies wasted by the fierce excitements of 
 this vice. It is terrible to have one family struck by the 
 lightning of such a calamity, and hearts wounded that 
 have been warm with affection and buoyant with hope. 
 Now, multiply this case by a thousand, and trace out the 
 other evils that branch forth from this, and you obtain a 
 faint idea of the awful consequences of gambling in a 
 single city. 
 
 In Cincinnati this vice prevails to an alarming extent. 
 There are in that city five hundred and fifty -eight gam- 
 bling-rooms. Nine are devoted to faro, thirty to bil- 
 liards, twenty-seven to rondo and keno, seventy-two to 
 bagatelle, and four hundred and twenty to cards, 
 
 In New Orleans there are thousands of these " hells," 
 fitted up in the most superb manner, decorated with rich 
 specimens of art, voluptuous pictures, furiiished with 
 luxurious couches and lounges, and everything to fas- 
 cinate the eye and corrupt the heart. Here, every night, 
 scenes are enacted that should fill that whole fcity with 
 lamentation and tears. Victim after victim is offered 
 up to the cruel Moloch. Young men of promise, of am- 
 bition for honor and distinction, of affection for kindred 
 and friends, enter in, and aee Slain. 
 
 In the city of Boston we are suffering Scorn the ravages 
 of this vice. In Mardi, 1851, the city marshal, with a 
 company of police officers, made a descent upon ten or 
 twelve gaming-houses, and arrested one hundred and 
 twelve persons who were found within them. Li speakr- 
 ing of these individuals, one of the Boston papers said, 
 
GAMBLIIWJ. 139 
 
 "We are informed by the officers that the persons 
 arrested represent all classes of society, from the busi ■ 
 ness man of State-street, down to the meanest Ann< 
 street gambler." 
 
 Not far from the Common there are saloons and club- 
 rooms, elegantly furnished, where, I am informed,, gam- 
 bling is carried on, and thousands of dollars are lost and 
 won in a single night. In several of these establishments 
 the company is very select, and only wealthy and refined 
 victims are allowed to present themselves for sacrifice. 
 The work of ruin is conducted with great decorum, and 
 according to the strictest rules of etiquette. No noise, 
 shouts or groans, are heard issuing from the brilliant 
 halls. The door-keeper has about him an air of quiet- 
 ness and grave responsibility. It is his duty to keep 
 rudeness and boisterous vulgarity out, as well as preserve 
 order within. The conversation is quiet. The wines 
 are choice and costly. The pictures are elegant, dis^ 
 playing great artistic skill. " The instruments of cru- 
 elty " are smooth, polished, and highly ornamented. 
 Fortunes are ruined, the peace of families destroyed, and 
 souls sent to hell, with deliberation and secrecy. Were 
 these club-rooms in New Orleans, the doors would be 
 .thrown wide open, and spectators would be freely ad- 
 mitted. But, in this Puritan city, where churches, 
 Sabbath-schools, benevolent societies and lectures to the ' 
 young abound, great caution and secrecy must be ob- 
 served. The late city marshal has informed me that, 
 since that attack made upon the gambling-rooms in 
 March, 1851, the doors of most of them are kept fast- 
 
140 -LECTURES 10 TOUNQ MEN. 
 
 ened, for feai of another surprise and descent upon them. 
 Only the initiated and those youth who are decoyed to 
 these places by the accomplished villains who are on the 
 watch for prey are admitted. Occasionally facts come to 
 light which, like volcanic eruptions, reveal the existence 
 and extent of the raging fires beneath. 
 
 The mania for gambling has been greatly increased by 
 the California excitement. Soon after the discovery of 
 gold in that country, several gamblers left New York, 
 and went there upon robbing expeditions, and returned, 
 in several cases, rich with spoils. One, who had gained 
 about forty thousand dollars, purchased the materials for 
 a house, a few billiard-tables, and the necessary imple- 
 ments and furniture for an extensive gambling establish- 
 ment, and returned with them to San Francisco, where 
 he is said to be accumulating a large fortune. The 
 young men who have flocked to those golden hills and 
 valleys to secure the precious metals have been, from the 
 very nature of their employment, and the chances con- 
 nected with mining, easily drawn into the fearful vortex. 
 I cannot better describe the gambling mania of that 
 golden region than by quoting a description which has 
 been given of the gambling-saloons in San Francisco : 
 
 " These saloons of San Francisco are the most splendid . 
 in the world. Those of London, Paris, Havana, New 
 York or New Orleans, are far beneath them in splendor 
 of decoration and magnitude of dealings. The Bella 
 Union, El Dorado, and the Verandah, are conspicuous 
 foi* their interior arrangements, and the number of persons 
 which nightly can be seen in them. It seems to be a 
 
GAMBLING. ^ 141 
 
 monomania which seizes all adventurers immediately upon 
 their arrival there. They forget their resolutions ; they 
 determine to rapidly acquire an independence, and rush 
 at once to the faro or monte banks, and become easy prey 
 for the cunning, wily and experienced gamblers, who so 
 plausibly encourage them to tey again. Men who at 
 home never thought "of trying games of chance become 
 infatuated, and eagerly seize every oj^rtunity, appa- 
 rently, to lose their money. 
 
 " The hells are fitted up with superb furniture and 
 apartments. On the gilded walls, often painted in fresco, 
 are grouped copies of the most beautiful gems of modern 
 and ancient art. * * * * • The couches, lounges, 
 divans, etc., scattered along the sides of these temples of 
 chance, heaped with cushions of crimson, green and gold, 
 purple and azure, are of every graceful and lovely shape. 
 Now' a carved sea-shell, an antique chariot, a Gothic 
 nondescript, carved with all the exquisite minuteness of 
 the Elizabethan age. Upon the marble tables are scat-, 
 tered flower-shaped vases of alabaster or Bohemian glass 
 of every hue, and quaint jars of costly porcelain. The 
 lamps are veiled, until their light softly floats in the air, 
 and mysteriously reveals the surrounding objects. 
 
 " But the Parisian mirrors reflect from their polished 
 surfaces, in contrast to all this splendor, the haggard 
 faces of desperate men, wild with loss and excitement. 
 To them this splendor is taunting; it affords nothing of 
 pleasure, everything of disgust. The daylight softly 
 streakg the skies, but still they stake their little remain- 
 mg, with the vain hope of a sudden run, until, completely 
 
142 LBCTUKBS TO Y0TJN3 MEN. 
 
 drained, they rush, exhausted and frenzied, from the 
 room. 
 
 "Dealing the treacheifeus cards from an ornamented 
 silver box, sits at the table the keeper of the faro-bank. 
 The game requires all his attention and that of an asso- 
 ciate, who generally sits by his side to aid in paying 
 and taking. The crowd press eagerly to make their 
 several bets ; the cards glide out of their confinement for 
 either loss or gain. Perhaps a series of winnings draws 
 attention to a particular card, and hundreds of thousands 
 are immediately staked upon it. As it wins or loses, 
 rejoicings or curses fill the air ; but, heedless of both, 
 the game goes on, till sheer exhaustion, or the bank's ill 
 luck, closes it. 
 
 " In one of these — the El Dorado Gaming-house — 
 we Saw a young man, certainly not more than nineteen, 
 walk boldly to the table and deposit a large sum upon 
 the ace. He won; and, letting the increased amount 
 remain, he won again. Seizing the whole, he walked 
 coolly away, the winner of twenty-two thousand dollars 
 in dust. He was followed by a miner ,-»- a rough, reck- 
 less, hardy, yet honest-looking fellow, — who placed his 
 bag of dust, receatly acquired, upon the card which had 
 thus proved so lucky for the youth. He won also ; and, 
 doubling the bet, he won again. Elated by his success, 
 he placed the whole on the same card, and was followed 
 by at least a dozen others. All around and on the card 
 were heaps of gold, money, dust, ore, and counters. The 
 ace had proved so remarkably lucky, all were induced to 
 risk a large sum. Instantly all was hushed and still as 
 
GAMBLING. 143 
 
 death. The faces of all were blanched with suspense, — 
 both the dealers and the betters. Slowly the cards went 
 forth ; not a sound was heard until the ace was revealed, 
 favorable to the bank. Curses and imprecations, shouts 
 of ' Foul ! , foul ! ' resounded, with hoarse threats and 
 expressions, — until the two dealers coolly produced their 
 revolvers, declaring everything fair, and announced the 
 bank a winner of ninety-five thousand dollars ! These 
 scenes are less frequent now than at the commencement 
 of the gold excitement," but the truth of them will be 
 readily testified to by hundreds of returned adventurers." 
 On the great routes of travel, also, on board our West- 
 ern and southern steamers, gambling prevails to a fearful 
 extent. The rattling of dice and the shuffling of cards is 
 often kept up during the whole night ; and those in their 
 berths are disturbed by the oaths and curses that break 
 forth from their victims who have been swindled out of 
 their last dollar. On the boats that run up and down 
 the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, the most desperate 
 gamblers are often found. , They come on board at dif- 
 ferent stopping-places' towards evening, seek out their 
 victims, collect a company for a game, and, by the aid of 
 associates, they fleece all who are not »})le to resist their 
 skill or systems of deception. Many persons who are 
 travelling for pleasure or on business thus often lose their 
 all in a single night. Merchants squander the funds 
 . upon which they depended to pay their debts or purchase 
 goods. Lawyers stake the property of their clients which 
 may be in their possession. Sons bring bankruptcy 
 upcto their parents ; and, in a thousand ways, the unwary 
 
144 LECTUEE3 TO YOXmd MEN. 
 
 are ensnared, and, while deluded with visions of speedily- 
 acquired wealth, are ruined. 
 
 Gambling, as it is well known, prevails also among 
 the nations of Europe. Large establishments are located 
 in the chief cities and at the German watering-places. 
 Dickens, in his "Gamblers of the Rhine," and other 
 writers, depict, in gloomy language, the fearful extent 
 of this vice.* 
 
 ■* In proof of this, I would quote the fcllotring statements : 
 
 " Of all the Germail gambling towns, Baden-Baden is said to he the 
 most beautiful. The town nestles, as it were, in a sheltered yalley, 
 opening among the hills of the Black Forest. There is said to be 
 more,playing at Baden than at Uomburg and Wiesbaden put together. 
 From May till the end of September, roulette ^nd rouge-et-noir, thB 
 mutter of the man who deals the cards, and the rattle of the marble, 
 are never still. The profits of the tables at this place are very large. 
 The man who had them some years ago retired with an immense for- 
 tune ; and one of his successors came from the Palais Bnyale, when 
 public gaming was forbidden in Paris, and was little less successful 
 than his predecessor. 
 
 " The permanent residents of Baden could alone form any idea of 
 the sums netted, and only such of those as were living near the.bank- 
 ers. They could scarcely avoid seeing the bags of silver — five-ftauo 
 pieces chiefly — that passed between the gaming-tables and the bank. 
 A pro^t of one thous^d pounds a fortnight was thought a sign of a 
 bad season ; and so it must have been, when it is calculated that the 
 gambling-table keeper paid the duke a clear four thousand pounds a 
 year as the regal share of the plunder, and agreed to spend two thou- 
 sand a year in decorating the town of Baden. 
 
 " Go into one of these places, and whom do you see ? The off-scour- 
 ings of European cities, professional gamblers, ex-qfficers of all sorts 
 of armies ; portionless younger brothers ; pensioners ; old men and old 
 women who hav6 outlived all other excitements ; a multitude of silly 
 gulls, attracted by the waters, or the musio, or the &soination of 
 
GAMBLING. , 145 
 
 Without dwelling longer upon tlie extent :S gambling, 
 I hasten to speak of its influence upon productive indus- 
 try and business habits. 
 
 play ; and a sprinkling of passing tourists, Tfrho oome and ' just look 
 in on their way,' — generally to be disappointed, often to be fleeced. 
 Young and handsome women are not Tery often, seen playing. ■ Gam- 
 ing is a. vice reserved for middle age. While hearts are to be won, 
 dollars are not worth playing for. Cards and rouge and dyspepsia 
 seem nearly allied, if we may judge from the specimens of humanity 
 seen at the baths of Wiesbaden, Homb'urg and Baden. The players — 
 'player and loser being almost synonymous terms — are generally 
 thin and anxious ; the bankers, fat and stolid. As the brass whirls 
 ^round, the table-keeper has the look of a quiet, bloated spider, seem- 
 ingly passionless, but with an eye that glances over every chance on ■» 
 the board. At his side see an elderly man, pale and thin, the muscles 
 of whose lower jaw are twitching spasmodically,, yet with jaded, forced 
 resignation, he loses his last five pounds. Next to him is a woman 
 highly dressed, with false hair and teeth, and a great deal of paint. 
 She has a card in her hand, on which she pricks the numbers played, 
 and thus flatters herself she learns the best chances to take. Next to 
 her see one of the most painful sights these places display. A father, 
 mother, and a young girl, are all trying their fortune, — the parents 
 giving money to the child, that they 'may have her good luck,' 
 reckless of the fatal taste they are planting in her mind. Next is a 
 Jew, looking all sorts of agonies ; and one may fancy he knows he; is 
 losing in an hour what it cost him years of cunning and self-denial to 
 amass. And so on, round the table, we find ill-dressed and well- 
 dressed Germans, French, Russians, English, Yankees, Irish, mixed 
 up together in one eager crowd, — thirsting to gain without giving 
 value in return ; risking what they have, in an insane contest which 
 they know has destroyed thousands before them ; losing their money, 
 and winning disgust, despondency, and, often, despair and premature 
 death. Never a year is said to go by without its complement pf ruined 
 fools and hasty suicides. The neighboring woods afford a oonvepieut 
 shelter, and a trigger, or a handkerchief and a bough, complete the 
 tragedy." 
 
 13 
 
146 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 The day-latorer, in the midst of his toil, enjcys the 
 consciousness that he is doing that which, in some way, 
 will henefit the community. If he is but levelling a 
 road, building a wall, digging a canal, he is achieving 
 some good. Even the distiller, in his horrid, destructive 
 pursuit, may gather some faint ray of consolation from 
 the hope that a portion of his alcohol may be used for 
 mechanical or medicinal -purposes. But what possible 
 allevisCting circumstance can the gambler discover in his 
 pursuit ? It is true that a few persons may, by games 
 of hazard, amass wealth ; but every dollar of this wealth 
 is the fruit of some one's toil. It has been produced 
 under the universal law which Heaven has instituted, — 
 that man by the sweat of his brow shall obtain bread. 
 It has, in all probability, been wrung from the pittances 
 that were the last stay of some ruined family. It is cov- 
 ered with the poor man's sweat, the tears of orphans, the 
 blood of broken hearts. It has cost agonies that have 
 pierced multitudes, who, safe from the fascination of the 
 gambling-table, might have Occupied positions of respecta- 
 bility and happiness. Much of it, we know, is the fruit 
 of stupendous frauds practised by clerks upon their 
 employers, by merchants upon their creditors, by officers 
 upon banks, insurance companies, and other institutions. 
 Facts almost without number I might quote illustrative 
 of this truth. The robbery, in 1849, of the Merchants' 
 Exchange Bank, in Wall-street, of thirty-seven hundred 
 dollars, by a man who, in a fit of desperation, rushed 
 from the faro-table to commit this crime; the embezzle- 
 ment, for gambling purposes, of forty thousand dollars 
 
GAMBLING. 147 
 
 from one of the Brooklyn banks, in 1848 : the frauds 
 committed upon a Wall-street insurance company, in 
 1828, to the amount of one hundred and eighty thousand 
 dollars, sixty thousand dollars of -which were lost by the 
 secretary in a single night, who terminated his career by 
 suicide, — are but a sample of the appalling statistics 
 upon this point. 
 
 The very system of gambling is a direct fraud upon 
 the community, because it violates the principle of pro- 
 ductive industry. It professes to offer the greatest gains 
 without labor, — professes to make fortunes turn upon the 
 accidental position of a card, or the movement of dice. 
 Of course, where there is gain to one party there is a 
 corresponding loss to another. In honorable pursuits, 
 capital is created : by the farmer, from the. soil ; by the 
 mechanic, in the house or ship that he builds ; by those, 
 too, who work by their intellects, and produce ideas, 
 sentiments, and inventions. But the gambler, producing 
 nothing, is still dependent upon the strength of some 
 muscles for the means of filling his coffers. 
 
 And here we would remark, the wrong which he 
 inflicts upon the community is not without its reflex 
 influence upon himself. Grains thus acquired cannot be 
 enjoyed, for the means used to acquire them have taken 
 away the power of rational enjoyment. The peace and 
 tranquillity of the soul are destroyed, and the mind is 
 left in an excited, feverish state. Conscience is aroused, 
 and is using the wrong as 9. dagger with which to pierce 
 the heart. To what purpose is it that a man's pockets 
 are filled with gold, if there is an outraged monitor 
 
148 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 withiUj that is lacerating his spirit? His only resource 
 is to plunge the deeper into the vice. And this he is 
 stimulated to do, whatever has been his past success. If 
 he has been fortunate, he is encouraged to make still 
 further eifort to add to his treasures. If he has beer 
 unfortunate, he plays to recover what he has lost. Thus 
 the flame feeds itself, and the deluded man goes on until 
 the conflagration becomes too intense to be extinguished. 
 Gambling also destroys one's business habits. 
 Let a merchant, who has conducted his affairs with 
 prudence and honesty, be persuaded to enter, for the 
 first time, the gaming-hall. He is strongly opposed to 
 gambling ; yet he concludes that there can be no harm 
 in being a spectator of others. He sees the glitter- 
 ing pile of coin upon the table, watches the progress of 
 the game, becomes interested, excited, — sees that_p, sin- 
 gle successful throw of the dice secures the entire pile 
 to the fortunate gamestei-.. After some persuasion, he is 
 induced to try his own fortune upon a small sum. He 
 ~ wins. The thought enters his mind, how much easier 
 this mode of gaining property is than by his daily toils, 
 and how soon he might become independent and free 
 from all care.. The charm begins to exert its fatal influ- 
 ence. The silken cord becomes entwined around his 
 heart. Visions of suddenly-accumulated wealth float 
 before his imagination. He visits again and again the 
 gambling- table. His ordinary business grows insipid in 
 his estimation. Its routine becomes less and less inter- 
 esting. His customers abandon him; and he enters 
 upon a career that ends in. disgrace, infamy, or death. 
 
GAMBLINS. 149 
 
 Numerous facts might be cited showing the destructive 
 influence of this vice upon the business community. I 
 quote the following from a valuable publication issued by 
 the Anti-Gambling Association : 
 
 "In 1829, a large mercantile house, in Bremen sent 
 a young man, named John Borac, as confidential agent 
 to this country, to represent their interest here. He 
 knew nothing of gambling at home ; but, after a short 
 residence in New York,- became acquainted with gome 
 billiard-saloon gamblers, who introduced him to the gam- 
 ing-rooi;i and faro-table. He became desperately infat- 
 uated with the game, and lost deeply. His foreign em- 
 ployers, aware 'that all was not right,' in the summer of 
 1831 instituted an investigation, when it was discovered 
 that he was a defaulter to the amount of eighty-seven 
 thousand dollars, which he had expended in the short 
 space of eighteen months ! He was arrested and impris- 
 oned ; and, upon being compelled, under oath, to show in 
 what manner he had disposed of the funds intrusted to 
 his care, he stated that, among other losses, he had gam- 
 bled away in New Orleans two thousand three hundred 
 dollars ; in Fulton-street, New York, ten thousand dol- 
 lars ; and in Lumber-street, New York, twenty-nine 
 thousand dollars ! He was finally released from prison ; 
 upon which, he became a gambler by profession, and a 
 few years ago died in the New York Lunatic Asylum. 
 
 "In the summer of 1850 a Western merchant, who 
 
 was sojourning at the Clinton Hotel, found his way into 
 
 the gambling-house N?. 10 Park-place, and lost a large 
 
 sum of money. When he had looH all but his last dollar, 
 
 IR* . 
 
150 LECTURES TO TOTING MEN. 
 
 he rose from, the table, and, taking a draught of intoxi- 
 cating liquor, turned toward the dealer to look' again- 
 upon the fascinating game. In a f*w moments, as if 
 hope had been whispering some flattering tale, he placed 
 his money upon a card, and, with an involuntary sigh, 
 remarked, ' Here 1 am, a thousand miles from home, and 
 my last dollar upon the gaming-table ! ' 
 
 " During the last year, a respectable Broadway book- 
 seller, who wa^ well sustained in his business by a 
 wealthy friend, faifed to meet his engagements. An 
 investigation ensued, which resulted in the discovery that 
 he had for a long time freely indulged in gaming, and 
 that he had lost at least fourteen thousand dollars ; to 
 recover which, he instituted suits against a number 
 of gamblers, — which, however, as in all other cases, 
 resulted in comparatively nothing, but disgrace to the 
 victim of the ill-fated passion." 
 
 Gambling leads also to the greatest deception and 
 fraud. 
 
 As carried on by many professed gamblers, it is a stu- 
 pendous system of cheating. Cards are. so printed as to 
 be known by the back as well as the front side. The. 
 devices are frequently changed by the manufacturers of 
 cards -to elude detection. Oftentimes, gamblers have 
 their secret partners, who communicate to them by signs 
 the character of the cards in the hands of their oppo- 
 fients. Dice, .too, are loaded with platina ; so that cal- 
 culations, founded upon the throws, are made with 
 absolute certainty. So perfect are these systems of 
 fraud, that it is impossible for the iriost scientific and 
 
GAMBLING. 15] 
 
 expa.'enoed players, who are honeSt, to compete with 
 such Opponents. They are as sure of bejng swindled out 
 of their money as- if they were forcibly robbed in the 
 , highway. Hence the numerous instances of persons who, 
 on entering the gambling-room, lose their all in a single 
 night. Under the impression that they are playing on 
 the principle of chance, they, after their first loss, take 
 game after game, or bet after bet, increasing the sum as 
 they advance, with the hope that fortune will turn in 
 their favor. Under the ordinary course of chances, they 
 have reason to expect that some instances of success will 
 attend them. But, to their sorrow, they find themselves 
 stripped of all. It should, therefore, be proclaimed in 
 thunder tones throughout the land, and in the hearing of 
 all who are exposed to this vice, that gambling, to a 
 great extent, is founded, not upon chance, but fraud. 
 Its supporters- are among the most • skilful villains that 
 eUrse society. Their crimes are as low and base as they 
 are destructive. Gold is their god, and to it they sacri- 
 fice every humane and honorable feeling. Neither pity, 
 justice nor humanity, can move their granite hearts. 
 Though they see their victims writhing under their 
 deepest agonies, they will wring from them their last 
 dollar, and send them home ruined. The tears of starv- 
 ing children, the groans of wretched wives, will make no 
 more impression upon them than upon the stones in the 
 street. It was only a few days since that I took up a 
 newspaper and read that a merchant in a Western city, 
 who had lost his last hundred dollars, rose from the table, 
 drew a pistol from his pocket, and blew out his brains. 
 
152 LECTURES a\; young men. 
 
 The following, from the New York Tribune of 
 August 19, 1850, shows what frauds are practised : 
 
 "A few weeks since, Iwo gentlemen, who were on a 
 visit to New York for the purpose of buying merchan- 
 'dise, were introduced to the company of two gamblers, 
 by a friend, also a merchant, but doing business in this 
 city. The strangers, unsuspicious of foul play, were 
 induced to play at hazard with dice, at a hotel in the 
 fourth ward, which has been heretofore considered highly 
 respectable, when,' at various sittings, they lost to the 
 tune of three thousand dollars. Last Saturday night one 
 of them commenced playing, and played until he lost all 
 the money he brouglit with him, besides having to give 
 due-bills for the remainder. On telling their misfortune 
 to one of their friends, a watch was set, and, suspicion 
 being aroused,, the case was laid before Justice Mount- 
 fort, who ordered the dice to be seized, when it was found 
 that they were loaded with quicksilver." 
 
 Says another writer : 
 
 "Like all gambling establishments, the raffle-houses 
 trust not only to luck, but use every means in their 
 power to fleece their visitors. We will relate an instance 
 which took place not long since in one of the most fash- 
 ionable pf the concerns in our city. A gentleman who 
 had been in the habit of meeting there with bankers, 
 brokers, merchants' clerks, and others, whose pockets 
 were well lined, on one occasion lost to so large an amount 
 as to awaken suspicion in his mind, and he spoke of the 
 fact to some of his friends. It was decided to lodge a 
 complaint against the house with the pohce. A warrant 
 
GAMBLING. 153 
 
 was iss ied, ind the landlord arrested. While the pro- 
 cess was pending, the raffling-dice and box which had 
 been used in the game were seized and examined. .They 
 were found to be false. The dice were loaded with 
 platina, so that the small ' numbers came up with every 
 throw. The gamblers had dice of their own, which they 
 secretly put into the box on their turn to play. This 
 was done so slyly as to escape detection." 
 
 The deceptive means that are used to lead respectable 
 and virtuous young men into this vice opens another 
 dark picture in its history. A young man whose fortune 
 is coveted is selected as a victim by the foul destroyer. 
 His acquaintance is first sought ; and, lest his immediate 
 introduction to the gaming-room would be too severe a 
 shock, and defeat the fiend's plans, he is .introduced to 
 gay and fashionable society. He is flattered, invited to 
 travel with his friend, to visit, perhaps, the races, and to 
 indulge in an innocent game at billiards or cards. His 
 confidence is secured, his pride gratified, and, without 
 much persuasion, he is induced to play for small 
 amounts. Secret paSrtners are introduced to him. In 
 short, he is led along, step by step, until he is swindled 
 out of his property, and at last cast ofi" and abandoned 
 by his destroyer. I have read narratives of such cases 
 that have caused my blood to run cold, and excited the 
 most profound indignation. 
 
 The despicable meanness of such a course language 
 cannot describe. To stab another through his friend- 
 ship, to win his confidence with smiles, lead him to the 
 
154 LECTUEBS TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 brink of destruction, and then push him over into the 
 yawnina gulf, should make evm fiends blush with shame. 
 
 It is not uncommon at the South for- persons to gamble 
 for human beings: I was called upon, not long since, 
 by an intelligent colored man, a preacher of the gospel, 
 who informed me thaC he had changed owners six or 
 eight times in the course of a day among nests of gam- 
 blers. His body and soul, his hopes and happiness, had 
 been staked upon the turn of dice or the position of a 
 card. "While in the hands of these wretches he was sub- 
 ject to cruelties that can be more easily imagined than 
 described, — cruelties that broadly revealed to my mind, 
 while he ■ was narrating them, the horrors of another 
 giant sin and curse, the sin and curse of slavery. 
 
 But we cannot in a single lecture even briefly portray 
 the various features of this horrible sin. Even while we 
 are speaking, it is blasting the hopes of the young, cor- 
 rupting their hearts, destroying the peace of families, 
 preparing multitudes for an early death, and making 
 shipwreck of immortal souls. 
 
yiii. 
 
 GAMBLING IN CONNECTION WITH OTHER VICES. 
 
 " Fe that -walketh with wise men Bhall be wise ; but a companion 
 of fools shaU be destroyed." — Peoveebs 13 : 20. 
 
 Having treated, in our last lecture, of the nature, 
 extent and influences of Gambling, I purpose to speak 
 to-night of its direct fruits, and its connection with other 
 great vices. An evil that starts upon a wrong princi- 
 ple, the vital element of which is injustice, — an evil 
 that in its very commencement outrages the moral feel- 
 ings, and stabs to the heart integrity, — must have a vast 
 productive force in creating other evils. It is neces- 
 sarily a mighty agency in destroying all that is good in 
 the soul, vitiating the whole character, and dragging 
 down every lofty purpose and noble aspiration. And 
 we find that the gambler is rapidly qualified for every 
 other species of wickedness. The fiery excitement to 
 which he yields himself in the gaming-room inflames 
 every other passion. It produces a state of mind that 
 can be satisfied only with intense and forbidden pleas- 
 
156 LECTURES T0_ YOUNG MEN. 
 
 ures. It virtually takes him out of the circle of refined 
 rational enjoyments, and plunges him into scenes more 
 congenial -to a corrupt tastel The gambler finds his 
 amusement in the circus, the theatre, the lascivious 
 dance, the race-course, and in night revellings, and bac- 
 chanalian feats. Ordinary excitements are insipid and 
 stale in his estimation. He would gladly witness, as a 
 pastime, bull-fights, pugilistic contests ; and, perhaps, his 
 cravings for excitement could only be fully satisfied by 
 scenes such as Roman persecutors and heathen specta- 
 tors formerly feasted their eyes upon, in which men and 
 women were torn in pieces by wild beasts. Such bloody 
 encounters and horrid tragedies might come up to his 
 standard of amusement. 
 
 Thus does this giant vice uncivilize a man, and throw 
 him back into a state of barbarism. It revolutionizes 
 his tastes, at the same time that it casts down his moral 
 principles. If its victim has been in early life under 
 the influence of religious sentiments, it speedily obliter- 
 ates those sentiments from the mind. If the voice of 
 conscience has been in past years heard, that voice is 
 now silenced. If feelings of humanity once had influ- 
 ence, their power is now gone. If visions of extensive 
 usefiilness and honorable achievement once floated in 
 the imagination, they have vanished, — vanished in most 
 instances never to return. 
 
 Nor should the youth forget that, if he is once taken 
 in the toils of this vice, the hope of extricating himself, 
 or of realizing his visions of wealth and happiness, is 
 exceedingly faint. He has no rational grounds to expect 
 
(GAMBLING, WITH OTHER VICES. 157 
 
 that he caii escape the terrible consequences that are 
 inseparably connected with this sin. Where there is one 
 chance that he will realize his expectations, there are a 
 thousand that those expectations will be utterly blasted. 
 If he does not become a bankrupt in property, he is sure 
 to become one in character and moral principle, — -in all 
 that renders life valuable, and confers wealth upon the 
 soul. 
 
 Let me point out to you some of the direct fruits of 
 this vice. In the first place, it is destructive of domes- 
 tic peace and social happiness. Home, to the inveterate 
 gambler, has few attractions. Its quiet enjoyments, its 
 scenes of refined and innocent delight, the delicate atten- 
 tions of an affectionate wife and devoted children, have 
 little power over him. While sitting at his own fireside, 
 his heart is not there. He is under the fascinating influ- 
 ence of one passion; that engrosses his thoughts and ab- 
 sorbs his affections. But for this, he would be a kind 
 husband, a faithful father, a useful citizen. Occasionally 
 some ray of aifection may dart across his heart, some faint 
 words of kindness may escape his lips. But the tyrant 
 to whose seductive charms he has yielded holds him in 
 captivity, and extorts from him the time, attention and 
 energies, that belong to others. Numerous instances 
 might be adduced to show the destructive effects of ga,m- 
 bling upon domestic peace and happiness. Cases are 
 occurring every day, in our large cities, in which the 
 property and jewelry of the wife, and even the tokens of 
 plighted love, are sqijandered at the gaming-table or in 
 lotteries. In a report on Gambling, in New York, I 
 14 
 
158 LBCTUKB3 TO tOUNG MEN. 
 
 find the following instance cf a promising young man, 
 who commenced his career ag a clerk in - a large mer- 
 cantile house in Pearl-street : 
 
 " After serving four years in that capacity, he com- 
 menced business for himself, — married, and was rapidly 
 acquiring a fortune, and was highly esteemed by a large 
 circle of business and social acquaintances. A short time 
 after he commenced business, he began to buy lottery- 
 tickets,^ at first sparingly, but steadily increased in bold- 
 ness and frequency, until he had lost ten thousand dollars, 
 and closed his business a bankrupt. Not long after this. 
 he receiv,ed a large sum of money bequeathed to him by a 
 deceased relative ; but, despite his bitter experience, this, 
 too, was lost among the lottery and policy dealers. He 
 was now out of business and out of money ; but still the 
 fatal hope of retrieving his fallen fortunes urged him to 
 sacrifice still more, and so he expended all the money he 
 could borrow ; then, his own and his wife's jewelry, and, 
 lastly, his clothes even, were pledged for money to sati- 
 ate his burning desire for play. At length, his wife and 
 children were compelled to abandon him ; and, in the 
 affliction, he implored a friend to give him a few dollars, 
 that he might leave the city, Snd the hated hells where 
 he had been ruined." 
 
 A merchant in the same city contracted the habit of 
 playing while young, and, finding the desire for gambling 
 had become excessive and uncontrollable, he endeavored 
 to free himself from its power. Per a while he kept 
 away from gaming-rooms, and endeavored to find his 
 happiness in the bosom of his family. But the fascihS'- 
 
' GAMBLINa, WITH OTHER VICES. 159 
 
 tions of this vice were too strong for him ; and, although 
 he saw that his course was destroying the health of his 
 wife, and bringing distress upon his friends, yet he could 
 not break the' chains by which he was bound. His good 
 resolutions were but as, straws before.the mighty, rush- 
 ing tide which swept over him. Nor did he stop in his 
 career until she whom he had tenderly loved became a 
 raving maniac. 
 
 Such facts need no comments. They prove the ruin- 
 ous influence of this vice, upon domestic peace. If, as 
 we are told, the ancient Germans gambled away their 
 wives and children, and their own liberties, how much 
 better are these American gamblers, who stake "the hopes 
 and happiness of their famihes, — everything, indeed, that 
 is within their grasp 7 Had they the power which the 
 ancients possessed, I have no doubt that we should 
 hear of wives and children being staked upon the card- 
 table by the infatuated and desperate gambler. A dis- 
 tinguished writer, in speaking of the domestic evil of 
 gambling, says : 
 
 " Who can estimate it? "Who can speak of it in its 
 fulness and its depth ? Who can, or who could wish to, 
 if they could, draw, with a faithful hand, the lone home 
 of the gamester, — the desolate family, the bleeding heart, 
 the tears, the misery 1 Driven to the extremest verge 
 of destitution, — nothing spared for Comfort or decTency, 
 — all swallowed up in this absorbing frenzy ! Degrees 
 there are in this misery, — yet how gloomy each, and 
 how fearfully does the shadow of the future fall upon 
 tte present ! Would the gamester unlock the springs of 
 
160 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. ' 
 
 hia heart that he haa pressed down as with . iron, woald 
 he suffer memory and reflection to do their work, what 
 pictures of his domestic life might they paint for him ! 
 The first in the series should be one of calm bliss and 
 joy. -Not a cloyd in the heaven, save those tinged and 
 made beautiful by hope. The eyes of love looking out 
 upon him, — the dependence of a trustful heart, leaning 
 upon him, its all. Then the scene would change. 
 
 " A tearful and deserted wife, — a sol)bing, pitying 
 child, — keeping watch with the lone night-lamp, till the 
 breaking of the morning. Again, and haggard misery 
 would creep into the picture, adding the keenness of 
 deprivation to the sting of grief; pressing heavily upon 
 the bowed, crushed spirit of tha* wife ; mingling the 
 drought of slighted, abused affection with the tears of 
 starved and shivering childhood; piercing her ear, at 
 once, with the moans for bread, and the curses of disap- 
 pointed brutality. Once more, and there should be a 
 GRAVE ! — a green and lowly grave, — where the faithful 
 heart that loved him to the last should rest from all its 
 pangs, and the child that he had slighted should sleep as 
 cold and still as the bosom that once nourished it ; a 
 grave ! where even the wide and distant heaven should 
 be kinder than he,- smiling in sunshine and weeping in 
 rain over those for whom he, in his mad career, never 
 smiled or wept,- — whom he, in his reckless course, hur- 
 ried thus early to their tomb." 
 
 Gambling leads its victims to practise every species 
 of, dishonesty. — Could the statistics on this point be 
 known, and collected together, it would be found that 
 
GAMBLING, IVITII OTHER VICES. 161 
 
 our merchants, banks, insiirance offices, railroad and 
 other stock companies, annually suffer losses from this 
 source to the simount of millions of dollars. It is esti- 
 mated that in New York " not less than five millions of 
 dollars are annually won from fools and shallow knaves " 
 by the blacklegs connected with the six thousand "hells" 
 in that city. Now, where does this vast amount of 
 money come from ? Is it the fruits of toil and industry 
 on the part of those who squander it? Have they 
 gained it by lawful trade, by commerce, manufactures, 
 or by talent and skill displayed in the learned profes- 
 sions 1 Men who gain wealth in either of these ways 
 are not in the habit of risking it upon the turn of a 
 card, or a throw of dice. If the truth were known, I 
 believe it would be found that four-fifths of this amount 
 was swindled, by frequenters of gambling-houses, out of 
 the honest and industrious portion of the community. 
 Owing to the difficulty of detecting those who practise 
 these secret frauds, the public are not aware of the ex- 
 tent of the evil. An association has been formed in 
 New York for the purpose of guarding the business 
 community against these swindlers, and suppressing 
 gambling. A writer, in behalf of that association, 
 makes the following statements : 
 
 " A few illustrations here will be sufficient to show 
 how little a portion of the business community now 
 understand or appreciate this institution. Not long 
 since I presented the claims of our association to a 
 certain railroad company. But they could not see 
 how they could possibly be benefited by its operations ; 
 14* 
 
162 LECTURES TO TOUNGf MBH. 
 
 but I knew that'^wo of their- conductora spent at least 
 three nights in each week at the faro-tables in this city. 
 
 " A wealthy mercantile house could manage their own 
 affairs without my help ; but / knew that a man con- 
 nected with them in business had already lost thirty 
 thousand dollars at faro, and was one of the heaviest 
 players in this city, of which fact they were entirely 
 ignorant. 
 
 " Another merchant was quite certain that we could 
 be of no service to him, as he never played, and his 
 clerks were all highly recommended before he employed 
 them ; but I knew that his head book-keeper was losing 
 from fifty dollars to one hundred dollars every night, 
 and that his salary was not more than one thousand 
 dollars a year. 
 
 "The senior partner of another wealthy house was 
 very hostile to gambling, but declined subscribing, on 
 the ground that we could be of no possible service to 
 him ; but I could have told him that his son, who was 
 both partner -and book-keeper, was one of Heme's 
 heaviest players and best customers. 
 
 " Another firm hesitated about subscribing, but, when 
 they did, found, to their astonishment, that some of their 
 customers gambled, which at once accounted for their 
 renewed notes, and fi-equent applications for increased 
 accommodations . 
 
 " If this institution had been commenced years ago, it 
 might have saved the life and honor of Oliver Gr. Kane, 
 who gaml)led away a large amount of the fands belong- 
 
GAMBLING, WITH OTHER VICES.' 163 
 
 ing to a Wall-street insurance company, of whicli he 
 was secretary, and then committed suicide. 
 
 " It would have prevented the loss of thousands to the 
 Brooklyn Savings Bank, whose funds were lost at the 
 faro-tables in this city by one of its officers. 
 
 ' ' It would have prevented the late heavy defalcation 
 of a New England railroad company's agent, who 
 squandered thousands of their money among the gam- 
 blers of Boston, Springfield and New York. 
 
 "And, lastly, it might have saved Bullock, the late 
 gambling cashier of the Central Railroad and Banking 
 Company of Georgia, from the penitentiary, for stealing 
 one hundred and three thousand dollars from that insti- 
 tution, for which he has just been convicted." 
 
 Now, these are but a few from a large class of facts 
 bearing upon this point. Those who become addicted to 
 gambling usually do not hesitate to steal from their 
 employers, defraud the institutions with which they may 
 be connected, commit forgery, squander estates or funds 
 intrusted to them. Some commence with the intention 
 of refunding what they have taken, out of what they 
 may win at the gaming-table. But, so fearfully demoral- 
 izing is this vice, that very soon all scruples of con- 
 science are removed, and the individual only, aims at 
 avoiding detection. If he can. but keep his frauds a 
 secret in his own breast, he cares not at what sacrifice 
 of moral principle he obtains the nieans of gratifying 
 his burning desire for gambling. And so rapidly does 
 this villany ripen, that the infatuated man will often- 
 times resort to any measures, however base and mean, to 
 
164 LECTURHfS TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 obtain money. He would rob even a cbarnel-house 
 of its corpses, and put in his pocket money that was 
 covered with the blood of 'his own children. While in 
 New York, not long since, I visited the " Tombs," 
 where I saw husbands and fathers who were imprisoned 
 for forgery and other crimes committed to obtain money 
 for gambling purposes. One well-dressed and intelli- 
 gent looking man had fleeced his own family, and 
 abandoned them to struggle alone in their poverty and 
 wretchedness. 
 
 Gambling leads to intemperance. — The intoxicating 
 cup is usually resorted to by the gambler to sustain his 
 spirits under losses, or to aid him in ensnaring the 
 young and unwary. Many of the large gambling 
 establishments are furnished with refreshment-rooms 
 where rich suppers and costly wines are provided for 
 invited guests, and for victims who have been secured 
 for sacrifice. Here young men are induced, perhaps 
 for the firsf time, to put the wine-cup to their lips. 
 Being politely and cordially invited to sit down and 
 partake of the delicacies before them, they think that 
 there can be no ha.rm in' accepting such an invitation. 
 It might seem absolutely rude to decline. The wines 
 are recommended as mild, choice and harmless. 
 
 After these preparatory steps are taken, and the 
 youth has become somewhat excited, he is allured 
 towards the gaming-table. He excuses himself from 
 playing, on the ground that he is ignorant of the game. 
 But his friend is ready to teach him, and he is easily 
 persuaded to learn. A few more cups of wine enable 
 
GAMBLIXe, WITH OTHER VICES. 165 
 
 him to overcome hh scruples of conscience so far as to 
 hazard small sums to give interest ta the game. He is 
 allowed by his crafty destroyers to win. He returns 
 home delighted with the game, with his companions, and 
 with the generous treatment which he has received. The 
 plot has succeeded. The appetite for strong drink and 
 the spirit of gambling have been together aroused in his 
 breast. He goes on from one step' to another, each vice 
 stimulating the other, until he reaches the lowest stages 
 of gambling and drunkenness. 
 
 Multitudes, too, seek to drown their bitter disappoint- 
 ments in the inebriating cup. Smarting under their 
 severe losses, in a frenzy of despair they rush to this 
 vice w'ith the hope of alleviating their wretchedness. 
 They drink deeply of the fiery poison. But the rage 
 and agony, instead of being diminished, are increased. 
 The fierce passion for gambling burns now with ten-fold 
 fury. The monster intemperance hurls back its victim 
 to its kindred vice, to be sunk deeper in wretchedness, 
 and to be returned agajn, that the ruin may be complete. 
 Thus many, many poor wretches, with hearts heaving with 
 tumultuous passions, with brains maddened with rage, 
 with blood-shot eyes, with oaths and wild execrations 
 upon their lips, are driven from one of these vices to the 
 other, until soul and body are consumed. It was the 
 boast of the infamous Crockford, of London, the keeper 
 of a most destructive gambling-house, that " he ruined 
 a nobleman every dayP May not the keepers of the 
 gambhng-hells in New Orleans, New York, and must I 
 add Boston, boast that they ruin some noble you :h, some 
 
166 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 f on cf promise and hope, every day ? Alas ! could, the 
 facts on this point but Ifi brought to, light, could the 
 iniquity and horrors connected with this accursed sin 
 be spread before the community, we should no more 
 tolerate gambling than the lowest form of heathenism, 
 )r the offering of human sacrifices to idols. But these 
 dark dens of iniquity are explored but by few, and only 
 those fully know the temptations, stratagems and cruel- 
 ties, found there, who have experienced them. Most 
 truly has the gaming-hall been denominated "a hell." 
 It is a hell of fierce passions, of wrecked hopes, and 
 a.gonizing tortures, — a hell where fiends congregate, 
 and foul deeds are plotted and accomplished. Could 
 the malice, rage, deceit, . remorse and despair, that are 
 found within its walls, be embodied in tangible shapes, 
 and their ghostly forms move about the table, and re- 
 spond to the oaths and curses that fill the air, — could 
 the spirits of departed victims return and utter their 
 wild execrations against the villains who ensnared them, 
 and the vice that brought upon them swift destruction, 
 — could the groans of fstthers, the shrieks of distressed 
 wives, and the cries of starving orphans, echo through 
 the brilliant saloons, — would not the deluded gamesters 
 be startled from their gayetie.s, and look with horror upon 
 the spectral forms around them ? Would not the bloated 
 inebriate, the hoary blasphemer, the keen swindler, the 
 heartless, merciless iestroyer of the innocent, turn pale 
 and tremble, in view of the' doom that awaited them 1 
 Ay, gambling-halls are, indeed, hells. Their keepers 
 are monsters in human shape, who would take the last 
 
GAMBLING, WITH OTHER VICES. 167 
 
 drop of blood from their yictims, — who have been known 
 to kick from their doors the unfortunate from whom no 
 more money could be fleeced, — who hare absolutely left 
 those by whom they have been enriched to perish by 
 cold, or hunger, or suicide. There is not on the face of 
 the earth a more hardened set of wretches into whose 
 hands an unfortunate man could fall than these gamblers. 
 Let one who had lost tens of thousands of dollars at their 
 table go to them for a loaf of bread or the means to 
 obtain a night's lodging, and he would, in most cases, be 
 spurned from their presence. While he has money, he 
 is flattered, caressed, feasted. But, let him lose all, and 
 have no means to further gratify the lust of these men, 
 and the very lips that flattered will curse him, the very 
 hand that led him along in apparent friendship will smite 
 him. The bland, smooth-tongued, genteel, fashionable 
 companion, will turn into a monster-tyrant, who will 
 crush him. 
 
 0, that the young men who are enticed to these halls 
 by the fairest promises would remember this, — would 
 remember that if they are unfortunate they can hope 
 for no mercy ! The seducer may laugh at their scruples 
 of conscience, mock at their religion, and pronounce 
 such advice as this useless, such lecturing mere fanati- 
 cism, — but let thern beware of the hypocrite ! The 
 poison of asps is under his lips. The treachery and 
 villany of a fiend are in his heart. 
 
 Gambling leads to murder and suicide. 
 
 Under this head we might present to you a long and 
 dark catalogue of crimes. The instances are fearfully 
 
'168 LBCTUKBS TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 numerous, and many of tltem are attended -by tlie most 
 aggravating circumstances. Mr. Green, the reformed 
 gambler, mentions in detail, in his writings, numerous 
 cases of murder and suicide which were caused by gam- 
 bling. In 183i a difficulty occurred between two gam- 
 blers in Huntsville, Alabama. After a few angry words 
 had passed between them, one raised a chair to strike 
 the other, when his antagonist drew a -pistol from his 
 pocket and shot him, causing his death in a few hours. 
 The murderer escaped being punished for the crime ; 
 and~by his associates in iniquity was justified, and even • 
 honored, for the deed. Subsequently, the same wretch 
 shot two other men, and still was not made to suffer for 
 his crimes. 
 
 Another awful case occurred in Columbus, Missis- 
 sippi. A father and son had become addicted to gam- 
 bling, and often had serious difficulties with their 
 opponents at the gaming-table. In several instances, 
 they had barely escaped from the assassin. Being pres- 
 ent, one day, at the races, they indulged in betting, and 
 lost large sums of money. The son became greatly 
 excited. A quarrel ensued between him and the propri- 
 etor of the race-course, in which the latter stabbed him 
 with a bowie-knife directly through the heart. He fell 
 and died almost instantly, without a groan. His father, 
 while gazing upon his lifeless form, was so overwhelmed 
 with grief that he became quite frantic; but, soon 
 remembering that his own situation was a perilous one, 
 and that he might fall, by the side of his son, he became 
 composed, and suppressed, as far as possible, his intense 
 
WITH OTHER VICES. 169 
 
 agony. In this, as in the other case, the event was 
 allowed to pass unnoticed by the judicial authorities. 
 
 Another heart-rending history is given of a family 
 that resided in the parish of West Feliciana, Louisiana, 
 in the years 1834-5 : 
 
 "The family consisted of a widow lady and four 
 children — two boys and two girls. These boys, from 
 their good circumstances and comparatively unprotected 
 condition, were marked out for prey by some of- the 
 gambling fraternity, almost from their infancy. Their 
 father left ample means for educating them as gentlemen,- 
 and of supporting them in a genteel manner, with care, 
 should they live to old age. They were not only born to 
 affluence, but their natural endowments, both of person 
 and of mind, were of the highest order. Many were the. 
 snares that were soon laid for them by that base class of 
 men called gamblers ; and, sad tg tell, their efforts were 
 but too successful, as the sequel will show. Those who 
 first beset them, in order to compass their ruin, thought 
 that the most ready method to accomplish their object 
 would be by means of those twin sisters, intemperance 
 and debauchery. These young men soon became dissi- 
 pated in their habits; and, ere they suspected any 
 danger, they were almost inextricably entangled in 
 the web which those unprincipled men had thrown 
 around them. These two young men visited New Or- 
 leans every winter to sell their crops of cotton; and, 
 while there, they were always waited on by this vile class 
 of men, without their ever dreaming that they were actu- 
 ated by any other than friendly and honest motives." 
 15 
 
170 LECTURES TO YOUNG MBST. 
 
 It was not long before they were in'luced to visit gam 
 bling-liouses and other infamous places, and were swin- 
 dled out of all their income. They became themselves 
 addicted to the vice, and gradually threw off the restrainte 
 of home, and a due regard to their character and standing 
 in society. Step by step they were led on, until one of 
 them, in a drunken affray', committed murder. He was 
 arrested, imprisoned, and condemned to die. The wid- 
 owed mother and the sisters were thrown into the deep- 
 ,est affliction hy the catastrophe. They used all the 
 means in their power to obtain- his pardon; but in vain. 
 The day before he was to have been executed he commit- 
 ted suici4e in his prison. The terrible shock destroyed 
 the health of one of the sisters, and in a few months she 
 died. The surviving bro'ther, after passing through 
 variojjs reverses, was shot down by an unknown enemy. 
 Thus was the peace and happiness of "this entire family 
 wrecked by those foul destroyers, who first enticed the 
 sons to the gaming-room. 
 
 Another most affecting case occurred in New Orleans 
 the minute details of which cannot be read without excit 
 ing the keenest sorrow, and the greatest indignatior 
 against the infamous wretches who, under the garb of 
 warm friendship, seek the destruction of the young. 
 
 In this instance, the young man was an only son, ta] 
 ented, promising, and of a confiding, affectionate disposi 
 tion. His seducer was a man of wealth and fashion, and 
 professed to take a deep^ interest in the youth, and to be 
 anxious to promote ,his welfare. He had a pleasant 
 address, was mild and courteous in Lis manner, — hut 
 
GAMBLING, WITH OTHER VICES. 171 
 
 within him was the spirit of a fiend. He explained to hrs 
 young friend several games, and showed him how easy it 
 was to win large sums of money. He introduced him to 
 the society of ladies, whose apparent kindness, refinement 
 and fascinating manners, awakened his interest, but whoso 
 cooperation was employed to render his ruin the more 
 certain. In this society the young -man spent many of 
 his evenings, rode to the -races, and indulged in fashion- 
 able amusements. 
 
 Having become interesj;ed in gambling, he was induced 
 to stake several small sums, and was allowed, at first, to 
 win. He was greatly elated by his success, and his 
 ^ skill was highly applauded. He was told that he would 
 soon become a first-rate player. . Soon, however, the 
 tide turned, and, the victim being now secure in the 
 grasp of the arch deceiver, the work of ruin was prose- 
 cuted with fearful rapidity. Thousands of dollars were 
 lost in a single night. Deluded with the hope of recov- 
 ering his money, he played on, until he was stripped of 
 his last dollar. After having been fleeced of thirty 
 thousand dollars, he staked his watch. This went from 
 him almost in an instant. The reality of his situation 
 began now to .flash upon him. He thought of his aged 
 father and mother, of his home, of his early friends, of 
 his own ruin. He sought relief from his destroyer, — 
 but, the morning after . the last game, he fled from the 
 city, leaving his victim to ponder alone over his wretch- 
 edness. His feelings and purposes may be gathered from 
 the following letter, addressed to his parents : 
 
172 liECTUKES TO XOTJNa MEN. 
 
 * , 
 " ' New Okleans, March 7, 1836. 
 " 'My Beloved Parents: You will doubtless feel a moment- 
 ary joy at the reception of this letter from the child of your 
 bosom, on whom you have lavished all the favors of your declin- 
 ing years, and have loved with a parental ardor only to be felt, 
 but never to be told by mortal tongue. ! should a feeling 
 of joy for a moment spring up in your hearts when you shall 
 have received this from me, cherish it not, — it is the deceptive 
 calm which would allure the mariner to repose, while the hurri- 
 cane, which follows in its path, shall come upon him in the 
 plenitude of its fury, and hurl, with irresistible might, his frail 
 bark to sudden destruction. ! my dear parents will forgive 
 this language, which I doubt not will grate harshly upon a 
 parent's ear ; but it is forcibly wrung from the lips of your erring 
 son, whose mind is almost frantic by reason of events, unforeseen 
 to me, which have had their fulfilment during my absence from 
 home, and have rendered me the most miserable of mortals, and 
 utterly ruined you. Early on my return to your mansion wa3 1 
 singled out by the destroyer as his victim, who, Judas-like, 
 kissed as he betrayed, and hurled to destruction when he pre- 
 tended to save. Had your parental admonitions been heeded at 
 all times, and had due deference been given to your mature wis- 
 dom and judgment, — had I the moral strength and virtue of a 
 Paul, to bear up against-the seductions of the whole world, — I 
 might have stood ; but I am one of the weakest of the weak, and 
 have fallen deep ! deep ! — never more to rise ! 0, the unutter- 
 ably keen and bitter remorse which preys with giant fury on my 
 inmost soul, and fills my brain with madness at the thought of 
 the wrong I have done you ! Those grayhairs, which I should 
 have honored and protected, I shall bring with sorrow down to 
 the grave. No kind hand will you have, in that home of 
 anguish, to smooth and brush away the clouds which will rest 
 upon your aged brows. All will desert you, and leave you to 
 the tender mercies of the vile destroyer of our earthly happiness. 
 Here, in this city of iniquity, has my ruin been accomplished. 
 
GAMBLING, WITH OTHER VICES. 173 
 
 I will not curse my 'destroyer ; but, 0, may God avenge the 
 wrongs and imposition practised upon the unwary, in a way that 
 shall best please Him ! lie whom I took for my best friend 
 proved my enemy and destroyer. This, my beloved parents, is 
 the last you will receive from me. I humbly pray your forgive- • 
 ness of the evils I shall have brought upon you. It is my dying 
 prayer. Never inore in this life Shall I see or hear from you. 
 Long before you shall have received this letter from me, the cold 
 grave will have closed upon me forever. Life is to rae insup- 
 ■J)Ortable. I cannot, nay, I will not, survive the shame of having 
 ruined you. Forget and forgive me, is the dying prayer of your 
 unfortunate son.' 
 
 " As soon as the old man had read this letter, he 
 showed it to his wife ; and surely it were utterly vain to 
 attempt to describe the feelings that must have agonized 
 their aged bosoms. To think that their only child, who 
 had always been one of the most affectionate and obedient 
 of children, should have been hunted down lilje a fawn in 
 the forest, and to think that this vile man should wateh, 
 pursue and take him, as he would a lamb ! They could 
 scarcely realize that such was the case,-^ that it could be 
 their child, their only child, the expected solace and sup- 
 port of their declining years, whom they had taken 
 every care to preserve from the contaminating influence 
 of vicious habits and associations ! It was only about 
 nine months before the receipt of this distressing intelli- 
 gence that he had received honorable testimonials of his 
 mental acquirements, and of his being one of the most 
 exemplary young men belonging to the institution in 
 which his education was completed. And from that 
 15* 
 
174 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 time his fiend-like destroyer Lad beten Launting him, 
 and finally proved Ms ruin ! f 
 
 '' A fe-ff days after this, the old geutleman went.to the 
 post-office, with the hope of hearing something more in 
 regard to his dear, unfortunate boy. He was much sur- 
 prised at finding a letter directed to him, and post-marked 
 New Orleans. He opened it ; and then it was that he 
 learned, with unutt^able anguish, that his son was no 
 more,— that he had committed suicide by blowing out 
 his brains with a pistol. This letter was signed ' Ame- 
 Ua.' She gave a strict and correct disclosure of all the 
 facts, as she had a perfect knowledge of them. She 
 stated that she had been to Texas some time ; that, on 
 her return, she had made inquiry for young Mr. C, and ■ 
 4;hat they had told her that, some months before, he had 
 blown out his brains in his chamber, and no one had any 
 knowledge where he was from, or who he was. She 
 asked forgiveness of his parents for the part she had 
 taken in the destruction of their son, — for she acknowl- 
 edged that she had been one of his destroyers. Upon 
 the reception of this dreadful letter, the old parents hast- 
 ened to take their leave of a place, the very sight of 
 which filled and harrowed up their souls with the bit- 
 terest recollections. They removed to some~small village 
 not far from the city of New York, to spend their few 
 remaining days, bowed down with decrepitude, indigence 
 and sorrow,-^ yea, untold sorrow; while the despoiler 
 and the heartless murderer of their beloved boy was rev- 
 elling in his ill-gotten wealth, and plotting new schemes 
 of infamous villany against his fellow-men." 
 
GAMBLING, WITH OTHER VICES. 175 
 
 These are but a few of the multitudes of instances that 
 show the connection between gambling and the most 
 aggravated forms of murder and suicide. Throughout the 
 West and South there are at this moment the wrecks of 
 families that have been ruined by this pernicious vice. 
 And yet it is sustained and encouraged by men who 
 occupy high positions in society, — men who are appointed 
 Jo make our laws, administer justice, and protect the 
 interests and promote the welfare of society. Even 
 in those states where laws have been passed against gam- 
 bling, it has been very difficult, and, in many cases, 
 impossible, to execute them. In New York, for example, 
 the police tolerate the evil, and the law against gambling, 
 which went into force in August 1851, has effected but 
 httle good. At first, a few establishments were closed; ■ 
 but soon the gamblers were informed that they had noth- 
 ing to fear from the police authorities. Indeed, one of 
 the magistrates declared the law unconstitutional, and 
 refused, for a time, to issue any warrants under it.* 
 
 * The secretary of the New York Association for Suppressing Gam- 
 bling says, on this point, in his last report, " The chief of police was, 
 for a long time, ignorant of the provisions of the law ; and, when 
 made acquainted with them, declared it to be no more his business 
 to execute it than that of any other police officer, and declined to 
 second our efforts in attempting to enforce a law which, by the oath 
 of his office, he had sworn to obey and execute. Police captains, and 
 the great body of the police, have stood aloof from the duty enjoiued 
 on them by the law, and, in some instances, justified themselves by 
 saying they had received no instructions from the chief to iiform 
 against gamblers and policy venders ; consequently, many of the large 
 gambling-houses and 'pjlicy-offioes reopened, and continue their 
 
176 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 The apathy of the community, also, in respect to these 
 enormous evils, is a most discouraging feature in the 
 ■work of reform. While the benevolent are awake to the 
 power of other . vices, while eloquent voices are heard 
 warning the young against other great temptations, but 
 little comparatively is said in regard to gamblhig. This 
 monster is permitted, in many parts of our land, to carry 
 on his work of ruin, with scarcely a hand raised in oppo- 
 sition to it. 
 
 Now, if the evils are so wide-spread and fearful as we 
 have described, if such a;ffful crimes are the inevitable 
 effects of indulging in this sin, the community ought to 
 arouse, and resolve that, with God's help, they will 
 
 destructiTe and demoralizing work Trith perfect impunity. The law in 
 Connecticut against gaming is entirely worthless, although the legis- 
 lature at its last session enacted a section no doubt intended as a step 
 toward reform. In all parts of this state, as far as we have been able 
 to learn, gambling has greatly increased ; the result, in no small 
 degree, of the extensive sale of lottery tickets and policies, a thirst for 
 dealing in which pervades all classes of society.* Well-authenticated 
 facts establish the melancholy truth that church-members in good 
 standing, and of undoubted piety, clandestinely purchase lottery- 
 tickets, and that female factory operatives club together for the joint 
 purchase of tickets, sending their small means, thus accumulated, to 
 soBie dealer in Hartford, New Haven, or New York. Faro-banks are 
 in constant operation in Hartford and New Haven, and in the latter 
 city a billiard-saloon has recently been opened under the patronizing 
 sanction of the Common Council ; so that, in connection with the pub- 
 lic and private lottery-offices and gaming-rooms, {he young business, 
 men of the city, and the students of good Old Yale, have now every 
 facility offered them for planting within themselves the seeds of 
 destruction." 
 
GAMBLING, WITH OTHEB VICES. 177 
 
 crush the monster, and save at least the rising genera- 
 tion from its damning influence. The pulpit all over 
 our country should speak- out upon the subject, and 
 warn the youth under their care against indulging, in 
 the least degree, in this sin. The press should spread 
 before the community the appalling array of facts con- 
 nected with the vice. The most stringent laws should be 
 enacted and enforced. Police officers should be definitely 
 instructed to execute the law in every case of violation 
 that comes to their knowledge. Then, and not till then, 
 will our families, sons, brothers and friends, be secure 
 against the evils of this accursed vice. 
 
 Finally, gambling destroys the soul. This is its 
 last, great, fearful consequence. It breaks down the 
 moral principles, obliterates every religious sentiment 
 from the heart, deadens the conscience, and severs 
 every tie that binds man to his Creator. It leaves . him 
 without " hope, and without God in the world ; " a poor 
 outcast from the sympathies and promises of Heaven, — 
 a wanderer upon a bleak and desolate creation. He 
 has no Sabbath, with its calm and holy enjoyments. 
 He offers no prayers. He worships in no sanctuary. 
 He heeds no voice of mercy. The laws of God have 
 no power over him. No light from . Calvary dawns 
 upon his path. No star of hope guides his foot- 
 steps. He neither seeks the joys of heaven nor fears 
 the woes of hell. The approach of death does not 
 startle him. The darkness and silence of the grave do 
 not terrify him. Listen to his oaths and curses, — his 
 impious jests about Christ, the church, the resurrection, 
 
178 LECTURES TO YOUNG MER. 
 
 the judgment, eternity'. How his atheism breaks out in 
 all his language, perrades his conduct and daily life ! 
 Poor, insane man, maddened' by one desire, consumed 
 by the fierce flames of one burning passion ! Can noth- 
 ing turn him from his purpose? No, in most cases, 
 nothing. Shall we go to him with warnings and en- 
 treaties, — shall we portray before him the horrors of the 
 pit into which he is sinking ? But he will treat you with 
 contempt, and your message with scorn. Will not the 
 dread realities of an eternal hell, the anticipated tor- 
 tures of everlasting despair, move him 1 No, no ! . In 
 the great majority of cases the command has gone forth, 
 " He is joined to his idols, — let him alone." Let him 
 alone, ye praying Christians ! Let him alone, ye min- 
 isters of God, ye angels of mercy ! Thou Son of God, 
 Redeemer of the world, thou Holy Spirit, sanctifier of 
 the penitent, let him alone ! There remaineth for him 
 nothing but a certain looking for of judgment and fiery 
 indignation. 
 
 Melancholy utterances are these ! WoTlld they were 
 but utterances, — that they embodied only fears ! But, 
 alas, the reality, the reality ! 
 
 0, God, save these young men from the snares of the 
 gambler ! Save these fathers and mothers from the 
 anguish of having gambling sons ! 
 
 Bather than have a child of mine seduced by the 
 flatteries and black treachery of these foul destroyers, I 
 would see him struggling with death, — his eye sinking, 
 his breast heaving, his heart throbbing — throbbing with 
 its last pulsations. I would see with composure the cold 
 
GAMBLING, WITH OTHER VICEiS. 179 
 
 body laid in the coffin, the lid shut down, the black pall 
 drawn over it. I would walk with a firm step to the new- 
 made grave, and see the dear boy lowered down, and the 
 cruel earth thrown in upon him. I would return thankful 
 that he rests, — rests there, rather than lives to breathe 
 the air of a gambling-hell, to mingle with gambling- 
 fiends, to feel the damning influence of their oaths and 
 curses, and to imbibe ;fcheir horrible principles ! 
 
 0, remember that when you sit dowli at the gaming- 
 table you stake not simply your money, but your soul ! 
 And " Whai shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the 
 whole world and lose his own soul ^ " 
 
IX. ^ 
 
 THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 
 
 " He knoweth not that the dead are there : and that her guests are m 
 the depths of hell." — Peoverb3 9: 18. • 
 
 The language of scripture in reference to the evil of 
 licentiousness is remarkable for its precision, fulness 
 and awful power. From the utterance of the seventh 
 commandment upon Mount Sinai, amid thunderings, 
 earthquakes, and the most impressive demonstrations of 
 authority, down to the fearful declarations in the last 
 chapter of the book of Revelation, the words of inspira- 
 tion concerning this monstrous sin are full of intense 
 and solemn meaning. The ancient judges boldly 
 pronounced against it the sentence of condemnation. 
 Prophets lifted up their warning voices, and denounced 
 the guilty victims of the vice. Christ and his apostles 
 inculcated purity of thought, as well as a life of outward 
 virtue. There is no sin concerning which the laws of 
 Heaven are more explicit, or against which heaviei 
 woes are pronounced. The house of the strange woman 
 
THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 181 
 
 IS the house of death. The boaes of the slain are tlere. 
 Many strong men have been cast down by her. " Her 
 guests are in the depths of hell.." Kuined in body 
 and soul, with every hope blasted, with every energy 
 and virtue shattered as by lightning from heaven, they 
 have'fallen into the lowest depths of the pit of woe. An 
 evil so tremendous, and one against which .holy men 
 have uttered so many awful warnings and terrible de- 
 nunciations, cannot be passed over in silence, by the 
 teachers of morality and religion, without their being 
 recreant to duty. I am aware that not a few per- 
 sons, who admit the extent and mournful consequences 
 of this vice, doubt the expediency or utility of publicly 
 discussing it. . Others, who are personally interested in 
 throwing over it the veil of concealment, are loud in 
 their outcries against the' exposure of its evils. At the 
 least movement in the matter, they suddenly become the 
 zealous defenders of the "public virtue, and of that re-" 
 fined sensitiveness that they would, on no account, allow 
 to be wounded, by the most distant allusion to the evils 
 of this vice. 
 
 A more successful device could hardly be framed by 
 the great adversary, to perpetuate his power, than that 
 of preserving an unbroken silence in regard to those 
 giant evils, that are sapping the foundations of society, 
 and breaking down the principles of right, purity and 
 justice. 
 
 It is the policy of the devil to keep the guardians of 
 the public good quiet respecting them. Even though 
 they are blighting the &irest prospects of mamkind, and 
 16 
 
182 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 spreading desolation and death in every llirecticn, — oven 
 though- their volcanic fires are raging and roaring be- 
 neath our feet, and threatening to engulf the -wholo 
 nation, — yet nothing must be said respecting the evil ! 
 
 It will be allowed that the vice under consideration 
 has been injudiciously treated. Presentations of its 
 evils have been made calculated to increase rather than 
 remedy them. But this by no means absolves us from 
 obligations to discharge our duty, and to record in a 
 proper manner our testimony against this soul-destroy- 
 ing sin. While, however, we would not be silent upon 
 the subject, we would, at the same time, respect and 
 cordially commend that sensitiveness of .the pure in 
 heart, that shrinks from the least taint of sin. We 
 would use such language, and employ such arguments, 
 as cannot offend the most fastidious, nor do violence 
 to the delicacy of the most refined portion of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 In the first place, the enormity of this evil is seen in 
 the fact that it is a direct violation of the commands 
 of the Almighty. 
 
 He who created man instituted laws for his govern- 
 ment, in all the relations and duties of life. He made 
 man a reasonable being, — that is, a creature of law, 
 subject to authority, and capable of being influenced by 
 motives, and a system of rewards and punishments. He 
 has not left him, like the brute creation, to the blind 
 instincts of his animal nature ; but he made him but a 
 little lower than the angels, and crowned him with the 
 glory of a divine likeness, and the honor of a free moral 
 
THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 18<J 
 
 agency. The marriage institution is a divine recognition 
 of his exalted position in the scale of existences. It is a 
 testimony to the high intellectual and moral purposes for 
 which the Infinite One called him into being. God 
 himself presided over the first marriage in Eden, and 
 thus gave to it the sanction of his . authority, and be- 
 stowed upon it the divine blessing. Amid the flowers 
 of Paradise, and the beauties of a new-made world fresh 
 from the hands of its Creator, before the blight of sin 
 had fallen upon this fair creation, he united in a union 
 of sympathy and love the parents of the human' family. 
 While providing thus for the wants of man's social 
 nature, he connected with this institution many of the 
 most important duties of Jife. The culture of the aifec- 
 tions, the development of the noblest qualities of the 
 soul, the preservation of virtue, the nurture and educa- 
 tion of children for the duties of their mission here, and 
 for the realities of eternity, are all connected with this 
 divine institution. It underlies, indeed, the whole social 
 economy, and constitutes the basis of public order, peace, 
 and happiness. It is the source of the deepest and most 
 potent influences that give character to the political and 
 religious institutions of a people. Heiice the great Law- 
 giver has guarded it by the most rigid commands, and 
 by the most fearful penalties threatened against the 
 transgressor. Amid" circumstances of the most awful 
 solemnity, and from the summit of a mountain that trem- 
 bled at his presence, and was illumined by the brightness 
 of his countenance, he uttered the command, " Thou 
 shalt not commit adultery." Prophets and apostles have 
 
184 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 echoed the voice, and have added to it the authority of 
 successive revelations of the divine will. The Great 
 Teacher sent from God went so far as to declare "that 
 whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hatk 
 committed adultery already with her in his heart." 
 
 He, therefore, who violates this command, virtually 
 tramples under foot the government of Heaven, and bids 
 defiance to the highest authority in the universe. He 
 debases his nature, and sinks himself to a level with the 
 brute creation. He casts ^own his manhood, dethrones 
 reason, defaces the divine image which was originally 
 stamped upon him, puts out the light of conscience, and 
 wanders in darkness, the creature of blind impulse and 
 ungovernable passion. It is to him as though, there 
 were no God in the heavens, no moral government to 
 which he was amenable, no high intellectual or spiritual 
 purposes to fulfil in his being, no immortal rewards to 
 gain, nor eternal punishments to pscape. 
 
 There may be diflFerent degrees of this vice, and cir- 
 cumstances may render some forms more aggravated and 
 disastrous than others ; but they all involve the princifc 
 pie of disobedience to the divine law. They are all 
 heinous crimes, in the sight of a pure and holy God. 
 The habitual libeftine, the cunning seducer, the foul 
 adulterer, are all the enemies of Jehovah, and are, by 
 their profligate courses, treasuring up wrath against the 
 day of wrath. As a class, they despise all religion. 
 They mock at the restraints of virtue. They make a 
 jest of the most sacred themes and solemn truths. 
 Neither the tkunders of Sinai, nor the warning of 
 
THH HOUSE OF DEATH. 185 
 
 « 
 
 prophets, nor the attractions of Calvary, nor the cei*- 
 tainty of death, the judgment and an immortal state of 
 being, make any salutary impression upon their minds. 
 They are, as described in the Book of Proverbs "fools, 
 void of understanding." " They eat the bread of 
 wickedness, and drink the wine of violence." Their 
 way is "as darkness ;> they know not at what they 
 stumble." 
 
 This sin is, also, opposed to the Jbest welfare and 
 dearest interests of society. The example of a licen- 
 tious man is most potent for evil. His character is like 
 a pestilence in the community. It is a moral leprosy, 
 that infects others, impairs the health of the virtuous, 
 invades the strength of the uncontaminated. Under the 
 laws of social influence that bind together the members 
 of a community, and cause their sentiments and lives to 
 mingle and flow together, the power of one evil example 
 is immense. Its corrupting influence extends from mind 
 to mind, and heart to heart, until, like the sweeping con- 
 flagration in a densely-crowded city, it lays waste a vast 
 district, and prostrates in the dust the fairest and most 
 costly edifices. Especially are the young and unwary 
 ensnared by the foul destroyer. In the ardor of youth- 
 ful confidence, with habits unformed, and principles 
 swayed by the slightest breath of influence, they are 
 easily taken captive. The poison enters their hearts 
 almost before they are aware of its presence. And, in 
 too many cases; the adversary of souls prepares the way 
 for its reception. The impure thought has preceded the 
 impure word, or look, or action. The soil has been 
 16* 
 
186 LECTUKBS TO TOUNS MEN. 
 
 prepared for the seed," and the noxious plant soon springs 
 up ami attains to a fearful growth. A thousand influ- 
 ences and agencies help to bring it to maturity ; and the 
 fruit is ere long gathered, — fruit like the apples of 
 Sodom, fair -to the eye, but ashes within. 
 
 The doctrine that " one sinner destroy eth much good " 
 IS emphatically applicable to this vice. For, the weak- 
 aess of human nature, and the tendency of the mind 
 to yield to temptation, rather than struggle against it, 
 give to the destroyer a fearful advantage. He may 
 start many a youth in a db^vnward career, and hurry 
 him on with accelerated velocity towards the chambers of 
 death. He may attack society a,t a thousand vulnerable 
 points, and many a citadel that outwardly seems strong 
 will yield to his arts and stratagems. Family after 
 family will be sacrificed. Their dearest interests, bright.- 
 est hopes, purest pleasures, will be utterly wasted. We 
 speak of family afflictions, bereavements, reverses. But 
 there is a blight worse than pecuniary misfortune ; there , 
 is a. sorrow worse than death; there are reflections more 
 bitter than those connected with funeral precessions 
 and the open grave. The adulterer, who, with honied 
 words and specious arguments, has accomplished his foul 
 purpose, has wrought a more complete desolation for the 
 once happy family than even the king of terrors could 
 have done. He has laid waste hopes that would have 
 survived any other calamity. The victim of his snares 
 has fallen, never to rise again. Her name, once 'the 
 pride and joy of the household, cannot now be mentioned 
 by i5.nocent children, without a blush upon the cheek and 
 
THE HOU§E OF DEATH. 187 
 
 a par g that stoots through the heart. She who should 
 have been an honor and protection to her offspring has 
 clouded them with disgrace, and inflicted upon them a 
 sorrow which cannot be healed. 
 
 Her husband, too, shares in the anguish. His domes- 
 tic bliss has been stabbed in the heart. The sanctuary 
 of his warmest affections and purest joys has been ruth- 
 lessly entered, and everything that rendered his home 
 dear to his heart has been destroyed. Over its attrac- 
 tions has fallen the gloom of a black, horrible night. 
 The spot that shcruld have been the brightest to him 
 on earth has become the darkest. That which should 
 have lightened his burdens and soothed his sorrows has 
 become the source of his greatest wretchedness. 
 
 But there is another point at which society is assailed 
 by this monster vice. There are miscreants abroad in 
 the community whose profligacy is so intense, and whose 
 villany has so completely prostrated every right prin- 
 ciple and feeling, that the innocence, beauty and fairest 
 prospects, of a lovely child, or an orphan daughter, are 
 no barrier in their career of iniquity. With a winning 
 address, and manners marked by an external refinement, 
 — with expressions of the highest esteem and most honor- 
 able feelings, — they gain the confidence of their victims, 
 and use. their power for the accomplishment of the basest 
 purposes. They cause her who had been an obedient 
 child, a beloved daughter, a cherished sister, to " forsake 
 the "guide of her youth and forget the covenant of her 
 God." They lead her from the path of innocency 
 and joy, into tne jroad road of pollution and wretch- 
 
188 LECTURES TO TOTJN& MEN. 
 
 edness. The family* circle, of •vrhich she was a bright 
 ornameut, the seducer smites with a stroke more terrible 
 than the lightning flash, more destructive than any that 
 death might inflict. 
 
 0, if there be, in the world of lost spirits.,, one form of 
 punishment more fearful and appalling than another, — 
 if there are dungeons in God's great prison-house where 
 his fiery indignation rages with peculiar intensity, — then 
 most surely does that punishment and that' dungeon' 
 await the coming of the corrupt wretch, who "has hurled 
 the virtuous daughter from her proud eminence, blighted 
 the hopes of a fond family, and plunged the dagger into 
 the hearts of afiectionate parents. In the regions of 
 despair the poisoned arrows of tormenting spi:fits will 
 pierce him, the wild billows of a deep damnation will 
 roll over him, the most furious tempests of divine wrath 
 will heap upon him their terrors ! 
 
 Those, also, who frequent the house -of death,, and 
 mingle with their guilty inmates, are at war with the 
 best interests of society. Though the veil of secrecy may 
 be thrown over their deeds of wickedness, — though they 
 may retain a respectable position in society, and be 
 praised for their talents, or honored for their statesman- 
 ship, or respected for their wealth, — yet they are the 
 enemies of their country, and of social order and happi- 
 ness. They unfit themselves for the discharge of the 
 high moral and social duties that devolve upon them. 
 They brutalize their nature, drag down and trample in 
 the dust their self-respect, stifle conscience, and debase 
 themselves to a grade below the brute creation. During 
 
THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 189 
 
 the day they mingle in fashionable circles, and with fas- 
 tidious care, shrink from the society of those whom they 
 proudly deem beneath the rank in which they more. At 
 night they are the coiapanions of her whose "guests are 
 in the depths of hell." They occupy a social position 
 defined, certainly with sufficient precision, by the pen of 
 Aspiration, in the following words : " Without are dogs, 
 and , sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and 
 idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." 
 While they look with contempt upon men infinitely their 
 superiors in virtue, honor, and every noble quality, at 
 the same time they cast themselves down to a level,, 
 according to the divine standard, with the lowest and most 
 execrable outcasts. It is true that they may not have 
 the crimes of the seducer to answer for. The victims of 
 their lust may have been hurled by others into the deep 
 mire of sin. But, though they are not the authors of 
 their ruin, they, aid in perpetuating and increasing it. 
 They sink them the deeper into the horrible pit into 
 which they have fallen. They add to the wretchedness 
 of an already wretched existence, to the hopeless doom of 
 creatures who already see before them the clouds of de- 
 spair. They sustain a system of iniquity which, if uni- 
 versally adopted, would make every habitation a house 
 of death, every inmate a foul transgressor, and society 
 one mass of corruption, fit only for the terrible retribu- 
 tions of a future state. 
 
 Besides, in many cases, the unfortunate victim is not 
 lost to all sense of happiness, and all remembrances of 
 the past. Not unfrequently her history shows that she 
 
190 LECTTJKBa TO YOTJNG MEN. 
 
 early enjoyed the best advantages. She had once a 
 home as pure, as bright, as safe, apparently, from the 
 invasion of damning influences, as ours. She had a 
 father who watched over her with parental affection ; a 
 mother who pressed her infant form to her heart, and 
 soothed her childhood sorrows ; a brother to lean upon, 
 and sisters who cherished and loved her. The spring of, 
 life opened amid beautiful flowers, fragrant blossoms, and 
 scenes of gayety and innocent pleasure. The_mental 
 powers developed amid refining and religious influences. 
 The evening prayer was often uttered, and the treasures 
 of scriptural knowledge were stored in the memory. 
 The future was .bright with visions of domestic peace, 
 honorable distinction, usefulness, and a long life of hap- 
 piness. 'There may have been anticipations of the joys 
 of a heavenly world, after a faithful discharge of duty in 
 this. But into this paradise Satan entered as an angel 
 of light. A fiend from hell, disguised in the robes of 
 honor and purity, approached, and, by his fascinating 
 arts and deep hypocrisy, prepared anothgr destiny for 
 this child of hope and promise. All her fair prospects 
 he blasted, and gave her, as her portion, (Jisgrace and 
 infamy. Other fiends completed the work of ruin. 
 Gradually hef heart was hardened. She offers no more 
 prayers, indulges no more Christian hopes, but, with her 
 guilty companions, walks the downward road to death. 
 
 There are many other aspects of this melancholy sub- 
 ject that reveal its appalling evils. The effects of the vice 
 upon the profligate himself are fearfully disastrous. All 
 vices, indeed, are injurious, and leave behind them a 
 
THE H0TJSJ3 OF DEATH. 19^ 
 
 Bting. But this is peculiarly destructive to body and 
 soul. It assails man at every point at wliich lie is vul- 
 nerable. It breaks down his health, and plants in the 
 system the seeds of disease and agony. It palsies the 
 limbs, shatters the frame, and makes every bone, muscle 
 and nerve, an avenue of pain. It weakens the reason, 
 the judgment, and all the mental faculties. It prostrates 
 the affections of the heart, and every noble feeling and 
 aspiration of the soul. And .the ruin under the power 
 of this vice is fearfully rapid. The victim is hurried 
 down from one stage of pollution to another with accele- 
 rated velocity. Allured on by the fascinating images of 
 pleasure, dazzled by the gorgeous robes and brilliant 
 jewels in which the temptation is arrayed, he soon loses 
 sight of the high interests that pertain to his character, 
 reputation and immortal destiiiy. His thoughts, feelings 
 and desires, all centre upon one mighty passion. This 
 holds him with a tyrant's grasp ; and, though in moments 
 of reflection he may desire to escape and return to the 
 paths of virtue, yet in most cases the chains are too 
 strong to be broken. " None that go unto her return 
 again, neither take they hold of the paths of life." This 
 language we would not understand as meaning, literally, 
 that every one who falls into the snares of this vice is cut 
 off from all hope of escape. A few, convinced of the 
 ■ peril of their position, or warned ly the horrible fate of 
 others, may rush from the "house of death," and take 
 "hold of the paths of life^" But the vast multitude 
 wiio enter in do not return again. Their destiny is 
 fixed. Their doom is sealed. Unfit for the purity and 
 
192 LEOTUEES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 refinement of virtuous society, they seek the company 
 of the most debased and corrupt of the human species. 
 They listen to the most revolting language; and obscene 
 jests, and hold their nightly revellings amid scenes of 
 shame and gross iniquity. Unfit for profitable medita- 
 tion, they admit to the chambers of the ' soul the foulest 
 creations of the fancy. The spectral forms of- pollution 
 gather there, and lay their plots to secure new victims for 
 the slaughter. Unfit to discharge the duties or feel the 
 obligations of religion, they plunge into the black night 
 of atheism. They bow before no deity, hsten to no voice 
 of mercy, heed no threatenings of coming wrath. The 
 Bible they hate, and trample beneath their infidel feet. 
 They mock at everything holy, pure and good. The 
 Saviour, his sufferings upon Calvary, his offers of par- 
 don, the influences of the Holy Spirit, are all made 
 the objects of ridicule and contempt. Living in the 
 midst of gospel light, their souls are in darkness. Sur- 
 rounded by the most exalted religious privileges, they 
 debase themselves to *a level with the heathen world. 
 Capable of soaring to companionship with angels, and 
 dwelling with God amid the splendors and "joys of his 
 celestial kingdom, they prepare to plunge into the yawn- 
 ing gulf, and mingle in the society of fiends,, and experi- 
 ence the horrors of unending despair. 
 
 Behold the end, the miserable end, of the victim of this 
 vice ! You do not find him now in the richly-furnished 
 apartment, with its crimson grapery, costly ornaments, 
 and brilliant attractions. No gay throng is near, with 
 music, and dancing, and mirth. No wine-cup sparkles 
 
THD HOUSE OF DEATH. 193 
 
 Upon the tsMe. No bright visions of delight play before 
 the fancy and intoxicate the brain. The scene has 
 changed. The brilliant pictures have all faded. The 
 deluded man has left the halls of gayety and pleasure, 
 and entered another apartment in the " house of death." 
 A fearful disease is preying upon his vitals. His emaci- 
 ated form, bloodshot eyes, pale, agonized countenance, 
 and convulsed frame, all tell the story of his guilt. At 
 every breath a pang pierces his heart. Every word he 
 utters is accompanied with a groan. His sufferings are 
 more acute than any which tyrants and persecutors have 
 ever inflicted, — more insupportable than even the tortures 
 of the inquisition. His very bones are rotting, and through 
 his veins are rushing streams of fire. Every nerve is an 
 avenue through which excruciating pains travel directly 
 to the heart." His soul, too, the most vital and sensitive 
 part of his being, — how shall we describe its wretched 
 condition ? Would that we could close the scene before 
 going down into its dark recesses, before gazing upon its 
 agonies. But it is not the death of the body alone that 
 we are called to witness, but the death of a soul. The 
 hopes and happiness of an immortal spirit ai'e dying out. 
 Dark shadows are falling thick and fast over the spirit. 
 Frightful forms of remorse are crowding into the cham- 
 bers of the memory. They come from the past, — from 
 scenes of wicked revelry which have been indulged in, 
 from foul deeds which have been committed, from blas- 
 phemous words which have been uttered. They come 
 from different points in a long career of profligacy, a 
 mighty throng of tormentors. They come to prepare, and 
 17 
 
194 LECTURES TO TOTJNG MEN. 
 
 participate in the funeral rites of a lost soul,- & soul that 
 is to be buried without the hope of a resurrection. And 
 the poor victim seems conscious of their presence. He 
 reads his fearful doom. He startles at every sound as 
 though he heard the thunders of divine wrath reverber- 
 ating under the roof of his future prison-house. Every 
 ray of light that enters his narrow casement seems a 
 lightning-flash from the eye of an indignant God. He 
 knows now that there is a terrible meaning in those 
 utterances at which he has so often scofied. " She hath 
 cast down many wounded I yea^ many strong men 
 have been slain by ker. Her house is the way to 
 hell, going down to the chambers of death. None 
 that go unto her return again, neither take they 
 hold of the paths of life.'" 
 
 " I saw him enter in, and heard the door 
 Behind them shut ; and in the dark, still night. 
 When God's unsleeping eye alone can see, 
 He went to her adulterous bed. At mom 
 I looked and saw him not among the youths. 
 I heard his father mourn, his mother weep ; 
 For none returned that went with her. The dead 
 Were in her house ; her guests in depths of heU ; 
 She wove the winding sheet of souls, and laid 
 Them in the urn of everlasting death." 
 
 Allow me, before closing, to point out some of the 
 causes which lead to this vice. 
 
 In the first place, a corrupt imagination is a prolific 
 source of this evil. The impure thought is admitted, 
 which arouses the fancy, and leads it to indulge in 
 
THE HOUSE OE DEATH. 195 
 
 reveries of forbidden pleasure. It builds fairy castles, 
 surrounding them with bowers of sensual delight, and 
 ^peopling them with forms of beauty. It hangs upon the 
 .rails voluptuous pictures, and scenes which excite the 
 forst passions of the soul. Strains of music float 
 hrough the gayly-decorated halls, and the strange 
 ffoman is seen moving with grace and alluring charms 
 imong her guests. To these apparently safe retreats 
 :he thoughts often retire, and in- secrecy feast upon the 
 dainties which the imagination has provided. No eye 
 rests upon the scene, and no note of alarm disturbs the 
 dreams that intoxicate the brain. But soon the poison 
 enters the soul, corrupting its faculties and powers. The 
 various currents of thought become tainted with impur- 
 ity. Good principles are undermined, and the bulwarks 
 of virtue are weakened. A taste for foiJbidden pleasures 
 is created, which will not long be satisfied with mere 
 images and reveries. The passions become clamorous 
 for gratification, and, with giant strength, soon break 
 through every restraint. Eeputation, the approbation 
 of conscience, the favor of God, all in one fatal hour are 
 sacrificed. The force of the imagination has broughj 
 the mind up to that point where every barrier gives 
 way, and the man plunges into the fearful vortex of 
 open licentiousness. He who but yesterday stood ap- 
 parently firm, with his name unsullied, his character 
 above suspicion, to-day falls, exciting the astonishment 
 and grief of the whole community. The flame within 
 has been long secretly feJ, but to-day the volcanic fires 
 
196 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 burst forth, carrying desolation and anguish in their 
 course. 
 
 0, young man, if you would be safe from the curse 
 of this vice, cultivate purity of thought ! Guard the 
 citadel of your soul against these secl-et enemies. Re- 
 solve that the powers of your imagination shall not be 
 prostituted to a work so debasing and ruinous. These 
 powers were given to lift the mind to the regions of 
 holy thought, to inspire it with noble aspirations, to 
 enable it to soar with angels amid the glories of the 
 spiritual world. They were not designed to clothe 
 temptation with alluring charms, and urge on the soul 
 in a career of profligacy. Keep your heart pure, and 
 you are invincible. You may walk amid the fiery darts 
 of the adversary, and remain unharmed. 
 
 Another pronMnent source of this evil, is the demoral- 
 izing literature of the day. Upon this point we have 
 spoken in a previous lecture. It is one, however, which 
 cannot be too deeply impressed upon the minds of 
 the young. These pernicious works, that are coming in 
 upon us from the English and French schools, we should 
 shrink from as from a pestilence. The writings of 
 Reynolds, Eugene Sue, Mad. Dudevant, alias George 
 Sand, Dumas, and others, are at this moment corrupting 
 thousands of our youth, blasting their fairest prospects, 
 and preparing them for a career of wretchedness and 
 infaijny. The heroes whose principles and deeds are por- 
 trayed in these works are selected from the lowest and 
 worst classes in society. They are men and women 
 steeped in crime, whose very nature is pollution, whose 
 
THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 197 
 
 breath is contagion, wliose lives and conversation are 
 revolting to every pure and ingenuous mind. Should 
 persons bearing the characters of many of these heroes 
 desire access to our families, they would be at once 
 shut out, on the ground of their corrupting influence- 
 Their presence would not be tolerated for a single 
 hour ; and yet, under the garb of a popular literature, 
 they are admitted to circles which claim to be regarded 
 as refined and intellectual, and they are spreading a 
 deadly infection through various classes in society. Tha 
 plagues of Egypt would not be a greater curse to our 
 community than are these vile works. ' ' I am ashamed 
 and outraged," says one, "when I think that wretches 
 could be found to open these foreign seals, and let out 
 their plagues upon us, — that any Satanic Pilgrim should 
 voyage to France to dip from the Dead Sea of her abomi- 
 nations a baptism for our sons. It were a mercy, to 
 this, to import serpents from Africa, and pour them out 
 on our prairies ; lions from Asia, and -free them in our 
 forests ; lizards and scorpions from the Indies, and put 
 them in our gardens. Men could slay these ; but those 
 offspring-reptiles of the French mind, who can kill these? 
 You might as well draw sword on a plague, or charge a 
 malaria with a bayonet." This literature pervades our 
 cities, circulates in stores, taverns, cars, steamboats, and 
 is daily and nightly sowing the seeds of harvests of evil 
 Parents,, guardians and teachers of the young, cannot be 
 too much in earnest in warning those under their care 
 against indulging in such peirnicious works. 
 
 Another cause which leads the young astray is the 
 17* 
 
198 LBCTUKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 influence of evil associates. . Many come to our cities 
 without experience, often without friends, and are 
 accidentally thrown into the society -of those 'who are 
 familiar with the avenues of vice, and who are ready to 
 entice others to accompany them in their career of 
 profligacy. Craving themselves the sympathy and in- 
 terest of social life, and longing for diversion after the 
 cares and labors of the day, they imperceptibly imbibe 
 the views and sentiments of their associates. At first 
 , »they shrink from amusements that are positively demoral- 
 izing ; but they are led.along step by step, until the sOul 
 is corrupted, and evil habits are formed, from which it is 
 almost impossible to break away. 
 
 Let me urge you to shun the society of such com- 
 panions. Their very presence is polluting to the soul. 
 You may be attracted by their social and apparently 
 generous qualities, and may bestow upon them your 
 friendship and confidence ; but, ere you are aware of it, 
 they may blast your character, and rob you of your most 
 precious treasures. Let the first impure word or oath 
 that they utter be the signal for you to withdraw from 
 their society, and firmly resolve that you will never 
 again be found within the sphere of their contaminating 
 influence! 
 
 There are other sources of danger that 'we would 
 guard you against, such as intemperance, the theatre, 
 public balls, and impure pictures, all of which are con- 
 tributing to a vast extent to this terrible vice. They are 
 so many currents, all flowiftg into this ocean of sin, and 
 bearing upon their bosoms the unwary, the inexperi- 
 
THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 199 
 
 eL.ced, and the young man void of understanding. 0, 
 resolve, as you value your happiness for this life, and 
 your hopes for the future, — as you valu« the approba- 
 tion of conscience and the favor of God, — that you will 
 steel your hearts against this damning sin ! Gird your- 
 selves for the great battle with temptation ! " Put on 
 the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand 
 against the w'iles of the devil. Stand, having your loins 
 girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate 
 of righteousness. - And take the helmet of salvation, and, 
 the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." 
 Clad in this panoply, you are safe. Kghting with these 
 weapons, you will come off as conquerors, apd forever 
 rejoice over your lictories ! 
 
X. 
 
 MODERN SCEPTICISM. 
 " Without God in the world." — Ephesiabs 2:12, 
 
 It has been the policy of the enemies of Christianity 
 to adapt their mode of warfare to the changes which take 
 place in society. In the earliest ages of the church they 
 appeared openly as persecutors, and attempted to crush 
 believers and destroy the truth by physical force. In- 
 stead of arguments, they made use of dungeons, fagots 
 and the sword. Instead of meeting their opponents upon 
 the arena of fair debate, they gave them wild beasts foi' 
 antagonists, and made their agonies and shrieks con- 
 tribute to the public amusement. 
 
 Gradually the opposition to the triith became less open 
 • and daring, and secret measures, in inquisitorial halls 
 and elsewhere, were adopted, to destroy the life of Chris- 
 tianity. The attempt was m^ide to torture men out of 
 their religion. Afterwards, infidel associations and clubs 
 were formed, for the purpose of seeking out and assailing 
 the most vulnerable points in the Scriptures. Sophistry, 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 201 
 
 ■wit and sarcasm, were employed to bring the religion of 
 the Bible into contempt. Faith was denounced as super- 
 stition, and the realities of a future life were held up as 
 the chimeras of an excited and perverted imagination. 
 At a later period, infidelity allied itself to literature, and 
 sought to, poison the minds of men through the streams 
 of human knowledge. Fatal errors were associated with 
 philosophical speculations, as in the writings of Spinoza 
 and Bolingbroke ; with valuable historical facts, as in 
 the writings of Gibbon and Hume ; and with the beauties 
 of poetry and charms of romance, as in the writings of 
 Voltaire. These, and other authors of a kindred spirit, 
 aimed at the overthrow of all correct principles of reason- 
 ing, and the es'tablishment of a system of universal scep- 
 ticism. They labored to shut out the light of moral 
 truth, to extinguish every star of hope, to sever the ties 
 that bind man to his Creator, and leave him to swing out 
 upon an ocean of darkness, uncertainty and despair. 
 Some of these forms of hostility to the truth retain their 
 power,, and exert a wide-spread influence at the present 
 day. They hold in subjection a class of minds that are 
 ready to grasp at any sophistical arguments, or any 
 apparently well-grounded objection to the Bible, in order 
 to quiet their consciences, and sustain them in their evil 
 courses. 
 
 But there are forms of scepticism which are peculiar 
 to our times, and adapted to the refinement, intelligence, 
 and even religious tend^cies, of the age. They come to 
 us associated with much that is good and true, sustained 
 by an array of sound learning, and the marks of a clear 
 
202 LECTURES TO YOtJNG MEW. 
 
 and prcfound discernment. They are often clothed with 
 the beauties of style and illustration, and enforced with 
 such eloquence as to take captive the heart. 
 
 To some of the forms of this modern scepticism, 
 and to their dangerous tendencies and fatal effects, I 
 propose to direct your attention. 
 
 Not a few of our scientific writers have, directly or 
 indirectly, made use of their discoveries .and intellectual 
 resources, to weaken the doctrines of revealed religion. 
 Arguments drawn from the departments of modem 
 astronomy and geology have been employed to invalidate 
 the Mosaic account of the creation, weaken the inspira- 
 tion of the sacred Scriptures, and render improbable the 
 scheme of redemption for our race wrought out by the 
 coequal Son of God. The extreme antiquity of our 
 globe, as apparent from the formations and strata which 
 must have required long ages for their preparation, .is 
 referred to as evidence that Moses was unacquainted 
 with title origin and history of the earth. It is argued, 
 that there is a language in the -very rocks and strata of 
 the earth, that does not correspond with the language 
 that claims to have come by inspiration from God, — the 
 objector forgetting, however, that the soundest principles 
 of interpretation do not require us to take the word day, 
 as used in the first chapter of Genesis, in its present lim- 
 ited sense ; and forgetting, too, that the interval between 
 the chaotic state of tb) globe and its final preparation as 
 a residence for man, as described by the sacred writer, 
 affords ample time — an indefinite number of ages, if you 
 please — for all the processes and changes which the 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 203 
 
 geologist claims. The fact that the word day is used to 
 express a period of time before the sun was created, or, 
 at least, before the arrangements were perfected that 
 limited its use to twenty-four hours, is a sufiScient 
 warrant to us to employ it with a latitude of meaning 
 that will meet all the discoveries of the geologist, and, 
 at the same time, sustain the Mosaic account of the 
 creation. 
 
 At the first discovery of any great truth in this cr 
 any other science, that seems to conflict with revelation, 
 the sceptic is ready enough to seize it, and rush with it 
 into the temple of faith, boasting that now the friends of 
 the Bible must yield up their claims, and submit to the 
 superior light of science. But, in every such instance, a 
 careful investigation of the question has shown to the can- 
 did and hone^ inquirer after truth, that the teachings of 
 nature harmonize perfectly with the truths of revelation, 
 — that science elucidates and strengthens, rather than 
 weakens, the great principles of the Scriptures. Nor can 
 we resist the conviction urged upon us by the history of 
 the past, that the day is not far distant when science will 
 be an important auxiliary of religion, in obtaining con- 
 quests over the thinking and cultivated portions of the 
 community. 
 
 When, too, the great discoveries in astronomy threw 
 open the vast extent and grandeur of the universe, it 
 was strenuously contended, that the Being who created 
 and presided over so magnificent an empire could not 
 reasonably be supposed to give so much attention to this 
 comparatively minute province, as is implied in the syS' 
 
204 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 tern of Christianity. The sceptic argued that the Su- 
 preme Creator, with so much kingdom beside,-^ with 
 millions of suns and worlds floating around him, all fiUiv"! 
 with the manifestations of his infinite attributes, and fron 
 which he must constantly receive a rich revenue of 
 glory, — would not send his coequal Son to die for a 
 single rebellious race, the entire loss of which would be 
 no more missed than the falling of a leaf in a vast forest, 
 or the removal of a single grain of sand from the sea- 
 shore. But when the idea was brought to view, that 
 God's ways and thoughts were not as ours, and that the 
 extent of his empire, however great, did not necessarily 
 _ lessen the interest which he felt in particular portions, — ■ 
 that he could at the same moment watch over the revolu- 
 tion of worlds and the fall of a sparrow, — the force of the 
 sceptic's argument was at once destroyed. And not only 
 so, but these discoveries in regard to the magnificence of 
 the material universe served to increase the Christian's 
 conceptions of the divine love, and of the wonders and 
 glory of the scheme of redemption. The declaration, 
 " God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten 
 Son," burst upon the mind with fresh volumes of mean- 
 ing, when the fact wac made known that there. were so 
 many millions of worlds that depended upon his bounty, 
 and shared in his affectionate regard. 
 
 But, while the intelligent Christian can perceive and 
 appreciate the harmony that exists between science and 
 religion, and can use the discoveries in the former as 
 means of increasing his faith and stimulating his devo- 
 tion, it is painful to observe to how great an extent scien- 
 
MODEKir SCEPTICISM. 205 
 
 tifio men pursue their researches under a cloud of- scepti- 
 cism, and make use of their knowledge to weaken the 
 force and destroy the influence of Christianity. In read- 
 ing the writings of the illustrious Humboldt, it is sad tc 
 observe, amid so many evidences of careful study and- 
 extensive research, and so much accurate and valuable 
 knowledge, such a destitution of religious sentiment and 
 feeling. There is manifested the most assiduous care to 
 avoid the recognition of a superintending and watchful 
 Providence. T^'hile describing, in clear and forcible lan- 
 guage, the works of the Creator, the great First Cause 
 is apparently forgotten. The vast temple of nature, with 
 its noble columns, beautiful proportions, splendid decora- 
 tions, with its dome and towers, is vividly described, — 
 but there is no worship within. We see no altar. We 
 near no swelling organ, no note of praise. We behold 
 no crowd about the gates. AH is silent without and cold 
 ■within. The costly structure may excite the admiration 
 of the intellect, but there is nothing here to touch the 
 heart, or lift the affections towards a living, active, every- 
 where present Deity. 
 
 The sceptical philosopher may, indeed, frame an 
 excuse for his course, on the ground that his attention is 
 so intensely fixed upon the works of nature, and to so 
 great an extent confined to experiment and observation 
 in natural phenomena, that he is led imperceptibly to 
 almost deify general principles, rather than recognize a 
 personal God. Having formed the habit of basing his 
 opinions upon ocular evidence, and reaching his con- 
 clusions by trains of strict mathematical reasoning, he 
 18 
 
206 LECTTJRBS TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 is unwilling to go beyond the bounds of sight, i.nd walk 
 one step by faith. He contends that moral evidences, 
 and analogical arguments do not carry with them suf- 
 ficient authority, to convince his judgment and satisfy 
 his reason. 
 
 ■ In reply to such an excuse, we would aver that the 
 faculties of the mind may be perverted, and sin incurred, 
 as truly by an undue devotion to scientific researches, and 
 to the laws of evidence which reign in the departmetits 
 of human knowledge, as by yielding to the more ordinary 
 forms of temptation, that lead away the mind from God. 
 As moral and immortal beings, we are all held to the 
 duty of knowing our relations and obligations to the 
 Author of our existence. No excuse can be deemed, for 
 a moment, admissible, that seeks to justify one in neglect- 
 ing this duty, or in hesitating to acknowledge its. primary 
 importance. There may be as much atheism connected 
 with the highest scientific attainments and intellectual 
 culture, as with an absorbing avarice, or ambition, or 
 any master passion of the soul. 
 
 There i^ another form of scepticism which is allied to 
 philosophy and theology, and which comes to us mainly 
 through the German rationalists and neologists. This 
 form is peculiarly dangerous, because of the extent to 
 which it has infected the German mind, and because it is 
 connected with a class of scholars so eminent for their 
 intellectual ability, -and superior attainments in the high- 
 est branches of human knowledge. We are free to 
 acknowledge our great obligations to Germany for what 
 she has- done in philology, theology, exegesis, and church 
 
MODERN SCEl-XICISM. 207 
 
 history. During the last fifty years ■ she has thrown 
 more light upon, these depaxtments of learning than all 
 other civilized 'nations. The extensive and critical 
 researches of Hermann, Lobeck, Passow, and others^ 
 have enriched the language with the most abundant ma- 
 terials in the department of. philology ; and our best 
 grammars and dictionaries are translations from the Ger- 
 man. With indefatigable labor and untiring zeal have 
 these scholars searched the ancient records of church his- 
 tory, and explored the fields and treasures of Grecian 
 and Roman literature. And the fruits of their diligence, 
 penetration and vigorous thinking, we, in common with 
 other nations, have reaped. But, with this, influx of 
 valuable German learning, there has come a flood of 
 rationalism and scepticism, which has threatened to sweep 
 away the foundations of the Christian faith. The very 
 first principles of the religion of the Bible have been 
 assailed. The correctness of the historical portions of the 
 Scriptures has been called in question. The testimony 
 and declarations of several of the sacred writers have been 
 set aside, as unworthy of consideration. The evidences 
 from miracles, and from other equally important sources, 
 have been attacked ; and not a few German sceptics have 
 prosecuted their researches into a remote antiquity with 
 great zeal, in order to find arguments against portions of 
 the Bible. They have not, indeed, like the deistical 
 English writers who flourished in the early part of the 
 last century, come out against the whole word of God, 
 denying its authenticity and authority. Those who are 
 termed rationalists admit that the sacred writers may be 
 
208 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 honest and sincere men, and that the Bible may be an 
 important source of religious instruction. But their 
 object is to strip the book of everythiifg supernatural, 
 and to account for its doctrines, facts and miracles, on 
 natural grounds. They contend that its writers were no 
 more inspired than other writers are under ordinary 
 circumstances. Even the miracles of Christ and his 
 apostles they attempt to explain away, denying that 
 there was, in obedience to their commands or will, any 
 suspension of the laws of nature. And, in cases where 
 they cannot break down the facts in the sacred record, 
 they assail and mutilate the text itself Under the 
 broad shield of what they term "criticism," they twist 
 and pervert the language of scripture to suit their pur- 
 poses. But the admission of the rationalists that the 
 Bible, after all, rested upon a substratum of real truth, 
 was fatal to their theory, and disastrous to their perma- 
 nent influence. 
 
 Other forms of scepticism, however, have arisen in 
 Germany, which for a time, at least, have not a little 
 alarmed believers, and perplexed the defenders of the 
 faith. Strauss' Life of Christ, which was an attempt to 
 place the whole gospel on a level with the systems of 
 heathen mythology, was one of the most bold and for- 
 midable attacks that was ever made upon the citadel of 
 Christianity. So plausible were his arguments, and so 
 skilfully did he apply the mythical system to the evan- 
 gelical history of our Saviour, that the friends of the 
 truth at first deemed it necessary to suppress the book. 
 But the wiser portion of German divines, regarding 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 209 
 
 sucli a course as a virtual acknowledgment that the 
 work was unanswerable, resolved to meet it on the 
 broad field of argument, and open discussion. And 
 it has been nobly met by many of the ablest German 
 divines, and the conflict has resulted in adding strength 
 and giving new vigor to the gospel scheme. But it is 
 not my purpose to go into the history and extent of 
 German scepticism ; for the subject is one that requires a 
 full and thorough discussion, and to which a series of 
 most carefully prepared lectures should be devoted. I 
 simply allude to it at the present time, to warn you 
 against its subtile and poisoning influence. In our coun- 
 try we meet it in a portion of our popular literature, in 
 some of our reviews, and in the lyceum lecture. Culti- 
 vated minds of sceptical tendencies, both in England and 
 America, have seized upon these pernicious doctrines, 
 and have, in various ways, labored to diffiise them 
 through the community. And when we consider how 
 many .there are, even in refined and -intellectual circles, 
 who are ready to adopt any plausible theories, that wijl 
 release them from the obligations and duties which the 
 stem principles of the gospel impose upon them, — when 
 we call to mind the depravity of the human heart, and 
 the fact that men love darkness rather than light, — we 
 do not wonder at the spread of such errors. 
 
 But scepticism, not content with employing the chan- 
 nels of literature, and appealing to the intellect, abso- 
 lutely goes .so far as to enlist the religious sentiments of 
 the heart, and comes to us in a form of worship. It 
 has its churches, music, audiences and preachers. It 
 18* 
 
210 • LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 poisons the minds of the young through sermons. The 
 pulpit being an acknowledged force in this enlightened 
 and Christian age, it seizes the pulpdt, and thus reaches 
 a class that could in no other -way be brought under 
 its ruinous influence. In the popular discourse funda- 
 mental doctrines of our faith are assailed, the inspiration 
 of a portion of the Bible is denied, and the authority 
 *of the ■whole is weakened. Use is made of the religious 
 tendencies of man's nature, to lead him away from all 
 religion into the dark regions of infidelity. Scepticism, 
 professing to instruct him in matters vital to his eternal 
 interests, gains his ear only to poison his soul. It takes 
 his Sabbaths, and professes to enable him to keep them 
 as holy to the Lord. It takes his conscience, and lulls 
 it to rest. 
 
 A worse thing scepticism could not do than to put on 
 a form of worship. It is. as though Satan, not. content 
 with the outer court of the temple, should enter and 
 take possession of the holy of holies. It is an act of 
 sacrilege, that deserves' unqualified censure. It is vir- 
 tually seizing the purest desires and noblest aspirations 
 of the heart, and making them avenues through which 
 moral death is sent to the vitals of the soul. But scep- 
 ticism waits not to consider the means for the accom- 
 plishment of its ends. What it cannot gain openly, or 
 upon the arena of fair discussion, it will seek to»gain by 
 stratagemj or even through the spirit of devotion. 
 
 Another phase of modern infidelity exists, which, for 
 the want of a better name, we would denominate fanat- 
 ical scepticism. There is a large and increasing class 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 211 
 
 in the community, who, by giving their attention in- 
 tensely and exclusively to a few specific evils, seem to 
 be blinded to all others. Their minds become inflamed 
 with a single object, and, in the heat of their enthusi- 
 asm and madness, they rush on, trampling under foot 
 the Bible, the Sabbath and all Christian institutions. 
 Under the promptings of what they deem an ardent 
 humanity, they cultivate a contempt for everything 
 sacred, and feel that they are at liberty to sport with 
 the most sacred themes, and tender religious associations. 
 Their sympathy for the oppressed, the unfortunate and 
 the guilty, becomes their religion ; and they act under 
 the insane idea that the overthrow of Christianity, and 
 the annihilation of the Bible, are necessary to the triumph 
 of philanthropy. We are ready to allow that the dead- 
 ness of a portion of the Christian church has tended to 
 provoke this spirit. We allow that the ultraists at the 
 other extreme of society, who have attempted to associ- 
 ate a rigid orthodoxy with systems of oppression and vice, 
 and to draw from the Bible arguments 'to sustain most 
 wicked institutions, have had an influence in driving their 
 opponents to the other extreme, and prompting them to 
 attack the religious barriers behind which the support- 
 ers of wrong and injustice have intrenched themselves. 
 And both of these classes of ultraists — the one planted 
 amid the icebergs of the most northern frozen regions, 
 and the other sweltering under the heat of the equator 
 — we would equally Condemn ; for high pretensions to a 
 Bound religious faith, without a particle of humanity, ia 
 
212 
 
 LECTPEES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 as certairiLy productive of infidelity, as an earnest 
 humanity vrithout a particle of religion. 
 
 But no amount of hypocrisy, or practical infidelity, 
 among modern Scribes and Pharisees, can justify any 
 man in despising the great truths of the Scriptures, or 
 treading under foot the gospel of the blessed God. Such 
 a course is not only wicked, but it is suicidal ; for in 
 (Christianity lies the only great reformatory power that 
 ia making any sensible impression upon the masses of 
 iniquity in the world. Here, and here alone^ do we find 
 the moral forces that are adequate to the task of lifting 
 man from the depths of degradation and crime, and of 
 working society clear of its evils and miseries. The 
 history of the last eighteen centuries afibrds abundant 
 proof of this fact. We have seen that the gospel has 
 been the pioneer in every great and permanent reform ; 
 that in the track of the car of Chiastianity have followed 
 the' highest forms of civilization, the benefits of educa- 
 tion, free political institutions, and innumerable social 
 blessings. While every other scheme has failed, this 
 has proved successful wherever its principles have been 
 adopted, and there has been genuine faith in the great 
 master spirit of reform. 
 
 I would not lessen, in the least degree, the hostility 
 that is felt towards those giant evils that afflict society, 
 and obstruct the progress of liberty,, virtue and civiliza- 
 tion. But any measures that are allied to scepticism, 
 and are prosecuted in opposition to the word of Ood and 
 the gospel of his Son, are sure ^o come to naught. And 
 this unholy alliance between infidelity and' philanthropy 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 213 
 
 can be productive only of evil. Tbe philantLropy will 
 be inoperative, while tbe scepticism carries with it im- 
 mense power. The latter will spread, poisoning the 
 minds of the young and blasting tbe immortal hopes of 
 thousands, while the evils against which so much zeal is 
 manifested will retain their full strength. 
 
 Without, however, dwelling longer upon the various 
 forms of modern scepticism, I pass to consider some of 
 its direct effects. 
 
 In the first place, it cuts off the mind from the great 
 source of moral truth", and gives nothing substantial or 
 satisfactory in return. While its advocates are laboring 
 to demolish Christianity, and to convince men that its 
 credibility cannot be relied upon, or that its doctrines are 
 false, they propose no other system upon which they can 
 rely. They tell us that our present anchorage ground 
 is not safe, and that, we must cut our cables and swing 
 out upon the ocean ; but they point out no other shelter 
 from the storm ; they lead us to no other haven of peace, 
 where our frail bark can ride in safety. If our charts 
 axe false, theyLprovide no true ones upon which we can 
 rely. If they prove that our pilot is incompetent, or 
 that he is an impostor, they send to us no one who is 
 able to take the helm and guide us through the perils of 
 the voyage of life. Their work is done when they h^ve 
 destroyed our faith, and left us to be tossed upon . the 
 wild billows of a tempestuous ocean, — an ocean of fear- 
 ful doubts, of dirkness, of deep despair. Upon every 
 infidel bark is written, in glaring characters, the words, 
 " Without God and without hope in the world." Upon 
 
214 LBCTUEBS TO YOUNG MEK. 
 
 the banner floatmg at -the mast-head is inscribed " No 
 future life." Those on board are children without ,a 
 father, — orphans upon a bleak and trackless waste. 
 They are exiles, with no prospect of ever returning 
 to their home. They are condemned subjects, without a 
 Redeemer. No light from Calvary skirts their horizon. 
 No divine voice calms the troubled waters, saying, 
 "Peace, be still!" No Supreme Intelligence presides 
 over the elements around them, or shapes their destiny. 
 The midnight tempest, the lightning's flash, the thun- 
 der's roar, all come by chance. Chance placed the stars 
 in the heavens, and rounded the globe, and holds it in its 
 orbit, and is the supreme force of the universe ! What a 
 substitute is this for faith in a living Deity, for con- 
 fidence in an omnipotent and benevolent Father ! 
 
 0, if there -be but a possibility of the truth of Chris- 
 tianity, I would cling to that possibility. If but one 
 evidence, external or internal, from miracles or prophecy, 
 or the records or monuments of antiquity, escape the 
 devastating fire of the enemy,- and emerge unharmed 
 from the smoke of the battle-field, I would seize with^ 
 death-grasp that evidence, and retain it while thought Or 
 consciousness remained. For everything that I see 
 around, above, and beneath me, tells me that there is a 
 God. Every whisper of my conscience reVeals this 
 truth. I listen to the stars, and they declare his glory. 
 Each morning's sunlight comes to me as a fresh revela- 
 tion from his throne. I read his existence in the passing 
 cloud, in the waving forests, in the sparkling waves, in 
 the beautiful flower, and in the music of birds. I feel 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 215 
 
 too tlie pressure ofhisgovemment. A sense of obliga- 
 tion, of duties to be performed, of a solemn mission to 
 be accomplished, is ever present with me. I hear, too, 
 voices that tell me that I am immortal. Mysterious 
 thoughts, as though from the spirit -world, hover around 
 me. Faint glimpses of light, as though from bright far- 
 off regions, flash across my pathway. Dim angel forms 
 seem to beckon me ou ; and, in the quiet of deep medita- 
 tion, I hear a voice as though from the Supreme Father, 
 ' bidding me prepare for eternity. Can all this be delu- 
 sion 1 Say, sceptics, does no light from Calvary pene- 
 trate the darkness of the tomb ? Is the Bible a fable, 
 Christianity a superstition, and Jesus an impostor? 
 Every word in favor of such a supposition is a stab into 
 the dearest hopes and immortal interests of mankind. 
 Every new sceptical argument is another crown of 
 thorns, another spear. From every infidel heart there 
 goes forth the sentiment, if not the cry, "Away with 
 him, — let him be crucified ! " 
 
 Another effect of this scepticism is that it tends to 
 undermine all morality. It necessarily shuts off all the 
 motives to virtue and holiness that come from the future 
 life, and a future state of rewards and punishments. 
 Whatever influences are brought to bear upon the infidel 
 mind, to restrain it from vice and bind it to virtue, are 
 those which this world alone furnishes. And if, in any 
 given instance, the temptation- to -violate the principles 
 of integrity or -virtue is strong, and the consequences to 
 reputation or any worldly interest are of slight account, 
 there is nothing to hold the mind from breaking over the 
 
216 LECTURES TO TOtTNG MEN. 
 
 bounds (rf morality. It ia neither inspired by a hope of 
 future rewards, nor terrified by the fear of future pun- 
 ishment. It recognizes no divine moral government, no 
 obligations to a Supreme Euler, and consequently is 
 under the dominion of self-interest, expediency, reason 
 or passion, as the one or the oth^ may happen to gain 
 the ascendency. A man thus confined to the narrow 
 circle of motives Just around him, and incapable of being 
 influenced by the remonstrances of a guilty conscience 
 or by feelings -of remorse, may be left to the cotu- 
 mission of the greatest crimes ; and may gradually so 
 harden himself as not to feel the force of any moral con- 
 siderations, or be actuated by g,ny noble principles of 
 conduct. 
 
 And this infidelity, extending from the individual and 
 spreading over society, inevitably saps T;he foundation of 
 morality, good order, and social happiness. Unbridled 
 passions take the place of reason and conscience. The 
 tender and generous sentiments of the soul become faat 
 obliterated, and all that is valuable, pure and noble, 
 withers- under the blasting influence of this evil. A 
 nation pervaded by the spirit of scepticism is liable at 
 any moment to see even the forms of morality crumble 
 to ashes, the ties that bind together the community 
 sundered, and the restraints of virtue, justice and hu- 
 manity, thrown aside. It is liable at any moment to be 
 visited by those fearful calamities, that must sooner or 
 later burst forth from the universal prevalence of such 
 an evil. As the hidden gases and fires of the earth, after 
 long confinement, struggle to escape from their prison, 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 217 
 
 and break forth, rending the continents, and lighting up 
 the volcanoes, whose streams of death pour down upon the 
 adjacent cities and villages, so does this evil burst its 
 barriers, "and pour forth its streams of moral death. 
 
 The modern history of infidel France affords a melan- 
 choly illustration of this truth. For many years pre- 
 vious to 1789, scepticism had been insidiously working 
 its way through all classes in society. It went upward, 
 corrupting the circles of fashion, the institutions of learn- 
 ing, the courts of princes ; and downward, spreading its 
 pernicious influence through the cottages of the peas- 
 antry. It pervaded the church; or, rather, the papal 
 church was, to a great extent, its source. The glaring 
 inconsistencies and gross immoralities of the professed 
 disciples of Jesus, their spirit of relentless persecution, 
 and their rejection of the vital principles of the gospel, 
 brought all religion into contempt, and forced infidelity 
 upon the French people. And, in 1789, after the deep 
 under-swell had been long rocking society, the fearful 
 storm burst upon the nation. Atheism was enthroned 
 dictator by the suffrages of the people. The temples of 
 religion were closed. Public worship was abolished. 
 Faith was discarded, hope annihilated, and death declared 
 to be an eternal sleep. All social ties were sundered. 
 Mutual confidence was destroyed. The industry of the 
 nation was palsied at its very heart. The reign of athe- 
 ism became a reign of terror. Property, virtue, life, 
 were all subject to the will of this iron despot. Homes 
 were invaded, families were torn asunder, and the streets 
 were red with the blood of thousands of victims. 
 19 
 
218. LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 y 
 
 Sajs a writer, speaking of these times : "Tliea pro- 
 scription followed upon proscription, and tragedy followed 
 tragedy, in almost breatUess succession, on the theatre of 
 France; almost the whole nation was converted into a 
 horde of assassins. Democracy and atheism, hand in 
 hand, desolated the country, and converted it into one 
 vast field of rapine and blood. The moral and social ties 
 were unloosed, or, rather, torn adunder. For a man to 
 accuse his own father, was declared to be an act worthy 
 of a true republican, while to refuse thus to accuse him 
 was a crime punishable with death. Accordingly, women 
 denounced their husbands, and mothers, their sons, as 
 bad citizens and traitors ; while many women — not of 
 the class of the common people, nor of infamous charac- 
 ters, but respectable in reputation and appearance — 
 seized, with savage ferocity, the mangled limbs of their 
 murdered countrymen. It appeared, for a season, as if 
 the knell of the whole nation was tolled, and the world 
 was summoned to its execution and its funeral ! " 
 
 During the short reign of infidelity in France, more 
 than three millions of her best citizens were destroyed, — ■ 
 and most of them were put to death under the most 
 aggravating and cruel circumstances. It appears as 
 though their murderers had taxed their ingenuity to 
 devise new and unthought-of means of torture. Some 
 were mangled, and left to perish in the street. Others 
 were roasted alive in the presence of their relatives and 
 friends. Multitudes were drowned; and many others 
 were shot and slain by the sword. A- writer, in relating 
 the scenes that occurred On one Sabbath day, says: 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 21S 
 
 t 
 
 " Those wlio led the unhappy sufferers to execution 
 were ordered no longer to confine themselves to those 
 whose names were on the list of proscription, but were 
 allowed to take to t"he guillotine whom they pleased. 
 The words nobleman, priest, or even honest man, were 
 BO many terms for proscription and death. Three times 
 was the place of the guillotine changed, and at every 
 place holes were dug in the earth to receive the blood, — 
 and yet it ran in the gutters ! The executioners were 
 tired out, yet the deputies were enraged to see the work 
 go on so slowly. Accordingly, the massacre began en 
 masse. The prisoners were led out, from one to two 
 hundred at a time, into the outskirts of the city, where 
 they were fired upon or stabbed. . Two hundred and 
 sixty-nine persons were taken indiscriminately, among 
 all classes and ages, led out to Brotteiaux, and there tied 
 to trees. In this situation they were fired upon with 
 grape-shot. Many of the unfortunate wretches would 
 have only their limbs byoken by the artillery, and then 
 would be despatched with the sword, or with muskets. 
 The greatest part of the bodies were thrown into the 
 Rhone, — some of them before they were quite dgad ! " 
 
 And, from that hour to the present, France has expe- 
 rienced the blasting influence of her scepticism. All her 
 revolutions, and her struggles for political freedom, have 
 been abortive, for the want of a substratum of morality 
 upon which the nation could rest. Her refinement, 
 scientific eminence, wealth, and military strength, have 
 not been able to make up for the absence of virtue and a 
 pure religious faith. 
 
220 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Finally, infidelity destroys the soul. Under wliateTer » 
 form it is admitted to the heart, — whether in connec- 
 tion with science, or adorned with the beauties of litera- 
 ture, or asi^ociated with German erudition and criticism, 
 
 — it is equally fatal to the soul. It is a poison that 
 touches and destroys the vitals of our moral being. 
 
 In the hour of death, — that hour of honesty and truth, 
 
 — what comfort or consolation does infidelity afford? 
 Who, at such a time, reflects with satisfaction upon a 
 life spent in effort to destroy Christianity and promote 
 infidelity ; and what is that religion worth that deserts a 
 man at such a trying moment? 
 
 " The grave, — dread thing ! 
 Men shiver when thou art named. Nature, appalled. 
 Shakes off her wonted firmness. 0, how dark 
 Thy long-extended realms and rueful wastes, 
 Where naught but silence reigns, and night, dark night ! " 
 
 Go to the infidel's death-bed, .and see what philosophy 
 and scepticism can do for the soul when it is about to 
 launch into eternity ! Mr. Hobbes, a distinguished infi- 
 del,' when he found death approaching, was filled with 
 distress and terror. He could not endure the thought 
 of appearing in the presence of his Maker ; and, while 
 standing upon the verge of hell, he said, " I am about to 
 take a leap in the dark," and then died in the deepest 
 despair. 
 
 The honorable Francis Newport, a young man of an 
 amiable disposition and splendid talents, was induced, 
 through the influenca of evil associates, to embrace infi- 
 
MODERN SCEPrrCISM. 221 
 
 ^ delity, and to despise and ridicule tlie religion of Christ. 
 But, wiien the terrors of death were upon him, his agony 
 was insupportable. On one occasion, looking towards 
 the fire, he exclaimed, " that I was to lie- and broil 
 upon that fire for a hundred thousand years, to purchase 
 the favor of God, and be reconciled to him again ! But 
 it is a fruitless, vain wish. Millions of millions of years 
 will bring me no nearer to the end of my tortures than 
 one poor hour ! 0, eternity ! eternity ! who can prop- 
 erly paraphrase the words for ever and ever? " And 
 thus, alive to all the horrors of his -situation, he left the 
 world, and entered that miserable abode "where their 
 worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." 
 
 Hume, the most celebrated of modern infidels, and one 
 whose strength of mind, it would seem, would be suffi- 
 cient (were the thing possible) to sustain him to the last, 
 — even Hume could derive no comfort from his infidelity 
 in a dying hour. He endeavored to divert his mind, and 
 quiet his conscience, by jesting about the river Styx, and 
 old Charon with his leaky boat, and by treating the sub- 
 ject of death in a light and trifling manner. But all his 
 efibrts to dissipate his fears were unavailing. "It is 
 true," said the nurse who attended him, "when his 
 friends were about him he would try to be cheerful ; but, 
 when he was alone, the scene was quite difierent. Such 
 was the agitation of his mind that he would make the 
 whole bed under him shake. He would not allow the 
 candles to be put out in the night, neither would he be 
 left alone a single moment. He struggled hard to ap- 
 pear composed ; but his disturbed sleep and still more 
 19* 
 
222 LECTURES TO YOTTNd MEN. 
 
 disturbed wakenings, his involuntary, breathings of re- 
 morse and frightful startings, showed that all was not 
 right within. This continued and increased, until he 
 became insensible." 
 
 Gibbon, the distinguished historian, acknowledged on 
 his death-bed that " All is now lost, finally, irrecover- 
 ably lost," 
 
 Tom Paine completed his book justifying suicide, 
 and then died with all the horrors of perdition upon- 
 him. At times, it appeared as though he had reached 
 'the world of despair, ?ind was suffering the agonies of the 
 second death. One moment he would be cursing God, 
 and the next shrieking for mercy, and calling upon the 
 Lord to help him. 
 
 The wicked and licentious Rousseau, in his last 
 moments, addressed the Almighty in the following blas- 
 phemous language : " Eternal Being ! the soul that I 
 am going to give thee back is as pure at this moment as 
 it was when it proceeded from thee ! Render it a par- 
 taker of thy felicity ! " And then he entered eternity, 
 with this most awful lie upon his lips. 
 
 0, infidelity ! what havoc hast thou made with immor- 
 tal souls ! What multitudes hast thou abandoned in a' 
 dying hour, and left to make shipwreck of their hopes 
 upon the shores of a miserable eternity ! 0, my young 
 friends, let me warn you to- beware of the snares of this 
 evil ! Go not within the sphere of its influence, lest, in 
 an unguarded moment, the poison enter your souls, and 
 blast all your hopes for eternity. Make the Bible your 
 guide. Open your hearts to the influence of its blessed 
 
MODERN SCEPTICISM. 223 
 
 truths. Let its soul-stirring motives and glorious hopes 
 cheer you onward in your pilgrimage. Let its light dis- 
 sipate the shadows that gather about life's pathway, and 
 render the dark valley of death a glorious avenue to the 
 celestial city ! 
 
XI. 
 
 PRmCIPLES OF TRADE. 
 
 '* Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but 
 also in the sight of men." — 2 Coeinthiabs 8 : 21. 
 
 The design of trade is not simply to enable one to 
 make money. It has a higher end, namely, the develop- 
 ment and culture of moral principles. The commerce 
 of the world is a vast arena for the display of honesty 
 and integrity, — for the formation of a good character, as 
 well as the accumulation of a fortune. Providence 
 might have bestowed property upon man, without sub- 
 jecting him to the toil and perplexities of business. He 
 might have given the poor man bread, without exposing 
 him to the fatigue of daily labor, and compelling him to 
 obtain it by the sweat of his brow. But, in both ca^es, 
 the high moral and disciplinary purposes of trade and 
 labor would fail of being accomplished. This labor is 
 necessary to aid the Supreme Ruler in keeping the race 
 bx subjection, and to work off those forces that might 
 otherwise be expended in projecting and executing plans 
 of evil. Trade, also, is necessary to the cultivation of 
 
PRINCIPLES OF TRADE. 225 
 
 habits of industry, and the virtues of integrity, faithful- 
 ness and veracity. 
 
 Besides, it is true that, where these principles do not 
 to a greater or less extent exist, there can be no trade or 
 commerce. Among barbarous communities, where dis- 
 honesty, treachery and lying prevail, there can be no 
 general system of traffic. A man cannot trade with his 
 neighbor except to a very limited and unimportant ex- 
 tent. The principle of mutual confidence, that under- 
 lies all extensive and prosperous commercial enterprises, 
 is wanting. From the very nature, therefore, of commer- 
 cial transactions, it is obvious that they must be per- 
 meated by the principles of a sound morality. Their 
 very existence depends upon it. A fraudulent, deceitful, 
 or dishonest course, is a suicidal course. It assails the 
 foundation principles upon which the fabric of commerce 
 rests ; and, if universally pursued, would put an end to 
 trade, and reduce civilized nations to a state of barbarism. 
 
 The vast extent, too, of the trade of the world, — the 
 daily increasing facilities for communicating between 
 different nations, and for transporting the products of 
 every .clime- and soil from one port to another, — -the 
 growing power of the mercantile community, the con- 
 nection between the interests of commerce and our civil 
 and social institutions, and the various streams of influ 
 ence, for good or evil, that flow from intercourse with 
 foreign nations, give to the principles which we pro- 
 pose to discuss an immense importance. The question 
 whether our tradesmen and merchants shall conduct 
 their business upon the principles of Christian morahty. 
 
226 LBCTUhES TO YOUNG' MEN. 
 
 — whether the mighty agencies and forces of commerce 
 shall contribute to the advancement of humanity, free- 
 dom, and an elevated and pure civilization, — is. a ques- 
 tion of solemn moment, and one in -which every young 
 man who is about to eiiter upon the business of life is 
 deeply interested. 
 
 In enforcing the injunction of the text, I propose to 
 speak of the nature of true honesty, and then point out 
 some of the causes of dishonesty, — the modes of practis- 
 ing fraud, and the effects of the slightest deviations from 
 the principles of Christian morality. 
 
 The honesty which is real, and reliable, must be ac- 
 ceptable in the ^ight of God, as well as in the sight of 
 men. It must spring from a conscientious regard to the 
 r.equisitions of the divine, law, and the claims of Chris- 
 tianity. There is a great deal of honesty in the world 
 that has its source in mere selfishness. Men are honest 
 while they can thereby promote their worldly interests, 
 secure customers, and increase" their reputation. The 
 principle with such persons is a matter of cold calcula- 
 tion, and purely selfish interest. It is not anchored amid 
 those fundamental truths of right, justice, and inflexible 
 rectitude, that lie at the basis 'of a sound character. 
 Hence it has not force adequate to withstand! the influ- 
 ence of adverse currents, and the storms of conamercial 
 revulsion. It will answer in calm and sunshine, and in 
 Beasons of prosperity. But, let the individual be under 
 the pressure of some serious financial difficulties, or b§ 
 tempted by some great advantages or gains which may 
 be secretly grasped, with but little risk of exposure, oa- 
 
PRINCIPLES OF TKADB. 227 
 
 loss of character, and his morality readily yiel Is to the 
 temptation. The supremacy of the selfish principle is 
 sit once made manifest, and the man proves that he is 
 ready to sacrifice integrity, truth and justice, whenever 
 his interests seem to require it. A character pure and 
 upright in the sight of heaven is a minor consideration, 
 with him, compared -with the accumulation of property. 
 
 Now, the honesty for which we contend is that which 
 is vitalized by the spirit of Christianity ; which is based 
 upon divine principles ; which is held in its place by 
 motives drawn from eternity, and by the consciousness 
 that an omniscient eye is every day inspecting the 
 character, and noticing the minutest transactions. This 
 principle of honesty, unhke the other, will hold its pos- 
 sessor to the path of duty, in all the varied circumstances 
 of prosperity or misfortune which may surround him. 
 It will resolutely resist the 'strongest temptations to 
 swerve in the least degree from the line of strict recti- 
 tude. It will spurn the offer of the greatest gains, which 
 must be purchased at the smallest sacrifice of moral 
 principle. Such a man esteems the wealth of charac- 
 ter a higher and nobler possession than the gold and 
 silver of the world. He may meet with loss after loss 
 in his business, his vessels may be wrecked, and the 
 fire consume his dwelling and his property; but ho 
 clings to his integrity, resolved that no calamities 
 shall touch this treasure. The world may, indeed, 
 pronounce him foolish, and. destitute of business tact and 
 skill, for never allowing his principles to bend in trying 
 emergencies, or when large profits may be obtained by a 
 
228 • LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 little chicanery ; but his honesty is a part of his being. 
 It is a constituent element of his spiritual nature, and 
 he is wise enough to know that it will not profit him, 
 should he gain the whole world and lose his soul. His 
 eye is fixed upon the glitter of the wealth of far-off 
 regions, — is attracted by the splendors of mansions and 
 palaces that no fire can consume, no enemies destroy. 
 He heeds not the sneers of the world, or the contempt 
 of those who. measure one's reputation by the amount of 
 his property, if he can but secure the approbation of -Him 
 whose favor- is life, and who has at his disposal the 
 wealth and the honors of the universe. He can afford 
 to lose his money, and to have his ships wrecked, if he 
 can but make a successful voyage when his spirit swings 
 from its moorings here, and launches forth upon the 
 ocean of eternity. 
 
 Nor can we press too strongly the necessity of this 
 high Christian honesty in those who profess to be gov- 
 erned by the precepts of the Bible. If in any class we 
 have reason to expect a stern integrity, and a full 
 exemplification of the principles which we have been 
 considering, it is in i;Jiose who present themselves to the 
 world as patterns of virtue^ and who profess to be under 
 the highest code of morals that has been given to man- 
 kind. They, of all men, should deal justly, and let the 
 light of their example shine in the shop and the count- 
 ing-room, as well as in the conference-meeting and the 
 church. It is not enough that they are strict in the 
 obsprvance of the outward forms of religion, — that they 
 keep the Sabbath, serve on committees for benevolent 
 
PRINCIPLES OF TRADE 229 
 
 objects, and occasionally contribute to a charitable 
 object. A Christian is bound to carry with him to the 
 exchange the same principles and feelings that he takes 
 to the prayer-meeting. His intercourse with merchants 
 and customers should be regulated by the same maxims 
 that control his relations to his Christian brethren. His 
 theology has as much to do with his day-book and ledger, 
 as with his creed and articles of faith. He may care- 
 fully watch the views of his minister, _ and zealously, 
 guard the orthodoxy of his church ; but he should re- 
 member that he is himself, in his daily life, " a living 
 epistle, known and read of all men." And, if others 
 read the word "fraud" upon any of his transactions, or 
 "falsehood" upon any of his statements, his example- 
 preaching will neither recommend his religion, nor 
 strengthen the principles" that lie at the basis of trade 
 and commerce. It is a lamentable thing when infidelity 
 gets into a pulpit ; but is it not also disastrous to the 
 cause of vital religion, when practical infidelity gets intc 
 the counting-room or the exchange 7 It needs no argu- 
 ment from me to prove, that a man cannot have one set 
 of rules for the regulation of his religious concerns, and 
 another for the management of his daily business. He 
 cannot take one course or track on the Sabbath, and 
 then on Monday morning be switched off to another 
 track, that leads through the regions of deceit and dis- 
 honesty. The Great Master has told us, " Ye cannot 
 serve God and Mammon." Ye cannot have two supreme 
 objects of pursuit. Either the piety of the Sabbath will 
 purify the transactions and business of the week, or the 
 20 
 
230 ' LECTUEES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 frauds of the week will turn tlie worsliip and dtvotion ot 
 the Sabbath into hypocrisy. 
 
 While, however, there are instances to which these 
 remarks are applicable, we rejoice to know that there 
 are in this city multitudes of Christian merchants, who, 
 in their daily business, exemplify the principles of strict 
 honesty and unwavering integrity, — who allow their 
 religion to govern them in the minutest transactions, and 
 the light of whose example shines upon every pathway 
 and relation of life. Such men do not try the vain 
 experiment of serving God and Mammon, but, under the 
 guidance of , high moral principle, whatsoever they do is 
 done for the glory of God. Their lives are religion in 
 action. They are as conscientious in making bargains 
 as in offering prayer. They find in the marts of- busi- 
 ness as real fields for usefulness as in the great charita- 
 ble enterprises of the day. It was a noble statement 
 made by a distinguished mercantile firm in a city of 
 New York, when efforts were made to break down their 
 credit, and crush their humanity, that their goods, and 
 not their principles, were for sale. They wished, in- 
 deed, to save their business ; but, whatever might come, 
 they nobly resolved to save their principles ! 
 
 But I pass from the consideration of the principle of 
 honesty, to notice some of the causes of its violation. 
 
 And first, the intense desire for wealth pushes 
 many over the boundary lines of rigid honesty. The 
 great respect that is paid in this country to a man's pos- 
 sessions, rather, than his character and talents, — the 
 boundless . resources of the land, and the fact that &e 
 
PRINCIPLES OF TRADE. * 231 
 
 prizes of wealth, under our free institutions and systems 
 of general education, are open to all, — tend to inflame 
 the desire to be rich. The .young are early brought to 
 feel the power of these influences ; and not a few are 
 stimulated, by the example and teachings of their parents, 
 to fasten their attention and affections upon wealth, as the 
 supreme object of pursuit. They are taught to think 
 that to liv^ in fine hou^s and luxurious apartments, to 
 support a splendid equipage, give costly and brilliant 
 entertainments, and have the reputation of being wealthy, 
 is the great end of man's existence on earth. Their 
 education is adapted to this one object. Instead of hav- 
 ing their minds enlarged by a general culture and varied 
 literary attainments, which would qualify them for high 
 and noble achievements, as well as open sources of men- 
 tal pleasures, their faculties are trained simply with 
 reference to skill and success in money-making. The 
 whole work of education is confined to this narrow chan- 
 nel ; and any little rills of knowledge, that may happen 
 to flow in, are made tributary to this one supreme object. 
 The youth commences his studies with the multiplication 
 table, spends years upon his arithmetic, and finishes by 
 learning book-keeping, — and comes out little else than a 
 good business machine. The conversation, too, which he 
 hears, is mainly upon the prices of stocks, the rise or 
 fall of real estate, the condition of the flour or cotton 
 markets. He is led to feel that the moneyed interests of 
 the country are its most important and vital interests ; 
 that the prosperity of trade is of more moment than the 
 Dublie virtue; that cotton is of more account than 
 
232 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 humanity, and stocks are of higher worth than even the 
 blessings of religion. 
 
 Hence the yonth enters updn the business of life with 
 ihe idea fastened upon hiip, that, the greatest calamity 
 which he has to dread is not making money. He may 
 have other advantages, — health, friends, opportunities 
 for mental culture and moral advancement, and even a 
 competency, — but he must be rich. He must amass a 
 fortune, or life will be a blank, and the great purpose of 
 his being will be defeated. And, under the pressure of 
 this ruling desire, if an honest course does not bring him 
 large profits, or if he cannot compete with his neigh- 
 bors in skill, industry or enterprise, he is induced to 
 enter the regions of dishonesty. Pursuing with eager- 
 ness the brilliant phantom before him, he follows it 
 across the line that divides right and wrong. At first, 
 he goes but a few steps beyond the boundary, fi)r fear of 
 detection. But, gradually finding that his petty frauds 
 are successful, he is emboldened to wander further and 
 further-, until his moral principles are utterly shattered, 
 and the whole force of his mind is employed in devising 
 ways in which to cheat his fellow-men secretly and 
 safely. He may, indeed, grow rich in worldly goods ; 
 but every day he is growing poor in character. He may 
 accumulate dollars in the bank ; but he is at the same 
 time losing principles from his soul. His credit may be 
 good with the business community ; but, in the eye of 
 ■ Heaven, he is rapidly sinking his fortunes, and becoming 
 a moral bankrupt. He may sit in his nchly-fumishod 
 drawing-rooa, and be ranked among the wealthy, while, 
 
PamCIPLES OF TRADE. 233 
 
 in the estimation of God, he is a pauper, — he is poor, 
 naked, destitute, and in want of all things that contribute 
 to real worth or happiness. 
 
 Another cause of dishonesty is extravagance. Many 
 who have no wealth desire to appear to be rich. They 
 ape the manners of the affluent, spend money freely in 
 dress, furniture, convivial parties, and aspire to the 
 highest ranks of fashion. They assume a condescending 
 air towards their less showy, but richer and infinitely 
 more worthy neighbors; and, by a display of gaudy 
 ornaments, and the glitter of richly-furnished apartments, 
 and a vanity that is utterly contemptible in the eyes of 
 all sensible men^ they lay claim to the respect and hom- 
 age of the community. Their creditors they put ofi" by 
 false promises, as long as possible. But, when the force 
 of their deceptions is absolutely exhausted, and they have 
 employed all the arts and plausible excuses at their com- 
 mand, in borrowing from one friend and another, to meet 
 the most pressing demands, they are brought to the 
 point of either abandoning their foolish, butterfly course 
 of life, or obtaining the means of keeping up their gayety 
 by defrauding their creditors. The idea of having the 
 truth known that they are poor, and that all this blus- 
 tering .pomposity, and show of wealth, have no other 
 foundation than their excessive vanity, and intense love 
 of fashionable life, is indeed torturing to their minds. 
 The horrors of the inquisition could hardly appall them 
 more. For, not to be fashionable, is, in their estimation, 
 to be wretched. To be out of the circles of wealth and 
 vanity, is equivalent to being out of the world. The 
 20* 
 
234 LECTURES TO TOUNe MEN. 
 
 question,, therefore, is, between high life and a system of 
 dishonesty to sustain it, or their pl-oper level witLinteg-. 
 rity and honesty. Nor is the frivolous devotee of fashion 
 long in deciding it. The temptation, on the one hand, js 
 so strong, and his moral principles and his intellect, on 
 the other, so weakj that he soon yields, and adds Avicked-. 
 ness to his folly. Henceforth, his business' is to traiEc. 
 away his principles to gain the means of sustaining . his 
 extravagance. His ingenuity is taxed to carry forward, 
 his stratagems without being discovered, and to prosecute 
 his fraudulent schemes without rendering himself liable 
 to the law. And, by his tact, subterfuges, and consum- 
 mate impudence, victim -after victim falls within his 
 grasp ; and, while the honest and industrious laborer is 
 deprived .of bread by his villanies, he lives in luxury,, 
 his family appearing in society in costly dresses and rich 
 jewelry, and his whole establishment supported by those 
 with whom he is too proud to associate, but whom he is 
 wicked enough to defraud. His character may, indeed, 
 be suspected; but his fashionable companions regard 
 with pity, rather than censure, his frauds, and consider 
 his courtesy, warmth and liberality, as making amends 
 for the want of integrity. 
 
 Speculation is, also, a prolific source of dishonesty. 
 Men, in their haste to be rich, will risk their own prop- 
 erty, and that of others, in enterprises the results of 
 which cannot be fijreseen by any human sagacity, nor 
 determined by any laws that govern the ordinary course 
 of trade. Not content with small profits, or unwilling, to 
 abide the issue of persevering toil and- industry, they 
 
PRINCIPLES OF TRADE. 235 
 
 boldly launch forth upon seas whose waters have never 
 been traversed by any experienced navigator, whose 
 shoals, quicksands and rocks, are laid down upon no 
 chart, and where the probabilities of suffering shipwreck 
 are far greater than of making a successful voyage. The 
 speculator is unwilling to look at the hazards of his 
 course, — unwilling to allow the chances that are against 
 him to enter into his calculations and influence his judg- 
 ment. But, magnifying every circumstance that can 
 favor his object, and allured by the bright hopes of suc- 
 cess, he plunges into the wildest schemes, and deludes 
 himself with the belief that his gains are certain, and 
 that he will win by one bold' measure what has cost 
 others years of toil and industry. His vision is dazzled 
 by the brilliant prospects that open before him. The air 
 is filled with fairy castles, with scenes of luxurious ease 
 and exhaustless Avealth. He cares not for ordinary 
 gains, and will scarcely look at the rewards of continued 
 toil and industry, for he already imagines himself in pos- 
 session of a fortune. He walks amid enchanted grounds, 
 and over the whole landscape he sees nothing but the 
 sunshine of- pros;^erity. But in one fatal hour the scene 
 suddenly changes. All that was bright and beautiful 
 fades away, and the darkness of a long, bitter night 
 gathers about his soul. Instead of being a man of for- 
 tune, poverty stares him in the face. Instead of anxiety 
 as to how he shall invest his funds, he must look about 
 bim for the bare means of subsistence. And in such a 
 fall all good principles are shattered. The revulsion of 
 the feelings is so great and sudden that it tears away 
 
236 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 integrity, and every virtue of the soul. THe man, in his 
 desperation, resolves to obtain by fraud that which for- 
 tune will not confer upon him. With the same insa- 
 tiable desire for wealth, and with the honest avenues to 
 it apparently closed against him, he rushes into the 
 regions of dishonesty, and plunges into enterprises in 
 which he stakes his conscience, and hopes for immor- 
 tality. 
 
 I would next point out some of the modes in which 
 dishonesty is practised. 
 
 In the first place, a man may live a dishonest life by 
 engaging in a business that is detrimental to society, — 
 that injures the public health or morals. He may not 
 indulge in commercial speculation, nor be extravagant, 
 nor desire to make a display in the world. He may 
 punctually meet all his engagements, pay his debts, 
 never violate his word, and yet his business may be a 
 direct fraud upon the community. The articles in which 
 he traffics may do more injury than all the disastrous 
 speculations and instances of distressing bankruptcy and 
 swindling operations that have ever occurred. Take, for 
 example, the dealer in rum, gin, brandy, and other intox- 
 icating drinks. How is it possible to sustain the morahty 
 of this business on any principles of Christianity or 
 sound ethics 1 Here is a department of trade that is the 
 direct and prolific source of poverty, crime,' misery, vice, 
 disease and death, — that fills our almshouses with pau- 
 pers, our jails with criminals, our insane asylums with 
 maniacs, and plunges thousands of families in indescrib- 
 able wretchedness. It is a traffic that is at war with the 
 
PRINCIPLES OF TRADE. ^ 237 
 
 best interests of society ; that, as far as it has influence, 
 takes away a man's health and strength, and leaves him 
 weak and diseased; takes away his humane feelings, 
 and makes him a wild beast ; 'takes away his religion, 
 and makes him a scofl[ing atheist ; takes away his . 
 manhood, and leaves him to wallow in filth ; takes away 
 his. hopes for another life, and sends him to hell. It 
 is a traffic that destroys men's freedom, and reduces 
 them to an ignominious slavery ; that takes away their 
 civilization, and plunges them into the lowest state of 
 barbarism. Such a business is, in its very elements 
 and essence, a system of dishonesty. It robs, by its 
 tempting- power, the industrious of their hard earn- 
 ings. It prepares the incendiary for his. cruel mid- 
 night work. It produces suicides by the hundreds 
 every year. It commits murder, and then sends the 
 murderer to the gallows. All the preaching and 
 praying in the city of Bbston cannot stay the pro- 
 gress of the tide of immorality that flows from this 
 traffic. All the benevolence here cannot meet the 
 wants of' the poverty which it occasions. All the phy- 
 sicians cannot heal the diseases which it produces. 
 Should every bank in State-street fail to-morrow, or 
 every note be protested, or your shipping be consumed by 
 fire, Boston would not be damaged so much as it is now 
 damaged by the rum traffic. For these calamities might 
 happen, and yet leave the puWic health and morals 
 unimpaired. The whole city might burn up, without 
 sending one soul to hell. But this traffic burns up 
 godlike intellects, of infinitely more value than your 
 
238 - EBCTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 houses and shipping and merchandise^ It makes men 
 bankrupts in character, and in all that renders existence 
 valuable. It makes drunkards, whom the Bible declares 
 shall not enter "the kingdom of heayen. Nor will it be 
 many years before the dishonesty of this traffic will be 
 seen in its true light, and the business will be classed 
 with the slave-trade, and other villanies. 
 
 But in departments of trade that are lawful and useful 
 to society, the principles of a Christian morality are too 
 often violated. When on» fails to meet his pecuniary 
 engagements while abundantly able to pay, or makes 
 promises to a creditor. which he has no reasonable expect- 
 ation that he can fulfil, or obtains money by means or 
 representations that are in the 'least degree false or 
 deceptive, he- is guilty of dishonesty. The merchant is 
 bound, in all his business transactions, and in all the 
 varied circumstances into which he is thrown, to do unto 
 others as he would have them do unto him. Under the 
 guidance of this law, he can never go astray. But, 
 without this principle, he is liable to fall into, practices, 
 to increase his gains, which will not bear a rigid scrutiny. 
 He may contract the habit of misrepresenting the quali- 
 ties and cost of his goods, and thus impose upon his cus- 
 tomers articles for moire than their real value. He may 
 take advantage of the ignorance or pecuniary embarrass- 
 ments of gome of his customers, and deal with them on 
 different principles from those which govern him in his 
 transactions with persons equal in shrewdness and in- 
 formation with himself. And he may justify himself on 
 the giround' that the buyer is bound tc look out for his 
 
PKINCIPLBS OF TRADE. 239 
 
 own interests ; that, if he does not make a good bargain, 
 it is his own fault! But in such an excuse he is neither 
 sustained by the principles of Christianity nor by the 
 common law. The law holds the seller responsible for 
 any misrepresentations that he has made, or any means 
 he has adopted by which the purchaser has .been de,- 
 ceived. Nay, it goes further, and declares that to con- 
 ceal defects in an article, or to divert the buyer's attention 
 from them, is fraudulent. If one sell a piece of goods 
 knowing that it has a serious defect, which, if pointed 
 out to the buyer, would prevent him from purchasing, 
 and which lessens the value of the article, the sale is a 
 fraudulent one. If a merchant sells a ship as sound in 
 which there are rotten timbers or imperfect fastenings, 
 or if he overrates her capacity or sailing qualities, or 
 in any way deceives the purchaser, he is guilty of 
 fraud. The deception may be communicated by words, 
 or by actions, or by not stating the whole truth, — 
 but the nature of the transaction is the same. Of 
 course, one is not required to give to another all the 
 advantages of his knowledge of the markets, and his 
 sagacity in foreseeing the changes that are likely to take 
 place in trade, or in the demand or supply of goods. 
 While selling his ship, he may have good reasons for 
 believing that the prices of freights will in a few months 
 go down very low, and materially affect the value of his 
 vessel ; but his views on this point he is not obliged to 
 communicate to the purchaser, for the latter has the 
 same opportunities for forming an opinion upon this mat- 
 ter that the seller has. The particular point which we 
 
240 LEGTTJKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 ■wish to guard againgt, is the practice of deception in 
 any -vyay. For it reveals the spirit of dishonesty, and is 
 condemned alike by the common law and the principles 
 of Christian morality. 
 
 When the merchant, too, endeavors to undervalue, 
 what he is buying, and magnifies what he is selling, he 
 'deviates from the rules of strict honesty. The opinion 
 that he expresses of the quality of the article or piece of 
 goods at the time of buying, he is bound to abide by 
 when .he sells the same. If the -article is cloth, it has 
 not suddenly improved in quality, and in fineness of tex- 
 'ture, by simply being in his possession. If it was coarse 
 when he bought it, it will be coarse when he sells it, 
 notwithstanding his assertions to the contrary. 
 
 There is, also, a great deal of fraud practised by adul- 
 terating articles of food, and particularly by adulterating 
 liquors. Some of the basest compounds are sold under 
 the names of wine, brandy, &c., that the ingenuity of - 
 human wickedness is capable of producing. As though 
 alcohol itself was not a sufficiently violent poison, it is 
 mixed with deadly drugs, and the vile liquor is distrib- 
 uted through the community and sold as a beverage. 
 Thousands of casks are prepared every year, and thus an 
 infamous fraud is practised upon the army of drunkards 
 and moderate drinkers throughout the country. ^ Their 
 health, reason and lives, are destroyed much sooner 
 than they would be under the ordinary processes of 
 intoxication. The word dishonesty is too mild a word 
 to represent this business. It contains all the ele- 
 ments of knavery. It is a stupendous system of 
 
PRINCIPLES OF TKADB. 241 
 
 cold-blooded murder. Just look at it for ai moment. 
 Here are men deliberately engaged in preparing these 
 liquors, containing the- most violent and deadly poisons * 
 that are known to the chemist. They sell them under 
 the title of choice wines, or imported brandy, knowing 
 that they will speedily underniine the health, destroy the 
 liveSj and ruin the souls, of those who drink them. The ' 
 slave-trader can do no more with his victims, than these 
 men do with those who fall into their grasp. The un- 
 holy inquisitor cannot invent more exquisite tortures for 
 his unfortunate victims, than these men invent for the 
 poor drunkard, whom they lash to the rack of delirium * 
 tremens, and pass through the horrors of one dark dun- 
 geon after another, in his passage to an ignominious 
 and hopeless grave. 
 
 Such a system of gigantic and destructive fraud should 
 not be tolerated in an enlightened community for a single 
 day. The manufacturers and vendors of these adulter- 
 ated liquors should be indicted for wholesale murder. 
 
 * Dr. Trail mentions the foUoiring as in common use : " Essential 
 oils, oooulus Indious, logwood, Brazil wood, alum, green vitriol, oil of 
 vitriol, capsicum, opium, tobacco, aloes, bitter oranges, henbane, nux 
 vomica, sugar of lead, oil of bitter almonds, India berry, pokeberries.. 
 elderberries, poison hemlock, Guinea pepper, laurel water, prussic 
 acid, dragon's blood, lamb's blood, gum benzoin, red sanders, burnt 
 sugar, salt of tartar, and so on. Here are some of the most deadly 
 vegetable and mineral agents in the world, with which nearly all the 
 liquors, vrines, ales and beers in the world, and often cider, are 
 drugged and adulterated. A late work on chemistry enumerates 
 forty-six articles commonly used in making beer alone ; and almost 
 every species of the light and sweet wines, such as ladie sometimes 
 think delectable, is extensively adulterated." 
 
 21 
 
242 
 
 LECTURES TO YOUN-a . MEN. 
 
 At least, a committee of chemists should be appointed to 
 examine, every week, the contents of grog-shops, just as 
 we have committees to examine, at stated periods, steam- 
 boilers, and report on their condition and safety. In- 
 deed, I should prefer to be blown up by the latter, 
 rather than to be cursed by the contents of the former. 
 
 Still another way in which men are dishonest is, by 
 taking advantage of the technicalities or imperfections of 
 the law, to avoid the payment of. just debts. So various 
 are the devices whip h cunning and wicked men employ 
 to defraud others, and so ingenious are they in framing 
 •expedients to retain their unjust gains, that no human 
 laws can follow them through the windings and labyrinths 
 of their dishonest courses. When closely pursued by 
 their creditors, they will seek shelter under some limita- 
 tion or exception of the law, or hide away in some dark 
 corner, where the officers of justice cannot re^ch them. 
 They will display their skill in violating every principle 
 of Christianity and every law of God, while they avoid 
 breaking the law of man. This species of dishonesty js 
 as contemptible as it is wicked. It reveals a character 
 steeped in the very essence of selfishness, — a character 
 devoid of all honorable feeling, and debased by the low- 
 est motives and most sordid desires. It shows that the 
 man is influenced by no sense of justice or right ; — 
 t^t neither the precepts, promises or threatenings of 
 the Bible, have any weight with him ; that his conscience 
 is dead, and that, were the restraints of human law 
 removed, he would practise every species of fraud, anA 
 plunge into the wildest' excesses of dishonesty. 
 
PRINCIPLES OF TRAt)B. 243 
 
 And this principle of action, if universally adopted, 
 ■would destroy all confidence between man and man, dry 
 up the sources of trade, and break down the commerce 
 of the world. Our ships would rot at the wharves. 
 Warehouses would be closed. The marts of business 
 would be deserted. The wheels of industry would be 
 stopped. Civilization would go backwards. All humane 
 feelings would die out of the hearts of men, and society 
 would be a lawless banditti, preying upon each other, 
 and devoted to schemes of robbery and its kindred vices. 
 
 ^he bankrupt law, "which was designed as a relief to 
 the honest debtor, has been, in many instances, grossly 
 abused. As a means of freeing one from the entangle- 
 ments and embarrassments of debts, and enabling him to 
 start anew in business, it has been highly beneficial. 
 But, to suppose that it takes away any moral obligatipns 
 to pay debts when we have the ability, is absurd. For 
 no human statute can annul or alter the great principles 
 of right and justice. A bankrupt, after having plungea 
 many industrious and worthy families into poverty, may 
 be highly prospered, and be abundantly able to restore to 
 his creditors the property which he had been the means 
 of taking from them. Under such circumstances, there 
 cannot be a doubt as to his duty to make full restitution 
 to those whom he has injured. The fact that he is not 
 legally bound does not aiFect in the least degree the jus- 
 tice of the case. God's laws are not framed with limita- 
 tions and exceptions to meet the exigences of trade, and 
 the statutes of human legislators. They are above all 
 earthly courts, and are based. upon eternal principles. 
 
244 
 
 LEaTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 "which are universal in their application to the conduct 
 and affiiirs of men. Besides, erery honorable and gen- 
 erous feeling should prompt one to render unto all their 
 just dues ; and, if such a course lessens the merchant's 
 property, it ivill increase his integrity, and vastly aug- 
 ment his happiness. The Creator did not design man to 
 be simply a money-making machine. He did not give 
 us eyes with which to see nothing but gold, and ears to 
 ' hear nothing but the prices of stocks and the changes 
 in the money-market. He did not give us intellect and 
 skill to be employed in " grinding the faces of the poor," 
 in defrauding " the hireling of his wages." Man was 
 made for a higher destiny and nobler achievements, and 
 he should see to it that he does not sacrifice his man- 
 hood, and debase that soul upon which the divine image 
 has been stamped. 
 
 There are yet other modes of practising dishonesty, 
 upon which our limits will not allow us to dwell, — such 
 as putting one's property out of the reach of creditors by 
 a fraudulent conveyance, defrauding the national revenue 
 by smuggling or false invoices, resorting to the modern 
 system of repudiation, by individuals or states, when 
 debts have become large and burdensome. In these, and 
 many other ways, the principles of a sound morality are 
 violated. We cannot too strongly censure the course 
 pufsued F7 several states in our Union, in repudiating 
 their just debts. A measure more disastrous to the 
 public integrity could not be adopted. It virtually 
 teaches that the claims of truth and justice may be dis- 
 
PRINCIPLES OB TEADB. 245 
 
 regarded, that solemn contraqts may be broken, and 
 apparently gives a national sanction to dishonesty. 
 
 Let us now consider some of the effects of violating 
 the principle inculcated in our text. And, first, petty 
 frauds, and what are deemed slight deviations from the 
 line of strict rectitude, as really stain the soul with 
 guilt as more open and flagrant acts of dishonesty. For 
 they reveal the want of moral principle in the soul, as 
 truly as more startling and extensive frauds. 'It is not 
 necessary for a man to cheat on a large scale, or be a 
 defaulter to a great amount, or carry on enormous 
 swiudling operations, in order to prove his destitution 
 of rigid principle. Let him but display his want of 
 veracity in little things, — let him indulge, day after day, 
 in slight misrepresentations concerning his goods, or 
 while making his contracts, — and he furnishes as conclu- 
 sive evidence of his dishonesty as the extensive swindler 
 or defaulter. He shows' that he is ready to commit 
 greater frauds, whenever he can thereby promote his self- 
 interest, or secure great gains without damage to his 
 credit or reputation. Having once crossed the line of 
 dishonesty, he is held by no principle from wandering 
 over the whole field of knavery, and practising the most 
 flagrant wrongs. Our Saviour has declared that "he' 
 'that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." The 
 principle in both cases is the same. Circumstances may 
 modify its developments, and, while one class of persons 
 are carrying on stupendous frauds, that convulse, when 
 discovered, the mercantile community, and impair the 
 public credit, others, in the daily routine of petty dis- 
 21* 
 
2^6 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Honesties, are accumulating an amount of guilt that 
 finally will crush the soul. While the one may be com- 
 pared to the sudden ocean-tempest that shatters in an 
 hour the frail bark, the frauds of the other are like the 
 huge piles that the minute shell-fish rear in the midst of 
 the ocean, and against which, ■while unconscious of dan- 
 ger, the ship strikes and is wrecked. 
 
 The smallest deviations from rectitude also blunt the 
 moral sensibilities, and impair the power of conscience. 
 They destroy that nice sense of right and wrong which is 
 essential to a virtuous and manly character, and which 
 gives tone to the moral faculties. He whose sensibilities 
 are in active and healthful exercise would be disturbed, 
 if, to the extent of a farthing, he had wrongfully obtained 
 possession of that which belonged to another; and he 
 would feel that no gains, however great, no advantages, 
 however desirable, would be any compensation for the 
 detriment that the character deceives, from the commis- 
 sion of such an act. The question, whether the deception 
 or fraud was known to the community, or whether^it was 
 influencing the opinion that men entertain of him, would 
 be a minor question. It would be sufficient for him to 
 know that God was a witness of the deed ; and he would 
 give himself no peace until the evil was rectified, or the 
 wrong redressed. 
 
 FinaWy, a career of dishonesty is ruinous to one's 
 spiritual interests. It is not simply by atheistical doc- 
 trines, or infidel sentiments, or blasphemous words, that 
 a man wrongs his soul. He may be unexceptionable in 
 his external deportment, may never speak disrespectfully 
 
I'RINCIPLES OF TRADE. g4'i 
 
 of religion, may utter no profane words, may be, even, a 
 regular attendant upon the public means of grace, and 
 yet in his business transactions he may pursue a course 
 utterly destructive to vital godliness and Christian hopes. 
 He may escape the censure of the .world, and pass 
 through life with an unsullied reputation, and yet be 
 totally imfit to stand before Heaven's tribunal, where 
 the secrets of all hearts will be revealed, and the great 
 Judge "will render to every man according to bis 
 deeds." 
 
XII. 
 
 tse duties of employers. 
 
 " ■Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
 things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there 
 be any virtue, and if there be apy praise, think on these things." 
 — Philippiams 4 : 8. 
 
 • There are moral duties inseparably connected with 
 every position and relation of human life. Not only in 
 the family, the church and the social circle, but in 
 every business contract, in- every arrangement by which 
 the services of one class in the community are secured 
 by another, there are moral obligations binding upon us 
 to promote the welfare and happiness of bur fellow-men. 
 If I engage a laborer to work for me for a single day, 
 and my acquaintance and dealings with him are limited 
 to this brief period, I am bound not only to give him 
 just wages, but to treat him with kindness, and to pro- 
 mote in every reasonable way his comfort ,and moral 
 welfare. If he haa virtues, integrity, industry and 
 religious principle., I am bound to respect those virtues, 
 and to strengthen them. For we are children of the 
 
THE DUTIES OF EMPLOYERS. 249 
 
 same fitter, members of one common brotterhood, .and 
 fellow-travellers to the same spirit-world. He who 
 created us "hath made of one blood all nations of men 
 to dwell upon the face of the earth." If Providence has 
 seen fit to confer upon me any advantages of a social, 
 intellectual or moral character, higher than those pos- 
 sessed by the day-laborer, my- obligations to servo 
 Him are proportionably increased. The great ■ Master 
 whose servants we all are will hold me accountable for 
 the manner in which I discharge the moral duties that 
 ■ I owe to this man. 
 
 The principle involved in this illustration, as will be 
 readily seen, is applicable to all the relations sustained 
 between employers and the employed. And, when we 
 consider the vast extent of these relations, running, as 
 they do, through the various branches of trade and 
 commerce, through the mercantile, manufacturing and 
 mechanical interests of community. We cannot but feel 
 the importance of having the public mind thoroughly 
 imbued with right views upon this subject. 
 
 It is too common among merchants, and, I may add, 
 among manufacturers and master-mechanics, to regard 
 those in their employ simply in relation to their own 
 pecuniary interests, and to think that their whole duty 
 is done when they have paid them just wages, and thus 
 fulfilled the terms of their contract. If they are only 
 faithfully served, — if the clerk is successful in selling 
 goods or bringing in custom, or the apprentice is indus- 
 trious and skilful at his trade, — they are content, and 
 think little of the manner in which the youth passes his 
 
250 LtCTTJRES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 leisure hours, or what influences are gathering about him 
 and afiecting his intellectual and moral interests. -There 
 are, indeed, honorable exceptions to this remark ; but I 
 am speaking of the great mass of those who conduct the 
 commerce, trade and manufactures, of the world. We 
 have too much reason to fear that there is not among 
 them a feeling of deep responsibility, in reference to the 
 moral condition of those unden their care, and in their 
 employ. Though their very position brings with it a 
 guardianship which should be, at all times, kindly and 
 faithfully exercised ; though these moral duties may be 
 scrupulously performed, without infringing in the least 
 degree upon the time and energies required in the daily 
 business of the store or shop; and -though the opportu- 
 nities afforded by a constant intercourse for making 
 salutary impressions are most abundant,— yet there is 
 a sad and fearful neglect of these duties. In many cases, 
 even if strict honesty and a rigid integrity are insisted 
 upon, they are viewed in their market value, rather than 
 in their bearing upon the character and well-being of 
 the individual. And some — we hope the number is 
 small — are satisfied if this honesty and integrity are 
 exercised towards themselves; and their clerks deviate 
 from these . principles only to increase the pecuniary 
 gains of the establishment. But; if the clerk or appren- 
 tice is allowed or taught- to sacrifice the truth, or violate 
 the principle of honesty, to increase the profits of his 
 employer, that employer need not be surprised if his 
 teachings come back upon himself, and he is made to 
 reap some of the fruits (5f the fraudulent principle which 
 
THE DUTIES OF EMPLOYEES. 251 
 
 has been practised upon others. If a false principle is 
 implanted in. the mind, it is not so easy to regulate the 
 application of that principle, and, in the end, it may 
 prove the source of more loss than profift In every 
 respect, therefore. It is to the employers' advantage to 
 attend to the moral culture of those cornmitted to their 
 care, — to see to it that they walk in the path of strict 
 rectitude, — to show that the interest which they feel 
 goes beyond the mere services which they receive, or the 
 amount of labor which is performed. 
 
 In specifying some of the moral duties which mer- 
 chants and mechanics owe to those in their employ, I 
 would say, in the'first place, that they should give them 
 their cordial sympathy. They should feel and mani- 
 fest an interest in their character, habits, and success in 
 life. The youth, on coming, for the first time, to a large 
 city to dwell ameng strangers, feels most keenly the 
 absence of those home influences and kind attentions, by 
 which he has heretofore been surrounded. He at once 
 perceives that he is in a different atmosphere from that to 
 which he has been accustomed, — that he is, in fact, in a 
 different world of feeling and action. Having been nur- 
 tured amid warm affections, ana possessing a generous 
 and confiding disposition, he is not prepared to meet the 
 new aspects of human nature which open before him. 
 He feels the chill of- the world's selfishness,— ^ a chill that 
 often sends the warm blood of a generous nature back to 
 the heart. The business of the world strikes him, at 
 first, as an iron, graspiug system, to the principles and 
 maxims of which it will require some effort for him to 
 
252 LBCTTJKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 confoTm. He mingles with a multitude of people, and 
 has business transactions with many whom he finds all 
 absorbed by their own schemes and ■ personal interests. 
 For him they have scarcely a thought beyond the bar- 
 gain which is to be made, or the item of business to be 
 settled. At home he was a son, brother, or beloved com- 
 panion ; but now he is only a boy in a store or shop, — 
 a mere machine to be moved about in the money-making 
 world. The multitude forget that he has a heart full of 
 sensibility, and, perhaps, noble feelings. They forget 
 that an unkind word or act may pierce his soul, and 
 rankle there for months or years. And it is when the 
 mind of a youth is passing through such an experience as 
 this, that it is peculiarly exposed to the temptations of 
 the city. With the cravings of its social nature unsatis- 
 fied, with its sympathies frozen at their fountain by 
 the icy influences around them, it is ready to yield to 
 the fascinations and allurements of forbidden pleasure. 
 Here, I firmly believe, is the great secret of the fall of 
 so many young men, who, up to the hour of leaving 
 home, had maintained a character marked by the highest 
 virtue and integrity. It is not simply because the 
 restraints of a father's'^house are removed, but the love 
 of a father's house is removed. The youth feels that he 
 is cut off from all social influences and enjoyments. In 
 the very spring-time of life, when the desires are strong 
 and fresh, when the heart yearns for sympathy, the youth 
 finds himself an exile in a harren desert. In the midst 
 of a crowded city, he stands alone. He says, in his 
 heart, " No one cares for me, and I will not care for 
 
THE DUTIES OF EMPLOYERS. 25E 
 
 myself. If enjoyment can be obtained only by walking 
 in perilous paths and exposing my principles and char- 
 acter, I accept the terms." And while the emissaries 
 of Satan are coming with their gifts, and proffering their 
 enticements, how few come with counteracting influences 
 and innocent pleasures ! In our large cities, how much 
 more costly and extensive are the means and institutions 
 for promoting vice, than those which exist for advancing 
 virtue, and the intellectual and moral culture of the 
 young ! 
 
 Now, at such a period, let the employer sympathize 
 with those under his care, — let him, by kindness, or by 
 acts that will cost him but little, supply the want of 
 home influences and enjoyments, — and he may do an 
 incalculable amount of good. Many a youth has been 
 saved from, ruin by a kind word. The destiny of many 
 a boy, for time and eternity, has been decided by a 
 single kind act, from one who was in a situation to 
 benefit him. 
 
 Here is a field for philanthropic effort and Christian 
 benevolence, which has not been as thoroughly explored 
 or fully occupied as many others. It is not difficult to 
 get men to cooperate in great and conspicuous plans for 
 doing good. If a person could devote himself to some 
 extensive philanthropic movement that would excite gen- 
 eral attention, and secure on his tomb-stone a record of 
 his wonderful self-denial and wide-spread usefulness, he 
 would doubtless be ready at once to respond to the call. 
 But let me tell that man, that in the ordinary pursuits of 
 every-day life, — in the house, store and workshop, — 
 22 
 
254 LECTURES TO TOUNG MEN. 
 
 opportunities are constantly presented for the exercise of 
 as noble qualities of heart, and as much self-denial, aa 
 would be required by the greatest work of philanthropy. 
 We need not go abroad for occasions to serve our fellow- 
 men, to perform acts of charity and kindness, to cheer 
 the faint-hearted, and encourage the desponding. Every 
 pathway of human life is full of such occasions. They 
 press upon us every day and every hour. Especially in 
 the relations and intimacies created by trade they are at 
 all times to be found. And, though no trumpet may 
 sound forth our praises, nor proclaim to the world our 
 charities, — though they may not be written upon the 
 marble tomb-stones, yet they will be written upon grate- 
 ful hearts, and 'be remembered by Him who notices the 
 giving of a cup of cold water to a disciple. 
 
 Christ has set us an example, in this particular, that 
 is full of significance. He does not ofteiv appear "before 
 us on what might be termed great occasions. We find 
 him seizing opportunities as they come in his way. At 
 one time he is at the sea-shore conversing with a few 
 fishermen. At another, leaning upon a well talking to 
 a Samaritan, woman. He heals the sick, gives sight to 
 the blind, and strength to the weak and palsied, as he 
 happens to meet them in the streets or in the villages of 
 Judea. And every true follower'of Christ will imitate 
 him in this particular. He will leave a blessing with 
 every one with whom he has any intercourse. He will^ 
 •look upon his fellow-man, not as a piece of mechanism,, 
 to perforn^ a given amount of work, but as a moral 
 being, having moral relations,^- a being capable of cut 
 
THE DUTIES OF EMPLOYERS. 255 
 
 ture and improvement, and related to the infinite God 
 and to the interests of immortality. 
 
 la the next place, it is the duty of employers to set 
 before clerks, apprentices, and those in any way in 
 their service, an example of strict integrity and high 
 moral principle. This is, indeed, the duty of all men, 
 in all the situations and relations of life ; but there are 
 peculiar obligations resting upon the class referred to, 
 because those whom they employ look up to them for an 
 example of what is proper and right. A clerk, on enter- 
 ing a store, desires to become thoroughly acquainted with 
 the branch of business which is followed in the establish- 
 ment with which he has become connected. His object 
 is to learn, not only the prices and qualities of goods, and. 
 the state of home and foreign markets, but the best 
 principles upon which to prosecute the business. He 
 watches the progress of trade, the manner in which bar- 
 gains are made, and the dealings with different classes of 
 Customers. He is virtually a scholar, who is every day 
 receiving his education for the great duties and mission 
 of life. If the impression is made upon his miiid that 
 business cannot be conducted successfully upop principles 
 of strict hpnesty, and veracity, it may be exceedingly 
 difficult afterwards to eradicate this error from his mind. 
 Or, if his employer, while managing his affairs with 
 ability and discretion, is not a man of sound moral char- 
 acter, the influence of a knowledge of this fact will be 
 potent for evil. The sentiment will be imperceptibly 
 imbibed, that one's character has little to do with his 
 success in trade, and .that the doctrine that ' Godliness 
 
256 LECTURES TO YOTJNfl MEK. 
 
 . \ 
 is profiiable for this life " can hardly be considered as 
 well grounded, or of general application. The appren- 
 tice, also, not only gains a knowledge of his trade, but 
 receives deep' impressions from all the moral and immoral 
 influences with which- he comes in contact. Indeed, the 
 word apprentice originally signified a scholar, and is 
 derived from the French word appr&ndre, — to learn ; 
 and the word university, which is now employed to desig- 
 ttate institutions of learning, formerly was used to denote 
 a company of men engaged in any particular branch 
 of business or trade, .as "the university of smiths," 
 "the university of clothiers," &c. And we may, with 
 propriety, regard the mercantile and mechanical estab- 
 Kshments, and the manufactories in our cities, as uni- 
 versities, of which the merchants and master mechanics 
 are the professors and teachers. In these universities 
 thousands of our youth spend ten or twelve hours of 
 every day in the week, forming their principles, and 
 imbibing habits, which they will probably carry with 
 them through life. From these institutions • are to 
 graduate the men who are to control the vast mechani- 
 cal operations and commerce of the world. - "Soyi, if 
 it is important that the professors in our colleges and 
 seminaries be men of strict integrity and high moral 
 character, in order that the professions of medicine, the 
 law, and the ministry, may be filled with suitable men, it 
 is equally important that the teachers in the universities 
 of trade and business be men of exemplary life, that we 
 may have a generation of merchants and mechanics who 
 will do honor to our cities, and make the great forces of 
 
THE BUTIES OF EMPLOYEES. 257 
 
 commerce and the mechan.cal arts tributary to the best 
 welfare of society. 'When we consider the prodigious 
 growth of the trade of commercial nations, and the extent 
 to which commerce and manufactures touch the various 
 classes in society, and are interwoven with great moral 
 and political questions, we cannot overstate the impoi^-- 
 ance gf having" thoroughly diflfiised^ through them the 
 principles of integrity, justice and religion. Our 
 churches, our philanthropic and benevolent enterprises^ 
 the progress of civilization, and of the world's conversion 
 to Christianity, are all seriously affected by the char- 
 acter and action of those who wield the great moneyed 
 interests and industrial operations of the world. Let the 
 marts of trade and the halls of incfustry be purified ; let 
 every employer act under a solemn sense of his responsi- 
 bility to promote the moral welfare of those under his 
 care ; let the merchant set a holy example before his 
 clerks, and the mechanic before his apprentices, and the 
 shipmaster before his crew, and the superintendent and 
 overseer . before the laborers in their employ, and the 
 whole community would be richly benefited. On the 
 other hand, let the example of these persons be perni- 
 cious, and, through those under their care, their corrupt 
 habits, or dishonest courses, may be diffused over wide 
 circles in society, and be transmitted through successive 
 generations. 
 
 Next to the immoral influences exerted by parents 
 
 upon their children, those that flow from employers 
 
 towards the youth committed to their charge are the 
 
 most to be deprecated. Not long since, I stood on one 
 
 22* 
 
258 
 
 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 of our wnarves, near to a man who was conducting the 
 operations of a company of workmen under his care. 
 In giving his directions, il; seemed difficult for him to' 
 utter a si igle sentence without accompanying it with a 
 volley of oaths. While the men were working with 
 skill, diligence and faithfulness, there was a tyranny in' 
 his manner and a fierceness in his expressions, that 
 were positively frightful and disgusting. Though the 
 men seemed re^ectful, and made no reply to his inso- 
 lence, yet oath followed oath in such rajad succession 
 that the man appeared to be overflowing with the spirit 
 of blasphemy. He seemed the complete embodiment 
 of atheism ; and one might have supposed that he had 
 received a license to insult his Maker with impunity. 
 I could not but think of the terrible influence that he 
 must exert over the minds of that company of men, 
 who, in an honorable eiJiployment, were toiling for their 
 bread. Had they remonstrated with him, it might have 
 cost them their situation; and, therefore, they 'silently 
 endured the infliction. Now, I cannot see how a man, 
 who happens to occupy a position above some of his fel- 
 low-men, obtains the right to outrage their moral feel- 
 ings, and use language in addressing them such as we 
 should expect from a fiend. If he has more intelligence, 
 or property, or skill, than they, he is.bound to set them 
 an example of virtue and rectitude. Certainly, he has 
 no right, simply because he gives them employment, to 
 corrupt their souls, and fifty or an hundred times in the 
 course of a day call down upon them the wrath of 
 A.lmighty God. 
 
THE DUTIES OB EMPLOYEES. 259 
 
 In many of the shops and large manufacturing estab- 
 lishm.ents in our city, there is an awful amount of 
 profane language used. Young men, members of this 
 church, have informed me that six days out of the 
 seven they are obliged to hear the name of their God 
 profaned by those with whom they are associated in busi- 
 ness. Other forms of evil influences prevail in these 
 establishments to an alarming extent, — influences tl^t 
 cannot fail to be- most destructive upon young minds in 
 which moral and rehgious principles are not fixed. Now, 
 although we cannot, from the pulpit, reach the class of 
 persons referred to, — for. they are Seldom seen within 
 the walls of any church, — yet those in the business 
 community who reverence their Maker, and are actu- 
 ated by high moral and religious principles, may, by 
 theii; personal influence, do mu^h towards abatigg these 
 evils. I know of large mercantile estabhshments in the 
 city of New York, and I presume that there are many 
 such in this city, where the employers not only set an 
 example of strict honesty and religious principle, but 
 where they require of those whom they employ a pledge 
 or promise that they will never utter a profane oath, nor 
 visit a theatre or any other place of demoralizing amuse- 
 ment, nor practise the least dishonesty in their dealings. 
 And such establishments are among the most prosperous 
 and wealthy in that city. In a work entitled " The Suc- 
 cessful Merchant," containing sketches of the life of Mr. 
 .Samuel Budgett, of England, we have a most beautiful 
 and forcible illustration of the moral benefits which an 
 employer may confer upon those under his care. This 
 
260 LECTUEES TO YOUNG MEN. ^ 
 
 merchant had risen from very small beginnings to be the 
 head of a large establishment. His skill and tact in 
 business were as remarkable, as his rigid honesty and 
 integrity. He had vast storehouses, an immense corre- 
 spondence to conduct, and an extensive and complicated 
 business to transact. The vrriter of his life, in passing 
 around his premises, entered a large room in which there 
 was no merchandise, but which was furnished with neat 
 seats, and a table, on which he found " Fletcher's Family- 
 Devotion," and "Wesley's Hymns." On inquiry, ho 
 found that this was the chapel of the establishment, 
 and that every morning, half, an hour before' breakfast, 
 the men assembled there for family worship. He gives 
 the following account of an occasion, when he was 
 present ; 
 
 "The morning after Mr. Budgett's funeral, I was in 
 the warehouse before hajf-past seven o'clock. The vari- 
 ous departments were in full play, and the wagoners 
 
 ' packing their loads. At the half-hour the bell rang. I 
 went into the chapel. It was soon filled with the men 
 
 .in their working-dress. About eighty assembled. A 
 son of the deceased principal sat at the table. He took 
 up 'Fletcher's Family Devotion,' and read the portion 
 of scripture appointed for the 8th of May, with the 
 accompanying reflec-tions. . The passage is that which 
 records the wish of the daughters of Zelophehad. The 
 reflections seemed as if they had been framed on purpose 
 to follow the memorable scene in which they had all 
 acted a part yesterday, — turning upon the duty of 
 honoring the memory of the .departed. 
 
THE UUTIES OS EMPLOYERS. 261 
 
 " The young jnerchant, himself affected by the cixcum- 
 stances, and by the coincidence of such a lesson coming 
 on that particular morning, addressed the men in a few 
 words of cordial Christian advice. He then gave out a 
 hymn, which was heartily sung. Next, he . called upon 
 one of them, by name, to pray. All knelt down, and the 
 man prayed,, with ■ fervor and solemnity, for spiritual 
 blessings to them all; for comfort to the bereaved 
 family; and for the business, that God might make it" 
 •prosper. When he ceased, the young master took up 
 the strain ; and thus men and master unitedly wor- 
 shipped tBe great Disposer who appoints the lot of all. 
 About half an hour was spent in this religious service. 
 Little would a man of the world think, in watching the 
 vast trade going forward within those walls, and the 
 vigor with which the whole machine moves, that time is 
 daily found to hearken to a voice from "the unerring 
 Guide, and bow down to call for blessings from the 
 hand* that can make everything to speed. And think 
 you that those daily prayers have had no , part in the 
 rapid growth and healthy action of that establishment ? " 
 When one of the proprietors is not present, the service 
 is Tield as usual, being conducted by some of the pious 
 men. 
 
 " Such is the establishment of which Mr. Budgett was 
 the head. It stands there his monument. Its propor- 
 -tions record the extent of his views ; its order, his power 
 to systematize ; its prompt and rapid action, his vigor ; 
 its moral tone, his piety. Thirty years ago, he was 
 admitted a jartner in a retail shop in a country village. 
 
262 LKCTUUES TO TOUN& MEN. 
 
 NoTT he has left what a local paper calls the largest 
 business in the west of England, and one that turns 
 nearer ■ millions than thousands in the courser of the 
 year." 
 
 After such a morning service do you think ths^t any 
 profane word, or infidel sentiment, or corrupting fliought, 
 would be uttered in that establishment duving the day 1 
 What an influence, too, would those men carry home to 
 their families, and exert in the" various circles in which 
 they moved ! Truly might such an establishment be 
 termed a-university, or rather a theological seminary, in 
 which men were taught 'a knowleSge" of God, atid trained 
 for the duties of this life, aifd the realities and joys of 
 immortality. 
 
 Another duty which we would specify is that of pro- 
 viding for the right improvement of the leisure hours 
 of clerks' and apprentices. This cannot, perhaps, in 
 every case,»be fully done ; but; to a great extent, it is in 
 the power of every employer to guard, in this way, the 
 morals of those in his service, and to promote their com- 
 fort and happiness. For when the business of the' day is 
 over, the mind, and especially the youthful mind, craves 
 excitement. There is an intense desire for amusement, 
 — something to interest, stir and satisfy the mind. It 
 is the same feeling that prompts so many young men to 
 leave, their homes and traverse the ocean, visit foreign 
 lands, engage in hazardous enterprises, rush to the. 
 golden regions of California and Australia. The head 
 of a large establishment finds his excitement in his daily 
 business, his jlans and schemes for increasing his wealth 
 
THE DUTIES OJ? EMPLOYERS. 263 
 
 f 
 
 or extending his influence. But tte clerk or apprentice 
 passes through the dull routine of his daily duties with- 
 out this excitement to spur him on ; and, when his task 
 is completed, his mind is jaded and unsatisfied. He is 
 ready to rush to the theatre, the gambling-room, the 
 drinkiug-saloon, or any place where thei cravings of his 
 nSture can be satisfied. Now, let him be invited by 
 his employer to his house, and introduced to refined 
 and intellectual society,^ let him be encouraged to 
 read good books, and form a taste for literary and 
 scientific pursuits, — let him be stimulated to reach a 
 high standard of mental culture and moral excellence, 
 and he will loathe rather than crave demoralizing 
 amusements. 
 
 Much has been done in this respect by the establish- 
 ment in our cities of " Mercantile Library Associations," 
 and " Christian Unioijs " of young men. The latter in- 
 stitution is more particularly designed to meet the social 
 wants of the young. And, if its provisions and aims 
 are carried "out, and each member is actuated* by a sense 
 of personal responsibility, a more admirable institution 
 could not be devised. From the association in this 
 city, comprising, as it does, such a vast amount of intel- 
 lectual power and moral worth, we expect that a rich 
 harvest of benefits will be reaped. Every young man 
 in the city should avail himself of the advantages of this 
 society, for its express design is to supply the lack of 
 home influences and social enjoyments. 
 
 Let us, brethren, in our several spheres fulfil our 
 duties, and we shall not only enjoy the approbation of 
 
264 lECTTJKBS TO -TOTOG MEN. 
 
 conscience, but tlie smiles of the Great Master and 
 Proprietor of the universe. We shall lay up treasures 
 in heaven, where moth and rust do not COTfupt, nor 
 thieves break, through and steal. We shall receive at 
 last the welcome, " Well done, good and faithful servaiit ; 
 enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
Xill. 
 
 •a 
 
 DUTIES OF CLERKS AND APPRENTICES. 
 
 Not slothliil in business ; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." — 
 RoMAKS 12 : 11. 
 
 There is a strong tendency, among all classes of men, 
 to divorce business from religion. It seems to be taken, 
 for granted tbat a man cannot be an eminent merchant 
 and at the same time an eminent Christian 1 that he 
 cannot excel in trade and in piety. If such were the 
 fact, the injunction in our text would never have been 
 given. For the Bible does not require any man to 
 perform impossibilities. It is true that we cannot, at 
 the same time, serve God and Mammon ; but there is a 
 marked distinction between the principle involved here, 
 and that which we are considering. In serving Mam- 
 mon, it is implied that we give our supreme affections to 
 worldly objects ; that we pursue worldly business from 
 purely selfish ends ; and reason, as well as the Scrip- 
 tures, teaches us that a man cannot have twd supreme 
 objects of affection. He cannot love the world with all 
 23 
 
266 
 
 LEOTUEBS TO TOTJNG MEN. 
 
 his soul, mini and 'strength, and, at the same time, love 
 God with all his strength. The two courses are obvi-- 
 ously incompatible. One affection will necessarily neu- 
 tralize, or destroy, the ' other. * But this by no means 
 Conflicts with the requisition to combine diligence in 
 business with the fervency of a religious spirit and devo- 
 . tion in the service of God. It is the motive prompting 
 one to engage in business thajt gives to it its character. 
 Two persons may perform the sanffe amount of business, 
 and conduct it with equal ability, skill, and even honesty, 
 — and the one may be faithfully serving his God, while 
 the other is serving only himself. The one may be liv- 
 ing for the highest and noblest purposes of his being, and 
 the other be pursuing the most sordid ends, and daily 
 bowing the knee to Mammon. The Great Judge of char- 
 acter looks not simply upon our outward actions, bijt 
 upon the spirit that prompts them ; and He has given to 
 us this comprehensive command: "Whether, therefore, 
 ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory 
 of God." 
 
 In presenting some of the duties that devolve upon 
 clerks and apprentices, I would remark, in the first 
 place, that it is of primary importance that they realize 
 the true ends of their vocation. 
 
 It is reasonable to suppose, since Providence has 
 placed so large a portion of the human family in the 
 various branches of trade, commerce and industry, that 
 He designed these arrangements for some higher purpose 
 than simply to afford to man the means of subsistence. 
 While the wants of the lower orders of beings are, to a 
 
DUTIES OF CLERKS AND APPKENTICES. 267 
 
 great extent, supplied without the exeiteis'e o£ foresight or 
 labor on their part, — while even the lilies of the valley, 
 that " toil not, neither spin," are arrayed in beauty and 
 glory far s'lirpassing the court of Solomon in the day* 
 of its highest splendor, — we cannot suppose that man, 
 created in the image of his God, and endowed with an 
 immortal nature, is called upon to devote so much time 
 and strength to his daily vocation, simply to obtain food 
 and clothing for the body. Can it be true that one class 
 of men are expending their energies and wearing out 
 their lives in cultivating the soil, and others are swelter- 
 ing in the confined halls of crowded factories, and others 
 traversing the ocean amid fearful dangers, and others 
 busy from morning till night in making bargains, or 
 hurrying through our streets, merely ta obtain that 
 which is granted to the brute creation without care or 
 eflfort ? There must be some higher design in all this 
 industry, — in the vast accumulation of the works of art, 
 — in the transportation of such immense quantities of 
 merchandise from one country to another, and in the 
 universal activity among the teeming millions upon the 
 globe that every morning's sun awakens, and that ceases 
 only with the fatigues of the closing day. And what is 
 this great design ? Obviously, that we may be useful in 
 serving our fellow-men and our God. He who framed " 
 these systems of industry and commerce designed them 
 for the development of the benevolence and all the noble 
 qualities of the human heart, — designed them as so many 
 agencies for the performance of mutual services among 
 men. They every day teach us our dependence one 
 
268 LBCTtJEES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 upon anjther, teach us -the -duty of exercising gratitude 
 towards the various classes who are toiling for our bene- 
 fit.' If a man is about to build a house, he cannot do the 
 work, or even a small part of it, alone. He^ust call to 
 his aid manj skilful artisans, avail himself of the inven- 
 tions and improvements which human genius has pro- 
 duced. Were he to sit down to enumerate the different 
 classes of men whose labor and industry he requires in 
 erecting the house, preparing the materials, making and ' 
 Supplying the furniture, weaving the fabrics that he. 
 would need, he would become weary with the effort of 
 simply recording them.- He would soon find that he must 
 make drafts upon all departments of trade and art, and 
 that he must go beyond his own country, and collect 
 articles and materials from every 'nation upon the globe. 
 He must employ the commerce of the world before his 
 edifice is completed. And, when the work is finished, 
 could he collect around his habitation all who had, 
 directly or indirectly, contributed to its strength, comfort 
 or beauty, he would look upon a dense mass of human 
 beings, whose number he could not compute. 
 
 As I look upon my library, and attempt to enumerate 
 the number of learned, wise and good men, to whom. I 
 am indebted for their contributions of thought or prin- 
 ciples that are comprised in its volumes, I am as com- 
 pletely lost as I should be in the attempt to number the 
 stars in the heavens, or the sands upon the sea-shore. 
 The amount of carefal study, patient research and men- 
 tal effort, required in different ages, and among different . 
 nations of the world, to produce 'this library, baffles aH 
 
DUTIES OF CLERKS AND APPRENTICES. 2&9 
 
 human calculation. And, if multitudes of my fellow- 
 men have served me so faithfully, shall I not endeavor 
 to faithfully serve the multitude ? Shall I not, in the 
 social arrangements around me, recognize and act upon 
 the great law of mutual service, and thus look beyond 
 my private and selfish ends 7 Even the poor man has 
 thousands to wait upon him. His house is built for 
 him ; his clothing and food prepare* ; streets are made 
 through which he may walk ; cars- are built in which he 
 may ride; governments are organized to. protect his life 
 and privileges ; schools are established for the education 
 of his children ; books are printed that he may read 
 them ; mails run daily to carry his letters. ■ Every hour 
 that he lives he is served in' various ways, and by various 
 classes of his fellow-men. And, if he is a Christian, 
 beings from other worlds come' to wait upon him. An- 
 gels encamp round about him, to guard hini from evil, 
 strengthen his hopes, and aid him in making progress in 
 the divine life. The Saviour is with him at all times. 
 The Holy Spirit hovers over him ; and God the Father, 
 whose eye never slumbers or sleeps, watches over him, 
 and causes all things to work together for his good. 
 
 This law of usefulness pervades all the departments 
 and operations of nature. We see everywhere a ceas&- 
 less activity, that is working out some good for man. 
 The sun shines, the rain descends, the tides ebb and 
 flow, vegetation comes to maturity, the fruits ripen, and 
 a thousand agencies are at work in the great laboratory 
 of nature, all for the benefit of nian. While thus sup- 
 plying our necessities-, nature throws around us, as 
 28* 
 
270 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 though the gifte were but incidental, a rich variety of 
 beautiful landscapes to please the eye and gratify the 
 taste. . In all her works you find either beauty or 
 sublimity, or consummate skill or grace in some of its 
 forms. Upon every object around us we may read the 
 word usefulness written by a divine hand. A single 
 blade of grass teaches man a lesson of benevolence. 
 
 Had God intended that' man should live an isolated 
 and selfish existence, instead of distributing His bounties 
 in dififerent countries and zones, He would have placed 
 them all in the midst of each community, and thus 
 rendered intercourse with each other unnecessary. But 
 he has given to China the cultivation of tea, and be- 
 stowed upon distant islands various spices and luxuries, 
 in order that those who desire them may become ac- 
 quainted with the moral* condition and habits of the 
 people in these regions, and be taught the dependence of 
 one community upon another. He has deposited the 
 gold of this land, in a distant and wild region, that it may 
 serve to attract the civilization of the north-eastern states, 
 and thus difi'use more generally the social and religious 
 advantages which have so long distinguished this portion 
 of our country. He has made commerce a golden chain, 
 to bind together the different parts of the world in a com- 
 mon interest, and to prepare the way for the universal 
 diffusion of Christianity. 
 
 Now, it is of the highest importance that the youth, 
 at the outset of his career, should recognize and act 
 upon the great principle of mutual service, that runs 
 through the conmerce of the world. He should enter 
 
DUTIES OF CLERKS AND APPRENTICES. 271 
 
 upon the business of life feeling that he has a mission to 
 accomplish, involving the welfare of his felldw-men, and 
 the honor of his God. He should be ready to. say, "I 
 have not been summoned into being, by the Creator, 
 simply to obtain food and clothing, and to live for a few 
 selfish ends. I am placed' here to work for the good of 
 my race ; to cooperate with the great agencies of nature, 
 and the systems of commerce" and trade, in the enter- 
 prises of benevolence and usefulness. I am here to join 
 with the warmth of the sun, and the refreshing shower, 
 and the growth of vegetation, and the industry and 
 skill of my fellow-workers, in promoting the comfort, 
 improvement and happiness, of the world. I have 
 received my commission from the Master above, who 
 will hold me accountable for the manner in which I 
 discharge the duties of the office to which he has 
 assigned me. I canliot escape responsibility under the 
 plea that my position is a private and humble one; 
 for no position that is connected with the welfare of 
 mankind is either private or humble." Let the youth 
 enter upon the business of life animated by such sen- 
 timents, and he will have the satisfaction of feeling 
 that he is accojnplishing the great purposes of his 
 being. He will feel that there is a dignity in every 
 department of labor, and a field foi? th» exercise of the 
 noblest qualities and energies of the soul. He will find, 
 also, that the most effectual way to benefit himself is to 
 labor for tho benefit of others. By pursuing this course, 
 ■ he binds his own interests to the great law of usefulness, 
 and brings himself under the full power of the principle 
 
272 
 
 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 laid down by Christ, that "it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive." Every day that he lives, he experi- 
 encet the reflex influences of his endeavors to faithfully 
 dischirge his duties to society and to God. 
 
 In the next place, those who are entering upon the 
 business of life should have before them a high stand- 
 ard of excellence.' 
 
 Whatsoever is. worth doing at. all, is worth doing well. 
 There is no vocation so humble as to exclude the neces- 
 sity of 'care and faithfulness. If a man is called by 
 Providence to sweep the streets, let him resolve to do his 
 work well. Let him aim to excel, and he will receive 
 the respect of all respectable men*. It is not one's voca- 
 tion that makes the man, but the spirit of faithfulness, 
 or unfaithfulness, that is in him. His principles and 
 *sentiments, aiid not his daily business, constitute, his 
 character, and the essence of his being. Under a rough 
 exterior and coarse garments, and ^ in connection with 
 severe daily toil, are often found noble sentiments, and 
 pure and exalted traits of character. The humblest 
 calling is designed to test one's diligence and faithful- 
 ' ness, as well as the loftiest and most responsible position 
 in society. 
 
 In aiming, however, to reach a high standard of excel- 
 lence, the motives should ' be such as the Searcher of 
 •hearts can approve. An ambition to surpass or eclipse 
 others, in order to gratify the pride of the heart, shows 
 an unworthy and selfish spirit. But, to struggle after 
 eminence in order that we may use our proficiency or . 
 influence in serving our fellow-men, to be anxious for 
 
DUTIES OJ? CLERKS AND APPRENTICES. 273 
 
 power )r •wealtli in order that we may most effectually 
 fulfil the law of love, is in the highest degree honorable. 
 In fact, it is every man's duty to improve to the utmost 
 the talents and ;pportunities that God has given to him. 
 If he is called to be a merchant, or mechanic, or an 
 artist, let him aim at being the best merchant, or 
 mechanic, or artist, in the community. Let him exer- 
 cise his industry and skill to do his work well, that he 
 may increase his power to benefit his fellow-men, and 
 honor God. For, surely, God is most honored by him 
 who most faithfully fulfils the task assigned to him, and 
 who combines in his business the highest excellence with 
 thQ purest motives and soundest moral principles. 
 "But," to use the language of another, "who ever 
 thinks about God in business ? I think about God in 
 church ; but in business one has something else to 
 think about. Men in a market are not likely to think 
 about God. Perhaips not ; but men in a market have 
 great need to think about God. No bargain is ever 
 made in which God is not concerned. He is the eternal 
 and universal guardian of justice. You can never 
 exclude Him from any matter in which the rights of His 
 offspring are involved. Against all who Would wrong 
 you, He takes your part. Against you, He takes the 
 part of all you would wrong. Over all the rights of His 
 creatures His own hand is evermore spread as a buckler. 
 No man can wound- your rights without smiting that 
 hand. Yo j can wound no man's rights without smiting 
 it. See that you smite it not, for that great right hand 
 of justice holds a tremendous sword." 
 
274 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 ■ * 
 
 This excellence sbould be reacted, also, to demonstrate 
 to the world that ardent piety, and tact and sijecess in 
 business, can go together. The impression extensively 
 prevails that the highest woirldly prosperity is neces- 
 sarily connected with the service of Satan ; and that 
 ■whatever time or energy a man gives to religion must 
 necessarily be taken from his business. Under the 
 influence of this error, many, who are fully convinced of 
 ':he importance of attending to the welfare of the soul, 
 put it off to a more convenient season, deeming an im- 
 mediate attention to the subject incompatible with the 
 successful prosecution of their worldly plans. And a 
 young man who is striving to maintain a spiritual life 
 while laboring to acquire skill in his trade, or to excel in 
 making bargains and serving his employer, is looked 
 upon as engaged in a visionary experiment. His 
 worldly associates are ready to assure him. that he must 
 give up his religion, at least during the week, if he 
 would become a successful business man. Now, I do 
 not believe ,that the highest mercantile eminence and 
 prosperity are necessarily on the side of Satan. I be- 
 lieve that it is possible to combine diligence in business 
 with a fervent religious spirit; and every one, on the 
 theatre of trade or commerce, -who does this, daily pro- 
 tests against the opposite doctrine. He proves to the 
 world that a man's temporal and spritual interests can 
 both be oared for at the same time, and that he can 
 increase in piety while increasing in wealth. And this 
 he does, not simply by being devotional on the Sabbath, 
 but by obeying th ) coparoand to do whatsoever he does 
 
DUTIES OF CLBKKS AND APPRENTICES. 275 
 
 " for the glory of God." He serves God m his business, 
 and God prospers him. 
 
 And it is reasonable to suppose that such would be 
 the case when we consider that in carrying forward 
 the great systems of benevolence, and the plans for 
 the universal spread of the. gospel, pecuniary means 
 are as essential as amy other agencies. We need pros- 
 perous Christian merchants, as much as devout Chris- 
 tian ministers. - We need to haye' the marts of business 
 crowded with merchants buying, selling and getting 
 gain, for the glory of God, as well as churches crowded 
 with sincere worshippers. We need to have the vast 
 systems of commerce and mechanical industry perme- 
 ated with the spirit of religion, .as well ag our systems 
 of benevolence, — for the latter are obviously dependent 
 upon the former. The circulation of Bibles and re- 
 ligious tracts, the establishment and maintenance of 
 churches, the sending forth of foreign missionaries, all , 
 depend upon a sanctified commerce. And when we read 
 "Holiness to the Lord" written upon our ships, and 
 over our markets, exchanges, work-shops and counting- 
 roonis, as well as over our pulpits ; when we see a gen- 
 eration of youthful merchants and mechanics, industrious 
 in their several departments, and vying with each other 
 in an honorable competition to gain wealth to pour into 
 the treasury of the Lord ; when we see a business com- 
 munity toiling under the same sense of responsibility, in 
 respect to the world's conversion, that weighs upon the 
 heart of the devoted missionary, — we may believe that a 
 brighter day is about to dawn upon the earth. We may 
 
276 
 
 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 look for the giving -way of the strongholds of heathen- 
 ism, and for triumphs in the progress of Christianity, 
 such as the church has never beheld. Much has been 
 said, of late^ upon the subject of training up young men 
 for the conversion of the world ; and, among the necessi- 
 ties of our times, none is more pressing than the need of 
 youth intellectually and morally prepared to carry the 
 glad tidings of salvation to the destitute portions of the 
 earth. But the means and agencies by which the wort 
 of the world's salvation is to be achieved must come from 
 all departments of trade, as well as from our' colleges and 
 seminaries. Yonng merchants and mechanics must be 
 trained up with right views and principles, as well as 
 those who are to be the bearers of the bread of life to the 
 destitute. 
 
 Another duty devolving upon clerks and apprentices 
 is that of devoting their leisure hours to mental 
 improvement. 
 
 The motiv.es that should prompt to this are various 
 and weighty. One's happiness, usefulness and power to 
 serve his God, depend upon his intellectual force and 
 resources. It is not enough to be a good tradesman, or 
 a skilful and accomplished artisan. It is not enough to 
 be diligent in business, though we are actuated by the 
 purest motives, and consecrate our gains to the service 
 of humanity and of God. We need to leave the daily 
 routine of toil and traffic, and refresh the mind at the 
 fountains of knowledge. We need the stimulus, and 
 mental enlargement and vigor, that a general culture can 
 impart. We need to remember, in » whatever eircum- 
 
DUTIES 05 CLERKS AND APPRENTICES. 277 
 
 t 
 
 stances we are placed, that there is a divine image within 
 us, that it becomes us not to neglect; that there are 
 powers that may be strengthened, and chambers of mem- 
 ory that may be stored with valuable knowledge ; that 
 there is an ethereal spark that admits of a lustre that 
 may shed its light and beauty over » vast community. 
 We are so constituted that there is an intense pleasure in 
 the simple act of gaining knowledge. We l5ve to explore 
 the fields of literature and the mines of science. We 
 love to penetrate into the mysteries of nature, read her ' 
 laws, observe her operations, study the beauty and har- 
 mony of her movements. There is a pleasure in mas- 
 tering the principles of mathematics a,nd philosophy; in 
 passing through the richly-furnished apartments of 
 chemistry ; in becoming acquainted with the principles 
 of botany, that reveal the rigid laws which produce the 
 exquisite beauties of flowers ; in learning from geology 
 the history of our globe, — of its mountains, valleys, 
 strata, lakes, mines, and vast deposits of C9al and useful, 
 metals ; in soaring amid the grandeurs of astronomy, and 
 discovering the perfect order which the Great Architect 
 has followed in all his works, and viewing the extent and 
 glory of his kingdom. There is pleasure in the reflec- 
 tion that beyond the widest fields that we can traverse 
 there are boundless regions, in which the mind may 
 expatiate for successive ages. 
 
 To wall up the mind within the narrow bounds of 
 
 one's daily business is virtually to imprison it. It is to 
 
 sentence it td the dull routine of hard labor, in a prison, 
 
 for life, when it should be out under the broad sunlight 
 
 24 
 
278 ' LECTURES TO TOXING MEN. 
 
 of knowledge, breathing the air of a pure and healthful 
 literature, gazing upon the beauties and gathering the 
 golden treasures of truth, that lie in every pathway. 
 Yet, even iri this highly-favored city, how many minds 
 there are, capable of culture, of the highest intellectual 
 accomplishments, of reaching the loftiest heights in sci- 
 ence, that are in prison ! How many, alas ! are in 
 loathsome dungeons, chained to the hard, damp floor by 
 vicious habits, and suffering from the combined effects of 
 Ignorance and wickedness ! 
 
 As a means of usefulness, as well as happiness, knowl- 
 edge should be sought. If it be true that "knowledge' 
 is power," how important it is that eyerj youth possess 
 .this power ! But, says the clerk or apprentice, " I am 
 not a student, and have neither the time nor means for ac- 
 quiring learning. My daily duties exhaust my strength,- 
 and the few leisure hours that are allowed me must be 
 devoted to rest or relaxation. Besides, numerous inter- 
 ruptions and obstacles will impede my progress, and soon 
 discourage me." To all this we would reply that a 
 determined spirit .will enable one to gain knowledge,' and 
 even extensive learning, under any circumstances. We 
 can point to many distinguished and useful men, who 
 acquired their knowledge in the fragmenta of time that 
 they saved in the course of their clerkship or apprentice- 
 ship. Multitudes have attained the highest eminence in 
 literature, poetry,- science and philosophy, who never 
 received a collegiate education. I might refer you to 
 Bowditch, Fulton^ Franklin and others, who, by their 
 own personal energies, gained the eminent position which 
 
DUTIES OF CLEEKS AND APPRENTICES. 279 
 
 tHey -loccupied. Among those wlio prosecuted their 
 studies under discouragements, and in the midst of their 
 daily labor, we might mention the distinguished Lin- 
 nseu?, the father of the modern system of tetany, who 
 was once a shoemaker ; the learned Gifford, founder and 
 editor of the (Quarterly Revieio, who was an orphan ship- 
 boy, and afterwards an apprentice to a shoemaker, and 
 used to work out his problems on a piece of leather, with 
 an awl. The immortal Herschel, who has written his 
 name anjong the stars, was the son of a poor mueician, • 
 and commenced life by playing with a band connected 
 with the Hanoverian Guards. The Learned Blacksmith, 
 in writing to Mr. Everett, gives the following account of 
 the manner in which he commenced his studies while an 
 apprentice : 
 
 "I suddenly conceived the idea of studying Latin. 
 Through the assistance of my elder brother, who had 
 himself obtained a collegiate education by his own exer- 
 tions, I completed my Virgil in the evenings of one win- 
 ter.' After some time devoted to Cicero and other Latin 
 authors, I commenced the Greek. At this time, it was 
 necessary that I should devote every hour of daylight, 
 and a part of the evening, to the duties of my apprentice- 
 ship. Still, I carried my Greek grammar in my hat, 
 and often found a moment, when I was heating some 
 large iron, when I could place my book open before me 
 a,gainst the chimney of my forge, and go through with 
 tupio, tupteis, tuptei, unperceived by my fellow-appren- 
 tices, and, to my confusion of face, with a detrimental 
 efibct to my charge in the fire. Li tho evening I sat 
 
280 
 
 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 down, unassisted and alone, to the Eiad of Hbmer, 
 twenty books of which measured my progress in that 
 language during the evenings of another winter. * * * 
 I have been able to add so much to my previous acquaint- 
 ance with the ancient, modern and oriental languages, as 
 to be able to read upwards of fifty of them with more or 
 less facility." 
 
 The case of James Ferguson, the astronomer and 
 experimental philosopher, is a remarkable instance of 
 self-education. He was born at Keith, in the north of 
 Scotland, in 1710, and was the son of a day-laborer. 
 While his father was teaching his eldest brother to read 
 the Scotch Catechism, James was busy in learning the 
 same lessons ; and, before his father was aware of it, he 
 had learned to read. When about eight years old, an ■ 
 accident occurred to his father's house which directed 
 his attention to mechanics, and led him, without assist- 
 ance, to discover, the principles of the lever ^d the wheel 
 and axle. While engaged in the humble occupation of a 
 shepherd, he spent his nights in studying the heavens 
 and drawing maps of the stars, and in the day-time he 
 constructed mills and spinning-wheels. After various 
 reverses and discouragements, he worked his way upward 
 until he attracted the attention of scientific men, and was 
 aided in his mechanical and philosophical pursuits. He 
 was chosen a member of the Royal Society, and was inti- 
 mate with George III., who, while Prince of Wales, 
 attended his lectures, and conversed with him on astro- 
 nomical subjects. Among his works, which are 'able and 
 numerous, we would mention "Astronomy Explained on 
 
DUTIES OP CLERKS AND APPBENTICES. 281 
 
 ]S'eT\-t6n's Principle?," "Lectures on Mechanics,. Hy- 
 drostatics, Hydraulics, &c.," " Astronomical Tables," 
 " The Art of Drawing in Perspective," &c. 
 
 Such instances we might multiply almost indefinitely ; 
 and they should serve to stimulate every young man to 
 improve his leisure moments in acquiring mental disci- 
 pline, and storing his mind with valuable knowledge. 
 By forming a tasje for literary and scientific pursuits, 
 you will effectually guard yourselves against temptatipn, 
 obtain food for profitable thought during the labors of 
 the day, and secure sources of rational enjoyment that a 
 lifetime will not exhaust. You may thus extend your 
 influence and usefulness beyond the sphere of your busi- 
 ness, and be enabled to honor God by your mental ac- 
 quisitions, as well as by industry and faithfulness in 
 your employment. 
 
 24* 
 
XIV. 
 
 THE SABBATH. ' 
 
 • If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleas- 
 ure on my holy day ; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of 
 the Lord, honorable ; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own 
 ways, nor finding -thine own pleasure, nor spealdng thine own 
 words ; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; andl will 
 cause thee to ride upon the high places of thef earth, and feed 
 thee with the heritage of Jaeob thy Either : for the mouth of the 
 Lord hath spoken it." — Isaiah 58 : 13, 11. 
 
 The holy Sabbath, viewed in any of its aspects, should 
 awaken our warmest interest and gratitude.. As a re- 
 ligious institution, it comes to us under the sanction 
 of the highest authority, and fraught with the richest 
 spiritual blessings, It is the divine recognition of man's 
 immortality, and his relations to the infinite Being. As 
 connected with the past, it is a historic monument com- 
 memorafive of the origin of the earth and its inhabitants ; 
 as related to the future, it is a type of the everlasting 
 rest. Its quiet hours and solemn services shadow forth 
 the cahn and holy worship of heavenly regions. The 
 
THE SABBATH. 283 
 
 open temples indicate that tte gates of the celestial city 
 are open. The tones of the church-bell seem voices 
 from the spirit-lat.d bidding us prepare for the joys and 
 duties of- immortality. Each Sabbath morning's light is 
 a harbinger of that divine effulgence which will, one day, 
 fill the temples of the New Jerusalem, and illumine 
 every redeemed soul. These songs of praise are the 
 pledge of the sweeter music, and loftier anthems, with 
 which we shall honor the great King. 
 
 In, urging the careful observance of the Sabbath as 
 holy time, I would present it as a privilege, as well as a 
 duty. We owe it to ourselves, to our highest interests, 
 as well as to God. We need this day of rest that we 
 may withdraw from the cares and vanities of life, and 
 meditate upon divine truths and eternal realities. We 
 need it, that we may contemplate the solemnities of the 
 future,- — the deep mysteries of death, of the dark val- 
 ley, and. of the life beyond the grave. The man who 
 continues his secular business on the Sabbath defrauds 
 himself, as well as his Maker. He sacrifices his moral 
 welfare and highest good for paltry gains. He allows 
 the world to cheat him out of heaven. The few hours' 
 which he secures are purchased at too heavy a price. 
 He cannot aiford, for so insignificant an advantage, to 
 throw away the happiness of eternal ages. 
 
 The man who devotes this day to worldly pleasure 
 has no true idea of enjoyment. He cannot take his con- 
 science and his God with him ; and, without these, he 
 surely cannot obtain. happiness. One may as soon expect 
 to enjoy health vhile violating the laws of his physical 
 
284 LECTURES •TO T0UN9 MEN. 
 
 being, as to have peace* of mind -while tramplmg under 
 foot the moral laws which have been instituted for his 
 government. "The Sabbath was made for man." It 
 was made to meet his moral necessities, and to enable 
 him to accomplish the highest and noblest purposes of his 
 being. It is a testimony to the worth of the soul, and 
 to the divine estimate that is put upon man's welfare and 
 happiness. 
 
 In order to feel the full force of the obligations that 
 we are under to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
 holy," let us look, in the first place, at the basis on 
 which the claims of this institution rest. No one 
 will call in question the fact that, under the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, the seventh day of the week was set apart as 
 holy time, and solemnly consecrated to the service of 
 Jehovah. Nor will the usage of the Christian church, 
 in observing the first day of the week as the Sabbath, be 
 doubted. But the inquiry arises, Did this institution 
 originate with the giving of the divine law on Mount " 
 Sinai, or is it coeval with the existence of man? If the 
 former position is sustained, then it might be argued that 
 the Sabbath was designed exclusively for the Jewish 
 nation ; and that, if it has claims upon others, those 
 claims rest upon considerations independent of a divine 
 sanction or appointment. If, on the other hand, the lat- 
 ter position is maintained, and it can be proved that God 
 instituted the Sabbath when He created man, it is obvi- 
 ous that He made the appointment for the whole human 
 family. He designed that the day should be observed as 
 a season of holy rest by all nations, and in all ages, down 
 
THE SABBATH. 285 
 
 to the end of time. Now, although this point has been 
 extensively discussed, and arguments in favor of both 
 theories have been freely advanced, it is clear ~to my 
 mind, from the Mosaic account of the creation, that God, 
 by resting on the seventh day from all His works, and by 
 blessing and sanctifying it, enjoined the observance of the 
 day upon Adam and all his posterity. Having created 
 man in His own image and likeness, and given to him a 
 spiritual and immortal nature, He established the Sabbath 
 as the great . central religious institution, which should 
 serve to keep before the race their moral duties, and secure 
 their allegiance to His moral government. It is true that 
 but little is said m the Scriptures respecting the Sabbath, 
 during the twenty-five hundred years -that intervened 
 between Adam and Moses ; but it should be remembered 
 that the history of this period is so brief, that we feannot 
 expect'to find frequent allusions even to a day so im- 
 portant as this. Besides, human wickedness had become 
 •at that period so wide-spread and appalling, that, doubt- 
 less, the Sabbath was neglected by multitudes, and by 
 some, perhaps, entirely forgotten. Whole communities 
 may have lost all knowledge of it ; and yet, as a divine 
 institution, it may have remained, like other neglected 
 commands, in full force, and binding upon all God's sub- 
 jects. The references, however, which are made in this 
 brief portion of sacred history, to the division of time 
 into weeks, are regarded as evidence of the existence of 
 the Sabbath in that early period of the world. God, in 
 communicating with Noah, iS' said to employ the phrase 
 "seven days." And Noah himself, while endeavoring 
 
286 LECTUKES TO TOUN& MENv 
 
 to ascertajn -whether ■T;he waters of the deluge had abated, 
 "stayed yet other seven days, and again sent forth the 
 dove (iut of the ark." In these and other instances, -we 
 have a distinct recognition of the division of time into 
 ■weeks, or seven days, a division which can be accounted 
 for only on the ground of the existence of the Sabbath. 
 For there were no natural phenomena, nor any periodical 
 movements of the heavenly bodies, that would create or 
 suggest such a division of time. 
 
 But this holy day comes to us with increased author- 
 ity, by having been solemnly ratified upon Mount Sinai. 
 On that great occasion, everything was significant of the 
 importance and perpetuity of the laws which were given. 
 The children of Israel, whose whited tents were scattered ' 
 over the surrounding plains, were commanded not to ap- 
 proach the Mount. Their leader was called t(^ its sum- 
 mit, where the wild grandeur of the scenes that burst 
 around him indicated the presence of the Deity. The 
 dark clouds, the vivid flashes of lightning, the trembling 
 earth, all testified to the presence of the Supreme Law- 
 giver of the Universe. In a voice like the sound of a 
 trumpet, Moses hears the "command, "Remember the Sab- 
 bath day, to keep it holy ; " a command designed not for 
 one nation, but for all nations ; not for one state of soci- 
 ety, or one age, but for all ages. And, whatever value or 
 sanctity we attach to any one of the ten commandments 
 belongs to the fourth commandment. For on its religious 
 observance hang the dearest interests of the human family. 
 
 It is the appointed agency for preserving among man- 
 kind a knowledge of the true God; keeping alive a sense 
 
THE SABBATH. 287 
 
 of moral obligation and duty ; checking the wicked pas- 
 sions of men, and fastening their attention iipon the 
 interests of an immortal state. It is the gift of God to 
 •all his children, to remind them of the author of their 
 being, of the source of their blessings, — to call forth 
 their gratitude, affection, reverence and worship. 
 
 In connection with the historical argument, it is im- 
 portant to observe that, previous to the promulgation of 
 the law upon Mount Sinai, directions were given to the 
 Israelites respecting the gathering, of manna which afford 
 conclusive evidence of the preexistence of the Sabbathr 
 Of this miraculoiis supply of food, the Israelites were 
 commanded to gather in the morning only so much as 
 was necessary to supply their immediate wants, except 
 on the sixth day, when they were to collect double the 
 usual -quantity. " Six days ye shall gather it ; but on 
 the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall 
 be none. And it came to pass1;hat there went out some 
 of the people on the seventh day to gather, and they 
 found none." Now, had the Israelites been ignorant of 
 the Sabbath, or of their obligations to keep the. day holy, 
 they would have been greatly surprised at the absence of 
 the manna on the seventh day. But it appears that this 
 circumstance occasioned no astonishment among them. 
 And those who went out to gather 'food on the Sabbath 
 incurred the divine displeasure ; for God said to .them, 
 "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and 
 my laws?" evidently referring to laws which had been 
 for a long 'time in existence, ani-^ith which the people 
 were familiar. 
 
288 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 The proof, therefore, is conclusive, that this blessed 
 institution claims a higher antiquity than many are ready 
 to assign to it ; that it dates back to the creation, when 
 the " morning . stars sang together, and all the sons of- 
 God shouted for joy;" that it has travelled down from 
 generation to generation, scattering blessings in its 
 course, and preparing multitudes for the worship of that 
 glorious world, 
 
 " Where congregations ne'er break-up, 
 And Sabbaths haye no end>" 
 
 The relations of Christ and his apostles to the Sabr 
 bath, also, increase our obligations to observe the day. 
 Attempts have been made to show that, under the Chris- 
 tian dispensation, we are released from- a rigid observance 
 of the Sabbath; and. some persons have gone so far as to 
 intimate that Christ designed to do away with this insti- 
 tution. The declaration of the Saviour, that " the Sab- 
 bath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath," 
 is often quoted, as proof of his want of reverence for the 
 day. But, in this and his other teachings upon this 
 point, his aim was to break up the false ideas that the 
 Jews fentertained of the Sabbath. They had connected 
 the day with formal ceremonies, and useless rites, and 
 divorced it, from the benevolent and spiritual purposes 
 for which it was given. They endeavored to force men 
 to conform to the outward observance of the day, and 
 paid no attention to the stale of the. heart or the life. 
 But Christ and his apostles, disgusted' with "such formal- 
 ism and hypocrisy, resolved to place the Sabbath in its: 
 
THE SABBATH. 289 
 
 true light before the world. They resolved to show that 
 the Sabbath was made for man, — for his benefit, his 
 spiritual good. It was a day for rest, for religious cul- 
 ture and benevolent effort. The Scribes and Pharisees 
 were, indeed, greatly* shocked when they heard that 
 Christ was healing the sick on the Sabbath ; but it was 
 only the shell of their hypocrisy that was disturbed. 
 The true spirit of the Sabbath had never entered their 
 hearts; its glorious and ' beneficent designs they had 
 never apprfeciated. ' Christ teaches them the true pur- 
 poses of the day, and endeavors to convince them that 
 acts of kindness and charity are more acceptable to the 
 God of the Sabbath than the most rigid formalities. 
 
 With regard to the change of the Sabbath from the 
 last day of the week to the first, we would remark that 
 this was in accordance with the other changes which 
 were made at the introduction of the gospel. Whatever 
 there was valuable in doctrine or principle, in the ancient 
 dispensation, was retained in the new. But the whole 
 outward system underwent an entire revolution. The 
 stately worship, of the temple was exchanged for the 
 simplicity of a .spiritual and Christian devotion. The 
 Mosaic laws were exchanged for a higher and purer code, 
 and one adapted to an advanced state of society. The 
 rewards promised to the obedient were eternal, rather 
 than temporal. The sacraments, too, were changed. 
 The Lord's Supper took the place of the passover, and 
 baptism was substituted for circumcision. Amid such 
 an entire re-construction of the system of religion, we 
 cannot wonder that the day of the Sabbath was changed, 
 25 
 
290 LECTURES TO YOUSG MEN. 
 
 But we- may assign other reasons. On the first day oi 
 the week Christ rose from the dead ; and it was props: 
 that so important and glorious an event should be suit 
 ably commemorated. In the advent and mission oi 
 Christ, a new creation, as it were, burst upon the world 
 The sun of righteousness arose, and shed its light upoi 
 millions of benighted minds. Over the skies were scat 
 tared in profusion the stars of hope. Angel-choirs wer 
 heard chanting the words, " Glory to God in the highest 
 and on earth peace, good-will to mto." By the tele 
 scopic power of faith, celestial cities, towers and .palaces 
 could be descried in the far distance. As in the firs 
 creation the Spirit hovered over the dark waters, am 
 brought order and beauty out of chaos, so now the Hoi; 
 Spirit descended, like a dove, and hovered over th 
 earth, seeking to dissipate the moral darkness, an( 
 restore man to a state of holy obedience. 
 
 If it was suitable to commemorate the first creatioE 
 why not the glories and blessings of the second ? I 
 fact, in the Christian Sabbath we perpetuate, under on 
 institution, the memory of both of these events. W 
 celebrate the glory of the Father in the work of creatior 
 and the glory of the Son in the work of redemption 
 nay, further, we celebrate the glory of the Holy Spiri 
 in the work of sanctification. We embrace under on 
 institution the blessings of three dispensations. Th 
 Christian Sabbath is also prospective, as well as rctrc 
 spective. It reaches forward to the spiritual worshi 
 and blessings of an imm6rtal state. 
 
 In this connection it is worthy of remark, that Christ 
 
THE SABBATH. , 291 
 
 after His resurrection, uniformly met his disciples on the 
 first day of the week. Previous to his death, he kept 
 the Jewish Sabbath, and worshipped in the synagogues. 
 But after his resurrection we hear no more of his visiting 
 the synagogues, or any other place of public worship, on 
 the seventh day. He met with his disciples on the first 
 day of the week, and on this day delivered to them their 
 commission, and breathed upon them the Holy Ghost. 
 The last interview is described with great minuteness : 
 "The same day at evening,' being the first day of the 
 week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were 
 assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jcsus" and stood in 
 the midst of them, and said. Peace be unto you : as my 
 Father hath sent me, even so send I you." And, from 
 that period to the present hour, Christ has raet with his 
 disciples whenever they have assembled in his name. 
 He has been present to listen to their prayers, stimulate 
 their devotions, and cheer them in seasons of trial and 
 gloom. He has made the Sabbath a delight to millions 
 of his followers, and has already welcomed multitudes to 
 a higher worship and nobler services in the bright 
 regions above. 
 
 There are still other weighty reasons' for urging the 
 claims of the Sabbath. Its rigid observance is intimatety 
 connected with man's temporal good. Among the Jews, 
 their national prosperity, and almost their national exist- 
 ence, depended upon the regard which they paid to the 
 Sabbath. When this day was .kept holy, the divine 
 favor was enjoyed, and every blessing followed in its 
 train. The rights and happiness of the people were pro- 
 
292 LBGTURBg TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 tected. The government was firm, and the nation secure 
 against the invasion of enemies. The promise was ful- 
 filled, "I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of 
 the earth, and will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob 
 thy father." But when the people violated the Sabbath, 
 they became weak and wretched. The glory of their 
 nation faded away, and the special protection of Heaven 
 was withdrawn. At the time of Nehemiah, Jerusalem, 
 the capital of the nation, had been conquered and plun- 
 dered, and the people carried into captivity, in conse- 
 quence of their violation of the Sabbath. They had 
 disregarded God's law, and he left them to become the 
 prey of their enemies, to suffer among the heathen, where 
 jhere was no Sabbath, and no pure religious institutions. 
 And, on returning to their own country, after rebuilding 
 the walls of Jerusalem, their efforts, under the guidance 
 of Nehemiah, were directed to the reestablishment of the 
 Sabbath, with its solemn services. A bitter experience 
 had taught them that in the religious institutions of their 
 fathers rested their power and prosperity ; that, unless 
 these were rigidly maintained, they could enjoy no peace, 
 nor secure any superiority over the nations around them. 
 Hence every measure was at once adopted to preserve 
 the sanctity of the Sabbath. On the previous evening 
 the gates of the city were closed, and were not allowed 
 to be opened until after the Sabbath. , No one was per- 
 mitted to bring merchandise or any burden into the city 
 on the Sxbbath. Commands were issued that all busi- 
 ness should be suspended, and that the whole people 
 should devote the day to religious worship. 
 
THE SABBATH. 293 
 
 We may examine the history of modern nations, and 
 we shall find .that their stability and prosperity have 
 been materially affected by the manner in which the 
 Sabbath has been observed. "Where the day has been 
 devoted to amusements, or desecrated in any other way, 
 there vice, crime and misery, have abounded. In those 
 nations of Europe where the Sabbath is disregarded, or 
 where it is observed in merely a formal manner, we find 
 poverty, ignorance, degradation, and every form of vice 
 and suffering. In different portions of ouj- own country, 
 the regard which is paid to the Sabbath is a sure index 
 to the temporal and social condition of the people. 
 Where this day is most rigidly observed, there we find 
 the greatest amount of wealth, industry, commerce, and 
 elements of national prosperity. The condition of New 
 England at this day affords a striking illustration of the 
 truth of this remark. Here the Sabbath is, to a com- 
 mendable degree, observed. Public business is sus- 
 pended. Churches are crowded. The voice of prayer 
 and songs of praise are heard. Even in the smallest vil- 
 lages the neat church is seen, with its spire pointing to 
 heaven ; and the inhabitants, at the call of the bell, are 
 seen coming over the hills and through the valleys, to 
 worship. And in what other community on the, face of 
 the earth will you find more thrift, comfort and tem- 
 poral prosperity 1 Where will you find more real con- 
 tentment, virtue and social happiness 1 It is true that 
 pauperism and crime exist in New England ; but they 
 are mainly imported from foreign countries, where the 
 Sabbath is iesecrated. You may go through our alms- 
 ■25* 
 
294 
 
 LBCTTIRES TO YOtFNG MEN. 
 
 houses jails and penitentiaries, and you will find in them 
 very few native-born New Englanders. The vast major- 
 ity have been reared in countries where there is virtually 
 no Sabbath, no pure worship, and no healthful religious 
 influences. New England, in a mere temporal point of 
 view, could afford to part with any of her blessings sooner 
 than with her Sabbath. Eor this is the sheet-anchor of 
 her hopes, the pledge of her prosperity. It gives success 
 to her industrial operations, preserves social order, per- 
 petuates her jidmirable systems of education, maintains 
 her freedom, and in a thousand ways sheds blessings 
 upon the community. 
 
 Any movements, therefore, which are calculated to 
 weaken the hold of the Sabbath upon the reverence and 
 affections of the people, or which lead to its desecration, 
 "should be strefluously opposed by every patriot and 
 Christian. The recent establishment of a Sabbath mail 
 between this city and New York is a measure fraught 
 with incalculable evil. It is not only an outrage upon 
 the religious sentiments of the community, but a blow 
 struck against our deafest social and political institutions. 
 Let the measure be universally adopted, and we should 
 have Sabbath mails all over New England ; and multi- 
 tudes Qf people at depots, post-offices and elsewhere, 
 would be found trampling under foot this holy day. It 
 is true that many of our good citizens have protested 
 against this act of desecration ; and it is also true that 
 
 o . ' . 
 
 the Infinite God has protested against it, in the recent 
 terrible Norwalk disaster. For, if the accounts be true, 
 it appears that, o^irig to the running of this Sabbath 
 
THU SABBATH. 295 
 
 mail, it became necesisary for the railroad company to 
 hire an « stra engineer, in order that the regular engineer 
 might rest one day out of seven. This rest his physical 
 nature absolutely required, to preserve his health and 
 strength. On the fatal day of the accident, the regular 
 engineer was resting, and the extra engineer had charge 
 of the train. . Had there been no Sabbath mail, there 
 would have been no occasion for intrusting the lives of 
 'hose passengers to an individual so reckless. How, 
 then, can we regard that melancholy catastrophe, in 
 which so many valuable lives were sacrificed, in any 
 other light than as God's protest against the desecration 
 of his holy day ? And, remember. Almighty God does 
 not protest on paper, but by judgments that all the peo- 
 ple can see and feel. And,if Sabbath mails are con- 
 tinued, what protection have we against similar disasters 
 and protests in the future 1 * 
 
 I repeat it ; New England cannot afford to throw away 
 
 ^her SaBbaths. Better destroy all our railroads, burn up 
 our merchandise, sink our ships to the bottom of the 
 ocean, than to desecrate and despise the Sabbath. For 
 God has said, by his prophet, and he has repeatedly exe- 
 cuted the thr<at: "The nation and kingdom that will 
 not serve thee shall perish ; yea, those nations shall be 
 utterly wasted." 
 
 - The Sabbath, as a social institution, has claims upon 
 all who desire the ■peifarc and. happiness of the eommu- 
 
 * Since this lecture was delivered, this Sabbath mail has been dis- 
 dontinued. 
 
296 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 »ity. _ For, T^ithout it, the 1)urity, refineiaent and ele- 
 vated character of society, cannot be preserved. Every 
 Sabbath-breaker is a corrupter of the public morals. 
 Those who travel on the Sabbath, who transact secular 
 business, or devote the day to amusement, are sending 
 forth evil influences that pervade the whole fabric of 
 society. They are at war with the dearest religious 
 interests and hopes of their fellow-men, and by their 
 example are sanctioning the universal desecration of the 
 Sabbath, the neglect of public worship, and the disregard 
 of the most positive command of Heaven. 
 
 In our own city there is no form of Sabbath desecra- 
 tion that is so full of evil as the traffic in liquors' on this 
 holy day. From the nine hundred grog-shops that are 
 open here on the Sabbath, there go forth destructive 
 influences which cannot be measured. " All the days in 
 the week," says one writer,* " put together, cannot 
 have so dreadfiil a power in promoting intemperance, 
 among young men especially, as the Sabbaths with the 
 grog-shops open. In the week multitudes are too busy 
 to -drink, too laborious to be tempted. ' But on the Sab- 
 bath they have a breathing-time, — a time of relaxation" 
 and rest. Tempt them then, and it is the very triumph 
 of hell. Open these infernal dOors to them, and draw 
 them together in social mood, with hours of revelry at 
 their disposal, and what can save them 7. There was 
 some hope in the Sabbath to save them from the 'week, 
 but wha'j shall save them from the Sabbath 1 The week 
 
 * Rev. Geo. B. Cheever. 
 
THE SABBATH. 297 - 
 
 itself of lalor and of temperance cannot do it. Their 
 Sabbatic make men's character. If they are well spent, 
 they are like bridges over the whole week's temptations 
 and dangers, by which the soul goes safely. If they are 
 ill spent, the whole week's virtue cannot bridge them 
 over, for they are a hebdomadal descent into hell, and 
 they carry the week with them. It may be said of the 
 Sabbath, as our blessed Lord said of the very light of 
 God in the soul perverted : ' If the light that is in you 
 be darkness, how great is that darkness ! ' The Sab- 
 baths are the light of the week and of the world's busi- 
 ness ; but, if the world's grand vices be turned into the 
 Sabbath for their jubilee, it were better blotted out. 
 The Sabbaths are a fountain of spiritual and intellectual 
 nourishment for the people : but, if you fill the fountain 
 with strong .drink, it becomes the people's greatest 
 curse." 
 
 It is stated that in the city of New York more than 
 thirty-five hundred places for the sale of ardent spirits 
 are open on the Sabbath contrary to law. Among the 
 frightful evils which they occasion, the bills of mortality 
 show that " the ratio of deaths reported after the Sab- 
 bath is from one-third to one-half greater than at 
 any other time." What a fearful commentary upon - 
 spending the holy Sabbath in drunkenness and revelry ! 
 
 Agair st this, and other forms of Sabbath desecration 
 that might be specified, we are bound to exert a strong 
 influence — an influence that will be felt. We need a 
 pure and mighty public sentiment, that will view such 
 wickedness in its true light ; that will be watchful of our 
 
298 LECTURte TO YOUNG MEN.. 
 
 institutions, and guard them against the dangers from 
 such Scurces. For, any evil that touches the virtues of 
 the people, touches our freedom and national prosperity. 
 
 • If we become a 'nation of Sabbath-breakers, we shall 
 inevitably lose our liberties. They cannot be maintained 
 for a day without the intelligence, virtue and religious 
 principle, produced by the sacred use of holy time. It 
 
 .is the policy of tyrants to have the Sabbath desecrated, 
 and the minds of the people diverted from serious thought 
 by public amusements. If they can get the people to 
 trample on this divine institution, and disregard the ordi- 
 
 - aances and commands of God, they can the more easily 
 .nslave them, and hold, them in subjection. The very 
 life, then, of our free republic, depends upon the religious 
 observance of the Sabbath. 
 
 The necessity of the Sabbath as a day of rest fr6m 
 secular employments is a point upon which I need not 
 enlarge. Such is man's constitution that his physical 
 system absolutely requires the rest of one day out of 
 seven. If deprived of it, his health and strength are 
 soon impaired, if not destroyed. A late distinguished 
 physician of Washington city says : 
 
 "I have remarked, as a general fact, that those to 
 whom the Sabbath brings the most entire rest from their 
 habitual labors perform the secular duties of the week 
 more vigorously, and better, than those who continue 
 them without intermission. For a number of years I 
 have been in close intimacy and intercourse with men m 
 public life, officers of the government, and representa- 
 tives in the national legislature, and eminent jurists, 
 
THE SABBATH. 299 
 
 whose labors are generally great, and whose duties are 
 arduous and pressing. Sonle of them have conside red it 
 their privilege, as well as their duty, to suspend their 
 public functions, while' others have continued them to 
 the going down of the Sabbath sun. Upon the com- 
 mencement of' the secular week, the one class arise with 
 all their powers invigorated and refreshed, while the 
 other come to their duties with body and mind jaded and , 
 out of tone. I have no hesitation in declaring it as mj 
 opinion, that, if the Sabbath were' univei'sally. observed 
 as a day of devotion and of rest from secular occupations, 
 far more work of body and mind would be accom- 
 plished^ and be better do7ie ; tnore health would be 
 enjoyed, with more of loealth and independence ; and 
 vie should have far less of crime, and poverty j and 
 sitffering." 
 
 There are persons in our insane hospitals whose minds 
 were wrecked by an unceasing application to business. 
 Under the idea that they could not afford to lose the 
 hours of the Sabbath, they toiled from day to day, until 
 reason ga^ way, and they became confirmed maniacs. 
 Instances of this character are bo numerous that an Eng- 
 lish writer remarks, " We never knew a man work seven 
 days in a week who did not kill himself or kill his 
 mind." , f 
 
 ■ It is clear, therefore, without further argument, that 
 the institution of the Sabbath affects all our interests, 
 physical, social, political and religious. It touches man 
 at every point at which he is capable of being benefited. 
 To break down this day is to weaken the public health, 
 
300 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 destroy the charter of our liberties, overthrow the bul- 
 warks of our religion, and 'open the flood-gates of the 
 wildest excesses and the most, deadly passions of the 
 human heart. Without the Sablbath, we become a nation 
 of atheists, " living without God and without hope in the 
 world." The present is all darkness and wretchedness, 
 and the future all hopelessness. We appeal to you, 
 young men, to preserve this institution from the designs 
 of its enemies. Cherish its sacred privileges, love its 
 holy worship, and you will confer blessings upon others, 
 and, under its sacred light, be guided in the pathway to 
 happiness and glory. 
 
 " Tiine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love ; 
 But there 's a nobler rest above ; ' 
 To that our longing souls aspire. 
 With cheerful hope and strong desire. 
 
 " No more fatigue, no more distress. 
 Nor sin, nor death, shall reach the place ; 
 No groans shall mingle with the songs 
 Which warble from immortal tongues. 
 
 " No rude alarms of raging foes, 
 No cares to break the long repose : 
 No midnight shade, no clouded sun, 
 But sacred, high, eternal noon." 
 
XY. 
 
 THE BIBLE. 
 " Search the Scriptures." — John 5 : 39. 
 
 Evert reflecting man will allow that the most import- 
 ant event in human history is the reception of a, Divine 
 Revelation. A book bearing the stamp of a, divine au- 
 thorship, reveahng the character, will and glorious attri- 
 butes of God, comes to us not only as a most precious 
 boon, ■ but with an authority which claims universal 
 attention. Its great truths demand our faith ; its mes- 
 sages, our reverence ; its commands, our obedience. Aa 
 a gift from the Supreme Father, no other can compare 
 with it in value. The sunlight, the beauties of nature, 
 a knowledge of art, science, history, what are these com- 
 pared with light frofQ God himself, and unfoldings of 
 spiritual beauties, and a knowledge of our duty and 
 destiny ! 
 
 In whatever aspect we view the Bible, we are im- 
 pressed with its infinite worth, its wondrous doctrines, its 
 treasures of thought, imagery and eloquence. It. is a 
 26 
 
302 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 compehdiam of all knowledge, embracing history, poetry, 
 philosophy, theology and prophecy. 
 
 As a history, it takes us back over the waste of ages, 
 to the infancy of our race, when the fair earth came fresh 
 from the hands of the Creator, when the stars were first 
 lighted up, and the glories of the sun burst upon the 
 universe. It sketches the dealings of Providence with 
 nations and individuals, and pomts out the monuments 
 of dead empires whose, guilty inhabitants incurred the 
 divine displeasure. -Its records show conxjlusively that 
 there is a " God in history ; " that there is an overruling 
 power, that guides all events, and shapes the destiny of 
 nations. 
 
 The philosophy of this book is profound and searching 
 beyond all other writings. Its keen analysis of the 
 nature and workings of the human heart, its nice 
 delineations of character, its exegesis of the funda- 
 mental principles of ethics, are unsurpassed. Without 
 its light, all systems of morality would be in a state of 
 chaos and darkness. The claims of rival schools of 
 philosophy, and of conflicting theories, would agitate and^ 
 perplex, rather than benefit, mankind. We should have 
 no anchorage-ground for principles that relate to the 
 highest interests and duties of man. 
 ■• The poetry of the Bible is no'thing less than the 
 breath of inspiration ; its' exquisite beauties, rich im- 
 agery, and sententious utterances, dropped from Heaven. 
 The gorgeous- drapery which overhargs its historic 
 records and sublime truths was wrought by a divine 
 hand. In no other volume can you find such an exuber- 
 
THE BIBLE. 303 
 
 anc©' of appropriate and striking figures, l»f thrilling 
 incidents, of grand conceptions mingled with btight pic- 
 tures of oriental scenes and patriarchal times. The 
 variety ig like that of a beautiful landscape, with its lofty 
 mountains, deep chasms, quiet valleys, soft verdure and 
 rich foliage. The scenes are also full of life, as though 
 every object was moved by the presence of inspiration. 
 The seas are vocal with the praises of their Mater. The 
 mountains and hills break forth into singing, and the 
 trees clap their hands. The landscape "needs no 
 Dryads to people its woodlands, no Oreads to flit over its 
 mountains, no Naiads to give mirth to its waters or 
 aiusic to its streams ; for a higher animation fills them, 
 and every chiming brook and fluttering spray, every 
 zepfeyr and every blessed sound, is a note in God's own 
 anthem." 
 
 But the theology of this volume reveals its infinite 
 value. These poetic beauties are merely incidental 
 features of the book. They appear in the writings of 
 prophets and apostles, as the rainbow appears in the 
 fertihzing shower, or as the rays of the setting sun adorn 
 the clouds after having given light to the world. The 
 object of these authors is to utter the great truths which 
 Jehovah has been pleased to make known to his children. 
 They stand between us and the Supreme Being, to 
 announce and interpret the messages that come from the 
 eternal throne. And the book is rnainly valuable be- 
 cause it relates to the most vital interests of man's being. 
 It lifts the mind into the regions of immortal thought, 
 con \i\ctfi it through the portals "of heaven, brings it near 
 
304 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 to the source of all good, and opens to the eye of faith 
 the rewards and glories of a celestial state. Its rhetoric 
 is, indeed, beautiful ; its eloquence is glowing ; its style 
 has about it a purity, simplicity and stately grandeur ; 
 but these are but the outward decorations of treasures of 
 priceless value. They are like flowers that grow upon 
 the surface, beneath which are mines of the richest ores 
 and most" costly gems. Whoever will explore these 
 mines will gather jewels of a purer lustre, and rubies of 
 far more value, than princes can furnish. They will 
 gather materials for a more beauteous robe, and diamonds 
 for a more enduring crown, than ever adorned an earthly 
 potentate. They will become rich in treasures that " no 
 moth nor rust can corrupt ; " and obtain revenues suited 
 t3 their rank as " kings and priests unto, God." 
 
 The Bible, too, is full of blessings for all classes and 
 conditions of men. It imparts light to the benighted, 
 knowledge to the ignorant, hope to the despairing, con- 
 solation to the afflicted, confidence to the dying. There 
 is no pathway upon which its light may not shine ; no 
 dark picture in human history that it cannot illumine ; 
 no circumstances of sufiering that it cannot alleviate. It 
 throws its radiance across the dark valley of death, dis- 
 sipating Jts cold mists and gloom, and rendering it a 
 glorious avenue to the celestial city. It brings around 
 the dying saint sweet voices, that whisper, "Fear not, 
 for I am with thee!" " In my Father's house are many 
 mansions." " I am the resurrection and the life." 
 More precious utterances than these are not to be fouj 4 
 m any language. Did the Bible contain nothing else,. I 
 
THE BIBLE. 305 
 
 would not part ■with it, for the stars and all that they 
 shine upon. 
 
 Can any book have a higher mission or loftier pur- 
 pose? Can any greater gift come from the Supreme 
 Father to his children ? Can we ask for a system of 
 purer laws, for wiser precepts, more precious promises, 
 or a more glorious plan of redemption, than the Bible 
 contains 1 
 
 In urging upon your attention the claims of this sacred 
 volume, let me point you, in the first place, to the abuti- 
 dant aids and facilities that are afforded at the pres- 
 ent day for the study of the Scriptures. I need not 
 dwell upon the mountain piles of evidences which have 
 oeen accumulating fpr ages in favor of the authenticity 
 and credibility of the Bible ; I need not lead you through 
 the thousand fields of investigation, that have been trav- 
 ersed by the wise and good in all ages of the church, and 
 from which they have gathered rich harvests of proof and 
 illustration, to confirm and elucidate the Scriptures. I 
 need not assure you that the libraries of Christendom 
 are full of works bearing the marks of profound learning, 
 careful study and extensive research, which establish, 
 beyond all reasonable doubt, the claims of the Bible as 
 an inspired volume, and an infallible rule of faith and 
 practice. I wish rather to refer you to the striking 
 confirmations of Bible truths which intelligent Eastern 
 travellers have furnished during the last half-century, to 
 the light which they have shed upon the paths trodden by 
 patriarchs and prophets, and to their success in clearing 
 up many of the obscurities of the sacred volume. " The 
 26* 
 
306 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 truth is," says one. * "the providence of God, which is 
 never more ■wca:tlf.ily employed than about his Word, 
 seems now to be directing the eyes of his servaats, as 
 with a pointed finger, to the immense stores of elucida- 
 tion constantly accumulating from this quarter. Ani- 
 mated either by the noble spirit of missionary enterprise, 
 of commercial speculation, of military adventure, or 
 laudable curiosity, men of intelligence and observation 
 have made their way into every region on which the 
 light of revelation originally shone ; exploring its an- 
 tiquities, mingling with its inhabitants, detailing its 
 manners and customs, and displaying its physical, moral 
 and pohtical features. From these expeditions they 
 have returned laden with the rich results of their in- 
 dustry ; and the. labors of the pen and pencil have made 
 thousands partakers of the benefit." 
 
 The Bible being essentially an Eastern book, and 
 much of its language being figurative, it is obviously 
 important, in order to feel the force of its allusions, and 
 appreciate the accuracy and beauty of its descriptions, to 
 be familiar with the country where its scenes are laid, 
 and with the habits and usages of oriental life. We need 
 to place ourselves in the midst of the mountains, rivers 
 and vUlagas of Asia, — become familiar with the customs 
 of the people, wander with the tribes in the desert, 
 recline in their tents, drink at their fountains, notice 
 their implements of agriculture, and become acquainted 
 with their social and pohtical condition. In this wav 
 
 *' Professor Bush. 
 
TUB BIBLE. 307 
 
 only can y\e be prepal-ed to feel the force, and perceive 
 the beauty, of the imagery and illustrations employed by 
 the sacred penmen. 
 
 Those who have enjoyed the advantage of visiting or 
 residing in those countries have not only had their faith 
 greatly strengthened, but have perceived new beauties, 
 and a freshness and depth of meaning, in many passages 
 of scripture which before were obscure. They have 
 been early impressed with the permanency of the man- 
 ners and customs of the inhabitants of the East. While 
 other portions of the earth have undergone great changes 
 in the various features of social and national life, the 
 same habits, opinions and institutions, exist here which 
 prevailed two thousand years ago. So remarkable is the 
 coincidence between the pictures of ancient life, as 
 sketched by the sacred writers, and the scenes which 
 now fall under the eye of the traveller, that he cannot 
 fail to perceive the design of Providence in thus preserv- 
 ing, for so long a period, these ancient customs, to con- 
 firm and illustrate his holy Word. One traveller re- 
 marks, " The manners of the East, amid all the changes 
 of government and religion, are still the same, — they 
 are living impressions from an original mould, and at 
 every step some object, idiom, dress or custom of common 
 life, reminds the traveller of ancient times, and confirms, 
 above all, the beauty, accuracy and propriety, of the lan- 
 guage and history of the Bible." For such testimony 
 we cannot be too grateful ; nor is there any department 
 of .sacred literature that will more richly repay the stu- 
 
808 LECTURES TO TOTING MEN. 
 
 dent x tend more to confirm his faith in the authen- 
 ticitj- of the sacred records, than, this. 
 
 The light which las been thrown by travellers upon 
 the fulfilment of prophecj is a point full of interest, and 
 full of incontrovertible evidence in favor of the divine 
 authority of the Scriptures. Those who have not exam- 
 ined this subject cannot be aware how accurately and 
 minutely. the prophetic portions of the Bible have been 
 fulfilled. Even infidel writers and historians, as Volney 
 and Gibbon, have inadvertently afforded, in their de- 
 scriptions of Eastern countries, the most striking proofs 
 of the truth of the Bible. Testimony thus indirect, and 
 unwillingly given, cannot fail to carry conviction to 
 every ingenuous mind. A writer in a London quarterly 
 says, in relation to accounts which had been received 
 respecting Judea, Edom, &c., "It seems like a miracle 
 in our own times. T^wenty years ago we read certain 
 portions of the prophetic scriptures with a belief that 
 they were true, because other similar passages had, in 
 the course of ages, proved to be so ; and we had an indis- 
 tinct notion that all these, to us obscure and indefinite 
 denunciations, had been — we knew not very well when 
 or how — accomplished. But to have graphic descrip- 
 tions, ground plans and elevations, showing the actual 
 existence of all the heretofore vague and shadowy denun- 
 ciations of God against Edom, does, we confess, excite 
 our feelings, and exalt our confidence in prophecy to a 
 height that no external evidence has hitherto done. 
 Here we have, buisting upon our age of incredulity, by 
 the laboi-s of acoiiental, impartial, and sometimes incred- 
 
THS BII5LE. • 309 
 
 alous witnesses, the certainty of existing facts, which 
 fulfil what were considered, hitherto, the most vague and 
 least intelligible of the prophecies. The value of one 
 such contemporaneous proof is immense." 
 
 The ruins of Babylon, Nineveh and Tyre, also, have 
 a voice that speaks volumes in favor of a divine revela- 
 tion. No one can look upon the site of Babylon^ now a 
 ■wild waste, and remember the former magnificence, 
 wealth and splendor, of the city, without being convinced 
 that the prophecy of its fall was dictated by the spirit of 
 inspiration. To find scarcely a trace of its vast walls 
 and splendid palaces remaining, — to find the hum of its 
 former business exchanged for a deathlike silence, and 
 the spot to which multitudes resorted for commerce and 
 pleasure now shunned and dreaded as though a pestilen- 
 tial atmosphere and the spirits of its guilty inhabitants 
 hovered over it,-;— to see the place where proud kings 
 held their festivals, and lords feasted amid the greatest 
 elegance and luxury, now in the possession of wild beasts, 
 — must carry with it a, jveight of evidence which cannot 
 be resisted. 
 
 Without, 'however, dwelling upon this branch of our 
 subject, I hasten to allude to other considerations which 
 press the sacred volupae upon your attention. 
 
 In the first place, it cannot be studied without con- 
 ferring tile highest intellectual benefits. 
 
 Whether we examine its literary excellences, or seek to 
 comprehend its great doctrines, or explore its mysteries, 
 we cannot fail to have the mind enlarged, and the mental 
 powers" strengthened. Let any one truth be selected_ as 
 
310 
 
 LECTURES TO TOtJNG MEN. 
 
 m object of protracted thought, as, for instance, the 
 eternity of tne iivine existence. Let the mind attempt 
 to grasp this attribute of the Deity. Rnuuing back age 
 after age,— passing the period irhen the first world was 
 created, or the first heart beat with life,— let the thoughts 
 travel on, and, whatever point is reached,- still an infinite 
 distance stretches away beyond. This in imagination 
 traversed, infinite rises upon infinite, and the mind is 
 impressed with the utter inadequacy of its powers to 
 »rasp or comprehend such a thought. Though baffled, 
 ',et the mind return and attempt to comprehend a coming 
 aternity. Let it carry with it the consciousness that its 
 5wn heing will run parallel with the divine existence, — 
 that it will live on, through all the changes in the phys- 
 ical universe, seeing one star after another growing dim, 
 and one solar system after another vanishing from the 
 firmament, and yet an eternity beyond, — and, though the 
 mind will be overwhelmed and lost amid the mazes of 
 endless duration, yet it will be sensibly .benefited by the 
 efifort. It will feel that there is power in such a revealed 
 truth to expand the intellect and quicken its aspirations. 
 Or, let the power of the Almighty be made the object 
 of contemplation. Let one commence with the display 
 of this attribute which is made in the structure and 
 organization of the minute ahimalculse, millions of which 
 find ample accommodations and sustenance in a drop of 
 water. Rising from this insect world, and passing 
 through the various ranks of being, -let the thoughts 
 wander among the stars, and attempt to comprehend the 
 power that, by the utterance of a word, has strewed 
 
THE 5IBLE 311 
 
 immensitj -with the -floating receptacles of life and happi- 
 ne_ss, that has spread out a universe so vast that the 
 destruction of all that is visible to man would be no more 
 missed than the removil of a grain of sand from the sea- 
 shore. The mind would, indeed, fail of accomplishing 
 its purpose, but its powers would be strengthened by the 
 effort ; and every time that it returned to the task, its 
 conceptions of omnipotence would be enlarged, and it 
 would be capable of grasping a wider range of ih'^- 
 Creator's works. 
 
 The study of any of the profound mysteries of revela- 
 tion would also be attended with intellectual benefits. 
 Let the effort be made to explore the wonders of redemp- 
 tion, the mission of an incarhjite Deity, with its relations 
 to the divine government and the world's destiny, — or, 
 let the origin of evil be investigated, or the ■ attempt be 
 made to reconcile the doctrine of free agency with, the 
 divine sovereignty, — and, though the mysteries will 
 remain unsolved, the culture 'of the intellect will be pro- 
 moted. The mind will be disciplined for other investi- 
 gations, and be prepared"'to prosecute with success its 
 studies in the. various departments of human knowledge. 
 
 If the natural sciences are capable of developing and 
 strengthening the mental powers, why should not the 
 greatest of all sciences — that which relates to God, his 
 moral government, and the destiny of his creatures — pro- 
 duce similar results 1 How is it possible for the human 
 intellect to be brought in contact with its infinite Cre- 
 ator, or with those vast themes that absorb the aUention 
 of angelic beings, and relate to its own mmortal interests. 
 
312 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 without being sensibly benefited 1 We would contend 
 that there is no book in the world that is exerting so 
 powerful an influence upon the understandings, as well 
 as the hearts of men, as the Bible. It is an intellectual 
 as'well as moral luminary, pouring its rays into all the 
 regions of thought, and every department of human 
 knowledge. It is, more than any other agency, arousing 
 the mental energies of mankind. It is the mightiest 
 engine that is employed to advance the sciences, produce 
 a sound and vigorous literature, and give success to phi- 
 losophical and metaphysical investigations. Even those 
 scholars who have not opened their hearts to its sanctify- 
 ing influences feel its power upon their intellects. We 
 believe that our best systems of philosophy, the great 
 discoveries in astronomy, the advancement that has been 
 made in geology and the other natural sciences, may -be 
 traced to the influence of the Bible. Its light shines in 
 the halls (5f learning as well as in the temples of religion, 
 and guides the footsteps of the explorer in the mines of 
 science, as well as the humble pilgrim on his way to the 
 celestial city. 
 
 In the next place, consider the influence of the Bible 
 upon man's social condition. 
 
 We need only to glance at ,the state of the diflerent 
 nations of the earth, to be convinced of the superior 
 advantages enjoyed by those upon which the light of the 
 gospel shines. By contrasting the social and political 
 dondition of Christendom with other portions of the earth, 
 we are struck with the signal advances and improve- 
 ments which have accompanied the possession of the word 
 
THE BIBLE. 313 
 
 of God. I am aware that the progress of society is, by 
 many, attributed to the light of science ; and not a few 
 ascribe it to the inherent progressive nature of man. 
 The latter argue that, as an individual passes through 
 the different stages of infancy, childhood and manhood, so 
 society, under the influence of natural laws, progresses 
 from one generation to another. But a moment's reflec- 
 tion will show us that this progress in civilization, art, 
 commerce, government, and internal improvement, is 
 confined almost exclusively to Christian nations, and 
 those mo.re or less under the influence of the truths of 
 the Bible. When we speak of the intellectual activity 
 of the present age, we do not refer to the intellects of 
 the six hundred millions of pagans, but to the two hun- 
 dred millions of real and nominal Christians who inhabit 
 the globe. When we speak of the beneficial revolutions 
 that are taking place, and of the improvements and dis- 
 coveries that are bursting upon the world, we really refer 
 to only a small portion of society. The mass of pagan 
 mind, like a stagnant, dead sea, remains unaffected by 
 these commotions, except at a few points, where the gos- 
 pel missionary has carried the sacred volume. 
 
 If we confine our observations to what the Bible has 
 done for Christian nations within the last few centuries, 
 we cannot fail to be impressed with its power to improve 
 man's social condition. Take, for instance, Great Brit- 
 ain. Macaulay, in his admirable History of England, 
 devotes a chapter to exhibiting the contrast between the 
 present state of that country and its condition in 1685. 
 He refers to the great increase of population, the state 
 27 
 
814 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 of agriculture, the mineral wealth of the country, the 
 character of the clergy, the facilities for traveUing, the 
 hotels, newspapers, state of the fine arts, wages of agri- 
 culturalists and manufacturers, the condition of children 
 in factories, the number- of paupers, and other important 
 points in reference to which the greatest improvements 
 have taken place. He says that it can easily be proved 
 that in England "the national wealth has, during at 
 least six centuries, been almost uninterruptedly increas- 
 ing ; that it was greater on the day of the Restoration . 
 than on the day when the Long Parliament met ; that, 
 in spite of maladministration, of extravagance, of public 
 bankruptcy, of two costly wars, of the pestilence and of 
 fire, that it was greater on the day of the death of Charles 
 II. than on the day of the Restoration. This progress, 
 having continued during many ages, became at length, 
 about the -middle of the eighteenth century, portentously 
 rapid, and has proceeded during the nineteenth with ac- 
 celerated velocity. * * * While every part of the 
 continent, from Moscow to Lisbon, has been the theatre 
 of bloody and devastating wars, no hostile standard has . 
 been seen here but as a trophy. During a hundred ' 
 years "fliere has been in the island no tumult of sufficient 
 importance to be called an insurrection. The law has 
 never been borne down by popular fury, or by regal 
 tyranny. Public credit has been held sacred. Even in 
 times which might, by Englishmen, be justly called evil , 
 times, we have enjoyed what almost every other nation f 
 in the world would have considered as an ample measure 
 of jivil and religious freedom. Under the benignint 
 
THE BIBLE. 815 
 
 influence of peace and liberty, science has flourislied, and 
 has been applied to practical purposes, on a scale never 
 before known. 
 
 " Could the England of 1685 be, by some magical pro- 
 cess, set before our eyes, we should not know one land- 
 scape in a hundred, or one building in ten thousand. 
 The inhabitant of a town woujd not recognize his own 
 street. Everything has been changed but the great 
 features of nature, and a few massive and durable works 
 of human art. Many thousands of square miles which 
 are now rich corn-land and meadow, dotted with villages 
 and pleasant country-seats, would appear as marshes, 
 or wild fern." 
 
 Now, these, and other more remarkable changes 
 which have gone through all classes, from the prisoner 
 in his cell, up to the queen upon the throne, some may 
 ascribe to the commercial position of the country, or 
 the inherent energy of the Anglo-Saxon race ; but it 
 should be remembered that, while these rapid move- 
 ments have been taking place, pagan and heathen nations 
 have remained stationary, and some even have been 
 " degenerating. 
 
 "Besides, consider what England was before its con- 
 version even to a corrupt form of Christianity. It had 
 then the same geographical position, the same commer- 
 cial advantages, the same mineral resources, that it now ' 
 has ;_ but the people were among the most degraded upon 
 the face of the earth. Their cruelties, superstitions, 
 ignorance, disgusting and horrible religious rites, were 
 almost without a parallel. Even Romanism, with the 
 
S16 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Bible but partially open, did much for her ; but Protest- 
 antism has done infinitely more. This has elevated her 
 to her present position. This has enabled her to far out- 
 strip many of her papal neighbors. This has given to 
 her a literature that is -vvorld-renowned, a commerce that 
 floats upon every sea, a national freedom that is unsur- 
 passed by that of any other nation. 
 
 If we will now turn to the history of our own coun- 
 try, and compare it at the present time with its con- 
 dition under its original inhabitants, we shall have a 
 still more splendid illustration: of the influence of the 
 sacred volume in forming and developing national 
 character. 
 
 The Indian tribes had the same territory taat wo 
 occupy, the same noble rivers, magnificent lakes, eligi- 
 ble seaports, waterfalls, mineral wealth, ship-timber, and 
 fields for cultivation. But of what avail were they 
 all to them? The tides ebbed and flowed, but no 
 splendid ships floated upon them, freighted with the 
 fruits of agriculture and manufactures. The noble 
 rivers rolled on in their majesty and strength, age after 
 age, serving no other purpose than to bear the bark 
 canoe from one miserable hamlet to another. The power 
 of the waterfalls, that now gives motion to a thousand - 
 spindles, slumbered undisturbed. The mineral wealth 
 of the country was scarcely touched. The forests 
 served no other purpose than to sing, in mournful and 
 Kionotonous strains, the dirge over the ignorance and 
 degradation of the tribes who sheltered themselves 
 under their branches. No magnificent city indicated 
 
THE BIBLE. 317 
 
 the locality of a superior port. No smiling villages bore 
 witness to the industry and thrift of a happy population. 
 No rail-cars broke the dead silence that reigned among 
 the hills and valleys. No proud steamer disturbed the 
 placid waters of the lakes and rivers. 
 
 The lightning, which is now employed to communicate 
 thought from one end of the land to the other, was then 
 only an object of mysterious dread. The food of the 
 people was obtained in the chase. Their excitement was 
 found in the dance, and in war ; their pleasures, in the 
 gratification of appetite and passion. Instead of the 
 splendid habitations that now fill our cities, rude, , 
 smoky huts occupied the ground upon which they 
 stand. Their furniture consisted of a few rough utensils. 
 The ornaments of their habitations were bones, scalps 
 and spears. No signs of progress, no monuments of 
 industry, were anywhere discernible. 
 
 Now, what has wrought the wonderful change that 
 has come over the land ? Has the energy of the Anglo- 
 Saxon race done it 1 But what was the condition of this 
 race without the Bible ? Are we indebted for our 
 power and prosperity to fine harbors, noble rivers and a 
 fertile soil? These have always existed. Is it our 
 mineral wealth that has made the change'? But 
 many other nations, far inferior to us, have surpassed 
 us in this particular. Is it our ingenuity? But the 
 Chinese people are more ingenious. We must admit 
 that the Bible is the cause. These improvements, 
 cities, towns, ships, steamboats, railroads, schools, col- 
 leges, churches and literature, are the fruits of studying 
 27* 
 
318 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 the word of God. They are all monuments of the power 
 of the Holy Scriptures to confer temporal blessing. 
 Nor can we assign any limits to the temporal benefits 
 that the Bible is capable of conferring upon human soci- 
 ety. The improvements and discoveries of the present 
 . age may be but the precursors of still greater and more 
 splendid achievements, that are yet to be wrought out 
 under the influence of this inspired volume. And it 
 may be the design of Providence thus to open before the 
 world new sources of evidence in favor of the divine 
 authority of the Scriptures. By causing society to 
 rapidly improve under the light of Christianity, he 
 enables this glorious system to create witnesses in 
 its favor as it advances, and to scatter over Christian, 
 nations evidences of its truth, in the form of blessings, 
 which the most hostile infidel can neither gainsay nor 
 resist. 
 
 Finally, the immense spiritual advantages that 
 flow from the Bible should induce all to search its 
 sacred pages. If, as we have seen, it is capable of con- 
 ferring upon man such benefits in this life, is it not 
 reasonable to suppose that it will bless those who follow 
 its precepts, in the life to come? Shall we not confide 
 in its great truths, its precious promises, its glorious 
 revelations of life and immortality 1 Shall we not heed 
 its -warnings, and accept its invitations 1 Shall we not 
 regard its utterances respecting the infinite value of the 
 soul, the awful solemnities of a coming judgment, and 
 the dread realities of eternity 1 0, if the Bible be true, 
 it is tremendous jtruth ! Its calls should startle every 
 
THE BIBLE. 319 
 
 siiumbering conscience. Its appeals should awaken every 
 careless sinner. Its exhibitions of love should melt the 
 hardest heart. It presents to the youth; who is attracted 
 by the temptations of the world, an^gel messengers, who 
 cry, " Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither 
 tarry thou in all the plain ; escape to the mountain, lest 
 thou be consumed." It surrounds -us with heralds from 
 the eternal throne, who proclaim, " Be thou faithful unto 
 death." " Run' with patience the race set before thee." 
 " Strive to enter in at the strait gate." It describes in 
 glowing language the bright mansions above, — the walls, 
 temples and palaces, of the celestial city. It throws open 
 the gates of the New Jerusalem, and invites all who have 
 faith to enter in. We may almost hear tlie music of 
 celestial choirs, and the voices of the great multitude 
 ascribing glory, honor, immortality and power, to Him 
 who sitteth upon the throne. We may almost feel the 
 zephyrs that come from the bowers of the heavenly para- 
 dise, and experience the enjoyment that the Psalmist felt 
 when he exclaimed, " In thy presence there is fulness 
 of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures forever- 
 more!" 
 
 " Of all the boons which God has bestowed on this 
 apostate and orphaned creation, we are bound to say that 
 the Bible is the noblest and most precious. We bring 
 not into comparison with this illustrious donatioti the 
 glorious sunlight, nor the rich sustenance which is 
 poured forth from the storehouses of the earth, nor that 
 existence itself which allows us, though dust, to soar into 
 companionship with angels. ' The Bible is the develoo- 
 
320 LECTURES T0 YOUNG MEN. 
 
 ment of man's immortality ; the guide which informs him 
 how he may move off triumphantly from a contracted 
 and temporary sphere, and grasp destinies of unbounded 
 splendor, eternity his lifetime, and infinity his home. 
 It is the record which tells us that this rebellious section 
 of God's unlimited empire is not excluded from our 
 Maker's compassion ; but that the creatures who move 
 upon its surface, though they have basely sepulchred iu 
 sinfulness and corruption the magnificence of theii 
 nature, are yet so dear in their ruin to Him who first 
 formed them, that He hath bowed the heavens in order 
 to open their graves. 0, you have only to think what a 
 change would pass on the aspect of our race if the Bible 
 were suddenly withdrawn and all remembrance of it 
 swept away, and you arrive at some faint notion of the 
 worth of the volume. Take from Christendom the 
 Bible, and you have taken the moral chart by which 
 alone its population can be guided. Ignorant of the 
 nature of God, and only guessing at their own immor- 
 tality, the tens of thousands would be aa mariners tossed 
 on a wide ocean, without a pole-star, and without a 
 compass. It were to mantle the earth with a more than 
 Egyptian darkness ; it were to dry up the fountains of 
 human happiness; it were to take the tide from our 
 waters, and leav^ them stagnant, and the stars from our 
 heavens, and leave them' in sackcloth, and the verdure 
 from our valleys, and leave them in barrenness ; it were 
 to make the present all recklessness, and the future all 
 hopelessness, — the maniac's revelry, anti then the fiend's 
 imprisonment, — if you could, annihilate that precious 
 
THE BIBLE. 321 
 
 volume, wHcli tells us of God and of Christ, and unveils 
 immortality and instructs in duty, and ■woos to glory .^ 
 Such is the Bible. Prize ye it, and study it more and 
 more. Prize it as ye are inunortal beings, — for it 
 guides to the ^'ew Jerusalem." * 
 
XVI. 
 
 STSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 
 
 " Remember the vtotHs of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more 
 blessed to give than to receive." — Acts 20 : 35. 
 
 One great purpose of Christianity is to write upon 
 tlie human heart the law of beneficence. It seeks thus 
 to subvert the selfish principle, — to arrest the progress 
 of sin, which is the essence of selfishness, and restore to 
 the soul the divine image in which it was originally- 
 created. Christ said to his disciples, " A new command- 
 ment I give unto you, that ye love one another." This 
 new principle was to serve as a bond of union among 
 them, a source of strength and a test of discipleship. It 
 was given to purify the affections, ennoble the character, 
 and prepare his followers to carry forward his cause in a 
 world governed by the opposite principle. When the 
 young ruler came to ask what he must do to be saved, 
 his heart was probed with the direction, " Sell that thou 
 hast, and give to, the poor." If he was ready to do this, 
 
 — if he was ready to admit the law of love to his heart, 
 
 — all would be well with him. and he would have treas- 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 323 
 
 ures in heaven. But it appears that he was unwilling 
 to accept the terms proposed, for "he had great posses- 
 sions." It was difficult to get the principle of charity 
 down through his wealth into his heart. He desired 
 salvation, but the price he could not pay. Those, on 
 the other hand^ who became the followers of Christ, at 
 once manifested their sincerity and zeal by their noble 
 benevolence. They not only had faith in the doc- 
 trines of the Saviour, and were devout in worship, and 
 earnest in prayer, but they consecrated their posses- 
 sions to the service of Christ. They "had all things 
 common," and were ready to relieve the wants of 
 the destitute, and to contribute for the spread of the 
 gospel. Each disciple gave according to his ability, and 
 from a thousand little rills there poured a stream into 
 the treasury of the Lord, that enabled the apostles to 
 rapidly make known the glad tidings of salvation over 
 the civilized world. Christianity, at its commencement, 
 was thus baptized in the spirit of benevolence. Its dis- 
 ciples at once developed the workings of that great law 
 under which the gospel is to be given to the world. 
 " They felt the dignity and glory of their position, — that 
 they were constituted trustees for the world, executors 
 of a Saviour who had bequeathed happiness to man, 
 guardians of the most sacred rights in the universe. In 
 the execution of their godlike trust, death confronted 
 them at every step ; persecution, armed, brought out all 
 its apparatus of terror and torture, and planted itself full 
 in their path : but none of these things moved them ; 
 they scarcely saw them ; they went out prosecuting their 
 
324 LECTtJRES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 lofty task of making the world happy, for they were 
 actuated by a love stronger than death. The world was 
 taken by surprise. Never before had it beheld such men. 
 Everything gave way before them. City after city, and 
 province after province, capitulated; yet the whole secret 
 of their power was love. Diversified as they were in 
 mind, country, condition and age, one interest prevailed, 
 one subject of emulation swallowed up every other, — 
 which should do most for the enlargement of the reign 
 of love. A fire had been kindled in the earth which 
 consumed the selfishness of men wherever it came." 
 
 When the church shall come up to this standard of 
 beneficence, every Christian enterprise will be quickened. 
 The streams of salvation will flow forth, and "'the wilder- 
 ness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and 
 the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." 
 
 In considering this subject, let us look, in the first 
 place, at the design and extent of this law of benefi- 
 cence. It is obvious, from the teachings of the Scrip- 
 tures, and the relations that rational beings sustain to 
 their Creator and to one another, that this was designed 
 to be the ruling principle throughout the social and 
 moral world. As the law of gravitation was given to 
 -secure harmony throughout the physical universe, so 
 this was instituted to secure order and happiness among 
 intelligent beings. It is the great principle upon which 
 the Deity himself acts. All his works are but a mani- 
 festation of his benevolence. He built the universe in 
 order to open channels through which his love might 
 flow forth to bless his senitient creation. His attributes 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENBIICBNCE. 325 
 
 of omnipotence and wisdom are constantly employed, to 
 give efficacy to the attribute of goodness. His glory 
 consists in giving. Every new-made world is a fresh 
 donation from his exhaustless bounty. His love is dis- 
 played all around us. It shines in the sun ; sparkles 
 in every star ; breathes i.n the air ; waves in the forest ; 
 is painted upon the blossoms and flowers of spring; 
 is heard in the songs of birds, in the music of the 
 rippling brook, and in the ocean-anthems that ascend 
 from every sea and shore. It beats in the hearts of 
 angels, and is displayed in the beauties and splendors of 
 his celestial kingdom. And God created man in his 
 own image and- likeness, in order that the law of love 
 might be the law of his being. He desired to multiply 
 copies of himself, and to have every heart a depository 
 of benevolence, and everyhand an agent for dispensing 
 charity. And, had not sin entered Paradise, and the 
 blast of selfishness withered this fair creation, we should 
 have been presented with the glol-ious spectacle of a 
 human family bound together by the ties of an enduring 
 love, rejoicing in each other's prosperity, and finding 
 their chief happiness in deeds of charity. Earth would 
 have been a suburb of heaven, its inhabitants dwelling in 
 the twilight of the divine effulgence, visited often by 
 angel-messengers, and mingling their music with the 
 praises of celestial choirs. 
 
 But the law of love having been violated, not only 
 
 were the ties that bound man to his Maker sundered, but 
 
 each heart was separated from the other, and sought to 
 
 build up a distinct kingdom within the narrow enolosxire 
 
 28 
 
826 LEOTUKES TO TOUNQ MEN. 
 
 of its own private interests. Under selfishness, the 
 tendency was to uniyersal misanthropy. Man, being 
 unwilling to seek his happiness in promoting the welfare 
 of others, strove to appropriate the happiness of others 
 to himself. He became an absorbing, grasping, selfish 
 monster, regardless of the good of others, if his own 
 purposes could only be accomplished ; trampling under 
 his feet the interests of his fellow-men, to gratify his lust 
 for power, pleasure or wealth. From this principle have 
 flowed the evils, wars and calamities, that have afflicted 
 society. The experiment of obtaining lasting happiness 
 under the law of selfishness has been a failure. For 
 man was- made to obtain his highest good by doing good: 
 and to seek happiness in any other way is to violate the 
 natural laws of our being. Selfishness is, in fact, a 
 species of insanity. It indicates that the moral faculties 
 are deranged,— that there is insanity in the heart, if not 
 in the intellect. 
 
 Now, it is the design of the gospel to arrest, the pro- 
 gress of this madness, and to reinstate the principle of 
 benevolence upon the throne of the aifections. It comes 
 to melt the icy chains that have so long encircled human 
 hearts, and to cause the streams of kindness and love to 
 flow from one to another. And this it does by present- 
 ing in itself the principle of love in its most intense 
 form. It makes to the universe an exhibition of the 
 divuie benevolence that astonishes angels, and that lan- 
 guage cannot express. For the apostle says, *' God so 
 coved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son." 
 He does not attempt to say how much he loved the 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 327 
 
 world. He does not attempt to fathom the ocean of ' 
 divine beneficence, from which emerged the great plan of 
 Redemption ; but he simply points to this plan as the 
 expression of this beneficence. As the heavens declare 
 the glory of God, so this scheme declares his love. And 
 Christ appeared upon the theatre of human action as the 
 embodiment of the divine benevolence. , He stood as the 
 representative of the love of the three persons of the 
 glorious Trinity. He came as the gift from God the 
 Father. In his personal character, " though he was 
 rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through 
 his poverty might be rich." By his labors and instruc- 
 tions, he prepared the way for the descent of the Holy 
 Spirit. He ajso attracted to our earth hosts of angelic 
 spirits; thus showing that all the agencies of the 
 heavenly world were ready to cooperate in the great 
 work of bringing man from under the dominion of sin. 
 and restoring to the world its lost happiness. And in 
 every word that Christ uttered, in every deed that he 
 performed, in his intercourse with friend or foe, in his 
 sufierings and death, he manifested the intensity of his 
 love.. The light that poured from the sun was not more 
 steady or brilliant than the benevolence that poured 
 from his life. The cross became luminous with his 
 burning affection for mankind. And now he is seeking 
 to plant this great principle in. the heart of every disci- 
 ple. He surrounds us with the poor and needy, that we 
 may have a field for the exercise of our charities. He 
 points us to millions who are wandering in the darkness 
 and sorrow of heathenism, that we may afford the means 
 
328 LECTURES TO YOTJNQ MEN. 
 
 for giving to them the light of divine truth. He enjoins 
 upon UB the duty of prayer, that every time ■we approaeh. 
 the throne of grace we may feel the electric influence 
 of Almighty love. He promises to be always with his 
 disciples, that he may keep the flame constantly burning, 
 and consume every selfish emotion. He declares, that 
 " it is more blessed to give than to receive," thus assur- 
 ing us that a double blessing follows every benevolent 
 act. The giver and receiver are both rewarded. 
 
 The principle of benevolence being admitted, the next 
 question that arises is, How can it most effectually be 
 put into practice ? Upon this point the apostle Paul has 
 given a specific rule in his First Epistle to the Corin- 
 thians. " Upon the first day of the week, let every one 
 of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him, 
 that there be no gatherings when I come." We have 
 , here enjoined upon us the duty of adopting some plan of 
 systematic benevolence. Instead of giving from impulse, 
 or waiting to have the sensibilities of the heart strongly 
 excited, we are required to deliberately set apart a por- 
 tion of our income, or property, for charitable purposes. 
 Let any one on the Sabbath, or at any other stated 
 period, lay aside a portion of his profits according as God 
 hath prospered him, and he will then be ready to meet 
 every reasonable demand that is made upon his benevo- 
 lence. The amount which he is to lay aside is to bo 
 determined by lus own conscience, and his sense of what 
 will be most acceptable in the sight of God. It will also 
 necessarily vary with his success in business, and with 
 the pleasure that he experiences in doing good. His 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 329 
 
 course will soon ripen into a habit; and, having tasted the 
 luxury of benevolent effort, he will be unwilling to forego 
 the pleasure of honoring the Lord with his substance. 
 He will feel that "it is more blessed to give than to 
 receive ; " and, by acting from principle, and being sys- 
 tematic in his charities, he will find hia beneficence a 
 perpetual source of satisfaction. 
 
 Nor can any one excuse himself from adopting the 
 plan proposed by the apostle, on the ground that his 
 means are too limited to allow him to give anything to 
 the Lord. The number of professing Christians who 
 cannot give something, each week, is exceedingly small ; 
 and no one who is the recipient of God's bounty, and who 
 has received the riches of redemption, " without money 
 and without price," should be willing to withhold frOm 
 the Lord that which is his rightful due. No one should 
 be willing to deprive himself of the blessing that is 
 promised to the cheerful giver. I knew a colored woman, 
 who supported herself, a daughter, and an aged mother, 
 by her daily labor, who never allowed a charitable object 
 to be presented without giving something. Though 
 . she was herself aided by the town, yet she statedly 
 laid aside portions of her income', as the Lord had 
 prospered her. The case is well known to many, of u 
 domestic who, from her earnings of one dollar a week, 
 contributed annually twenty dollars to educate a youth 
 in Ceylon. 
 
 When the poor widow, in the time of Christ, brought 
 her two mites to the treasury, she little thought that the 
 Son of God would be her biographer, and that her hum- 
 28* 
 
330 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 ble deed would be known, long after the exploits of kings 
 and the achieTements of conquerors had faded from the 
 memory of mankind. She little thought that, wherever 
 the gospel was preached, this gift would stir the foun- 
 tains of benevolence in tens of thousands of hearts, and 
 yield a revenue that would scatter blessings over vast 
 coiflmunities. Gould all the effects of that- charity be 
 traced out, we might find that it was the seed from 
 which some of our great benevolent societies sprung, that 
 are, at this hour, pouring the light of divine truth upon 
 the benighted portions of the earth. Nor will its. influ- 
 ence be expended until the glad tidings of salvation are 
 proclaimed upon every island and shore, and the law of 
 beneficence becomes the universal law among the nations 
 of the earth. I would not undertake to determine which 
 was the greatest, the influence of St. Paul or the influ- 
 ence of this poor widow. Consider, too, what this prin- 
 ciple of benevolence has purchased for the widow herself, 
 — a title-deed to mansions in the skies.; riches that can- 
 not take wings and fly away ; a crown of glory that will 
 never fade away; a golden sceptre that can never be 
 wrested from her hand ; a kingdom the revenues of which 
 will never fail. Were not the two mites well invested, 
 when they were so cheerfully deposited in the treasury 
 of the Lord 1 
 
 Now, we all know that the infinite God does not need 
 our charities. He can take care of the poor without our 
 help. He can give the gospel to heathen nations without 
 our agency. He has told us, " Every beast of the forest 
 is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills. If I were 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 331 
 
 hungry I yould not tell thee ; for the world is mine and 
 the fulness thereof." But God^ calls upon us to give, 
 , that we may draw from the same fountain of happiness 
 that hlesses his own infinite spirit. He desires that hia 
 children should share in the intense delight that fills his 
 own heai't. And the Christian becomes God-like in 
 character and happiness, by being God-like in action. 
 
 The beneficence of the Deity is also in the highest 
 degree systematic. He gives " seed time and harvest, 
 summer and winter," with the most perfect regiilarity. 
 " The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them 
 their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and 
 satisfiest the desire of every living thing." Let the 
 church imitate the great Benefactor in this particular, 
 and no bounds could be set to its usefulness. 
 
 We might cite individual instances of systematic benef- 
 icence which present a standard that,, if universally 
 adopted in the church, would at once afford the means 
 for giving the gospel to all nations. ' The Rev. John 
 Wesley, whose praises are in all the churches, when his 
 annual income was thirty pounds, lived on twenty-eight, 
 and gave away two pounds. The next year receiving 
 sixty pounds, he still lived on twenty-eight, and gave 
 ftway thirty-two. His income- continuing to increase, 
 the next year to ninety pounds, and the fourth year to 
 one huiadred and twenty, he still adhered to his plan of 
 Jiving oh twenty-eight, and devoting the remainder to 
 eharitable purposes. During his life it is estimated that 
 he gave away more than thirty thousand pounds. On 
 one occasion, the suspicion having been awakened that 
 
332 LBCTUEES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 he had a large quantity of silVer plate in his house, hi 
 received from the comnussioners a circular, instructing 
 him to report to the proper authorities the amount of his 
 plate, and the length of time that it had been in his pds- 
 sessioi-., that it might be taxed. An immediate answer 
 being desired, he replied as follows : 
 
 " Sm : I have two sUvef teaspoons at London, and two at Bristol, 
 — this is all the plate wliioh I have at present ; and I shall not buy 
 any more while so many around me want bread. 
 
 " I am, sir, your most humble servant, 
 
 "John Wesley." 
 
 The munificence of Nathaniel R. Cobb, who was a 
 member of a Baptist church in this city, is doubtless 
 familiar to many of you. While a young merchant, at 
 the age of twenty-three, he drew up the following 
 .pledge : 
 
 " By the grace of God, I will never be worth more than fifty thou- 
 sand dollars. By the grace of God, I will give one-fourth of the net 
 profits of my business to charitable and religious uses. If I am ever 
 worth twenty thousand dollars, I will give one-half of my net profits ; 
 if t am ever worth thirty thousand dollars, I will give three-fourths ; 
 and the whole after fifty thousand. So help me God, or give to a more 
 fiiithful steward, and set me aside. N. R. Cqee. 
 
 "J^ovember, 1821." 
 
 To this pledge Mr. Cobb faithfully adhered. After 
 he had accumulated fifty thousand dollars, he gave away 
 all his profits. At one time he presented seven thousand 
 five hundred dollars to the Newton Theological Semi- 
 nary. On his death-bed he remarked to a friend, " By 
 the grace of God,— nothing else,— by the grace of God 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 33«5 
 
 I have been euabled, under the influence of these reso- 
 lutions, to give away more than fortj thousand dollars. 
 How good the Lord has been to me ! " 
 
 With what intense satisfaction must this servant of the 
 Lord have reflected upon his career of usefulness, as he 
 was about to leave the world ! By his munificent con- 
 tributions he had literally laid up his treasures in heaven, 
 and now he was going to enjoy them. He had sent his 
 fortune before him : and it was safe where no fires could 
 consume it, " where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, 
 and where thieves do not break through nor steal." 
 
 Kegarding our charities as an investment, we cannot 
 do better than to commit our property to the hands of 
 the Lord. For we are told, "He that giveth to the poor 
 lendeth to the Lord ; and that -which he hath given will 
 He repay him." Paul said to Timothy, " Charge them 
 that are rich in this world that they be rich in good 
 works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate ; lay- 
 ing in store for themselves a good foundation against the 
 time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." I 
 was forcibly struck with the wisdom of an English mer- 
 chant, who, on losing by one shipwreck fifteen hundred 
 pounds, directed his clerk to distribute one hundred 
 pounds among the poor, adding that if his property was 
 going at the rate of fifteen hundred pounds in a single 
 lump, it was high time to make sure of some part of it 
 before it was all gone. If others would follow his exam- 
 ple, how much might be securely invested that is now 
 lost in the hazardous enterprises in which men are 
 tempted to vmbark ! 
 
334 LECTURES TO TOUNG MBX. 
 
 Thfj exereise of benevolence should also be regarded as 
 an important meatis of spiritual growth- 
 
 Among the primitive Christians, great stress was laid 
 upon this point. The spirit of covetousness was deemed 
 utterly incompatible with the spirit of vital godliness. 
 The convert to Christianity was expected to make an en- 
 tire consecration of himself and all his possessions to God. 
 This was necessary, in order that his mind might be en- 
 tirely free to act for Christ, and that there might be no 
 entanglements to impede his progress in the Christian 
 race. St. Paul speaks of the churches of Macedonia, in 
 their deep poverty, as abounding " unto the riches of 
 their liberality;" and then, in addressing the Corinthians, 
 says, "As ye abound in everything, in faith, knowledge, 
 diligence, and in love to us, see that ye abound . in this 
 grace also." Here the grace of liberality is classed 
 with faith, diligence and love. And, throughout the 
 epistles, these virtues are united together, and are re- 
 garded as inseparable. A Christian character was 
 deemed imperfect without this grace in active exerciso. 
 And, during the early ages of the church, this high 
 standard of beneficence was kept up, and was associated 
 with a burning zeal and devotion in the work of spread- 
 ing the gospel, that. filled the world with amazement. 
 "While some perilled their lives and suffered the severest 
 hardships, in preaching from city to city, counting "all 
 things as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ," others gave all the avails of their labor, except 
 what was needed for a , bare support, to sustain their 
 brethren. We art told that one man sold himself into 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE'. 835 
 
 slavery to a family, that he might thus gain access to 
 them, for the purpose of securing thgir conversion; and, 
 having succeeded, he was liberated through the gratitude 
 of those whom he had thus blessed. Again he sold him- 
 self to a Spartan family for the same purpose, and again 
 succeeded. Literally did he obey the apostle's exhorta- 
 tion, and present his "body a living sacrifice, holy and- 
 acceptable unto God." 
 
 The persecutions to which the members of the early 
 church were exposed served to bring out the self-sacri- 
 ficing spirit of their brethren, " No sooner did thf 
 report go abroad that a fellow-Christian was in a dun 
 geon, than crowds of Christians came around the prison 
 doors begging admission, meekly bearing the insults of 
 surly guards, and using every means to procure the 
 prisoner's release. Some would beset the prison walls 
 days and nights, praying for the deliverance or th§ tri- 
 umphant death of the imprisoned martyrs. When any 
 were doomed to waste their lives in toil in distant and 
 unAvholesome mines, contributions were sent for their 
 relief, by the hands of those who undertook long jour- 
 neys to convey the sympathies and offerings of the 
 church. To show the temper of the times, a party set 
 out from Egypt in the depth of winter to relieve some 
 brethren ir the mines of Cilicia. They came to Cesarea, 
 and there the heathen seized a part of them, put out their 
 eyes, and horribly mutilated them. But, in spite of 
 these dangers, such journeys were often performed. No 
 floods of persecution could quench the desire to convey 
 consolation to those suffering for Christ's sake. And 
 
336 
 
 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEM. 
 
 those who lived to return and tell what they had seen of 
 martyrs at the mines, — how they toiled and bore their 
 Bhains and honored their Eedeemer, — were loaded wit& 
 Edany honors." 
 
 Let this principle of benevolence be admitted in its full 
 power to the hearts of Christians at the present day, — 
 • let it purge the mind of all selfishness, and open the 
 fountains of warm sympathy and noble generosity, — and 
 we should be presented with instances of heroic zeal and 
 self-conseoration such as marked the primitive ages of 
 the church. Instead of seeing multitudes immersed in 
 the cares and perplexities of business, and yielding to 
 the feverish excitement to accumulate wealth, we should 
 behold them stemming the current of worldly influences, 
 and making their temporal concerns tributary to the 
 great purposes of Christian benevolence. We should 
 behold them indifferent to the prizes of worldly gain, 
 trampling beneath their feet all sordid ends, slaying the 
 principle of covetousness, and striving to fulfil the great 
 law of love. The influence of the divine principle of 
 benevolence would cause the whole church to awake and 
 put on her strength. Her spirit of prayer would be 
 quickened, her faith strengthened, her enthusiasm kin- 
 dled into a glow, and her energies devoted to the great 
 work of giving the gospel to the whole world. 
 
 The exercise of beneficence will also promote one's 
 worldly prosperity. 
 
 The scriptural promises on this point are very full and 
 specific. "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he 
 that watereth shall be watered also himself" "There is 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 337 
 
 that seattereth and yet inereaseth, and there is that with- 
 holdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." 
 " Honor the Lord with thy substance and the fifst-fruits 
 of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with 
 plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." 
 From these promises we are not to infer that every one 
 who exercises a liberal spirit will become wealthy in sil- 
 ver and gold, for wealth is too small a reward to occupy 
 a very prominent position in the catalogue of blessings 
 which are held out to the benevolent. But, besides 
 the satisfaction consequent upon benevolent effort, 
 the habit of giving from religious principle will pro- 
 mote industry, enterprise, and those qualities of mind 
 upon which success in business depends. It will 
 render a man careful and discriminating, and lead hira 
 to act with system and energy in the prosecution of his 
 worldly afiairs. While others are drawn into hazardous 
 schemes for rapidly increasing their wealth, and thus 
 often wreck their fortunes, he is content with smaller 
 and surer gains. With his mind upon higher .objects 
 and purer ends than those which absorb the selfish heart, 
 he can look with a cooler judgment upon the trade and 
 commerce of the world, and lay his plans with more 
 skill and discretion. 
 
 The young merchant secures, too, the confidence and 
 friendship of others, and often of those who are able and , 
 willing to render him important assistance in his busi- 
 ness. He is thrown into the society of men of high 
 integrity and influence, who respect his principles, and 
 take pleasure in encouraging and elevating him. In 
 29 ^ 
 
338 
 
 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 various ways, too, Providence fulfils His promises to them 
 who lend to Hiih. " Some years ago," says one, " I 
 recollect reading a striking sermon upon the subject of 
 Christian liberality, and was forcibly struck with the 
 passage, ' Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,' 
 &c. I cannot describe how my mind was impressed with 
 the manner in which Jehovah here condescends to chal- 
 lenge his people, when he says, 'And prove me now 
 herewith.' Such were my feelings that I found it to be 
 my duty to do more for the Lord than I had ever done. 
 I did so, and, on closing that year's accounts, I found 
 that I had gained more than any two years preceding it. . 
 Some time afterwards, I thought that the Redeemer's 
 cause had a special claim upon me, and I ^ave twenty 
 pounds. Shortly after I received forty pounds, which I 
 had long since given up as lost." The eminent Baxter, 
 after describing his system of charities, says: "This 
 truth I will speak for the encouragement of the charita- 
 ble. What money I have by me now I obtained almost 
 entirely at the time when J gave away the most ; and 
 since I have had less opportunity of giving, I have had 
 less increase." 
 
 Many similar witnesses of God's faithfulness might 'be 
 cited, — r witnesses that should stimulate especially the 
 young to enter upon the business of life resolved to reg- 
 ularly devote a portion of their income tc the Lord. Let 
 the Christian young men in this city form such a pledge 
 as Mr. Cobb drew up and signed, and they will be 
 blessed in this life ; and surely they will never regret, 
 in eternity, having adopted such a course. 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 339 
 
 It should also be a source of delight to every Christian 
 heart, that the Saviour not only remembers, but appro- 
 priates to himself, every deed of charity that is per- 
 formed by his disciples. 
 
 He listens to every word of kindness that is spoken, 
 and opens his heart to receive every act of beneficence. 
 He has promised that the giver of even a cup of cold 
 ■water shall not lose his reward. And how rich are the 
 heavenly blessings that he has in store for the charitable ! 
 ' ' Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand. 
 Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
 pared for you from the foundaition of the world. For I 
 was an hungered, and ye gaye me meat ; I was thirsty, 
 and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me 
 in. Then shall the righteous answer him. Lord, when 
 saw we thee an hungered, or thirsty, or a stranger, and 
 took thee in. And the King shall answer. Inasmuch as 
 ye have done it unto one of the least of these my 
 brethren, ye_have done it unto me." 
 
 0, if we could but remember that Jesus Christ is 
 represented in every poor disciple, that his cause pleads 
 in every app&l for charity, and that he regards every, 
 benevolent act' as a personal favor bestowed upon himself, 
 we should listen to the cries of the poor, and rejoice in 
 the privilege of aiding in sending the gospel to the 
 benighted and perishing nations of the earth ! 
 
 " A poor wayfiiring man of grief 
 Hath often met me on my way. 
 Who sued so humbly for jelief. 
 That I could never say him nay : 
 
340 ' LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 I had not power to ask his name. 
 Whither he went, or wheuoe he came ; 
 Yet there Waa sometliing in hia eye 
 That won my love, I knew not why. 
 
 " Once, when my scanty meal was spread. 
 He entered — not a word he spake — 
 Just perishing for want of bread. 
 
 I gave him all ; he blessed it, brake, 
 And ate, but gave me part again : 
 Mine was an angel's portion then. 
 And, while I fed with eager haste, 
 The crust was manna to my taste. 
 
 " I spied him where a fountain burst 
 
 Clear from' the rock, — his strength was gone, - 
 OChe heedless water mocked his thirst ; 
 
 He heard it, saw it hurrying on. 
 I ran and raifeed the sufferer up, — 
 Thrice from the stream he drained my cup. 
 Dipped and returned it running o'er, — 
 I drank, and never thirsted more. 
 
 " 'T was night, — the floods were out, — it blew 
 
 A winter hurricane aloof ; 
 I heard his voicerabroad, and flew 
 
 To bid him welcome to my roof. 
 I warmed, I clothed, I cheered my guest, 
 I laid him on my couch to rest. 
 Then made the earth my bed, and seemed 
 In Eden's garden while I dreamed. 
 
 •* Stripped, wounded, beaten nigh to death, 
 I found him by the highway side ; 
 I roused his pulse, brought back his breath, 
 iRevived his spirits, and supplied 
 
SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 841 
 
 Wine, oil, refreshment, — he was healed. 
 I had myself a wound concealed, 
 But from that hour ibrgot the smart. 
 And peace bound up my broken heart. 
 
 " In prison I saw him ijext, condemned 
 
 To meet a traitor's doom at morn ; 
 The tide of lying tongues I stemmed. 
 
 And honored him 'midst shame and scorn. 
 My friendship's utmost zeal to try, 
 He asked if I for him would die, — . 
 The flesh was weak, my blood ran chUl, 
 But the free spirit cried, ' I will ! ' . 
 
 " Then in a moment to my view 
 
 The stranger darted from disguise ; 
 The tokens in his hands I knew, — 
 
 My Saviour stood before mine eyes ! 
 He spoke, and my poor name he named : 
 • Of me thou hast not been ashamed, — 
 These deeds shall thy memorial be ; 
 Fear not, thou dtdst them unto me,' " 
 
 MoNTa.OKEET. 
 
 29* 
 
xyii. 
 
 CLAIMS OP OUR TIMES. 
 
 " Aiise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is Wsea 
 upon thee. ' ' — Isatah 60:1. . 
 
 This is one of those beautiful images so profusely 
 scattered through the -writings of the prophet, by ■which 
 he describes the 'future spread of divine truth over the 
 world. Thfbwing his mind forward to the period .when 
 the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, would share in the 
 blessings of the Messiah's reign, he speaks as though the 
 splendors of the rising kingdom were already bursting 
 around him. With the prophetic eye he sees the dark 
 clouds of error and superstition breaking awfij, and the 
 light of truth pouring in upon benighted millions. A 
 knowledge of the true God takes the place of ignorance 
 and idolatry. The tumult of war is hushed. The vio- 
 lence of human passions is assuaged. Multitudes of the 
 Gentiles are seen flocking to the Redeemer; and from the 
 islands, continents, and the commerce of the world, reve- 
 nues pour into the treasury of the Lord. 
 
CLAIMS OF OTJK TIMES. 343 
 
 In view of these rich and -wide-spread hle3sings, the 
 people are tailed upon' to arise and shine ; to arouse 
 theniselves, and reflect the light •whiqjj they have re- 
 ceived, and meet the responsibilities which such privileges 
 impose upon them. 
 
 These prophetic utterances have been, in a measure, 
 fulfilled. To some of the nations of the earth the light 
 of Christiajiity has come. The glory of the Lord has 
 risen upon them. The benefits of the gospel, civiliza- 
 tion, ai't, science, freedom, education, are enjoyed by 
 millions upon this continent, and among the nations of 
 Europe. 
 
 With these great blessings, there have come also great 
 duties. Especially upon the rising generation of this 
 free and Christian republic there rest the most solemn 
 and weighty responsibilities. The rich inheritance that 
 we enjoy is the result of the toil and suffering of the 
 generations that have preceded us. To preserve our 
 religion, and transmit it unimpaired to us, martyrs have 
 bled and died. To. secure for us liberty, heroes have 
 struggled and fallen. Our educational systems are the 
 fruits of the wisdom, perseverance and self-sacrificing 
 spirit, of our fathers. Our sciences and literature have 
 cost ages of study, and embody the treasures which have 
 been dug from the mines of all nations, and been poured 
 forth by the genius of all times. But, while our grati- 
 tude is due to the past, our duties pertain to the future. 
 The millions who, in coming years, are to people this 
 continent, wi'l be impressed by our sentiments and con- 
 duct, as our condition has been affected by those who 
 
344 
 
 LECTURES TO TOUNa MEN. 
 
 have gone before us. We, m a measure, under God, 
 hold ifi our hands tte destiny of future generations. 
 Our strength or weakness, faithfiihiess or treachery, 
 religion or scepticism, humanity or cruelty, will con- 
 tribute to form the character and shape the condition of 
 the multitudes who are destined to crowd the cities and 
 states of this growing nation. - We stand where we touch 
 the springs that, give tone to the public sentiments that 
 will prevail long after we have crumbled to dust. The 
 force of our opinions, the irifluence of our valor and 
 achievements, will flow down with the current of time; 
 and enter into the civilization and institutions of future 
 generations. 
 
 Nor ■ can we fail to perceive, that, while much has 
 been accomplished by the heroes and patriots of the past, 
 in advancing civilization, securing the triumphs of lib- 
 erty and justice, and promoting the' spread of a pure 
 religion, there yet remains ,a vast work to be achieved. 
 To say nothing of those portions of the earth the moral 
 darkness of which remains to this day unbroken, there 
 are within the bounds of Christendom giant systems of 
 iniquity to be overthrown, masses of people to be de- 
 livered from the bondage of ignorance and vice, and 
 multitudes to be reclaimed from the superstitions and 
 delusions of a false faith. In our own cpuntry, great 
 changes, I may say mighty revolutions, must take place 
 before we can deserve the title of "free, enlightened, 
 Christian America." These words are far from describ- 
 ing our present condition. Here, then, is a field broad 
 enough for the mightiest energies and loftiest aspirations 
 
CLAIMS OF OUR TIMES. 345 
 
 >f the g3neration that is entering upon the stage of life. 
 Here is a work worthy of the heroism of the most heroic 
 age, — worthy of the efforts of the noblest and purest of 
 the sons of men. It appeals to your patriotism, your 
 humanity, your Christianity. 
 
 If we extend our view to the necessities of other civil- 
 ized nations, and take within the field of our vision the 
 wants of the unenlightened portions of the earth, we 
 cannot but be impressed with a sense of the weighty 
 responsibilities that rest upon us. And the arena that 
 opens before us is as glorious as it is vast. It presents 
 prizes to be won, as well as duties to be performed. If 
 there are struggles to be passed through, and sacrifices 
 to be made, and battles to be fought, there are also 
 splendid crowns to grasp, and thrones of influence to 
 reach, and treasures to gather up, that will enrich the 
 soul for this life, and bless it in the life to come. 
 
 Never, in my .view, was there an age so full of inter- 
 est, of stimulus and of hope, as the present age. Never 
 was there so much to arouse the young, — to stir their 
 sympathies, to fire their ardor, to prompt them, to gird 
 themselves for the noblest efforts and achievements. 
 With the spirit of liberty abroad, exciting discussion 
 and urging its claims upon the oppressed of all nations, 
 — with a commerce that brings together, and within our 
 reach, the islands and continents of the earth, — with 
 philanthropic enterprises and Christian associations that 
 embrace within their sympathies the wants of millions of 
 the human family, — we have all that a generation could 
 ask, to exc'te the most strenuous effort, and kindle the 
 
S46 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 fires of an intense zeal and hoi j ambition And, over 
 the wastes of past ages, prophetic voices come to us, 
 bidding us " Arise and shine.". We hear the summons, 
 as though in trumpet-tones, " Awake, awake, put on thy 
 strength, Zion ! " . 
 
 „ In presenting the claims of our times upon young 
 men, I would remark, in the first place, that the age 
 demands intellectual' activity and force. 
 
 In former ages men were concerned, mainly, with 
 material , objects. Their attention was engrossed by the 
 outward world, and by the cares and labor of providing 
 for their physical necessities. Strength of muscle and 
 vigor of bodjr were of more importance than mental 
 culture and force of mind. A man was distinguished in 
 proportion to his physical power, — his ability to subdue • 
 the material world, level the forests, cultivate the soil, 
 and obtain the mastery over the animal creation. David 
 tells us, in the seventy-fourth Psalm, that "a man was 
 famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick 
 trees." And,- in the history of Samson, who slew the 
 lion, and overthrew the pillars of the vast structure that 
 contained thousands of people; of Saul,' whose athletic 
 form recommended him as a suitable king ; and of David, 
 whose successful encounter with the powerful Philistine, 
 and other exploits, secured for him distinction,-^ we dis- 
 cover the leading idea upon which merit and honors 
 were based in those distant ages. The same idea runs 
 through the ancient 'mythology, as is seen in the record 
 of Jupiter's exploits, in the history of the Titans, in the 
 achievements of Hercules. Nor are we lacking monu- 
 
CLAIMS OF OUR TIMES. 347 
 
 nients that attest the physical power of these ancient 
 generations. The mighty cities which they built, with 
 walls of almost incredible dimensions, the pyramids of 
 Egypt, and other vast structures, all bear testimony to 
 this characteristic of the times. 
 
 And in the efforts of tlie ancients to leave the material 
 and enter the intellectual world, to understand the princi- 
 ples and laws of nature, to explore the mysteries that 
 looked out upon them from the stars above and the earth 
 beneath, they were for a long time baffled. For thousands 
 of years they wandered in darkness, unable to construct 
 any scientific system that was worthy of the name. 
 Their philosophy consisted of only crude and vague ideas 
 concerning the elements and laws of nature. No funda- 
 *mental principles were discovered, upon which the learned 
 in successive generations could build enduring systems. 
 The labors of one sect in philosophy were overthrown by 
 the zeal or superior sagacity of another. , No leading 
 idea of unity and harmony guided them in their re- 
 searches after truth. No traces of design and adaptation 
 in the works of nature could be discerned with sufficient 
 distinctness to impress upon their minds the conception 
 of one supreme and all-pervading Intelligence. 
 
 How great is the contrast, then, between our times 
 and those ages of ignorance and mental darkness ! How 
 great the contrast even between the present state of 
 science and philosophy, and their condition a few cen- 
 turies ago, when knowledge was looked up in a few 
 colleges and universities, and only the privileged classes 
 could gain access to its treasures ! Now, we have phi- 
 
848 
 
 LEOTUfiBS TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 losophy and the sciences not only cleared of the mysti- 
 cisms and superstitions of an ignorant age, and established 
 upon a firm basis, but also diffused through the masses 
 of society. Mankind, instead of exercising simply their 
 muscular strength, are called upon to exercise their 
 intellectual faculties and powers. Instead of wandering 
 in the regions of darkness, error and superstition, the 
 light of science shines upon their pathway, and sheds its 
 lustre upon all the employments and enterprises of life. 
 Instead of being dependent upon the few, who held a 
 monopoly of the discoveries and principles of science, all 
 are free to enter the tempile of knowledge, and to enrich 
 theii* minds with its choicest treasures. The greatest 
 discoveries in astronomy, the soundest maxims of philos- 
 ophy, the most valuable principles in chemistry, are the » 
 inheritance of all who will take the pains to secure them. 
 They are the property of the multitude, as much as the . 
 light of the sun, or the air that we breathe, or the food 
 that nourishes the body. 
 
 And these vast resources are accessible to the people, 
 not simply for mental culture and intellectual delight, 
 but also for the practical purposes of life. In the various 
 mechanical arts, the workman may associate science with 
 his labor, and may be studying out principles and devel- 
 oping new powers while he is earning his daily bread. 
 The age enables him and stimulates him to use thought 
 as -well as strength, and to employ his skill instead of 
 physical force. And so rapidly are science and art 
 advancing, that they are enabling man to employ the 
 great agencies of nature to do the won-k that formerly 
 
CLAIMS OF OUR TIMES. 349 
 
 required the force of millions of men. Scitace gives the 
 principle, and art constructs the machinery ; and, by the 
 union of the two, man obtains dominion over the elements 
 of nature, — over the air, the water, and the earth. He 
 ploughs the ocean in his stately vessel, heedless of the 
 winds, the currents, and the tides. With the propelling 
 power within, with iron sinews, and an unceasing activ- 
 ity, and a fiery energy, the almost living ship pursues 
 her course from port to port, with the utmost regularity. 
 Th& earth is belted with tracks, and the mighty engine, 
 subject to the will of one man, carries, with the swiftness 
 of the winds, thousands of human beings from city to 
 city. Mountains are brought low, valleys are exalted, 
 rough places made plain, and a highway prepared, over 
 •which civilization and Christianity are advancing to 
 fulfil their great mission to the nations of the earth. 
 Even the hghtning, so long the object of superstitious 
 dread, is enlisted in the service of man. It carries his 
 thoughts over a continent with a promptness that liter- 
 ally annihilates time and space. It runs its expresses 
 with no other demand than a small wire road to travel 
 upon, and with a despatch that the cannon-shot cannot 
 compete with, nor even sound in its flight surpass. This, 
 and the other mighty agencies of nature, are' doing for 
 this generation a work the benefits of which cannot be 
 calculated. They are carrying the advantages and bless- 
 ings that formerly were the portion of the few to the 
 many. They are breaking into the halls and castles of 
 the privileged classes, and constituting the whole com- 
 munity one privileged class. 
 
 30 ' 
 
850 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. - 
 
 In England and America the machinery now in oper^ 
 ation is performing the work of hundreds of millions of 
 men, and thus lifting the burden of labor from this vast 
 multitude. A child, in one of our factories, can accom- 
 plish ■ more in a day than a- score of Samsons could in 
 ancient times. 
 
 Our age, then, demands that you be men of intellectual 
 vigor, as well as of outward activity ; that you employ 
 ■your power of thought, as well as physical strength. 
 For, although the discoveries and inventions of the past 
 are so numerous and valuable, though society has within 
 the last century made such progress, yet we cannot but 
 believe that even more important improvements yet are to 
 be made, and that a higher forin of civilization is yet to 
 be reached. We cannot but believe that science and art 
 are to aid man in obtaining more complete victories over 
 nature, and enjoying more splendid triumphs, than any 
 that have marked the history of the past. And, to con- 
 tribute to the further advancement of civilization, to the 
 greater progress of science, and to a still wider diffusion 
 of the comforts of life, is your privilege and your duty. 
 
 In the next place, the age in which we live has claims 
 upon your philanthropy. 
 
 Every American youth, in view of the rich inheritance 
 which the benevolence of the past has bequeathed to him, 
 and in view of the facilities afforded at the present day 
 for prosecuting philanthropic enterprises, should be a 
 philanthropist. Especially should every son of New 
 England be true to those great principles and that noble 
 spirit which inspired the hearts of our ancestors, and 
 
CLAIMS OF OUR TIMES. 351- 
 
 prompted them ,to aasail with such boldness and energy 
 the social evils around them. New England, by virtue 
 of its origin, and from the fact that it has been the birth- 
 place of so many benevolent institutions, is consecrated 
 to philanthropy. In its infancy it was baptized in the 
 spirit of humanity. Its national life, its energies, and 
 its prospective wealth, pow'er and "prosperity, were all 
 dedicated upon the altar of benevolence. And nobly has 
 New England fulfilled her sacred mission. In the abun- 
 dant provision that she has made for the poor, the blind, 
 the deaf and the insane, — in her efforts to remove the 
 great evils that afflict society, — in her benevolent asso- 
 ciations to meet the spiritual wants, of the community, 
 and to give the gospel to distant nations, we recognize 
 the fruits of that spirit which inspired the hearts of her 
 founders. But a great work remains to be achieved in 
 New England itself, before her undivided moral force is 
 given to the cause of humanity. A purer and more 
 Christian public sentiment is yet to be created, the spirit 
 of self-sacrifice must more generally prevail, larger 
 numbers must abandon the worship of Mammon, and 
 conscience must gain more victories over cotton and com- 
 merce, before all the influences that go hence are sound, 
 healthful, and true to the interests of humanity. We 
 have reached quite a commendable standard of philan- 
 thropy with reference to evils that are far from us, in 
 India, China, Austria, and among the Hottentots. But 
 many are slow to open their eyes to the evils that are 
 just around them, or within the limits of our glorious 
 Union. 
 
352 . LECTURES TO TOUNa MEN. 
 
 Now, without presuming to dictate to those whose eyes 
 are blinded^ by the glitter of gold, or who suppose that 
 the world was made simply as a market; to trade in, or 
 those whose opinions belong to a past age, we do contend 
 that the young men and the young women of this gen- 
 eration are bound to sustain those great philanthropic 
 sentiments that- aim at the destruction of war, slavery., 
 intemperance, licentiousness, and kindred vices. We 
 would not, indeed, have you run into those wild extrava- 
 gances that characterize certain persons in the . commu- 
 nity, who imagine jfchat they hold a monopoly of all the 
 humanity that is felt upon these questions. But we 
 would have you stand, with reference to them, just where 
 the principles and spirit of Christianity would place you. 
 We would see you occupying a platform constituted of 
 scriptural passages such as these : " Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbor as thyself^" "All things whatsoever ye would 
 that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, — for 
 this is the law and the prophets ; " " Fear God and keep 
 his commandments, — for this is the whole duty of man." 
 Standing thus, you stand on the rock of eternal truth. 
 Fearing God, you have no one else to fear. It is not for 
 you to inquire to which side of these questions the public 
 opinion is tending, or what sentiments will give you the 
 most popularity, or bring you the most business. You 
 are to ask, What is right? You are to ask. What do 
 justice, humanity, and the infinite God, require? To 
 pursue any other course is to debase your manhood, and 
 to sacrifice your independence, and everything that gives 
 value U you as an intelligent and accountable being, 
 
CLAIMS OF OtTK TIMES. 353 
 
 made in the image of Almighty God. Some of you may 
 deem it of small account what opinions you, as indi- 
 viduals, may entertain upon the moral and philanthropic 
 questions of the day. But we live in an age when 
 opinions carry with them a mighty force, and when every 
 man is accountable to God and to the world for his opinion. 
 The great battles that are opening among the civilized 
 nations of the earth are battles of opinion. Argument is 
 grappling with argument, principle with principle. The 
 spirit of discussion is everywhere abroad. You find it in 
 the city, the town, the village, — in the drawing-room, the 
 hotel, car, steamboat, and wherever men congregate. It 
 pervades our newspapers, periodicals, and popular litera- 
 ture. And it is a spirit which cannot be suppressed. 
 While men have intellects to think, and hearts to feel, 
 and tongues to utter, it will go on. If it is smothered 
 in one quarter, it will break out in another. If the 
 waters of a cold and false conservatism are played upon 
 it, it will by its intense heat convert those waters into 
 gases, that will carry up the flame still higher. You 
 may pile mountains upon it, but, like the internal fires 
 of the earth, it will heave both the mountains and the 
 continents, and spread its light over the nations. Yes, 
 the evils of war, of slavery; of intemperance, will be dis- 
 cussed. You cannot place these giant sins in the bosom 
 of this free, enlightened, progressive nation, and make 
 them lie there quietly. You cannot stop the throbbing 
 hearts all over this republic. You cannot make the con- 
 sciences of this people mere machines, to be worked by 
 aspiring politicians and the priesthood in the temple of 
 30* 
 
354 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. - 
 
 Mammon. Those who attempt it do not go back far 
 enough. They must- first close all our schools, shut up 
 the churches throughout the land, muzzle the press, for- 
 bid public assemblies, destroy our literatftre, turn the 
 government into an iron despotism, and roll back the 
 swelling tide of civilization, — and then, and not till then, 
 ■will they have hopes of success. Sp sure as these 
 schools, churches an(J presses, retain their, power, so cer- 
 tain is it that this spirit of discussion will continue and 
 increase. And, so sure as men think, and, feel and argue, 
 so surely must these great evils break away, to let civil- 
 ization, gospel light and God's truth, advance. 
 
 Your opinions, then, have weight. They constitute 
 your influence, and your influence is your being. It is 
 that which is vital and enduring, as far as you stand 
 related to this world. And, as you throwjour influence 
 in the one scale or the other "of these great questions, you 
 hasten or retard the progress of civilization, and all its 
 attendant blessings., 
 
 Nor are the claims of the times upon your benevolence 
 and humanity fully met, when you have joined some 
 beneficent or philanthropic associations. Our age is dis- 
 tinguished for societies and associated efibrt. Men com- 
 bine together for the accomplishment of a given object, 
 and great good is the result of such unions of sympathy 
 and energies. But, while we are zealous in carrying 
 forward the plaias of organization, we should guard 
 against allowing our society membership to absorb or 
 neutralize our individual responsibility. I need to remind 
 you thit there is danger of this. There is danger of 
 
CLAIMS OF OUR TIMES. 355 
 
 one's ttinkiiig that, by signing his name to a constitu- 
 tion, and attending public meetings for some charitable 
 or philanthropic object, his whole duty is done. But 
 the age in which we live demands individual forces. 
 The call is for men of earnestness, energy and personal 
 devotion, — men who, if it is necessary, will stand alone 
 in the defence of truth, justice and the rights of human- 
 ity. We need men like the prophet Elijah, who could 
 alone face thousands of idolaters;' like Daniel, who 
 feared not the power of kings nor the rage of lions ; 
 like Luther, who, single-handed, encountered the com- 
 bined forces of papal Europe; like Howard, whose 
 philanthropy was fed from the deep fountains of benevo- 
 lence in his own soul. And let this individual power be 
 combined with the associated effort that characterizes our 
 age, — let our societies be composed of men any one of 
 whom may chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand 
 to flight, — and we shall have an agency for carrying on 
 the work of reform such as the world never be- 
 held. These associations will constitute an enginery as 
 mighty, in morals, as are the great agencies of nature 
 which are employed to improve our physical condition.' 
 Under their attacks the citadels of iniquity and vice will 
 tremble ; nay, more, they will be battered to the ground. 
 The war spirit will yield to the mild sceptre of peace. 
 The towering evil of • slavery will fall ; and men will 
 wonder that barbarism could so long" dwell with civiliza- 
 tion, and the extremes of liberty and oppression meet 
 and be cherished in the same republic. Intemperance 
 
356 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 will relax its grasp upon the human appetite, and society 
 be delivered from the iron tyranny of this- monster vice. 
 
 In the next place, the times demand enlarged and 
 comprehensive religious views on the part of those who 
 would improve society and fulfil their mission. 
 
 The day for any favorable results from simply denom- 
 inational strife and zeal, jn promoting the interests of a 
 sect, is past. It is not by the forms of Presbyterianism, 
 or Congregationalism, or Episcopacy, or by the mode of 
 baptism, that the world is to be converted, — but by Chris- 
 tianity. In this age we have too many life-questions to 
 deal with, and too many giant sins to wrestle with, to 
 leave time and strength to attend to the mint, anise 
 and cummin,, of church forms. In exercising, however, a 
 liberal spirit, we would have you guard against com- 
 promising, in the least degree, the great principles and 
 doctrines of religion. We would have you contend 
 earnestly for the faith once delivered to the .saints. For, 
 on the purity of our religion, the stability of our faith, 
 and the sincerity of our love for the Saviour, depend the 
 success of all our enterprises for blessing mankind. 
 But, with this strong attachment, to the truths of the 
 Bible, there should be a liberal spirit, that will embrace 
 all evangelical denominations, and recognize in every 
 true follower of Christ a Christian brother. The spirit 
 of denominational exclusiveness is far, very far, from 
 meeting the wants of our timei. A sect may be exceed- 
 ingly tenacious of its rights, may be loud in urging its 
 claims to an exclusive monopoly of the special favors 6f 
 Heaven, and may lay great stress upon robes, forms and 
 
CLAIMS OF OUK TIMES. 357 
 
 fertunes, bu in an age like this it will have little 
 operative or aggressive power. It may succeed in act- 
 ing upon the defensive, and may comfort itself with a 
 delusion like that which is so satisfying to the Chinese, 
 who think that they possess all the advantages and bless- 
 ings that God has bestowed upon man, and that those 
 who are outside of their wall are barbarians. 
 
 Such a doctrine is calculated to excite only emotions of 
 pity, especially at the present day, when God is evidently 
 most abundantly blessing those denominations that claim 
 no exclusive privileges, and whose ministers aim at no 
 other honor than that of being the . successors of their 
 great Master, Jesus Christ. 
 
 Such formalists, who stand aloof from their brethren, 
 remind me of the barons in feudal times, who, in their 
 lofty castles, were content to look out upon the busy 
 world, and who were mainly anxious to protect their own 
 domains from the incursions of their neighbors. But, to 
 have power at this day, men must come down from their 
 dignified retreats, and come out upon the broad battle- 
 field of human life. They must stand ready to unite 
 with the hosts of God's army. Having on the shield of 
 faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the 
 Spirit, they must, if necessary, plunge into the thickest 
 of the battle. In this way only can they have their 
 influence felt, and show to the world that their religion 
 is a vital reality. 
 
 Another form of exclusiveness appears in those who 
 make religion to consist in the adoption of certain doc- 
 trinal formulas, which are of human origin, and who 
 
358 LBOTUKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 hare no sympathy with those who would make the pre- 
 cepts 3f Christianity applicahle to the sins of our own 
 times, as well as to those of past ages. These men — 
 dwellers, mainly, out of New England — seek to ohtain 
 conquests without ever attacking the enemy ; and vainly 
 suppose that the dryest and coldest presentations of 
 divine truth will recommend religion to the hearts and 
 consciences of men. Now, it is clear that Christ never 
 intended his church to be a valley of dry bones. iSe 
 intended that there should be in this sacred enclosure 
 living forms, with flesh and muscles and strength, with 
 arms to strike for truth and righteousness, and with 
 hearts to feel for' the woes and wrongs of suffering 
 humanity. If the world is presented with a religion 
 without the element of humanity, there will spring up 
 humanity without religion. This will be the inevitable 
 consequence. If the mass of men have lost their moral 
 rectitude, they have not lost their common sense, and 
 their judgment of what is right and true. And it is a 
 vain endeavor, to attempt to ride religion over the com- 
 mon sense of mankind, and against the instincts of human- 
 ity. Present to the world a Christianity without the 
 spirit of love, kindness and good-will towards all. men, 
 and it will be no Christianity. It will be a mere skeleton, 
 the bones of which will be very dry. The Christianity 
 that will be effective m subduing sin, and winning the 
 affections of men, must have in it a beating heart, full 
 of sympathy and love. Such a system will make pro- 
 gress, and will obtain, extensive conquests over mankind. 
 Now, when the different branches of Christ's visible 
 
CLAIMS OP OUK TIMES. 359 
 
 churcli shall abandon their exclusiveness and throw aside 
 their asperities, and unite together, hand to hand, and 
 heart to heart, it will be the signal that indicates the 
 coming of Christ to take possession of the nations of the 
 earth. As the world was at peace when he first ap- 
 peared to establish his kingdom, so his church must be 
 at peace when he shall come to extend that kingdom 
 over the globe. 
 
 Christ never intended that his church should be broken 
 up into hostile parties, and be, like the icebergs of the 
 northern regions, striking against and crushing each 
 other. He would have the cold masses float down into 
 a warmer zone, and melt and mingle together in the 
 great ocean of love. Were the Saviour to appear to-day 
 upon the earth, and gather around him his firiends, we 
 should not hear him calling for Congregationalists, or 
 Methodists, or Presbyterians, or Episcopalians ; but 
 he would call for Christians, for those who bore his 
 image, and had his spirit, and were inspired with desires 
 to do good such as ever . fill his own heart. He would 
 call for men of unwavering faith, of unflinching courage, 
 men who would be ready to make any personal sacrifices 
 for the benefit of mankind. 
 
 But I must remind you, that, if you fully meet the 
 claims of the times, you must not expect a life of ease 
 and repose. It may be more to your present comfort to 
 fall in with the current opinions of the day, and to 
 satisfy your consciences by assailing the wicked institu- 
 tions of past ages, and exposing the~ vices of the ante- 
 diluvians, and not disturbing the sinners of the present 
 
360 LECTDRES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 generation. For the world has not been remarkable for 
 promoting the comfort, and honoring those who hare 
 conferred the greatest and most lasting benefits upon 
 society. The men whom we call heroes, — men who by 
 the force of their energy and humanity have advanced 
 civilization in the face of barbarism, and have obtained 
 conquests for Christianity over error or heathenism, 
 — have not been what the world would term happy or 
 popular men. Luther, in his lifetime, had more enemies 
 than friends. If he was loved intensely by some, he was 
 hated intensely by others. John Knox, the Scotch 
 reformer, was persecuted aa well as admired, and was, 
 at one period, a galley-slave, while endeavoring to deliver 
 others from spiritual captivity. The faithfulness of the 
 immortal Edwards cost him his parish, and embittered 
 many years of his eminently useful life. Above all, the 
 reception which Christ, the divine benefactor, met with, 
 affords a true picture of the rewards which the earnest 
 champion of truth and humanity may expect from unre- 
 generated men. And, were Christ to appear in our day, 
 and fearlessly expose and denounce the sins of modem 
 Scribes and Pharisees, I apprehend that multitudes 
 would say, in their hearts, if not in the public streets, 
 " Away with him, let him be crucified ! " 
 
 If, young men, you regard your present comfort more 
 than your duty, if you love money more than you love 
 God, if you prefer popularity in an earthly city to a repu- 
 tation in the streets of the New Jerusalem, then suppress 
 your humanity. Compromise with your conscience, by 
 having your zeal against wrongs and injustice measured 
 
CLAIMS Ot JUR TIMES. 361 
 
 by the distance that those ■wrongs are from you. Let 
 your religion be a dead formality, — actually dead, with 
 no signs of life about it. 
 
 But, on the other hand, if you would accomplish your 
 mission, if you would live in the true sense of living, then 
 let the calls of the age upon your humanity, zeal and 
 moral integrity, find a response in your hearts. Resolve 
 that, God helping you, you will bow to no institutions, 
 customs or opinions, that are founded upon wrong, or 
 nourished by the evil passions of men. Resolve that you 
 will be true to the principles of a living Christianity. 
 And, if your faithfulness costs you some temporal ad- 
 vantages, you will save your integrity, and gain what 
 will be of infinite value, the approbation of God. 
 
 Let, then, the gospel standard be your guide. Follow 
 that, and you cannot err. Follow that, and it will lead 
 you to victory. Follow that, and you will at last mingle 
 with prophets, apostles and martyrs, who have been true 
 to the principles of right, who, in their times, nobly 
 battled with error and injustice. Follow that, and your 
 eye will one day rest upon the sparkling banners of the 
 celestial city, and the towers and temples of an everlast- 
 ing kingdom. The music of angels will fall upon your 
 ears. A crown of glory will adorn your brow. Tor 
 will experience the fulfilment of the promise, " To him 
 that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my 
 throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with 
 my Father in His throne." 
 31 
 
XVIII. 
 
 THE GREAT EXAMPLE 
 
 " Because Ckrist also suffered for us, leaving us an example that y« 
 should follow his steps." —1 Peter 2 : 21. 
 
 I CANNOT close this series of discourses without hold- 
 ing up to your view the example of Him whose .life 
 embodied every virtue, and illustrated every holy princi- 
 ple. And, were this the last opportunity that would be 
 afforded me of addressing you, I should desire to leave 
 the image of Jesus impressed upon your hearts, and to 
 utter in your hearing that Name " that is above every 
 name." 
 
 As an instructor, Christ has, the highest claims upon 
 your attention. As the great Redeemer, he demands 
 your faith. But, I wish, on this occasion, to exhibit 
 him as the Great Example. For he came not only to 
 furnish the world with a sublime system of truth, but 
 with a glorious exemplification of truth. While his 
 death constitutes the vital power of his scheme of re- 
 demption, his life is the vital power of his system of 
 doctrines. • 
 
THE GREAT EXAMPLE. 363 
 
 Previous to his adveut, distinguished philosophers had 
 furnished the world with superior ethical systems. 
 Noble principles had been advanced and eloquently 
 defended, but they failed to make a distinct aiid 6xteh- 
 sive impression, because they lacked the power that 
 corresponding lives in their authors alone could impart. 
 
 But Christ came not only "a teacher sent from 
 God," but " as the brightness of the Father's glory, 
 and the express image of His person." He was, 
 in himself, heavenly light bursting upon the darkness 
 of the world. The glory of the Father shone through 
 him, and he revealed its excellences as the prism 
 exhibits the beautiful colors of light. By his pure 
 life, his unselfish heart, his benevolent conduct, he 
 became the Shekinah of the temple of humanity. From 
 his sacred person streamed forth influences that shed 
 their lustre upon every principle that he uttered, every 
 doctrine that 'he taught, every command that he gave. 
 We find him not only pointing out the path of duty, but 
 showing men how to walk therein. He not only warns 
 them against temptation, but teaches them how to grap- 
 ple with it, and, in the fiercest conflict, to obtain the 
 mastery. He not only said, "Love your enemies, do 
 good to them that hate you," but he gave the most 
 illustrious examples .of these precepts that the world ever 
 beheld. He not only bade us make preparation for 
 death, but he showed us how to die, and by his resurrec- 
 tion and ascension he brought life and immortality to 
 light. As we may learn more of the nature and glory 
 of light from the sun, than from the clearest and most 
 
364 LBCTUKES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 accurate definitions of the word ■which lexicographers can 
 furnish, so we may learn more of virtue, of benevolence, 
 of moral truth, from the life of Christ, than from the 
 most elaborate and voluminous systems of divinity. 
 
 And his illustrious deeds, as well as the sublime truths 
 that he uttered, made a deep impression upon society. 
 They attracted the attention of men, touched their sensi- 
 bilities, and won over their afiections. His mission, in 
 fact, in its immediate effects and prospective power, con- 
 stituted the epoch in the world's history towards which 
 all former missions, prophetic utterances, and divine 
 promises of good,, converged, and from which flowed the 
 moral influence and agencies that are blessing the nations 
 of the earth. He was himself history, — that history 
 which is exciting the most intense interest, that is diffus- 
 ing itself through society, that is shaping more than 
 any other the destiny of mankind. He went about 
 doing good; not simply to one generation^ but to all 
 generations ; not simply to one nation, but to all nations. 
 It is true that Jerusalem was the special field of his 
 labors ; but he designed to make of the whole earth a 
 spiritual Jerusalem, in which every heart should be a 
 temple, every soul filled with divine love, and every 
 inhabitant a devout worshipper. It is true that he went 
 to a chosen people ; but Heaven has decreed that all 
 tribes and kingdoms of the earth shall compose one vast 
 empire, Jver which the authority of Jesus shall be estab- 
 lished. The light of his holy example is destined to 
 spread until it illumines the islands, shines upon the con- 
 
THE GREAT EXAMPLE. 365 
 
 tinents of the earth, and dissipates the moral darkness 
 that has so long enveloped the nations. 
 
 ■And, though the Saviour is not now personally with 
 us, yet his spirit is here, dwelling in the hearts of his 
 followers, hovering over the pathway of every youthful 
 disciple, and seeking to mould our characters in con- 
 formity with the divine pattern which he has given. As 
 he reflected the image of the Father in his life, conver- 
 sation, teachings and acts of kindness, so he desires that 
 we should reflect his image, and thus multiply copies of 
 his life, and extend the usefulness of his mission. 
 
 In presenting this great example, I address myself to 
 those of you who have yielded to the power of the 
 Saviour's love, and who are now girding on the Christian 
 armor for the battle of life. Would that we might 
 include you all in this class ! Would that we might see 
 every young man in this community, not only avoiding 
 the destructive vices against which you have been 
 warned, but also personally interested in the atoning 
 sacrifice of Christ, and striving to follow in his foot- 
 steps ! 
 
 In the first place, we should imitate Christ in the 
 practical exhibition that he made, in his life, of his 
 system of truth. 
 
 It is true that we are justified by faith ; but it is 
 equally true that faith without works is dead. It has in 
 it no vitality, no lifegiving or saving power. In look- 
 ing over the Christian community, we have reason to 
 fear that there is much dead faith in what profess to be 
 living chui .hes. Many called disciples of Jesus seem 
 31* * 
 
366 LECTURES TO YOTJNG MEN. 
 
 more anxious to keep their articles of faith pure than 
 their own hearts pure, more careful about retaining the 
 form of sound words in their creeds than the reality of 
 sound principles in their lives. We need, indeed, pure 
 doctrine. We need to defend zealously the faith once 
 delivered to the saints. To compromise with error in 
 any of its forms, is the death of the church. To add to 
 or take from the things written in this book, is to ex- 
 punge our names from the book of life, and shut our- 
 selves out of the holy city. 
 
 But when we have embraced and defended the truth, 
 our work as Christians is not done. These doctrines must 
 w^ork their way down through the intellect into the heart. 
 They must touch the afifections, arouse the sympathies, 
 kindle the fires of a pure, holy devotion. They must 
 strike their roots into the seat of life, if we would have 
 them grow, and yield fruit, and put forth their leaves 
 for the healing of the nations. The abstract principles 
 of truth may be carefully stored in the intellect ; but, to 
 have attractive power, they must be clothed with the vir- 
 tues *)f a holy and benevolent life. The geologist may 
 instruct us respecting the different formations and strata 
 of rocks of which the crust of the earth is composed; 
 but, in order to have the scenery attractive, these rocks 
 must be covered with verdure, smiling fields, waving 
 forests and fragrant flowers. Christ, as we have already 
 intimated, has furnished us with a sublime system of 
 moral truth, — a system that throws into the shade all 
 others, that renders all human wisdom contemptible, that 
 illustrates all ancient divine utterances, that unravels 
 
IHE UEKAT EXAMPtB. 367 
 
 the mysteries of an early and obscure dispensation, and 
 throws its light forward through philosophy, science and 
 ethics ; — a system that culminated upon the summit of 
 Calvary, and thence spread its effulgence over the moun- 
 tains and plains of Judea. Yet Christ said, "To this 
 end was I born, and for this cause came I into the 
 world, that I might bear witness unto the truth." And 
 what was that witness 7 The witness of a holy life, of a 
 career of unparalleled. usefulnesg, of miracles having the 
 double purpose of testimony and immediate good. And, 
 though he came to work out a great scheme of redemption, 
 ^- though his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, are 
 the great facts in his history, — yet no opportunity of 
 doing good was so insignificant as to escape his notice, 
 no person was so obscure as to lose his blessing. Be- 
 hold him entering the abode of affliction, sitting by the 
 side of the dying, pointing the penitent upward to the 
 star of hope, restoring the blind to sight, the sick to 
 health, the dead to life. Hear him, as he passes from 
 city to city, and from village to village, uttering the sub- 
 lime declaration, "I must work the work of Him that 
 sent me while it is day ; for the night cometh, in which 
 no man can work ! " "I must work while it is day ! " 
 Sublime utterance! The very words seem vital with 
 power ! They were ever before Christ, guiding him as 
 a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. No dis- 
 couragements, no wearipess, no ingratitude in the objects 
 of his kindness, could stop him. in his career of useful- 
 ness. Like the sun in the heavens, he moved steadily 
 and majestically forward, causing the light of his holy 
 
368 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 example to shine upon the evil and the good, and bestow- 
 ing his blessing upon the just and the unjust. 
 
 And there comes to each of us a message, "Work 
 while it is day." From the providential openings for 
 usefulness around us, — from the battle-fields of conflict- 
 ing moral principles, where error is wrestling with truth, 
 where vice is grappling with virtue, — there come voices 
 calling upon Zion to awake and put on her strength. 
 And, while there is such intense zeal manifested in every 
 department of worldly enterprise, while inventions in the 
 arts and discoveries in the sciences are crowding upon us 
 in such numbers, while the tide of civilization is rising 
 and extending, while moral questions are swaying po- 
 litical action, and the claims of humanity are pressed 
 upon us by multitudes making no pretensions to a re- 
 ligious faith, the church cannot remain inactive without 
 losing its power, as well as its title to discipleship. Its 
 doctrines may be ably defended, its external worship 
 inay be preserved, its forms and rites may be scrupu- 
 lously observed, — but what the world demands, in order 
 to feel the force of religion, is living examples of its 
 principles. The spirit of Him who went about doing 
 good must constitute the life of the church. " In the 
 process of resuscitation," says one, " we think any signs 
 of life are better than death ; and even the most convul- 
 sive and irregular movements of the limbs are deemed 
 far better than the decent and the garnished laying-out 
 of a corpse. Jesus Chuist never intended that his church 
 should attract the _attejition of the world by a pomp of 
 lying in state." She must burst her cofiSn-lid, and come 
 
THE GREAT EXAMPLE. 369 
 
 forth. She must shake herself from the dust, and arise 
 and shine. Then will she go forward fair as the moon, 
 clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. 
 
 In the next place, we must imitate Christ as he 
 appears before us in his daily life, in order to fully 
 develop our individual power, and exert a holy influ- 
 ence. 
 
 A church-membership does not necessarily render one 
 an efficient laborer in the Lord's vineyard. Our effi- 
 ciency and positive usefulness must result from what is 
 within, rather than from any associate relations or exter- 
 nal circumstances. The courage of an army is the cour- 
 age that is in the individual hearts of the soldiers. Its 
 force lies in the muscle and strength of each member. 
 Its leader may have skill, valor and ambition. The 
 army may be numerically great! Its armor may be 
 costly and brilliant. The banners may sparkle with 
 rich gems as they float in the breeze. Thousands of 
 bayonets may flash in the sunlight, and manly forms and 
 waving plumes and solid columns may present an impos- 
 ing spectacle. And yet, without energy beneath this 
 armor, without hearts beating with loyalty and bravery, 
 all that is external 'will be of no avail in the hour of 
 conflict. 
 
 The primitive disciples were efiective and successful 
 because they were individual forces. They felt the 
 importance and necessity of a personal religious culture. 
 They knev that they served a Master who could read 
 the heart, as well as observe the conduct. They knew, 
 too, that the opposition arrayed against them could not 
 
370 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 be oveDJonie by any mere show of resistance. There 
 must be a vitality in the faith, and genuine, force 
 in the religion, that was. to make progress in such, 
 an age : and among such a people. And the liability 
 to fall at any moment a martyr to the truth, took 
 away all temptation to cling simply to the semblance of 
 religion. Hypocrisy, in that day, held out no prizes to 
 its votaries. Besides, these disoiples'had been under the 
 direct tuitioif of the great master-spirit of personal use- 
 fulness — the divine exemplar -of virtue, holiness, benev-; 
 olence. They had listened to his command, not simply 
 to.believe on him and trust in him, but to follow him : 
 " If any man will come after me, let him deny himself 
 and take up his cross daily and follow me." That word^ 
 follmo is full of meaning. It involves an intense per^ 
 sonal activity, a self-consecration, a devotion to the cause 
 of Christ, that knows no limit, that stops at no obstacle, 
 that abates amid no discouragements, that burns on, with a 
 steady flame, while life lasts. Indeed, in the same breath 
 with which Christ uttered the declaration just quoted,. - 
 he added,- " For whosoever will save his life shall lose 
 it ; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake the same 
 shall save it." That is, everything, «ven to life itself, 
 must be consecrated upon his altar. His disciples must 
 be as ready to face death as to perform any other Chris- 
 tian duty. They must learn that the way to save life is 
 to lose it for Christ's sake^ A band of disciples follow- 
 ing the Saviour in this sense, must necessarily be invin- 
 cible. The word retreat is never heard in their ranks. 
 They can die, but they cannot yield. And a force thus 
 
THE GREAT EXAMPLE. 871 
 
 made up of an aggregate of forces, a courage that flowed 
 ,from many courageous hearts, was mighty, through God, 
 to the pulling down of the strongholds of sin. It shook 
 Jerusalem, with all its power, and pomp, and ancient 
 glory. It travelled over the Holy Land, leaving its 
 mark and scattering its blessings wherever it went. It 
 visited distant shores, and spread the new religion among 
 the civilized nations of the earth. 
 
 The history of the church furnishes many "illus- 
 trious examples of individual power. The inquiry made 
 by St. Paul, at the moment of his conversion, was sig- 
 nificant,, and, I may add, symbolical. No sooner had 
 the gospel touched his heart than he asks, "Lord, what 
 wilt thou have me to do 1 " And it is an earnest, as 
 well as a devout spirit, that asks the question. It is a 
 mind accustomed to activity, a- soul that has. felt the 
 warmth of zeal. The love of Christ fills his heart, fires 
 his intellect, stirs his strongest aifections and noblest 
 aspirations, thrills every nerve and sensibility, and he 
 cries out, " Lord, what wilt thou h^e me to do?" 
 Lay before me my work. Point out the path of duty. 
 My energies, the whole force of my soul, my life, are at 
 thy service. And, as he pursued his brilliant career, 
 how noble were the utterances that fell from his lips! 
 " I count all things as loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." " Brethren, I 
 count not myself to have apprehended ; but this one 
 thing I do, — forgetting those things that are behind and 
 reajChing. forth unto those things that are before, I press 
 towards the mark for the prize." "Neither count I my 
 
372 LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course 
 with joy." Such were the sentiments and emotions that 
 inspired him and urged him forward. He counted aR 
 things as loss. The prizes of human ambition, the treas- 
 ures of wealth, the pleasures of the passing hour, — what 
 were these to a soul that had tasted the excellency of 
 Christ ? He lived above the world, — above its maxims, 
 its threats, its flatteries. 
 
 He* had, too, a rare combination of qualities that all 
 contributed to enhance his individual power. He had 
 learning, energy, enthusiasm, — a love for Christ that 
 nothing could destroy, a zeal that no water could quench 
 or floods drown. His epistles show how deeply his soul 
 was imbued with the truth as it is in Jesus ; how he 
 delighted to meditate upon the great doctrines of our 
 faith, upon redemption, sanctification, and the life and 
 immortality brought to light in the gospel. His life is 
 a living epistle, known and read of all men. It is read 
 to-day by tens of thousands throughout Christendom. 
 Its influence has gJlhvn with the growth, and extended 
 with the extension, of Christianity. It is felt upon indi- 
 vidual minds, in our pulpits, churches and Sabbath- 
 schools, — in the home of aifliction, in the abodes of pov- 
 erty, by the bedside of the dying saint. It rolls along 
 as a swelling stream from generation to generation, 
 bearing blessings to millions of the human family. The 
 beacon-lights which this earnest apostle kindled on the 
 shores and islands of the .Mediterranean will never go 
 out. They will be the nations' guides to Calvary and 
 the cross till time shall be no more. 
 
THE GREAT EXAMPLE. 373 
 
 We feel, also, the individual power of the patriarchs, 
 prophets, and the other apostles, whose names are asso- 
 ciated with the great doctrines of revelation, and whose 
 lives exemplified the principles which they embraced. 
 In the career of Abraham we have a vivid example of 
 the power of faith. We see this principle in action, sus- 
 taining a soul under the most trying circumstances, and 
 producing confidence in God in a season of the deepest 
 perplexity and darkness. In the history of Job we are 
 taught the virtue of patience. His submission under 
 severe trials and repeated calamities is a lesson to all, to 
 recognize an overruling Providence in every event, and 
 to exercise fortitude under the heaviest afflictions. The 
 piety of Enoch, who walked with God, shines over the 
 wastes of ages, and illumines our pathway. We feel the 
 influence of his intercourse with Jehovah, and are stimu- 
 lated to seek the society of the Infinite One. The wor- 
 ship of David increases our devotion. The echo of the 
 songs of Zion, which he sung in his palace, is heard, 
 to-day, in every Christian church. The praises which 
 he ofiered to Jehovah are repeated in the notes of every 
 organ, and in the melody of every choir. We feel, also, 
 the influence of Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Peter, John, 
 and of all the master-spirits whose eminent piety and 
 heroic achievements are recorded by the pen of inspira- 
 tion. And the same obligations to exert a personal 
 influence, and set a holy example, rest upon us, that 
 rested upon them. If, as the apostle assures us, " None 
 of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself"— if 
 each day of our lives is a page in a book of revelation that 
 
 m 
 
374 ■ LECTUKES TO TOTJNG MEN. 
 
 is read by multitudes,— how important that " tLe truth aa 
 it is in Jesus " be stamped upon it,. and that it be lumi- 
 nous with holy principles ! IIow important that we pre- 
 sent before others a character that shall recommend the 
 excellence and beauties of religion, that shall elucidate, 
 at the bar of their understandings, the doctrines of the 
 gospel, that shall be a standing protest against their 
 sins and impenitence ! 
 
 If we are the constituted lights of the world, shall we 
 not shine 1 Of what service would the sun be in the 
 heavens, if its rays did not reach us, — if its light had 
 not the power to dissipate the darkness, and call the earth 
 from the tomb of night to the blessedness of day 1 Of 
 what service are the followers of Christ, unless they 
 have the power to roll away the moral darkness of the 
 world, — unless they let their light so shine before men, 
 that they, seeing their good works, may be led to glorify 
 their Father in heaven? The position of influence "occu- 
 pied by. each individual is such as cannot be contem- 
 "plated without impressions of vast responsibility. " It 
 is," says one, " as if the whole universe were one picture- 
 gallery, in some part of which the entire history of the 
 world and of each individual is shown on canvas, 
 sketched by countless artists, with unerring skill. It is 
 as if each man had his foot upon the point where ten 
 thousand telegraphic wires meet from every part of the 
 universe, and he were able, with each volition, to send 
 abroad an influence along these wires, so as to reach every 
 created being in heaven and in earth. It is as if we 
 were liaked to every created being by a golden chain, 
 
THE GREAT EXAMPLE. 875 
 
 and every pulsation of our heart or movement of our 
 mind, modified the pulsation of every other heart and the 
 movements of every other intellect." Holding such a 
 position of power, no Christian can be indifferent to the 
 character of his daily influence. He is bound by the 
 most solemn obligations to imitate the great example 
 which his divine Master has placed before him, and to 
 consecrate all his energies to the service of God. 
 
 In the next place, we must follow Christ in order to 
 obtain the mastery over the 'principles of the world. 
 
 Those who enlist under the great Captain of our 
 salvation are commanded to overcome the world; and 
 the very command implies that they have force ade- 
 quate to obey. This is, indeed, accomplished, in 
 the estimation of some, when the church withstands 
 the influences of the world, and prevents itself from 
 being- overcome. But, for the followers of Christ to 
 simply retain their faith and occupy their own* citadels, 
 is not to advance and obtain conquests. An army may 
 preserve its ranks unbroken, and resist the most violent 
 assaults, but this is not overcoming the- foe. The 
 church, to fulfil this command, must be aggressive in its 
 movements. It must master the principles of the world, 
 control its sentiments, and take possession of its re- 
 sources in the name and for the sake of Christ. It must 
 give laws to society, not receive them from society ; must 
 create a public opinion that shall be sound, scriptural, 
 and such as Heaven shall approve. The great contro- 
 versy now in Christendom is, whether the church or 
 the world shall work that mighty instrumentality, pub- 
 
376 ' LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN. 
 
 lie opinion. The world says that its laws shall be in the 
 ascendency, that its maxims and usages shall mould 
 public sentiment. It will, indeed, patronize a certain 
 kind of religion — a religion that will not interfere with 
 its vices, that will not assail its established systems of 
 iniquity. It will support a religion that is furnished 
 with a sliding-seale of morality and humanity, that can 
 be raised or lowered as circumstances or expediency may 
 require.. 
 
 But the members of the true church, in proportion as 
 they reflect the image of Christ, assert and maintain the 
 authority of their own principles. They feel that it is 
 their mission to overcome the world. They are ready tc 
 obey the command, " Be not conformed to the world, bul 
 be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.'' 
 They believe the declarations, " Ye cannot serve God 
 and Mammon." "Whosoever will be a friend of the 
 world te the enemy of God." They will not, therefore, 
 kneel before the world, to crave its favors and invoke its 
 patronage. They will not allow the world to write theii 
 creeds, nor draw up their articles of faith, nor impose 
 upon them a code of ethics defining the province of con- 
 science, and the limitation of man's obligations to God. 
 They take Christ as their leader, his principles as their 
 guide. They prepare themselves in earnest for the con- 
 flict. It is not their purpose to make merely a show of 
 resistance. They do not gird themselves for a sham 
 fight. They enter the field having on the whole armor 
 of God, — the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, 
 and the sword of the Spirit. They anticipate a severe 
 
THE flKEAT EXAMPLE. 377 
 
 and protracted struggle. They hear the voice of their 
 great Captain stimulating them with the promises, "Be 
 thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
 life; " "Him that overcometh shall sit with me on my 
 throne ; " " Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in 
 the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." 
 And how delightful it is to see conquests obtained by the 
 force of Christian characters eminent in every virtue ! 
 How delightful to behold a company of young disciples 
 closely following in the footsteps of their divine Master, 
 striving to impress the world by examples of holiness and 
 benevolence ! 
 
 Why is k, I would ask, that the church has obtained 
 so few signal victories over the world ? .Why is it that 
 there is still so much practical infidelity in Christian 
 lands, so many wicked institutions in civilized communi- 
 ties, so much that is unjust, inhuman and cruel, in what 
 is called refined society 1 Must we not admit that the 
 Christian church has not a character that has spiritual 
 force enough to overcome the world ? It has not benev- 
 olence enough to subdue this inhumanity. It has not 
 faith enough to overcome the surrounding scepticism. A 
 winter's sun has not power to warm the earth; and hence 
 the ground is hardened by the frosts, and the rivers are 
 congealed, and the rain is turned into ice, and chills 
 every object upon which it falls. All around is barren- 
 ness, desolation and death, — death wrapped in its snowy 
 winding-sheet. But, as the sun rises higher in the 
 heavens, and pours its rays more directly and intensely 
 upon the world, the scene changes. The icy cliffs are 
 82* 
 
378 LECTURES TO TOtTNG MEH. 
 
 melted, and are converted into refreshing rivers. Vege- 
 tation springs up. Flowers blossom, and fruits take the 
 place of barrenness. So let tbe members of Christ's 
 church rise higher in spirituality, and shine upon the 
 moral world, and the effects would be equally marked 
 and delightful. The icy chains of infidelity, that hold 
 such multitudes in the bondage of sin, would be melted. 
 Cold hearts would feel the warmth of humanity. The 
 avaricious man would pity the destitute. The intense 
 selfishness of the exchange would relent, and symptoms 
 of the presence of love to one's neighbor would be dis- 
 cernible in the marts of commerce. Men who are selling 
 their souls to gain the world would begin to see that such 
 business will .not profit them. The public opinion would 
 be sanctified, and would be found- on the side of right, 
 truth, humanity, love to man and reverence for God. 
 
 Finally, we must follow -Christ here, that we may 
 rejoice and reign with him hereafter. 
 
 I have spoken to you of the interests of time. I wish 
 now to point you to the vast and solemn interests of 
 eternity. We are about to separate. We shall not all 
 meet again in this sanctuary. As time rolls on, we 
 shall, one after another, retire from this busy theatre, 
 and the places that now know us will know us no more 
 forever. Kindly have you listened to the words which I 
 have spoken for your benefit. These Sabbath evenings 
 that we have spent together I shall always remember 
 with interest and gratitude. But, 0, shall we all meet 
 again? Shall we meet on that great day when Christ 
 shall appear in his glory with all the holy an^ls? 
 
THE GREAT EXAMPLE. 379 
 
 Shall we, witli the mtiltitudes of the redeemed, partici- 
 pate in the services of that triumphal occasion, and he 
 permitted to cast our crowns at the Saviour's feet? 
 Shall we together walk the streets of the new Jerusalem, 
 gaze upon the splendors of the eternal city, and mingle 
 our voices in the songs of thanksgiving that will ascend to 
 " Him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb " ? 
 0, if we are faithful to Christ here, he will be faithful 
 to us hereafter ! In the dying hour we shall be able to 
 say, " I know that my Kedeemer hveth." We shall 
 exclaim, in the language of the great apostle, " I have 
 fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have 
 kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a 
 crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous 
 Judge shall give me at that day." 
 
 " How happy are the souls above. 
 From sin and sorrow free ! 
 Wiih Jesus they are now at rest. 
 And all his glory see. 
 
 " ' Worthy the Lamb ! ' aloud they cry. 
 That brought us near to God ; 
 In ceaseless hymns of praise they shout 
 The virtues of his blood. 
 
 " Sweet gratitude Inspires their songs, 
 Ambitious to proclaim. 
 Before the Father's awful throne. 
 The honors of the Lamb. 
 
 ' ' With wondering joy t^ey recollect 
 ~ Their fears and dangers past. 
 
 And bless the wisdom, power and love. 
 Which brought them safe at last 
 
380 LECTURES TO XOUNG MEN. 
 
 " Lord, let the merit of thy death 
 To me he likewise given, 
 And I, -with them, mil shout thy praise 
 Through all the courts of heaven." ^ 
 
Cornell University Library 
 
 arV15508 
 
 Lectures on the formation of character 
 
 3 1924 031 320 165 
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