LIBRARY OF PRINCETON 1 MAR -8 2005 1 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY \ THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN M. MASON, D.D FOUR VOLUMES. EDITED BY HIS SON, EBENEZER MASON. VOL. IV. NEW YORIi LieRARY OF PRINCETON KAR-8 2005 ™j THEOLOGICAL SEMINJ^RY BAKER AND SCRIBNER 145 KASSAU STREET A^D 36 PARK ROW. 1849. 'c. W. BK.NEDICT, Stereotyper, 201 }yillia,n ,l>eel, cor. of Ptankfort. m CONTENTS OF VOL. IV. Sermon IV.— Nature and Necessity op Uegenera- TION, . • • • ■ .< ^ v.— Works of the Flesh anb Spirit Distinguished, ci VI. — True Honor, ,, VII. — Apostolic Commission, " VIII.— Nonconformity to the World, ««^_^IX. — The Fountain of Life, K X. — The Gospel Offer, XI.— The Gospel no Cause of Shame, «« XII.— On Steadfastness in Religious Sen- timent, . • • • • Speech on Resignation of Pastoral Charge, Death of David Hume, Esq., and Samuel Finley, ^^^ p, D. — A Contrast, • • • • * Conversation with a Young Traveler, . • 341 Oration on the Death of Washington, .' 477 « Hamilton, • • ^^^ 533 Voice of Warning, . . ^ • • * 29 59 83 103 129 161 185 211 239 NATURE AND NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. f h THBQLOGIG&Ii SERMON IV. ^# NATURE AND NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. JOHN III. 5. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man he horn of water and of the Spirit, Jie cannot enter into the kingdom of God. In the preceding part of the chapter, our Lord had inculcated upon Nicodemus the absolute necessity of a new hirth, in order to a sinful man's even perceiving the kingdom of God. The candid Pharisee, to whom such a doctrine ap- peared as uncouth, incredible, and absurd, as it does at this day, to many who call themselves enlightened Christians, expressed his astonish- ment, as if the Redeemer had uttered a physical 4 Nature and Necessity contradiction ; How can a man he horn when he is OLD ? can he enter a second time into his another's womh and he horn ? Without stopping to notice the grossness of his conceptions, our Lord Jesus, with the majesty of a teacher sent from God, re- peats his assertion with a slight variation in the form, which might lead Nicodemus to some general idea of his meaning : Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man he horn of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The " kingdom of God," means that gracious establishment in our world, of which he is the author ; which derives all its principles and efficiency from him, of which the design is to destroy the works of the devil, and bring back with increased beauty, the order originally set up ; in a word, to make such a display of his righteous- ness, truth, grace, and love, in and towards our rebel world, as should command the admiration of all holy beings, and be an eternal exhibition, in all places of his dominion, of the perfection of his government. This " kingdom of God," so stupendous in its effi^cts, is yet so pure and spiritual in its process, as to be invisible not merely to eyes of flesh and blood, but even to the eyes of intellect in cor- rupted man, until they have undergone a reno- vation, and have received a power suited to the nature of the objects which they are called to Of Regeneration. 5 contemplate. Except a man he born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. If such a change is necessary to just percep- tions of that kingdom, how much more clearly is it necessary to become its subject, to enjoy its privileges, and share in its rewards ! So neces- sary, lay it well to your hearts, that the eternal truth has pronounced, Except a man he horn of water and of the Sjnrit, i.e. of the purifying Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. As the doctrine is laid down from the lips of Jesus himself, it is an individual concern, and should strike us with a sacred horror, lest, after all our professions of the truth, our standing in the house of God, and our hopes of heaven, we should be found destitute of that quahfication without which he has declared that not a man of us shall enter into the kingdom of God. Let us, then, as we do not wish, to deceive our own souls, and sink down to hell in the full sight of heaven, investigate more narrowly what it is to be born again, and whence th"! indisputable necessity arises to enter into the kingdom of God. When a human being is born, he is introduced into a world of which it is not possible he should have any previous conception. He exists by a new medium, and by new means. His growth proceeds in a new manner — his faculties expe- rience a new development — he acquires new 6 Nature and Necessity relations and tastes, relishes preferences, plea- sures, pursuits, adapted to and growing out of his new state of existence. Old things, literally, are jJassed aivay, and all things are become new. Were he remanded back to his first mode of life he would immediately expire, because it contains no provision for the perpetuity of that Ufe which belongs to his new and improved state. In natural things all this is undeniable ; and as our Lord has employed the figure of a hirth^ by calHng it a being horn again, to shadow forth that change which passes upon a sinner when he " enters into the kingdom of God," there must be a resemblance between them. The figure must correspond, in its essential points, with the the thing figured, or it is no illustration of the sub- ject. The natural must represent the spiritual birth^ The entrance into this world by being born, an entrance into the kingdom of God by being born again, or our Lord's solemn and im- pressive language, gives us no assistance in form- ing any just ideas of the change which he asserts to be necessary. We may, therefore, without pushing the analogy of natural and spiritual things to an indiscreet length, safely maintain that our Lord holds up an introduction into the king- dom of God, as an entrance upon a new state of being, involving a thorough change of perceptions, feelings, and habits; so that if any man he in Of Regeneration, 7 Christ Jesus, he is a new creature ; and with him old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new. 1. Man, by his new birth, enters into the king- dom of God as a kingdom of light. There is no figure in the scripture more com- monly used to depict the difference between our old state of nature and our new one by grace, than the opposition between light and darkness. Christians were once dark?icss, but are now light in the Lord. God hath called them out of dark- ness into his inarvelous light. They that follow after Jesus Christ shall not ivalk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The eyes of their understanding being opened, they see wondrous things in God's law, and see them most clearly where they least expected to find them. They see the light of the knowledge of God shining in the pp.rson of Jesus Christ, and that it cannot possibly shine anywhere else, to refresh, and con- sole, and invigorate the sinner. They see that Christ Jesus, who was to them not only ivithout form or comeliness, but even a stone of stumbling and rock of offence, is the perfection of beauty, the very brightness of the Father's glory, and the ex- press image of his person — is the corner-stone, elect, precious, which God hath laid in Zion, as the sure and only foundation, upon which, whoso- ever believeth, shall not be ashamed. They see 8 Nature and Necessity the most divine consistency and excellence in that which was formerly incomprehensible and contradictory to their mind ; the union of truth and mercy, of righteousness and peace, of re- demption by the blood of Jesus, and the forgive- ness of sins according to the riches of his grace : so that the just God is the Savior. They see that this way of salvation and no other became him for whom are all things and hy whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory ; and that it is infinitely impossible they should be deceived in trusting it. I know, says an assured believer, 1 knoiv ivhom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto hi?n against that day. They see that sin is folly, and the wages of sin death — that the cup of sinful gratification, in which they formerly took pleasure, is charged with poison, and was actually working their destruction. They see that wis- dom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and her paths the only ones that "lead to glory and to God," They see, in an inverted order and pro- portion, the things of time and sense, and the things which are eternal — in one word, they see what they never saw before, the kingdom of God! 2. When a man enters into the kingdom of God, he exists by a new mediu?n. * Of Regeneration. 9 This new medium is the Spirit of God in his gracious influence. He is universally the Spirit of life. In him we hve, and move, and have our being. All the created life in the universe is from him. But he dispenses it agreeably to the nature of the constitution under which he acts. The vegetable, animal, and intellectual worlds have their lives such as the Spirit of God gives them for the purposes they are intended to an- swer. It is no otherwise in the world of grace, the kingdom of God. There too it is the Spirit that quickeneth, and that ivhich is ho7-n of the Spirit is spirit. He bestows and maintains a life an- swerable to the part which the saved sinner has to perform, the affections he is to cherish, the blessed- ness he is to enjoy, the glory which awaits him. As one who is made alive unto God, not a faculty of the new man is unfolded, not a function exer- cised, not a motion performed, but by the Spirit of God. His very faith, the elementary principle of his life, is from the Holy Spirit; so that he lives by the Spirit, he walks by the Spirit, he is led by the Spirit. By the Spirit the Christian mortifies the deeds of the body; he brings forth fruit unto God; he cultivates his love, enjoys his fellowship, is spir- itually minded. All this is manifestly a neiv life, infinitely removed from any merely intellectual at- tainment, however refined or exalted. A fife for 10 Nature and Necessity which earth has no atmosphere, and which can exist nowhere but in the kingdom of God. 3. He who is born again lives by new means. These are the word, the ordinances, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. No sooner is the babe of grace born into the kingdom of God, than he cries for the sincere milk of the word. The speculations of men, and their discoveries, even of truth, however elegant or lofty, are at best but " dry breasts;" they afford no nutriment to his soul, nor can satisfy the cravings of his appetite; and in every after stage of his existence, it is the bread of God which came down from heaven — it is the meat which endureth to everlasting life — that can either fulfd his desires, or refresh and invigorate his frame. Then the word of God is found of him, and he eats it, and it is unto him the joy and the rejoicing of his heart. The judgments of the Lord are, to his taste, sweeter than the honey and the honey-comb. In the ordinances of Christ he finds those green pastures and those gently flowing waters which delighted the psalmist and equally delight him. These ordinances are thus precious and powerful, because they are channels through which the llcdecmer's grace pours into his heart. Christ himself is his life. His jiesh is meat in- deed, and his blood is drink indeed. His words are verified in a believer's experience. He that eateth me, even he shall live by me. So that the life Of Regeneration. 11 ivhich he now lives in the flesh is hij the faith of the Son of God. Thus fed and nourished, and filled with the fulness of God, he groics in grace and in the knowledge of our , Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, until that which is perfect is come, and he is admitted into his presence with exceed- ing joy. 4. In consequence of his new Urth, his faculties acquire a new development. The eyes of his understanding are enlight- ened, so that he perceives what is the hope of the calling of God, and ivhat the riches of the glory, of his inheritance in the saints. As a naturaL man he received not the tUngs of the Spirit of God, because they ivere foolishness unto him. E being lorn of the Spirit, he has spiritual discern- ment, so that what things were foolishness to him appear to be the wisdom of God, and tlie power of God to his salvation. His will, which before was all enmity, is now made pHant and ductile to the will of God. It is the rule and reason of his duties and of his sub- mission. Show a Christian that what he is called to do or to endure is agreeable to the will of his heavenly Father, and you do infinitely more to nerve his resolution or to calm his spi- rit— to render him courageous, inflexible, perse- vering, or to soften or subdue his soul — to re- press every rising murmur and bend his mind 10 Nature and Necessity "II which earth has no atmosphere, and which can exist nowhere but in the kingdom of God. 3. He who is born again hves by new means. These are the word, the ordinances, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. No sooner is the babe of grace born into the kingdom of God, than he cries for the sincere milk of the word. The speculations of men, and their discoveries, even of truth, however elegant or lofty, are at best but "dry breasts;" they afford no nutriment to his soul, nor can satisfy the cravings of his appetite; and in every after stage of his existence, it is the bread of God which came down from heaven — it is the meat which endureth to everlasting life — that can either fulfil his desires, or refresh and invigorate his frame. Then the word of God is found of him, and he eats it, and it is unto him the joy and the rejoicing of his heart. The judgments of the Lord are, to his taste, sweeter than the honey and the honey-comb. In the ordinances of Christ he finds those green pastures and those gently flowing waters which delighted the psalmist and equally delight him. These ordinances are thus precious and powerful, because they are channels through which the Redeemer's grace pours into his heart. Christ himself is his life. His flesh is meat in- deed, and his blood is drink indeed. His words are verified in a behever's experience. He that eateth me, even he shall live by me. So that the life vB'^^ aoil (rA. ' # Of Regeneration. 13 family likeness, by which the members are iden- tified. Be ye thankful is a precept which none but a Christian obeys. But when the question is concerning their supreme and ultimate prefer- ence, the soul of a believer fastens upon other objects, and he values the things of this transitory Ufe, whatever they may be, quite as low as, when viewed in their proper relations of the gift of God, he values them highly. What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ ; yea, doubtless, arid I count all things hut loss for the excelleficy of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. The principle of love, which has its per- fect reign in the kingdom of God, and binds to- gether the society of holy beings, is shed abroad in his heart. He loves the Lord Jesus, the Re- deemer, tenderly, intensely, fervently. He joins, without a quahfication, in that sacred curse of the apostle, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha. He loves the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as the original fountain of all saving mer- cies, and can, from his inmost soul, re-echo that benediction of Peter, Blessed be the God and Fa- ther of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of his abun- dant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He loves that Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Advocate, who comes as the representative 14 Nature and Necessity * of the risen Savior, to dwell in them, to abide with them forever, as the Spirit of holiness, as the Spirit of grace and supplication, to make the petitions of their breast a counterpart of the intercessions within the vail. An argument drawn from the love of the Spirit touches every spring of ingenuous emotion within him. How can he but love, with his purest affections, that gracious Friend, who was deputed by his glori- fied Lord to woo him and win him to blessed- ness and God ; to take possession of him in the Conqueror's name ; to put the seal of heaven upon his forehead ; to subdue and finally to slay all the enemies of his own peace and of his Mas- ter's glory, and in the mean time as the Holy Spirit of pro7nise, to be in him the earnest of the purchased possession^ and to seal him up until the day of redemption. Finally, he loves the children of God. By this we know that ive love God, lohen ice love the childre7i of God. ILvery one that loveth him that hegat, loveth hiin that is begotten of him. Formerly they were no more to him than kin- dred, business, or the common offices of hu- manity made them. Now there is a feeling of brotherhood, a community of interests, and in- stincts. He has a fellowship with them which is founded upon their fellowship with the Father and ivith his Son Jesus Christ. All the children Ifl Of Regeneration. 15 of God are like him. They are renewed after his image ; and oue of the first effects of the Holy Spirit's agency is to draw the hnes of that image deep and indelible. It has tints which speak the beauty and coloring of the skies. It is accompanied with the rudiments of that lan- guage which sounds barbarian in uncircumcised ears, but which is common and peculiar to re- newed men, and is spoken perfectly and alone at the court of the great King. Their speech he- ivrayeth them, and marks a dignity, for which, were it possible, the monarchs of the world would do well and wisely to barter their crowns and kmgdoms. They may be obscure and con- temptible to outward view. Lazarus hes at your palace-door, perhaps, hated and disre- garded. But he has a life-guard of a celestial Prince. Ministering spirits are in attendance, and wait for the signal to convey him away to the regions of light. You may perhaps see him there one day, when a drop of water to cool your tongue will be of more value to you than all that earthly grandeur which now pampers pride, and, it may be, shuts you out from the kingdom of God. But that love of the brethren, of which I speak, depends not upon external things. It looks to the image of God, which can send forth the rays of its glory through the poverty, and meanness, and misery, of earthly 16 Nature and Necessity P things. It is not ashamed of those rags of which God himself is not ashamed, and which comport with a heavenly inheritance. 0 ye, who bear the image of the heavenly as ye have borne that of the earthly Adam, whatever be your condition here, I will call you my brothers, my sisters, by a dearer tie than ever bound flesh and blood together — the tie of the Savior's grace, of which the whole beauty and strength shall be reserved for our rapturous discovery in the kingdom of our Father ! Lastly, The regenerated sinner has new rela- tions and tastes, preferences, pleasures, and pur- suits, adapted to and growing out of his new state of existence. 1. He has new relations. ^ To God the Father. In his natural state, his relations were those of a rebelhous creature un- der sentence of death. Now he is reconciled to God by the death of his Son. The sentence which was passed against him is reversed, and he stands adjudged to life, by a sentence which there is no power in the universe to cancel. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifeth ! His relations as a rebel are replaced by those of a dear child, and God is become to him a gracious and loving Ji'ather. To God the Son, who has redeemed hmi by ■iSK Of Rege7ieration. 17 his blood and subdued him by his grace to the obedience of the faith. He is accepted in the Beloved, who makes intercession for him ; who is gone up on high to prepare a place for him, and shall show him, at last, among that ran- somed family, of which he shines in the honors of the first-born. To God the Holy Ghost. No longer to him the Spirit of the curse but of blessings manifold, who is now his companion, his guide, his pro- tector— who shows him the path of hfe, and will be with him to the end, crowning him with ulti- mate and complete victory over all adversaries, and introducing him at last into the presence of the blessed One with exceeding joy. To the divine law. Armed no longer with destructive penalty, but commissioned to be his preceptor, to guide his feet into the way of peace, that his path, being the path of the just, shall shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. To the providence of God, which shall per- mit no ill to befall him — nothing which shall endanger his substantial interests — nothing which shall not promote his sanctification — working an increase of grace — producing the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and causing all things to co- operate for his final and perfect good. To the holy angels, with whom he is united 2 18 Nature and Necessity into a new family under Christ the Head, who love him for the sake of his Elder Brother, and always hehold the face of his Father in heaven, waiting to do him good, and glad to be employed at his command in acts of kindness to him as the heir of salvation. 2. Regenerated men have new tastes, prefer- ences, and pleasures. For those things which were once their delight they have lost their relish. They that are Christ's have crucifi,ed the Jlesh ivith its affections and lusts. They taste that the Lord is gracious. They prefer the company and condition of fellow-heirs. Like Moses, they had rather suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the pdeasures of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. The Lord puts gladness into their hearts more than in the time when corn and wine, the best sensual joys, abound to the men of sin. 3. Regenerated men have entirely new pur- suits. Like other Gentiles they once walked in the vanity of their minds — committing iniquity w'i\\\ greediness — minding only the things of time and sense — neglecting, despising, hating whatsoever looked farther than the sphere of their purblind vision, and aimed at an inheritance beyond the grave. Now that their eyes are opened, and Of Regeneration. 19 their hearts changed, they cast their glance back with shame and horror, upon the practices and the perdition they have escaped. God hath called them into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ, and they 7io longer run to the same excess of riot. They have chosen the better imrt, which shall not he taken from them. They have cast in their lot with the strangers and pilgrims, who, though in the world, are not of it, but are marching through it to the place of their destination, to the land of the shining ones. Jliey seek a better country than earth, even a heavenly: therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath 'prepared for them a city. With their eyes fastened on that city — the peace of God keeping their hearts and minds — and with the hope of seeing Jesus as he is, strong in their bosoms, they press toward the prize of their high calling, till, every duty fulfilled, every obstacle surmounted, every enemy vanquished, they are welcomed by the shout of the holy ones, into the presence of their Father. Recollecting and comparing the remarks which have been made on the change, commonly called regeneration, or more scripturally, the "being born again," you may form something hke a just idea of those who enter into the kingdom of God — in other words, of true Christians. They are brought into a world where they see and discern 20 Nature and Necessity spiritual objects in a spiritual light. They exist by a new medium — the Spirit of God. Their hfe is maintained by new means — the divine word and ordinances. Their faculties undergo a new development — understanding, affections, will, all are directed to new and holy things ; par- ticularly a sanctified charity, exerting itself in love to God and man, rules in their hearts — and finally, they have new relations, tastes, prefer- ences, pleasures, and pursuits — all marking a com- plete and radical change in the ruling principles of the soul. This description of the new man rests not upon human fancy, but on the divine testi- mony : every part and portion of it being sup- ported by clear scriptural authority, and comes to your consciences with Thus saith the Lord. I have not said that every believer is at all times an example of this character, in the whole va- riety, extent, and power of its graces; nor that he may not fall short, now in one and then in another. But I say that these graces, of their own nature, belong to that new life which the Holy Ghost implants in the new birth — that they are elements which enter into the composition of that new character which is more or less unfolded here, and shall be seen in all its pro- portions and perfections in the future life — I say that they all of them belong substantially to every Of Regeneration. 21 one who enters the kingdom of God. That he will study to be a living proof of their presence and prevalence — and that in fact they are ex- panded, the seed of God which contains them being gradually developed, in size, strength, and beauty, as the several circumstances of his lot render their proper exercise necessary. We are now to inquire, 11. Into the absolute necessity of such a change before a man can enter into the kingdom of God. It arises, 1. From the divine determination. Without it, says the Redeemer, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Be your religious connections ever so pure — your external privileges ever so great — your outward profession ever so decided — your moral conduct among men ever so ex- emplary— the question still remains, have you been horn again? Without this all other ad- vantages are nothing ; all other recommenda- tions are of no avail; except a man be horn — lay it well to your hearts that there be no fatal mis- take— except a man he horn of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into ths kingdom of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the eternal Truth, has settled this point beyond the possibihty of reconsideration. Never hope that it may be re- versed; that it may be revised; that some fa- vorable judgment may be passed, which shall 4. 22 Nature and Necessity admit you at last, however unqualified ; for, in the 2. Place, this necessity arises from the very nature of the case. For this purpose was the Son of God mani- fested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Now the devil's principal work in our world is the apostasy and corruption of man. It is in the human soul that his abominable tri- umph is to be seen and felt. There he has ef- faced the glorious image of his Creator, and has drawn his own hideous hkeness in its place. There he has entered in as a foul usurper; he makes the heart the citadel of his rebellion; and marshals under his command all the facul- ties and affections, to resist the authority of his rightful Sovereign. Can a man thus forsworn to his allegiance, thus allied to the prince of dark- ness, thus sharing with him in all the tempers and principles of his revolt; can a man thus cir- cumstanced, suppose yo, be admitted into that kingdom which is set up for the annihilation of Satan's power, and supposes a renunciation of his cause, and a desertion of his standard, in every one who joins himself to Messiah the Prince, and becomes a loyal subject of the King of kings? Must not the thieves be expelled, and their den purified by celestial ablution — be converted into a temple of the living God \ Of Regeneration. 23 Must not the faculties be restored to their origi- nal use, and ability imparted to perform the du- ties and to relish the pleasures of this new and sacred state ? And as the kingdom of God here is preparatory to his kingdom hereafter, or rather is but a part of that same dispensation, shall any who are not qualified for the kingdom of glory be acknowledged as the real subjects of his grace ? Shall any thing that defileth, or that worketh dbomination find a place, do ye imagine, in the regions of the just? And shall a sinner, laden with guilt, steeped in pollution, his heart filled with enmity against the Holy One, and himself, at best, whatever be his appearance in j the eyes of men, but an accomplice in the trea- sons of the pit; shall such an one find his way into the number of those whom the Lord know- eth to he his, and claim his place in the ante- chamber of the King's palace ? The bosom of every sanctified one, of all who shall see the King in his glory, swells with abhorrence. The faces even of those who are yet strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, redden with shame at the impudence of the expectation ; and every unseared conscience is appalled at the blas- phemy. No, no, the thing is impossible ! Ye MUST he horn again. All the principles, affec- tions, tastes, and habits, of your natural state, must be changed ; a revolution, internal, holy, 24 Nature and Necessity complete, must be effected, or you bid an eter- nal adieu to the kingdom of God. It is a terri- fying thought, a fearful utterance to be pro- claimed in the ears of professed Christians, yet an utterance of imperious necessity, except ye be thus changed, except ye be washed, justified, sanc- tified by the name of the Lord Jesus, and b}^ the Spirit of our God, ye never see his kingdom — not a soul of you. Allow me then, with all plainness and fidelity, to press this point, and to ask you, who pass in the world as Christians, do you know, from ex- perience, what is this new birth, this transition from death unto life, without which the gates of the kingdom of God are barred against you here, and will be so forever hereafter \ Do you know any thing about it ? I do not mean what you can say about it. There are many who have been well instructed by man, on this as on other pecuhar doctrines of the gospel, and who can make long, luminous, and eloquent dissertations on their abstract truth ; yet never knew their grace, nor felt their power, nor set their foot in the Idngdoni of God. My friends, this is not enough. You may have abundance of intel- lectual light — as much speculative wisdom as the most distinguished spirit of the pit — you may believe the truths of this Bible upon con- clusive external evidence — you may be exempla- Of Regeneration. 25 ry in your moral deportment toward your fel- low-creatures— participate in all the outward privileges of the Christian church — be accounted a behever of high degree before mortal tribu- nals, and yet the renewing spirit of God have had nothing to do with you. The world, says the beloved John, knoweth us not. Is not the Christian character a riddle and a mystery, con- taining something which you cannot unravel? When he speaks of the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing the. conscience from dead works to serve the living God — of that peace which passeth all understanding — of setting his affections on things above — of looking for the blessed hope, the appear- ing of the great God our Savior — does he not speak a foreign language 1 Are you not sen- sible there is something here which you do not understand? which has no counterpart in your soul ? It is dreadfully ominous. There is every ground to fear that when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, you may prove destitute of the only thing which can entitle or quahfy you to enter his heavenly kingdom — all your knowledge, gifts, profession, and privileges notwithstanding. And is it so indeed ? Must we admit the over- whelming thought, that many whom we knew in the flesh, whom we loved for their amiable properties, whom we hailed as brethren in the 26 Nature and Necessity common salvation, must at last sink down before our faces in bottomless perdition? Shall any pass from their scats in this sanctuary into that place of despair? O what a sweet rehef to the foreboding heart, that still there is hoiJe ! It has not yet come to the dreadful extremity, O then, what shall we do to be saved? Who utters that agonizing cry? The way is but one, and it is short. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt he saved. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken if. There is no peradventure in the case. Thou shalt be saved ? O had I but that precious faith, this unbehef would not weigh me down, like a mill-stone of death. Go to Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who has it to give, and who gives it freely. Go to him with your stony heart, with your death in trespasses and sins, and plead with him for the quickening Spirit, Never quit him till you get an answer of peace — throw yourself at his feet, and lie there where sinner never yet perished, till he be gracious unto you. He hath said, Him that coraeth unto me, I will in no wise cast out. A word to the children of God, and I have done. Beloved, now arc we the sons of God, Born of his Spirit, and introduced into his kmg- dom. What manner of persons ought we to he in all holy conversation and godliness? Exemplify the beauties, breathe the tempers, speak the Ian- Of Regeneration. 27 guage, cherish the loftiness, of the kingdom. It is not for those who are of such high descent and such infinite expectations, to stoop to those toys which the children of earth mistake for riches, nor to defile themselves with the pollu- tions which they miscall pleasures. Keep un- spotted that white robe in which you were clothed on the day of your new birth, the day of your espousals, and of the gladness of your heart. Know ye that the very angels of God can tell you, as the heirs of the kingdom, only by your walking as Christ also ivalked? It is the hght of the divine image shining out in its brightness that renders your names visible in the catalogue of God's elect. Ponder much your obligations to the grace of the Lord Jesus, who loved you with an everlasting love — so loved you as to give himself an offering for you. The bitterness of Gethsemane and the anguish of Calvary, the rage of hell and the curse of God, could not shake his loving purpose, nor make him flinch from his resolution to save you. From the sentence of God's righteous law and the danger of eternal death — from the filth and power of your depravity — the service, the communion, and the recom- pense of the devil — he hath called you to a rank above the angels, and to all the blessedness of the kingdom of God. Oh! We will remember thy love more than wine. To him that loved ug. 28 Nature and Necessity of Regeneration. and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath 7nade us kings and priests unto his God and Father ; to hi?n, with all affections, be glory and honor, dominion and power, forever and ever, amen ! WORKS FLESH AND SPIRIT DISTINGUISHED. SERMON. V. WORKS OF THE FLESH AND SPIRIT DISTINGUISHED. JOHN III. 6. That which is horn of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is horn of the Spirit is Spirit. The doctrine of the new hirth, which the pro- phet of the church has declared to be the origi- nal of all spiritual character, and all heavenly hope, and without which he has decided most peremptorily, a man can7iot enter into the king- dom of God, sounds most uncouth in the ears of corrupted reason. It is so entirely out of the way of human wisdom — it contains a fact so utterly anomalous, or rather so repugnant to the known constitution of either physical or moral 32 Works oj the Flesh nature, that even masters in Israel have pro- nounced the plain meaning of the terms in which it is proposed, to be absurd and fanatical, and have had recourse to a monstrous figure in order to make our Redeemer's language intelligible, and vindicate him from the charge of Puritanism. Men, to whom tlie tilings of the Spirit of God in their obvious construction are foolishness, love to take refuge in this system of figuring ; and when they have so strained and altered the phrase- ology of the Bible as not to leave standing a syllable which savors of its sense, or from which you could by any possibility guess at its proposi- tions, they please themselves with having made It speak a rational Christianity, when they have only destroyed every character which can alarm the guilty, or give peace to the alarmed. Thus it has fared with the doctrine of regeneration. The words of our Lord are so very simple and plain, that it requires some effort of ingenuity to mistake them. Yet they have not been able to escape. Criticism has laid her foul hands upon them, and by the aid of that machine called a figure, had at one time diluted them into baptism of water by the hands of a regularly ordained priest, and at another has made them typical of outward reformation, though al- ways in such a form as to bespeak something clearly within the power of corrupted man, and And Spirit Distinguished. 33 effectually to exclude the similitude of a birth. But it is so palpable as to need no ■ proof that our Lord designates every effect produced by the agency of man Jlesh, and the effects produced by the agency of the Spirit of God spirit — that these effects are essentially contrasted — that they allow of no mixture, no concurrence, in the formation of the new birth — that they are, and necessarily must be, as different and opposite as flesh and spirit are — that alter, modify, refine, as much as you will, that which proceeds from the flesh, it is flesh still and nothing else, partaking exclusively of the nature of its author — so al- ter, modify, debase, if you can, that which pro- ceeds from the Spirit of God, it is spirit still and nothing else, partaking exclusively of the nature of its blessed Author. He therefore de- nies that in this new birth there can be any co- partnership, co-operation, or concern whatever, of the power of man with the power of the Holy Spirit. They who become the subjects of it are born, not of the jlesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God. Our unrenewed nature, with all its propensi- ties and habits, acts and inclinations, the scrip- ture emphatically terms flesh ; using it as equiv- alent with our old man — with the body of sin, which is to be put off, to be crucified, to be de- stroyed, but never to be amended. There is not VOL. IV. — 3 34 Works of the Flesh such an idea to be found in the whole Bible, no/ any thing which contains a shadow of it, as that of reforming the works of the devil. The Lord performs his gracious work by creating a new man in Christ Jesus, not by repairing the old man. Yet it is a common and ruinous error for a sinner to imagine, that if he can do all that is requisite to insure the kingdom of heaven, he can do much. If he cannot completely renew his heart, and make himself meet for the inheri- tance of the saints in light, he can do a great deal — or if not a great deal, can do something towards forwarding this desirable work. So that the Spirit of God, though he may have a large or even principal share in the glory, shall not have it all ; but he shall himself receive due credit for improving the opportunities he had. Without taking up your time in exposing the ig- norance and arrogance of such a pretension, I shall briefly observe, that it finds its way into the heart of every unconverted man, and has wound its insidious coil so firmly around many hearersf of the gospel, that nothing short of a divine deliv- erer can set them at liberty. To counteract so pernicious but natural a mis- take is the manifest design of the text. Hear it, professed disciple, and let it stir thee up to a rigorous examination of thy exercise and attain- And Spirit Distinguished. 35 ments : That which is born of thejlesh is flesh ; and that which is horn of the Spirit is spirit. Let me entreat you to accompany me through a short mquny into those rehgious phenomena which, however specious, may rise no higher than corrupt nature, and wherein the work of the Spirit of God is to be distinguished from them. I. Those religious phenomena to which cor- rupted nature is equal. That which is horn of the flesh is FLESH. 1. Early impressions of serious things in a reh- gidus community. Where a reverence of the gospel is estab- lished— where it pervades all the social habits, and especially where our own friends are under its influence — nothing is more natural or certain than that, under such circumstances, the religious feeling should become characteristic, and that many persons should imagine themselves to be true Christians, who know of no other power operating upon their minds than the power of imitation. How far this may be carried, it is im- possible to tell, but it is lamentable to think how deep and how extensive are the delusions which accompany it, and how immensely diffi- cult is the recovery of persons involved in it. They w^ere brought up in the profession of the Christian religion — it may be in the very exact 36 Works of the Flesh and austere performance of religious duties. Their parents, tiieir ancestors, were all most exemplary in the same way, and who, if not them- selves, should have a claim to the Christian char- acter? I shall not admonish my hearers that there is no such thing as prescription in Chris- tianity for a man's personal interest in its privi- leges. Unhappily, the argument is very short, very plain, and brings us directly to the conclu- sion of the text. We happen to have known some who had no other religion than an hereditary religion, and who were reported as religiously inclined, but whose course soon proved how untrue w^as this opinion respecting them. We have seen num- bers of them gradually throwing off their reli- gious inclinations, and becoming perfectly con- tent with the reputation of honest men. This reputation, indeed, they keep up, and it is highly honorable in them to do so ; but for any resem- blance to our Lord Jesus Christ — for any evi- dence that they pay the least regard to his autho- rity or his glory — for any that they ever think of him — you might as well, to use a comparison of the ancients, you might as well look for a knot in a bulrush. I speak of all those who have been religiously educated, and have turned their backs upon that lioly name which they were early taught to fear. I bring into my re- And Sjnrit Distinguished. 37 monstrance millions of facts, and what is infi- nitely more terrible, millions of immortal souls, that have sunk down to hell with all the benefit of a traditionary faith. If you will not hear me, hear them who have perished, and who can testify, by the most tremendous of all experience, that the religion of the father will not save the son ; and that all in which they trusted was nothing more than the doings of the flesh, which never brought them out of the condemned world, nor ever enabled them to see the kingdom of God. 2. There are not a few among the men of more inquisitive minds, who hold the previous class of religionists in sufficient contempt. To inherit their faith as they would a tract of land or a bag of money ; to be taught religion as they were taught their alphabet; or to join the cry and follow in the course of the multitude around them — appears to them ignoble and base, a sort of swmdling for reputation upon the credit of more honest men. Christianity, they are told upon the highest of all authority, is a reasonable service, and they cannot conceive how any man, who consults his reasonable nature, can make an intelligent profession of a religion of which he has not examined the proofs ; and he finds no difficulty in explaining the apostasy of those whom change of climate, of company, or the 38 Works of the Flesh habits of society, have introduced into a scene where their former principles and profession, if not disreputable, were at least of no advantage. For themselves they are satisfied upon mature examination, that revelation is true, and fur- nishes the only sohd ground of present peace and future blessedness. Demonstration is always the same ; conviction founded upon it never alters ; and consequently, go where they will, they carry their religion with them. Christianity is never insulted, nor Christians put to the blush, by their infidehty. We are not now to learn that behef arising from personal research and conviction, is in mat- ters of reasoning of a much higher order than any persuasion induced by the authority or example of others. And as there is no necessity, so we have no inclination, to disparage the rational evidence for Christianity, and the conviction growing out of it. We maintain, on the con- trary, that genuine conviction of revealed truth is the most rational thing imaginable ; and that they who reject it, labor under disordered intel- lects. But it is still a most serious inquiry, whe- ther the merely rational belief in the truth of the scriptures, such as has been described, has any connection with the salvation of the soul; or involves in the least degree the favor of God ; or rises any higher than what our Lord calls the And Spirit Distinguished. 3'9 flesh ; i. e. whether it any more secures than can be attained by mere carnal reason, or is expe- rienced by the carnal mind, which is enmity against God. In his dispensations towards sinners, the Most High deals with them as with rational creatures, in whom their reason, though depraved, is not destroyed. He has therefore fortified his revela- tion by every sort of moral proof; so that liis servants may always be ahle to give a reason of the hope that is in them ; that every attack upon tlieir faith and hope may be successfully re- pelled, and unbelievers left without excuse. But who does not see, that in order to accomplish its purpose, this must proceed upon principles common to the friends and the enemies of his Gospel ; upon principles strictly within the reach of the unsanctified mind ? Accordingly, a man by the use of his natural though corrupted reason, may easily arrive at the conclusion that the Bible is the word of God ; nay, that every par- ticular doctrine therein revealed, not excluding the very doctrines on which the salvation of the soul depends, are undeniably his word, and may be quite as sound in his speculative opinions as tlie believer who stands highest in the records of life. All this is nothing more than drawing fair conclusions from simple and well-established premises ; and were this enough to constitute a 40 Works of the Flesh true Christian, the best logician would certainly be the soundest believer. But what is the fact ? Are the most humble, tender, spiritual Chris- tians to be found in the' ranks of these men of reason 1 Does their religion ever stand in the way of those tempers and passions, which, the Scripture being judge, shut them out of the ki?ig- dom of God? Do we not see them to be as careless of their immortal souls, and of the things that accompany salvation, as if going to heaven were a matter of course \ or let men hve as they please, there were no possible risk of being refused an entrance 1 Do we not often see them reproaching, reviling, persecuting, those who do not choose to be cast at last among tlie devil and his angels, for the sake of company \ Do they not deal as freely in that courtly vocabulary which finds no more respectful epithets for those who give all diligence to make tlieir calling and election sure, than " enthusiasts," " fanatics," " priest-ridden," " hypocrites," as the veriest in- fidel in the land \ Do they not all the while retain their religion, profess to be undoubted be- lievers, and inveigh loudly against those spiritual ruffians who would snatch away from us our faith and hope ? What shall we now say to these things, with the proofs of which the whole face of the community is overspread ? Shall we say that these men are, in a scriptural sense, And Spirit Distinguished. 41 Christians 1 that they have any mark about them of the neic creation ? that you could so much as suspect them to be God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works ? The question is almost a libel upon human under- standing, corrupted as it is X No, my friends, the utmost which this Christianity can pretend to, is a persuasion of the fact that the scripture is the word of God, and every one of its doc- trines a part of his testimony. But between believing that they are his word, and believing the testimony of God, there is as wide a differ- ence as between being in the kingdom of God and being out of it. Apostasy does not prevent clear perceptions of abstract truth. The wick- edest man upon earth may have his head filled with right notions. Suppose ye that the devil doubts of the divine original of scripture, or that he is not well versed in their sense ? It is his puny disciples here, who, swelled with the pride of their philosophical character, murder and man- gle it in a way of which Satan himself would be ashamed. There is, therefore, nothing in all we have been considering, that may not be the fruit of depraved principle — nothing that at all requires a better or holier parentage. It may be, it often is, horn of the flesh, and as worthless and unholy as the source from which it springs — it is flesh. m 42 Works of the Flesh 3. Some men's aficctions are much engaged in religious things — they undergo strong excite- ment, and these pass for evidence of a divine change. In drawing this conchision, has due allowance been made for the excitement of the preacher; for the energy, the pathos, the eloquence, of his manner ? Have you not known some hearers of the word to be awed into seriousness, softened mto tenderness, melted into tears ? to experience these effects repeatedly, and yet manifest to the entire conviction of every observer, that they were only for the moment— a shower upon a rock ; copious while the cloud poured, and in- stantly dried off. Has due allowance been made for the occasion, often of itself so touching as to subdue the feelings of the heart ? for the time of life, or for the natural temperament, which, in minds of gentler mould, is extremely susceptible of soft impressions ? for the power of sympathy, which the strongest nerve cannot al- ways resist ? and which bears down alike him who came to pray, and him who came to scoff? What multitudes of conversions, as they have been hastily called, has our day seen, which were to be referred to groanings, and screechings, and fallings, and faintings, and other extrava- gancies of a heated imagination, which have yet been extolled as the work of the Spirit of # And Spirit Distinguished. 43 God, and which have left behind them nothing but that animal lassitude which follows a fit of great excitement, or it may be something worse ? To this general remark upon the effects of high- wrought feehng, ministers of the gospel ought to pay some attention. When God bestows a pecuhar talent, he intends that it shall be em- ployed, and the employment is generally ob- vious. The power of strong reasoning — of rous- ing the secure — of comforting the afflicted — of animating exhortation — of pathetic persuasion, he has distributed as it pleased him; to some after this manner, to another after that. Employ what he has given you for the glory of the Giver. Reason — rouse — comfort — exhort — persuade, as he hath enabled you ; he will take care that his own gifts, properly used, shall do no harm. But never attempt, by unhallowed means, to stir up artificial emotions. Violent intonations, vehe- ment utterances, furious gesticulations, irreverent boldness, you may put off for zeal, but you must not father your absurdities, nor its effects, upon the Spirit of God. Sooner or later he will bring you into disgrace, and show the spiritual children whom you think you have begotten in the gospel, to be indeed born after your own im- age. There is nothing in all this commotion of the affections, nor all the religion which is as- cribed to it, that the Jiesh may not produce. 44 WorJis of the Flesh Bear in mind the parable of the stony-ground hearers, and the pungent lamentation over ancient failures. O Ej'fhraim, what shall 1 do unto thee ? O Judah, u'haf shall I do unto thee 1 For your goodness is as the morning cloud ; and as the early dew it goeth away. 4. Among the professors of Christianity, are some who lay a stress upon their works and their zeal. It is quite an aphorism in religion, that faith without works is dead, heing alone : and when the world is so full of lip-service, of Pharisees who say and do not, it is some relief to find any who do as well as say ; and it seems harsh to question any thing in the shape of practical piety. We might however freely admit the amount of what is done, and yet tax the age, much as its liberal- ity has been celebrated, with great niggardli- ness in promoting the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It is by the contributions of poor people, swelling the mass by their number, that those mighty operations which are now shaking the nations, have been chiefly commenced and carried on. To hear wealthy men, wearing the Christian name, pleading their inability to do what the twentieth part of their means, in the hands of those whose hearts lie in the right place, would do without difficulty, without complaint, with- out touching on a single earthly comfort, does And Spirit Distinguished. 45 not give a very high idea of prevaihng bounty ; and the complacency with which they talk of the wonderful occurrences of the day, looks very Uke a petition to the poor for a scrap of reputa- tion. But passing this : allowing as much credit as is claimed on the score of alms and other good works ; are there no donations to pious and charitable purposes given but from a motive which the Searcher of hearts approves, and will re- ward i This question, it is true, hes between the donor and his God. But to him, it is awfully serious. How much is done from mere consti- tutional generosity 1 How much from the in- fluence of example 1 How much from the force of importunity ? How much from sectarian pride I How much from sheer vanity l all of which is set down to the credit of religion ; but not a farthing of which will be allowed as such in that day when the Son of man shall appear in his glory, to give to every one according to his works ! In this great inquiry, the quantity will be of no account ; the widow's mite will not out- weigh the rich man's treasures, if the motive of both be alike reprehensible : and neither will be of any value, where evangelical charity was wanting. You may give all your goods to feed the poor, or to do the community any other ser- vice, yet without that heavenly grace, charity, you will be nothing. How many splendid menu- 46 Works of the Flesh merits are at this hour in existence of so false and delusive a Hberality? It is very true, that few churches are now built, or hospitals founded, or colleges endowed, by the death-bed legacies of men, who seek to compensate in the last mo- ment by such acts of equivocal piety, whole lives of iniquity and rapine, and to bribe the keeper of purgatory by the tender of gold which they cannot retain ; but there are other, cheaper, more Christian-hke forms of deception, where the light of truth has driven popery with her monks, penalties, pardons, and the whole rabble of her imposture from all respect in the public opinion. We live at a time when the zeal for diffusing Bibles and for sending missionaries swallows up almost ever}' other species of religious zeal, and when mere men of the world, judges, generals, politicians, are among the foremost m seconding and sometimes in leading the popular enthu- siasm. It is good — it is glorious — it is the doing of the Lord. The silver is his — the gold is his — and he is pressing it into Messiah's service. But do none of those who are engaged in this holy work lay upon it an unscriptural stress ? Is there not a righteousness fabricated from it of no firmer texture, nor valuable material, than the giving a Bible to a pauper or a dollar to an Indian mission ? Do not many deceive their And Spirit Distinguished. 47 souls with a notion, that to be a member of a Bible society is nearly if not quite equivalent to entering into the kingdom of God ? And, though the idea is too gross to be formally avowed, is there not a fancy lurking about the heart, that a five-dollar bill is about enough to purchase the kingdom of heaven ? If we should judge from the reluctance with which some men part with a Kttle money for a purpose confessedly the most noble that is prosecuted upon earth, our conclu- sion would not be far from the fact. It will be well if individuals, who are trusting to such per- formances as these, do not at last meet with that fatal and final repulse : / know you not ; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity I All such things can be explained without the supposition of a particle of preternatural grace. They may all at best proceed from the workings of a corrupted principle ; they can be no better nor purer than their source, for that which is born of the Jiesh is FLESH. This train of reflection might be carried out into a long detail ; but I forbear, and call your attention to notice by what, in the II. Place, a real work of the Spirit of God may be distinguished from every work of the flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 1. Where the Spirit of God performs his gra- cious work, he introduces into the soul a new 48 Works of the Flesh principle altogether. This he has himself called a new man — a new creature — a being created anew in Christ Jesus. It is more than an im- provement of our old faculties or affections. It partakes of the nature of its blessed Author. It is spirit — all spirit — nothing but spirit. It can re- ceive no aliment from the flesh. It is supported by its immediate intercourse with the eternal Spirit. It brings into a fellowship, of which "flesh" has no manner of conception, with the living God It is hidden — a sacred secret — hid- den with the Lord Jesus Christ — with Christ in God — as perfectly impervious to the observation and inexplicable to the understanding of carnal men, as are the thoughts and affections of Christ himself The world knoiceth us not, because it knew him not. When you can find out Jesus Christ, you can find out a Christian, but not till then. He is utterly out of your world, the scene of your investigation. He is, as a Christian, where your researches never penetrated, and never can penetrate. I undertake not to explain his interior and spiritual Ufe. I have no language that can describe him, nor have strangers to his pecuharities any ideas to comprehend him. But I bless the Lord my Savior, that when the sim- ple proposition is announced, that which is horn of the Spirit is spirit, there are some within these walls whose yearning hearts fly into his And Spirit Distinguished. 49 meaning, and can attest the fact. They have just as good evidence of its existence as they have of their own — their consciousness. I can- not impart this evidence to the mind of another man ; but to me it is paramount to all others. The Spirit of God also witnesses with their spirits that they are the children of God; giving such perceptions and consciousness of the fact as set all disputation at defiance. These indeed are favored moments even to the most favored disci- ples. But there are other things, other con- sciousnesses, which, in the midst of general doubt, and under the blackness of temptations, show infallibly the operation of the Spirit of grace, a new hfe, a new principle, and order of living, for, 2. That which is born of the Spirit beheves the testimony of God. It was suggested above, that to believe that the Bible is the testimony of God, and to beheve the testimony itself, makes all the difference of being in the kingdom of God and being out of it — all the difference between being real be- lievers in Christ Jesus and beUevers in name only — between having the form of godhness and its power also. This is a pecuharity common to all that have been horn of the Spirit. It is the idiom of their character, which the men of mere rational conviction can never learn. A VOL. IV. — 4 60 Works of the Flesh plain Christian believes every jot and tittle of divine revelation because God hath said it, and looks no farther for the ground of his faith. Ar- guments from miracles, from prophecy, and the whole stock of moral proofs, internal and exter- nal, have, properly speaking, nothing to do in forming his persuasion. He has higher, holier, more perfect ground, on which to build his faith, than the most conclusive rcasoner the world ever saw is able to furnish. He believes the witness of God because it is his witness. He has got up to the fountain-head of truth — the most vic- torious evidence that can shed its light into the created mind. When he perceives the authority of the ever-blessed God in its glory and majesty, no mathematician was ever half so sure of a de- monstration in Euclid as he is of the truth of that portion of the word of grace thus divinely attested. This explains at once why Christians, though without any learning — though extremely limited in their capacities of attaining it — are yet so firm in their faith, and are not to be cir- cumvented by those who sjyeak lies i)i hypoo-isi/y nor by the craftiness of those icho lie in wait to deceive. They may catch in their toils, as we see every day, the witty, the wise, the disputer, the reasoner, of this world, but they lay not their sacrilegious hands upon God's elect. He has given them by the regenerating Spirit an And Spirit Distinguished. 51 understanding to know him that is truth, and has made them so one with him as to he in Mm that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ is the true God, therefore he is the eternal hfe. Nor is there any power in hell or out of it to move them from that ground. Seest thou that man 1 He walks by faith, not by sight He is one of those guileless souls, who cannot argue for Christ, but he can burn for him ; and while the flames are consuming his body, can commit it to the Lord Jesus, with in- finite confidence of its being raised up in glory to an incorruptible inheritance. How came he by his faith ? Does it rest upon your reasoning, or any thing of the sort ? Upon i/our reason- ing ? — a poor, feeble, blundering creature like himself! Why he would not burn one of his fingers for a string of your syllogisms long enough to belt the earth ; and a rare fool would he be if he should. Other influence has been at work. The Spirit of faith has touched his heart. He has revealed Christ Jesus in him the hope of glory, and made his faith to he the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. Through this faith the elders obtained a good report, and the same faith must possess, and fill, and rule, in every bosom 'that entertains a scriptural expectation of seeing God. 5^ Works of the Flesh 3. That which is born of the Spirit cherishes the highest esteem of our Lord Jesus Christ. He shall glorify me, said the Saviour, for he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you. There are people, with great professions of rehgion, that take much pains to hinder the world from thinking too highly of Jesus Christ. They even try to degrade him below his own angels ; and if that were not enough, can feed their vanity by a comparison between him and themselves, in which they have quite the ad- vantage. A ringleader in one of these sects did not scruple thus to qualify his commendation, that "Jesus Christ was a very good man, but no philosopher." He claimed to be a philoso- pher himself, and who then was the more impor- tant personage, in his eyes, is manifest enough. (Such blasphemy, which treats our Lord Jesus Christ with less respect than does the devil himself, never came from the Holy Spirit, nor fouled the mouths of any who were born of him.) The scriptures, on the contrary, magnify him with every form of elevated and high- wrought expression. There he has a name which is above every name. He is seated at the right hand of God. He sends forth the angels to do his will, and glorious as they are, they are commanded to worship him even when he was an incarnate babe. He sits arbiter of the fate And Spirit Distinguished. 53 of men and devils. The great empire of the grave is under his control. The generations of the dead come forth at his bidding, and not one of them shall escape his righteous doom. In short, every name proper to the true God ; every term by which the attributes of Deity can be expressed; the whole stock of human language is exhausted to heap up epithets of glory upon Jesus Christ. There are things with which the soul of a believer is in perfect accord. They delight him, even to rapture. Nothing good and glorious is too good and glorious for his gracious Redeemer. Has he loved ?ne and given himself for me ? Do I owe my place among the ran- somed of the Lord to his unmerited, unutterable grace ? Come, fellow-citizens of the saints, ye household of salvation, strike all your harps at once ? Come, ye holy ones on earth, and ye holy ones in heaven, tune up your sweetest an- thems ! Lift up your grateful hands, and crown him Lord of all ! Thus a Ch%istian feels towards his Redeemer. It is that which is born of the Spirit, breathing the air and enjoying the elas- ticity of the spiritual world. 4. That which is born of the Spirit makes in- cessant use of the Spiritual Saviour. He has said, without me ye can do nothing ; and so a Christian finds it. His attachment to his Redeemer, is not to make a parade on a gala 64 ' Works of the Flesh day, and have done with it ; it is necessary for his habitual walk. The blood of Christ, which has washed away his sins — the merits of Christ, from which he gets his title to eternal hfe, must every hour exert their virtue upon his soul. He cannot go to the throne of grace without the blood of sacrifice, and the interceding priest — can perform none of his duties, endure none of his trials, face none of his foes, but in the strength of his heavenly leader — hut through Christ strengthening him he can do all things. This man is a Christian, born of the Spirit; all his characteristics are spiritual, and with him Christ is all and in all. Now, friends and brethren, who and what are ye ? To whom do you belong, and whither are ye going ? Search and look : for upon the de- cision of .these questions hangs your eternity; and you may be just upon the brink. Do not deceive yourselves. A Christian is not of earthly materials or manufacture. Flesh and blood, with all its powers, attainments, and persuasions, can do nothing for you. The Spirit of God must do the work ; he must open your eyes, must re- new your hearts, must lead you to Jesus, must do everything ; for if you are his, you are his work- manship created in Christ Jesus vnto good works, ivhich God hath before 'prepared that ye should walk in them. But if any man have not the And Spirit Distinguished. 55 Spirit of Christ, he is none of his ; and whatever may be his security, his hope, or his presump- tion, will be disowned in that day, when one word of approbation will be worth more than a thousand worlds. TRUE HONOR. dERMON V-I, TRUE HONOR. JOHN V. 44. Hoiv can ye helieve, ivhich receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only ? Next to a being perfectly holy, there is nothing so indefatigable as a mind given to wickedness. Let the life of Jesus Christ supply the proof. From the beginning to the end of his public course, he encountered the contradiction of sin- ners ; walked among their snares ; and sustained, in every shape, ceaseless conflict with their hatred and hostility. That they were invariably foiled, exposed, disgraced, did not in the least deter them 60 True Honor. from repeating the same hopeless experiment. In fact, having all shared in their turns the same fate, the ignominy of their defeat was too much divided to be a reproach. The Pharisee could not point at the Sadducees, nor these at the Herodians, be- cause the finger of scorn could be pointed back again. There was no public opinion which they regarded, to frown them into decency. It came to be a practical maxim with them, that to be de- feated and silenced by Jesus Christ, was no dis- grace ; and they were too closely united in the brotherhood of guilt to suffer any abatement of their rancor. (The professing world affords, so far as I know, but one parallel of their malevolence and persecution ; and that is to be found among the self-styled rational and philosophical Chris- tians.) They seized the occasion of his curing the unpotent man on the Sabbath-day, to accuse him as a breaker of God's laws ; and when he vindi- cated himself on this principle, My Father ivork- eth hitherto and I work, they heightened their accusation into a charge of blasphemy, and sought the more to kill him, because he had not only broken the Sabbath, but said that God was his father, mak- ing himself equal ivith God. What wrongs and insults did the Lord Jesus endure at the hands of these ancient Unitarians ! (Wrongs and insults to be surpassed only by those from the heirs of their unbelief, the modern Unitarians.) Their im- True Honor. 61 putatioii of blasphemy he repels, by claiming such prerogatives, powers, and honors, as are proper to God only ; and winds up his defence, by giving these hypocrites a sensible proof that he was all what they deemed it blasphemy in him to pretend to be ; gave them this sensible proof by breaking open the recesses of their hearts, bringing into light their secret principles of action, and provmg to their faces the base and abominable motives of their conduct. The applause of men lay at the bottom of their zeal for God, and effectually ex- cluded all love for him, and all faith in his testi- mony. How can ye helieve ivho receive honor oile of another, and seek not the honor which cometh from God only. This rebuke to pharisaical pride, and explana- tion of pharasaical unbelief, contains a principle of universal application : the inconsistency of re- ceiving honor frommen, with the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are such eternal opposites, that tl oy cannot live in the same heart. Who- ever cleaves to the one must let the other go. We cannot, indeed, determine the existence in this m.'itter of a corrupt propensity with the pre- cision » f our Lord Jesus Christ, nor could any of his ap^ -itles; because we have not, nor had they, like hii]i, the faculty of "Searching the heart. But availin r ourselves of his declarations, and pursuing the pail which his spirit has marked out for us in 62 True Honor. the word, we shall, by his grace, be enabled to as- sist others in the important and difficult work of searching their own hearts. Let us therefore, try to fix by this rule, the reigning principles of men who receive honor one of another ; and why they produce an impediment, amounting to an absolute impossibility, of believing on our Lord Jesus Christ ? I. What are the reigning principles of men who receive honor one of another \ A good name, saith the scripture, is rather to be chosen than great riches. He who has once dis- carded it from the number of his inestimable things — who is at no pains to keep it up — who would as soon commit an act from which his char- acter is sure to lose as one from which it is as sure to gain, has found his place among the off- scourings of human nature, and is one of the most dangerous enemies to human peace. It is a false indulgence, a pernicious liberty, which permits a man to go at large who has forgotten to blush. We should sadly mistake the Redeemer's mean- ing, if we supposed that he intends to untie the bands of civil society, or those ruffian hands which would gladly engage in the detestable work. His own people guard their characters with the utmost vigilance, and are the foremost to cultivate ichatso- ever things are of good report. To have therefore a good name — to be well reported of for good True Honor. 63 works — to enjoy the praises of other men, for up- right principles and worthy deeds, is no obstacle to our faith ; it is its natural consequence. But the scriptures, while they set its just value upon a fair fame in the eyes of men, never propose it as the end, or as the recompense of actions sub- stantially coiTect They refer every thing to the authority of God as its reason, and to its approba- tion as its reward. Their design throughout is to bring us back to the God from whom we have deeply revolted ; to break the power of all meaner influences and motives ; to elevate our views to him, the only source of duty, honor, and happi- ness ; making him the centre of all our affections, as he is of all holy inteUigences ; and turning all our thoughts to him first, him midst, him last, him without end. The character of the Pharisees was precisely the reverse of this : and so is the character of all who, like them, receive honor one of another. Good things they did, many of them — good things for number and kind, which far outstrip the deeds of some who think that they sufficiently prove their faith by their works. The Pharisee, who thanked God that he was not like other men, extortioners, adulterers, unjust, nor even like ths poor sinner of a publican that stood beside him, icho fasted twice in the week, who gave tithes of all that he possessed^ leaves far behind him in the race both of negative H Tme He on or. ?ind positive virtues, many a gallant and many a grave professor of Christianity. O could we bring them to but the half of the Pharisee's liberality, there should never be any lack of means for reli- gious purposes. Yet he who knew what was in man, has planted his anathema upon the Phari- see's glory, and has told us most explicitly, that except our 7'ighteousness shall exceed the righteous- ness of the Sci'ihes and Pharisees, we shall in no case enter into the hingdom of heaven. Why, what was it that spoiled so fair a show ? What made so rich a stockholder a bankrupt in the wealth of the skies, and exhibited him to the eyes of holy angels and men, a more wretched pauper than the beggar whose rags were his wardrobe, and his seat a dunghill ? This : he loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. All his devotions were performed, all his virtues dis- played, all his distinctions sought, for the ostenta- tion of human notice, and the breath of human applause. God was not in all his thoughts — that which he coveted, he obtained — he got his reward, and lost his soul. So shall ony heavenly Father do also unto you, if your inward p)ai'ts, like his, 9 name at present must be erased from the album, the hst of those who beheve on the Son of God. In the next place, our Lord Jesus Christ, when he ascended wp on high, received gifts for men, which he distributes in his sovereignty as it hath pleased him. Among these corruption finds much fuel for unhallowed profession. To particularize: 1. The ministry of the word. By the very nature of the case, as well as by the institution of the Redeemer, this office exercises a powerful influence upon the church and on society,, and has a proportional degree of honor connected with it. True, where it is stripped of the support of a civil establishment, it can seldom boast any golden charms. A man may often shave more gold out of a block of timber than he can from his services in the ministry ; but there are men not a few% whose ambition lies in another direction, and who regard as dross all money beyond the supply of their immediate necessities. Now, to such men of a literary turn and of decent moral habits, the pulpit presents what would be called a fair object of secular ambition. To appear once or twice a week in a marked distinction — to enjoy preroga- tives which custom at least has rendered inviola- ble (the effectual and the only safeguard of many a preacher) — to exhibit the resources of intellect with the attractions of taste a^d the corruscations of genius — to enforce valuable moral truth by elo- ^0 True Honor, quence, which shall be followed in the pubUc assembly by silent admiration, and out of it by ap- plause and celebrity — and a respect and influence unattainable in ordinary stations — what carnal heart is proof against these temptations? It is woful to consider that the devil has, through these means, succeeded in planting his servants down in stations which were intended for Zion's watchmen. Love to the souls of men and to the Saviour of their souls — a sense of their dire responsibihty for the blood of men, and an honest desire to be faith- ful, never entered the minds of some who have yet rushed fearlessly into the ministry. The calling is reputable ; they wish to sustain its repute in the eyes of the world ; they receive honor from men ; it is the ahment of their hope, and the object of their anxiety. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ they have none. Not a thievish publican nor a stroll- ing harlot who are not nearer the kingdom of God than they, and their ultimate reckoning will be dreadful beyond description. Besides the pulpit, there are other talents of which our Lord shall exact an account. It is distressing to think that for the most part he will exact it of those who never fairly brought them into exercise ; and on the other hand, that many whom he never employed have industriously run into forbidden paths. I know not a more unchris- trian doctrine, nor one more pregnant with prac- True Honor. 71 tical mischiefs, than the doctrine which takes the part of the gifted brethren. These brethren, if they invade not your pulpits, which, thanks to the good order established in some churches, they can- not do, nevertheless lay hold of the public praying societies. On all occasions they are ready — on all occasions foremost. They are compared with the ministr}^^ and sometimes not to the advantage of the latter. In process of time they begin to try their hand at exhortation — next at preaching — and where, do they say, is the mighty difference ? And thus with self-complacency do they edge onwards, until the ministry is surprised by the intrusion and pollution of those whom God never gave talent, nor man cultivation. Mistake me not. I am no enemy to prayer nor to praying societies. But I am an enemy to that withdrawing of men out of their proper place. I am an enemy to whatever would fill them with an improper conceit of them- selves. I am an enemy to this giving undue honor to those to whom it is not due, and to converting the worship of God into a vehicle for the vanity of man, and of the smallest of men. There is much ground to fear that many a man's condemnation will be found on his distinction at a praying so- ciety. He wished to be noticed — he ivas noticed. To be talked of— he luas talked of. To be praised — he ims praised. He sought honor of men — he got it, and it is all he is likely to get. i& True Honor. He sought not the honor that cometh from God only, and will be found at last to have not been even a believer in Jesus Christ. I have not time to trace the different forms in which, under religious pretences, 7nen receive honor one of another, to the detriment of all sound prin- ciple and the destruction of their own souls. It remains to show II. Why the prevalence of such a temper is inconsistent with the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1. It involves a principle essentially sinful. God alone is the universal monarch, the single fountain of true honor, throughout the universe. When we seek our honor in any other quarter, to the neglect of that which cometh from him alone, we enter into a conspiracy against his throne. We exalt into his place, and give the glory due to his name, to creatures, to men, and often to bad men. We love, we pursue, we worship, a phan- tom. We set up the stumbling block of our ini- quity in our hearts — commit that high rebellion which he has visited from age to age, and now visits, and will continue to visit till the consumma- tion of all things, with his sharpest rebukes, his heaviest curses. To receive honor from one ano- ther, while we seek not the honor that cometh from God only, is to cherish in our hearts the very core of corruption, to identify ourselves in our characters True Honor. ' 73 and interests with the fallen spirits, and to expose ourselves infallibly to their fate. What can be conceived more horrible, more utterly at variance with the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, more de- serving of eternal damnation, than to declare prac- tically that we have found a more bountiful bene- factor— a nobler object of our praise — a more sufficient portion for our hearts — a richer source of good — than the living God. And what do they do less, who seek thcil* honor one of another, in preference to that which cometh from God only ? 2. Receiving honor from men necessarily im- phes criminal conformity to the world of sinners. That which we most respect, admire, and love, we are prone to imitate. It is a law of our being ; and has its place, and exerts its force, in the form- . ation of spiritual as well as other character. If you receive honor from the world, as contradistin- guished from the honor which cometh from God only, you must of necessity be like the world ; i. e, be most unlike God, who calls his peojyle into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ. The world also exercises a stern, despotic power over its votaries. You must obey its maxims; you must adopt its modes ; you must speak its language ; you must cultivate its temper ; you must be the friend of its friends, and the enemy of its enemies ; or its honor will be denied to you, and you will be excommu- nicated from within its pale. The world will not 74 True Honor, throw away its honors upon those who underva- lue them : and why should it ? I do not mean that you must abjure a religious profession : pro- fess what you please, but go no farther, or not so far as to war with its doctrines, and renounce its practises. You may have as much of a religious air, and be as devout in your religious observances as you think proper, and lose none of your honor from men. The world knows that you may have all these, often more of their appearances, than many whom it cannot endure ; and be sound in its interests all the while. Keep it company, and wear its image, and it will never quarrel with you for walking in the hroad ivay, with a Christian mark. But the moment you open your heart to .one particle of the love of God, or faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, you are ruined, you are hated, despised, proscribed. Now, how can this friendly correspondence with the world, without which it is vain to look for its honors, consist with the con- dition and character of a true behever ? How can it admit that gracious singularity which is mocked on earth, but displays unutterable glories before the angels of God ? How does it accord with be- ing jrilgrhns and strangers lolio seek ^ better coun- try, that is, an heavenly ? How with that state of separation which their God hath commanded : Come ye out from among them, and he ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive True Honor. 75 you, and he a father unto you, and ye shall he my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Brethren, the thing is impossible. And so it is de- cided, if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. As receiving honor one from another, is by the terms of the text, in oppo- sition to seeking that honor that cometh from God only, and as it imphes a participation of all those tempers and feelings which are exactly the reverse of all the teachings and influence of the Spirit of God, it follows, that so long as a man continues thus to receive honor, so long as he lays such a stress upon human approbation, it is simply and forever impossible that he should be a behever in Jesus Christ, or have the smallest share in his sal- vation, or one single hope towards God, which will not perish as infallibly as the leaf fades and falls in autumn. This receiving honor one of another, deceives men by its specious form. The love of honor, is a principle of our nature as it came from the hands of its Divine Maker. He framed us for glory, honor, and immortality. But its beauties are all laid waste, and its direction wholly perverted, by that universal destroyer. Sin. Yet the principle, though depraved, remains, is found to operate most strongly in the most ingenu- ous spirits, and has actually gone so far as avow- edly to dispute the empire with the law of God. 76 True Honor. We hear it confidently stated, as if it were a moral axiom, that there are two laws for society, rehgion, and the law of honor ; and that when a man disregards the sanctions of one, he is amena- ble to the other. A notable expedient for a sinful worm, to improve the moral government of God his maker ! Besides, we are bound, even by the law of God, to render honor where honor is due. Great private worth, and public services command-, and should command, our most respectful homage. But the misery is, that this homage, and this love of honor, twine round about the soul, and terminate without looking farther. It makes the man forget his immortal destiny — forget the crown of righteousness — forget the righteous Judge, and cleave to earth, and the voice of earthly praise, as to the perfection of his bliss. This principle is most observable in political and military men. I shudder when I think the applauses of our coun- try are avowedly the motives and the reward of our most distinguished men ; and when I see the public press commending the greatness and mag- nanimity of the sentiment, and diffusing the moral pestilence through a thousand streams into the very heart of the comnu^nity — and that too, in many instances, under the control of men called Christians — but who seem to forget on these occa- sions, that God, or his glory, has any claim on their presses. O happy for them, if God too were to True Honor. Tj forget all the indignities which they have put upon his name. I have assigned a reason w^liich makes it very hard for Christianity to thrive in a camp, or in a cabinet : and it is quite a rarity, an eighth wonder of the world, to find a godly soldier or statesman. How melancholy the reflection, that from the field of honor, in the very centre of their glories, our bravest men are often summoned in an instant to their eternal reckoning, without having perhaps, had in their lives one serious thought of the God with whom they have to do ! Alas ! what will the honor derived from men avail them at his bar ! My heart sickens at the thought ; and finds no rehef but from the assurance that they are in the hands of one who will do them no injustice. 4. Finally, the sin of which I speak, making the honor that cometh from men, to compensate and supersede that which cometh from God only, can- not be excused as a sin of infirmity. The strength of physical passions, the suddenness and violence of temptation, have here no place. It is a sin of calculation. The whole soul enters into it ; habits are formed by it ; and habits do not spring up hke mushrooms, they grow by slow degrees. The last, though at all times a feeble apology for crime, sur- prises, the being taken unawares, is swept away. It is a deliberate, systematic rebellion against God. It is the indulgence of wilful transgression, which is utterly inconsistent with every gracious princi- 78. True Honor. pie, and where it reigns, marks, without a perad- venture, an unbehever in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now, my friends, if these things are true, and that they are is just as certain as that God hath spoken to us, how wide a scope and how terrible a necessity do they create for the examination of our own hearts ! Who does not, in some shape or other, fall under the accusation of the text ? Be persuaded to make diligent search : for while it stands against a single individual, it infallibly shuts him out of the kingdom of God. Should an angel be commissioned by revelation to go among the hearers of the gospel — the professors of the religion of Jesus Christ — and put his mark upon the fore- head of all who are under the ban of the text, whose forehead would be without a stigma ? Would it be thine \ Why, then, does thy bosom heave and thy heart palpitate ? Why wilt thou not learn betimes to seek the honor that cometh from God only I How long shall the opinion of men usurp its place ? How long will ye seek in political or fashionable life that applause which the Lord abhors, and may, and without his great pre- vention will, draw after it your eternal destruction ? Where is the man who has made ,even honorable politics his pursuit whose religious sensibilities were not blunted, and his conscience of rectitude warped ? Who has carried into the vortex of the political whirlpool a mind uncontaminated with True Honor. 79 the corruption that is in the world, and brought it out again equally pure ? Among all the votaries of fashion in whom the rehgious sense is not wholly obliterated, who has attempted to conciliate the service of God with the honor that cometh one from another and suc- ceeded ? Whose garments have not smelt, whose visages have not been blackened, by the infernal fire which they have been compelled to approach? Who has not learned some maxims, or indulged some practice, which has put a wider separation between God and them, and prepared them for a deeper plunge into transgression when the next opportunity should oifer? Shall I propose the question ? Are there any whose lips have received the hallowed symbols of the body and blood of Jesus the Saviour, and whose feet, ere the taste of that holy pledge had died away, have gone greedily into the same excess of riot with those who walk in the vanity of their minds ? In a word, are there none whose consciences whisper to them that the inspiring motive to all their religious appearance and profession has been the applauses of their fellow-men? What shall I say to them all? Awake ! arise ! flee ! flee for your lives from this treacherous ground that stretches over the edge of the bottomless pit ! Soon may the voice of that thunder be heard which shall shake it into frag- ments beneath your feet, and you are in-evocably 80 True Honor. ingulfed. Even now the cry of despair from some who were gay and careless as any of you can be, rings in my ear. They were taken unprepared and hurried away with all their reasonings, their decencies, their mistaken religion, and have found their error when the hope of redemption was past ! See that this be not your case. See to it soon ; see to it immediately. To-day is the accepted time ; to-day is the day of salvation. Be not deceived. Yet a little while, and the Lord Jesus shall he re- vealed from heaven injlamingfire, taking vengeance of those who know not God and obey not the gospel. The Lord grant that you may be able to stand be- fore him in that final and fiery visitation ! APOSTOLIC COMMISSION VOL. IV. 6 SERMON VI T. APOSTOLIC COMMISSION. LUKE XXIV. 47. And that repentance and reinission of sins should he preached in his name among all nations, he- ginning at Jerusalem. The work which the Father had given the Lord Jesus to do was now finished. He had gone through the several stages of his huinihation, and had ceased to be the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief He had magnified the law and made it honorable, and brought in everlasting righteous- ness, even the righteousness of God, for the justi- fication of men. He had put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, pouring out the blood of his 84 Apostolic Commission. cross as a ransom for their souls. He had passed through the gates of death ; had remamed m his territories long enough to prove the fact of his having died, and to work the overthrow of his kingdom-; had risen in his majesty, and repassed as a conqueror those barriers through which he was led as a prisoner; had frustrated, defeated, and made an open show of the hosts of hell, and was just about ascending in the glory of the Cap- tain of salvation up to his native heavens, there to appear in the presence of God for us ! How awful the pause ! how tender yet terrifying the crisis ! Methinks the cry is heard to the farthest verge of Creation, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. The partition- wall is tottering to its base, and presently will be heard the crash of its fall. The gates of heavenly light are to be unbarred to the world, and floods of living water from the rock of Zion, are to cool and refresh and invigorate the nations. The tabernacle of God is to dwell with men; they are to become his people ; he is to be their God ; he is to dwell among them, to walk in the midst of them, to cast out the prince of this world, and to bring back the days of primeval glory and blessedness. What ! is all this to be effected in our world ? Yes ! in our world ! Why, it is full of crimes and curses ; it is overrun with the enemies of God. Devils Apostolic Commission. 85 and devilish men have the rule here. The soil is yet reeking with the blood of the Prince of life. Not a bosom heaves nor a tear starts under the guilt of this " deep damnation." How then shall this marvelous revolution be accomplished \ Gather together the wise men, the philosophers ; ask them whether the scheme is practicable, whether these fairy visions can be reahzed. The wise men ! the philosophers ! They are deep in the great apos- tasy ; they are themselves ringleaders in treason, leaders of the bands of rebels : they are as igno- rant as they are criminal. Away with their fool- eries ! Let me hear the Son of God breathe this portentous silence, Not by might, nor by poiuer, but by my Spirit, saitJi the hord. He v/lio con- trols the spirits of all flesh issues forth the command in its simple majesty, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Observe, my Christian friends, the grandeur of this conunission. The Lord Jesus speaks hke one who had the " spirits of all flesh" under his control. The mag- nitude of the object, the difficulty of the enterprise, the feebleness of the means, are not so much as mentioned. Let there be light, was not uttered with more decision at the first creation, than is this charge to his apostles at the second. The speaker and the energy were the same. It was all worthy of God manifest in the flesh, and so 86 Apostolic Commission. surely as his lips have pronounced the words the effect must follow. The disciples felt their power. Eleven men, without arms or armies, influence, connections, wealth, or literature, are sent to sub- due the nations. Not a remonstrance, a scruple or a doubt, is heard from their lips. / am ivlth you ahi'ays, I will give you a mouth and ivisdoni tvhich all your adversaries shall not he able to gainsay or resist, hushed every fear, resolved every difficulty, filled them with courage, crowned them with success. The text embraces three topics of most inter- esting inquiry; the extent of the apostolic commis- sion, the substance of their message, and a singular circumstance connected with the commencement of their labors. They were charged with an em- bassy to all nations. They were to preach repent- ance and remission of sins in the name of Jesus, ?in^ they were to begin at Jerusalem.'^ I. The substance of their commission : " To preach repentance and remission of sins in the name of Jesus." Repentance is a term of great latitude. It pri- marily signifies, a change of mind: and this gen- eral idea adheres to every form of its application. When the Jew was commanded to repent, his whole notions concerning the person and salvation * The third topic was reserved for a second sermon, which waa never written. — Ed. Apostolic Commission. 87 of the Messiah were to undergo a revolution, Re- pent ye, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. All his preconceived opinions of the Christ as a temporal deliverer, a magnificent conqueror, by whom his nation was to be rescued from the domi- nation of the Romans, and placed at the head of the whole earth, were to be abandoned. When the Gentile was commanded to repent, all his ideas concerning the religion of his country, of his ancestors, were to be inverted : Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanities, and things wherein there is no profit. Both Jew and Gentile were enjoined to alter entirely the nature of their conceptions of truth and happiness. What sort of an enterprise was this ? Judge ye who know how difficult it is to root out an an- cient prejudice from the mind of man. Who can estimate the sacrifice which it costs his vanity ? how little, how feeble, how paltry the success of similar attempts, upon ariy thing consecrated by established modes of thinking and feeling. Partic- ularly, how hopeless must the experiment be, when it is directed against men's ideas of national supe- riority. Their climate and their country the finest in the world ! their persons the handsomest, the bravest, the most skilful ! their rehgion the best, the most divine ! all their institutions of the highest * order ! For example : we are accustomed to ap- plaud ourselves as " the most enlightened people in 88 Apostolic Commission. the universe ;" and our institutions, both civil and poUtical, as excelUng all others; as perfect, althougjh we are every now and then in the habit of mend- ing, or trying to mend them. Should any one now attempt to reason us out of our prepossessions, to persuade us that the objects of our admiration are in reality detestable, and that we never shall knoAv what decency, and dignity, and pre-eminence mean, until we throw them all away, trample them under foot, and open our ears to a new set of in- instructions, and our hearts to a new set of percep- tions altogether. What reception, suppose ye, would this apostle of revolution meet ? How many would he persuade ? What other effect could he hope to produce, than to arm the community against him, as an insane man ? Now, then, judge from your own sensations what the ambassador of the cross had to hope, when attacking opinions and prejudices infinitely stronger than those of civil policy, or political pre- dilections, he preached to men the necessity of changing, radically, their whole convictions of truth and happiness? Nor is the necessity for such a change less at this moment, nor will it be less while the world endures, than it was at the first promulgation of the gospel. Be not startled at this assertion ! Say not, " The Jews had misunderstood and per- verted the scriptures of their own prophets ; they -* Apostolic Commission. 89 were dreaming about a Messiah, such as their vair imaginations had formed him ; and to reap any benefit from him, they must be recalled to a sound mind." The Gentiles, again, had lost altogether the knowledge of the true God. They had run into all excess oF riot in their madness upon their idols, and must be reclaimed from these vanities to the living and true God. To both Jew and Gen- tile, therefore, the doctrine and the duty of repent- ance was strictly applicable ; and so it is to these unhappy men, who in the darkness of paganism, are without God. But to us, to Christians, who have imbibed from our infancy those important truths which were new both to Jews and Gentiles, the doctrine of this repentance is superfluous. Stay a little, and consider. The effect of Jewish carnality, and pagan idolatry, was to separate be- tween them and their God ; to make them forget the end of their being ; to drench them in sense ; to chain them to this world ; and, finally, to drown them in destruction and perdition. Are we, with all our superior light, with all our commiseration for Jewish blindness and heathen degradation, in no danger of the same sin, and of the same ruin \ Are none of our affections estranged from God, the sovereign good, and set on lying vanities which cannot profit ? Are not the minds of many called Christians, as far from just ideas concerning the spiritual character and work of our Lord Jesus 90 Apostolic Commission. Christ, as the grossest and most obstinate Jews ? and their hearts as full of abominable idolatries, as the most debased and polluted pagan ? Deceive not your own selves. The Most High, regards not the form, where he sees the substance of idol- atry. You may look with contempt and abhor- rence upon a wooden or golden god in the shape of a man, or -d four-footed heast, or a creeping thing. Is it any thing better, suppose ye, when it has the devotion of all your faculties, the ardor of your whole hearts, your undivided love and worship, in the shape of a dollar, or a guinea, or a bank note ? When the all-seeing glance of God, your Maker, strikes through the bosoms of this assembly, does he perceive there no perverted principles, no unhal- lowed emotion, no lust of the flesh, nor lust of the eye, nor pride of life I Cannot he single out any who place their happiness in these things as if they were the chief good ? Stand forth, ye idolaters, ye evangelized, and therefore most criminal idola- ters, and hear his voice, fresh from the heavens, to you. Repent, or perish. Change all your principles and judgments, or not a man of you shall sec the kingdom of God. You may stand high in the re- spect of the world, but know ye not that the friend- ship of this world is enmity with God. If any man, therefore, will be the friend of the world, he must be the enemy of God. And what will ye do, Apostolic Commission. 91 when he shall meet you as a bear robbed of her whelps \ But the repentance which my text enjoins, and the apostles preach, is not merely such an altera- tion in men's views as amounts to a rational and speculative conviction of truth, of duty, and of hap- piness. Without this they shall in vain hope to enter the kingdom of God, But this alone will not insure their admittance. You may be, in these matters, as orthodox as the devil, and as far from heaven. The repentance which is expected from us goes much deeper, and makes more thorough work. It teaches us to view our errors, not merely as mis- takes, but as sin ; as having led us just as far to- wards ruin as we wandered from God. It sinks into the heart, turns it inside out, shows the evils which lurk there, reaches the very source of all our iniquities, the corruption of our nature ; makes us sensible that we are unlike the holy God, unmeet for his fellowship, at enmity with him, exposed to the perdition of his frown. If left to its own ope- ration it would be the sorrow of the world, which works melancholy, despair, death. But it is di- rected by a kindlier and hoher influence. It creates, 1. Godly sorrow for sin : as against all that is good, and pure, and kind, in the Infinite One; against all his authority^ all his patience, all his 92 Apostolic Commission. grace. That our hearts should be a fountain, and our lives a channel, of such floods of ingrati- tude, filth, rebellion, till us with dismay, and the most unfeigned compunction. 2. It fills with hatred of our sins. Hatred, as those things which have dishonored the majesty in the heavens, and have rendered us accomplices in treason, with the spirits of the pit — hatred as at those things which have abused the divine mercies, despised the divine judgments, caused our Lord Jesus Christ to shed his most precious blood — ha- tred, as being emphatically the destroyers of soul, of body, of hope: which made -the devil, which kindled hell, and will consign to its untold wo all over whom they reign. 3. This repentance leads to a confession of sin ; deep, humble, unaffected. No apologies, no exten- uations. Behold, I am vile; lohat shall I answer thee ; if thou Lord should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand — God he merciful to me a sinner, is the language of a broken, a contrite, a repenting heart. 4. This repentance involves a forsaking of sin and return to God. It is he who forsakes, not who conceals his sin, that shall find m«rcy. The true penitent forsakes his sin wholly and universally. He makes no reserve for a favorite lust. Compro- mise is out of the question. Is it not a little one ? will never be heard from his lips. Whatever he Ajjostolic Co7nmission. 93 discovers to be provoking to the eyes of the Lord's glory will be renounced. If it be a right arm, a right eye, dear as one's own soul, it must be cast away ; it must be nailed to the cross, and there left to die as our Lord died, a lingering, painful, shame- ful, accursed death. Finally. It is a divorce, not a temporary sepa- ration, that he seeks. Whatever constituted sin's claim to dwell with him, or rule over him, that must be extinguished. Never more shall his former lusts in his ignorance find a welcome in his bosom. It is henceforth consecrated as a temple of God, and contains no room, no not so much as a corner, for allowed retreat to his enemy. The expelled devil returns not to his house with seven spirits more wicked than himself. The voice of the Son of God, / charge thee come out of the man and en- ter no more into him, is peremptory, and Satan must obey. What a marvellous revolution is here ! The man's views, principles, habits, changed ! Views, principles, habits, which had grown with his growth and strengthened with his strength ! — to which he was strongly attached as his nature would permit ! in accordance with which he not Ions: ago sought his happiness ! which he judged to be as firm as truth itself! All changed! Radically changed! Changed so as to hate what he loved and to love what he hated! By what process of reason was 94 Apostolic Co7nmission. it effected ? What motives enforced, what effi- ciency ensured it ? Marvel not, my brethren ! The secret is very simple, but its energy is all "divine. The text con- tains it. The apostles succeeded ; the gospel now so succeeds, by coupling with the iloctrine of re- pentance that of the " remission of sin." That men are sinners conscience dictates, but her dictates are dark, ill-boding, full of fears and undefined terrors. Hence all her suggestions are melancholy, sour, sullen, very apt to breed super- stition, but of cheerful religion absolutely barren. Of forgiveness she knows nothing. This is the blessed discovery of the gospel ; and plain as it ap- pears to us, because the gospel hath put it in me- ridian light and glory, it would have confounded the angels of heaven to all eternity had they been asked whether there is forgiveness with God. It is one of his deep things which he hath revealed unto us by his Spirit. All we know or can know of it is from this revelation. Let us then inquire at the mouth of the Lord himself what is that for- giveness which he bestows and which he com- manded his apostles to preach. 1. It is forgiveness or remission of sin, in which term we comprehend every offence of which God is the object. Now of this he alone is the proper judge. Its thanklessness, its malignity, the height, and length, and breadth, and depth of its evil, the Apostolic Commission. 95 Infinite Mind only can measure. A creature can see and feel it chiefly in the penalty which God has annexed to it ; and therefore a part only, and but a small part, can come at once under his observation. To the Eternal Mind, its hideousness and its hor- rors, from its first introduction through everlasting ages, are all minutely and exactly present. Now that he should be the only being in his own uni- verse who should have thoughts of pardon ! How good, how kind, how gracious ! What an emphasis does it impart to his name ! The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- suffering, slow to anger, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Verily, it sprang up in the bosom of his own love. Heaven would not have had the compas- sion, nor hell the impudence, to sue for our pardon. God alone shall be exalted in this matter ; God alone is the for giver. Let his great name have all the glory ! 2. That remission of sin which the gospel pro- claims is most free ; it is forgiveness according to the riches of his grace. There is indeed some- thing gratuitous in the very idea of forgiveness. It supposes \n the forgiver the right of exacting his due, and of his waiving that right with respect to the person of the offender. Of course he must receive it as a free, unconditional gift. How could it come to us in any other way ? Who among the sous of men, that rightly considers the case, can 96 Apostolic Commission. have the hardihood to talk or think of compounding with his God? Whose mind is so profane as to insuh him with the offer of his best deeds as a price for his favor \ You might as well imagine that the gift of God can be purchased with money. Your good deeds, your virtues, your penitence ! How much will they cover of the ground of your transgressions? Large and respectable as they may appear in your partial eye, what figure shall tliey make before him whose eyes are as a jiame of fire ? What but extort from your astonished lips that exceeding great and bitter cry, We are all as an wnclean thing, and our very righteousness are as filthy rags. Yet here is the main difficulty with an awakened conscience ; first, to persuade of the fact that there is forgiveness with God ; next, to persuade it, his forgiveness is absolutely free. No point do the scriptures labor more — none do they set in a greater variety of hghts — none exhibit in more various attitudes. They display — O let me speak of it with all reverence, for I have no other word I — they display the anxiety of the Holy One for what ? Why, that sinful man may believe that he is merciful, and that his mercy is infinitely free ! Tiwn ye, turn ye, ivhy ivill ye die, O house of Israel? Turn, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I am gracious! Ho! every 07ie that thirsteth, come to the waters! Come poor, come wretched ; come with nothing to re- Ajyostolic Commission. 97 commend, with everything to disqnalify you ; only come, and take the water of \\{^ freely. 3. The remission of sin is full. The covering is sufficient to wrap yourselves in, the bed is long enough for you to repose yourselves upon. He takes praise to himself that when he forgives, it is of all tresjmsses, and your gladdened hearts should re-echo the praise, Bless the Lord, O my soul! and all that is ivithin vie bless his holy name ; who forgiveth all thine iniquities ! God is as really God in his forgiveness as in his vengeance. He will no more be compared with the children of men, with the sons of the mighty, in his grace, than in his severity. So indeed it must be if ever you enjoy the comfort of pardoned sin; for if the divine forgiveness do not completely cover the whole ground of our transgressions — if it leave but one sin, original or actual, out of its provision — we have that one sin to answer for, and so no flesh should be saved. This one sin would be our un- sheltered, our vulnerable point, in which guilt would thrust in his mortal dart. Oh ! it is our strong consolation, that when God forgives he for- gives like God. When he pardons he will abun- dantly pardon. Go with your half-forgiveness, Hmited, conditional pardons, with reserves and limitations, unto the souls of men. It may be, it may become them — it is hke themselves. That VOL. IV. 7 98 Ajyostolic Coinmission. of God is absolute and perfect, before which our sins are as a cloud before the east wind and the rising sun. Hence he is said to do this work with his whole heart and his whole soul— - x"?'?'^''^'", freely, bountifully, largely, to indulge and forgive unto us our sins, and to cast them into the bottom of the sea, (Mic. vii. 19,) into the bottomless ocean, an emblem of infinite mercy. Remember this, poor souls, when you are to deal with God in this matter.* 4. The forgiveness of sins is final. In the jus- tification of a sinner, God, the gracious one, par- dons once for all — pardons forever ! Pardon would be of no use to us, were it not irreversible : it would no sooner be gained, than lost. The Lord doth not so deal with his pardoned ones ; give them just to taste the sweetness of his mercy, that their own sinfulness may the next moment fill their mouths with the bitterness, and their hearts with the horrors of the curse. His bounty is of another order altogether. His gifts and his calling are without repentance, i. e. unchangeable. His love is everlasting, and so is the life which he bestows upon them. They arc united with his dear Son ; their lives entwine with his life. W4iatever reaches them to destroy them, must first kill their Re- deemer. Because I live, is his gracious promise, * Owen's 130 Psidm, p. 240, oct. Glasgow. Apostolic Co77iinission. 99 ye shall live also. They are kept by the power of God, through faith unto sahatioii ; therefore they shall never perish. There is, there can be, no conclernnation for them — they shall have ever- lasting hfe. NON-CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD, SERMON VIII. NON-CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. ROMANS XII. 2. Be not conformed to this world ; but be ye trans- formed by the ?-eneiving of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. Many of my hearers will take instant alarm from the uncourtly and unfashionable language of the text. They will assume, as granted, that they are to be lectured away from society, shut out from all the innocent and joyous freedoms of life, and per- suaded to spend their days in the recesses of a nunnery, or the cells of a cloister. But softly : there are no nunneries nor cloisters in the Bible ; 104 Non- Conformity to the World. there are scarcely any in our country, and if there were ever so many, it would be rather hopeless to try the experiment of making converts of either sex from among this audience. Take heed, how- ever, that your prejudices do not assail the word of your God ; that you stop not your ears, and steel not your hearts against his counsels. You are here in his presence, and it may cost you your souls if you turn away from his admonition. It cannot indeed be denied, that his commandment and the principles of his children are infinitely at variance with a multitude of things which the world calls harmless ; nor that it may appear to be your duty, your bounden, your imperative duty, to make a secession, even from the innocencies of the world, to take a firm stand, and to make a full stop, in a career plausible, popular, reputable, for which many ingenious things may be pleaded, but which are not fit for a Christian who is not of the world, but whom Christ hath called out of the world; let it be sulky, or cold, or abusive, as it pleases, and that without infringing at all upon your active du- ties, or upon your allowed, which are your great- est social comforts. Your souls are too precious to compliment away to your giddy neighbors, and eternal hfe too infinitely valuable to be put in jeop- ardy by your desire to please them. Then let us see what the apostle means by being not conformed to this world — what is that transformation by the Non- Conformity to the World. 105 renewing of our mind, so zealously pressed upon us ; and what is the connection under which he has placed it — that ye may know what is that good, and acceptihle, and perfect will of God. I. Let us look at the nature of that non-con- formity to this world, which the text enjoins. This world emits a bad savor in the records of God. Wherein, in trespasses and sins, says the apostle, ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. The course of this world, then, is directed by the prince of darkness ; and in direct- ing it, he employs all the faculties of their souls, and all the members of their bodies, as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. The world is at this moment full of demoniacs : the evil one takes as complete possession of their persons, and abuses tliem to as ignoble purposes, as ever he did their bodies in the days of our Lord's humiliation — Oh that men who are estranged from God, would he- lieve the terrifying truth ! Yes, in that fair, and gentle, and courteous, and polished form, dwells the spirit that organizes all the rebellion agamst God, all the misery of man ; all that he fears, and has reason to fear ; and causes that lake of fire and brimstone, into which his intention is to plunge his votaries. Do you wonder, then, that the scripture has said, whoever loill be the friend of the world is 106 Non- Conformity to the World. the enemy of God. Under his evil coiitro), the world, like a rebellious province, has set up for itself; and acts as if it were perfectly independent of the divine government. It has its own institu- tions, statutes, and customs — its own pursuits — its own ethics — its own penal code, and its own re- compenses. It covers the very same ground which is covered by the law of God ; but is, of course, perfectly hostile and contradictory both to the law and the Lawgiver. Here, then, is the cause and origin of all those injunctions of the scriptures, con- cerning our non-conformity to the world. It is in necessary and perpetual collision with the autho- rity of our rightful Sovereign. Obedience to the one infallibly excludes obedience to the other. And it is most idle and ridiculous to attempt their con- ciliation ; the very attempt proves its author to be an enemy to God, and a slave to the usurper. The case, my friends, admits of but one alterna- tive : you must either take your part with the world, and share in its guilt and condemnation, oi you nuist come put from the world, and he separate^ i. e. you must be Christians wholly or not at all. No middle character can be allowed. If you are not for the Savior, you must be agcllnst him. If you do not gather with him you must be numbered among those who scatter abroad. Neither the kingdom of heaven nor the kingdom of hell toler- ates a neutral character. If Jehovah he God, fol- Non- Conformity to the World. 107 low him ; and if Baal be God,fol!oiu him. But to halt between two opinions marks the feebleness of present indecision, and will only conduct to future ruin. Yet it is not from all intercourse with the world that heth in wickedness that the authority of Jesus Christ prohibits you. For then, as saith the apos- tle, ye must needs go out of the icorld. But in your separation from it you must show a character which the world never forms, and cannot under- ^ stand ; must show that while you are in it you are not of it — that you do not love it — that your com- merce with it is of pure necessity, and that you are going rapidly as time can carry you to that glorious home, where it shall never more show its face. You must be separated from and have no commu- nion with those things which distinguish the world from the redeemed of the Lord, and which qualify you for the career of that graceless society whose steps take hold on hell, leading down to the cham- bers of death. 1. There must be a renunciation of the maxims of the world. These maxims, without exception, centre in the creature, and are bounded by time. There is not one of them which regards an immortal destiny. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow loe die, is the sum of its philosophy. And were it true — did the spirit of man, like that of a beast, go down- .108 Non- Conformity to the World. ward — there is nothing to arraign its wisdom nor to demonstrate the prudence of a very different course. But if, on the contrary, we are immortal beings, than which nothing can be more certain, then to have all our principles of action shaped only to the requisitions of a mortal life, is the ex- treme of folly and madness ; and the farther we can be from so great a delusion, the better for us. Now for example: It is one of the maxims of the world, that if we are virtuous, i. e. if we render to every man his due, cultivate the mild and beneficent affections, do good actions, and are free from gross iniquities, it is enough. No more will b<^ required of us by God himself, and we may sit down at our ease in the calm and undisturbed hope of unquestioned bliss. Brethren, let me deal very plainly with you on this point, for it is in reality the rock on which a great portion of men make shipwreck of their souls; and I would observe that it confines all your accountability to the second table of the law, leaving the first, all your duties and your rela- tions to God, unprovided for. Who knows not that amiable and beneficent tempers are an essen- tial part of the religion of our Lord lesus Christ \ But who knows not that, separated from the con- nection under which his word has placed them, torn asunder from supreme love to God from which he has made them to spring, they are at best but a Non- Conformity to the World. 109 milder form of rebellion against him ? How often must you be reminded that mutual acts of kind- ness, the various good offices of life, are simply necessary to the existence of society among rebels, and that the man who may be most distinguished for them may himself be the most obnoxious rebel among the whole, and may be condemned for abetting and encouraging others in their rebelhon? Was such a plea ever of any value before the tribunals of men ? Has it not appeared that the most humane, beneficent, and even righteous among a band of transgressors, was himself a principal culprit? And did the abuse of these good quahties in the service of rebellion for one moment arrest the most condign punishment? And shall we impute to the perfect government of God a blunder which cannot find a place among the imperfect governments of men ? Besides, what becomes of the rights of God your Maker ? Where IS the obedience to the first and greatest com- mandment. Thou Shalt love the Lord thy God toith all thy heart, and loith all thy strength, and icith all thy mind? Is this to be trodden under foot with impunity ? Are you to go all your lives Ion- forgetful of the infinite good, and when called to account escape under the pretext that you were kmd to rebels like yourself? Never to bestow a thought upon the eternal world, and to step as a matter of course into all its blessedness ? Never to 110 Non- Conformity to the World. have any concern about glorifying God here, and to be taken up from the mire of your pollutions unpardoned, unwashed, unsanctified, into the full possession of his glory hereafter? O more than sottish ! Who hath bewitched you, children of men ? And do I not speak to many, who, with the gospel of salvation freely and fully proclaimed in their hearing, have yet no other hope of divine acceptance than this absurd and stupid he \ Be- Ueve not the world. Her theology is not for sinful man. To behave decently on earth is no passport for heaven. It may do well enough among the blind and clumsy judges here, but will infallibly be detected by the keen-eyed righteousness beyond the grave. That ivhich is horn ofthejlesh isjiesh; but except a man he horn of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Hope for no change, for no mitigation. If the Lord Clwist speaks true, you shall find, when there is no recti- fying mistakes, that every man of you who has all that the world pronounces enough, and has no more, will be forever shut out from the kingdom of God. 2. Where the world cannot succeed in expell- ing religious sensibility altogether, there is another maxim calculated to neutralize its power and ren- der it ineffectual: " You need not be so strict; this great precision only does harm ; it makes religion unamiable, and yourselves odious. Why cannot Non- Conformity to the World. m jou enjoy in moderation and with dignity the innocent freedoms which form the zest of society, and not put on that sombre air, and keep at so chilling a distance from all the relish of life ?" In this way do men contrive to make void the law of God by their manner of representation. To fear God and do his will, is " strictness " and " hurtful precision." To preserve tenderness of conscience, is to be " unamiable and odious." Tc follow the multitude, is to " enjoy with moderation and dignity only innocent freedoms ;" and to avoid all appearance of evil, is to have "a sombre air and to keep at a chilling distance from the rehsh of hfe." So they wrap it up. To make short work of all these fair words and false pretences, do those who use them really love the law of God? and is it only against extravagant and fanatical excesses that they set their faces? Or is their opposition in very deed pointed at all that holiness luithout which no man shall see the Lord ? Is it not precisely the image of God which they cannot endure, and his authority which they would gladly set aside? Would they not rob you of all the comforts of a good conscience ? of all the sweets of a peaceful walk with God ? and persuade you to exchange them for the giddy whirl, for the idiot laugh, for the midnight debauch, and whatever belongs to that mental and bodily dissipation which is like the crackling of thorns under a pot, noisy for a moment 112 Non- Conformity to the World. and gone forever ? Among the other things which form the " zest of society," you must polhite your conscience, corrupt your morals, and dishonor the glorious and fearful name of the Lord your God by a httle " innocent" gambhng. You must also participate in that rational and elegant amusement which the abandoned and thieves select for their special entertainment, the play-house — all, lest your rehgion should appear un amiable. Were the Lord Jesus now on earth, should he not pass with our fashionable judges as morose, petulant, imper- tinent, a perfect stranger to polished manners, an enemy to all the cheerfulness and the graces of life? His apostle Paul would be derided as a fanatic; and John, the beloved disciple, would be pitie^d as a well-meaning enthusiast, endurable only because he was weak. In short, my friends, if you mean to be Christians, you must walk as Christ also walked. Your ears must be deaf alike to the open enmity and the hollow friendship of the world. You must have nothing to do with their plausible maxims — parleying is half a sur- render. You must put down your foot decisively in the King's highway, the way of holiness, in which the elders obtained a good report, and which is your short and only way to the kingdom. 3. When guilt, who pays no regard to etiquette, bursts in upon the conscience, raises his rugged voice, and reads his fearful lectures, the world has Noil- Conformity to the World. 113 another maxim to soothe him down and to keep all quiet within : '■• God is a merciful God ; we injure Ills name by ascribing harshness and rigor to him. He pities his poor, feeble creatures, compassionates their infirmities, takes delight in forgiving their faults, and will not be extreme to mark what is amiss." How fiilse and foul a conclusion, coupled with the most blessed truth that can sound in the ears of an awakened sinner ! He is merciful. The dimensions of his mercy, its height, and depth, and length, and breadth, it is not for the creature to' scan. The gospel alone however has revealed it in all its magnitude and freedom. But it is not to that mercy as thus revealed that the world appeals. Jesus Christ and his merit and grace find no place among its maxims. The creed of the world and that of the Unitarians are perfectly agreed. Shut out the Saviour ; make no use what- ever of him as the way, and the truth, and the life; know nothing, believe nothing, say nothing, of that new and living luay irJiicli he hath consecrated hy his blood, and all the rebels together will be loud in their praises of the divine mercy. But all this cry about the mercy of God is to encourage sinners who continue in their sins. It has nothins: in com- mon with the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who saves his people /yowi their sins. It creates a deceitful hope, a lying persuasion, that a man may VOL. IV. 8 114 Non- Conformity to the World. live habitually neglectful of God, of his immortal soul, of his eternal interests, and after all have a just confidence in the divine mercy. Believe it not — shut your ears against so popular and fatal a delusion. It is not he who palhates, but he who confesses and forsakes his sins — he who turns from them wholly, impartially, forever, and turns his feet unto God's testimonies — that shall find mercy. Have as much as you please of this divinity of the world. It is reprobate silver ; it will never make you rich unto everlasting hfe, nor buy one shred «)f clothing to cover your nakedness. The hlood of Jesus must cleanse you from all sin ; the right- eousness of Jesus must be your spotless robe j the Spirit of Jesus must be your sanctifier; or in that great and terrible day of the Lord you have no- thins; to look for but to be condemned ivith the world. 2. To renounce in words the maxims of the world, will be of little avail, if we do not also renounce its practices. The world has a method of forming a conscience of its own, and a moral law to correspond with it, so that whoever observes this law, however he may disregard and insult the law of God, is to be respected as a correct and honorable man. For example : You may spend a life in utter forgetfulness of God and his worship — in the most positive unbe- Non- Conformity to the World. 115 lief, and the most marked contempt of our Lord Jesus Christ — in habitual and even studious neg- lect of his great salvation, and every thing referring to its existence, and you never break the chain of your harmony with the world. These things give no uneasiness to a worldly conscience, nor dis- qualify you in the least for worldly honor and con- fidence. Nay, more : you may convert the Sab- bath day, the day which the Lord emphatically calls his own, into a season for secular business, or carnal amusement — you may even profane the name of the Lord your God — you may bestow your highest affections upon as many idols as you can find places for in your heart — it breaks no scores with a worldly conscience, nor depreciates you in the least in the eyes of worldly men. If you hve in a commercial country, you may defraud the government of its just dues — may make false entries of your goods. If your country be neutral, may furnish forged papers for your vessel, to suit either belligerent, as circumstances shall require ; may crown the whole with some hard swearings which old-fashioned men call perjury ; you may break, as it is termed, may convey your property fraudulently out of the reach of its true owners ; may bring multitudes of the poor, the widowed, and the fatherless, who trusted in your integrity, to the extreme of wretchedness — and when you have secured a human acquittal, by laws perhaps not a 116 Non- Conformity to the Wo?-ld. whit more righteous than your own principles, may erect your crest, may turn round and look full in the face the very persons you have ruined ; may insult them with the ostentatious display of your wealth, and receive not a hat the less. If you have spirit to carry the matter so high, you may disturb domestic peace, and then blow out the brains of the injured, for breathing upon your honor. The skirts of the world's conscience are very large, and its bowels of charity very strong, for all who side with it against the puritanical practices of fearing God and keeping his commandments. But now hear a moment what He who is to be your Judge hath said. Be not deceived : Neither forni- cators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. His law is made, and its penalty enacted, for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for liars, for perjured persons, for murder- ers, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. He has said that the wicked, whoever they be, by whatever names they go, and under whatever sanctions they n>ay shield them- selves, shall be turned into hell ; if you mean to take up your bed there and to know, by awful ex- perience, what it is to dwell with everlasting burn- ings, why then go, he conformed to this world, and Noil- Conformity to the World. 117 .• divide its recompense. But if not, if you are set for another course, and for another issue, if you design to meet the Lord in the air, when all that belongs to the world will be poor and contemptible enough, then see, in the 11. Place, the necessity of the transformation mentioned in the text. Be ye transformed in the renewing of your mind. Your speculative opinions, and your practical judgments, on those vital questions which affect your relations to God, and the salvation of your soul, must be exactly the reverse of the maxims and habits of this world. You must change sides : do it effectually, decidedly, visibly. You are to inquire, not what is fashionable, but what is right; not what is reputable or passable among men, but what the Lord God hath spoken ; you must, in a particular manner, come out for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the truth which is according to godliness. Let me address a word to those who are sensible of their duty, and yet shrink from the performance of it. Hoiu long halt ye between two opinions ? If your opinion is fixed on the great matters of your eternal hope, of what are you ashamed or afraid ? Smothered regard our Captain disdains. Do not imagine that if you are really his disciples ye can escape detection by the world, or that it will spare you the more, or hate you the less. Wo be unto you if it should ! Are 118 Non- Conformity to the World. you afraid, when you look around you and obse^r the mighty difference between the character of professing Christians, and the requisitions of your Divine Master, that you too, will one day fallback and bring a blot upon that icortliy name ivlierehy ye are called? It is a salutary fear; but may be worked up into a grievous temptation. It should inspire caution ; not keep among the ranks of un- believers, and apparently in the interests of enmity against God. To omit the plain duty of leaving the world that lieth in wdckedness, is not the way to find freedom or peace. Cast your fears of fall- ing upon him who has said, 7ny grace is sufficient for thee; start from your lethargy and run with patience the race that is set hefore you, lookiny unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. And let these careless professors, whose lives lay "a stumbling block before their more conscientious brethren, suffer the word of reproof and exhorta- tion. You are justly hable to part of that same rebuke which our Lord gave to the Jewish lawyer; not indeed for taking aicay the key of knowledge, but to the other and severer part of his charge ; you go not into the kingdom of heaven yourselves, and them that would enter in y^ hinder. Is it not enough to dishonor the Saviour under the pre- tence of being his friends, but must you keep back others from honorino; liim ? Are ve not satisfied with perishing alone — must you strive to make Non-Covformify to the World. 119 your neighbors bear your company ? Is the taste of their blood -sweet to you? or will it be pleasant to sink clown to death under the weight of their ruin, superadded to your own 1 rather seek to en- courage them; to cheer their drooping hopes s to revive their fainting spirits ; to strengthen the hands that hang down, and confirm the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame he turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. O how delightful to enter the palaces above, with a friend on either side ! To hear a saved one, whom perhaps you never knew, acknowledge, if it had not been for this man's firmness, for that woman's tenderness, for yonder person's fidehty, I had perhaps missed my road, been led astray in the paths of the seducer, and had never been here 1 Think you that such things will not add to the lustre of your crown, to the intensity of your bliss, to the beauty of your heaven 1 As you value all the three, be persuaded by a close imitation of Jesus Christ, to help, and not to hinder others in the prosecution of their high calling. This transformation must be by the renewing of your mind. Outward things alone vvill not do. Bodily exercise prqfiteth little. The resolution must be radical, and within the soul. That Holy Spirit, who is the vicegerent of Jesus Christ, must apply his power to create men anew ; or after all their 120 Non- Conformity to the World. reformation, their hearts will be still hankering after the lust of thejlesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Trifle not with eternal things. Never imagine that what man can see and under- stand is enough. Though if you have not what he can see and understand, there is a fatal de- ficiency. Your light must so shine before men, that others, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father which is in heaven. But in order to effect so divine a result, marvel not if we per- petually ring in your ears that proclamation of the Master, Ye must he horn again I Your faculties must be turned away from the objects of sinful pursuit, to the will and the work of your reconciled God and heavenly Father. Like the great High Priest of your profession, you must delight to do the will of God. Your affections too must be changed, and must change their objects. If ye, then, he risen with Christ, to a new and holy life, seek those things ivhich are ahove, where he himself sitteth at the right hand of God. Set your affec- tions on things ahove, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, arid your life is lad with Christ in God. In fine, this renewing of your mind will make you , spiritually minded, whicji is life and 'peace. III. The connection under which this non- conformity to the world is placed in the text demands your serious attention : JViat ye iwiy Non- Conformity to the World. 121 prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So long as men live conformably to the course of this world, they labor under an incapacity, criminal indeed, but still an incapacity, of clearly perceiving what the will of God is, and especially that it is good and acceptable and perfect. The motives which govern them, the influences which act upon them, the objects of their preference, all conspire to draw a thick film over their moral vision. So that the most conclusive scriptural demonstrations do not operate with their proper force, nor can the strongest scriptural light make their way plain before their face. They still grope in the dark, and though the light shineth in dark- ness, the darkness comprehendeth it not. They still profess their honesty, avow themselves sin- cere inquirers after truth, and wonder that they come no nearer to a satisfying conclusion ; or perhaps they do come to a conclusion, and equally wonder to find all the plain simple-hearted Chris- tians in the world are against them. I have only to say, that one beam of the glory of God in Christ Jesus darting into their minds, will instantly put to flight this boasted honesty, this pretence of sincere inquiry, and make them see and own the incon- ceivable deceitfulness of their own hearts. Under the power of his renewing grace their vision is purified. The images which it forms are in their 122 Non- Conformity to the World. proper place and position. Obscurities are en- lightened, . entanglements are unravelled, doubts resolved, and the wonder now is at the former blindness. The words of God have an evidence and an efficacy altogether surprising. The will of God there is no difficulty, generally speaking, of determining with the greatest precision ; par- ticularly all that revealed will which affects the substance of our faith, our duty, and our hope. They who believe his testimony the most firmly, receiving it upon his own authority as undisputed and indisputable truth, make the most rapid and eminent progress. They ask no questions but what said ray Lord unto his servant! and they are enabled to perceive both what he does say and that it is all good, and of such a sort as must be 4icceptahk when it takes place in them, and precisely that which suits their circumstances and promotes the end for which it was intended, being therefore every way perfect. It is just what they themselves would wish it. They have nothing to diminish, to add, nor to alter. They complain, indeed they have reason to complain, often and bitterly, oisin that dwellethin them — of the lusting of the Jlesh against the spirit — of t\e law in their memhers warring against the law of their mind, and bringing them into captivity to the laic of sin and death. But of the law, of the will of God, not a whisper of complaint — no lamentation about its Non- Conformity to the World. 123 breadth or strictness — none about its spirituality^ searching even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit. They know nothing of what some men call a milder form of grace. They ask for no dispensations, no relaxation. Their unanimous verdict is, that God's commandments are not griev- ous; that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. With these views of the divine will, they go from strength to strength, their path being that of the just, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Such, my brethren, is the non-conformity to this world enforced by the text, and such its fruits. Say, then, if there is not a most lamentable and ruinous difference between what we are and what we should be. Who is there that, like Enoch, walks with Godl Who makes it his main study to be conformed to the image of the first-horn 1 and inquires, conscientiously, into the state and progress of his conformity? Who crucifies the old mem with his deeds, the Jlesh with the affections and lusts ? If we were to judge from the appearance, and of professing Christians, we should certainly conclude that it is a part of their duty to be as unlike God and as like the world as possible. Look at their spirit ; is it not the spirit of the Vv^orld ? — at their affections ; are they not the affections of the world? at their pursuit ; are they not the pursuits of the world ? — at their law of morals ; is it not the 124 Non- Conformity to the World. world's law? Have they any better or higher mo- tive or standard of conduct than the prevailing fashion ? Away with evasion ! Come to the matter of fact. How do you stand with respect to the law of God ? — to the active faith of our Lord Jesus Christ: that faith which purifies the heart, and which works by love \ Why do you turn pale at the thoughts of death ? Why shiver with terror in the prospect of the judgment-seat and the judicial process X To a Christian actively engaged in his vocation, the appearing of the Great God our Saviour ought to be and is a blessed hope. Why does the very idea of it fill you with trepidation ? Ah ! my dear friends, be assured all is not right. There is something rotten and ruinous in your condition, and must be rec- tified if you would have a hope that shall not put you to shame. Rouse up, all ye who have any regard for your heavenly Master ! Rouse up in his strength! shake off your indolence and the entanglements which enwrap you ! Many of you are convinced, that to your own peace and to your Redeemer's glory it is necessary that the distance between you and the mere people of the world be greatly widened. Stifle not convictio^is while you repress the urgencies of duty. Do what the hea- then sage advised a young man to do, dare — dare to snap your trammels — dare to be singular — dare to obey God rather than man. You will lose Non- Conformity to the World. 326 nothing either of comfort or of dignity. The peace of God which passeth all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The ministering spirits will descend from on high to help and honor those who honor God. He will himself cast his compassionate and complacent regards upon jou, and will abuadantly sweeten all the mortifications which may be poured into your cup. Jesus hath said, Where I am, there shall my servant he also. The full grace of which promise you shall enjoy in the ecstasy of your hearts when he shall take you to himself to be with him in safety ; and you shall see the world with its gods, its glories, and its worshippers, consuming together in the last fire ! THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SERMON IX. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. JOHN VII. 37. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. The blessed Jesus was ever employed in doing good. To save the souls of men was the benevo- lent purpose for which he came into our world, and which he continually prosecuted during tlie whole of his ministry. Love to our ruined race prompted him to leave the bosom of his Father, to empty himself of his glory, to become a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief With all the tender- ness of faultless humanity, he sympathized with VOL. IV. 9 129 130 The Fountain of Life. even the bodily distresses of those whom he came to redeem, and lent a willing hand to their relief. But on their spiritual miseries his thoughts were princi}3al!j set. Of these he saw perfectly the deadly nature and the alarming extent. To these he called perpetually the attention of men ; for these he proclaimed himself a sovereign Physician, and offered freely his almighty aid. In this labor of love his life was spent. He omitted no oppor- tunity of exercising it, and the same principle which animated all his kind and gracious actions now leads him to Jerusalem at the feast of taber- nacles. This feast, which God ordained to commemo- rate the travels of his people in the wilderness, where they dwelt in tents or tabernacles, was one of the three solenm occasions on which all the males of Israel were obliged to appear before God at Jerusalem. Accordingly vast multitudes resorted thither from every part of the land. The city, and especially the temple, was thronged. On the eighth, which was the last and greatest day of the feast, " it was customary for the priests to surround the altar with their palm-branches, and to pour out water in the temple, as an expression of the gene- ral desire of the Messiah's appearance, and the pouring forth of the Spirit by him." The Re- deemer seized this occasion of claiming publicly the honors of his character, and inviting the Jews The Fountain of Life. 131 to faith in his name. He ascends a small emi- nence from which he might command a view of the people, and be himself both seen and heard. How august the scene ! Was there ever such an assembly and such a minister ! The incarnate God preaches to the tribes of Israel ! How awful and venerable his aspect! What majesty and love beam from his countenance ! What grace flows from his lips ! Be still every tumult ! be hushed every unhallowed passion ! be collected all wan- dering thoughts, while the Saviour speaks ! "Look," says he, "from ordinances to the God of ordinances — from the symbol to the thing signified. Behold in me the accomplishment of the prophetic promise. The Lord whom ye seek, shall come into his temple suddenly, even the Angel of the covenant whom ye delight in. Are you longing for the Mes- siah promised to the fathers ? I that speak unto you am he. Do your thirsty souls need to be re- freshed by the waters of the sanctuary X I am the Fountain of life. Jf any man thirst let him come unto me and drink.'' Happy nation ! had they known their privileges when the Lord of the tem- ple was present in the temple and explained his own institutions ! But we must not confine to the Jews the Sa- viour's grace. To all who enjoy the gospel he offers the same invitation. To us he cries, and we are warned not to turn away from him that »132 The Fountain of Life. speaketh from heaven ; to every one of us he cries, If any man tlnrst, let him come unto me and drink ? How rich, how free, how adorable his grace is, will appear from considering the persons invited, and the invitation itself. I. Let us attend to the persons invited. They are the thirsty. No man can be so senseless as to imagine that the Redeemer speaks of a bodily thirst. He is addressing sinners on the things which belong to their eternal peace, and as that great Prophet whom the Lord God had promised to raise up in the midst of Israel. The meaning of his language must, therefore, correspond with the importance of his object, and the dignity of his character. His words undoubtedly relate to the state of men's souls, and suppose that there is in the minds of those with whom he is deahng, an uneasiness and anxiety analogous to that painful sensation which arises from extreme thirst. The strong terms in which this state of mind is characterized, have in- duced the current opinion, an opinion adopted indeed, though very negligently, by even great and good men, that the Lord Jesus here invites none but such as are thirsting after an interest in his everlasting righteousness. How many of those who, driven from every other hope, were endeav- oring to fix their trembling eye upon the Re- deemer's atonement, have heard, as a sentence The Fountain of Life. 133 denounced in thunder against them, this interpre- tation of the text ! " Alas ! I fear that I have not the spiritual thirst which is here required, and am therefore excluded from the gracious warrant," has often been the language of exercised people. These are certainly included, but they may not monopohze the warrant : and in truth they are fre- quently the first to decline it, as not belonging to them. If the words imply any thing, they imply that those who have never yet drunk of the water of life which is in Christ as in a fountain, may come and drink. But surely, they who have learned the vanity of every portion but a reconciled God — who have learned that it is Christ Jesus alone by whom the reconciliation is effected — who have learned to renounce every refuge of lies, and count all things but loss and dung that they may win Christ, and be found in him, not having their own righteousness, are already quickened by the Spirit of grace and truth ; have already been re- freshed from the* fountain of living waters. While, therefore, the text encourages such to apply contin- ually to the fulness of the Redeemer, let us not re- strict its freedom by appropriating it to them alone. Christ does not say, "If any man thirst for right- eousness— for deliverance from the guilt and power of sin — for communion and fellowship with God, let him come unto me or else let him stay back ;" but simply, and in the most unqualified manner, Tf 134 The Fountain of Life. any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Is it necessary to prove, that there is in mankind, universally, a principle which brings them all within the compass of the gracious offer ? The fact is as clear as noonday. They all thirst, and insatiably too, they thirst for happiness. This, indeed, is a propensity congenial to the soul, and coeval with its existence. It was implanted in man when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of Ufe.- It was intended to answer the most exalted end, by leading him perpetually to God, the uncreated source of bliss. When he fell, the propensity re- mained, but the direction was lost. The moment man left the way of God and duty, he left the way of peace and joy. His understanding is so blinded that he knows not how to find it again. His strength is so enfeebled that he is unable to re- measure his steps, to re-mount the heights of glory from which he fell — and his will and affec- tions are so depraved, that he is not more unable than unwilling to return. From tliis sad condition of doubt, disquietude, helplessness, and misery, his thirst for happiness impels him to flee. He gropes, he struggles : but he gropes at midnight. He struggles with obstacles which he can neither re- move nor surmount. Bewildered in the dreary mazes of an inextricable labyrinth, without light to cheer, without a clue to guide him, he wanders from creature to creature ; and after all his labor and all his The Fountain of Life. 135 toil, finds himself as far as ever from the object of his wishes. Deplorable situation ! He can do nothing but tread the same insipid, lifeless, hopeless track. Fainting with thirst, he can find nothing to revive his drooping spirit, nothing to cool the fever of his tongue. Utterly ignorant of God and his consola- tions, he knows not wiiere or how to obtain that grace which alone can relieve him from his trouble. But his necessities are not silent. Ten thousand wants hft up their voices, and send their cry to the very heavens. Pitiable, my brethren, is the note of wo : and so importunate was the entreaty of human wretchedness, that the Son of God, out of pure compassion, left the throne of his glory, and clothed himself with mortality, that he might apply a remedy to our otherwise incurable evils, and deliver us froni becoming tjie victims of eternal death. In consequence of what he has done and suffered, he has opened a fountain of living waters, and invites all poor sinners, who are perishing with thirst, whether they beUeve it or not, to come and drink. That you may be more firmly con- vinced of this delightful truth, turn to the begin- ning of the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah's prophecy^ and there you will see that a similar invitation is extended to every one who hears the gospel, even though he totally disregards the great salvation which it reveals. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come 136 The Fountain of Life. ye, buy, and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk, the choicest blessings, without money and ivithout price, without merit or recommendation. Mark what follows. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not ? Do they who are seeking Christ Jesus, spend their time, and their talents, and their labor, in pursuing vanity ? Assuredly not ! There cannot be a more exact description of those who seek every thing else but Christ; and therefore he adds, with infinite tenderness. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that lohich is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. And in the same un- limited manner he speaks in the text, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Having seen who are the persons invited, let us now attend, II. To the invitation itself. Since human misery was designated by the metaphorical term, thirst, the remedy to that misery is very properly exhibited under the idea of drink- ing. The command of Christ is, therefore, nothing else than a command to receive from him all the happiness our souls can wish. As if he^ had said, " Miserable men, who are searching for happiness, but have missed the way, expect not from the creature that solid and permanent enjoyment which is to be found in the Creator alone; quit the broken cisterns which can hold no water; como to The Fountain of Life. 137 me ; I only am the portion of the immortal soul ; my fulness is abundantly adequate to gratify your largest wishes ; come, take, taste, drink, and live forever. He that helieveth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his helly shall flow rivers of living icater. Without insisting on a number of remarks which naturally occur on this copious and interest- ing subject, let us direct our attention to the fol- lowing important truths, that are plainly inculcated in the text. That Christ Jesus requires perishing men to place their confidence in him only. That his salvation is exactly fitted to their necessities — and that it is freely offered. 1. Christ Jesus requires perishing men to place their confidence in him alone. It is a principle uniformly taught in the scrip- tures— a principle which cannot dwell too fre- quently upon our recollections, nor too powerfully affect our hearts — that the great Redeemer is the only hope of sinners, and therefore in this, as well as in every other invitation of the gospel, he keeps out of sight every thing but his glorious self. The new covenant is so constituted, that let men view it in any direction they think proper, the first object which meets their eyes is the OTvine Head of the covenant; and of all the blessings with which this covenant abounds, though immense in their mag- nitude, infinite in their number, inestimable in their 138 The Fountain of Life. value, the soul can neither enjoy nor see any, till faith not only look but enter through Christ the door. Accordingly, the chief and favorite theme of the gospel is the Lord Jesus. Mark his own invitation in the passage before us. What instruc- tions does he give to poor sinners who are dying with thirst ? Does he bid them first to drink as much as they can from the polluted waters they may have in themselves, and if they be not then satisfied, to come to him and supply the deficiency ? Or, to strip the text of metaphor, docs he bid them do what they can to obey the divine law, and when they find their righteousness inadequate to answer its high demand, to come to him and receive from his righteousness so much as will make up the defect of their own, and render the compound an oblation worthy of God's acceptance \ No such thing! Christ declares to men their misery; he declares himself their Saviour, and not a syllable do w^e hear of their own righteousness. This in- deed is a doctrine very unpalatable to the unre- newed nature, and rouses hito opposition all the enmity of the carnal heart. But it is among the first lessons in the divine life, and if ^Ve do not effectually learn it, all our other learning is of tri- fling moment. LJRtle do sinners know the indig- nity they offer to the Son of Cod, and the injury they do to their own souls by endeavoring to asso- ciate themselves with him in the work of their The Fountain of Life. 1'39 redemption. Brethren, deceive not yourselves. Christ will not give his glory to another. He will not share with you the honor of your salvation. He must have all the praise, or he will have none. You must depend entirely on him or entirely on yourselves. Christ is the way, aini the only way to the Father and to everlasting life. You must be either wholly in this way or wholly out of it. There is no medium. You cannot combine the old and new covenants, and climb to heaven partly by one and partly by the other. If you please yourselves with such an idea, shame and destruc- tion will be the end of your hope. Foolish men ! Abandon the vain attempt ! You must tear Jeho- vah from his throne before you succeed. And what do you intend by this mad behavior ? Is not the righteousness of Christ sufficient ? Is it not perfect ? Is it not spotless ? Do you think that this glorious robe cannot beautify, nor cover, nor secure you, unless it be patched with the filthy rags of your own righteousness'? If the Lord Jesus will adorn you with his righteousness, you may well part with your own, and you will be infi- nite gainers by the exchange ; for, 2. His salvation is exactly fitted to your neces- sities. In forming an estimate of these necessities, we may not credit the report of our own hearts, for they are deceitful above all things, and desperately 140 The Fountain of Life. wicked. We must appeal from their partial sen- tence to the judgment of the law and the testimony. Now what account does the divine word give of men in a natural state \ It represents them as spiritually dead — as covered with defilement and loathsomeness — #s far from God and hope — as un- fruitful in rigliteousness, and in consequence of these things like briars and thorns, whose end is to be burned. What eye that looks back upon the original beauty, and dignity, and bliss of man, and surveys the dread havoc that sin has made, can refuse a tear over the ruins of our pristine glory ? What eye that looks around, and sees no arm to deliver from these depths of disgrace and wo, will refuse a flood of tears at the gloomy prospect ? But let the sigh of anguish be turned into the shout of joy, for Jesus the deliverer comes, and salvation, complete, everlasting salvation, is in his hand. He saves from spiritual death. And you hath he quickened, says the apostle, wlio were dead in trespasses and sins. The hour is coming, said he to the Jews, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. He sends forth his Holy Spirit and breathes upon the dry bones, and flesh and sinews come upon them, and life enters into them, and they stand up upon their feet. He gives them to drink of the river of the water of life, not merely a temporary draughty which may relieve them for The Fountain of Life. 141 a moment and fail them hereafter, but imparts it in such abundance that they never again thirst. He bestows upon them that precious' faith which unites them inseparably to himself, and forms a channel through which streams from his fulness flow perpetually into them, and flow so copiously as to send forth from themselves rivers of hving water. Farther, Christ Jesus not only quickens bui' sanctifies. Sanctification is indispensably neces- sary to fit us for seeing the Lord, for relishing the employments of heaven. But ah ! how polkited is the unrenewed soul! Hear how Jehovah himself describes it: As for thy nativity, in the day thou wast horn thy navel ivas not cut, neither ivast thou ivashed in water to suiiple thee ; neither loast thou salted at all, nor swaddled at all — hut thou wast cast out in the open field to the loathing of thy person. (Ezek. xvi. 4, 5.) And there mightest thou have lain and perished forever, had not the Redeemer had com- passion on thee. Yet even from this pollution mayest thou be washed in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. The Lord God has prom- ised to all who credit his testimony respecting his Son, / will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall he clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. But this purifying water can be obtained only in Christ Jesus. AH who are now in glory, without a sin- 142 The Fountain of Life. gle exception, washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Here too niust you be washed or you must die. 'Tis the un- changeable decree of an unchanging God. And be not discouraged. The diseases of the soul, though terrible beyond conception, are not so noisome and inveterate as to baffle the healing energy of this sacred fountain. The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin, and it can cleanse from yours, though it equalled the united pollutions of all the redeemed who ever lived or shall live hereafter. By performing in our favor such miracles of mercy, our Almighty Friend restores us to the divine image and approbation, brings us near to God, and inspires us with the sweet hope of ever- lasting life. Holiness is the divine image, and God must love what is like himself True, our highest earthly attainments are stained with many a blot, and cannot abide the severe scrutiny of Him who chargeth his very angels with folly. But personal holiness, though it forms the lineaments of the divine image on the soul, and is our qualification for heaven, is not our title to it. This js the im- puted righteousness of our Redeemer. We have nothing to do with God but in Jesus Christ, neither has God as a God of mercy any thing to do with us but in Jesus Christ, and we are complete in him. In his righteousness, and therefore in his The Fountain of Life. 143 people's righteousness, not even Jehovah's eye can discern a blemish. Thus, in receiving him by faith, we who once were afar off are brought nigh by the blood of his cross — nigh in the acceptance of our persons with God — nigh to him as a recon- ciled Father — nigh in fellowship and communion with him. We have boldness and confidence in approaching his throne of grace, for every step in our way to the mercy seat is sprinkled with the blood of our great Paschal Lamb ; and ilhielded by the faithfulness of him who cannot lie, we are per- fectly safe from the blow of the destroying angel. Tell me, ye who are strangers to the Saviour, how do you expect to obtain access to the living God \ Lay the word of truth before you — lay your hands upon your hearts — listen to the monitor within, and say, is not the plan which brings you near by Christ Jesus, a glorious plan I Children of decep- tion, who look for this privileo|e from any other quarter, be assured that if God is true, your hope shall he as the qnders iceh, and your coiijidence shall lead you to the Jang of terrors. But to those who trust in his merit and grace, the kindness of our great High Priest goes still farther. He does not only quicken and sanctify their souls and brins; them near to God, he also frees them from the reproach of unfruitfiilness. The human heart is naturally a dry, a barren, a rocky soil — not one heavenly temper, not one 144 The Fountain of Life. good disposition, can flourish there. All the graces of the divine life are plants of foreign growth. They are rooted in the soul hy none but Jehovah the Spirit, and in none but those whom he savingly unites to the Lord Jesus, Here again we see the fitness of Christ's salvation to our wants. Is there present, a sinner whose heart is so hard and barren that not one holy thought can spring from it ? Thus runs the rich promise, I will pour icatei' upon him that Hi thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my bless- ing upon thine offspring ; and they shall spring up as among the grass, and as idllows hy the water- courses. (Is. xliv. 3, 4.) Let the heart be hard, let it be stubborn and impenetrable as the flint, the streams which issue from the fountain opened for the house of David pierce and soften and fructify the most unyielding and barren soil. Then faith and all the kindred graces strike deep their roots, spread wide their branches, unfold their blossoms, difi\ise their fragrance, and bear much fruit to the glory of God. Nor is this an honor and a happi- ness of short duration. The righteous do not re- semble those plants of rapid growth, wjhicli start almost immediately from the seed into maturity, and as quickly fade and die. They are like the palm-tree, stately, majestic, permanent — like trees planted by the rivers of water, which bring forth their fruit in their season, and whose leaf doth not The Fountain of Life. 145 wither. Thus they continue, ripening by grace for glory, till Christ transplant them into the para- dise of God. Here, therefore, let me introduce the last remark on the fitness of his salvation. It was observed, that in consequence of their guilt, their pollution, their distance from God, and their unfruitfulness, sinners are hke briers and thorns, whose end is to be burned. Dreadful idea ! Wlw can dwell with devouring flames ? Who can dwell with everlasting burnings f This is all we can expect on our own account, yet from this tremendous fate the salvation of Christ, and that alone, can deliver us. The moment we draw the breath of life, the curse of a violated law seizes and binds us with chains too strong for the might of all the angels in heaven, and reserves us as criminals for the day of slaughter. But our great Redeemer bursts these chains, looses this iron grasp, sets the captives at liberty, and puts into their mouths a song of triumph. Faith in his precious atonement is not only connected with the important blessings that have been mentioned, but secures to their happy possessors an unfaihng title to eternal joy. For by this faith we have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Christ cannot disappoint the hope of them who trust in him, and he hath said. Whosoever helieveth on me hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Who, then, shall lay anything to the VOL. IV. — 10 146 The Fountain of Life. charge of God's elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who is he that condemnetht Is it Christ that died? Yea rather that is risen again, wlw also sitteth at the right hand of God. Reprobate the suspicion, and be persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor irrincipalities, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate believers from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Adorable salvation! Who would not wish to partake of it? Who would not exult in the faint- est dawn of hope that they may partake of it? "But what shall we give, what shall we do, to purchase an interest in it ?" Give ! Do ! Mis- guided men ! Nothing. It is not only treasured up in Christ Jesus — it is not only adapted in the most glorious fitness to all your wants, but in the 3d. Place, It is free, absolutely free. And bless God that it is so. Did it require anything to be merited on our part, we might bid an eternal adieu to heaven and happiness. The salvation of Christ cannot be deserved. Infinitely precious, its value surpasses all desert. Everything about it is infinite. It saves from infinite guilt, infinite pollution, infinite wrath, and infinite wretchedness. It confers on all who enjoy it, infinite dignity and infinite bliss. All the works of all sinful men, from the beginning to the end of time, could not merit the smallest por- tion of it, The best services of the unregenerate TJie Fountain of Life. 147 are iniquity, and deserve to be 2^unished with ever- lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his poicer. If you are re- solved to merit at the hand of God, you shall get, indeed, what you merit; but it will be in hell. The new covenant has no conditions to be per- formed by us. These were fulfilled by Christ the Mediator. It is, therefore, to us a covenant of grace. But if you think that you must merit something to put you in possession of its blessings, you change its very nature — you transform it im- mediately into a covenant of works, and then, as the apostle says, grace is no more grace. " But must we not repent before we may come to Christ V No ! you can never repent as you ought, till you be interested in his love, and influenced by his Spirit. The tears of true repentance flow from tlie eye of faith. They shall look on me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn. "Are we, then, to be furnished with no qualifi- cations that may fit us for receiving the gospel salvation?" None but the utter want of every good quality. Christ Jesus came not to call the righteous ; he did not expect to find men so ; he expected to find them altogether filthy, and there- fore he came to c?^ sinners to repentance. Tell me, ye who strive to wed the covenant of works with the grace of the gospel, if a man were lying, panting, fainting, dying with thirst, so feeble that 148 The Fountain of Life. he could not move a limb to help himself, and if some kind friend were to carry him to a pure and wholesome stream, and to put the water to his lips, would he merit anything by drinking it? 'T is just so, brethren, with the salvation of Christ. Unconnected with him you must peri^bli ! And you are so far from being able to do anything to merit an interest in the blessings of his purchase, that you cannot perform a single action which will be honored with the approbation of God, till you drink of the water of life, and your souls be invigorated by its quickening efficacy. These, my friends, are important truths; and in bringing them by a close application home to your own consciences, the first question that occui*s is, Have you drunk of these living waters which are in Christ Jesus ? Too many of you, I fear, if they will act honestly, must reply, that till this hour they have never tasted them. With such of you, my brethren, I have some weighty business. God sent you into this world to glorify him : and as you are sinners, he requires you to glorify him by be- Heving the record he has given of his iSon, and securing your happiness by thus obeying' his will. Has this been your employment? Far, very far from it. You have been seeking happiness, in- deed, with the most unw^earied perseverance. But have you found it ? Your conduct declares that you have not. Why else, ye young, ye giddy The Fountain of Life. 149 and ye gay, why this perpetual round of amuse- ment and vanity ? Why do ye run from one enjoyment to another, and studiously avoid con- versing with yourselves ? iVhy labor to outstrip, in a race of folly, the close pursuit of a vexing conscience \ Why endeavor to banish from your minds every settled thought about an eternal world ? Is it not because that world wears a gloomy ap- pearance, because all beyond the grave is dreary and cheerless ? Ye young, ye giddy, and ye gay, be faithful to yourselves. Lay your hands upon your hearts, and own the truth. Have you not sometimes felt in your own souls, a vacuum which all your amusements could not fill ? Has it not sometimes happened, even in your most heedless moments, that reflection, an unbidden and unwel- come guest, has stolen into your bosoms, and whispered the alarming suggestion, that all is not right ? Is it not this which makes the idea of God, eternity, heaven, and hell, to trouble you? Is it not this which sheds a freezing terror through your souls? Or are you sabenumbed as never to be conscious of such emotions ? God grant that you may awaken from this deadly sleep before you open your eyes in that place of torment where the Lord hath forgotten to be gracious, and where his tender mercies are shut up in his wrath. And you, who, more advanced in years, are sick of the frolic of youth, and plunge with ardor into 150 The Fountain of Life. the busy scenes of active life, has happiness taken up her abode in your breasts ? If strangers to the Redeemer, you cannot say so. Why else strive to join house to house and field to field ? Why form plan after plan, and scheme after scheme, to aug- ment your wealth and honors and grandeur, in the hope of more complete and contented enjoyment ? Why be so dejected at the failure of your projects or at the other ills of life, and seek in the gratifi- cation of sense rehef from the gnawings of an anxious mind \ Your acknowledgment may not correspond with the language of the fact, but the fact speaks truly, and declares plainly that the acquisitions of manhood are as unable to satisfy the soul as the trifles of early days. Do not pre- tend that you labor only for future days, nor flatter yourselves with the expectation of spending quietly and peaceably and happily the evening of your age. To old age be our appeal. Say, hoary sin- ner, who hast passed through youth and riper years, and approached the confines of eternity, where is thy happine^ ? The turbulence of pas- sion may have subsided — the vexations of active business may be over — and in these respects you may possess a tranquiUity. But if the turbulence of passion has subsided, if the vexations of active business are over, the capacity of enjoyment is also gone. State, then, fairly, both sides of the ques- tion, and you will find that you have nothing left. The Fountain of Life. 151 What now strengthens the feeble knees and Ufts lip the hands that hang down ? When the grass- hopper is become a burden — when the shadows of the night grow large and long — when the sprightliness of youth has vanished and the vigor of manhood failed — when the king of terrors lifts his unerring arm and threatens to strike the blow which will shatter to atoms thy clay tabernacle, and hurry its lingering inhabitant to the tribunal of God — what revives the fainting spirit? The streams of earthly consolation are already dried up, and wilt thou yet hug to thy bosom, with unavail- ing fondness, the wretched remnants of its fleeting joy ? " O more than sottish !" Be persuaded, all of you who are unacquainted with the gospel, to abandon the hope of finding happiness in created comforts. You are perpetually disappointed, and yet continue to deceive yourselves by imagining that if you miss your object here, you will meet it yonder. But when you arrive at the longed-for spot, the airy phantom eludes your embrace and mocks your hope. But do not blame the creature, nor think I mean to blame it. The creature is your friend. The creature bears a testimony for God. Eternal truth has told you, that nothing be- low can be a suitable portion for the immortal soul ; and that when you betake yourselves to the crea- ture in this view, you flee to a refuge of lies. All the creatures re-echo the important monition, and 152 Tlie Fountain of Life. loudly cry, It is not in us ! Quit then, quit imme- diately these hrolien cisterns, ivhich can hold no \catcr. Haste with the speed of men who know that eternal glory is the depending stake — haste to Jesus, the Fountain of living waters. Here taste and see that the Lord is good. Ye young, ye giddy, and ye gay, listen to the voice of the great Redeemer, who tenderly invites you to the heavenly draught. The water which He gives will effectually quench that fearful thirst which must afflict you whilst you are unacquainted with his grace. It will abundantly repay every sacrifice he requires you to make ; for it will be in you a loell of water springing up to everlasting life, and he requires you to renounce nothing but what is really your misery and will prove your ruin. Not only the word of God asserts, the experience of ages also demonstrates, that Wisdom's icays are ivays of pleasantness, and all her paths peace. Ask the Christian and he will inform you, that, let the devil and the world and the corrupt heart say what they will, there is beyond all controversy yeace and joy in helieving. Let those who are in middle age reflect st*riously on the indispensable necessity and inestimable value of this water of life.- My friends, you must drink or you must perish, and the salvation of Christ Jesus will not onl}' secure your own souls, but will extend its divhie influence to everv cir- The Fountain of Life. 153 cumstance and every relation. Are you blest with comforts? This is the embalmer of joy. Are you harassed with anxious sohcitude ? This is the sweetener of care. Are you visited with trials ? This is the cordial of affliction. Is the favor of God the truest dignity and only bliss of man \ This will wash you from all your pollution and render you fair in his sight. O shut not your eyes upon your own mercies ! Now is the accepted time^ now is the day of salvation. To-day if ye ivill hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Are there here any old persons who have never embraced the glorious Saviour? My brethren, your guilt is great, and as your glass is almost run, your day of grace cannot be long. Yet even you, who arc at the eleventh hour, are en^^eated to come and drink of the water of life. You have much reason to be terribly alarmed, but none to despair. The rich warrant proclaims, whosoever will, let him come. Start from your stupid leth- argy and flee at this critical moment to the Saviour of souls. He can save even you, for his grace is sovereign, and it is almighty. If you cast your- selves upon it, all shall yet be well. You are come near to that dread valley, where burning sands swallow up the shallow rivulets of earthly comfort But the streams that flow from our Rock, Christ, will follow you through these sands — will accom- pany you into the dark and dreary vale of the 154 The Fountain of Life. shadow of death — will support, and strengthen, and cheer your spirits, till you arrive in safety and triumph at the celestial Canaan. Is any one saying in the bitterness of his soul, " Oh that I could obtain a draught of this divine, this living water ! I see, I feel, that all the crea- tures, though well suited to answer the end for which they were given, are too gross in their na- ture, too limited in their extent, and too short in their duration, to satisfy my vast desires. I see that sin has ruined me, that I cannot help myself, and that without Christ I am lost forever. O that he would visit me with his mercy!" Are these your views, your fears, your wishes? Then to you, in a pecuHar manner, is the word of this sal- vation sent. If Christ has made you sick of sin, it is thcffnost pleasing symptom that he has begun to draw you to himself; and you may soon find, to your unspeakable joy, that he has drawn you much farther than you can now believe. It is the sweet pledge that he will send his word and heal you, that he will set you in a large place, and enable you to shout the praises of your redeeming God. Be not discouraged by your weakness, for a bruised reed he loill not break, and smoking flax he will not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. Let not your guilt terrify you, for though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be ivhite as snoio; * The Fountain of Life. 155 though they he red like crimson, they shall he as wool. Think not the stain of your filthiness too deep to be washed out, for the Mood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin. Fear not, only helieve. Throw yourself upon his sovereignty, lay hold upon his promise, Him that cometh to me, I ivill in no wise cast out. Say not, " I would, but cannot, hold fost of the promise." Your own abiUty is out of the question. You are not to consider what you can do, but what Christ can do. None em- brace the gospel offer but they whom he enables to do it; and whenever a poor sinner stretches out his frail trembUng hand towards the free promise, Christ incloses it in his own hand, and clasps it round the promise in so firm a grasp, that neither earth nor death nor hell can ever loose it. Trust, then, in the Lord forever, for in this Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength; and they who helieve on him shall never he confounded. Finally. Let all the disciples of Jesus, who have been drinking at the fountain of living waters, be careful not to undervalue their privilege, nor to throw contempt upon its adorable Author. Chris- tians, have you, as the children of God, free access to the pure streams of uncreated bliss; and will you so injure your own souls, and dishonor your Redeemer, as to grovel in the polluted and poison- ous waters of sinful pleasure \ Shrink with hor- 156 Tlie Fountain of Life. ror from the idea ! Have you, as the children of God, free access to all the fulness which is trea- sured up in Christ Jesus, and will you ever be at a loss where to apply for the relief of your wants ? Let it be your study to improve this unspeakable gift of God. His nature, his attributes, his names, his covenant, his promises, his ordinances, are to his people so many wells of salvation, and their fSlth is never rightly employed, but in drawing water from them. The graces of the divine Spirit cannot divinely grow unless they be divinely cherished. The new creature is of heavenly birth, and must be nourished with heavenly food. As well might you expect that an infant should ad- vance to youth, to manhood, to age, without con- tinual supplies of provision, as that you should grow from babes, to men and fathers in Christ, without the perpetual aids of his Spirit and grace. Why do Christians become languid and faint' Wliy do they yield to temptation ? Why are they vanquished by indwelling sin ? It is because they so unfrequently visit the fountain of living waters. Let us learn, my brethren, to live not so much upon what we have received, as upon what Christ has to give. Be strong, says the apostle, not in the grace w^liich is in yourselves, but in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. Relying upon his all- sufficiency, we shall find that they who wait on the The Fountain of Life. 157 Lo?'d, and they only, shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up loith wings as eagles; they shall run, and not he weary ; they shall walk and not faint. THE GOSPEL OFFER, SERMON X. THE GOSPEL OFFER. JOHN VI. 37. Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. These words are part of a most interesting dis- course which our Lord addressed to a number of his hearers, whom, shortly before, he had miracu- lously fed. Highly delighted with such an abun- dant, cheap, and seasonable supply, when they were worn out with fatigue, and fainting through hunger, and hoping, it seems, to be again feasted, by the repetition of the miracle, they soon renewed their visit to the Saviour, The Lord Jesus imme- diately saw, (for how could Omniscience not see?) the baseness of the principle by which they were VOL. IV. 11 162 The Gospel Offer. actuated. Ye seek me, said he, not because ye saic the miracles, hut because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Not because your souls were lost in astonishment at the power, and your hearts melted with the love, of God, displayed in my ministra- tion, but because your animal senses were gratified. My brethren, would to God there were not ground to fear that many who now profess the name of Christ, are governed by no better motives. The Redeemer, however, who lost no opportu- nity of doing good, did not neglect to improve the present occasion. After discovering to these peo- ple his profound knowledge of their hearts, he leads their views from temporal to eternal things ; from anxiety about their bodies, to concern for their souls. Under the metaphor of bread, he opens up his mediatorial character and office, illus- trates the spiritual nature of his salvation, and strongly inculcates their absolute need of it. The farther he advances in his important instructions, the closer he brings his doctrine to their con- sciences. Having pointedly charged them with unbelief, that he might at once alarm their fears, and humble their pride, he solemnly tells ihem, All that the Father glveth me shall come to me ; and to encourage their hopes, he adds. Him that cometh to me, I will in no ivise cast out. Can tongue ex- press, can heart conceive, the glory, the riches, of this precious promise ? On this promise, many The Gosiiel Offer. 163 who are now singing the song of Moses and the Lamb, once hung their fointiiig spirits, and it car- ried them safely through guilt, through temptation, through death. Is its freedom restrained ? or its grace diminished ? or the power of the Promiser abridged \ No. It is made by the same Saviour, to the same kind of sinners, and conveys the same invaluable blessings. It holds up to the most daring offender, who will avail himself of the offer, a free, a full, an irrevocable pardon. It infolds in its spacious bosom all the benefits of the everlast- ing covenant — all that man can receive, or God bestow. Can any human heart remain insensible to such wondrous condescension ? Can you hear with indifference, that Jesus, the Prince of life, the Lord of glory, stoops so low as to present such sweet invitations to the chief of sinners ? O that He who has the key of David, luho openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, would send forth his light upon those truths which will demand your attention, while we inquire what is meant by coming to Christ, and endeavor to un- fold the annexed promise. I. We are to inquire what is meant by coming to Christ. To come to Christ is, in general, to believe in hhn ; and to believe in him is to " receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel." 164 The Gospel Offer. This coming to Christ supposes several things. 1. That we are by nature strangers from God, and feel the misery of our destiny. While our first parents continued in their integrity, they were honored with free access to their Creator ; but the breach of their fidelity ruined this divine privilege, and produced in their minds an alienation from their God. His righteous judgment made their choice their punishment, prohibiting them from that intercourse with himself which they labored to shun ; and the flaming sword of the cherubim, and what is more terrible, the decree of justice, barred up forever all approach to Jehovah by the old covenant. That this is our forlorn condition, and that there is no possibility of approach to God acceptably but by the new and living way which the Redeemer has opened, the very nature of his mission and his earnest invitation declare. Ap- proaching to God by Jesus Christ supposes that we feel our distance from him, and farther, that we feel the misery of our estrangement. I need not tell you that when Adam fell he lost not only his dignity but his happiness. His mind, which was filled with light, serenity, innocence, bliss and joy, became the a])ode of darkness, inquietude, guilt, wretchedness and sorrow. He has transmitted to ns the doleful inheritance. Offenders in our offend- ing parent, we are hi/ nature children of wrath Bv losino; the favor of God we lost our all; we The Gosjiel Offer. 165 were degraded from his children and friends into the children and drudges of the devil. The tem- ple of the Lord of hosts is converted into a den of thieves. A crowd of fiends, attended by every vile and hateful affection, has entered the soul of man. Enmity against God headed the gang, and the standard of rebelUon is erected in that very spot which was once the palace of the King of kings. Can such a state be happy ? Can it possibly not be miserable ? God is the pure and only source of blessedness, and wo and death are as invariably the effects of distance from him, as darkness and cold, of distance from the sun. But a considerable part of man's misery is, that his apostasy has blinded his eyes and deadened his sensibihty. He sees not that sin has robbed him of his beauty in defacing the image of his God. He sees not thai sin has obliterated his fair tide to eternal life. He feels not that sin, hke a venomous reptile, is gnaw- ing his vitals and infusing a mortal poison. These things, however, he must know, or he will not, he cannot, come to Jesus Christ. It is hjs office to save 'sinners, and to save fro7n sin. But surely they who discern neither danger in the state nor deformity in the character of a sinner, and who roll sin itself " as a sweet morsel under their tongues," will not, while under the influence of such views, think the gospel salvation any favor. Nobody, who is not conscious of a disease, will 166 The Gospel Offer. thank yon for a remedy. It is, therefore, the first work of the Holy Spirit to convince of sin. In this work he rouses the conscience from its torpi- tude — he quickens the soul into life — he opens the eyes that were shut in spiritual death — he unmasks the sinner to himself — but ah ! how great the alteration ! Like a palsied limb which on the re- covery of health feels the acutest pangs shoot through every nerve, the sinner now fuids himself inconceivably wretched. He finds himself under the curse of a broken covenant, and therefore ex- posed to the vengeance of an angry God, exposed to the horrors of everlasting ruin. As the human mind is engaged in a perpetual search after happi- ness, the first question on such a discovery will be, how shall I escape the destruction which threat- ens me ? It is more than probable that, unac- quainted as yet with the wiles of Satan and the deceitfulness of his own heart, a person in this con- dition will betake himself to the law, which in its original form said, Do and live, and try to help himself by his good ivorks. He will form resolu- tions of amendment, and fondly hope to atone for the folly and guilt of his past by the wisdom and sanctity of his future conduct. But if the Lord intend to be gracious to him, he will not be allowed to trust in that refuge of lies. The Holy Spirit will show him that if he stop there, he is undone The Gospel Offer. 167 forever ; and therefore coming to Jesus Christ supposes, 2. A sense of our utter inabiUty to assist our- selves. Under the divine instruction men learn won- derful lessons. The sinner had been convinced that he was guilty,, he is now carried a step far- ther, and sees that he is filthy. His eyes are turned inwards upon his heart, and he is made acquainted with facts of which he had not the least suspicion, when he was told by the divine word, he would not believe what is proved to be too true, that he is all as an unclean thing — that his very righteousness, as he had simply imagined them, are as filthy rags — that his heart is a nest of abominations, a cage of unclean and hateful birds. His loathsomeness in his own sight and in the sight of a holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, added to his danger, renders him doubly miserable. He gets a glimpse of the infi- nite evil of sin. He is sensible that nothing short of a spotless obedience to the divine law will be accepted by the Lawgiver. He is sensible, too, that a satisfaction must be made for the innumera- ble instances in which he has violated its precepts. What can he do \ Were he to obey perfectly hereafter, all his obedience is didebt. There is no surplus to satisty for past offences. But instead of giving perfect obedience, he is incapable of per- 168 The Gospel Offer. forming one acceptable action. Sin is so mingled with all he does, that his best deeds, the incense of his purest offerings, are a smoke in JeliovaKs nos- trils. And to put the finishing stroke to his self- confidence, he is obliged to subscribe the humili- ating doctrine which tells him, that the broken law spreads its broad curse over his very righteousness. In the anguish which these views must excite, no wonder that he despairs of helping himself — no wonder that he is troubled and terrified with the apprehension of a God absolute and unreconciled. He can enter into the spirit of that passionate ex- clamation. What shall I do to he saved? The business, however, is not finished. The Lord is tearing him from the old root, but has not yet ingrafted him into Christ the living Vine. He has hitherto looked only at the high demands of God's law, and his own unworthiness, weakness, and vileness; but he has not looked at the blessed Mediator. Coming to Jesus Christ supposes then, 3. A view of him as that very Saviour whom we need. When the soul is sinking under the weight of guilt, and every moment fears that the black cloud of divine wrath will burst over his devoted head, how reviving, how transporting the thought, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin! This precious truth, my brethren, is the only thing which can revive the dying hope of a convinced sinner. A Saviour! Delightful The Gospel Offer. 169 sound ! A Saviour who has made an atonement for sinners ! May I depend upon this heavenly information ? Yes, for his Mood cleanseth from ALL sin. What ! from all sin ? Will it cleanse from my sin ? It will. In the mingled emotions of wonder and joy, a sinner cannot but long to be better acquainted with this celestial Friend. He opens the volume of inspiration, and there he ob- tains all the intelligence he can wish. He is told that in the glorious Redeemer there is a fulness to reheve every want. Does he find himself de- barred by the flammg sword of justice from ap- proaching to God by the old covenant ? He is told that Jesus Christ is the new and living Way to the Father. Does he need a justifying righte- ousness X He is told that Jesus Christ has brought in an everlasting righteousness. Nay, that he is himself the Lord our Righteousness. Does he need strength ? He is told that Jesus Christ is tne Lord our Strength also. Does he need to be purified from his pollution ? He is told that by pleading the merits of Jesus Christ he may expect the accomplishment of that gracious promise, 7 tf^eY^ sprinkle clean icater upon you, and you shall he clean ; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. Oh ! my brethren, how does a sight of glorious Christ tarnish all other glory ! It sickens a man to the covenant of works — it makes him say of the covenant of grace, of 170 The Gospel Offer. which Jesus Christ is the Surety and the Head, It is well-ordered in all things and sure ; it is all my salvation and all my desire. But as a bare sense of the suitableness of the Mediator is dif- ferent from surrendering ourselves up to him, coming to Jesus Christ is, In the last place, the rolling of our guilty souls, with all their vileness and all their unworthiness, upon his rich sovereign grace. When a man, into whose mind God hath shined so as to give him an insight into the great things of which we have been discoursing, looks at him- self and sees nothing but death there — when he looks at the law and sees nothing but death there — when he looks at the creature, and sees nothing but emptiness and barrenness and death there — when he looks at Jesus Christ and sees in him light, and life, and grace, and all the fulness of Deity, he cannot but say, in the prospect of going away from Christ, Lord, to whom shall I go? thou hast the words of eternal life. He reasons as the lepers of old, " If I sit here, I die ; if I go back, I shall die ; if I push forward and make an experi- ment of his grace, I can but die." These exer- cises are the suggestions of the blessed Spirit. They terminate upon a whole Christ, upon Christ in all his offices. Witb these exercises, and with the everlasting arms underneath him., the sinner casts himself down at the feet of Jesus. Happy, The Gospel Offer. 171 thrice happy they, whose souls are exalted into such humihty — who willingly lay their honors in the dust, and set the crown upon the Redeemer's head. Nor is this the characteristic of a few ; it is the common temper of all God's children — a tem- per which you must have, if you ever see his face in peace. To prevent poor sinners from thus coming to the Saviour, Satan leaves nothing unattempted. When he cannot lull them any longer in a state of security, he commonly endeavors to persuade them that they have sinned away their day of grace, and that Christ will not receive them. But he ivas a liar from the beginning. Fear not, trembling soul; impudent as he is, you may stop his mouth. He cannot, blessed be God, he cannot erase from your Bibles the gracious declaration of the text, Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. The unfolding of this promise is the II. Topic to which your attention was invited. Him that cometh to me I loill in no tcise cast out, i. e. I will undoubtedly receive him. I will not cast him from me noic — whatever has been his past character — whatever the aggravations of his guilt — whatever are his present fears — whatever the temptations of Satan, I invite him to the arms of my love ; I promise him a welcome re- ception. This however is not all. Jesus will not only 172 The Gospel Offer. admit jou into his favor noiv, but he will not cast you out of it hereafter. Those whom he once loves he loves to the end. He gives to all his peo- ple eternal life, and they shall never loerish — no future backslidings, no provocations, will induce him to forsake them utterly. If they hi-eak his statutes, and keep not his commandments, then ivill he indeed visit their transgressions luith the rod and their iniquity with stripes. If, like refractory children, they attempt to run from home, he will scourge them back to their Father's house ; but he administers his corrections with a parent's hand; he intends to teach them how bitter sin is — to make them live more by faith, and nearer himself His chastisements are no proof that they have lost the privilege of their adoption, for nevertheless, says he, my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. And why not ? Because of their good behavior \ That would be a dreary doctrine. Far otherwise. My covenant, he adds, ivill I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. (Ps. Ixxxix. 31, 34.) And a clause of this covenant is, I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall nst depart from me. (Jer. xxxii. 40.) Therefore there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. As a consequence, it follows that those who come to Christ he will not cast out of his kingdom of glory. The connection between faith in the Lord Jesus The Gosiwl Offer. 173 and eternal life is as infallible as God can make it; we can no more disjoin them than we can separate truth from the divine nature. And this is a principle so clearly revealed in your Bibles, that it would be needless to attempt its proof. Pause then a moment, and ask yoursch es what an immortal being can wish that the Redeemer does not promise in the text ? Say, is it not your wisdom, is it not your honor, is it not your happi- ness, to surrender your hearts and devote your lives to this heavenly Suitor ? What greater wis- dom than to secure that good part which shall not be taken from you \ So that, happen what will, all shall be well with you. What honor should be so ardently courlfcd as that of becoming the sons of God ? — of shining in the robes of imputed righteousness? — of wearing through eternity a crown of glory X ' What happiness like that which lies in Jehovah's favor? for it is life, and his loving kindness is better than life. "Precious blessings! but we dare not contem- plate them only at a distance. We have so often turned our backs upon them and their adorable Author, that we fear there is no hope for us," may perhaps be the language of some present. Why, my friends, why indulge such a fear ? You have all the encouragement imaginable to believe that he will freely pardon even youi- transgressions, and adopt you into his family. IL74 The Gospel Offer. « For, in the first place : The salvation of sinners is the object and the business of his mediation. The Son of man is coine to seek and save that which was lost. For this very purpose he was set up from everlasting and commissioned into our world; nay, it is so peculiarly his office that he recci''. ed his name from it. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, because he shall save his peoiile from their sins. Who are his people? Certainly they to whom he gives power to become the sons of God. And who are these ? As many as believe on his name. Stretch forth, then, the withered arm ; endeavor to lay hold on his covenant; let your hope lift up her languishing head; for the Redeemer is never employed in work more suitable to his character than when he confers on such as you the*blessings of his grace. You have, therefore, nothing less to animate your souls than the express design of the scheme of salvation, and all the perfections of God, which are pledged for the security of those who embrace it. 2. As it is the business, so it is the delight of the Lord Christ, to save even the chief of sinners. It was in the prospect of this blessed work, that when the council of peace was held in eternity, he rejoiced in the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were ivith the sons of men. The conver- sion of a sinner produces great joy in heaven, and tlie first smile brightens on the countenance of the The Gospel Offer. 175 Son of God. This heavenly personage, this incar- nate God, is never so much grieved, nor considers himself treated with so much indignity, as when sinners refuse the offers of his love. If they will not listen to his expostulations, he leaves them with regret. How shall I give thee up, E^jhraim? Hoiv shall I deliver thee, Israel ? Hoiu shall I make thee as Admah ? How shall I set thee as Zehoim? Mine heart is turned within me ; my repentings are kindled together. (Hos. xi. 8.) The Lord Jesus is well pleased to be employed by sinners in transacting their eternal interests. Be persuaded to put your souls, and all their concerns into his hand. You cannot commit them to a bet- ter, nor a more faithful agent. You cannot find a more powerful friend, nor a more effectual pleader. He is minister plenipotentiary in the court of heaven ; and they whose cause he under- takes, shall undoubtedly succeed. Rob not the Saviour of his glory, but let your redemption add a new trophy to the triumphs of his grace. 3. He has actually saved sinners as unlikely as yourselves to obtain his favor. The scriptures tell us of a Manasseh, whose murders made the streets of Jerusalem run down with innocent blood, and who, nevertheless, became a wondrous monument of redeeming grace. They tell us of a Mary Magdalen, in whom dwelt seven devils, and yet they could not prevent a gracious visit from 176 The Gospel Offer. Christ. They tell us of a Paul, who was a per- secutor, blasphemous, and injurious, hut he ob- tained mercy. They tell us of those who were guilty of crucifying the Lord of glory, and yet this blackest of guilt was washed away in the blood of sprinkling. Were you to enumerate the vile abominations which have disgraced and ren- dered miserable our nature, and to present the hsi to the redeemed in heaven, how many would say, *' And such were ive .'" Oh, sinner ! the path you wish to tread, has been trodden })y millions before you, and like you. You injure the freeness and fulness of the Redeemer's grace, by hesitating a moment about his willingness to save you. 4. Christ has told you — in the text he tells you, that he is as willing, as he is able, to save to the uttermost, all that come to God by him. And where has he contradicted himself? Him that Cometh to me, is the unlimited proclamation, / will in no ivise cast out. Nay, he has gone farther; he has not only said, he has sworn, and sworn by himself, (the most solemn oath that God can take,) that he will not reject you. But by your ques- tioning his willingness you give him the 'lie; you believe the devil and your own deceitful hearts, and believe them at the expense of Jehovah's truth. Away with this false humility. It dishon- ors God, and is fraught with poison to your own souls. It is the most inveterate enemy the Re- The Gospel Offer. Ill deemer has — seize this traitor and nail him to his cross. The great Mediator has promised to receive }ou. That is enough — take him at his word. He has put no qualification in his warrant — see that you put none there. Fix your eye upon his atonement — bring his promise to his throne, plead it there, "Lord, do as thou hast said." Such a cry has never been, shall never be unanswered ; it pierces the third heavens, and brings Jesus to the rehef of the soul. And in all your supplica- tions, remember that the salvation of Christ is ab- solutely free ; a quality which it could not have if it excluded any who are willing to submit t;) it. There is not one way to hfe for little, and another for great, sinners. Are your iniquities heinously aggravated 1 Then you have more need of the Saviour ! Then the honors of his love will be more magnified in your salvation ! Then you will be more deeply indebted to his grace ! The re- deemed will all shout, but you will shout upon a higher note, fo him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood — he glory and do- minion forever and ever. (Rev. i. 5, 6.) As the whole of this discourse has been practical, the improvement shall consist in a very few obvious reflections. 1. If coming to JeSus Christ imphes the several things which have been mentioned, it highly con- cerns all who have hitherto lived contented with a / VOL. IV. 12 178 The Gospel Offer, mere profession, to realize their misery and their danger. My brethren, you seem to forget that a form of godliness will not save your souls. All who have any respect for the system of divine truth, profess to beheve, though the conduct of too many belies their creed, that there is no salvation detached from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what will it profit you, that this precious principle is inscribed in every page of your Bible, and has a place in your understandings and memo- ries, if it do not, by the blessing of God, deeply affect, and thoroughly renew your hearts'? Let me ask you, and let conscience, as in the presence of Jehovah, put home the question. Have you felt yourselves wretched, aliens from God, children of wrath, under the curse, and obnoxious to the ven- geance of his holy law ? Have you found your- selves polluted, your power to do good entirely lost, and inherent depravity contaminating and poison- ing, like the pestilence, what you once imagined your best works ? Have you utterly despaired of doing any thing to relieve yourselves from your woful condition X Have your minds been illumi- nated to see the glory of the Redeemer's person, the suitableness and the necessity of his offices ; the freedom and the fulness of his grace ? Are you pleased with the plan of salvation; that won- drous plan which puts the crown upon the Media- tor's head, and lays your honors and your impor- The Gospel Offer. 179 tance prostrate in the dust ? Have you surrendered your hearts, and consecrated your hves, to this almighty Saviour ? If you are his people indeed, if you are the just expectants of a happy immor- tality, you certainly know something of these things. If you do not, it is to be hoped you will not dare, in virtue of a mere profession, to seat your- selves, to-morrow, at the table of the Lord, Allow me, my friends, to deal plainly with you ; and do you deal plainly and honestly with yourselves. The table shall be spread, but only for the chil- dren of the kingdom — the Master comes, but he calls not for you — you have not the wedding gar- ment ; you have no invitation from Zion's King to this feast of love ; and at your peril be it, if you go uninvited. Nay, if you know nothing of those exercises of the soul on which our reflections have dwelt this evening, you are not only unbidden to our gospel repast, but the whole of your religion is a dead form, an empty shell, a religion for this world, and it will attend you no further than this world. It will leave you at death, when you will most sadly need comfort and support. Be not de- ceived: God is not mocked. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. You must he horn again — you must have a justifying righteousness, and sanctifying grace ; without this no man shall see the Lord. Without this no splendid profession, no extensive knowledge, no exalted privileges, will 180 The Gospel Offer, benefit jou in the most trying hour. All these you may have, and yet go down to the grave with a lie in your right hand. O that you were wise to know, in this your clay, the things that belong to your i)eace. 2. Will Jesus Christ reject none who come to him? then all who perish, perish by their own fault. Christ and all the benefits of the everlast- ing covenant are now offered to the chief of sin- ners. To every one in this assembly, whatever his character, whatever his crimes, the free promise of eternal life is presented. Nay, wherever the joyful sound is heard, the gracious proclamation announces peace and pardon through the blood of Jesus. By this blood a fountain is opened for the house of David, and for the inhabitants of Je- rusalem. Hoi every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ! Whosoever will, let him come and take the waters of life freely ! Whatever, there- fore, you may pretend ; however plausible the excuses by wdiich you satisfy your consciences while you despise the blessed Saviour ; the truth is, (for He who cannot lie hath said so,) You will NOT come to him that you may have life. You are, then, your own destroyers ; and at the awful ap- pearance of your Judge, guilt will stop your mouths ; or should you attempt to speak, your mouths will condemn you. The Lord now waits to be gracious; but remember, that if you persist The Gospel Offer. 181 and die in vour unbelief, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, hut a certai?i fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall de- vour the adversaries. 3. Since Jesus Christ will cast out none who come to him, let it be your care. Christians, to live by faith upon him. May the most inveterate rebel .against God look for forgiveness and acceptance through the Mediator's atonement ? and shall not his children, who are already justified by that atonement, have boldness and confidence in their approaches to his throne \ You have many cor- ruptions to subdue — many trials to sustain — many foes to resist — and therefore, if you expect to suc- ceed, you must have many errands to the throne of grace. And be not now strangers at that throne — spread before it all your weaknesses and all your wants. Pour out, into the bosom of your Father, all your anxieties and all your griefs. Do you feel your lusts strong, and your graces weak ? Do not spend your time in lamenting your feebleness, but betake yourselves to him who is not only the Lord your righteousness, but the Lord your strength. Does your great adversary seem to be let loose upon you ? Does he, as a ravenous lion, terrify you by his roarings \ Does he, as a skilful and malicious enemy, discharge into your souls his fiery darts ? Run instantly to the Captain of your salvation — he has an arm that is 182 ^ The Gospel Offer. full of power. In our text he has pledged himself to secure you ; and as he cannot deny hhnself, his faithfulness will be your shield and your buckler. Have you acted treacherously towards your Lord \ Have you grieved him by backsliding from him ? And has he, in righteous indignation, withdrawn from you the light of his countenance ? Humble yourselves under his mighty hand, but do. not mistake the meaning of his providence. He chastens, because he loves you. He says, with inexpressible tenderness, Return, ye hacksliding children, and I will heal your hackslidings. An- swer his call, Behold! we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. (Jer. iii. 22.) Whilst the tear of ingenuous shame starts in your eye, fix it on his everlasting righteousness — let your trem- bling hand again lay hold of his covenant — bow at his footstool — plead his promise — you shall not be disappointed, for it is a truth more stable than the heavens, that them who come to him he will in no wist cast out. THE GOSPEL NO CAUSE OF SHAME. SEHMON XI. THE GOSPEL NO CAUSE OF SHAME. EOMANS I. 16. / am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the 'power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. , Zeal for the glory of his Divme Master was the most prominent feature in the character of the apostle Paul. Hurried away by the blind impulses of ignorant superstition and inveterate mahce, he had formerly persecuted with unrelenting fury all who named the name of Jesus. The account which he gives of himself exhibits the most hideous picture of frantic impiety. / verily thought loith myself that I ought to do many things contrary to 186 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem ; and many of the saints did I si tut u]) in pi'ison, hamng received authority 'from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them. And 1 punished them oft in every synagogue, and com- pelled them to blaspheme ; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. (Acts xxvi. 9, 11.) Under these circumstances, who would have thought, accordmg to human judgment, that the conversion of Paul was a probable, not to say a possible, event? Assuredly, had he been governed by worldly motives, we never should have heard of him as a Christian, far less would his name have shone with such splendor on the list of apostles. But what obstacles can arrest the power of Christ, or prevent him from bringing to himself in the mo- ment of love the chosen vessels of mercy. No sooner does divine grace take possession of the soul than the heart of stone melts — the fury of persecution subsides — the murdering sword is cast away — the first breath of penitence cries. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? — Saul the persecutor becomes Paul the apostle. With an ardor propor- tioned to his former enmity, " he now preaches the faith which once he destroyed" — he plants the standard of the Messiah in that very city which witnessed his rebellion, and was the scene of his The Gospel no Cause of Shame. 187 cruelty — he glories in the cross of Christ — he sees clearly all the dangers which attend such a profes- sion, and all the calumny and odium which are heaped upon those who make it. But unappalled by danger, unmoved by cahunny, he throws to his adversaries the gauntlet of defiance. " Why," says he, " should I blush for my Redeemer \ Let them blush who never saw his glory nor felt his love. But /, who know both, am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ; and I have the best reason not to be ashamed of it, for, let men reproach it as they please, it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that helieveth." In this noble testimony which Paul gives to the gospel, he speaks with the warmth and eagerness of a man who felt its importance and certainty. Enlarged views of the gracious scheme it unfolds impressed him with the deep conviction that it alone can bear the weight of an immortal soul. Enraptured with the heavenly prospects it opens, not only in this world but beyond the grave, his heart glowed with fervent gratitude to their adora- ble Author; and unable to repress his devout affec- tion, he cries out, / am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. This was not more the heroism of an inspired apostle than it is the temper of all be- lievers. They have in their own bosoms the same divine principle which animated the faith and hope and magnanimity of Paul. 'Tis true, in 188 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. them it may not be equally active, nor its opera- tions of equal extent; but the principle they have and must have. Born of the same Father — united to the same Redeemer — guided by the same Spirit, they must have the same disposition. However we-ak their faith, hovv^ever faint their hope, how- ever dead, their frame, it is their "unaltered wish" to glorify their Saviour. And could you see their inmost souls, you might read there, in very legible characters, lam not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Too often, indeed, their actions are wholly incon- sistent with their character and sentiments. They shrink from the frown or sneer of a world that lieth in wickedness. But of this timidity they ought to be ashamed. It is the fruit of their unbehef — the badge of their folly — the chastisement of their sin. That they may not be left to act so unworthy and ungrateful a part should be the constant study and prayer of Christians; and they will find the subject of our present attention fraught witli sweet and powerful motives to liold fast, not merely their faith, but the profession of their faith, without wavering ; for it naturally leads us to take a view of the gospel of Christ — to notice somtf of the reasons'for which carnal men are ashamed of it — to display the Christian temper by showing what is comprehended in ?iot being ashamed of it — and to ilkistrate the argument by which the bold pro- fession of it is defended. The Gospel no Cause of Shame. 189 In prosecuting the plan which has now been proposed, and depending upon that gracious aid, without which we can do nothing, let us, In the hrst place, take a brief view of the gospel of Christ Gospel, as is commonly remarked, signifies glad tidings ; and the term is appropriated, with pecu- liar propriety, to the revelation of divine mercy as it is manifested in Christ Jesus. The gospel well deserves to be termed glad tidings in a variety of respects, as it answers to complete satisfaction the most important questions that man can ask. It rpsolves our doubts about the nature and character of God — about the dis- pensations of his providence, about a future state, about the misery of our present condition, and about the method of our recovery. 1. The gospel of Christ informs us about the nature and character of God. That man, who was created in the divine image, and honored with the divine favor and communication, should so fatally degenerate as to forget the first lesson which was taught to his species, a knowledge of the God who made him, is not a more melancholy proof of his depravity than it is a part of his misery. Credulity itself could scarcely have believed that human reason, which originally was pure and clear, should be so debased and blinded as to mistake entirely the nature and 190 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. plainest attributes of God, and to ascribe any of them to the creatures of his hand. But the fact is unquestionable. The dreadful apostasy of our race plunged us into such woful ignorance, that we groped in darkness, even at noon-day. I should abuse yonr understandings should I attempt to prove that the heathen world was overspread with the grossest superstition and idolatry. I should waste your time in recapitulating the opposite opinions which were entertained of God, not only by the multitude, but also by the greatest philoso- phers. Whether there is one great and glorious Being, who centers in himself all the perfections of Deity, or whether these are distributed amongst more than one, is a question about which the phi- losophers hesitated, and which the vulgar decided in favor of Polytheism. Such a decision must ne- cessarily draw after it a train of fatal errors respect- ing every part of the divine character, and every relation it bears to us. Its practical effects are briefly, but elegantly and strikingly summed up by our apostle when he tells us, in the close of this first chapter of the epistle to the Romans, that men changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds^ and four footed beasts, and creeping things, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, luho is blessed forever. Even they, who, a little more enlightened, condemned idolatry, and The Gospel no Cause of Shame. 191 were inclined to favor the doctrine of the unity of God, were much at a loss concerning other mat- ters of the highest moment. Is God a Spirit? Is he the author of evil \ If not, is he so necessarily holy that he must punish sin ? Is there any possi- ble way of escaping his righteous indignation ? Will he certainly bring us into judgment for all our actions, or only for some ? Does he take no- tice of our thoughts \ How is he to be worshipped 1 Ought we to worship him at the hazard of mis- taking the acceptable mode, and thus bring upon ourselves new and accumulated guilt; or ought we to omit it altogether ? On these and other impor- tant questions the wisest of the heathens said the least ; and they who were most positive most fre- quently erred. So truly does the apostle say, that professing thejnselves to he wise they became fools, and that the imrld by ivisdom knew not God. From this frightful state of doubt, suspense, and per- plexity, the gospel of Christ delivered the world. It chased away the clouds which wrapped in dark- ness the human mind, and poured upon the gloom of midnight a flood of day. This gospel declares that God is One. Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is ONE Jehovah. It also declares hoiu he is one, in revealing to us the mystery of the adorable Trinity — the wonderful mystery of three equal divine persons subsisting in one undivided essence; a mystery of dread importance, of which the know- 192 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. ledge is absolutely necessary to our eternal happi- ness, but which mere reason never could have conjectured, far less discovered. The gospel de- clares that "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holi- ness, justice, goodness, and truth." In his being, and therefore as he could have no beginning, so he can have no alteration nor end, but must con- tinue the same, in all the glory of his nature, to- day, yesterday, and forever. In his uisdom, and therefore all things, even the most secret thoughts, are open to his sight, and shall all be conducted to the best and noblest end. In his jwicer, and therefore the determinations of his wisdom can never be frustrated, but shall certainly be carried into complete execution. In his holiness, and therefore he cannot be the author of evil ; he must hate sin with a perfect hatred ; he cannot allow it to pass with impunity, but must punish it as infal- libly as he is God. In his justice, and therefore while he supports the dignity of his laws and the rights of his government, and vindicates the hon- ors of his character, his decisions must be accord- ing to truth, and so perfectly equitable as to shut the mouth of every offender. In his goodness, and therefore we may be assured that he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men ; that the innocent cannot suffer; that they who do suffer must be sinners, and the authors of their own The Gospel no Cause of Shame. 193 misery ; and that there is here laid a foundation on which even the guilty may hope to be delivered from the condemnation to which their con- sciences tell them they are liable, provided the dehverance can be effected in a consistency with all the divine attributes. And in his truth, so that neither his promises nor his threatenings can pos- sibly fail. Farther, the gospel of Christ declares that God is to be worshipped — that he is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth ; secretly and openly ; that to neglect this duty is death ; and that it cannot be acceptably performed, but in the mode prescribed in the revelation of the covenant of grace. As the account which divine revelation gives of the nature and character of God, far exceeds, both in value and extent, all the accounts to which uninspired philosophy can pretend ; so the marks of decided superiority are stamped with equal clearness upon the account which it gives of the government of God. I therefore observe, 2. That the gospel of Christ affords us true and interesting views of Divine Providence. How great was the confusion and perplexity of the acutest observers of the moral world, when, unaided by revelation, they attempted to develop the mysteries of Providence : and how vain were all their efforts to extricate themselves from their difficulties, can be a secret to none who are ac- VOL. IV. 13 194 The Gosjjel no Cause of Sha??ie. quainted with the state of mankind before the pro- mulgation of the gospel. That God, the Creator of the universe, governs it with unerring wisdom, almighty power, and unceasing care, is a proposi- tion so plain to those who know their Bibles, and with which conscience so immediately closes, that we are apt to imagine no man can refuse, /or a moment, his cordial and unhesitating assent. Yet even this proposition, all clear and commanding as it is, was much controverted by pagans of old, and, as if God meant to stain the pride of human rea- son, it is controverted at this hour by many who reject the scriptures of truth. Amongst the hea- then, Divine Providence was a subject which seldom occupied the thoughts of the vulgar, and about which the wise were perpetually quarreling. Some denied, in the gross, God's creating power and goodness. Some, though they ascribed to him the power of creating, were for excluding him entirely from governing, the world ; fondly and impiously dreaming that all things are driven at random by blind fatality, or bhnder chance, and that God concerns himself neither in human affairs, nor in any thing else. Others, measuring Infinite Wisdom and power by their own igno- rance and feebleness, and unable to comprehend how a single mind can attend to the varied, and multiplied, and intricate affairs of a universe, wished to rid the Deity of fatigue, and contrived to par- The Gospel no Cause of Shame. 195 eel out the world amongst a number of divinities, to each of whom they assigned a pecuUar province. And the few who, more sound in their judgments, and more sober in iheir inquiries, admitted God's superintendence over the works of his hands, and labored to shun the dangers of a contrary opinion, were yet puzzled and confounded by the occur- rences of every day. When they adverted to the different classes and characters of men, they felt that to reconcile their situations, in the connnon course of events, with a good, a wise, an equitable providence, was a task too hard for their deepest thought, and most diligent research. If anything is to be gathered from a general notion of God's character, and the first dictates of reason and con- science, it is this general maxim, that evil ought to be punished, and good rewarded. But when men, guided by the mere light of nature, turned their attention to the actual administration of Provi- dence, how awful and disheartening was it to find, that this leading character of an upright governor was apparently contradicted by almost every act of his government. When they saw iniquity at ease, and prosperity taking up her abode in the dweUings of the wicked — when they saw plenty open her treasures, and pour upon their heads her choice, her balmy blessings — and honor crowning their lives with her most flattering distinctions ; especially when they saw, on the other hand, that 196 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. men, to their discernment unblemished in their characters, and venerable for their virtues, were frequently reduced to struggle w^ith the complicated ills of life — to languish under disease, or pine in poverty — to become the victims of oppression and falsehood, or to sink beneath a load of injuries; when they observed these things what could they say ? Renounce the doctrine of a providence they could not, without renouncing their reason ; and they could hardly retain it without renouncing their senses. Who will help them in this sad di- lemma \ Who will answer a question like the fol- lowing \ " Do not such dispensations look like a bounty on crimes and a penalty on innocence ?" The difficulty is great and serious : it is so great that reflection upon it staggered the faith, and almost overturned the steadfastness of one who was favored with divine revelation. Verily, said Asaph, in the agony of his soul. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. (Ps. Ixxiii. 13.) Nor were his doubts removed, nor the rebellion of his heart subdued, till he went into the sanctuary of God. As for those who had not revelation, the only thing which could in the least alleviate their painful anxiety, is the idea of future retribution. But this idea, as we shall hereafter see, was at most the trembling conjecture of a pro- bable fact, and by no means the firm and solid conviction of an undoubted reality. But had the The Gospel no Cause of Shame. 197 conviction been ever so firm, difficulties v^^hich we cannot now mention, still remained. If philosophy was required to solve them, she shrunk from the unequal attempt ; or if she undertook it, it was only to betray her feebleness, and to mock the ex- pectation of her followers. But here, when every human resource failed, the gospel of Christ stepped in, and with all the dignity and ease of heavenly truth, untied those gordian knots which bade defi- ance to the ingenuity of man. I do not mean to say that the gospel disclosed all the secrets of the divine government. There are many things which we may not, should not know. Things of which the knowledge is graciously concealed from us, as it could serve no purpose but to render us miser- able. There are many things which we could not know. Things so deep and mysterious as to be far beyond the reach of any created intellect. And therefore, intruding curiosity may start a thousand difficulties which no mortal can remove. But this is no prejudice to the gospel. Its discoveries are adapted, with infinite wisdom, to our circumstances. It unfolds so much of the plan of Divine Provi- dence as is necessary and useful — so much as may justify, even to our frail understandings, the ways of God to men — as may teach the wicked the most alarming lessons — as may strengthen and animate the faith, and hope, and peace of the believer. The gospel informs us, that as God created all 198 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. things for himsef so lie upholds them hy the word of his power, and rules them by the counsel of his will. It informs us that he framed in eternity, the plan of all his operations; and that Frovidence is nothing but the gradual development of this plan, at such seasons, and in such degrees, as to his wis- dom appears fit — that the plan is unalterable in it- self: J am Jehovah, I change not; my counsel shall stand, says he, and I will do all my pleasure — that it is so infallible in its execution, as not to be hin- dered for a moment by any impediment whatso- ever ; for he duth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what dost thou 1 — that it is so boundless in its extent, as to comprehend all things, even objects the most minute, and incidents apparently the most trifling. The hairs of your head, they are the words of our Redeemer, the very hairs of your head are all num- bered; and a sparrow shall not fall to the ground without your Father. That nothing can happen but in a subserviency to the end which God has in view — that all second causes, though operating in different ways, and even though hostile in jhem- selves to this end, are combined effectually to pro- mote it. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath thou wilt restrain. The gospel bids us not to wonder if we cannot account for many proceedings of the Governor of The Gospel no Cause of Shame. 199 the universe, since his way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are not knoion. It bids us not to be stumbled if we see the wicked spreading like a green hay-tree, high in power, and wantoning in plenty ; because this is not the way in which God expresses his approba- tion and favor, as his word declares, and innumer- able facts prove : for nothing is more cettain than that inward happiness is far from being a neces- sary attendant upon outward prosperitj^ and be- cause wise and valuable purposes are accom- plished by this dispensation. Were God to cut off immediately the notoriously wicked, he could not bring all his sons to glory, many of whom are to spring from them, and are to receive, and love, and honor that Redeemer, whom their fathers rejected, and hated, and viUfied. In the mean time, he makes them, though they know it not, the instru- ments of building up his church, and by loading them with benefits, he renders their impiety the more inexcusable, their guilt the more flagrant, and his justice in punishing them the more conspicuous. If, in righteous indignation, he sometimes scatter their wealth, and stain their honors, and blast their prospects, and bring upon them the swift and fear- ful recompense of their crimes, he teaches men that verily there is a God who jtidgeth rightly. Thus, both his long-suffering and his vengeance throw a lustre on his wisdom. Were all punished, 200 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. men would forget an hereafter. Did all escape, they would thhik that God had forsaken the earth, and whatever they did, the Lord regarded not. On the other hand, as the gospel tells us that ex- ternal felicity is not always a mark of the divine favor, so it bids us not to be surprised if we see good men laboring under the pressure of calamity. It silences .the voice of murmuring, by giving us to understand, that considering the infinite evil of sin, however God may frown upon even the right- eous, he treats them far more gently and tenderly than they deserve. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishnent of his sins? (Lam. iii. 39.) As if the prophet had said, " What! out of hell, and yet complain I Blush, O man, for thy ingratitude ! Tremble for thy presumption !" But the gospel farther informs us that we greatly mistake in concluding a man miserable because he is poor, or despised, or oppressed — that the peace and pleasure of a Christian are a peace and pleas- ure, which, as the world cannot give, so it cannot take away — that even in calamity the " consola- tions of God" impart more gladness and better en- joyment than can be felt or known by the wicked ivhen their corn and their ivine abound. It informs us that all things, even the most unpromising, *7ifl// work together for the good of them who love God, and are called according to his purpose — that afflic- tions are the discipline of their Father's house, and Tlie Gospel no Cause of Shame. 201 that the exercise of this discipline towards them is at once a proof and privilege of their adoption, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scour geth every son whom he receivcth — that he makes afflic- tion an instrument by which he " purges away the dross, takes away the tin, and purifies the gold of his people^by which he mortifies their corruptions and quickens their graces — by which he weans them from a criminal attachment to this world, and teaches them that as they profess to be citizens of heaven, they should justify their title to the exalted character by setting their affections on things above — and finally, the gospel informs us, that their sufferings shall not only be blessed to them here, but shall be abundantly repaid hereafter, when Je- hovah shall finish the present dispensation of things by giving to the wicked the exact and impartial due of their iniquities, and bringing the righteous to Zion icith songs, when everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, when sorroic and sighing shall flee away, and God himself shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. I therefore remark, 3. That the gospel of Christ affords us the truest information about ed. That, in consequence of our guilt and pollution, we are odious and loathsome in the sight of a holy God, and have in our hearts a principle of enmity against him. That dead in tresjmsses and sins, we can do nothing to help ourselves, as we can do nothing but sin. That no created power can help us, or loose us in the least from our connection with the violated covenant. That The Gospel no Cause of Shame. 205 while this connection subsists we can expect nothing but what the covenant has to give, and that this is nothing but the fiery indignation ivhich shall devour the adversaries. This information, if viewed in itself, is dreadful — enough to strike the chill of death into every heart — and were the message of God to stop here, instead of bringing glad tidings, it would convert our world into a very hell. But it is one of the benevolent characteristics of the rehgion of Jesus, that it smites only to heal ; it lays open the dis- ease, that it may apply the remedy. And hence we remark, Lastly, That the gospel of Christ reveals a me- thod of recovery from our ruined condition. Had Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, been asked, "Can sinful men be saved, and the honor of his Creator be preserved?" his silence would have proclaimed his inabihty to answer. It is one of the first dictates of reason, that a crimi- nal ought to atone for his crime. But what atone- ment, what satisfaction, can a sinner make ? His offence is infinite — all that he has, all that he can do, is a debt. Will repentance help him \ Alas ! the law knows not of repentance. It fixes the penalty with the transgressor ; and if God be faith- ful to himself, the penalty must be executed. And now, when all prospect of escape is cut off, who shall screen the offender from wrath 1 Shall not 206 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. despair blacken his countenance, and harrow up his soul ? Oh no ! at this season of need, the gos- pel of Christ leaps down from heaven, and brings speedy and effectual rehef. It is the sum of her reviving message, Deliver him from going down to the iiit ; I have found a ransom. In the exphca- tion of this transporting news, the gospel informs us that God, out of mere mercy, resolved to save a number of sinful men, and to save them in a way which should bring all the glory to his sovereign grace ; that as he could not dispense with the sanction of his law, and as man was utterly una- ble to give the satisfaction which the law required, the Second Person of the glorious trinity volunta- rily offered to assume our nature, to become the substitute of all whom the Father should give him, and who should believe upon his name, and in that character to obey perfectly the divine law, and endure the whole of the terrible punishment which their sins deserved ; and thus pave the way for re- storing them to divine favor and making them cer- tain heirs of eternal life. That in the fulness of time, fixed by infinite wisdom, the Lord Jesus actually came into our world — that being born in an extraordinary manner, he was not one of Adam's represented children — was neither guilty, nor polluted — was not exposed to the curse, nor bound by the obligations of the law, and that he consented to be made under it as the rcpresenta- The Gosjw.l no Cause of Shame. 207 tive of liis people, both in its obligations and in its curse. That having graciously submitted to be made thus under the law, he did perfectly obey it, through a life of labor, temptation, and suffering. That at his death he did make himself an offering. That stretched upon the accurse.d tree, and de- prived of the hght of his Father's countenance, he drank the dregs of his Father's w^rath; received into his soul the bitter anguish vsiiich would have been our portion through eternity ; and struggled, at the same time, with all the malice and all the madness of hell. But being Jehovah in our na- ture, his sufferings, though short, were of infinite value, and completed the purchase of our redemp- tion. His own arm defeated the hosts of darkness — his expiring breath proclaimed his victory — and the cross of Calvary stood the bloody trophy of his conquest. The gospel informs us that, though our Re- deemer died, he rose again, and ascended up, visibly, into the highest heaven — that he appears there at this moment, as the intercessor of his people, presenting in their room his everlasting merits — that there he manages all their concerns — that thence he sends down his Spirit to work effectually in their hearts, and to prepare them for being with him in glory. The gospel further informs us, that the salvation which Jesus Christ has procured is freely offered 208 The Gospel no Cause of Shame. to the chief of sinners ; that whosoever will, may come and receive it, and be forever happy; and that if any to whom it is preached, shall perish at last, they will have nothing to blame but their oWn wilful, obstinate unbelief. [ The application is wanting.'] ON STEADFASTNESS IN RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT vol,. IV. 14 209 SERMON XII. ON STEADFASTNESS IN RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT. EPHESIANS IV. 14. That we henceforth he no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried ahout with every ivind of doctrine, hy the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, ivhereby they lie in wait to deceive. The unity of Christians in the faith, the growth and strength of their character, have much im- portance attached to them by the Lord Jesus, and appear, if we may use the expression, to he very near his heart After his ascension to the throne of his glory, one of the first acts of his intercession, and of the power of his exalted state, was to make provision for the continuance and increase of these 212 On Steadfastness in graces. When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men: and he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some^ evangelists ; and some, ixistors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry ; for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man; unto the measure of the stature of the fidness of Christ. What the particular connection is be- , tween his people's advancement in kno\\'ledge and spiritual attainments, and the degree of happiness in their unseen witnesses, or what especial influ- ence it may exert upon the general economy of his kingdom, in the invisible world, we do not know, nor is it useful if it were proper to inquire. But we do know, from the passage just read, that what- ever is great or magnificent in the office of an apostle, or prophet, or evangelist; whatever is use- ful or honorable in a pastor or teacher, if was and is conferred upon them, not for their own sakes, but for the sake of liis body, the church. We are furnished with ordinances, and means in every variety, that there may be no hindrance to our profiting in the school of Jesus Christ — that we may habitually enlarge our knowledge of those things which tJic angels desire to look into ; and as fellow-students with them of the mystery of God, may grow in the intelligence which they value, Religious Sentiment. 213 and in fitness for their fellowship, when, after a few days spent here, in absence from the Lord, we shall join their society in his presence and service. Surely, if sncli is our destination — if these the prosjTects which cheer us in this vale of tears — if our hearts arc set upon their invigorating refresh- ment and peerless dignity — nothing can worse be- come us than indifference about our progress in the Christian lesson ; nothing should fill us with deeper shame than the poor account which most of us have to give of the pains wasted upon our spiritual education, and of our slowness of heart to understand our Lord's instructions. On nothing should our eagerness be prompted, our ambition fired, and our efforts expended, more than on this, that ice henceforth he no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine hy the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whei'e- hy they lie in wait to deceive. It may be of advantage to us to consider some- what more minutely this description of religious children — the contrast which ought to mark our chaiacters — and the means and motives to our solid improvement. I. Our notice is drawn to the characters of these religious children. The apostle states it to consist principally in two things : fickleness in matters of faith, and facUity of deception by designing men. 1. Fickleness in matters of faith — being tossed to 214 On Steadfastness iji and fro, and ca7'ried about with every wind of doc- trine. There always has been and always will be a desperate and deadly conflict between truth and error, nor can there be any compromise between them. The bastard charity of the day is very clamorous to make us give up all that we account precious, or at least to compound with and not to molest their contraries. But the demand is absurd and the concession impossible. It is the nature of truth to be the most intolerant thing conceivable. That truth is and can be but one. And the Liar plays off his most ancient, most extensive, and most successful game, when he can sow in the church the seeds of all sorts of discordant principles touch- ing the faith and hope of sinful men. In this, it is true, God does as he does in other cases, bring good out of evil. There must he heresies among you, i. e. divisions on account of the truth, that they which are approved may he made made manifest among you. Thus it fared with the churches in the days and under the eyes of the apostles them- selves. The apostle Paul was constantly in armor combating for the faith that had been delivered once for all to the saints. Every gross corruption of the gospel, every foolish and fantastic whim in- vented and broached by men of reprobate minds, or of distorted imagination, infested the churches in as great a variety as at any later period. Per- Relisious Sentiment. 215 "b haps modern times cannot reckon a single devia- tion from the gospel, which in form or in substance was not a curse of the apostolic age. No sooner were the pestiferous notions started, than crowds started and ran after them. If any thing, in the mean while, struck the fancy of one who was or who wished to be a leader, a part of the crowd would turn aside after him. Some of them, after fatiguing themselves in the pursuit of every vanity, would perchance return to a sober mind, and re- adhere to the cause which they had deserted. Others again, though cured of one extravagance, were just as ready to fall'into another as the occa- sion recurred ; and many, proceeding from one step to another in their evil course, at last made shipwreck of the faith altogether, and became downright apostates ; abandoning the grounds of their confidence before God and the comijiunion of his people, and perishing at last in their oivn corruption. These ivere they who separated them- selves ; sensual, not having the Spirit. They went ovT from us, says John, but they ivere not of us ; for if they had been of us they would have contin- ued loith us ; but they went out that they might he made manifest that they were not all of us. It is no otherwise yet. Old errors of every sort, which have been exploded long ago, revive, are new-dressed, and recommended to the acceptance of the religious world. I sayWc? errors, for the 216 On Steadfastness in devil's wit is not inexhaustible ; and therefore his delusions, plausible though they be, are only stale artifices newly tricked up to catch the ignorant and the conceited. All that the "rational Christi- anity" of the day glories in as its own discoveries, has many centuries ago been cast out of the Chris- tian church as heresies of 'perdition. But come when they will, and how they will, they are sure of a ready reception, and many abettors among those who are tossed to and fro, and are carried about with every wind of doctrine. They, indeed, call themselves "philosophers," and "liberal inqui- rers ;" but the apostle calls them by their true name, "babies," and will allow them no place among inquirers but the place of those who are ever learn- ing and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Learn what they will, the truth is what they do not learn and never can perceive. They have no fixed first principles ; nothing to keep them firm and steady in the hour of temptation, or to prei^ent them being led away by the error of the wicked. In the calm sunshine, while there is no disturbance of the church's tranquillity, they mingle with the multitude and pass for Christians. But when the storm gathers, the waters swell, the winds blow, they are shaken from their ov^^n steadfastness. They never were secured to the rock of safety, but lay loose and idle upon the surface. Now the trial hath reached them, and without strong moor- Religious Sentiment, 217 ings, without grapplings, without anchors, without any fastenings, they are swept out of the Christian roads, and are the sport of the waves and the winds on the trackless ocean. Soon are they scattered away from the rock ; and while they run, swift as the evil blast can drive them, towards certain des- truction, they are elated, ignorant as they are, with the rapidity of their course, until they are suddenly dashed among the breakers, or ingulfed in the bil- lows, or absorbed in the quicksands. Thus termi- nates their adventurous speculation, and the last news of the poor souls is, " they perished !" I have been referring to those errors, in the success of which the Destroyer goes directly to his proper work, the irretrievable ruin of men. But a capital error seldom comes alone ; so there are many sjnaller deviations from the soundness of the faith which attend the steps and prepare the way for that which strikes at the foundation of entire Christianity. It is melancholy and ahnost incredi- ble to see what a mere puff of wind is sufficient to drive many a gallant looking vessel out of her course ; and the odds are infinitely against her, but before she recovers it, she falls among enemies who decoy her to her ruin. Without figure, you often find those who, upon the whole, are friendly to the truth ; yet by the merest trifle in the world — something which appears to them ingenious when it is only absurd — something which is recom- 218 On Steadfastness in mended by a respectable name — something of which the whole attraction is its supposed novelty — turns them aside from " the old paths where is the good way." The swarms of little sects which spring up and die almost as soon as they are known, yet for the time being vex the friends and furnish matter of exultation to the foes of evangelical doctrine, owe their origin for the most part to a paltry individual vanity. The peace of the church is broken ; her strength is divided; the jvigor of her sons is im- paired by foolish contentions. The wily adver- sary does not let the occasion slip. Many who set out with an apparent trifle, do not end till they have made inroads upon the substantial truth ; and Christians are called to struggle with an enemy who has already penetrated their camp. On such fickle beings you never can count ; they want that sobriety of mind, that Christian common sense, which is proof against such small attacks, and is infinitely better for preserving the order and the truth of God pure and entire, than the finest genius and the profoundest learning can be without it. 2. Liableness to imposition by the arts of the insidious is another character of these religious children. Error, when seen in its true colors, is rather apt to deter than to allure. Nor is there, perhaps, a single one which, if exhibited without disguise, Religions Sentiment. 219, would ever succeed in making proselytes. Even children would be too sagacious for such dupery. Accordingly, its approaches are conducted with caution and address. It is very careful not to alarm suspicion or excite prejudice. Concealment is its very life. Its abettors will pretend that your faith and theirs, however they may differ upon speculative points, come nearer to each other on all questions of practice than you are ready to admit. They will enumerate a number of things which no man in his senses ever thinks of disputing ; and when there is no gainsaying them in these matters they will leave you, if they are master-workmen, to draw the inference that, after all, they cannot be so far wrong as some would persuade you ; well knowing tliat the great obstacle to your conversion is surmounted when you arc brought, by this piece of craft, to form a favorable opinion of their tenets. But you have already entered into temptation ; you have already set your foot in the path which goes down to death, and if God in his great mercy do not enable you to make a speedy retreat, your ruin is inevitable. Take it then at the very beginning, as a simple rule, and of easy and sure appHcation, The man who equivocates in religious matters, who declines giving you a prompt explanation of his views, and rather evades j-our inquiries than meets them, that man is a deceiver and an Anti- christ. Truth was not intended to be smuggled. 220 On Steadfastness in A city set on a hill cannot be hid, nor is a lighted candle to be put under a bushel. Preach the word, is the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the teacher who does not do it franklv, so that men may not only understand his meaning, but cannot possibly misunderstand it, when treating of our eternal peace, is an enemy to our happiness and to our Lord. Avoid him as you would a pes- tilence. My contempt and horror embrace all those, who, after years of pubhc ministrations, leave their people in doubt what their sentiments are. Truth is not with them the infinitely important in- terest. Their prospect is that of a fearful reckon- ing with that Saviour, wlio came into the icorld that he anight hear witness to tlie truth ; and even here it is the duty of his church to spew them out of her mouth. 3. Another artifice of those who lie in wait to deceive, is the wrapping up of their deceptions in scriptural phrases, and even in the language which is consecrated by the usage of the Christian church. Every thing sounds fair and looks well; has a pious air, and apparently a sound sense; and ihey may notwithstanding be inculcating the most dam- nable errors, and converting the very word of God into a vehicle for the poison. Undoubtedly the in- spired word expresses revealed truth in the most precise and proper manner. And the objection to these men is, not that they quote the scriptures, but Religious Sentiment. 221 "& that they quote them fraudulently. The cheat lies here — the passages quoted have, from time imme- morial, borne in the church of God a definite sense. You of course understand them in that received sense. But you are not aware that these apostles of error, take them in quite a different sense, they and you use the same terms, but you do not intend the same thing ; and when they think you are not drilled quite enough, they will never have the can- dor to undeceive you. They will let out in other places and at other times, as far as they judge it prudent, what their meaning is ; and in the mean- while you are become so accustomed to hear this perversion of holy writ, that your minds are de- bauched from the simplicity of Christ, and you im- perceptibly slide into the pit they have digged for you. Sometimes, indeed, this trick overshoots the mark. It is related of John Taylor, the famous Arian of Norwich, that he gave mortal oifence to an Arian congregation in London by the use of scripture language. His hearers, like people of that class everywhere, were not much acquainted with their bibles, and mistook him for an old-fash- ioned puritan ! Thus the common sense of man- kind, even of Arians themselves, when they are not put on their guard, decided that whatever the Bible teaches, it does not teach Arianism. 4. A fourth stratagem of deceivers is an affecta- tion of unbounded liberality and charity. 222 , On Steadfastness in Nothing is so odious in their eyes as bigotry. Why must you claim the exckisive privilege of be- ing in the right? Why is not another man's opin- ion as good as your own ? Why not allow your neighbors the privilege of which you arc so tena- cious, the privilege of thinking for themselves ! Why must your charity be confined to sects or principles ? Cannot a man be distinguished for Christian virtues, and exemplary in ihe discharge of his Christian duties, a sincere lover of the truth, and ardent in the pursuit of it, unless all his ideas of propriety be squared by your own rule? How terrible that the religion of peace should set friends quarreling ? How unworthy of the good will which the gospel was intended to cherish, and of the generous philanthropy of its Divine Author! All this is \eYy fine, no doubt ; for plausible talk : but in the mouths of the crafty nothing but talk ; yet its effect is to overthrow the faith of some, who from want of discrimination, from a softness of mind, from not suspecting any mischief with so benevolent a face, from not having nerves to with- stand a little raillery, from the joint power of ridi- cule and flattery, run headlong into the arms of a fiend, and from a dread of bigotry adopt ruinous heresy. On all which I crave leave to submit a remark or two. (1.) They who are so very anxious about the liberty of thinking for themselves, mean in reality Rellsious Sentiment. 223 "b the liberty of thin king /" " I shall detain you no longer than to subjoin an observation or two for preventing mistakes. During the whole period of our connection the utmost harmony has subsisted between us. The reiterated proofs of your affection I shall cherish Dr. Masons Speech, S^c. 247 as a spring of grateful recollection while my memory retains her seat. Dissatisfaction with my people I have none. Neither am I influenced by pecuniary motives. Your last unsolicited, unex- pected addition to my income, notwithstanding the evils under which you labor were not removed, is a proof that you are ready to preckide all just un- easiness on that score.* But my salary doubled, trebled, quadrupled, would not induce me to retract, or even to hesitate. The reasons of my present conduct would still operate with unabated force. " Nor have I been impelled by private chagrin or resentments. I have no personal quarrel with any man among you; and if J had, I should enjoy ineffable consolation from the assurance that the uniform tenor of my life puts me above the sus- picion of acting from such paltry passions. "In declaring my intention of resigning my charge, I am not to be understood as expressing any intention of abandoning the pulpit. To preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, is my honor and my happiness : nor shall I desist from my loved employment so long as I am permitted to abide in it ; but shall continue to labor in the word and doctrine as God in his providence shall appoint me to a proper scene of action. In the interim between this date and the meeting of the Prcsby- * Some months before, the congregntion, without my request, expectation, or knowledge, unanimously voted the addition of one hundred pounds per annum to my former salary. J. M. M. 248 Dr. Mason's Sjjeech, Sfc. tery in May, I shall perform, if the Lord will, my public functions as usual. " The respect which I owe to my more intimate friends, and especially to the members of the ses- sion, demands an explanation of my silence on this interesting subject until the hour of my laying it before the congregation. It is not strictly a ses- sional business. Talking of it, while the facts to determine the issue were still in suspense, might have been interpreted as a threat, or at least as an indecorum toward the congregation. I also stu- died to shun the multitude of discussions to which it would have given rise; and thus to spare myself and my brethren much pain which would other- wise have been unavoidable. My feelings at this moment justify my precaution : they are suffi- ciently excruciating, without having been subjected to agony a thousand times repeated. " You will readily excuse me for not addressing you in person on this occasion. My heart tells me that I could hardly sustain the conflict. That heart is filled, and shall be filled with affectionate remembrance of you, and with fervent supplica- tions for your temporal and eternal felicity, while the hand which expresses its emotions is able to subscribe the name of " Your friend and pastor, " J. M. Mason. "New- York, March 12, 1810." Dr. MasoTis Speech, Sfc. 249 The foregoing papers Iiaving been read, Mr. An- drew Foster, the commissioner of the congre- gation, stated, in a few words, their acquiescence m Dr. Mason's resignation, and their desire to have as nmch of his services as possible, in the form of supply. Dr. Masox\ then rose and spoke as follows : Mr. Moderator : — If the circumstances under which I now address this Presbytery did not deeply agitate my mind, I should have forsworn the best affections of human nature. In the disrup- tion of any ties which do not bind us to misery there is something painful ; but in the disruption of ties which form one of the most tender relations of life ; which time has made venerable, friendship sweet, and religion sacred, there is something at which the heart trembles and shrinks awaj^ I own that I have trembled ; I own that I have shrunk, in the anticipation of this hour. Seventeen years of a comfortable, a cherished, and I (rust, not altogether a barren ministry, create feelings which the touch of rudeness would profane; and claims v\ hich none but the highest authority can set aside. I have peculiar causes of attachment to my people and to the place where they worship. Both are, in some sense, my inheritance. Here my f;ther prayed, and God heard him: here my l.ther 250 Dr. Masons Speech, ^'c. preacliod, and God gave him seals of his ministry and crowns of his rejoicing. The memorial of his faithfiihiess is perpetually hefore my eye; and in the spot over which I now stand, his flesh rests in hope. I have entered into his labors. The seed which he sowed I have been honored to water. I have i^i'Qn many of them who were the friends of his earlier and of his later days, who have also been my own friends, gathered peacefully to the tomb, I see others of them waTting till their change come. I meet every Lord's dav, I discern around me now, the faces of not a few ^^ houi I may i)resent before the mercy seat, and saj', " These are the children whom thou hast ^\\q.\i me." Assuredly, were affection the onl}- thing to be consulted, mstead of cutting the cord which unites me to them, I should seek to entwine it more closely with every li;;;ament of my frame. But I am not my own; I am not theirs. I owe a nobler allegiance than can grow out of their love ; and to that allegiance do I bow when I ask to be released from my pastoral charge. Moderator, — The system of every well-regu- lated church is a system of fixed ministrinions. For the lighter services of the pulpit; for social prayer and exhortation ; generally for the more public exercises of religion, an itinerant ministry, although, with the excejjtion of missionaries, iar inferior in labor, in care, in self-denial, in respon- Dr. Masons Speech, Sfc. 251 sibility, may get along and.be popular. But for sound exposition of the scriptures; for "giving to every one his portion of meat in due season ;" for training up the youth; for coercive and preventing discipline; for carrying both the law and the gospel home to every man's "business and bosom ;" briefly, for binding up and consohdating the invaluable interests of a Christian community, there is no adequate, and no appointed, means but a stated ministry. Without it there may be iveachers in abundance, pastors there can be none. This broad and obvious distinction is recognized in the form of a call customary in our churches; which, taking for granted that a minister is io preach, lays the principal stress upon his pastoral character. True it is, that no man can be a scriptural pastor who does not "feed his flock whh knowledge and with understanding ;" but he may provide their weekly food, plenty and good; and yet lamentably fail in his pastoral work. For my own part, the longer I consider the nature and design of the Christian ministry, the more does the importance of those functions which are teY\\\Qdi parochial dutij, rise to my view. I am persuaded, that without them no congregation can permanently flourish, nor any pastor be permanently comfortable. There are a thousand avenues to conviction which no public instruction can enter. A thousand difficulties to be solved which the pulpit cannot reach. There 252 Dr. Masoris Speech, SfC. is an adaptation of gi^ioral truth to particular cir- cumstances, fit only for the private walk or the fire-side. There is a correspondence between doctrine preached and exenipHfied which forces its way silently, but most effectually, to the heart. By pastoral vigilance and prudence, abuses are to be checked, and scandals prevented, which, when permitted to ripen for judicial cognizance, are often beyond remedy. It is of unutterable moment to couple, in the early associations of children, the idea of their minister wtth that of a spiritual father, and of their own relation and duties to the church of God — which is impossible without frequent and afTectionate intercourse. The want of this is the most fertile secondary cause of that absurd con- tradiction, which reigns among the churches, — treating our baptized youth as if they were mere heathen. The feeble are to be strengthened, the lame to be healed, the wanderers to be hunted up and brought back. The drooping spirit is to be cheered ; the thoughtless spirit admonished, the impetuous spirit restrained. The presence of a faithful pastor refreshes the soul of labor, and sweetens the crust of poverty. His voice smoothes the bed of sickness, and mitigates the rigors of death. In short, his people expect from him nu- merous attcniiom which allow of no substitute. They furnish an irresistible argument for rich pre- paration before he begins. He will find it a hard Dr. Masons Sj^eech, Sfc. 253 effort to make up deficiency afterwards, and not withhold them. Yet, withhold them, and affection, the basis of confidence and of usefulness, gradually wears away.. Talent may inspire admiration ; it will certainly command respect; but it cannot extort love. On the other hand, there is nothing which men resent more promptly, forgive more reluctantly, and forget more slowly, than neglect. You may deny their requests; you may expose their errors ; you may reprove their faults ; but neglect ihcm you may not. The civilities of life, and the friendly exterior may indeed remain ; but you shall find, on the first decisive experiment, that the power of their affection is gone. They always feel themselves neglected when the parish services of their minister are not rendered. Whe- ther the neglect be real or only apparent — whether there be just cause or not, for the omission, are questions which may have some influence on the progress of things toward this result, but will very slightly, if at all, vary the result itself The ser- vices arc not rendered, and that is enough. This night does my own experience seal the truth of my remark. Superadded to those general reasonings which apply to all pastors and their people, is a consider- ation of peculiar force in its application to myself To me, sir, has been committed, that honorable but most arduous and responsible office; the office of 254 Dr. MasorCs Speech, S^c. forming the minds and habits of our rising minis- try. On me it is severely incumbent neither to lay, nor permit to be laid, in so far as I can hinder it, any stumbling-block before their feet. What is the fact? They hear me urge parochial duties as indispensable. They know that I perform none. They, at the same time, see my congregation appa- rently flourishing. What is likely to be the pre- sent conclusion? Manifestly this: either thai I do not believe my own declarations, or that, supposing me to be sincere, I overrate the value of parochial duties. What is likely to be the future result \ Manifestly this : supposing that any of them should neglect their own charges, they will comfort them- selves by quoting me. They will remember the general fact, and will forget the circumstances which render it no precedent for their imitation. They will also be tempted to hold in light estima- tion the sacredness of their ordination vows, one of which expressly promises diligence in parochial work. And thus, in the very act of betraying their trust, they will endeavor to quiet their consciences by pleading the example of their instructor to jus- tify their treason. No example of mine must afford any color for such an abuse. With this manifold conviction bearing upon my spirit, viz. 1. That parochial duties are essential to the prosperity of a congregation : Dr. Mason's S})eech, ^r. 255 2. That my people were siifferiiig, in their most precious interests, for want of them. 3. That it was impossible for me to perform them : 4. That the state of feeling which arises from supposed neglect, in their omission, was every day becoming more visible: 5. That the omission of them set an example which my students, should they be so inclined, might hereafter abuse to the incalculable mischief of the churches — With all these distressing convictions haunting my soul, I ask, Moderator, and I put the question home to every member of this court, and to every person within these walls, how was it possible for me, without the utter extinction of whatever is holy or honest in man, to remain easy or inactive. Yes, sir, I have had on this subject hours of an- guish to which no one was witness but the great keeper of secrets. Large and repeated draughts of bitterness, in comparison of which all that others have suffered on my account is no more than the straggling drop. Often, often, did I interrogate myself: "Are you not pastor of this congrega- tion ?" " Yes." " Do you fulfil the engagements contracted at your ordination f " No." " Are not the congregation suffering from the omission t" " They are." " Is the omission wilful on your part r' " That I can answer firmly in the ncga- 256 Di\ Masons Speech, ^r. live." " Why, then, do you not adopt some reme- dy ?" " Because there is none withm reach." Thus did I commune with my own heart and with my God, when some, I doubt not, imagined I was utterly unconcerned. Nor did I break silence to men, unless in a very general way, until an opportunity occurred, as I thought, of disem- barrassing myself and my congregation. Then I lost no time in explaining, first to the session and trustees jointly ; and afterwards to the congrega- tion, the interference of my public trust with the details of congregational labor. I frankly told them that these details I could not perform, and therefore would not so much as attempt it. That I felt myself liberated from the necessity by the authority of my Master in heaven, who had as- signed me other work of larger interest and more imperative obligation. That I could not, how- ever, with a good conscience, stand by and see their spiritual edifice decay; nor abstain from giving them open warning ; and pointing out the only means of preventing the ruin consistently wdth my remaining their minister. That means was the procuring of an assistant, to whom the parochial duties should cxclusivelv belong;. This was in the fall of 1807. The proposal was differently received by different persons. Some, I know, were decidedly favorable. Others were decidedly and actively unfavorable. They urged Dr. Mason's Speech, Sfc. 257 " the general inconvenience of collegiate charges as experienced in this city. The unseemliness of allotting two ministers to the same congregation in New York*.; the one preaching, the other sitting idle, while so many places are destitute of the Christian ordinances altogether; and the imprac- ticability of providing for two ministers without such an increase of burd«ens as should either op- press our poorer members ; or expel them from our sanctuary." These are all the avowed reasons which came to my ear, and I suppose they are all which could be plausibly produced. The first confounded a connection of two ministers in one congregation with the union of two or more congregations in a common charge; and therefore had no force at all which would not equally show the impropriety of more than one minister in the same town or city. The second was dictated by that very common but very small calculation, which sacrifices sub- stance to show ; and is never contented unless a minister be wedded to a congregation, although his labors, in a different form, repay the church of God, in advantage to her general interests, a hundred fold. The third, viz., that my expedient " would distress or banish our poor," I never believed nor do I now beUeve to have any real foundation. Facts are against it. The poor themselves did not urge it. But it is not unusual for men to frame VOL. IV. 17 268 Dr. Mason's Speech, 8fc. opinions for the poor, and act as their advocates; while at the same time, these very poor are often ignorant of the whole matter, and disclaim, upon the first information, the sentiments altributed to them. Let me speak freely, for I speak with cer- tainty. The poor, not those who subsist upon alms, but those who acquire a decent support by honor- able industry, are griev^isly injured. My experi- ence enables, and respect to a highly meritorious class of the community enjoins, me to testify, that the poor are not the first to decline their share, and more than their share, of public burdens. Were the opulent to contribute, in proportion to their power, the tithe of what is cojitributed by the poor, there could never be any want of means for the noblest purposes of beneficence. Yet as the poor are frequently misled into notions and con- duct which, if left to themselves, they would never have adopted ; and as a plea founded upon pro- fessed regard to them, is well suited to inflame their minds, I did not judge it advisable to press my point, till I was prepared to meet the principal ob- jection with an answer more decisive than reason- ing : especially as some alleged, doubtless, in proof of the general disaffection toward my plan, that it was espoused, in the meeting of the congregation, by only a solitary individual. This is extremely fallacious. Modest men, unaccustomed to appear in public, can rarely overcome their diffidence so Dr. Masons Speeches, Sfc. 259 far as to speak in a promiscuous assembly. Their feelings are mistaken, because not expressed ; and inferences are drawn from their silence the very reverse of the truth. But, taking the fact as it is stated, viz. that only an individual espoused my cause ; let it never be forgotten that thai indivi- dual was Alexander Campbell. A man whose value I knew well, but knew too late; and who is now, without peradventure, in a better world. Allow me, sir, to say of him — it is the onl}' oppor- tunity I have had of paying my tribute to his me- mory— allow me to say, without discourtesy to any of our surviving friends, that for all which belongs to native energy, united with unbending integrity and an utter abhorrence of petty intrigue, he has not left his superior among us. Without learning himself, a man of mere learning was a plaything in his hand. — Without political training, he was a politician of larger and of sounder brain than the most of those whom ive call statesmen. But he was modest — he was retired — he was not seen but in the effusions of unfettered confidence : he was not seen at all by the mass of those with whom he habitually conversed. I have wondered that, in the holy providence of God, such rare intellect should have been expended upon blocks of marble, when it might have been appropriately occupied in rearing the moral edifice of a nation. But he is gone to a scene where his faculties shall not 260 Dr. Masons Sjjeech, Sfc. miss their employment : his dying lips breathed out the virtue of the blood of the cross. I pass by his tomb, and repeat in my sorrow, "Yes! here — (with no Perhaps)— in this neglected spot is laid A heart once pregnant with celestial fire ; Hands, that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre." Pardon my digression — I return. Whatever was the state of private wishes, nothing was done. A number talked ; none ex- ert^ themselves, and the decisive moment passed by. Then came the embargo, which will be had in unblest remembrance, so long as a measure so absurd, immoral, and destructive, shall be entitled to a " bad eminence " in the records of the world. Our little bark was locked up in the universal frost; and nothing could be done till Mr. Erskine's thaw in the spring of 1809. The revival of our commerce, and the cheerful activity which it dif- fused, seemed to be a proper juncture for suggest- ing a second measure, Vv'hich, by removing the danger of too heavy a pressure on the poor, might not only accomplish the first, but open new sources of both comfort and usefulness. This was fJie ei'ection of a large?- and more commodious house of worship. Accordingly, on the IGth of May last, I presented to the board of trustees, through Dr. MasoTis Speech, 8^'c. 261 their chairman, a memorial, of which the following is a copy, viz. " Sir, — I hope I shall not bo thought officious in asking the early and decisive attention of the trustees to an object of confessed importance, and which has, for some time back, been a frequent topic of conversation among the members of our own aud our neighboring churches — I mean the ' erection of a new and larger place of worship. " I have often expressed an opinion that a place of worship should be of a moderate size ; very little, if any, more spacious than the one whicji we already possess. And to that opinion, as to a general rule, I still adhere. But this rule, like all others, I find by experience to have exceptions. A great city produces habits and circumstances which cannot be controlled by a small section of its inhabitants, and which prudence directs them to turn to their advantage. It is a principle in human nature, that everything, to be respectable, must be on a scale proportioned to the scene of action. Large cities, therefore, will have large dwelling-houses; large buildings for civil purposes; large establishments for charity; and, on the same ground, large churches. Viewing the subject in this light, I am compelled to yield to the reasons which require us to prepare, without delay, for 262 Dr. Masons Speech, S)'c. providing a larger and more commodious house of worship. "We owe it to our own relative standing in the connnunity, which will be materially affected for the better by such an alteration, " We owe it to the claims upon our liberality for great and noble purposes of beneficence,- which it will be in our power to answer more extensively, as well as more easily, by an increase of reputable members. '• We owe it to our own children who very shortly must be expelled from our sanctuary, unless room be made for them, " We owe it, finally, to the great interests of religious truth and order which our Lord and Master has committed to our hands, and which we are bound both by his authority and his love to extend as far as we can. " The measure, therefore, which I have taken the freedom to recommend, must come into opera- tion before long, whether we will or whether we will not. In this alternative, the sooner the better. If it is to be done at all, my persuasion is, that it should be done now. My reasons are these: " That which rnnst he done hereafter, and may be done now, ought, for that reason alone, to be done noiv. " They who do not seize Time by the forelock, will find it very difficult to huld him by the hack of Dr. Masoris Speech, 5^'c. 263 the head. In plain words : if we wait till circum- stances command lis, when it is in our power to command circumstances, we commit an act of in- discretion of which we shall repent but once, and that is for ever after. This congregation has al- ready lost to an immense amount of comfort, if not of property, by permitting occasions to pass by un- improved. " The impediments to the public prosperity are again removed, and the return of connnerce and active business has diffused cheerfulness and spirit through the comniunity. Strike while the iron is hot. Six uioiiths hence may be too late. " There is a strong religious sensibility in the city, peculiarly favorable to the undertaking. " The congregation is ripe for it. It is a subject of conversation and anxiety: and some are ready to step forward with hberal donations. "A number of respectable and religious families are waiting to see if they can be accommodated. They cannot and ought not to remain unsettled. The prospect of procuring seats will determine them. Otherwise they must and will go elswehere. " The expense of building will be much less to us than to others, after allowing for the ground and materials already our own ; and, deducting from the additional cost the amount of donations which will be made, the balance will be comparatively trifling ; and, by a judicious mode of arranging 264 Dr. Masons Speech. S)'c. the finances of the congregation, will be speedily extinguished. Had the thing been done seven years ago, we iftight now have flourished in an eminent degree, and been nearly if not entirely out of debt. Should the present opportunity be suffered to slip, we may in vain look for another like it for a dozen years to come. There are critical periods in the history of societies as well as of individuals, which, if once lost, are lost forever. The present seems to be such with us. Should the trustees see the matter in this light, as I flattfer myself they wdll, not an hour should be lost in forming their purpose, making li ^mhlic, and follow- ing it up with active measures. The whole extent of my personal efforts they know they can com- mand, and that I am, '• With perfect respect and attachment, " Their much obliged and obedient, " J. M. Mason. ''New York, IGtJi May, 1809. "The Cluiinnan of the Trustees of the S. P. Church." The subject was certainly important ; the man- ner of communicating it respectful ; and the rea- sons for a prompt attention to it, not absolutely contemptible. Yet notwithstanding the su!)ject, the manner, and the reasons, I never heard one syllable from the board till about six months after; that is, on the 7th of November. And all that I Dr. Masons Speech, S^-c. 265 then got was this laconic message, that they had " postponed the consideration thereof for the pres- ent ! ! " I shall not affect to conceal that I was deeply wounded. A right to judge for themselves they undouhtedly had ; and I never thought of objecting to their freest exercise of it, however dif- ferent their conclusions might be from my own. But I, too, had my rights. On a subject deeply interesting to my private peace, my public charac- ter, and the prosperity of our churches, I felt that I had a right to be heard ; to be heard speedily ; to have my proposals fully considered ; and if they should be inadmissible, to have the reasons for re- jecting them fairly stated. But that such a paper as I offered should be tossed carelessly aside — that I should be suspended on thq tenter hook of anxi- ety for six months — that even the consideration of my memorial should then be postponed, indefinite- ly, without the smallest notice by the board of one of my reasons, and without assigning one of their own, was such a departure from all the decorum of life, that submission to it would have been in- consistent with self-respect, and would have cur- dled the very milk of Christian meekness. My feelings were, I believe, intelligibly conveyed to the board in another letter three days after ; and there the business, under that view of it, ended. I wish to be perfectly understood as referring to the Trustees in their corporate not their individual 266 Dr. Masons Sjjeech, Sfc. capacity; and as criticising their act, not their mofives. I had not then, nor have I now, the suiallust suspicion that they, or any one of them, intended to he uncivil. For I have not yet learned to suspect a bad motive, when a l)etter is equally reasonable. I had ever ranked them among my personal friends; I had done nothing either to in- cur their resentment, or to forfeit their esteem ; and therefore I could not, without violence to my own mind, impute to them any wilful contumely, although their act was pretty highly spiced with that quality. I regret the necessity of adverting to this occurrence at all. But as it is an essential link in the chain of events which led to my present application, the mention of it was unavoidable. Whatever injury the message of the Trustees did to their intention, their act could not be mis- taken. It was, unequivocally, their official nega- tive upon the scheme of a new church. What other interpretation could it bear? To say the very least, such a postponement, after so many months for deliberation, betrayed an indifference, which, when hard pressed, would break out into resistance. With a bias of so much wealth and influence, as centered in the board, against my plan, or without that bias for it, how should it suc- ceed ? I could not reasonably imagine the Trus- tees to be alone in their feelings and polic}' ; for I never so much as dreamed that a proposal to build Dr. Masons Speech, S)'c. 267 a new cliiu-ch should find its way into the box of secrets. There was also no method of bringing the question fairly up, but what should put myself at issue with the Trustees before the bar of the congregation — an experiment fit only for madness to adopt. Each side would have had its sup- porters ; and a miracle could hardly have saved us from intestine war. Such a consequence my soul shuddered at; and resolved upon no account to hazard. I entreat my brethren to look, now, upon my situation. Two years before, I had told my people that I saw their prosperity fading for want of attentions which it was impossible for me to give; that I could not consent to the further progress of the mischief; and besought them not merely for my sake, but for their own ; for the sake of their families, for the sake of the church of God, to pro- vide an additional minister. The measure is de- chned ; and the only reason which had even the show of solidity is the burden which it would impose on the poor. I wait patiently for a fit opportunity of meeting this difficulty : I find it in circumstances favorable to the erection of a larger house of worship ; an expedient which, in the nature of things, would have thrown the weight where it ought to lie, upon the shoulders of the rich ; and would have extended our resources through their means. The plan is smothered for 268 Dr. Masons Speech, 8)'c. six months ; it is, tlien, dismissed, unconsidered, without the common forms of courtesy. When called up in private conversation, it is opposed by men of influence ; and, to my utter astonishment, opposed upon the old ground — sympathy for the poor! In short, I perceived a fixed determination to discountenance and defeat it. What is the amount ? " You have told us, sir, that the duties of the congregation cannot be performed, nor its interests cherished, nor your own heart be at peace, without an assistant. You shall have no assistant." " Why notl" " We cannot furnish one without so raising the rents in our little church as to distress the poor." " Build another one, and let the rich bear the burden." " No, sir, collegiate charges are bad. It would not look v/ell to have one minister in the pulpit and another sitting and hearing him — you will drive the poor away. In one word, you shall not have an assistant upon any terms ; and your comfort, and your cares, and the interests of the congregation, may help them- selves as well as they can." I do not say that this process passed formally through any man's mind : but I say that it is the true language of the conduct which I am consider- ing. What, then, was to be done ? The only plan which could be devised for cherishing this people, consistently with my remaining their minister and the head of our seminary, had been rejected under Dr. Masons Speech, d^c. 269 both its forms. The alternatives are plain. Either •I must foster the seminary to the detriment of my congregation; or my congregation to the detriment of the seminary ; or I must resign my pastoral charge. Could even a very moderate understand- ing, co-operating with upright principle, hesitate for a moment ! Retain my charge under all its embarrassments ; after my solemn and public decla- rations ; at the expense of wringing my heart, pol- luting my conscience, and stamping on my fore- head the brand of hypocrisy ! Abandon our infant seminary ! Lay the axe to the root of a tree which the Lord's own right hand hath planted ! Which his gracious providence has watered ; and of which his people are beginning to eat the fruit! Pour blasting and mildew over the green hope of our churches! Give the signal to Hell for a burst of Paeans to another triumph of her darkness! The suggestion is enough to make the Devil blush. Nay, sir, to that institution I will say as the mourning prophet to the holy city — If I forget thee, let my right hand forget her cun- ning. With that institution, whatever be the absurd confidence of dreamers, — with that institu- tion, in all human probability, our churches stand or fall. In providing liberally for it, we are provi- dino; the bread of hfe and the water of life for generations to come. In permitting it to languish and to die. we shall help to briiU; on a famine of 270 Dr. Mason's Speech, S^c. the word of the Lord under which our children and our children's children will sink down into the arms of the second death. To the great interests of religion, many of which are bound up in that institution, I must be devoted in body, soul, and spirit. This is the sort of work for which God made me, "And wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?" Far from my eyes be the gloom of that day; I mean, the blackness of that night — in which this fountain of life-blood to our churches shall be dried up. In the event of such a catastrophe, unless my views materially change, or providence should find me other appropriate employment, I should consider, and without preju- dice to the authority to which I am subject, I beg the declaration may be remembered, I should consider my ministerial commission as abrogated ; and myself ordered, by my master in Heaven, off ecclesiastical ground. Since, then, it was my duty to promote the greatest good of both my congregation and of the seminary ; and since the continuance of my pre- sent relation involved the sacrifice of the one to the other, there was no choice. I was shut up to the necessity of resigning my pastoral charge. I say ''shut up to this necessity;" for the facts which I have submitted to the Presbytery show, that it was not of my own seeking, nor of my own cre- ating ; that I struggled hard to shun it ; but was Dr. Mason's Speech, 8fc. 271 compelled to it ; and I was compelled Iiy nothing more directly than bv the measures which were deemed proper by some of the brethren whom it has most deeply offended. I announced my purpose to the congregation in my letter of the 12th of March last. But before making this cummunication I had explored the consequences, and considered in what manner they might be directed to the happiest issue. The death of a good plan is often the birth of a better. God disappoints our hope, that he may give us something greater than we had hoped for. More than once has he been thus bountiful to my feeble efforts; I trust he will be so now. To quit the seminary, the city, or the pulpit ; to take another parochial charge ; to maintain my family with my private property, or upon the public fund, were equally out of the question. The expedient which presented itself as precisely suited to these compli- cated emergencies, was the erection of a third church, upon such a scale and upon such principles as should allow, me to iireach the gospel statedly, should also insure the benefit of a complete pastor, and should be able, without difficulty to provide for both. This new plan was to be surveyed in two lights: 1st. As desirable. 2d. As practicable. To me it appeared every way preferable to the 272 Dr. Masons Sjieech, 8^c. first plan of pulling down the old church and erectino; a new one on the same site. The present building, which may last a long time, would be thrown away. The materials, as I discovered from more cor- rect information than I formerly possessed, would be worth nothing: the expense of preparing them for use being equal to their value when prepared. The design could not be effected without dis- turbing the graves of a great number whose friends and families are still in the congregation. On this subject human feelings are intractable; and though their opposition might not perhaps be invincible ; yet it would be very strong: would be accompa- nied with vehement passion ; would require very delicate and dexterous management; and even when subdued would leave behind it heart-burn- ings and animosities. A third building would yield all the advantages of a new one upon the site of the first, even sup- posing the old one to be deserted, and we should have the old one into the bargain. So that we should really have two churches for the same sum, which, on the plan of pulling the old church down, would be expended on one, with the mere differ- ence of the ground on which it now stands. A third church, therefore, is preferable on the score of economy. It is preferable on much higher accounts. Dr. Masons Speech, 3^x. 273 Three churches in one city, are, in themselves, better for any denomination than two. A fourth congregation may be formed much more easily from three than a third from two. Larger revenue for our seminary may be de- rived from three than from two. And this I viewed as an object of immense importance. The Presbytery of New York has to sustain the heaviest pressure of our pubHc burdens. It occupies a most interesting position in the body ; and tlierefore, tlffe more you can increase its re- sources, the more will you promote the good of the whole. One minister more than our number of pulpits, would enable us to meet pressing calls of public service, which would redound to the benefit of the body, and of religion at large ; which are now almost impracticable, and which could then be performed without injuring our general interests through this Presbytery, whose prosperity and adversity are, pre-eminently, the prosperity and adversity of our whole denomination. New York is fast becoming the London of the United Stales. The habits and character of such a metropolis exert an incalculable influence. It is. therefore, of unspeakable moment to our state and country, that her habits and character be on the side of that " righteousness which exalteth a na- tion." The more of pure religion you preserve VOL. IV. IS 274 Dr. Masons Speech, S)'c. and disseminate in her, the more hkcly are jou to produce so blessed a result And though no one denomination can do everything, yet each deno- mination may do something. Every evangehcal church is one ; and every one counts. The erec- tion of a third church, is, therefore, most desira- ble. But, 2. Is it practicdble ? The question can regard no impediment but such as must arise from either want of wealth or want of peoiyle. » The first admits not of a discussion. Should a man seriously assert that there is a lack of wealth, the world would laush in his face. But where are your people \ It is alleged that we have not enough to fill a third church ; and, therefore, it is concluded that such a measure is premature. Had this course of objecting, for I will not call it reasoning, prevailed in other times, in- stead of iwo respectable houses of worship, we should now have boasted only a pitiful hovel. When my father came to this city, the whole congregation assembled in a small room ; therefore it was a mad speculation to build a church larger than 25 by 20 feet. When the extravagantly big little place which was erected began to overflow, all prudent calculation was set at defiance in the building of the edifice, QQ by 56 feel. And when here, again, we felt ourselves crowded, and ven- Dr. Mason s Speech, 5^c, 21b tured upon an additional church larger still, we certainly took, leave of our senses! Really, sir, I am ashamed to hear men of any understanding talk so wildly. How shall you increase j'our numbers when you have not a corner to spare ? The only way to get people, if you can hold out other inducements, is to make room for them. You surely do not expect that they will stand in the aisles, or out of doors in sunshine and rain, or enter their names in a book of supphcants, and wait until you shall please to pronounce that there are enough to fill a larger house ! In speaking of such egregious trifling it is hardly possible to be grave ; and yet the pertinacity with which it is adhered to, proves that there is a grave principle connected with it; and that is, most evidently, a determination to resist the plan contemplated. I shall, therefore, give the objection a more direct answer than it would otherwise deserve. According to the best computation, the city of New York contains one hundred thousand souls. Supposing, which is much too great an allowance, that one-half will not attend public worship ; and allotting, which is also too much, one thousand individuals, or one hundred and sixty-seven fami- lies upon an average to each congregation, we should then need fifty places of worship for our present population. Now reckoning everything in the shape of a church, their whole number does 276 Dr. Masons Speech, fy. not exceed forty- six. Deducting those which are merely nominal, the remainder does not exceed forty or forty-two at the utmost; so that we want for that part of our actual population which would attend the Christian ordinances if they had oppor- tunity, not less than eight or ten new places of worship calculated for one hundred and sixty- seven families each: and our population is increas- ing every hour. Therefore, unless we pay our- selves the ungracious compliment of believing that we' carry about with us some Gorgon head to frighten folks from our sanctuary, when they eagerly flock to every other which can receive them, the fear that we shall not have people enough is altogether idle. The •general argument from this state of our population is enforced by experience, A few years ago our brethren of the General Assembly erected a new church near Corlaer's hook. It was soon filled up — the Methodists have erected new churches, and they are filled up — the Baptists have pulled down one church, and they have built another in its place, and it is filled up. They have since added others. 'JMic Reformed Dutch Church built a new one a very short time since, and it is filled up. Only two years ago, another Presbyterian Church was built in Cedar street, and it is filled up. Both these denominations now need another each: and our Episcopal friends, Dr. Mason's Speech, 8^c. 211 provident for futurity, arc building and buying in every direction. What has been eiir own experience? In 1793 this congregation could shov/ only about one hun- dred and eighty members. The house is seated for above eight hundred people, and when pressed will hold one thousand. Four years after it was necessary to swarm. A new church rather larger than this was built in Magazine Street. A con- siderable section of the worshippers in this house removed to that. In less than two years they vrere replaced, and the new house was also filled. In 1804, when it was settled, the minister entered upon his charge with a body of people, if not greater, certainly not less, than assembled in this place. I do not love to repeat grievances : and, therefore, will not say a syllabic of their subse- quent calamities; nor of the cause which produced their second vacancy four years after. We know that, as a congregation, they were nearly annihi- lated. Yet the fraoments of this cong-regation, having been bound together in a call to a new pas- tor, are already reviving. Even now, before the youth of high and early promise whom they have chosen, is set apart to his office, a streym of fresh population is pouring in upon them. For ourselves, in this place, we have been long surcharged. A contrary representation has, indeed, gone forth ; and from the idea that none have ap- 278 Dr. Masons Speech, S)'c. plied without being accommodated, the people have been left to f;?/er that httle if any more accommo- dation can be necessary. Thts is all a deception. I do not say intentional ; but still a deception, and a gross one. It is not correct in point of fact. I can produce instance upon instance to disprove it. And if it were, the inference would be false. Multitudes who wished to be with us did not ap- ply, because they considered their application to be hopeless. And thus reputable families have successively passed us by and been compelled to join others who had more precaution than our- selves. But why resort to external evidence? Let those who have really any doubts consult their senses. Let them believe their own eyes. Look around these walls. Every inch that can be covered with anything in the shape of a pew, is occupied. With here and there an exception, the square pews have two, and some three, families each. If an indiaidual wants a seat, there must be inquiry, calculation, negotiation, intreaty, in order to get it. Two evils are the immediate effects. First, our aggregate revenue is greatly diminished. The rent of a pew is divided among its occupants. The church gets no more from its numbers, but the individuals give less. The same families which, if there was room, would pay for two or three pews, pay only for one. Secondly, the seat-holders have it not in their power to bring Dr. Mason's Speed l, d)X. 279 their friends with them ; and thus the most certain and rcgnla^ fountain of supply and growth to a church, is ahnost dried up. With such facts staring us in the face, we are graveiy asked, Where are your people? It really sickens one's heart. If the existing circumstances' of our city do not promise complete and speedy success to the plan which I have unfolded, there is no reckoning upon human things. Moral certainty is at an end. It was never yet seen that a proper ministry wanted hearers. Plant down an ahle and faithful minister anywhere, not under the reproba- tion of God for despising the gospel, and there is no fear of his preaching to the walls. In New York, at the present juncture, the encouragement is flattering beyond former example. Our ascended Lord has shed down his blessing ; there has been and there is yet, a steady and increasing anxiety for his word and ordinances. This is the time when every eye should be vigilant, every lieart alert, and every arm nerved. Yet this is the time in which those to whom, in my charge, it peculiarly appertained to be active, have chosen to do nothing. It was not my duty to wait upon their tardiness, nor to slumber in their languor. I have acted accordingly. Such, sir, are the reasons Avhich governed my conduct. I covet no subterfuge. I shrink from no scrutiny. "My record is on high." Most 280 Dr. Mason s Speech, S^'C. gladly would I now leave myself with my brethren, and retire from the farther consideration of a ques- tion which has convulsed me with agony. But I owe to myself and to truth the indispensable duty of adverting to, the treatment which I have received from quarters where I had a right to expect differ- ent things. I have beeii so long accustomed to be misrepresented ; and I have so uniformly repaid calumny with contempt, that had the present been a common occasion, I should have contented myself with saying, " To me it is a small matter to be judged of you or of man's judgment;" and should not have turned upon my heel to avoid the imputations which have been heaped upon me. But forbearance has bounds. Impunity must not always embolden slander. There is neither wis- dom nor religion in a man's allowing hinjself to be bitten, without resistance, by the tooth of detrac- tion, when, as in the affair before us, the poison spreads into the remotest veins of his reputation. Against my people, as I have said, 1 bring no accusation. Even with injurious individuals, whom alone the subsequent remarks will annoy, I shall have no personal controversy. My object is to vindicate myself, not to criminate others. Per- sonalities, therefore, I shall have none ; nor any- thing which can be supposed to have a personal bearing, unless conscience be the interpreter, or Dr. Mason's Speech, S^c. 281 the authors of unkind insinuations have ah-eadj published themselves. If ever my intentions were pure, my views disinterested, and my efforts directed to a good and noble end, I think they have been so in the measures which have now excited resentment, bitterness, and reproach. I had flattered myself that men who profess to be my friends might dissent from my opinion without disputing my veracity. Yet notwithstanding the tender and solemn declarations of the letter which you have heard, my testimony has been spurned ; and the substance, the motives, the controUlng injluence, and the form of my proceedings acrimoniously censured. With the evil which cleaves to human conduct there is, for the most part, a mixture of good. Bad plans often originate in good motives ; bad motives enter into good plans. The best influ- ences fail from an improper method of operation ; and influence of the most hurtful sort finds shelter and acceptance in a popular manner. But in my policy, it seems, there was not so much as an alloy of good. The plans were bad; motives bad; influence bad ; mode bad ; all bad tosether — a frightful mass of depravity and folly. " 1^ have deserted my post ; I have forsaken my friends ; I have rent the congregation — T have been actuated by mere pride. I have become 282 Dr. Maso7is Speech, 8^c. tired of my poor, religions people ; and want to sacrifice them for the rich and great who have little or no religion. I have learned to despise the friends of my father and my own friends, who took me np and fostered me into all the considera- tion I possess. I have grown ashamed of my father's countrymen and country. I have tram- pled upon the practical wisdom of the good old men; and have yielded myself to the direction of those with whom I have not even been brought up, and, that no species of evil counsel might be wanting, I have fallen into the snare, and been prompted by the instigation of rtie Devil — and the whole, whether unadvised or ill-advised, has been done with rash and headstrong temerity." Is it possible that such suggestions can proceed from Christian lips? They are applicable to none but a monster of iniquity. They have all been applied to me, though perhaps not all by the same persoji. And for what ? Why truly, Moderator, because I would not retain a trust which I cannot fulfil! because I wish to promote, on the largest scale in my power, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ! because I propose. to form a new congre- gation with a direct reference to this end ! B'lt let us examine these charges. 1. " My conduct has been had in itself. I have deserted my post. I have abandoned my friends. I have rent the con;rrei^ation !" Dr. Masons Speech, Sfc. 283 No, sir, I have not. I never yet deserted my post, nor abandoned my friends, nor promoted dis- cord. I have pnbhcly announced my intention of asking a release from my present charge. But release is not desertion. It was not from my friends, nor from the congregation that I wanted a discharge ; it was from an ohhgation to impossible duties. I shall be pastorally separated from those who befriend me, as much as from any of those who have expressed a wish to see me " humbled." I shall be personally, and in pulpit-services, sepa- rated from none of them but by their own choice. If there be any desertion, it is not I who desert them, but they who desert me. There is nothing to hinder them all from enjoying my ministrations as formerly, if they please. Should the whole congregation go along, it will only be moving from an old house to a new one. I own I would not wish it; because I wish to see three congregations, and all of them flourishing. I own I do not expect it; because I think it contrary to the principles of human action. And this was the basis of part of my calculation. But surely, sir, if some, following their own inclination, had rather remain where they are, they might have done so with good tem- per. There was no necessity for abusing me ; and, I verily think, no Christianity in it. But it is, above all, most marvellous to profess their regard to my ministrations to be the cause of their disquietude. 284 Dr. Mason's Speech, S^c. and prove that regard by preferring walls and benches to me and my ministrations too ! To in- sist that they are grieved to part with me ; then to tear diemselves away by their own act ; and theri, to turn round with wrath upon mc for deserting them ! Really, sir, this is out-sternholding Stern- hold, in the highest style of performance. 2. My motives were vile. " I have been actu- ated by mere pride, I wanted to sacrifice my poor, religious, people of whom I have grown ashamed, to the irreligious rich and great. I de- spise my father's country, countrymen and friends, to whom I owe everything," &c. &c. To all such insinuations I might, and to most oi them I shall, oppose the unvaried tenor of my life. Moderator, I have served this people for more than seventeen years. Malevolent eyes have con- tinually watched me, and I challenge the world to produce a single plan or measure of mine to justify in the slightest degree the gentlest, (if the distinc- tion of more and less gentle has place among them), to justify, I repeat it, the gentlest of all those foul insinuations. Opulence and grandeur I have sacri- ficed to the cburch of God — to this people — and they know it. Talent, in our country, need not enter the pulpit witliout being in some degree allied to the spirit of martyrdom. The road to wealth and honors takes another direction. Other things being equal, the ministry, of all human pro- Dr. Masons Speech, Sfc. 285 fession^, is the most helpless and unfriended. Since the time of my settlement here, lawyers, merchants, physicians, have made their fortunes; not an industrious and prudent mechanic but has laid up something for his family. But should God call me away to-morrow, after expending the flower of my life, 7?ii/ family could not show a single cent for the gain of more than seventeen years' toil. And were it not for some private property quite insuf- ficient for their maintenance and education, my wife and her children would be set adrift upon the world without bread to eat, or raiment to put on. And yet, after my giving one of the strongest pos- sible proofs of disinterestedness, men who have been accumulating the good things of this world, and enjoying their rehgion too, come forward to show their Christian zeal by charging me with motives not only selfish, but meanly and basely selfish. One would hope that the charity which thinketh no evil, might put a good construction where it is easy ; and not rack its invention in search of an evil one, when it has first to get rid of both presumption and proof to the contrary. I am forcibly reminded of a memorable passage in the history of David. The Philistine of Gath had defied the armies of Israel, so that " they wei:e dismayed and sore afraid." The stripling son of Jesse, who had gone down at his father's com- mand to see his brethren in the field, hoard the 28G Dr. Masons Speech, 8)'c. words of the boaster. His spirit rises : his blood fires : he offers hiinseh' to the combat. Shall not, now, all Israel cheer the gallant boy ? Shall not his bravery, his zeal, his love of country, his devo- tion to God, fill every heart with affection, and every tongue with applause ? Shall not his brothers feel their liosonis swell with virtuous elation before this rising glory of their name \ Yet hear! "Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, why camcst thou down thither ? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride^ and the naughtiness of thy heart, for thou hast come down that thou mightest see the battle." The language of David was noble, his resolution heroic; his object most magnanimous; and yet his friend, his kinsman, his brother, falls into a passion — charges him with deserting his post — impeaches his motives. This uncourteous greeting, a little modernized, would sound as follows. " You pre- tend great regard for the honor of God, and the good of Israel, but it is your pride, sir ; it is your dissatisfaction with your trust — it is your anxiety, and a corrupt one, to catch at an opportunky of gratifying your ambition, which has drawn you from your flock to the army. Go tend your sheep, sir, and it will be better for you !" All this from a brother ! Aye, from a brother ! " What have I now done ?" said the young saviour of Dr. Masons Speech, Sfc. 287 Israel ; " is there not a cause 1" Yes, cause enoush: honorable cause: cause of which God shall transmit his approbation to the latest ages. What then is the matter with Eliab? he overlooks the plain fact, and goes a mofive-ltuntlng. There is an explanation. Why, what evil has David done \ what evidence is there of his bad inten- tion ? None at all. Ah ! but Eliab's vanity had been mortified in the affair of the kingdom ! 3. The injluence w^hich swayed me is vile. " Keen sighted observers have penetrated the conclave ; have discovered the wicked advisers ; nay, have read the interior of my heart, and detected the machinations of the evil one — I have fallen into temptation." On that rudeness which, uninformed of facts and undesirous of information, has invaded my private friendships, and has not spared even the hallowed circle of my family, I shall not descend so low as to make a single remark. The detection of the Devil in this matter is somewhat curious. We live in rare times. The love of change has taken a most boundless sweep. The infernal cabinet has not escaped. Hell has revolutioned her policy; and the Devil tempts men to build churches to the glory of God our Saviour, and to work hard for the effectual preparation of an evangelical ministry ! This is the best argument VOL. IV. 19 288 Dr. Mason s Sj^cech, 8^c. I ever jet heard for the dogma of universal salva- tion ; as it shows something like the dawnings of repentance and reformation, in a region whose history has been hitherto rather an awkward com- ment on the doctrine of our hjper-benevolent theologues. However, let me put in a word for Satan on this subject. T do verily believe him to be as innocent of aiding and abetting my plans for promoting the prosperity of the Christian church, as a devil can well be of wilfully undermining his own power. Seriously, sir, what must wc think of this doctrine of temptation? It goes a great way. It embraces all of our own connection either in the congregation or out of it, who deem my plan a good one and worthy of support. It reaches to every minister and private Christian in other denominations, (and they are not a few), who have expressed themselves favorably, and have wondered at the "infatuation" of the oppo- sition. Men friendly and unfriendly to us ; reli- gious and irreligious; have united in their judg- ment that the plan is well calculated to produce a strong, and beneficial result ; and some of our own friends cannot explain its origin or operation without having recourse to the machinery of the pit I Perhaps they may Hindi from this picture ; and disclaim such sentiments. Well. Why then do they talk of temptation? And why do they continue hostile ? " He casteth out devils bv Bel- Dr. Mason's Speech, Sfc, 289 zebub the prince of the devils," said the Pharisees of our Lord Jesus Christ. " By whom then, re- phed he, do your sons cast them out?" The devil tempts me to aim at an object confessedly good. Who tempts the opposers ? But if every other objection were set aside ; if substance, motive, influence, were all right ; still, 4. The fonn of my procedure was totally wrong. How 1 I concealed my intention. I told not my congregation. I consulted not with my friends whose age and experience entitle them to confidence. Instead of gradually preparing the way, I took all by surprise." And this is a princi- pal source of offence and difficulty. What, sir? Do Christian men say, that no plan however good shall have their support unless they can appear as original movers of it? And that they will disobey their understanding, their con- science, and their master too, without a previous compliment to their vanity? I hope not. But the objection says so. It was surely inconsiderate. I shall press the matter no further. But how were all taken by surprise ? I had told the Session, the Trustees, the assembled con- gregation, more than two years before, that I could not and would not consent to the continuance of that unprosperous state of their affairs which I intreated them to remedy. Was this no warning ? Did they think all my representations to be mere VOL. IV. 19 290 Dr. Masons Speech, 8^c. sound ? A matter for a week's speculation, never more to be thought of? Is it my habit thus to trifle ? When I renewed the subject, eighteen months after, in my communication to the Trus- tees, was this no warning ? Did not this furnish to that respectable board a proof that patience is not submission ? That I had not lost sight of my object, and was not to be diverted from its pur- suit ? If they overlooked so plain an admonition, and composed themselves to sleep for six months longer, the fault is not mine. When they had rejected my proposal under the guise of a postpone- ment, I spoke still more pointedly. In my letter, written three days after their very singular message to me, viz. on the 10th of November last, I went so far as to say, that since they rejected every plan which I could propose for promoting the good of the congregation, without offering any substitute, and without taking any step whatever for removing the existing difficulties, I should trouble them no more — that I held myself utterly irresponsible for consequences — that nothing remained for me but to look out for some expedient for relieving myself and my congregation from our common embarrass- ment— an expedient in lohich, for aught I knew, the concurrence of the Trustees might not he neces- sary! Was this no warning? What was it ? I thought it rather a broad hint — but it was not taken. That I could not help. I had, some weeks Dr. Mason's Speech, 8^c. 291 after, an explanatory conversation with a committee of the board, who treated me with all the kindness and delicacy which became friends and gentlemen. But though I put the question directly as to the intention of the board on this most interesting topic, I could not get so much as even an opinion. Four months more slipped away, and nothing was done, nor likely to be done. I had long made up my purpose conditionally; I now made it up defini- tively ; and, as I said to the congregation, " the die was cast." These, Moderator, are facts. They are almost all upon record. The documents will speak for themselves. And yet a clamor is raised against me for taking everybody by surprise. I did no such thing. I did not, indeed, say, in so many words, " I shall give up my charge unless you com- ply with my request." It would not have been discreet. But I certainly put the board in a way of drawmg an inference for themselves with no other trouble than that of putting two very simple ideas together. If they were not at that trouble I am not to blame. " But, after all, why did I not consult before I decided ?" Consult whom \ About what ? " My congregation; or, at least my experienced friends in the congregation." Really, sir, the reception which all my previous overtures met with left me no heart to try another experiment. I had consulted and intreated, and 292 Dr. Masons Speech, fy. remonstrated, and waited, without effect. Why should I subject myself to a new risk of finding how little my reasonings and my feelings were re- garded ? But I own that, without such a draw- back, I would not have been, on the point of my resignation, a whit more communicative, I will tell you why. To consult the whole congregation would have been a burlesque upon all counsel. How could so mixed a mass be either competent or impartial ad- visers? Consult them about the propriety of part- ing with what they professed to love ! Is there a man living so unschooled in the knowledge of men as not to see that this is an absurdity ? Would demonstration itself persuade any people on earth to give up, of their own accord, a minister whom they prize and are able to support ? To consult them would be to ask them to set their faces with all their might against the project. It would kin- dle a flame ; it could procure no counsel. But I ought to have consulted " the respectable and experienced members of the congregation." That is, the very persons who were not to rouse nor repress, but simply to direct the popular feeUng. I might as well have gone, at once, to the popular feehng itself. There were other difficulties. I had no experience to consult. Far from my thoughts be the least disrespect to men who, in their sphere, are worthy of all consideration. But Dr. Masons Speech, S^c. 293 human experience is as various as human pursuit. A man may have a world of experience on one subject and none at all on another. If I want to embark in a mercantile speculation, I will consult the experience of the merchant. If I labor under a dangerous disease, I will consult the experience of the physician. If I am going to set up ma- chinery, I will consult the experience of the me- chanic. If I wish to form a correct judgment on a point of national policy, I will consult the expe- rience of the statesman. But I will never go to a statesman for advice about a steam-engine ; nor to the doctor for instruction about the foreign market, any more than I shall go to the merchant with a cancer, or to the bricklayer with a matter of state. Neither will I, in the discussion of a question which is to be settled by balancing general principles and relations, apply to an experience which Hes quite in another course. The experience of merchants and mechanics is most important in its place ; but m measuring my faculties with their appropriate objects, and in ascertaining the bearings of our public interests, was of no use to me. When, therefore, I am reproved for not consulting my experienced friends, the reprover ought first to show that their experience was of the proper sort. To stand alone, is, in fact, one of the evils incident to men who take a position or form a plan which is not embraced by the ordinary routine of hfe. Con- 294 Dr. Masons Speech, S^c. sultation with an experience which has nothing in common with their views and feelings, can only multiply difficulties and vexations. Their path is up hill; and they can gain nothing but additional labor by inviting half a dozen or half a score of acquaintances, who will never be persuaded by anything but success, to hang each his weight about their necks. They must decide for them- selves upon their own responsibility. I knew the condition, I accepted it, and have nothing to repent of, to retract, nor retread. Supposing, however, that I had adopted the method which has been dictated to me : let us see how it would have worked. Either my commu- nications would have been kept secret or not. If kept secret they could no more benefit the con- gregation, than the secresy of the trustees about the proposal for a new church. When divulged, as they must have been sooner or later, they would have given as great a shock as my letter of the 12th March ; and would have been greeted with the indignation of the people, who would have considered themselves as handed over to the mercy of a few dark intriguers. Reverse the picture. Had the secret been blown, as most undoubtedly it would, not only should I and my confidants have been involved in a thousand angry disputes ; but it would have been said, not unplausibly, that I was fomenting a faction in the congregation to Dr. Masons Speech, &^c. 295 dispose of their dearest possessions without their knowledge or consent. My counsellors too, might have differed, and given opposite advices. Follow both I could not. They whose advice was not followed would have been quite as much displeased to have it rejected, as not to have it asked. It is also far from impro- bable that my own results would have differed from both, as much as they from each other ; and so all would have been affronted. It would then have been discovered that I never meant to be advised at all ; that I only made use of my friends as a screen for myself; and mocked them under the semblance of respect. It would have been said, that I enjoyed the advantage of all the intelli- gence, prudence, and experience of the best men in the congregation, and treated them with con- tempt. Would this have mended the matter? These are not after-reasonings. They passed distinctly through my mind long before I acted. I thought them then, and I still think them conclu- sive; and that the course which I took was the least hazardous, the most dehcate, and every way the best. I have had no cause to change my opinion : for after the multiform investigation which the subject has undergone, I have not acquired a single new fact ; nor have I heard a single objec- tion which I had not frequently examined and dismissed. 296 Dr. Masons Speech, Sfc. A word more on this head. Considerable 'resentment was occasioned by a suspicion, which, as usual, soon grew into an assertion, that while I had neglected my old friends, I had all along con- sulted with others, who had much less claim to my confidence. I heard of this, among a thousand otlier falsehoods ; and to counteract it sent to the congregation a written declaration that I had formed my resolution without the advice or know- ledge of a human being. The letter containing this declaration was publicly read; and yet, sir, the same insinuation, now become indecent and insulting, was afterwards repeated to me in no very equivocal manner ; it was the lie direct in everything but the formality of the expression. I have expounded myself without reserve, and now I cast myself upon the candor of my brethren. They will judge whether I have acted honora- bly or basely; and whether or not I have deserved the "hard speeches" which have been uttered against me, even by those who insist that they are my friends. In some instances violence of mean- ing has been accompanied with mildness of man- ner. But a dagger is not the less murderous because its point has been steeped in oil. But I have done; I wait the issue. Me, sir, nothing can take by surprise. I am alike prepared for success or for defeat. I am prepared to see our holiest interests flourish, and Dr. Masoris Speech, 5^c. 297 to see them languish — prepared to see our budding hope, our Httle seminary, branch out its honors, shed abroad its fohage, and mukiply its fruits ; or withered, from the blossom to the root, by the deadly East- wind of prejudice and parsimony — prepared to see the men who shall refuse their becoming offerings to build up the temple of the Lord of Hosts, put their money in a bag with holes : sow much and reap httle ; their fortunes scattered to the winds of heaven ; and the iniquity of their covetousness or of their passion visited upon their children's children. The flying roll wherein is written " mourning, and lamentation, and woe," passes swiftly over the nations. I hear the portentous roaring of wild misrule. I see ap- proaching the cloud of desolation which is to rain down upon the slumbering churches its tempest of brimstone and salt. My heart is pained within me. For myself, an atom in the sum of things, God can do as well without me as with me. The para- mount desire of my soul is to proclaim that Saviour whom I hope to meet in the clouds of Heaven ; and to assist in rearing up young heralds of his truth, who shall fight his battles and bear his glory when my feeble voice shall be heard no more, and my clay shall mingle with its kindred earth. I thank my Lord for all the goodness and mercy which have followed me to this day. But if the 298 Br. Mason's Speech, 8^c. hand which has hfted me up is about to cast me down — " If he shall thus say, I have no delight in thee ; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him." Dr. Mason's request was granted ; and on Fri- day the 25th of May, he was released from his pastoral charge. A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE DEATH OF A DEIST AND THE DEATH OF A CHRISTIAN: BEING A SUCCINCT ACCOUNT OF THAT CELEBRATED INFIDEL, DAVID HUME, ESQ. AND OF THAT EXCELLENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL, SAMUEL FINLEY, D.D., IN THEIR LAST MOMENTS. A CONTRAST, ETC. Letter from Adam Smith, LL.D. to Williain Strahan, Esq., giving some account of Mr. Hume, during his last sickness. Kirkaldy, Fife Shire, Nov. 9, 1776. Dear Sir, — It is with a real, though a very melancholy pleasure, that I sit down to give you some account of the behavior of our late excellent friend, Mr. Hume, during his last illness. Though, in his own judgment, his disease was mortal and incurable, yet he allowed himself to be prevailed upon, by the entreaty of his friends, to try what might be the effects of a long journey. A few days before he set out, he wrote that account of his own life, which, together with his other papers, he left to your care. My account, therefore, shall begin where his ends. 302 Death of David Hume, Esq. He set out for London towards the end of April, and at Morpeth met with Mr. John Home and myself, who had both come down from Lon- don on purpose tp see him, expecting to have found him at Edinburgh. Mr. Home returned with him, and attended him during the whole of his stay in England, with that care and attention which might be expected from a temper so per- fectly friendly and affectionate. As I had written to my mother that she might expect me in Scot- land, I was under the necessity of continuing my journey. His disease seemed to yield to exercise and change of air; and when he arrived in Lon- don, he was apparently in much better health than when he left Edinburgh. He was advised to go to Bath to drink the waters, which appeared for some time to have so good an effect upon him, that even he himself began to entertain, what he was not apt to do, a better opinion of his own health. His symptoms, however, soon returned with their usual violence ; and from that moment he gave up all thoughts of recovery, but submitted with the utmost cheerfulness, and the most perfect compla- cency and resignation. Upon his return to Edin- burgh, though he found himself much weaker, yet his cheerfulness never abated, and he continued to divert himself, as usual, with correcting his own works for a new edition, with reading books of amusement, with the conversation of his friends : Death of David Hume, Esq. 303 and, sometimes in the evening, with a party at his favorite game of w^hist His cheerfulness was so great, and his conversation and amusements run so much in their usual strain, that, notwithstanding all bad symptoms, many people could not beheve he was dying. " I shall tell your /riend, Colonel Edmondstone," said Doctor Dundas to him one day, "that I left you much better, and in a fair way of recovery." " Doctor," said he, " as I be- heve you would not choose to tell anything but the truth, you had better tell him that I am dying as fast as my enemies, if I have any, could wish, and as easily and cheerfully as jny best friends could desire." Colonel Edmonstone soon after came to see him, and take leave of him ; and on his way home, he could not forbear writing him a letter, bidding him once more an eternal &dieu, and applying to him, as to a dying man, the beautiful French verses, in which the Abbe Chaulieu, in expecta- tion of his own death, laments his approaching separation from his friend, the Marquis De La Fare. Mr. Hume's magnanimity and firmness were such, that his most affectionate friends knew that they hazarded nothing in talking or writing to him as to a dying man, and that so far from being hurt by this frankness, he was rather pleased and flat- tered by it. I happened to come into his room 304 Death of David Hume, Esq. while he was reading this letter, which he had just received, and which he immediately showed me. I told him, that though I was sensible how very much he was weakened, and that appear- ances were in many respects very bad, yet his cheerfulness V)j;as still so great, the spirit of life seemed to be still so very strong in him, that I could not help entertaining some faint hopes. He answered, " Your hopes are groundless. An habi- tual diarrhea of more than a year's standing, would be a very bad disease at any age : at my age it is a mortal one. When I He down in the evening, I feel myself weaker than when I rose in the morning ; and when I rise in the morning, I feel myself weaker than when I lay down in the even- ing. I am sensible, besides, that some of my vital parts are affected, so that I must soon die." " Well," said I, " if it must be so, you have at least the satisfaction of leaving all your friends, your brother's family in particular, in great prosperity." He said that he felt that satisfaction so sensibly, that when he was reading, a few days before, Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead, among all the excuses which are alleged to Charon, for not en- tering readily into his boat, he could not find one that fitted him ; he had no house to finish, he had no daughter to provide for, he had no enemies upon whom he wished to revenge himself. " I could not well imagine," said he, " what excuse DeatJh of David Hume, Esq. 305 I could make to Charon, in order to obtain a little delay. I have done everything of consequence which I ever meant to do ; and I could at no time expect to leave my relations and friends in a better situation than that in which I am now likely to leave them ; I, therefore, have all reason to die contented." He then diverted himself with invent- ing several jocular excuses which he supposed he might make to Charon, and with imagining the very surly answers which it might suit the charac- ter of Charon to return to them. "Upon further consideration," said he, " I thought I might say to him, ' Good Charon, I have been correcting my works for a new edition. Allow me a httlc time that I may see how the public receives the altera- tions.' But Charon would answer, ' When you have seen the effect of these, you will be for mak- ing other alterations. There will be no end of such excuses; so, honest friend, please step into the boat.' But I might still urge, ' Have a little patience, good Charon; I have been endeavoring to open the eyes of the public. If I live a few years longer, I may have the satisfaction of seeing the downfall of some of the prevailing systems of superstition.' But Charon would then lose all temper and decency. ' You loitering rogue, that will not happen these many hundred years. Do you fancy I will grant you a lease for so long a VOL. IV. 20 306 Death of David Hume, Esq. time ? Get into the boat this instant, jou lazj, loitering rogue.' " But, though Mr. Hume always talked of his ap- proaching dissolution with great cheerfulness, he never affected to make any parade of his magna- nimity. He never mentioned the subject but when the conversati(m naturally led to it, and dwelt no longer upon it than the conversation happened to require : it was a subject, indeed, which occurred pretty frequently, in consequence of the inquiries which his friends, who came to see him, natlirallv made concerning the state of his health. The conversation which I mentioned above, and which passed on Thursday the 8th of August, was the last, except one, that I ever had with him. He had now become so very weak, that the company of his most intimate friends fatigued him ; for his cheerfulness was still so great, his complaisance and social disposition were still so entire, that when any friend was with him, he could not help talking more, and with greater exertion, than suited the weakness of his body. At his own desire, there- fore, I agreed to leave Edinburgh, where I was staying partly upon his account, and returned to my mother's house here, at Kirkaldy, upon condition that he would send for me whenever he wished to see me ; the physician who saw him most fre- quently. Dr. Black, undertaking in the meantime to write me occasionally an account of the state Death of David Hume, Esq. 307 of his health. On the 22d of August, the Doctor wrote me the following letter : " Since my last, Mr. Hume has passed his time pretty easily, but is much weaker. He sits up, goes down stairs once a day, and amuses himself with reading, but seldom sees anybody. He finds that even the conversation of his most intimate friends fatigues and oppresses him; and it is happy that he does not need it, for he is quite free from anxiety, impatience, or low spirits ; and passes his time very well, with the assistance of amusing books." I received, the day after, .a letter from Mr. Hume myself, of which the following is an ex- tract ; Edinburgh, 23 August, 1776. My dearest Friend, — I am obliged to make use of my nephew's hand in writing to you, as I do not rise to-day. I go very fast to decline, and last night had a small fever, which I hoped might put a quicker period to this tedious illness, but unluckily it has, in a great measure, gone off. I cannot submit to your com- ing over here on my account, as it is possible for me to see you so small a part of the day; but Doc- tor Black can better inform you concerning the 308 Death of David Hume, Esq. degree of strength which may from time to time remain witli me. Adieu, &c. Three days after, I received the following letter from Dr. Black : Edinbugh, Monday, Aug. 26, 1776. Dear Sir, — Yesterday, about four o'clock, after- noon, Mr. Hume expired. The near approach of his death became evident in the night between Thursday and Friday, when his disease became excessive, and soon weakened him so much, that he could no longer rise out of his bed. lie con- tinued to the last perfectly sensible, and free from much pain or feehngs of distress. He never drop- ped the smallest expression of impatience ; but when he had occasion to speak to the people about him, always did it with affection and tender- ness. I thought it improper to write to bring you over, especially as I heard that he dictated a letter to you, desiring you not to come. When he be- came very weak, it cost him an effort to speak, and he died in such a happy composure of mind that nothing could exceed it. Thus died our most excellent and never-to-be- forgotten friend ; concerning whose philosophical opinions men will no doubt judge variously, every one approving or condemning them, according as Death of David Hume, Esq. 309 they happen to coincide or disagree with his own; but concerning whose ciiaracter and conduct there can scarce be a difference of opinion. His tem- per, indeed, seemed to be more happily balanced, if I may be allowed such an expression, than that perhaps of any other man I have ever known. Even in the lowest state of his fortune, his great and necessary frugality never hindered liim from exercising, upon proper occasions, acts both of charity and generosity. It was a frugality founded not upon avarice, but upon the love of indepen- dency. The extreme gentleness of his nature never weakened either the firmness of his mind or the steadiness of his resolutions. His constant pleasantry was the genuine effusion of good nature and good humor, tempered with dehcacy and mo- desty, and without even the slightest tincture of malignity, so freq^Liently the disagreeable source of what is called wit in other men. It never was the meaning of his raillery to mortify ; and, therefore, far from offending, it seldom failed to please and dehght, even those who were the objects of it. To his friends, who were frequently the objects of it, there was not perhaps any one of all his great and amiable qualities which contributed more to endear his conversation. And that gaiety of temper, so agreeable in society, but- which is often accompa- nied with frivolous and superficial qualilies, was, in him, certainly attended with the most severe appli- 310 Death of David Hume, Esq, cation, the most extensive learning, the greatest depth of thought, and a capacity in every respect the most compreljcnsive. Upon the whole, I have always considered him, both in his lifetime and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty will permit. I ever am, Dear Sir, Most affectionately yours, Adam Smith. Death of Samuel Finley, D.D. 311 Some of the last choice ivords of Doctor Samuel Finley, President of the College of Neto Jersey. Friday, July 11, 1776. The Rev. Mr. Richard Treat came to visit the Doctor, who desired that he would pray by him. Being asked what he should pray for, he answered, " Beseech God that he would be pleased to let me feel just as I did at that time when I first closed with Christ, at which time I could scarce contain myself out of heaven." Dr. S. acquainted him that he could live but a few days longer; at which he lifted up his eyes with much composure, saying, " Then, welcome, Lord Jesus." He declared himself under the greatest obligations to the doctor for his kind and dihgent attendance during his illness, and said, " I owe a large catalogue of debts to my friends, which will never be charged to my account ; God will discharge them for me." July 13th, Lord's-day, noon. Dr. C. came to his bed-side, and told him there appeared a very visible alteration in his countenance, by which he judged death was not far off. He raised himself upon his pillow, and broke out, '' Then may the Lord bring me near to hiuiself — I have waited with a Canaan hunger for the promised land — I have often wondered that God suffered me to hve 312 Death of Samuel Flnley, D.D. — I have wondered more that ever he called me to be a iiiiuister of his word. He has often afforded me much strength, and though I have abused it, he has returned in mercy. Oh ! how sweet are the promises of God ! Oh ! that I could see him as I have seen him heretofore in his sanctuary ! Although I have earnestly desired death as the hh'eling pants for the evening shade, yet will I wait my appointed time. I have struggled with principalities and powers, and have been brought almost to despair — Lord, let it suffice. He now closed his eyes, and fervently prayed that God would show him his glory before he departed hence — that he would enable him to endure patiently to the end — and particularly, that he might be kept from dishonoring the ministry. He resumed his discourse, saying, " I can truly say that I have loved the service of God — I know not in what language to speak of my own unworthi- ness: I have been undutiful: I have honestly en- deavored to act for God, but with much weakness and corruption." Here he lay down, and spoke as follows ; " A Christian's death is the best part of his existence. The Lord has made provision for the whole way, provision for the soul and for the body. Oh ! that I could recollect sabbath bless- ings ! The Lord has given me many souls as a crown of my rejoicing. Blessed be God, eternal rest is at hand : eternity is long enough to enjoy Death of Samuel Finley, D. D. 313 my God. This has animated me in my severest studies. I was ashamed to take rest here. Oh ! that I could be filled with the fulness of God ! that fulness which fills heaven !" One asked him, if it was in his choice either to Hve or to die, which he would prefer? He replied, "To die. Though I cannot but say, I feel the same difficulty with St. Paul. But should God, by a miracle prolong my life, I will still continue to serve him : his service has ever been sweet to me. I have loved it much. I have tried my Master's yoke, and will never shrink my neck from it. His yoke is easy, and his burden light." " You are more cheerful, sir," said one of the company. " Yes, I rise or fall as eternal rest ap- pears nearer or further off'." It being observed to him, that he always used that expression, " Dear Lord" in his prayers ; he answered, " Oh ! he is very dear, very precious indeed ! How pretty for a minister to die upon the sabbath ! I expect to spend the remaining part of this sabbath in heaven." One said, "You will soon be joined to a blessed society ; you will for ever converse with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with the spirits of just men made perfect, with old friends, and many old-fashioned people. " Yes, sir," he replied with a smile, " but they are a most polite people now." He frequently expressed great gratitude to his 314 Death of Samuel Finley, D.D. friends around him, but very particularly to the kind family he was in; an'd said, "May the Lord repay you for your tenderness of nie ; may he bless you abundantly, not only with temporal but spiritual blessings." Addressing himself to all that were present, he said, " Oh that each of yojii may expe- rience what, blessed be God, I do, when ye come to die ! May you have the pleasure of reflecting in a dying hour, that with faith and patie?ice, zeal and sincerity, you have endeavored to serve the Lord ; that each of you may be impressed, as I have been, with God's word, looking upon it as substantial, and not only fearing, but unwilling to offend against it." To a person about to return to Princeton, he said, " Give my love to the people of Princeton ; tell them I am going to die, and that I am not afraid of death." He would sometimes cry out, '- The Lord Jesus take care of his cause in the world." Monday, 14th. Waking this morning, " Oh ! what a disappointment have I met with ; I ex- pected this morning to have been in heaven !" His great ^veakness prevented his much speaking to-day : what few words he uttered, breathed the language of triumph. Tuesday, 1 5th. With a pleasing smile and strong voice he cried out, " Oh ! I shall triumph over every foe ! The Lord hath given me the Death of Samuel Flnley, D.D. 315 victory ! I exult, I triumph. Oh ! that I could see untainted purity! Now I know that it is impossible that faith should not triumph over earth and hell; I think I have nothing to do now but to die. Perhaps I have ; Lord, show me my task." After expressing some fears that he did not endeavor to preserve his remaining Hfe, through eagerness to depart, and being told he did nothing inconsistent with self-preservation, he said, " Lord Jesus, into thine hands I commit my spirit. / do it with conjidence, I do it with full assurance. I know that thou wilt keep that which I liave com- mitted unto thee. I have been dreaming too fast of the time of my departure. I find it does not come ; but the Lord is faithful, and will not tarry beyond his appointed time." When one who attended him told him his pulse grew weaker, he expressed with pleasure, that it was well. He often would put forth his hand to his physicians, and- ask them how his pulse beat ; and would rejoice when he was told it was flutter- ing or irregular. In the afternoon, the Rev. Mr. Spencer came to see him, and said, " I am come, dear sir, to hear you confirm by facts the gospel you have preached. Pray how do you feel?" The doctor replied, " Full of triumph. I triumph through Christ. Nothing clips my wings but the thoughts of my 316 Death of Samuel Finley, D. D. dissolution being prolonged. Oh ! that it was to- night. My very soul thirsts for eternal rest." Mr Spencer asked him, what he saw in eternity to excite such vehement desires in his soul ? He replied, " I see a God of love and goodness — I see the fulness of my Mediator — I see the love of Jesus. Oh ! to be dissolved ; to be with him ! I long to be clothed with the complete righteousness of Christ, not only imputed, but inherent." He desired Mr. Spencer to pray before they parted. "Pray that God would preserve me from evil — that he would keep me from dishonoring his great name in this critical hour ; and support me in my passage through the valley of the shadow of death. He spent the remaining part of the day in bid- ding farewell to and blessing his friends; and exhorting such of his children as were with him. He would frequently cry out, " Why mov^e the tardy hours so slow." July 16th, his speech failed him. He made many eiTorts to speak, but seldom so distinct as to be understood. Mr. Roberdeau desired him to give some token whereby his friends might know whether he still continued to triumph. He lifted up bis bands and said, "Yes." This afternoon he uttered several sentences, but little could be col- lected from them. Some of his very last words concerning himself were, " After one or two more cnsagements the Death of Samuel Finley, D.D. 317 conflict will be over." About nine o'clock he fell into a sound sleep, and appeared much freer from pain than for several days before. He con- tinued to sleep, without moving in the least, till one o'clock ; when he expired, without a sigh or a groan, or any kind of motion sufficient to alarm his wife, and those friends who were about his bed. During his whole sickness, he was never heard to utter one repining word. He was at times tortured with the most excruciating pains ; yet he expressed in all his behavior an entire resignation to the divine will. In all his affecting farewells to his relations and friends, he was never seen to shed a tear, or show the least mark of sor- row. He often checked his affectionate wife when she was weeping ; and he expressed his unshaken confidence in the promises of his God, whenever he spoke of his dear children. His truly polite behavior continued to the last, and manifested itself whenever he called for a drop of drink to wet his lips. Every one around him was treated with that same sweetness and ease that were so peculiar and natural to him. In fine, he was a most striking example of xliRt faith which kindles love in the heart, and produces the sweet fruits of meekness, gentleness, patience, and every Christian grace and virtue." 318 On the Death of Hume and Flnley. Remarks on the preceding accounts of the death of David Hume, Esq. and Samuel Finley, D. D. The common sense and feelings of mankind have always taught them to consider death as a most awful and interesting event. If it were nothing more than a separation from all that we love in this world — the dissolution of our bodies — and ihe termination of our present mode of exist- ence— theTe would be sufficient reason for ap- proaching it with tender and solemn reflection. But when we add those anticipations of which very few, if any, can wholly divest themselves ; that scene of " untried being," which lies before us ; and especially that eternity which the Chris- tian revelation unfolds, death becomes an object of unutterable moment ; and every sober thought of it, bears upon the heart with a weight of solici- tude which it is not in the power of unaided reason to remove. The mere possibiliti/ of our living hereafter, is enough to engage the attention' of a wise man: the probahilify of it is too grave and affecting to leave an excuse for indifference : and the ccrtaint]) with which the scriptures speak of it, as of an immortality of blessedness or of wo, allows to light and ludicrous speculations concerning it, On the Death of Hume and Fhiley. 319 no other character than that of the msanity of wickedness. When that hoar draws nigh which shaU close the business of hfe,. and summon the spirit to the bar of " God who gave it," all the motives to de- ception cease, and those false reasonings which blind the judgment are dissipated. It is the hour of truth and of sincerity. Such, at least, is the general fact which cannot be invalidated by the concession that, in some instances, men have been found to cherish their infatuations, and practice their knavery, to the very last. Their number, in places which enjoy the pure gospel, the only ones in our present view, is too small to make any per- ceptible difference in the amount ; or to disparage that respectful credence with which the rustic and the sage listen to the testimony of a dying bed. By this testimony the ''gospel of the grace of God," has obtained, among every people and in every age, such strong confirmation, and has car- ried into the human conscience, such irresistible appeals for its truth, its power, and its glorious excellency, that its enemies have labored with all their might to discredit these triumphs. They have attacked the principle upon which the testi- mony of a dying believer rests. They have said that the mind, being necessarily enfeebled by the ravages of mortal disease upon the body, is not a competent judge of its own operations — that the 320 On the Death of Hume and Finley. looks, the tears, the whole conduct of surrounding friends, excite artificial emotions in the dving — that superstitition has a prodigious ascendancy over their imagination — that their joyful impres- sions of heaven are the mere reveries of a disturbed brain — that their serenity, their steady hope, their placid faith, are only the natural consequence of long habit, w^hich never operates more freely than when the faculty of reflection is impaired. All this, and more like this, do unhappy -mortals who take or pretend to take, pleasure in putting an ex- tinguisher upon the light of life, detail with an air of superiority, as if they had fallen upon a dis- covery which merits the plaudits of the world. But were it even so — were the Christian victory over death only a dream, it is a dream so sweet and blessed, that with the scourger of Lord Boling- broke's philosophy, I should "account that man a villain that awoke me — awoke me to truth and misery."* But I am not going to discuss this question. The poor infidel does not believe him- self, and why should others believe him ? With one breath he endeavors to cry down the argument to be derived in favor of their religion, from the peaceful death of Christians; and with the next to enlist it in his own service. He omits no oppor- tunity of celebrating the intrepidity or composure • Hunter's view of the philosophical character and writings of Lord Viscount Bolingbroko. On the Death of Hume and Finley. 321 displayed by sceptical brethren in their last mo- ments. Let the letter of Dr. Adam Smith, con- cerning the death of David Hume, Esq., be a proof. Every sentence betrays his anxiety to set off his friend to the best advantage. The dullest observer cannot but perceive his design, to com- pare Mr. Hume dying an infidel, with a Christian dying in the faith of Jesus. Let us draw out, at length, that comparison which he has only insinu- ated ; and that the effect may be more decisive, let us remember that the whole annals of unbelief do not furnish a more favorable example than he has selected. Mr. Hume was a man of undis- puted genius. His versatile talent, his intense application, his large acquirements, and his uncom- mon acuteness, place him, perhaps, at the head of those enemies of revelation who attempt to reason; as Voltaire stands without a rival among those who only scoff. He had, besides, what rarely be- longs to the ascertained infidel, a good moral repu- tation. We mean, that he was not addicted to lewdness, to drunkenness, to knavery, to profane swearing,* or any of those grosser vices which are * On further recollection, we are compelled to deduct from Mr. Hume's morality, his freedom fi-om profane swearing. For, in an account of the life and writings of the Rev. Dr. Robertson, the great historian, drawn up by Professor Dugald Stewart, there is a letter from Mr. Hume to the doctor, in which he descends to the coarse and vulgar profanity of the ale-house, and the main-deck. To ask his reverend correspondent, the principal of the University of Edin- VOL. IV. 2] 322 On the Death of Hume and Finley. the natural and ordinary companions of enmity to the gospel For otherwise, as he labored to unset- tle all fixed principles of belief; to overturn the whole system of moral obligation; to obliterate a sense of God's authority from the conscience ; and burgh; the ecclesiastical premier of the church of Scotland, "What the devil he had to do with that old-iashioned, dangling word, lohere- with?" and to tell him, "1 will see you d d sooner," viz. than "swallow your hath.'"*— are such gross violations of decency, that unless Mr. Hume had been accustomed to adorn his speech with similar expletives, they never could have found their way into a familiar letter ; much less into a letter designed for the eye of a man to whom, considering his profession only, they were a direct insult. We do not wonder that Mr. Stuart should " hesitate about the pro- priety of subjecting to the criticisms of the world so careless an effusion." But, knowing as we do, the urbanity of that gentleman's manners, the elegance of his mind, and his high sense of decorum, we much wonder that his hesitation had not a different issue. We fear that all men of sobriety, we are sure that all men of religion, will refuse to accept Mr. Hume's " gaiety and affection," as an apology for his vileness ; or to let it pass off under the mask of "playful and good-natured irony." If a philosopher's "affection" must vent itself in ribaldiy, if he cannot be "playful and good- natured," without plundering the waterman and scavenger of their appropriate phraseology, we own that his conversation has no attractions for us. Such a "glimpse" as this letter affords, of the " writer and his correspondent in the habits of private intercourse," is far fiom " suggesting not unpleasing pictures of the hours which they borrowed from business and study." But the most melancholy reflection is, that such intimacies and correspondences furnish an index of Dr. Robertson's own character. Tbe infidels never al- lowed that he had anything of the Christian minister but his canoni- cals and his sermons. With these exceptions they claimed him as their own, and their claim appears to have been too well founded. * An account of ibe Life and Writings of William Uubertson, D. D., prefixed to his works, pp. 80, 81. On the Death of Iliimc and Finley, 323 positively to inculcate the innocence of the greatest crimes, he must be accounted one of the most flagitiously immoral men that ever lived. His panegyrist, too, was a man of superior parts and profound erudition. The name oi Adam Smith will always rank high in the republic of letters, and will never be pronounced but with respect by the political economist. Mr. Hume can have lost nothing, has possibly gained much, by the pen of his friend. Taking him, therefore, as the letter to Mr. Strahan represents him, let us contrast him with that servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, D?-. Samuel Finley, Whatever be a man's opinions, one of his most rational occupations in the prospect of leaving the world is to look back upon the manner in which he has passed through it, to compare his duties with his conduct, and to inquire how far he de- serves the approbation or the reproach of his own conscience. With a Christian, this admits not of dispute. Nor will it be disputed by a Deist, who professes his faith in the being and providence of God, and a state of rewards and punishments hereafter proportioned to the degree of crime, or of virtue here. To such a one it is, upon his own principles, a question of unspeakable importance, whether he shall commence his future existence with hopes of happiness or with fears of misery ; especially as he relies much upon the efficacy of 324 On the Death of Hume and Finley. penitence and prayer in procuring forgiveness of liis faults, indulgence to his infirmities, and a gene- ral mitigation of whatever is unfavorable. Nay, the mortal Deist, or the Atheist himself, for they are not worth the trouble of a distinction, ought, for their own sakes in this life, to be so employed. If with the rejection of all religious constraint, they have not also uprooted every affection of their na- ture, nothing could afford them more gratification in the evening of theh* days than the consciousness of their having contributed something to the mass of human comfort. In short, whether we argue upon Christian or unchristian grounds, it can be the interest of none but the worthless and the malig- nant to shut their eyes upon their own history, and sink down in death as a bullock drops under the knife of his excutioner. Yet strange as it may appear, and inconsistent as it certainly is with his high pretensions, there are few things so rare as a dying infidel taking a deliberate retrospect of life. We say a deliberate retrospect; for it is undeniable, that on many of those, who, like the apostate Julian, waged impla- cable war with the Galilean, conscience, recover- ing from its slumbers, has at the hour of death, or the apprehension of it, forced an unwilling and tormenting recollection of their deeds. The point of honor in their philosophy seems to be, and their utmost attainment is, to keep completely out of On the Death of Hume and Finley. 325 view both the past and the future. This was evidently the case with Mr. Hume. Read over again Dr. Smith's letter to Mr. Strahan, and you will not find a syllable from which you could gather that there is an hereafter, a providence, or a God — not a sentence to indicate that Mr. Hume be- lieved he had ever committed a sin, or was in any respect an accountable being. Turn now away from the philosopher, and hear what a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has to say. Melting into gratitude for that mercy which he had received from his heavenly Father, he goes back to the commencement of his Christian course and desires his friend to pray that God " would be pleased to let him feel just as he did at that time when he first closed with Christ," and the rapture of his soul came near to the blessedness of heaven. With deep humility he owns his sinfulness ; not a whisper of extenuation or apology docs he utter " I know not in what language to speak of my own unworthiness— I have been undutiful." But with great tenderness, as in the presence of the Omnis- cient, he attests his satistfaction with time spent in his Christian duties and enjoyments. "I can truly say, that I have loved the service of God I have honestly endeavored to act for God, but with much weakness and corruption— I have tried my Mas- ter's yoke, and will never shrink my neck from it." That he had been useful to others and instrumental 326 On the Death of Hume and Finley, * in their salvation, was to him a source of pure and elevated joy. " The Lord has given me many souls as a crown of my rejoicing." What think you, now, reader, of Mr. Hume and Dr. Finley, with regard to their retrospect of life ? Who evinces most of the good and the virtuous man ? Whose reflections, is it reasonable to con- clude, were the most delightful? His, who let none of them escape his lips \ or his, whose words were inadequate to express their abundance or their sweetness ? No; the one had not delightful recollections to communicate. High happiness is never selfish. The overflowing heart pours off its exuberance into the bosom of a friend. And had Mr. H. had anything of this sort to impart, his com- panions and encomiasts would have shared in his pleasure, and would not have forgotten to tell the world of its luxury. Their silence is a sufficient comment. Let us extend our comparison to a particular, which, more than almost anything else, touches the pride of philosophy ; we mean the dignify displayed by the infidel and by the Christian re- spectively. Ask Dr. Smith. He will tell you that at the very time when he knew his dissolution was near, Mr. Hume continued to " divert himself as usual, with correcting his own works for a new edition ; with reading books of amusement ; with the con- On the Death of Hume and Fmley. 327 versation of his friends ; and sometimes, in the evening, with a party at his favorite game of whist." Behold the dying occupation of a captain of in- fidehty ! Of one who is eulogized " as approach- ing as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty will admit" — his most serioi]^ employment is " diverting himself." Just about to yield up his last breath, and "diverting himself!" From what? Let them answer who know that there are apt to be troublesome visitors to the imagination and the conscience of one who has prostituted his powers to the purpose of spreading rebellion against the God who made him! "Diverting himself!" With what 1 With correcting his oiun irorks for a new edition ! a considerable portion of which "works" is destined to prove thai justice, mercy, faith, and all the circle of both the duties and charities, are obligatory only because they are useful ; and, by consequence, that their opposites shall be obliga- tory when they shall appear to be more useful — that the religion of the Lord Jesus, which has "brought life and immortality to light," is an im- posture— that adultery is a bagatelle, and suicide a virtuft ! With what ? With reading books of amusement. The adventures of Don Quixote; the tales of the genii ; a novel, a tragedy, a farce, a collection of sonnets ; anything but those sober and searching treatises which are fit for one who "con- 328 On the Death of Hume and Finley. siders his latter end." With what \ With what ? With the conversation of his friends, such as Dr. Smith, and Dr. Black, another famous infidel, who, as they had nothing inviting to discuss about futu- rity, and Mr. Hume could not bear the fatigue of abstruse speculation, must have entertained him with all that jejune small talk which makes great wits look so very contemptible when they have nothing to say. With what \ With an evening party at his favorite game of whist ! A card-table ! and all that nauseous gabble for which the card- table is renowned ! The question is to be decided, whether such stupendous faculties as had been lavished upon Mr. Hume were to be blasted into annihilation ; or expanded to the vision and fruition of the Infinite Good ; or converted into inlets of endless pain, despair, and horror ? A question • which might convulse the abyss, and move the thrones of heaven — and while the decision is pre- paring, preparing for liim, Mr. H. sits down to a gaming-board, with gambling companions, to be ''diverted" with the chances of the cards and the edifying conversation to which they give rise ! Such is the dignity of this almost " perfectly wise and virtuous man !" Such a iihilosoiiher s prepa- ration for death ! Let us leave him at the card -table, and pay a second visit to Dr. Finley. From his gracious lips not a trifling word escapes. In his ardent soul, On the Death of Hwmc and Finley. 329 now ready to speed its flight to the spirits of the just, there is uo room for "diversion," for " correct- ing" compositions, for "books of amusement," or for "games of wliist." The everlasting Hfe of those around him — the spiritual prosperity of a congregation dear to him — the interests of his Re- deemer among the nations — these, these are the themes which fill his thoughts and dwell upon his tongue, " Oh that each of you," says he to the spectators of his pain, " may experience what, blessed be God, I do, when ye come to die." " Give my love to the people of Princeton ; tell theai that I am going to die, and that I am not afraid of death. The Lord Jesus take care of his cause in the world," The manner in which Mr, H, and Dr.F, directly contemplated death, and the effects of death, pre- sents another strong point of contrast. It is evident from the whole of Dr. Smith's nar- rative, that the former confined or wished to con- fine his view to the mere physical event — to the bodily anguish which it might create, and its put- ting a period to earthly enjoyments, Tlie whole of the philosopher's " magnanimity" centres here. Allowing to his composure under these views of death as much as can reasonably be demanded, we do not perceive in \Xall that "magnanimity" which is perceived by Dr. S. Thousands, who had no pretensions to philosophical pre-eminence, have 330 On the Death of Hume and Finley. been Mr. H.'s equals on this ground. If he had succeeded in persuading himself, as his writings tend to persuade others, that the spirit of man, like the spirit of a beast, " goeth downwards;" that when the breath should leave his body, there would be an end of Mr. Hume ; that the only change would be, to " turn a few ounces of blood into a different channel" — to vary the form of a cluster of corpus- cles, or to scatter a bundle of perceptions up and down through that huge collection of impressions and ideas, that stupendous mass of nothings of which his philosophy had sagaciously discovered the whole material and intellectual world to be composed — if ihh were all, we cannot discern in what his magnanimity consisted. It is chiefly as a moral event that death is interesting — as an event which, instead of putting an end to our ex- istence, only introduces us to a mode of existence, as much more interesting than the present as eternity is more interesting than time. It is this view that chiefly engaged the atten- tion of Dr. Finley. In common with others he was to undergo the pains of dissolution. But he rested not in these. He fixed his eye upoA that new form which all his relations to God, to holi- ness, to sin, and the inhabitants of the future world, were shortly to assume. The reader, we doubt not, perceives the immense disparity between these cases. Mr. H. looks at death as it affects the On tilt Death of Hume and Finley. 331 affairs of this world. Dr. F. as it involves eternal issues. Mr. H., according to his own notions, had nothing to encounter but the struggles of nature, and nothing to lose but a few temporal enjoyments. Before Dr. F. was the tribunal of God, and the stake at hazard was an immortal soul. An error here is irretrievable : the very thought of its possi- bility is enough to shake every fibre of the frame ; and proportionably precious and certain must be that religion which can assure the believer of his safety, and convey him with peacefulness and pleasure to Ms Father's house. This being the case, let us weigh the consola- tions of the philosopher against those of the Chris- tian. Dr. Smith has made the most of them in behalf of the former, but a very little scrutiny will show that they are hght and meagre indeed. " I am dying," they are the words of Mr. H., " as easily and cheerfully as my best friends could desire." " When he became very weak," says Dr. Black, " it cost him an effort to speak ; and he died in such a happy composure of mind, that nothing could exceed it." We are not without suspicion, that on the part of Mr. H. there is some affectation here ; and on the part of his friends, some pretty high coloring. In the mouth of a Christian, " composure," " cheer- fulness," "complacency," "resignation," " happi- 332 On the Death of Hume and Finley. ness," in death, have an exquisite meaning. But what meaning can thej have in the mouth of one, the very best of whose expectations is the extinc- tion of his being ? Is there any " complacency" in the thought of perishing? any "happiness" in the dreary and dismal anticipation of being blotted out of life X It is a farce ; it is a mockery of every human feehng ; and every throbbing of the heart convicts it of a lie. But Mr. Hume expected a better state of existence — nay, talk not of that. There is not, either in his own expressions or those of his friends, the faintest allusion to futurity. That glorious light, which shines through the grave upon the redeemed of the Lord, was the object of his derision. No comfort from this quarter. The accomplishment of his earthlj? wishes and the prosperity of his near relatives, are the only reasons assigned for his cheerfulness. But these are insuf- ficient. In thousands and ten thousands they have not availed to preclude the most alarming forebo- dings; and why should they do more for Mr. Hume? In the next place, how shall we interpret his ♦'resignation?" Resignation to what? To the Divine Will? O no! God was not in all his thoughts. But death was at hand, and-he could not escape; he submitted to a stroke which it was impossible to avoid. And all that is said of his "composure," and "cheerfulness," and " resigna- On the Death of Hume and Finley. 333 tion," and " complacency," when measured by the scale of truth, amounts to no more than a sottish unconcern set off with a fictitious gaiety. It is easy to work up a fine description, and it is often most fine when most remote from the fact. Let any infidel between the poles produce, if he can, a reason that shall satisfy a child why one, who has lived without God, should find " complacency" in death. Nothing but that " hope which maketh not ashamed" is a cause equal to such an effect. But "hope" beyond the grave is a word which had no place in Mr. Hume's vocabulary, because the thing had no place in his soul. It is plain, however, that he Felt his ruling passion strong in death. Whatever his decay had weakened, his desire to see " the downfall of some of the prevailing sys- tems of superstition," which with Mr. Hume meant neither more nor less than the destruction of Christianity, in every modification, retained its whole vigor. And thus, while venting his spite at the only "system" which ever could render death comfortable, he goes to Lucien's dialogues, and edifies his friends with chattering nonsense about Charon and his boat ! O cacas hominum mentes ! Nothing can be more blind and infatuated than the fanaticism of philosophy " falsely so called," With this puerile levity before our eyes, and this 334 On. the Death of Hume and Finley. contemptible babbling sounding in our ears, we must listen to tales of Mr. Hume's magnanimity, complacency, and resignation ! From a barren exhibition of atheism, let us repair once more to the servant of God. In Dr. Finley we see a man dying, not only with cheer- fulness, but with ecstasy. Of his friends, his wife, his .children, he takes a joyful leave ; committing all that he held most dear in this world, not to the uncertainties of earthly fortune, but to the "prom- ises of his God." Although his temporal circum- stances were very moderate; although he had sons and daughters to provide for, and slender means of doing it, he felt not a moment's uneasiness — Leave thy fatherless children with me; I will pre- serve them alive; and let thy ividotvs trust in me, was, in his estimation, a better security for their support than any inheritance in lands or lucre. And as to death itself — who but one "filled with hopes full of immortality" could use such language as this — "A Christian's death is the best part of his existence" — " Blessed be God! eternal rest is at hand." "0 1 shall triumph over every foe," (he meant sin, Satan, death, the grave,) "the Lord hath given me the victory — I exult ; I triumph I Now I know that it is impossible that faith should not triumph over earth and hell" — "Lord Jesus, into thy hands I commit my spirit; I do it with confidence ; I do it with fall assurance. I know On the Death of Hume and Firdey. 335 that thou wilt keep that which I have committed unto thee ?" We appeal to all the world, whether anything like this, anything that deserves so much as to be named in comparison, ever fell from the lips of an infidel. How poor, how mean, how miserable, does he look, when brought to the con- trast ! Let the reader review again the situation of Dr. Finley, ponder his words, and mark their spirit; and then let him go back to Mr. Hume's "diversion"— to his correcting his atheistical wri- tings for a new edition— to his "books of amuse- ment "—to his "game of whist"— to his insipid raillery about Charon and his boat ! Truly the infidels have cause to look big, and despise the followers of Jesus Christ! "Pray sir," said a young man to the late Dr. Black, in the presence of a juvenile company at the Dr.'s own table, "Pray, sir, how did Mr. Hume die?" "Mr.' Hume," answered the sceptical chemist, with an air of great significance, "Mr. Hume died as he hved, a jyhilosopherr Dr. Black himself has aided Dr.' Smith iu telling us what the death o^ ?i philosopher IS. It has taught us, if nothing before did, that the pathetic exclamation, "Let my soul be with the philosophers," belongs to one who is a stranger to truth and happiness. If they resemble Mr. Hume, we will most devoutly exclaim, " Furthest from them is best." Let our souls be with the Christjans ! with the humble believers in that 336 On the Death of Hume and Finley. Jesus who is " the resurrection and the life." Let them be with Samuel Finley; let them not be with David Hume ! We cannot close these strictures without again reminding the reader, that no instance of compo- sure in death is to be found more favorable to the infidel boast than the instance of Mr. Hume. And yet, how jejune and forlorn does he appear in com- parison of Dr. Finley. The latter longs for his departure, " as the hireling pants for the evening shade ;" and when it comes, he pours around him his kindly benedictions ; his eye beams with celes- tial brilliancy; he shouts, Salvation ! and is away to " the bosom of his Father and his God." But in the other all is blank. No joy sparkles in his eye ; no hope swells his bosom ; an unmean- ing smile is on his countenance, and frigid ridicule dishonors his lips. Be it never forgotten, that no infidels die in triunijjh ! The utmost to which they pretend is dying with calmness. Even this rarely happens ; and, the scripture being judge, it is a part of their accursedness. It imparts the deepest horror to the s^irprise of the eternal world. But, if you reverse the picture, and ask how many infidels close their career in anguish, in distraction, in a fearful looldng for of judgment and fiery in- dignation which shall devour the adversaries? how endless is the train of wretches, how piercing their cry ! That arcli-blasphcmer, Voltaire, left On the Death of Hume and Finley. 337 the world with hell anticipated ; and we hear so frequently of his disciples " going to their own place " in a similar manner, that the dreadful narra- tives lose their effect by repetition. It was quite recently that a youth in the state of New York, who had been debauched by the ribaldrous impiety of Paine, yielded up the ghost with dire impreca- tions on the hour when he first saw an infidel book, and on the murderer who first put it into his hand. But who ever heard of a dying man's curs- ing the day in which he beheved in Jesus? While such an instance, we are bold to assert, never occurred, nothing is more common than the peace- ful death of them who have "tasted that the Lord is gracious." They who see practical Christianity in those retreats which the eye of a profane philo- sopher seldom penetrates, could easily fill a long record of dying beds softened with that bland sub- mission, and cheered with that victorious hope, which threw so heavenly a lustre round the bed of Dr. Finley. These things carry with them their own recom- mendation to the conscience, which is not yet " seared as with a hot iron," If our pages fall into""" the hands of the young, we affectionately entreat them to " remember their Creator in the days of their youth f' "to make their calling and their election sure," before they be " hardened by th ; deceitfulness of sin." Rich are the tints of thai: VOL. IV. 22 338 On the Death of Hume and Finley. beauty, and sweet the fragrance of those blossoms, on which, in the morning of Hfe, the Lord our God sheds down the dews of his blessing. You would not wish to be associuted with infidels in their death ; shun the contagion of their principles while you are in spirits and in health. Your hearts cannot but sigh, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his," Cast in, then, your lot with him ; choose for your own God the God of Samuel Finley ; and like him, you shall have "hope in your death;" like him, you shall be had in everlasting remembrance," when " the memory of the wicked shall rot," CONVERSATION YOUNG TRAVELER V CONVERSATION WITH A YOUNG TRAVELER, Every one has remarked the mixed, and often ill-assorted company, which meets in a public packet or stage-coach. The conversation, with all its variety, is commonly insipid, frequently dis- gusting, and sometimes insufferable. There are exceptions. An opportunity now and then occurs of spending an hour in a manner not unworthy of rational beings ; and the incidents of a stage- coach produce or promote salutary impressions. A few years ago, one of the stages which ply between our two principal cities, was filled with a group which could never have been drawn together by mutual choice. In the company was a young man of social temper, affable manners, and con- siderable information. His accent was barely sufficient to show that the English was not his native tongue, and a very slight peculiarity in the 342 Conversation with a pronunciation of the th ascertained him to be a Hollander. He had early entered into military life ; had borne both a Dutch and French com- mission, had seen real service, had traveled, was master of the EngUsh language ; and evinced, by his deportment, that he was no stranger to the society of gentlemen. He had, however, in a very high degree, a fault too common among mili- tary men, and too absurd to find an advocate among men of sense: he swore profanely and incessantly. While the horses were changing, a gentleman who sat on the same seat with him, took him by the arm, and requested the favor of his company in a short walk. When they were so far retired as not to be overheard, the former observed, " Although I have not the honor of your acquaint- ance, I perceive, sir, that your habits and feelings are those of a gentleman, and that nothing can be more repugnant to your wishes, than giving unne- cessary pain to any of your company." He started and replied, "Most certainly, sir! I hope I have committed no offence of that sort.'' " You will pardon me," replied the other, " for pointing out an instance in which you have not altogether avoided it." "Sir," said he, "I shall be nmch your debtor for so friendly an act : for, upon my honor, I cannot conjecture in what T have transgressed." Young Traveler. 343 "If you, sir," continued the former, "had a very dear friend to whom you were under unspeakable obUgations, should you not be deeply wounded by any disrespect to him, or even by hearing his name introduced and used with a frequency of repetition and a levity of air incompatible with the regard due to his character ?" " Undoubtedly; and I should not permit it ! But I know not that I am chargeable with indecorum to any of your friends." " Sir, my God is my best friend," to whom I am under infinite obligations. I think you must recol- lect that you have very frequently, since we com- menced our journe}'^, taken his name in vain. This has given to me, and to others of the company, ex- cruciating pain." " Sir," answered he, with very ingenuous em- phasis, " I have done wrong. I confess the impro- priety. I am ashamed of a practice which I am sensible has no excuse ; but I have imperceptibly fallen into it, and I really swear without being conscious that I do so. I will endeavor to abstain from it in future ; and as you are next me in the seat, I shall thank you to touch my elbow as often as I trespass." This was agreed upon : the horn sounded, and the travelers resumed their places. In the space of four or five miles the officer's elbow was jogged every few seconds. He always colored, but bowed, and received the hint without 344 Conversation with a the least symptom of displeasure ; and in a few miles more so mastered his propensity to swearing, that not an oath was heard from his lips for the rest, which was the greater part of the journey. He was evidently more grave ; and having ru- minated some time, after surveying first one and then another of the company, turned to his ad- monisher and addressed him thus : " You are a clergyman, I presume, sir." "I am considered as such." He paused; and then, with a smile, indicated his disbelief in divine revelation, in a way which invited conversation on that subject. " I have never been able to convince myself of the truth of revelation." " Possibly not. But what is your difficulty ? " I dislike the nature of its proofs. They are so subtle, so distant, so wrapt in mystery, so meta- physical, that I get lost, and can arrive at no cer- tain conclusion." " I cannot admit the fact to be as you represent it My impressions are altogether different. Nothing seems to me more plain and popular ; more level to every common understanding ; more remote from all cloudy speculation, or teazing subtleties, than some of the principal proofs of divine revelation. They are drawn from great and incontcstible facts ; they are accumulating every hour. They have grown into such a mass of evidence, that the Young Traveler. 345 supposition of its falsehood is iofinitely more incredible than any one mystery in the volumes of revelation, or even than all their mysteries put together. Your inquiries, sir, appear to have been unhappily directed — but what sort of proof do you desire, and w^hat would satisfy you]" " Such proofs as accompany physical science. This I have always loved ; for I never find it deceive me. I rest upon it with entire conviction. There is no mistake, and can be no dispute in mathematics. And if a revelation comes from God, why have we not such evidence for it as mathematical demonstration ?" " Sir, you are too good a philosopher not to know that the nature of evidence must be adapted to the nature of its object; that if you break in upon this adaptation, you will have no evidence at all ; seeing that evidence is no more interchange- able than objects. If you ask for mathematical evidence, you must confine yourself to mathemati- cal disquisitions. Your subject must be quantity. If you wish to pursue a moral investigation, you must quit your mathematics, and confine yourself to moral evidence. Your subject must be the relations tohich subsist hetiveen intelligent beings. It would be quite as wise to apply a rule in ethics to the calculation of an eclipse, as to call for Euchd when we want to know our duty, or to submit the question, " whether God has spoken," 3^6 Conversation with a to the test of a problem in the conic sections. How would you prove mathematically that bread nourishes men, and that fevers kill them? Yet you and I both are as firmly convinced of the truth of these propositions, as of any mathematical demonstration whatever, and should 1 call them in question, my neighbors would either pity me as an idiot, or shut me up as a madman. It is, there- fore, a great mistake to suppose that there is no satisfactory nor certain evidence but what is redu- cible to mathematics." This train of reflection appeared new to him. For, however obvious it is, we must remember, that nothing is more superficial than freethinking philosophy, and nothing more credulous than its unbelief Dogmatical positions, asserted with con- fidence, set off with small ridicule, and favorable to native depravity, have a prodigious effect upon the volatile youth ; and persuade him that they have enlightened his understanding, when they have only flattered his vanity, or corrupted his heart. The officer, though staggered, made an effort to maintain his ground, and lamented that the " ob- jections to other modes of reasoning are numerous and perplexing, while the mathematical conclusion puts all scepticism at defiance." " Sir," rejoined the clergyman, "objections against a thing fairly proved, are of no weight. The proof Youvg Traveler. 347 rests upon our knowledge, and the objections upon our ignorance. Is is true, that moral demonstra- tions and rehgious doctrines may be attacked in a very ingenious and plausible manner, because they involve questions on which our ignorance is greater than our knowledge; but still our knowledge is knowledge ; or, in other words, our certainty is certainty. In mathematical reasoning, our know- ledge is greater than our ignorance. When you have proved that the three angles of every triangle are equal to tivo right arigles, there is an end of doubt ; because there are no materials for ignorance to work up into phantoms ; but your knowledge is really no more certain than your knowledge on any other subject. " There is also a deception in this matter. The defect complained of is supposed to exist in the nature of the proof; whereas it exists, for the most part, in the mind of the inquirer. It is impossible to tell how far the influence of human depravity obscures the light of human reason." At the mention of " depravity," the officer smiled, and seemed inclined to jest; probably sus- pecting, as is common with men of that class, that his antagonist was going to retreat into his creependlx. friends, and opposition to call foith its energies. And the probabi- lity, in which every gracious heart must rejoice, is, that at thia moment Christ crucified is preached among the Pagans in the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Besides which, an evangelical mission is pi'ojcctcd, and before now, perliaps, executed, into the interior of Africa. The Lord bless them, and keep them! Grant Christians here to emulate, and even surpass their apostolic example ; and crown every embassy to the Gentiles with greater and greater success, till the whole eaith be filled with his glory ! John M. Mason, Secretary. Nkw York, Nov. G, 1797. In their |)roceeding3 on the above report, the Society resolved, That the education of proper persons to be sent out as Missionai'ies comes within their design: and it will, no doubt, receive their par- ticular attention as soon as their funds will permit. The Society also agreed upon articles of union, and principles of co-operation, with the Northern Missionaiy Society in the State of New York, to take effect whenever they shall be ratified by said Society. The objects contemi)lated by the Society involving heavy expenses, and requiring the united exertions of its friends, it was judged necessary to solicit, from all the congregations throughout the country, with which it has any connect'on, annual collections for its funds. Little can be done in pecuniary efforts, unless those who long for the prosperity of Zion shall give their cheerful and i)er- Bevering aid ; and from sucli aid, with the blessing of Zion's King, the luii)i)iest success may be rationally anticipated. The Society having agreed that two sermons shall be preached at their next annual meeting, the Rev. Dr. Livingston, and the Rev. Dr. M'Kmght, were appointed to preach them: the former in the Scots Presbj-tcM-ian Church, on the evening of the first day of their meeting; and the latter in the North Dutch Church, on the evening f()llo\ving. The Society having transacted iheir business, with the harmony and affection of Christ.an brethren, and filled with pleasing hope that tlieir labors shall not bo in vain in tho Lord, adjourned till the first Tuesday of November, 1798. ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION OF DELEGATES, BY WHOM WAS FORMED THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE. OF THE UNITED STATES. Every person of observation has remarked that the times are pregnant with great events. The pohtifial vi^orld has undergone changes stupendous, unexpected, and calculated to inspire thoughtful men with the most boding anticipations. That there are in reserve, occurrences of deep, of lasting, and of general interest, appears to be the common sentiment. Such a sentiment has not been excited without a cause, and does not exist without an object. The cause is to be sought in that Providence which adapts, with wonderful exactitude, means to ends : and the object is too plain to be mistaken by those who carry a sense of rehgion into their speculations upon the present and the future condition of our afflicted race. An excitement, as extraordinary as it is power- ful, has roused the nations to the importance of spreading the knowledge of the one living and true God, as revealed in his Son, the Mediator 374 Address relatins. to & between God and men, Christ Jesus. This excitement is the more worthy of notice, as it has followed a period of philosophy, falsely so called, and has gone in the track of those very schemes which, under the imposing names of reason and liberality, were attempting to seduce mankind from all which can bless the life that is, or shed a cheering radiance on the life that is to come. We hail the reaction, as auspicious to whatever is exquisite in human enjoyment, or precious to human hope. We would fly to the aid of all that is holy, against all that is profane; of the purest interest of the community, the family, and the indi- vidual, against the conspiracy of darkness, disaster, and death — to help on the mighty work of Chris- tian charity — to claim our place in the age of Bibles. We have, indeed the secondary praise, but still the praise, of treading in the footsteps of those who have set an example without a parallel — an exam- ple of the most unbounded benevolence and bene- ficence : and it cannot be to us a source of any pain, that it has been set by those who are of one blood with the most of ourselves; and has been embodied in a form so noble and so Catholic, as " The Brithh and Foreign Bible Society." The impulse which that institution, ten thou- sand times more glorious than all the exploits of the American Bible Society. 375 the sword, has given to the co'iscience of Europe, and to the slumbering hope of millions in the region and shadow of death, demonstrates to Christians of every country what they cannot do by insulated zeal ; and what they can do by co- operation. In the United States we want nothing but con- cert to perform achievements astonishing to our- selves, dismaying to the adversaries of truth and piety, and most encouraging to every evangelical effort, on the surface of the globe. No spectacle can be so illustrious in itself, so touching to man, or so grateful to God, as a nation pouring forth its devotion, its talent, and its trea- sures, for that kingdom of the Saviour which is righteousness and peace. If there be a single measure which can overrule objection, subdue opposition, and command exer- tion, this is the measure. That all our voices, all our affections, all our hands, should be joined in the grand design of promoting " peace on earth and good-will toward man"— that they should resist the advance of misery — should carry the light of instruction into the dominions of igno- rance; and the balm of joy to the soul of anguish; and all this by diffusing the oracles of God addresses to the understanding an argument which cannot be encountered ; and to the heart an appeal which its hohest emotions rise up to second. 376 Address relating to Under such impressions and with such views, fathers, brethren, fellow-citizens, i\\e American Bible Society has been formed. Local feelings, party prejudices, sectarian jealousies, are excluded by its very nature. Its members are leagued in that, and in that alone, which calls up every hallowed, and •puts down every unhallowed, principle — the disse- mination of the Scriptures in the received versions where they exist, and in the most faithful where they may be required. In such a work, whatever is dignified, kind, venerable, true, has ample scope ; while sectarian littleness and rivalries can find no avenue of admission. The only question is, whether an object of such undisputed magnitude can be best attained by a national society, or by independent associations in' friendly understanding and correspondence. Without entering into the details of this inquiry, we may be permitted to state, in a fevv^ words, our reasons of preference to a national society sup- ported by local societies and by individuals through- out our country. Concentrated action is powerful action. The same powers, when apphed by a common direc- tion, will produce results impossible to their divided and partial exercise. A national object unites national feeling and concurrence. Unity of a great system combines energy of effect with economy of means. Accumulated intelligence * the American Bible Society. 2>11 interests and animates the public mind. And the Catholic efforts of a country thus harmonized, give her a place in the moral convention of the vt^orkl : and enable her to act, directly upon the universal plans of happiness which are now per- vading the nations. It is true, that the prodigious territory of the United States — the increase of their poi^ulation, which is gaining every day upon their moral culti- vation— and the dreadful consequences which will ensue from a people's outgrowing the knowledge of eternal life ; and reverting to a species of heathenism which shall have all the address and profligacy of civilized society, without any religious control, present a sphere of action, which may for a long time employ and engross the cares of this society, and of all the local Bible societies of the land. In the distinct anticipation of such an urgency, one of the main objects of the American Bible Society is, not merely to provide a sufficiency of well-printed and accurate edhions of the scriptures, but also to furnish great districts of the American continent with well-executed stereotype plates, for their cheap and extensive diffusion throughout regions which are now scantily supplied, at a dis- couraging expense; and which, nevertheless, open a wide and prepared field for the reception of re- vealed truth. 378 Address 7'elating to Yet, let it not be supposed that geographical or pohtical Hmits are to be the hmits of the American Bible Society. That designation is meant to indi- cate, not the restriction of their labor, but the source of its emanation. Thej will embrace, with thank- fulness and pleasure, every opportunity of raying out, by means of the Bible, according to their ability, the light of life and immortality, to such parts of the world as are destitute of the blessing, and are within their reach. In this high vocation, their ambition is to be fellow-workers with them who are fellow-workers with God. People of the United States : Have you ever been invited to an enterprise of such grandeur and glory I Do you not value the Holy Scriptures ? Value them as containing your sweetest hope ; your most thrilling joy ? Can you submit to the thought that i/ou should be torpid in your endeavors to disperse them, while the rest of Christendom is awake and alert? Shall t/ou hang back, in heartless indifference, when princes come down from their thrones, to bless the cottage of the poor with the gospel of peace ; and imperial sovereigns are gathering their fairest honors from spreading abroad the oracles of the Lord your God? Is it possible that you should not see, in this state of human things, a mighty motion of Divine provi- dence ? The most heavenly charity treads close upon the march of conflict and blood ! The world the American Bible Society. 379 is at peace ! Scarce has the soldier time to unbind his helmet, and to wipe away the sweat from his brow, ere the voice of mercy succeeds to the clarion of battle, and calls the nations from enmity to love ! Crowned heads bow to the head which is to wear " many crowns ;" and for the first time since the promulgation of Christianity, appear to act in unison for the recognition of its gracious principles, as be- ing fraught ahke \\i\h happiness to man and honor to God. What has created so strange, so beneficent an alteration X This is no doubt the doing of the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. But what instrument has he thought fit chiefly to use ? That which contributes, in all latitudes and climes, to make Christians feel their unitv, to rebuke the spirit of strife, and to open upon them the day of brotherly concord — the Bible! the Bible! — through Bible societies ? Come, then, fellow-citizens, fellow- Christians, let us join in the sacred covenant. Let no heart be cold ; no hand be idle ; no pulse reluctant ! Come, while room is left for us in the ranks whose toil is goodness, and whose recompense is victory. Come cheerfully, eagerly, generally. Be it im- pressed on your souls, that a contribution, saved from even a cheap indulgence, may send a Bible to a desolate family; may become a radiating point of " grace and truth " to a neighborhood of error 380 Address, S^c. and vice ; and that a number of such contributions made at really no expense, may illumine a large tract of country, and successive generations of im- mortals, in that celestial knowledge which shall secure their present and their future fehcity. But whatever be the proportion between expec- tation and experience, thus much is certain : we shall satisfy our conviction of duty — we shall have the praise of high endeavors for the highest ends — we shall minister to the blessedness of thousands and tens of thousands, of whom we may never see the faces, nor hear the names. We shall set for- ward a system of happiness which will go on with accelerated motion and augmented vigor, after we shall have finished our career ; and confer upon our children, and our children's children, the delight of seeing the wilderness turned into a fruitful field, by the blessing of God upon that seed which their fathers sowed, and themselves watered. In fine, we shall do our part toward that expansion and intensity of light divine, which shall visit, in its progress, the palaces of the great and the hamlets of the small, until the whole " earth be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea! ACT FOR ESTABLISHING THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT NEW YORK. 1805. ^ ^ •# AN ACT ESTABLISHING A THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, Passed at Philadelphia, June 4, 1805, hy the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Church in North America. Whereas the ministry of reconciliation is the great means instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ for perfecting his saints, and edifying his body ; and Whereas, he has required in his Word that they who are called to this excellent and important work, be furnished with gifts and graces above those of other believers ; especially that they be faithful men ; apt to teach, workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth ; wise stewards, to give the household their portion of meat in due season; able to convince gainsayers, to stop the mouths of unruly and vain talkers ; to reprove, to rebuke, to exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine and authority ; and to know how 384 Act for Establishing the tliej ought to behave themselves in the house of God, ruhng well, and being ensamples to the flock. And Whereas, the aforesaid qualifications, since the miraculous effusions of the Divine Spirit have ceased, cannot be obtained in any other way than by his blessing upon the cultivation of natural talent, sanctified by his grace ; which cultivation consists in a good acquaintance with those various branches of literature which are necessary for un- derstanding, expounding, defending, and applying all the parts of revealed truth. And Whereas, seminaries erected for the especial purpose of in- structing the rising ministry in things immediately connected with thefr holy vocation, are the most probable means of attaining the proposed end ; have been cherished by the Christian Church with much affection from the earliest ages ; and have been remarkably owned of God, for the preservation of her purity and glory. And Whereas, the Lord has been graciously pleased to inchne the hearts of Christians, both at home and abroad, to assist the Associate Reformed Church in the design of esta- blishing such a seminary ; Therefore, The Ministers and Elders, in general Synod convened, do hereby Direct and Ordain, That their seminary be forthwith established in the city of New York for the sole purpose of preparing for the work of the ministry such young men as, having passed through a previous course of hbcral Theological Seminary at New York. 385 education, shall resolve to consecrate themselves to the service of God in the Gospel of his Son. And the Synod further direct, That the course of instruction in said seminary be conducted by a professor in theology, to be chosen by their ballot at all times hereafter, and to hold his office and emoluments until removed by a vote of two-thirds of the General Synod, w^hich vote shall not pass till a meeting subsequent to that at which it shall have been proposed ; provided that this shall not be construed to impair the power of the Synod, on any charge of gross error or immorality, to suspend a professor from the exercise of his functions, till judgment be definitively given. A7id the Synod further direct, That the outline of instruction in the seminary be as follows, viz. 1. The scriptures themselves shall be the great subject of study. 2. The period of study in the seminary shall be four years ; and the session shall continue for seven months successively, that is to say, from the first Monday of November till the first Monday of June. 3. These four years shall be divided into two equal parts ; and the course of study shall proceed as follows : Every student shall begin and close the day with exercises of secret devotion; uniting to prayer the reading of a portion of God's word; VOL. IV. 25 386 Act for Establishing the and using as a help some book of impressive prac- tical religion. In these exercises he is to read the scriptures, not as a critic, but as a Christian; as a saved sinner, who knows no other way of peace, but that which belongs to him in common with the least of God's redeemed; and who lives by faith, for daily counsel, and strength, and consola- tion, upon that Saviour whom he is afterwards to preach to others. Such a portion of every day, (the Lord's day excepted,) shall be devoted to the study of the Scriptures in the original tongues, and of that literature which facilitates this study, as by a faith- ful improvement of time, may enable the student at the expiration of his course, to read the originals with tolerable ease. The Holy Scriptures in our common version, shall be read in such daily portions, as shall finish the whole during the first period of two years: and to render the reading thereof more profitable, the professor of theology shall direct the student to succinct treatises on spiritual subjects, as they occur, and shall carefully examine him on these subjects. Having completed this first reading of the scrip- tures, the student shall commence a second course of the same nature, dividing it in such a manner as to finish it at the expiration of his last year. He shall now consult the originals, step by step, as he Theological Seminary at New York. 387 goes along, and have his course of biblical reading extended under the direction of the professor. With his third year the student shall commence the study of systematic theology, and, as a basis for it, he shall commit to memory during the previous two years, the whole text of the confession of faith, and larger catechism. He shall read, on each topic, such proper books as may be digested within the time allotted, and may give him an acquaintance with the substance of the system. The professor shall also lecture upon the primary topics of the system, following the general order of the confession of faith. That his students may enjoy the benefit of his whole course of lectures, he must not fail to complete it within two years. And, on the other hand, that this time may be suf- ficient, his lectures are to be concise and dense, accommodated to the principle that his work is not so much to furnish his pupils with thoughts, as to set them upon a proper train of thinking for themselves. In the fourth year of the course, the professor shall also deliver critical lectures; which are to embrace not merely the philology of the context, but also its connexion, scope, and argument. No authority is to be admitted in these lectures but that of the originals ; the student shall have them before him, and turn to the parallel texts cited by 388 Act for Establishing the the professor. These texts to be few and well selected. Every student shall prepare in his third year, two of those discourses commonly called lectures, and two popular sermons ; and in his fourth year, three of each ; neither to exceed half an hour when deliberately spoken. All the scriptural proofs, cited by a student in any exercise of his fourth year, must be referable to the originals. Hours of study must be so distributed as to leave a suitable portion to miscellaneous reading, such as history, morality, belles lettres, &c. and to health- ful bodily exercise. And the Synod further direct, 1. That every student, on his admission, bind himself in a written obligation to strict obedience, to diligence, to peace, and not to propagate, directly or indirectly, any opinion or tenet whatever, contrary to the known faith of the Associate Reformed Church. 2. That students, who do not depend in any mea- sure, for their temporal support, upon the provision made or to be made for such as maybe in indigent circumstances shall pay into the hands of the pro- fessor, for the benefit of the seminary, the annual sum of twenty-four dollars. 3. That students of other denominations be ad- mitted into the seminary upon the same terms as are exacted from those of the Associate Reformed Church ; and on condition of their paying into the Theological Seminary at Neiv York. 389 hands of the professor of theology, for the use of the seminary, the annual sum of thhty-two dollars. 4. That no person shall be admitted as a student, without producing satisfactory proof of the follow- ing particulars : That he has received a liberal education; or has an adequate acquaintance with those branches of literature which usually enter into such an educa- tion. That he is in full communion with the Christian Church ; that his habitual deportment is exem- plary and prudent ; and that his natural talents are such as, by an ordinary blessing upon their cultivation, may render him an able minister of the New Testament. Presbyterial certificate, clear and explicit, to the above purport, shall always be satisfactory. 5. That in so far as relates to the enjoyment of sacramental privilege, all students shall be consid- ered as subject to the discipline of that congrega- tion with which they statedly worship. And the Synod further direct j That the care of the seminary be intrusted to five ministers of the Associate Reformed Church, to be called su2)erin- tendents of the seminary ; who shall be chosen by the ballot, and hold their ofiice during the pleasure of the General Synod. The said superintendents, or a major part of them, shall have full power and authority : 390 Aci for Establishing the To direct the application of the plan of study dehneated within this act : To regulate the hbrarj, and order the purchase of such books as may be necessary for it : To regulate the discipline of the seminary: To judge of the progress of the students, so far as to determine, without appeal, and at any stage of the course, whether a student can proceed with profit to himself and to the church of God ; or whether, and how far, he should be remitted to his former studies ; and for this end to appoint such tests of proficiency as they shall deem proper -. To make, generally, all by-laws for carrying into effect the design for which the seminary is instituted ; provided, that they be not contrary to the constitution of the Associate Reformed Church, nor to any act of the General Synod. It shall be the duty of the said superintendents to visit the seminary annually, on the Wednesday immediately preceding the last Wednesday of May, to consult with the professor on points not immediately involving his personal responsibility ; to keep exact records of their proceedings : and to report to the General Synod, at the meeting next ensuing their said visitation, the state of the seminary, their own transactions, and such other things as they may judge necessary. The deci- sions and regulations of the superintendents shall Theological Seminary at New York. 391 have full force and virtue, unless repealed by them- selves, or by the General Synod ; provided always, that contumacy on the part of a student tovi^ard any of the said decisions or regulations, during a visitation by the superintendents, shall be punished with immediate expulsion from the seminary ; and that the offender shall not be restored, but in virtue of exemplary penitence, and by an act of the General Synod. If a vacancy shall happen by death, resignation, or otherwise, in the board of superintendents, they shall have power to fill said vacancy till the next meeting of General Synod ; and shall then present to the Synod the names of two persons for each vacancy, and of these two the Synod shall choose one by ballot, to supply the vacancy for which the nominations shall be pre- sented respectively. If any of the superintendents shall be absent from two annual visitations successively without assigning any satisfactory reason therefor, such absence shall be considered as a resignation, and his seat vacated accordingly. The superintendents shall elect their own officers. They shall have power to draw upon the trea- surer of the Synod for the amount of their expenses contracted by their annual visitation to the semi- nary, and the duties therewith connected ; and the treasurer shall, without delay, pay said amount. 392 Act for EstahlisJdng the And the Synod further direct, That every Pres- bytery, as they shall have opportunity during the recess of the seminary, take cognizance of the improvement and conduct of their students ; but that no Presbytery shall remove a student from the seminary, without the special leave of the super- intendents ; which leave, if his removal be solicit- ed with the view of licensing him to preach, shall not be granted, unless the superintendents shall judge him qualified ; nor shall any Presbytery take a student upon trial for license, without a certifi- cate from the superintendents, bearing their judg- ment that he is suitably quahfied. And the Synod further direct, That no student shall receive a certificate as aforesaid from the superintendents, unless, in addition to the essential requisite of a Christian walk while at the semi- nary, he be able, as a part of his hterary qualifica- tions, to translate into correct English the Penta- teuch and Psalter from the Hebrew, and the New Testament from the Greek, ad aperturam lihri. And the Synod further direct. That so much of the expense necessary for the maintenance of stu- dents in the communion of the Associate Reformed Church, as shall exceed the sum which they may be able to pay, and shall not be provided for in any other manner, be defrayed out of the revenue ap- propriated to the seminary. And the Synod further direct and ordain, That • Theological Seminary at Neio York. 393 no alteration shall be made in the plan of educa- tion established by this act, until it shall have been proposed at a stated meeting of the General Synod, and passed by a vote of two-thirds of the members, at a subsequent stated meeting. By Order of the Synod James Mairs, Moderator. James Gray, Clerk. Further Extracts from the Minutes of the General Synod, 1805. Resolved, That the professor be, and hereby is, directed to commence the course of instraction prescribed by the " Act relative to a Theological Seminary," on the first Monday in November next. Resolved, That the superintendents be, and they hereby are, directed to meet on the first Monday m November next, at the city of New York, for the purpose of organizing the seminary ; and fixing the place which the students, who have already spent some time in the study of theology, shall occupy in the course of instruction prescribed by the act of Synod of this date. Resolved, That the different Presbyteries be forthwith informed of the establishment of a semi- nary for the instruction of youth in the knowledge 394 Further Extracts, d^c. of theology, and enjoined to send their students to the city of New York, at the time appointed for opening the said seminary. Resolved, That measures be immediately taken to have all our ministers supplied with the Scrip- tures in the original tongues, and with proper helps for prosecuting the study of them. Resolved, That every minister be enjoined to pursue, in so far as it shall be applicable to his cir- cumstances, and consistent with his engagements, a course of biblical reading similar to that which is recommended in the report on the plan for the seminary, to which they are referred. Resolved, That every Presbytery be, and they hereby are directed, to devote a suitable portion of time, at least once in six months, to the investiga- tion of portions of the Original Scriptures, previ- ously selected for the purpose. That at least one of their number, taken in rotation, shall, at such meeting, deliver a critical dissertation upon some scriptural subject to be previously assigned to him; and that they keep a regular journal of their lite- rary transactions, and preserve the dissertations among their papers. The superintendents of the seminary are the Rev. Messrs. Robert Annan, John McJimsey, Alexander Proudfit, James Gray, D.D., and James Jjaurie. A LETTER THE MEMBERS ASSOCIATE-REFORMED CHURCH, RELATIVE TO A THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. A LETTER, ETC. Christian Brethren, — The printed minutes of the proceedings of the General Synod at their meeting in May last, will inform you that, through the good hand of their God upon them, they have at length succeeded in estabhshing a theological seminary. This institution, the sole end of which is to prepare for the work of the ministry young men whose hearts God hath touched, will recom- mend itself to public-spirited Christians. A slight acquaintance with the situation of our country will convince them that there is a most lamentable want of men " to labor in word and doctrine ;" especially of " workmen who need not to be ashamed." And it is most certain, that not every pious and zealous man is fit to be a builder in the house of God. They who are to instruct must be instructed. They who are to " bring out of their treasury things new and old," must have their treasury stored with old things and new. The 398 Letter relative to a priest's lips should keep knowledge; and they should seek the law at his mouth ; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. It is not seemly that one invested with such a character, and called to such functions, should be " unskilful in the word of righteousness." If he be " mighty in the scriptures," and prudent in his carriage ; living un- der the power of those truths which he preaches to others, he will " commend himself to every man's conscience ; he will feed his flock " with knowledge and understanding;" and will reflect honor upon the gospel. If, on the other hand, his attainments be slender ; if, with the exception of some plain doctrinal passages, the Bible be to him a sealed book ; if he be not able to remove ordinary scru- ples, nor to stop the mouths of gainsayers ; if serious and sensible hearers do not obtain more satisfac- tory views of divine things and the divine word, with his aid, than without it ; he may enjoy a transient popularity; he may even become the leader of an impassioned multitude ; but he will not "build up believers in their most holy faith;" he wiU not be surrounded by steady Christians whose firmness may be counted upon in the hour of trial; nor, in the end, will he fail to bring con- tempt upon himself, and, what is infinitely worse, a reproach upon the religion of Jesus Christ. None decry talents and learning in the ministry but those who, being destitute of both, " understand neither Theological Seminary. 399 what they say, nor whereof they affirm." And if they assume to be teachers themselves, it is the interest of their vanity to prevent others from rising above their ov/n level. However such men rail against literature, be assured, brethren, that an ignorant ministry is a dreadful curse. You have only to inspect the nature of the case and the his- tory of past times, to perceive its mischievous ten- dency. Yet this is the very evil to which the age inclines. You recoil at the thought of its progress ; and you ask, How shall it be arrested ? We an- swer, that while the Lord alone can teach men to speak because they believe ; and while he alone can thrust forth laborers who shall be ultimately successful, there are means within your own reach; means, the use of which you may lawfully connect with the hope of his blessing ; and of which the further neglect will bring guilt upon your con- sciences, calamity upon your churches, and it may be, ruin upon your children. The means to which we more particularly refer is, provision for the INSTRUCTION OF YOUR FUTURE MINISTERS. The' Synod, thus far, have done their part. They have seized the earliest opportunity of found- ing a seminary where youth may acquire much of that cultivation which is indispensable to a well- appointed ministry. Had their encouragement been greater, they would have adopted this mea- sure sooner ; and it is not their fault that the 400 Letter relative to a churches are not now rejoicing in its happy effects. But though they have encountered many embar- rassments ; though they have seen, v\^ith anguish, the backvi^ardness of their people in supporting their efforts ; yet they cherish strong hopes from the turn which matters have more recently taken. The liberality of Christians abroad, which has fur- nished them with an excellent Ubrary ; the reviving spirit which pervades some parts of their own body at home ; and their harmony in digesting the plan of instruction, they would consider as presages that their "labor shall not be in vain in the Lord." On perusing their "-Act relative to a Theological Seminary^' you will observe that they aim at a more extensive and sohd education for the ministry than has been usual in these states. They are sensible that their plan is at war with those loose and superficial habits which threaten the extirpa- tion of all sound learning : that some will think the period of instruction too long — that others will suppose the extent of the country requires different seminaries — and that many will view the expense as an insuperable obstacle. All these things have been anticipated. The deliberations of the Synod were never more cautious, than when occupied with the affairs of their seminary. Difficulties were carefully surveyed; and excepting a small division on a very few of the less important arti- Theological Seminary. 401 cles, you have, in their act, the expression of their unanimous voice. 1. Aware how criminal it is to trifle with those invaUiable interests which are committed to the ministry of reconcihation, they resoh^ed to inquire, not what is customarv, but what is right: to make a stand against the inroads of destructive fashion ; and to fix the education of their own youth upon a proper basis. Under such impressions they have appointed a course of studies which they hnoiv to be of the Ji?-st necessity ; and which, with the Lord's blessing, will repay the diligence of the student, and the patronage of the churches. 2. In the present relaxed state of preparation for the ministry, it is nol: unnatural that four years should appear to many an unreasonable length of time to be consumed in previous study. The an- swer is plain. Four years run rapidly b}'. Indo- lence or conceit may fret at the detention ; but the modest youth who husbands his opportunities will not find an hour to linger. Such as can form an estimate of Christian hteraturc, will pronounce the period to be short enough. Such as cannot, and are therefore incompetent judges, should submit to the opinion of those who have made the trial; and have ascertained, by sorrowful experience, how hard, often how impossible it is, after entering into the ministry, to complete those studies which ought to have been completed before. VOL. IV. 26 402 Letter relative to a •' The wants of the churches" have no force in this argument; hecause it is infinitely better for them to wait a little longer, and be well supplied, than to be condemned to spiritual penury for a series of years, by the settlement of unqualified men : and because the delay will be felt only for a year or two at first, after which, if the seminary be fed, there will be a regular succession of preachers. 3. The immense tract of country over which our congregations are scattered, and the hardship of travelling from the extremes, do certainly render it inconvenient to assemble our students in one place ; and it may be asked, why steps were not taken to meet this difficulty in the beginning? Why several seminaries are not erected in such a manner as to consult our geographical positions ? The questions are natural ; and merit respectful notice. It may be rephcd, in general, that we can- not control circumstances, but are controlled by them. And a number of them have concurred to hinder, at present, the planting of more seminaries than one. 1st. It has been a work of nine years to plant one ; and common prudence dictates that this one should be watered, and take root, and gather strength, before we think of more. The \\ bole supply will be little enough for its nourishment; and if it be distributed among a nnmber, none of them will have sufficient, and all will languish. Theological Seminary. 403 2d. At the commeacemeiit of a new system of education, it is wise to have our attention and affections concentrated : that the experiment may be fair, the plan perfected, and a model framed for future and subordinate institutions. Communities, like individuals, succeed best by doing one thing at a time, li different parts of a body which has not yet organized its strength, pursue, at once, different objects of the same kind, more toil and money will be expended, and less done to the purpose, than if the whole act together, and bring their united force to bear upon the several points of a counnon sys- tem, as their need shall direct, and their means permit. 3d. A theological seminary, without a library, is good for nothing. Every one, therefore, must have its own library. To divide that which is already in the Synod's possession, would be to de- stroy it, and misapply the bounty of their benefac- tors. The books which would be most indispen- sable to other seminaries, are precisely those which can least be spared. And to furnish every semi- nary with a library for itself, would absorb a larger capital than can be raised ; not to mention that a number of the most useful books are very scarce, and are not to be had in this country ; and fre- quently not from Europe, even were there no want of money. 4th. The advantages of several seminaries 404 Letter 7-elative to a would hardly compensate, as yet, for the additional trouble and cost. The distance from each, though certainly less, would still be great to a large por- tion of the students; and the re^/ benefit confined to a few. Perhaps, too, the disadvantages in other particulars, might overbalance the advantage of local accommodation. After all, both good and evil are magnified in prospect; and it is neither impossible nor improbable that our difficulties will be less formidable in fact than they are in specula- tion. Lastly — One seminary is now adequate, and will be adequate for some time hereafter, to the whole number of our students. When it shall cease to be so, will be the proper season for pro- jecting more. 4. The inexpediency of more seminaries than one being admitted, many may still suppose that the spot for that one has not been well selected. Cities are generally expensive, and New York is undeniably so at this moment. Young men, who could support themselves comfortably at home, or in some more retired situation, will find their resources too scanty for New York ; and many be deterred by that alone from the prosecution of their studies. The difficulty is obvious, and is one of the most serious which we have to encounter. It is not, however, insurmountable ; and there are conside- Theological Seminary. 405 rations, which, when duly weighed, may reconcile the churches to the place as well as to the plan. An effective seminar}^ must be attended with expense, wherever it be fixed ; and an expense greater than would be suspected by such as are not accustomed to the proper computations. The notion of an institution that shall cost nothins:, or but a trifle, and shall yet educate in a suitable manner, the rising ministry of a church respectable for numbers, and extending every day, is no better than a dream. Her friends, therefore, must either abandon the design altogether, and with it their own most precious interests ; or they must incur expense, and devise methods of meeting it. There is no other alternative, and it would be folly to conceal or disguise the truth. In deciding on the place, their first inquiry is, Where their object can he best obtained ? If there be a choice of situations, they will, of course, compare the advantages and disadvantages of each, with a special reference to their finances. And after the}^ have reviewed all those which would answer their purpose, they may discover, that in a place where much would be saved on some accounts, much would be lost on others; but that the difference, upon the ichole, is not so great as to justify the smallest risk of injuring their in- stitution. Reasons will suggest themselves to a reflecting 406 Letter relative to a mind, for preferring a spot among the older settle- ments. The state of society is more matured, more stable, and therefore yields not only more convenience, but also a surer rule of calculation. Pecuniary and literary aid can more easily be had, and is less Hable to interruption. Ordinances, ministers, judicatories, are more accessible. The students must be expected to bear some proportion to the population ; and it is prudent to consult the comfort of the greatest possible number. But, to whatever district your seminary be assigned, you must select for its site a country-place, or a village, or a large town or city. Without minutely ex- amining their relative pretensions, it nmy be re- marked : 1. That in either of the first two, it might be necessary to erect buildings, and to provide the whole support of the teacher, neither of which are wanted at present. Now, the interest of the capital sunk in the one, with occasional repairs, and the revenue appropriated to the other, would be more than the excess of other expenses attached to a city establishment, above those of an establishment in the country, or a village. 2. That, in the nature of things, an extra share of expense will fall upon that portion of the church which immediately encircles the seminary ; and therefore it ought to be set down in a place which will not be materially affected by such a circum- Theological Seminary. 407 stance. Were it endowed with ample funds, this augmentation would be superseded ; but in its inlVmt state is decisive ; and, in conjunction with other things, will show that the Sjnod have not been ill-advised in pitching upon New York. Such a place has advantages w^iich are worth paying for. Choice of Christian society; all sorts of literary help ; opportunities of seeing a variety of gifts and excellencies in different stations; of studying the human character under a multitude of aspects, and with little trouble, &c. ; all which are without price to an ingenuous and observant youth. Our people in New York have cherished the s'emi- nary with pccuhar affection. Their contribution, always liberal, amounted for the last year to more than double any former sum.* There is no pros- pect of its diminishing, but rather of its increase. The presence of the students will tend to keep aUve this laudable zeal, and to attract the patron- age of individuals whom God has distinguished with this world's good. Nor is it unlikely that a removal of the seminary would be followed with a greater reduction of income than of expenditure. Much being thus secured on the score of gene- ral utility, and nothing surrendered on that of economy, there can be no just ground of complaint * The aggregate of contributions to the public fund, for the year ending May, 1805, is 1380 dollars; and of this, 804 dollars are from the city of New York. 408 Letter relative to a against the existing arrangement; and it becomes the common concern to facilitate the operations of our long-vvished-for institution. Let our friends and brethren correctly under- stand what is expected. The students must apply to their studies without distraction. Some of them will require no pecuniary assistance : some must be supported in part, and some altogether. That they may not " lose the things which they have wrought," the Synod must have it in their power to say to their youth, " Be under no anxiety for your maintenance; produce what you can; and if it be not enough, we will take care of the balance. Only be sober, be diligent ; and repay in improve- ment what you receive hi money." If this be not accomplished, past efforts and liberality are thrown away ; and, humanly speaking, there is nothing now wanting to carry into effect a better system of preparation for the holy ministry than has been hitherto introduced into the United States, but a little exertion on the part of our cburches; nothing but a decent regard to some of the strongest obligations which can bind the soul of a Christian. We beseech you, brethren, by the tender mer- cies of our God; by the value which you set upon his gospel; by your sympathy with those who languish under a famine of his word ; by your regard for the spiritual welfare of your own chil- dren, when you shall have gone to give up your Theological Seminary. 409 accounts ; that you refuse not to encourage and assist the youth who step forward to consecrate themselves to the service of the Lord your Redeemer. Tliey are your property ; they are your hope. No man can tell what hlessings he may be instrumental in bringing down upon him- self, his family, his neighborhood, his country, by fostering an institution from which are to issue future ambassadors of the cross. Such institutions were among the earliest cares of the primitive and reformed churches ; and to their influence, under the sanctification of the good Spirit of your God, do you owe the soundness of your faith ; the purity of your worship ; your religious light ; that very ministry which you profess to revere and to love — nay, that divine Scripture which is in your hands. Yay from you be the base and ignoble principle, which would whisper " that you have no more to do w ith those who dedicate themselves to the ministry, than with apprentices to any other employment, till they offer themselves, already pre- pared, for your approbation." He is a singular Christian who can persuade himself that the church of God, which has a charge over every baptized infant, has no concern in the rearing of those who are to dispense to her the word of life. And far from you be the principle, equally base and ignoble, which stops the ear and closes the hand, whenever a pittance is asked for the most 410 Letter relative to a sacred use. A little from each of jou will nur- ture a seminary which, so far as human means can go, bids fair to adorn your pulpits with " burn- ing and shining lights." Yours will be the conso- lation of compliance, and yours the guilt of neglect. You may say, that "we cannot tell whether the young men whom we propose to edu- cate for the ministry, will answer our expectations; that, after they have been trained up at our expense, they may desert our connexion, or betake themselves to other professions; and, therefore, that it is profusion, and not charity, to lay out money upon such an experiment." Be it so! but, for consistency's sake, let the same doc- trine govern you in other things. Never put a plough* into the ground, because you cannot tell whether your crop may. not be blasted, and then you will lose your seed. Never send your son to school, because you cannot tell but he may abuse his knowledge to the breaking of your heart, and then it would have been better for him to be as ignorant as the beast he rides upon, and you will lose the expense of his tuition into the bargain. There is no one duty which such an objection cannot set aside. Means are ours ; events are God's. And we have no more right to expect that he will provide our churches with ministers, if we omit the appropriate means of obtaining them, than that he will clothe our fields and replenish our Theological Seminary. 411 garners, if, under pretext of trusting in his provi- dence, we never handle a plough or a sickle ! If any one pretend, that in soliciting your beneficence to their public fund, the Synod have laid schemes for oppressing or incommoding you hereafter, he is either deceived or wicked. They have freely communicated their plans; let facts interpret their motives. And when, on looking around, you behold every Presbytery under their inspection deriving benefit, directly or indirectly, from the application of their fund, pronounce for yourselves, whether they have plotted your hurt, or sought your happiness. With boldness, therefore, they appeal to you again. Thrice have they, in their judicial capacity, laid before you, on this subject, their ardent wishes founded on your own wants — in their act concerning a Synodical fund, passed May, 1796; and in their pastoral addresses of 1801 and 1802. Their recommendations have been seconded by the voice of Presbyteries and ministers ; yet it has been their mortification t© witness a strange supineness in many of their con- gregations. Will you not permit them, brethren, to augur better things ? Shall your name, year after year, be stigmatized with the reproach of withholding a trifle of your substance from a gene- rous attempt to build up the church of your God ? How does such a reluctance, in a matter involving both your honor and your privilege, consist with 412 Letter relative to a spiritual-mindedness, and " a treasure laid up in heaven !" How can you sit down under the shame of being less concerned for yourselves than are Christians at the distance of three thousand miles, whose munificence has enabled you to begin your seminary with high advantage, and left to your public spirit the light and pleasant task of carrying it on \ How can you reconcile it to your sense of justice, that a small portion of your brethren should lavish their property in bearing your burdens; while many of you, more opulent than some who have set you an example, not only decline bearing their bur- dens in turn, but even touching your own with one of your fingers ? Had all acted thus ; had all been eager to reap the profit of exertions not their own, what now had been our situation ! Some congre- gations which are settled, would have been still vacant — some vacancies that were languishing, and begin to flourish, would have been dispersed. In other places, ministers would have been worn out in extra duties, and their charges deprived of labors which they now statedly enjoy. It is as clear as the light, that in so far as our pubUc fund has been the instrument of our prosperity, those congregations and individuals who contribute not their quota, are really, though unintentionally, working for the common ruin. And if this same disposition continue, much more if it spread, the most sanguine will at length, be discouraged, and Theological Sendnai-y. 413 the most patient grow weary.* The fabric which we are striving to rear will crumble to pieces ; the hope of a skilful ministry will vanish ; and all the dismal consequences will he at the door of those who withdrew their shoulders from the yoke. If we use not flattering words, brethren, it is because we are deeply serious ; and because we are well assured, that if your seminary perish, there is no human expedient to save your churches from desolation. Here, then, is an object which, enter- ing into the essence of your social stability, prefers a claim upon your purse which you cannot inno- cently resist. In vain do you '-pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed, and the kingdom of grace advanced," if you will give nothing toward the means to which the Lord has directed for that end. We repeat it, a little from each of you is enough. Who will grudge a few miserable shil- lings once a twelvemonth, in an affair of such magnitude \ Who will be the poorer at the year's end ? or venture to insinuate that the Son of God, whose is "the earth and the fulness thereof," will remain in his debt for such a donation \ The duty is plain, the promise pointed. " Honor the * Numbers who have contributed cheerfully from the very first, are so indignant at the indifferent, not to call it the sordid, conduct of many of their brethren who are at least as deeply interested as themselves, that nothing but a sense of duty and the habit of doing praiseworthy deeds, has induced them to persevere. 414 Letter relative to a Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." Do not act, brethren, as if the word of your God were unworthy of your trust. Let it never be forgotten that he will have a share of our propertij ; and if we defraud him of our free- will offering, of the "first fruits of all our increase," he will wrest from our hands that abused wealth for which w^e do not make him an acknowleds;- meut in kind. Many a delinquency of this sort has been punished with a bad debt, or a bad crop; and no man ever gains by the commutation. The winds of heaven, the devouring insect, or a fam- ishing drought, often takes away more at a blow, than would be demanded for sacred uses in twenty years. Come then, brethren, and let us join our tribute to the temple of God. Follow up with your public spirit the token for good which we already see. Gladden the hearts of those noble youth who are very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; and who look to you as patrons and bene- factors. As the Lord hath prosiiered you, is the rule. Let the rich man rise up with his gold : and let not the widow blush for her mite. The Lord will see, and will graciously reward ; for " he loveth a cheerful giver." It is, moreover, a statute of his kingdom, that "he which sovveth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he which sovveth Theological Seminaj-y. 415 bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." Do you believe his truth? Let the proof appear in your next, and the succeeding annual returns. Not one of you will repent as having done too much, when he comes to the bed of death, and contrasts things carnal and temporal, with things spiritual and eternal. Refresh our bowels, brethren. And may the Lord himself " open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing till there be not room to receive it!" By order of the General Synod, J. M. Mason, A. Proudfit. New York, 1805. A LETTER TO THE SYNOD OF THE ASSOCIATE-REFORMED CHURCH, RESPECTING THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT NEW YORK. 1819. VOL. IV. 27 A LETTER, ETC To the Moderator of the General Sijnod of the Associate- Reformed Church. Reverend Sir, — The experience and observa- tion of fourteen years, embolden me to ask the attention of the General Synod to a hw remarks on the subject of their theological seminary. The faculties, which the Christian ministry re- quire to be developed ; the range of materials which it embraces ; their various applications ; and the readiness in which they ought always to be found, for instant use; besides the responsibility of an ambassador of God, present avocation, appallinc^ to even a resolute spirit, and grievously mistaken by those who disparage the labors, and acquisition, preparatory to its efficient exercise. The popular error on this head, and the ten- dency of things to fill the American churches with a flippant and barren ministry, have been perceived 420 Letter to the Synod respecting by the Synod, and stamped on the principal fea- tures of their plan of theological education. It is very respectfully urged on the Synod not so far to yield to clamorous circumstances, as in the slightest degree to relax their system, although it may not hitherto have been duly executed ; but to rouse all their vigor, in prosecuting the means necessary to insure its execution. The work to be performed in their seminary is too arduous for the professional talent hitherto em- ployed; an acknowledgment made, not for the purpose of reducing the work, but of impressing upon our churches the importance of more work- men. The following departments in the seminary ap- pear indispensable : 1. A department for the original Greek and Hebrew languages. It is unnecessary to dwell on this point. Every minister of sense and reflection, whether he be well versed in them or not, feels it every day of his life. He feels that no man can trust himself, as a safe expositor throughout, who is ignorant of them. A smattering knowledge is sel- dom better, and sometimes worse, than none at all ; and it is much to be deplored, that the superficial character of college education in the United States sends youth to our seminary, for the most part, uninitiated in the first principles of the Greek tongue. The consequence is, that their teacher the Theological Seminary. 421 must turn schoolmaster, and their own tunc spent in learning rudiments and words, when it ought to be employed in a critical investigation of the genius of the language itself. No method of meeting such a difficulty at the threshold has occurred, but that of a preUminary season for the exckisive study of the originals, before entering on the theological course. This department, along with the scriptural anti- quities, in so far as a reference to them is neces- sary for illustrating its phraseology, needs one professor;' but as there is little new in it, after a man has once become versed in it, it is not incom- patible with some other public engagement, and the expense will of course be less. 2. A department for biblical literature, embracing separately the subjects treated of in the Bible. Here is, in reality, the main field of instruction. Its richness, amplitude, variety, novelty, (for what student of the Bible does not constantly find in it something new ?) put into requisition all the talent, all the learning, all the skill of the preceptor ; and all the courage, curiosity, effort, patience, and per- severance of the pupil. It keeps both at uninter- mitted labor. If properly conducted, the teacher has a task always to begin, for he must adapt him- self to the different orders of minds, as they succeed each other under his inspection. It is altogether unhke the mechanical process of mere lecturing, 422 Letter to the Synod respecting which it iufinitoly surpasses, and ahnost entirely excludes. From the pressure which it lays upon the instructor, it will never become fashionable; but it is the life-blood of your system, and that which forms, and if duly kept up, is destined to form, its peculiar characteristic ; of which the un- assuming, but unutterable value, can only be gra- dually unfolded in your growing ministry. This department requires the whole time and labor of one professor, who ought to be entirely and liberally supported by the seminary, as it is not easy to find a person duly qualified ; and he must be always an ol)ject of competition. 3. A department of systematic and polemic theology. A much less difficult occupation than the other; although they ought to have a mutual understanding, and yield to each other a mutual support. It may be easily connected with a con- gregational charge. 4. A department for composition and delivery. Here the discourses of the students are to be critically reviewed, with especial reference to the accuracy, simplicity, purity, and perspicuity of their style. They are to be trained to a just and natural mode of pulpit utterance, avoiding all affectation, all the artificial precepts of the schools which tend to form rhetoricians, but not orators, especially Christian orators — all coarseness, clumsiness, and vulgaritv. Here the students are to be drilled into the Theological Seminary. 423 that most difficult but most invaluable accomplish- ment— although nearly neglected everywhere — correct reading. It is a public reproach upon the ministers of the gospel, that very fevi^ of them can read a chapter in the Bible with common pro- priety. The most barbarous pronunciation, blun- dering emphasis, and disgusting tones, perpetually assail every cultivated ear. It is not imagined that the greatest perfection in tbe art of reading or speaking can effect a spiritual change, on the human heart ; but it is a solemn duty not to exhibit the " word of life " in a form which, something like the spirit of martyrdom, is required to endure. Xhis department needs one professor, who, while the number of students is small, may, without in- jury to the institution, have another change; but should it become considerable, will find his employ- ment quite sufficient, from the multitude of its details. These are views not hastily adopted, and there- fore not lightly to be relinquished. The Synod will judge how far the strength and capacity of one individual are equal to the exertions which they demand. An allusion to personal situation is unavoidable ; I must say, that I have felt myself overwhelmed, by the utter disproportion between their magnitude and my own feebleness. Under the weight, particularly of the second department, my strength has given way, and left me with a 424 Ltettcr to the Synod respecting shattered constitution. I regret, with health im- paired, in the best of all services ; the service in which it is my wish and hope to yield up my spirit, I regret that I have done and am able to do so little, and that our little school of the prophets, which I have cherished with all my faculties and affections, must proceed for some time with lan- guid steps. The Synod will distinctly understand, that I do not pretend to encounter the whole of the labor which the just management of the insti- tution calls for; nor even so much as I formerly attempted. The experiment has been decisive, and has demonstrated that I should only cut short a hfe, probably but short at best. Nor can I undertake more than shall consist with the atten- tions due to my ministerial charge, which can be suspended no longer. They have contributed, and are willing to contribute largely to the public purse; nor would it be righteous to convert their magnanimity into an instrument of suffering; which would not fail to react, with a hurtful effi- cacy, upon the seminary itself. All I can promise, is, to take the general superintendence ; directing the students how to carry on their pursuits, and leaving the rest to God, and their own fidelity, to themselves; joining with this superintendence, instruction in the system of theology, and hearing their discourses. At present, I see nothing more to be done. It will perhaps be proper, to turn our the Theological Seminary. 425 eyes immediately to the training up, from among our own youth, one who may be equal to the first department; and there are not wanting materials in the seminary, which may very shortly be fitted up. In all events, the seminary must not stop, or it dies ; and its resurrection will be extremely im- probable, as our church is likely to die with it. Most gladly would I welcome that day, which should permit me to resign my place to younger and more healthy hands, and to see the whole arrangement, such as we owe to the kingdom of God. It would help to gild my evening horizon, and conduce to the putting off my tabernacle, with satisfaction and peace. The passing hour is the hour of action. The good Lord inspire, direct, and prosper it. J. M. Mason. Philadelphia, May 29th, 1819. A LETTER, ORIGINALLY ADDRESSED TO TUB iMEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATE-REFORMED CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA, RELATIVE TO MINISTERS' SALARIES. 1810. A LETTER, ETC. Brethren, — The ministers and elders in gene- ral sjnod assembled, considering with much anxi- ety the state of the churches committed to their care by the Lord Jesus, and inquiring into the means by which his glory may be most extensively promoted in the advancement of those churches in knowledge, faith, and holiness, have judged it proper to address you respecting a duty which it belongs to you to perform, and the performance of which has the most beneficial influence on those objects, while the neglect of it is attended with consequences of the most injurious and ruinous tendency. The most melancholy bodings press on the mind when we behold a large portion of the talents which the Head of the church has be- stowed on her ministry for her edification, unoccu- pied, languishing, and expiring. This, brethren, is too common an occurrence in our day. A fault 430 A Letf.ei' relative to there must be somewhere ; perhaps m different quarters. But there can be no doubt whatever, that one great cause of this evil is the inadequate support afforded to ministers of the gospel, and particularly the tardy and irregular manner in which it is not unfreqcntly furnished. The effects of this ill-judged parsimony are alarming. When the ministers of the gospel find it impossible to devote themselves to reading, study, and research — when, hke the Levites in the days of Nehemiah, they have fled to their fields to labor for their bread, instead of waiting on the service of the sanctuary — the inevitable consequence is that leanness and poverty must mark their public min- istrations. It cannot be otherwise ; people deceive themselves if they imagine that their minister can bring out of his treasure things new and old — that he can be a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth — on any other terms than an habitual and vigorous application to the study of divine things, and that too under the favorable circumstances of compe- tent talents and a competent library. It is a fixed law of nature's God that a man, to be an intelli- gent instructor of others, nmst first be a diligent student himself; and no man can be cither the one or the other, unless it be the exclusive busi- ness of his life. The habit of pouring out an harangue of trite and indigested truths, enlivened Ministers Salaries. 431 occasionally perhaps with flashes of original genius, will not long answer the purpose of edifi- cation to any Christian congregation. To train up babes into men and fathers in the church of God, and feed them with strong meat, a minister must be mighty in the scriptures; not merely to cite them by rote, but to interpret them according to the genuine meaning of the Spirit of their Author, and to apply their doctrines for the refu- tation of existing errors, the support of contested truth, and the general regulation of Christian con- duct. It is not a few hours snatched from secular employments and cares that will suffice for these things. Besides, the very routine of ministerial service, in catechizing, visiting the sick, attending courts of judicature, engrosses a large portion of a minister's time. It is demonstrably certain that no church ever can be well served, whose ministry is not exclusively devoted to their work. We exhort you, therefore, brethren, that nothing be omitted on your part to secure this appropria- tion of your minister's labors. It is neither just, nor equitable, nor possible, that you should receive the whole of their labors, unless you support them liberally. In particular be scrupulously punctual in fulfilling your contracts with them. Give them no reason to suspect you of indifference to their comfort, or of trifling with your obligations. This is a matter of mere common justice. Not only 432 A Letter relative to has a righteous God pronounced a wo to him that useth his neighbor's service without wages, but he has made tbc instantaneous pavnient of the debt a matter of special statute, Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant — at his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down npon it. Does God interest himself for the servants of men, and shall he not much more interest himself i'or his own servants, who serve him in the gospel of his Son? Want of punctuality in the payment of niinis- ters' salaries, is well known to be a grievous evil, too generally prevalent, and while it involves them in the necessity of violating their obligations and promises, and thus exposes the profession to re- proach, it ultimately falls heaviest on the people themselves. The minister gets chagrined with his people, and they with him , each justifies omis- sion of duty by alleging the neglect of the other. Love cools, mutual reproach ensues, and an im- bittered separation is often the result. Brethren, let no ground of complaint on this subject exist for a moment. It is unworthy of the Christian name ; it ought to be beneath you as men. Let it never be heard that the church of Christ keeps back the bread of those who feed her \\\i\\ the bread of life. But, brethren, not only be punctual in discharg- ing your contracts, but see that when discharged Ministers Salaries. 433 thej furnish an adequate means to your ministers to devote themselves to your service. You are entitled to the full benefit of all their talents, and exact your right with rigor. You ought not to be content with half service. Yet more than half service cannot be rendered when a man is obliged to devote his time and cares to secular pursuits. It is by no means even wished that gospel ministers should be rendered a rich body of men. And if the wish were entertained, a knowledge of the principles which operate on moral society would render every hope of realizing it chimerical. A ministry called and supported by their congrega- tions never can be rich. The office is too honor- able, and has too many precious consolations and glorious hopes connected with it, ever to be pro- ductive of wealth. 'J'hese advantages are them- selves an essential part of a minister's compensa- tion ; and for them he gives up the prospects of civil offices and honors, of wealth and ease. But he ought to be able to live among his people in a decent rank, to support a family, to educate his children, to pursue the studies becoming his pro- fession, to bear the expenses incident to his attend- ance on courts of judicature, and to exercise hos- pitality, which the Divine Spirit has entered in the list of ministerial virtues. Such a support as will gain these ends is adequate, and everything less is inadequate. VOL. IV. 28 434 A Leitcr relative to It is an institntion of the Lord Jesus, that the gospel ministry should be supported by those whom they serve, as much as it was an institution of Moses that the Priests and Levitcs should be sup- ported by those whom they served. And when he sent forth his disciples, he commanded them to make no provision for their expenses on the prin- ciple that the laborer is worthy of his hire. '* The Lord hath ordained (says Paul) that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." It is the will of God, that if any work not, neither should he eat; that every man who laboreth should eat of the fruit of his labor, and that his ministry should be supported by their ministerial labors. It is on the due observation of his own institutions that his blessing is to be expected. It is our wish to recommend this subject to the special notice of our vacancies. Let them take measures to be prepared for the support of a future ministry. A population increasing with unexam- pled rapidity, creates a demand for an increase of gospel ministers far beyond what is generally con- ceived. Many who may feel an inclination to devote themselves to the service of God in the gospel of his Son, will be disheartened if tliey have reason to beheve that only the shreds of their time and talents can be occupied in that service. On the other hand, we do believe that if a reason- able prospect is held out that when young men Ministers' Salaries. 435 shall have expended then* patrimony on their edu- cation, and shall have acquired those hterarj habits which disqualify for secular pursuits, they w^ill enjoy a life appropriated to the duties of their selected station, it will fix many a wavering reso- lution. Brethren, the glory of the Lord Jesus, your own edification, peace, and comfort, the stability and extension of the church of the living God, are deeply involved in the duties which have been recommended to you. We hope you will duly weigh them ; and may the Lord direct you in this, and in all matters relating to his glory and your own edification. REPORT HELATlVn TO THK COURSE OF INSTRUCTIOJNi AND DISCIPLINE IN COLUMBIA COLLEGE, presented to the board of trustees, Feb. 28, 1810. REPORT, ETC. It appears to your Committee, that the primary principle of all sound education, viz.: the evolution of faculty and the formation of habit, although deplorably neglected in most seminaries, ought to be so thoroughly incorporated in the college system, and even amalgamated with its very ele- ments, as to render progress through the classes, without due regard to it by both teacher and pupil, altogether impracticable. If the plan be so constructed as to require ability and diligence, the want of either of these qualifications in the teacher, will betray itself in the embarrassment of his department; and the want of either of them in the pupil, will be discovered by his habitual failure in duties, which a reasonable share of both would have fitted him to. perform. Your Commit- tee cannot for a moment suppose, that it is the intention of the Board to try that most fruitless and mischievous experiment — the experiment of 440 Report relative to Instruction and educating cither the naturally stupid, or the incu- rably idle. A volume could not display the mag- nitude of the injuries inflicted upoh letters, upon religion, upon morals, upon social prosperity under every form, through the protection granted to in- capacity and sloth, by a timid indulgence or a chimerical hope. It is, therefore, indispensable that the public should see, and youths themselves feel, that future Students must both have faculties to cultivate, and industry to labor in their cultiva- tion, or that Columbia College will be no place for them. With a sufficient reserve for improvements which the vigilance of skilful instructors may point out in the practical details, your Committee think, that there ought to be an undeviating adhe- rence to the following principles, and their general application : 1. Exactness. By which is understood, the learning perfectly what is professed to be learned at ail. This can never be attained without attention and patience — causing the subject to pass and repass, in close and frequent examination, till it become familiar, and leave an indelible impression on the mind. The exciting of sych a habit of attention, as it is the first duty, so it is the greatest difficulty, and the most important victory of an able teacher, and the cardinal secret of sound education. To Discipl'uie in Columbia College. 441 produce it, he must insist, peremptorily and inex- orably, upon exactness. His pupils will shrink, they will solicit, they will complain ; they may feel a momentary despondence; but there is an elas- ticity in youth which cannot be long depressed ; and a generosity which the firmness of authority, softened by a well-adapted soothing, can work up to astonishing efforts. This observation is fully verified in the history of the great schools in Eng- land, where accuracy is never dispensed with. The contrary course terminates in the worst effects. L'et a lad ''get along," as the phrase is, " pretty well" — let his ideas on a point, or his acquaintance with a subject, which he is required to master, be only general and confused — ;let him conjecture, where he should be certain ; let his preceptor almost put the answer into his mouth, when he hardly knows which way to guess — and he is bribed to intellectual sloth; the season in which he should fix habits of discrimination, as well as of prompt acquisition, passes by ; and though he bring to the college good native powers, he will leave it with a mind inert and unproductive. Let the idea, then, of a medium between scholarship and no scholarship, be for ever banished. Let the ideas of doing a thing, and doing it well, be identified in the minds of both professor and student; and let the doing a thing by halves be equivalent with not doing it at all. 442 Re/poi't relative to Instruction and 2. Punctuality. By which your Committee mean, that the performance of all exercises should be limited to a certain time, and then he rigorously exacted. The teacher will, of course, take care that they be both reasonable and sufficient. Under these conditions, nothing but a physical impossi- bility, or such a hindrance as cannot be at all referred to indolence or evasion, should excuse for non-performance. Exactness is not to be expected without painful labor. Labor will not be regular and ardent without the hard pressure of necessity. Let it be ascertained that there is no escape ; that the thing must be done, and it will be done. Such an urgency upon the mind- disarms temptations to trifling, and often to vice ; keeps it bent on the period and the matter of duty; throws it into strong action, and, perhaps, which is still better, into a sort of agony; hence spring the finest, the most magnificent effusions of human genius. There exists no more fatal enemy to diligence, improve- ment, and excellence, than the persuasion that " there is time enough." 3. Progression. By which your Committee would express a gradation of exercises, from easier and shorter, to more difficult and ample, according to the power of performance. During the whole course of education the youth- ful faculties are to be kept upon the stretch. As they dcvelope themselves and gain strength, they Discipline in Columbia College. 443 are to be employed in work demanding severer tension, and more dauntless vigor. As in mathe- matical science, every preceding proposition is an instrument in the demonstration of those which follow ; so, in all the branches of education, every- thing which, before being learned, is an end, be- comes, when learned, a means, and is to be applied, in its turn, to the remoter and abstruser investiga- tions. On no account, therefore, ought students in the more advanced classes to spend their time in those elementary studies which occupy begin- ners. It is the impoverishment of intellect — it is a waste of life — it never can be necessarv, unless the necessity be created by some mismanagement in the system. In conformity with these general principles, it is the conviction of your Committee, that the hours spent by the classes with the professors, should be chiefly devoted to examination. It is the duty of th& professor to use his information, not so much for the purpose of displaying it before his pupils, as to direct and assist them in getting information for themselves — to employ his sagacity and address in eliciting their faculties, and inuring them to the habit of thinking. The experience of different countries has shown, that regular attendance upon lectures, and profound admiration of the lecturer, are perfectly compatible with ignorance, with lazi- ness, and with stupidity. If^as Dr. Goldsmith ob- 444 Iic])ort relative to Instruction and serves, there are many authors who "write through a vokimc without thinking through a page," there are also innumerable instances of youth going through a four years' course, and, as it is absurdly styled, " fmishing their education," without having tlieir powers, even for once, put fairly to the test. In acting upon the plans suggested by your Committee, the instructions of the professors should be adjusted to each other, so far as the nature of their respective branches shall permit. This can be done to great extent and advantage by the pro- fessor of rhetoric and belles lettres, and the profes- sor of languages. The classical, which are the principal studies in both our own and the learned tongues, are natural allies and easily associated. The professor of languages should point out, eluci- date, and endeavor to make his pupils undej-stand^ those unrivalled specimens of taste, of eloquence, and of wisdom, with which the ancient writers abound ; and the professor of rhetoric and belles lettres should refer for examples to those writers particularly who arc studied under the professor of languages, comparing them with each other, with the best writers in our own language, and especially with the inspired writings. To exemplify : When there occurs in the lesson of the day a splendid description, the student must be taught to mark the selection of circumstances — the order of Discipline in Columbia College. 445 arrangement — the grouping of images — the choice of words. When there occurs a fine and spirited criticism, as in every page of Longinus, to thoroughly com- pr^iend his sense, and (o trace the correspondence between his principles and his illustrations. When there occurs an instance of able disqui- sition, as in the orations of Demosthenes, the Stu- dent should be obliged not only to translate his words, but to analyze his argument. The same principles, properly modified, should pervade the whole course. In this manner we shall cultivate faculty ; and our College will send forth taste, eloquence, and strong reasoning powers. She w^ill pour out a stream of matured intellect, instead of trifling, as the American colleges have been too much accus- tomed to do, by ringing the changes upon the alphabet and syllables of their classical horn-book. Your Committee are sensible that this method is not calculated to impart immediate eclat to the professors ; but they are equally sensible that it will render the College incomparably more useful than she has ever been ; and that it will eventually shed lustre upon both those who teach and those who learn. They are also sensible, that it requires no ordi- nary degree of understanding, of dignity, of taste, of diligent and patient labor in the Professors ; but 446 Report relative to Instruction and they judge also, that uo exertion is too arduous, and no sacrifice too costly, to insure the highest display of these professional virtues, ' Your Committee consider the course of instruc- tion, according to the preceding views, to b^, in reality, the disci^iline of the College ; but they feel ihe necessity of some strong motives to en- force compliance on the part of the Students. These motives they conceive to be all comprised in that broad principle — appeal to a sense of char- acter. For giving to this appeal its just influence, they are of opinion that the system of examination slioidd he improved, and should be accompanied with certain coercions which operate upon effort through the imagination. The improvement which they would suggest, consists chiefly in rendering the examinations, especially the one which closes an academical year, most solemn and splendid ; so that the figure which a youth makes shall be exhibited, and the rank which he deserves shall be proclaimed, under circumstances the most impressive and interesting to his mind. To effect this end, it is requisite that he and not his Preceptor, draw the attention of tlie assembly — that he stand or fall, absolutely upon his own merits ; and, without impairing the tenderness proper toward an agitated, which is fre- quently the noblest spirit, that both the aid and the Discipline in Columbia College. 447 reproofs common and needful in the stated class be entirely withdrawn. The bare expectation of such an analysis of his capacity and acquirement, will more powerfully affect him, and be a more regular and efficient stimulus, than all the fines which have ever been incurred. But it will be necessary to go a step further, and deepen the impressions to be thus produced, by adequate rewai'ds diid punishments. These maybe, ] . Promotion from one class to another. The rule to be, that no Student shall, upon any consid- eration, be allowed to advance from a lower to a higher class, without being master of the previous studies. Your Committee hold this rule to be of un- speakable moment. The practice of carrying boys along, year after year, as a matter of course, without regard to their improvement, or with so slight a regard to it, as proves in fact to be merely nominal, is worse than trifling. It is the death- blow to solid education, and the destruction of unnumbered youth. Nothing but ignorance, or disregard of the springs of human action, will engender or will embrace the notion, that a just ardor and emulation can be excited or maintained, when the idler and the blockhead are linked with the lad of industry and talent, during a four year's probation, and at the end of it, are admitted alike to academical honors. To produce and preserve 448 Report relative to Instruction and such ardor and emulation, a strong distinction must be instituted and kept up between those Students who acquit themselves well, and those who acquit themselves ill. The cause of defi- ciency (which does not include the effect of perturbation arising from awe and anxiety) is, in the judgment of your Committee, perfectly imma- terial. The object of the College is to educate. Studies which precede, are only an introduction to studies which follow. Her course must be conducted on the assumption that they are mas- tered in their place. Whether it be from incapa- city, from negligence, from dislike, from absence, from sickness, the want of preliminary acquisition must effectually preclude access to a higher class. Even the case which most excites commiseration and pleads for indulgence, viz. deficiency occa- sioned by sickness, should have no influence upon the rule or upon its execution. The general fact is the same; and a boy's unfitness is not the less unfit because it was his misfortune to have been sick. If the spirit of the coarse be cherished, he cannot get on in a superior class without a pres- sure which, instead of onl} urging him, may crush him altosether. It would be absurd tenderness to break him down with mental hibor, because he has already been broken down by the hand of disease ; not to insist that the exception itself is Uablc to extensive abuse. The Board will de- Discipline in Columbia College. 449 mand no proof that it is a very possible thing for a lad to get sick in order to save his reputation. Advancement, therefore, from one class to another, must be, in itself, an argument and a reward of merit. This association, in the minds of both the pupil and the public, appears to your Committee to be of essential moment, insomuch as, without it, the force of other inducements will be impaired; and, if the rule which is to create it be broken through, the College will inevitably relapse. The chief difficulty may be anticipated in the end of the first, or Freshmen year. But this will probably be far greater in prospect than in experience. For if the statute respecting admission be faithfully enforced, such a mass of natural incompetency will be excluded, as to leave comparatively but little further obstruction which shall not arise from neg- ligence. And the examination at the expiration of the first half year, will be an admonition which shall render the offender without excuse. As an appendage to this rule, your Committee would observe, that a practice, of which an exam- ple is stated in the Report of the Faculty of Arts to this Board on the 14th instant, viz. the allowing boys to attend and study along with a class they were unfit to enter, with a view of quahfying them- selves for entrance at a subsequent examination, must be absolutely interdicted. The impropriety is so glaring, that your Committee are surprised it VOL. IV. 29 450 Report relative to Instruction, Sfc. ever should have existed. For it is self-evident, that, if these extra-students can go along with the class, they w^ere not unfit for entrance ; and if they were unfit for entrance, they cannot go along vs^ith the class. Either, then, the studies of the class must be lowered to them, or they must be put to studies to which, by the very terms of the represen- tation, they are unequal. In the one case they are sacrificed to the class — in the other, which is still worse, the class is sacrificed to them ; and if this double classification be permitted, a principle is sanctioned which will speedily evade every possi- ble precaution. The principle to be chiefly regarded in all criminal jurisprudence, is less the severity than the certainty of punishment. A Student should there- fore know, that dispensation with academical law, or connivance at escape from merited censure, are out of the question. AN A D D E E S S DELIVERED AT THB ORGANIZATION OF THE FACULTY or DICKINSON COLLEGE, January 15, 1822. ADDRESS ETC. Gentlemen of the Trustees, and respected Auditors: I ADDRESS you this day under circumstances of peculiar delicacy and difficulty. Dickinson Col- lege, which had long languished, and at last expired, is about being revived again. It comports with neither my inclination nor design, to institute insidious inquiries into the causes of its former failure. With great and good men you were favored in more auspicious times. For depth of learning, for accuracy of information, for splendor of wit, the name of Dr. Nesbitt will long be remembered ; and the memory of his successors, who followed him, although it must be confessed, hand imssibus cequis, will be reverenced and revered, while piety is honored in Carlisle. Many causes conspire to elevate and depress seminaries of learning, without great personal merit on the one hand, or personal demerit on the other. Over the vicissitudes which have happened 454 Addj-ess delivered at the Organization to this one, it would answer no good purpose to dwell ; and it would savor too much of a vanity, which would but ill become those who arc now entrusted with its management, to make boastful professions, and encourage high expectations of its future progress. Their labors have already been too highly appreciated, their powers have, perhaps, been too much applauded. The country has been taught to expect more from them than their talents and industry shall probably be found to justify ; and they will have reason to think themselves happy above the common condition of men in their situ- ation, if they shall not altogether disappoint the public anticipation. The revival of a decayed institution being much more difficult than the establishment of a new one, as the resurrection of a dead body is more arduous, and certainly more uncommon, than the production of a living one; and as all the success, humanly speaking, will depend upon the plan to be pursued, it may be due to the occasion to say a few words on a subject, on which every body talks confidently, and few think correctly, while the million prate without thinking at all, — the subject of education. Education, if I mistake not, contemplates three objects, the evolution of faculty, the formation of liahils, and the cultiva- tion of manners. I. The evolution of faculty. — This of course of the Faculty of Dickinson College. Abb implies that there is faculty to be evoh^cd. So, that hke all created power, edacation must have its materials from the hand of the Creator. Itself creates nothing. It only brings out quahties which pre-existed. It is a manufacture, and, like all other manufactures, must have the raw material to work upon, or it can do nothing. Many well meaning people imagine that it is in the power of teachers to do everything; and hard measure do they give them for not working miracles — for not converting a booby into a lad of genius. My frieiids, you must not expect that we shall do what the Almighty God has not done. That we shall furnish brains where our pupils naturally are with- out them. Ex nihilo, niJiil Jit ; whatever be the zeal and efforts of the instructor. If you look for bricks, your boys must bring the strau'. " Pray, sir," said a gentleman to another, who complained that his sons, who were indeed not of the race and lineage of Solomon, had not the advantage of (arly education, "Pray, sir, why cannot you give to those bricks," pointing to an opposite pile, 'the hardness and polish of marble?" "Be- cause they are bricks, and work at them for ever, they will be bricks still." Let a boy make the tour of all the Colleges in the land or out of it, if nature made him a dunce, a dunce he will remain, with the only difference of exchanging his igno- rance for impertinence. I know no more thank- 456 Addi-ess delwered at the Organization less and desperate experiment, than an attempt to educate the naturally stupid. It may well enough consort with the vocation of a pedant, who, provided he has a head to hammer upon, is well enough satisfied ; but it is grief, and misery, and purgatory, to a man of any sense or feeling. Persons with uncouth and rugged minds would be employed far better in following the plough, drawn by their more intelligent horses, than in making themselves ridiculous by endeavoring to obtain a liberal education. At the same time it must be acknowledged that the seeds of natural ability are pretty equally distributed, and that fine minds are often lost for want of culture. " Full many a gem, of purest ray serene. The darJc, unfathomed caves of ocean hear , Full many a flower is horn to blush unseen, And u'astc its sweetness on the desert air." Yes, among these lads, who know no other use for their limbs than felling the forests, and no other for their activity of mind and body than catching the wild turkey, the pheasant, or the deer, there are some master spirits who need nothing but cul- tivation to bring them forth into their peculiar action — who contain the rudiments of the states- man's skill and the patriot's fire, and may, accord- ing to their places, become the Washingtons, the Ilamiltons, and the Franklins of future days. of the Facility of Dickinson College. 457 There are among these simple rustics men who, in former ages would have '* Wielded at will the fierce democracy, And fulniined over Greece to Macedon, And Artaxerxes' throne." O could we but light up these chosen spirits, these minds which can balance themselves, and millions of other men! Could Dickinson present, among her sons, an array hostile, terrible, destruc- tive, to all the legions of infidelity and misrule, she might well hold up her head amid the seminaries of the nation, and receive their homage, not less freely granted than richly merited. But to return to the practical point. Faculty is not to be evolved without painful effort. With those young men who go to a place of education as the other idlers frequent a watering place where they may saunter away their time out of their parents' observation, and have nothing to do but amuse themselves and dash away as fine fellows, we wish and hope to have no acquaintance. The College ought to be, and by God's assistance shall be, a place of ivork. Let no idlers, no mimic- ries, no mockeries of students disgrace our classes or pollute our walls. Should such unhappily creep in, we trust that in a very short time we shall show them out. Our great business is to keep the youth- ful mind under a pretty constant but not an unrea- 458 Address delivered at the Organization son able pressure — such a pressure as will insure tolerable accuracy. Let a lad " get along," as the phrase is, " pretty well" — let his ideas on a subject " which he is required to master be only general -and confused — let his preceptor almost put the an- swer into his mouth when he hardly knows which way to guess — and he is bribed to intellectual sloth. The season in which he should fix habits of dis- crimination, as well as of prompt acquisition, passes by, and though he bring to the College good native powers, he will leave it with a mind inert and unproductive. The idea, then, of a medium between scholarship and no scholarship must be for ever banished. The ideas of doing a thing and doing it icell, must be identified in the minds of both teacher and pupil, and the idea of doing a thing by halves be equivalent with that of not doing it at all. It is manifest that, upon such a plan, the pupil must, after all, be in a great degree his own in- structor, and if he will not act upon this plan, all the power in creation cannot educate him. It is ours to watch, to guide, to direct him, to keep him from wasting the talents which God has given him. Further than this we cannot go. The main con- cern is still in his own hand. A habit of close application, which can be acquired only by his own industry, is the most precious fruit of a solid educa- tion. The quantity which a young man learns at of the Faculty of Dickinson College. 459 College is next to nothing in the business of hfe. Let him get the habit of close attention, of painful and persevering appHcation, and I will freely com- pound for the loss of all his College learning ; and be little concerned if I even knew that he should make no use of it during the rest of his life. Yet to this habit of painful and steady attention, a skillful instructor can contribute much. A great deal can be done by enforcing punctuality. By which I mean "that the performance of all exercises should be limited to a certain time both sufficient and reasonable, and then be rigorously exacted. His pupils will shrink, they will solicit, they will complain. They may feel a momentary de- spondence ; but there is in youth an elasticity which cannot be long depressed, and a generosity which the firmness of authority, tempered by a well-adapted soothing, can work up to astonishing efforts. This is, therefore, a point upon no con- sideration to be given up. Labor will not be regular and ardent without the hard pressure of necessit}'. Let it be ascertained that there is no escape — that the thing must be done, and it will be done. Such an- urgency upon the mind disarms temptations to trifling, and often to vice, keeps it bent on the matter and the period of duty, throws it into a strong action,' and perhaps, which is still better, into a sort of agony. Hence spring the finest and most magnificent etTusions of human 460 Address delivered at the Organization genius. There exists no more fatal enemy to dili- gence, improvement, and excellence, than the no- tion that there is time enough." II. I have said that education contemplates the formation of haVit. By this I understand not merely intellectual habits, but those which entwine themselves with the moral character, and exert an influence upon all the dignity and happiness of future life. It is no small libel upon some seminaries, and not the less so for being true, that youth there learn so many things which they should not learn, and that all faults are venial if the understanding be well disciplined. I cannot conceive any greater opprobrium upon a seminary than that a student should become vicious, as in general intellect he becomes enlightened. To have the places of edu- cation mere reservoirs of immorality, what can be more shocking ? To have them, on the contrary, sources of pure, refined, and exalted virtue, what can more contribute to the happiness of parents, to the peace of the surrounding neighborhood, to the glory of the land \ On this, which is a large theme, I shall briefly advert to two.habits, which, though of apparently minor importance, mingle themselves with all the duties and occasions of life. 1. Sudordination to authority. T regret to say, that in all the departments of society, from the pa- rental control to that of the government, this is held of the Faculty of Dickinson College. 4G1 by onr youth in too little esteem. Their ambition, very early evinced, is to be manly and to be free. They are therefore, prone to spurn restraint, and to take their own way ; esteeming that to be a no- ble spirit which acknowledges no superior ; and that to be true liberty which follows its own plea- sures. That the prevalence of such a temper should produce wide-spreading mischief is mani- fest to every sound thinker ; and often to the youth themselves, when it is too late to undo the conse- quences. In the meantime it militates alike against the very constitution of our nature — against the most express commandments of God, and against those principles of action which, at all times and in every place, but, from peculiar causes, in the present day and in our own countrj-, are necessary to the order of society and the happiness of indi- viduals. It militates against the very constitution of our nature. It is not for nothing; it is for benign and wise purpose, that our Creator has determined we should come into the world utterly feeble and helpless. The first friend whom the infant recog- nizes is his mother. To her tenderness, her watch- fulness, her patience, he probably owes more than to the kindness of any of his species. Under her gentle auspices, the first buddings of his rational nature begin to unfold. To her is allotted the de- lightful province of teaching " the young idea iiow 462 Address delivered at the Organization ^' to shoot" — of moulding the heart — of cherishing all its amiable and generous affections — of storing it with the "sweet charities of hfe" — of leading it in fihai piety to God the Sovereign good. The rudi- ments of many a character, distinguished for virtues honored both on earth and. in heaven, can be traced to the nursery and the lap. O most charming employment ! rich compensation for the seclusion, the anxieties, the pains, to which the sex is destined! O most refreshing abatement of the sorrows of that cup which has been assigned to woman for her priority in transgression ! Then comes the father, appointed by the divine mandate to be the head of the domestic estab- lishment. His family is his kingdom; his children are his subjects; and he is the governor in his own house. These young subjects are submitted to his rule; he knows best, at least better than they, what is for their good. His authority is to be their reason for many, for most things, while they are quite young. And should they prove refractory, his superior physical force can, and should, constrain their submission. If, therefore, hotli parents perform their duty, their children, notwithstanding the dreadful drawback of human depravity, will generally grow up trained to obe- dience. Their habits will be incorporated into their character. They cannot become rude and disorderly without violating all the sense of deco- of the Fdculty of Dickinson College. 463 ram and gratitude ; and breaking through, besides all their early habits. The common sense of mankind is in accordance with all this. A rough, surly, ungovernable, boy, there is nothing more common than to call an unnatural child. Thus are children, by ihe very condition of their being, made fit subjects for order, which is "Heaven's first law." And he who requites his parents' care by vicious courses ; by giving himself up to the ser- vice of iniquity which is the essential disorder^ though he should be one of the "fairest spirits" that ever "lost heaven," and should be plausible and seducing as Belial himself, deserves no other appellation than that of a monster. The spirit of insubordination, moreover, militates against the most express commands of God himself His commandments are in unison with the con- stitution of his world. From the highest to the lowest, their tendency is to promote' order. His very controversy with sin and sinners turns exactly upon this point, whether He shall govern his own creation, or they shall do as they please. And, therefore, there is no regulation of human conduct prescribed with more peremptoriness, and under greater variety of forms, than obedience to law. This broad injunction covers the whole ground of our social relations — " Children, obey your pa- rents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord." The admonition is addressed to them 464 Address delivered at the Organization when they are of years to reflect and succcssfally to resist. No thanks to you, young people, if you obey when you cannot, and dare not, disobey. Everlasting reproach be to your parents if they permit such early insubordination. But when you are grown to have some understanding of your own — when your physical strength enables you to defy both mother and father, then the voice from the excellent glory speaks unto you : " My son, receive the instruction of your father," and adds, with unutterable tenderness, " despise not thy mo- ther ivhen she is okV' So also with respect to servants : " Servants be obedient to your masters according to the flesh." So hkewise with respect to political government : " Put them in mind to obey magistrates. Submit yourselves to every ordi- nance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme, or to governors, as unto those that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well." A young man, therefore, who cherishes a temper of disobedience towards his superiors, plants him- self down in a path where the machinery, esta- blished by his Maker, must go, and will infallibly crush him to atoms. Once more. This spirit of insubordination militates against those principles of action which at all times and in every place, but especially in our own day and country, are necessary to the peace of society and to the happiness of of the Faculty of Dickinson College. 465 individuals, I shall waive the first part of this proposition for the sake of the second. We live in a republican country. Its means of keeping up good government are entirely moral. The government of force it rejects, as fit only for slaves. What, then, shall become of the public order, if our youth, who are shortly to be the governors, cherish a spirit of disorder? What of repubhcan government, and of our country, which has been called " the world's last hope V Wherein shall we be able to compare with the governments of Europe, which we term despotic, if we ourselves exhibit a spirit of misrule, and hasten, by our own imprudence, the approach of that day when the coercion of the bayonet shall be necessary to bring us to our senses ? 2. There is another habit of immense value in all the concerns of life. I mean the proper em- * ployment and distribution of time. Of time, more precious than rubies, and of which, of all the three score and ten years which form the hmit of by far the greater proportion of men upon earth, only the present moment is our own. Young people always calculate upon futurity, and almost always neglect the passing hour ; that is, they speculate upon that in which they have no interest, and squander away that in which they have. It would terrify men be- yond the power of expression, would they reahze that the "breath in their nostrils" is all that they VOL. IV. 30 466 Adchess delivered at the Organization can claim ! that the present pulsation of their hearts gives them no assurance that they shall have a pulsation more! Yet upon this brittle, uncertain tenure hangs their computation for both w^orlds ! How immense, then, the importance of learning to make the most of what they have ! How can that be learned more effectually than by having the intervals of time filled up; and a constant pressure upon the mind to make every one of them tell. Idleness is universally the parent of vice; and it is one of the most fruitful sources of juvenile corrup- tion, that they have so many hours in which, they have nothing to do. Your own famous Rit- tenhouse used to say, that he once thought health the most precious of all human possessions ! " Is it not?" exclaimed an astonished visitor. "What, then, is it?" "Time!" exclaimed the sage; " Time !" Instead, therefore, of having a great deal of time loose upon their hands, youth are mflst kindly and wisely dealt with, by their having none, or next to none. And of how much value it will be hereafter to acquire the habit of being always husy, let those determine who are the most active and efficient men in the various walks of public and private industry. 3. I have said that education includes the cultivation of manners. I mean by manners all those lighter things in conduct, which though they of the Faculty of Dickinson College. 467 do not occupy tlie rank of morals, do yet belong to the embellishments and ornaments of life. I hardly know how it has happened, that a "Scholar" is become a common term for every- thing unpolished and uncouth. Some men indeed, by the greatness of their genius and the immen- sity of their erudition, have attained a sort of privileged exemption from the common courtesies of society. But the misery is, that the same exemption is claimed by those who have only rude- ness, which they mistake for genius ; and disre- gard of civility, which passes with them for erudi- tion. Thus if scholars are sometimes awkward and absent, every awkward, inattentive creature, calls himself a scholar. Just as, to use a compari- son of the late Mr. Gouverneur Morris, "because statesmen have been called knaves, every knave should, of course, suppose himself a statesman." Certain, however, it is, that no young men have enjoyed the reputation of being ill-bred, unman- nerly, and vulgar, more than Students of Col- leges. How is this \ Is there anything in the retreats of the muses to cherish ferocity ? Do men necessarily become brutes, when the world gives them credit for becoming philosophers ? Does the acquisition of science, especially moral science, involve the destruction of decency ? So that after a young man has left College laden with all its honors, he has again to be put to school, in 468 Report relative to the Organization practical life, before he can be fit for the company of gentlemen and ladies! I blush to think that the place, which of all others, is supposed to teach a young man manners, is the army. That the kindness, the courtesy, the chivalry of life, should be associated with the trade of blood ! That the pistol and the dagger should be the measure of morals and of politeness with gentlemen : and that when they have trampled under their feet every law of God and man; and all that is dear to human happiness, and ought to be of high account in human society, is made the sport of momentary passion, they should still be allowed to pass for men of breeding and honor! There is something rotten in the state of Denmark ! The old adage, though not true in the extent to which it has been carried, is yet true in a great degree, " Ingenuas didicisse fideliter, artes, JEmollit mores, nee sinit esse feros." Let the "-molles mores' of the sons of Dickin- son show that they have faithfully studied the '■'■artes ingenuas." This intellect it is true cannot be evolved; nor these habits formed, nor these manners cultivated, without exact government. Let not my young friends be startled by the terms exact government. I do not mean the government of brute force, nor of the Faculty of Dickinson College. 469 the government of mere stern authority. I know that these methods have been sometmies tried, and have ahvajs failed ; and I scruple not to say, ought always to fail. Some men have imagined the youth of our country to be naturally ferocious, and have applied to them the same sort of means as they would have applied to an intractable beast. Some men have again supposed, that there is no way of supporting their authority, but by distance, by austerity, by menace. I am neither disap- pointed, nor displeased, at their complete discom- fiture. And I am free to confess that if there be not something in the character and carriage of the governor which, of its own accord, invites confidence and ensures respect, all artificial substi- tutes will speedily prove their insufficiency. With respect to the accusation which has fre- quently been brought against our youth, of their being more untoward and unruly than youth of other countries, at their age and in their circum- stances, I must take the liberty to call this a mere calumny. And must say further, that when such conduct has been evinced, in any considera- ble degree, the fault has been at least as much in the governors as in the governed. I have been young myself, and have not forgotten my youthful feelings. I never could find in my heart, nor see in my fellows, the smallest disposition to act with any contumely towards a man who knew how to 470 Report relative to the Organization treat us as gentlemen ; nor with any respect towards a man who did not. Let this rule be freely and fairly applied. I submit to all the con- seqences, and I think I may answer for all my col- leagues, I am full well aware of the peril of this declaration, but have no inclination to shun it. I can speak, and I hope may speak on this occa- sion, without the charge of egotism, from my own experience. For more than twenty years I came into immediate contact with the children of a large congregation ; for nearly fifteen years it was my lot to direct the studies of young men for the Christian ministry, and for five years of that period, I was called to the government of one of our most considerable colleges ; and in all time I never met with an instance of personal dis- respect from a young person in any one of them. I have no fear of it now ; for I cannot suppose that the youths of Dickinson will impose on me the necessity of making them a dishonorable exception. What, then, is the government which ought to be pursued, and will perform such miracles among young men ? One which is very plain, very sim- ple, though unhappily not very common ; and one which will carry the process through, from a family up to a nation. The whole secret consists in be- ing reasonaMe, hem^Jlrm, and being uniform. 1, In being reasonahlc. Whatever you require, must be such as cannot fairly be objected to; such of the Faculty of Dickinson College. 471 as belong to the situation of jour pupil, his duties, and his time of life. It is a very strong point gained to have his conscience on your side. You are not to demand v^^hat he is unable to perform; and if such happen to be his situation, it must be altered accordingly. Great care must then be taken to see that your commands are reasonable ; this matter being settled, I say, 2. That a good government ought to be firm. Entreaty and supplication ought to have no more influence upon its proceedings than upon the bench of the Supreme Court ; and a youth should count no more upon its pliancy. I do not mean to assert that a teacher or governor of youth should never acknowledge an error, or that he shpuld obstinately adhere to a thing because he has said or ordered it. He is a miserable pauper whom the loss of a six- pence will bankrupt ; and in intellectual matters he is no richer, who cannot afford to confess a mis- take. He must not, indeed, do this often. But occasionally, as liumanum est errare, he may, by owning that he has been mistaken, doing it freely, doing it magnanimously, attach the affections of the youth very strongly to his person, and affirm his authority by those very means which would weaken it in an undecided and incapable man. 3. I add, once more, that a government, to be good for anything, must be uniform. By uniform, I mean that it shall be habitually the same thing ; 472 Report relative to the Organization that when you have its decisions at one time, you know where to find them at another; that it shall not be marked by whim; shall not be moved out of its course by gusts of passion ; shall not, in a fit of great good humor, allow to-day, what, in a fit of ill humor, it will forbid to-morrow; shall not, therefore, tease and vex the subjects of it by its fickleness and variableness. These should always know what they have to depend upon ; and not see the elements of order disturbed and broken up by the prevalence of official disorder. Against a govern- ment administered upon such principles and marked in its several acts by courtesy, by kindness, by the frankness and dignity of gentlemen, I am persuaded that depravity herself could not muster up any- thing like a formidable conspiracy. Such, gentlemen, we profess to be our aim; and in the prosecution of such an aim we feel confident of your support. Although we do not expect to have much, if any reason to apply for it. We do not hope, that an appeal to the understanding, the magnanimity, the conscience, of the students, will effectually preclude those scenes of misrule which have occasionally tarnished the history of other colleges; and that affection will do for us what the exercise of mere authority has not been able to do for others — attach the students more and more to the interests oi x\\q\y Alma Mater. After all, young gentlemen, students of this institution, her success of the Faculty of Dickinson College. 473 is, in a great measure, in your hands. Have we deceived ourselves in expecting from you a chival- rous sense of moral honor ? A dehcate noble sen- sibility to character, and all the decencies and elegance of character? a high respect for order and decorum, even in slighter matters ? an ardent love of your studies and corresponding industry ? If we have not ; if our expectations are well founded ; if you shall bear us out in our hopes re- specting you, then shall our efforts be animated, our labors sweetened, our success cheering, and Dickinson College revive from her desolations, a phoenix of renewed life, and spreading her lustre over your county, your state, your country, be a source of mild and enduring glory in ages to come. FUNERAL ORATION ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL WASHINGTON, DELIVERED IN THE BRICK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, 22d February, 1800. FUNERAL ORATION. Fellow-Citizens, — The offices of this day belong less to eloquence than to grief. We cele- brate one of those great events, which, by uniting public calamity with private affliction, create in every bosom a response to the throes of an empire. God, who doeth wonders, whose ways must be adored but not questioned, in severing from the embraces of America her first-beloved patriot, has imposed on her the duty of blending impassioned feeling with profound and unmurmuring submis- sion. An assembled nation, lamenting a father in their departed chief; absorbing every inferior con- sideratibn in the sentiments of their common loss ; mingling their recollections and their anticipations; their wishes, their regrets, their sympathies, and their tears; is a spectacle not more tender than awful, and excites emotions too mighty for utter- ance. I should have no right to complain, Ameri- cans, if, instead of indulging me with your atten- 478 Funeral Oration on the tions, you should command me to retire, and leave you to weep in the silence of woe. I should de- serve the reprimand were I to appear before you with the pretensions of eulogy. No ! Eulogy has mistaken her province and her powers when she assumes for her theme the glory of Washing- ton. His deeds and his virtues are his high eulogium. His deeds tnost familiar to your me- mories— his virtues most dear to your affections. To me, therefore, nothing is permitted, but to bor- row from yourselves. And though a pencil more daring than mine would languish in attempting to retrace the living hnes which the finger of Truth has drawn upon your hearts, you will bear with me, while, on a subject which dignifies everything related to it, " I tell you that which you yourselves do know." The name of Washington, connected with all that is most brilliant in the history of our country and in human character, awakens sensations which agi- tate the fervors of youth, and warm the chill bosom of age. Transported to the times when America rose to repel her wrongs and to claim her destinies, a scene of boundless grandeur bursts upon our view. Long had her fiUal duty expostulated with parental injustice. Long did she deprecate the rupture of those ties which she had been proud of preserving and displaying. But her humble intreaty spurned, aggression followed by the rod, and the rod by Death of General Washington. 479 scorpions, having changed remonstrance into mur- mur, and murmur into resistance, she transfers her grievances from the throne of earth to the throne of heaven, and precedes by an appeal to the God of battles her appeal to the sword of war, , At issue now with the mistress of the seas — unfur- nished with equal means of defence — the convul- sive shock approaching — and every evil omen passing before her — one step of rashness or of folly may seal her doom. In this accumulation of trou- ble, who shall command her confidence, and face her dangers, and conduct her cause ? God, whose kingdom ruleth over all, prepares from afar the in- struments best adapted to his purpose. By an influence which it would be as irrational to dispute as it is vain to scrutinize, he stirs up the spirit of the statesman and the soldier. Minds, on which he has bestowed the elements of greatness, are brought by his providence into contact with exi- gencies which rouse them into action. It is in the season of effort and of peril that impotence disap- pears and energy arises. The whirlwind which sweeps away the glowworm, uncovers the fire of genius, and kindles it into a blaze that irradiates at once both the zenith and the poles. But among the heroes who sprung from obscurity when the college, the counting-house, and the plough, teemed with " thunderbolts of war," none could, in all respects, meet the wants and the wishes of America. 480 J^uneral Oration on the She required, in her leader, a man reared under her own eye ; who combined with distinguished talent a character above suspicion; who had added to his physical and moral qualities the experience of difficult service ; a man who should concentrate in himself the public affections and confidences; who should knpw how to multiply the energies of every other man under his direction, and to make disaster itself the means of success — his arm a for- tress and his name a host. Such a man it were almost presumption to expect ; but such a man all-ruling heaven had provided, and that man was Washington. Pre-eminent already in worth, he is summoned by his country to the pre-eminence of toil and of danger. Unallured by the charms of opulence — unappalled by the hazard of a dubious w^arfare — unmoved by the prospect of being, in the event of failure, the first and most conspicuous victim, he obeys her mandate because he loves his duty. The resolve is firm, for the probation is terrible. His theatre is a world; his charge, a family of nations; the interest staked in his hands, the pros- perity of millions unborn in ages to come. His means, under aid from on high, the resources of his own breast, with the raw recruits and irregu- lar supplies of distracted colonies. O crisis wor- thy of such a hero ! Followed by her little bands, her prayers and her tears, Washington espouses Death of General Washington. 481 the quarrel of his country. As he moves on to the conflict every heart palpitates and every knee trembles. The foe, alike valiant and veteran, pre- sents no easy conquest nor aught inviting but to those who had consecrated their blood to the pub- lic weal. The Omnipotent who allots great enjoyment as the meed of great exertion, had ordained that America should be free, but that she should learn to value the blessing by the price of its acquisition. She shall go to a "wealthy place," but her way is " through fire and through water." Many a generous chief must bleed, and many a gallant youth sink at his side, into the surprised grave ; the field must be heaped with slain, the purple torrent must roll, ere the angel of peace descend with his olive. It is here, amid devastation, and horror, and death, that Washing- ton must reap his laurels, and engrave his trophies on the shields of immortality. Shall Delaware and Princeton? Shall Monmouth and York? But I may not particularize ; far less repeat the tale wiiicli babes recite, which poets sing, and Fame has published to a listening world. Every scene of his action was a scene of his triumph. Now he saved the repubhc by more than Fabian caution; now he avenged her by more than Car- thaginian fierceness; while at every stroke her forests and her hills re-echoed to her shout, "The sword of the Lord and of Washington !" Nor VOL. IV. 31 482 Funeral Oration on the was this the vain applause of partiaHty and enthu- siasm. The blasted schemes of Britain, her bro- ken and her captive hosts, proclaimed the terror of his arms. Skilled were her chiefs, and brave her legions ; but bravery and skill rendered them a conquest more worthy of Washington. True, he suffered in his turn repulse, and even defeat. It was both natural and needful. Unchequered with reverse, his story would have resembled rather the fictions of romance than the truth of narrative: and had he been neither defeated nor repulsed, we had never seen all the grandeur of his soul. He arrayed himself in fresh honors by that which ruins even the great — vicissitude. He could not only subdue an enemy, but, what is infi- nitely more, he could subdue misfortune. With an equanimity which gave temperance to victory, and cheerfulness to disaster, he balanced the fortunes of the state. In the face of hostile prowess; in the midst of mutiny and treason ; surrounded with astonishment, irresolution, and despondence; Wash- ington remained erect, unmoved, invincible. What- ever ills America might endure in maintaining her rights, she exulted that she had nothing to fear from her commander-in-chief. The event justified her most sanguine presages. That invisible hand which girded him at first, continued to guard and to guide him through the successive stages of the revolution. Nor did he account it a weakness to Death of General WasJiingfoji. 483 bend the knee in homage to its supremacy, and prayer for its direction. -This was the armor of Washington ; this the salvation of his country. The hope of her reduction at length abandoned; her war of hberty brought, in the estabhshment of independance, to that honorable conclusion for which it had been undertaken ; the hour arrived when he was to resign the trust which he had accepted with diffidence. To a mind less pure and elevated, the situation of America would have furnished the pretext as well as the means of mili- tary usurpation. Talents equal to daring enter- prise; the derangement of public affairs; unbounded popularity ; and the devotion of a suffering army, would have been to every other a strong, and to almost any other an irresistible temptation. In Washington they did not produce even the pain of self-denial. They added the last proof of his dis- interestedness, and imposed on his country the last obligation to gratitude. Impenetrable by corrupt- ing influence ; deaf to honest but erring solicita- tion; irreconcilable with every disloyal sentiment; he urged the necessity, and set the example, of laying down in peace arms assumed for the com- mon defence. But to separate from the compa- nions of his danger and his glory was, even for Washington, a difficult task. About to leave them forever, a thousand sensations rushed upon his heart,, and all the soldier melted in the man. He, 484 Funeral Oration on the who has no tenderness, has no magnanimity. Washington could vanquish, and Washington could weep. Never was affection more cordially reciprocated. The grasped hand ; the silent an- guish ; the spontaneous tear trickling down the scarred cheek ; the wistful look, as he passed, after the warrior who should never again point their way to victory — form a scene for nature's painter and for nature's bard. But we must not lose, in our sensibility, the remembrance of his penetration, his prudence, his regard of public honor and of public faith. Abhor- ring outrage ; jealous for the reputation, and dread- ing the excesses, of even a gallant army, flushed with conquest, prompted by incendiaries, and shel- tered by a semblance of right, his last act of authority is to dismiss them to their homes without entering the capital. Accompanied with a hand- ful of troops, he repairs to the council of the states, and through them surrenders to his country the sword which he had drawn in her defence. Sin- gular phenomenon ! Washington becomes a private citizen. He exchanges supreme command for the tranquillity of domestic life. Go, incom- parable man! to adorn no less the civic virtues than the splendid achievements of the field. Go, rich in the consciousness of thy high deserts. Go, with the admiration of the world, with the plaudit Death of General Washington. 485 of millions, and the orisons of millions more for thy temporal and thine eternal bliss ! The glory of Washington seemed now com- plete. While the universal voice proclaimed that he might decline with honor every future burden, it was a wish and an opinion, almost as universal, that he would not jeopard the fame which he had so nobly won. , Had personal considerations swayed his mind, this would have been his own decision. But, untutored in the philosophism of the age, he had not learned to separate the max- ims of wisdom from the injunctions of duty. His soul was not debased by that moral cowardice which fears to risk popularity for the general good. Having assisted in the formation of an efficient government which he had refused to dictate or enforce at the mouth of his cannon, he was ready to contribute the weight of his character to insure its effect ; and his country rejoiced in an opportu- nity of testifying that, much as she loved and trusted others, she still loved and trusted him most. Hailed by her unanimous suffrage the pilot of the ' state, he approaches the awful helm, and grasping it with equal firmness and ease, demonstrates that forms of power cause no embarrassment to him. In so novel an experiment as a nation framing a government for herself under no impulse but that of reason, adopting it through no force but the force of conviction, and putting it into ope- 486 Funeral Oration on the ration without bloodshed or violence, it was all important that her first magistrate should possess her unbounded good will. Those elements of dis- cord which lurked in the diversity of local inter- est; in the collision of political theories; in the irritations of party; in the disappointed or gratified ambition of individuals ; and which, notwithstand- ing her graceful transition, threatened the har- mony of America, it was for Washington alone to control and repress. His tried integrity, his ardent patriotism, were instead- of a volume of arguments for the excellence of that system which he ap- proved and supported. Among the simple and honest whom no artifice was omitted to ensnare, there were thousands who knew little of the phi- losophy of government, and less of the nice ma- chinery of the constitution ; but they knew that Washington was wise and good; they knew it was impossible that he should betray them ; and by this they were rescued from fhe fangs of faction. Ages will not furnish so instructive a comment on that cardinal virtue of republicans, confidence in the men of their choice ; nor a more salutary antidote against the pestilential principle, that the soul of a republic is jealousy. At the commencement of her federal government, mistrust would have ruined America ; in confidence she found her safety. The re-appearance of Washington as a states- man excited the conjecture of the old world, and Death of General Washington. 487 the anxiety of the new. His martial fame had fixed a criterion, however inaccm'ate, of his civil administration. Military genius does neither con- fer nor imply political abihty. Whatever merit may be attached to the faculty of arranging the principles, and prosecuting the details, of an army, it must be conceded that vaster comprehensions belong to the statesman. Ignorance, vanity, the love of parodox, and the love of mischief, affecting to sneer at the " mystery of government," have in- deed taught that common sense and common honesty are his only requisites. The nature of things and the experience of every people, in every age, teach a different doctrine. America had mul- titudes who possessed both those qualities, but she had only one Washington. To adjust, in the best compromise, a thousand interfering views, so as to affect the greatest good of the whole with the least inconvenience to the parts ; to curb the dra- gon of faction by means which insure the safety of public hberty ; to marshal opinion and prejudice among the auxiliaries of the law; in fine, to touch the main-spring of national agency, so as to pre- serve the equipoise of its powers, and to make the feeblest movement of the extremities accord with the impulse at the centre, is only for genius of the highest order. To excel .equally in mihtary and political science has been the praise of a few chosen 488 Funeral Oration on the spirits, among whom, with a proud preference, we enrol the Father of our country. It was the fortune of Washington to direct trans- actions of which the repetition is hardly within the limits of human possibihties. When he entered on his first presidency, all the interests^of the con- tinent were vibrating through the arch of political uncertainty. The departments of the new gov- ernment were to be marked out and filled up ; foreign relations to be regulated ; the physical and moral strength of the nation to be organized ; and that at a time when scepticism in politics, no less than in religion and morals, was preparing throughout Europe to spring the mine of revolu- tion and ruin. In discharging his first duties, that same intelligent, cautious, resolute procedure, which had rendered him the bulwark of war, now exhibited him as the guardian of peace. Appro- priation of talent to employment, is one of the deep results of pohtical sagacity. And in his selection of men for office, Washington displayed a knowledge of character and business, a contempt of favoritism, and a devotion to the public welfare, which permitted the General to be rivaled only by the F resident. Under such auspices, the fruit and the pledge of divine blessing, America rears her head and recovers her vigors. Agriculture laughs on the land: Commerce ploughs the wave: Peace re- Death of General Washington. 489 joices at her home; and she grows into respect abroad. Ah ! too happy to progress without inter- ruption. The explosions of Europe bring new vexations to her, and new trials and new glories to her Washington. Vigilant and faithful, he hears the tempest roar from afar, warns her of its ap- proach, and prepares for averting its dangers. Black are the heavens and angry the billows, and. narrow and perilous the passage. But his com- posure, dignity, and firmness, are equal to the peril. Unseduced by fraud ; unterrified by threat ; unawed by clamor; he holds on his steady way, and again he saves his country. With less deci- sion on the part of Washington, a generous but mistaken ardor would have plunged her into the whirlpool, and left her till this hour the sport of the contending elements. Americans ! bow to that magnanimous policy which protected your dearest interests at the hazard of incurring your displeasure. It was thus that Washington proved himself, not in the cant of the day, but in the procurement of substantial good, in stepping be- tween them and perdition, the servant of the people. The historian of this period will have to record a revolt raised by infatuation against the law of the land. He will have to record the ne« cessity which compelled even Washington to suppress it by the sword. But he will have to record also his gentleness and his lenity. Deeds 490 Funeral Oration on the of severity were his sad tribute to justice ; deeds of huinanity the native suggestions of his heart. Eight years of glorious administration created a claim on the indulgence of his country, which none could think of disputing, but which all la- mented should be urged. The ends which ren- dered his services indispensable being mostly attained, he demands his restoration to private life. Resigning to an able successor the reins which he had guided with characteristic felicity, he once more bids adieu to pubKc honors. Let not his motives be mistaken or forgotten. It was for him to set as great examples in the relinquishment, as in the acceptance of power. No mortified ambi- tion ; no haughty disgusts ; no expectation of higher office ; prompted his retreat. He knew that foreign nations considered his life as the bond, and his influence as the vital spirit, of our union. He knew that his own lustre threw a shade over others, not more injurious to them than to his country. He wished to dispel the enchantment of his own name. He wished to reheve the ap- prehensions of America, by making her sensible of her riches in other patriots; to be a spectator of her prosperity under their management ; and to ' convince herself, and to convince the world, tliat she depended less on him than either her enemies or her friends believed ; and therefore he with- drew. Death of General Washington. 491 Having lavished all her honors, his country had nothing more to bestow upon him except her bless- ing. But he had more to bestow upon his coun- try. His views and his advice, the condensed wisdom of all his reflection, observation, and expe- rience, he delivers to his compatriots in a manual worthy of them to study and of him to compose. And now, when they could hope to enjoy only the satisfaction of still possessing him, the pleasure of recounting his acts, and the benefit of practising his lessons, they accompany his retirement with their aspirations that his evening may be as serene as his morning had been fair, and his noon resplen- dent. That he should ever again endure the solicitudes of office was rather to be deprecated than desired ; because it must be a crisis singularly portentous which could justify another invasion of his repose. From such a necessity we fondly promised our- selves exemption. Flattering, fallacious security ! The sudden whirlwind springs out of a calm. The revolutions of a day proclaim that an empire was. However remote the position of America ; however peaceful her character ; however cautious and equitable her policy ; she was not to go unmo- lested by the gigantic fiend of GalUc domination That she was free and happy, was crime and provocation enough. He fastened on her his murderous eye ; he was preparing for her that 492 Funeral Oration on the deadly embrace in which nations supine and cred- ulous had already perished. Reduced to the alter- native of swelling the catalogue of his victims, or arguing her cause with the bayonet and the ball, she burst the ill-fated bonds which had hnked her to his destinies, and assumes the tone and attitude of defiance. The gauntlet is cast. To press on is perilous ; to retreat destruction. She looks wistfully round, and calls for Washington. The well-know^n voice, that voice which he had ever accounted a law, pierces the retreats of Vernon, and thrills his bosom. Domestic enjoyments lose their charm ; repose becomes to him inglorious ; every sacrifice is cheap, and every exertion easy, when his beloved country requires his aid. With all the alacrity of youth he flies to her succor. The helmet of war presses his silver locks. His sword, which dishonor had never tarnished nor corruption poisoned, he once more unsheathes, and prepares to receive on its point the insolence of that foe whose intrigue he had foiled by his wisdom. It must ever be difficult to compare the merits of Washington's characters, because he always appeared greatest in that which he last sustained. Yet if there is a preference, it must be assigned to the Lieutenant General of the armies of America. Not because the duties of that station were more arduous than those which he had often performed, Death of General Washington. 493 but because it more fully displayed his magnanimi- ty. While others become great by elevation, Washington* becomes greater by condescension. Matchless patriot ! to stoop, on public motives, to an inferior appointment, after possessing and digni- fying the highest offices! Thrice favored coun- try, which boasts of such a citizen ! We gaze with astonishment ; we exult that we are Ameri- cans. We augur every thing great, and good, and happy. But whence this sudden horror \ What means that cry of agony ? Oh ! 'tis the shriek of America ! The fairy vision is fled : Washington is — no more ! How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished I Daughters of America, who erst prepared the festal bower and the laurel wreath, plant now the cypress grove, and water it with tears. , How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished I The death of Washington, Americans, has re- vealed the extent of our loss. It has given us the final proof that we never mistook him. Take his affecting testament, and read the secrets of his soul. Read all the power of domestic virtue Read his strong love of letters and of liberty. Read his fidelity to republican principle, and his jealousy of national character. Read his devo- tedness to you in his military bequests to near rela- 494 Funeral Oration on the tions, " These swords," they are the words of Washington, " these swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheath them for the pur- pose of shedding blood, except it be for self-de- fence, or in defence of their country and its rights ; and in the latter case to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands, to the relinquishment thereof." In his acts, Americans, you have seen the man. In the comphcated excellence of character he stands alone. Let no future Plutarch attempt the iniquity of parallel. Let no soldier of fortune ; let no usurping conqueror; let not Alexander or Caesar; let not Cromwell or Bonaparte; let none among the dead or the living; appear in the same picture with Washington ; or let them appear as the shade to his light. On this subject, my countrymen, it- is for others to speculate, but it is for us to feel. Yet in pro- portion to the severity of the stroke, ought to be our thankfulness that it vi^as not inflicted sooner. Through a long series of years, has God preserved our Washington a public blessing ; and now that he has removed him forever, shall we presume to say, What doest thou? Never did the tomb preach more powerfully the dependence of all things on the will of the Most High. The greatest of mor- tals crumble into dust the moment he commands, Ret^irn, ye children of men. Washington was but Death of General Washington. 495 the instrument of a benignant God. He sickens, he dies, that we may learn not to trust in men, nor to malie Jlesh our arm. But though Wash- ington is dead, Jehovah hves. God of our fathers! be our God, and the God of our children ! Tliou art our refuge and our hope ; the pillar of our strength-; the wall of our defence, and our unfa- ding glory. Americans ! This God, who raised up Wash- ington and gave you liberty, exacts from you the duty of cherishing it with a zeal according to knowledge. Never sully by apathy or by outrage, your fair inheritance. Risk not, for one moment, on visionary theories, the solid blessings of your lot. To you, particularly, O youth of America! applies the solemn charge. In all the perils of your country remember Washington. The free- dom of reason and of right has been handed down to you on the point of the hero's sword. Guard with veneration the sacred deposit. The curse of ages will rest upon you, O youth of America, if ever you surrender to foreign ambi- tion or domestic lawlessness, the precious liberties for which Washington fought, and your fathers bled. I cannot part with you, fellow-citizens, without urging the long remembrance of our present assembly. This day we wipe away the reproach ^ of republics, that they know not how to be grate- 496 Funeral Oration. ful. Ill jour treatment of living patriots, recall your love and your regret of Washington. Let not future inconsistency charge this day with hypocrisy. Happy America, if she gives an in- stance of universal principle in her sorrows for the man, " first in war, first in peace, and first in the aflfections of his country !" AN ORATION. COMMEMORATIVi; OF THE LATE MAJ. GEN. ALEXANDER HAMILTON; PRONOUNCED BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI, ON TUESDAY, THE 31ST JULY, 1801. VOL. IV. 32 FUNERAL ORATION. Sad, my fellow-citizens, are the recollections and forebodings which the present solomnities force upon the mind. Five years have not elapsed since your tears flowed for the Father of your country, and you are again assembled to shed them over her eldest son. No, it is not an illusion — would to God it were : your eyes behold it : the urn which bore the ashes of Washington is followed by the urn which bears the ashes of Hamilton, Cruel privation ! — but I forbear. God's luay is in the sea^ and his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known. It is not for mortals to repine, much less to arraign. Our Hamilton is removed ; and we have nothing left but to recall his image ; to gather up his maxims, and to profit by our afflic- tion. Accompany me, therefore, to a short retros- pect. 1 feel that I shall not justify an appointment too imposing to be dechned. Your own hearts must supply my deficiency. I aspire to nothing 500 Funeral Oration on the more than a faint outline of the man whom you loved. Presages of his future eminence were evolved by the first buddings of intellect in Alexander Hamilton. The course of the boy, like that of the man, was ardent, rapid, and beyond the reach of his contemporaries. History will hereafter relate that he was numbered amono- statesmen at an age when in others the rudiments of character are scarcely visible. In the contest with Great Britain, which called forth every talent and every passion, his juvenile pen asserted the claims of the colonies against writers from whom it would dero- gate to say that they were merely respectable. An unknown antagonist, whose thrust was neither to be repelled nor parried, excited inquiry ; and when he began to be discovered, the effect was apparent- ly so disproportioned to the cause, that his papers were ascribed to a statesman who then held a happy sway in the councils of his country, who has since rendered her the most essential .services ; and who still lives to adorn her name.* But the truth could not long be concealed. The powers of Hamilton created their own evidence ; and America saw, with astonishment, a lad of seven- teen in the rank of her advocates, at a time when her advocates were patriots and sages. A distinc- tion thus nobly acquired, and ably maintained, was * John Jay, Esq. Death of General Hamilton. 501 a pledge to the commonwealth, which he lost no time in redeeming. His first step from the college was into a military post ; his second into the fami- ly and confidence of Washington. Here he had opportunities of studying a man, from whom no other man was too great to learn ; of analyzing those mre qualities which met in his character ; and of nourishing his own magnanimity by free communication with the magnanimity of his chief. His sound understanding, his comprehensive views, his promptitude, appHcation, and patience, would have endeared him to a man less discriminating than Washington; but to him they were inesti- mable, and they speedily sunk the patron in the friend. The pair became inseparable. While others were indulging in wonted gaiety, they were closeted on matters of state ; and the pensive brow of the youth, was often the first intimation of seri- ous design in the veteran. It was impossible for such a pupil in such a school, not to be conspicuous. The materials fur- nished by Washington's experience, by his con- summate prudence, by the disclosure of his plans, and of the springs of national operations, fostered, the genius of Hamilton, and fitted him for com- mand. His agency in the correspondence of the commander-in-chief, and in directing the move- ments of the army, is for the research of his bio- grapher. I pass over his personal valor, not only 502 Funeral Oration on the because it never was disputed, but because the possession of it, as being one of the most common of military attributes, is not so much the praise of a soldier, as the want of it is his infamy. But be it remembered with pride, that he was as humane as he was brave. He knew how to storm an en- emy's intrenchments, but not how to sacrifice a suppliant. His gentleness assuaged martial rigor ; nor was his sword polluted by a drop of blood wan- tonly or carelessly shed. The capture of Lord Cornwallis having secured our independence, there was nothing to protract the war, but a {^iw measures proper to save appear- ances, and to prepare for acceding, with decorum, to preliminaries of peace. It became, of course, a subject of solicitude to reflecting young men who had no profession but that of arms, how they should procure an honorable subsistence, and be useful to the community, when that profession should be superseded. Among these was Hamil- ton. Encumbered with a family, destitute of funds, and having no inducement to continue in the army, he. sheathed his sword, and at the age of twcnty-fivej applied to the study of the law. To most men, sudden alterations of habit are seldom advantageous, often ruinous. Hajiilton they did but introduce to an acquaintance with his own inexhaustible mind. Hardly had he ex- changed the camp for the bar, when he burst forth Death of General Hamilton. 503 in the lustre of a civilian ; and gave a promise which he more than fulfilled, of excelling in juris- . prudence, as he had excelled in war. But it was not for Hamilton to detach his pri- vate pursuits from the ^public welfare. Scenes were about to open in which it would need his resource and his energy. The war of indepen- dence had terminated gloriously; the states had risen to their natural position ; their career of prosperity had commenced, but their struggles were not over. Resentments, jealousies, and the farce of an advising government, kept them in jeopardy. That foresight, moderation, and firm- ness ; that comprehension of the public interest, and of the means of promoting it ; that zeal, and vigilance, and integrity, which were indispensable to our safety, the inspiration of God had assembled in the soul of Hamilton. To many who now hear me it is familiar, that after the conclusion of peace, some of our citizens, impelled by their tem- per, their cupidity, or both, were meditating vio- lence against the property and persons of all who had remained in this city during the war. The generous Hamilton revolted. No consideration of private friendship or hazard, could prevail with him to connive at faithlessness and revenge. He remonstrated against a scheme of which the policy was as false as the spirit was malignant. His voice was authority, for it was honor and truth. 504 Funeral Oration on the The public listened, and the infatuation was at an end.* To these agitations succeeded a more perplex- ing difficulty. The confederation, framed under the pressure of common danger, proved unequal to its object whenever that "pressure was removed. Thirteen republics, with an internal organization which conmianded th^ir whole moral and physical force; connected by a fictitious tie under a head without a single effective power, afforded a specta- cle of which it is hard to say, whether it was more ludicrous or melancholy. Such a condition of things could not last. The very first occurrence which should put the will of congress at issue with the will of one of the larger states, would have dissolved the phantom; and shown America to be, what the discerning at home and abroad already perceived her to be in theory, a nation ; in fact, a number of rival and hostile sovereignties. The evils to be apprehended from such a conflict were alarming; and they were approaching with no less certainty, than it is certain that the principles of human action are not to be altered, nor suspended by compact. The failure of a request from Con- gress for permission to levy a small duty upon * On this subject it would be less a compliment to mention, than an injury to omit, the name of his excellency George Clinton, Esq., then governor of the state ; whose honorable, independent, and successful exertions to restrain our citizens, cannot be remembered but with respect and veneration. Death of General Hamilton. 505 imports, was hastening a crisis which the mighty mind of Hamilton proposed to avert. With the express intention of making an effort to retrieve our affairs by estabhshing an efficient general government, did he consent to be nominated as a candidate for the legislature of this state. The design was magnanimous. It embraced the only expedient to prevent our ruin; but it was confided to a few chosen friends. For such was the na- tional inexperience, and the popular jealousy, that the least suspicion of his purpose would have blasted his reputation as an enemy to freedom. Oh, Hamilton ! equally pure and disinterested were all thy plans, though often misunderstood and calumniated ! And now, when there is no more room for suspicion, let his country, in judging of them, not forget, that the very measure which, at first she would bitterly have execrated, has been her salvation. Yes, it is indubitable, that the original germ out of which has grown up her unexampled prosperity, was in the bosom of Ham- ilton. From the abortive attempt of Congress already mentioned, proceeded a commercial con- vention ; and to the report of that body, which, as he foresaw, was unable to extricate the nation, do we owe the federal convention. Here, Americans, was the constellation of your heroes and your statesmen. Here your Washington presided, and your Hamilton shone. What weight the first of 506 Funeral Oration on the these names added to everything which received its sanction, and what a concihating charm it diffused through the states, you need not to be informed. But you ought not to be ignorant, that the benefit arising from the signature of Washing- ton substantiates a claim on your gratitude to Hamilton ; as it was the advice of the latter pre- viously consulted, which persuaded the former to accept a seat in the convention. A prudent secresy covers the transactions of that august assembly. But could the veil be drawn aside, you w^ould hear the youth of thirty, fascinating with his eloquence, the collective wisdom of the states, and instructing the hoary patriot in the recondite science of govern- ment. You would observe all the emotions of his manly heart, occupying, in turn, his expressive features ; and see, through the window in his breast, every anxiety, every impulse, every thought, directed to your happiness. The result is in your hands ; it is in your national existence. Not such indeed, as Hamilton wished, but such as he could obtain, and as the states would ratify, is the federal constitution. His ideas of a government which should elevate the character, preserve the unity and perpetuate the liberties of America, went be- yond the provisions of that instrument. Accus- tomed to view men as they are; and to judge of wdiat they will be, from what they ever have been, he distrusted any political order which admits the Death of General Hamilton. 507 baneful charity of supposing them to be what they ought to be. He knew how averse they are from even wholesome restraint ; how obsequious to flat- tery ; how easily deceived by misrepresentation ; how partial, how vehement, how capricious. He knew that vanity, the love of distinction, is insepa- rable from man ; that if it be not turned into a chan- nel useful to the government, it will force a channel for itself; and if cut off from other egress, will issue in the most corrupt of all aristocracies — the aristocracy of money. He knew that an extensive territory, a progressive population, an expanding commerce, diversified climate, and soil, and man- ners, and interest, must generate faction ; must interfere with foreign views, and present emergen- cies requiring, in the general organization, much tone and promptitude. A strong government, therefore, that is, a government stable and vigor- ous, adequate to all the forms of national exi- gency, and furnished with the principles of self- preservation, was undoubtedly his preference ; and he preferred it because he conscientiously be- lieved it to be necessary. A system which he would have entirely approved, would probably keep in their places those httle men who aspire to be great; would withdraw much fuel from the passions of the multitude ; would diminish the ma- terials which the worthless employ for their owi- aggrandizement; would crown peace at home witK 508 Funeral Oration on the respectability abroad ; but would never infringe the liberty of an honest man. From his profound acquaintance with mankind, and his devotion to all that good society holds dear, sprang his appre- hensions for the existhig constitution. Convinced that the natural tendency of things is to an en- croachment by the states on the union ; that their encroachments will be formidable as they augment their wealth and population ; and, consequently, that the vigor of the general government will be impaired in a very near proportion with the increase of its difficulties ; he anticipated the day when it should perish in the conflict of local interest and of local pride. The divine mercy grant that his prediction may not be verified ! But whatever fears he entertained for the ulti- mate safety of the federal constitution, it is, in every respect, so preferable to the old confedera- tion, and its rejection would have been so ex- tremely hazardous, that he exerted all his talents and influence in its support. In the papers signed PuBLius, which compress the experience of ages, and pour original light on the science of govern- ment, his genius has left a manual for the future statesman. And they will be read with deeper in- terest when it is considered that, eloquent and powerful as they arc, they were written under the pressure of business, amidst the conversation of friends, and the interrogatories of clients. Alas ! Death of General Hamilton. 609 the spirit which dictated them is fled; the hand which penned them moulders in death! His voice co-operated with his pen. In the con- vention of this state, which met to deliberate on the federal constitution, he was alwajs heard with awe, perhaps with conviction, though not alwajs with success. But when the crisis arrived — when a vote was to determine whether New York should retain or relinquish her place in the* union ; and preceding occurrences made it probable that she would choose the worst part of the alternative, Hamilton arose in redoubled strength. He argued, he remonstrated, he entreated, he warned, he painted, till apathy itself was moved, and the most relentless of human things, a preconcerted majority, was staggered and broken. Truth was again victorious, and New York enrolled herself under the federal standard. The government happily erected, was now to be organized. Every eye fixed upon Washington for the first magistrate. He knew it, and hesitated. The competition between his love of retirement, his former resolutions, and the new state of affairs, held him in painful suspense. But the judgment of Hamilton preponderated, and he yielded to the public wish. That faithful adviser, whom he had consulted upon every question of moment, and who never gave him an unsound advice, could not be omitted 5]0 Funeral Oration on the in the original administration. The department best suited to him, because the most arduous, was the treasury. He had akeadj passed from the warrior into the jurist, and he was now to appear in the new and very different character of a finan- cier. A losing commerce, a famished agriculture, an empty purse, and prostrate credit, would have overwhelmed the ordinary man; but they only brought into action the resources of Hamilton. His plans for redeeming the reputation of the country, by satisfying her creditors ; and for com- bining with the government such a moneyed inter- est as might faciUtate its operations, were strenu- ously opposed. But as it is easier to cavil than to refute, to complain than to amend, the opposition failed. The effect was electrical. Commerce re- vived; the ploughshare glittered; property recovered its value ; credit was established; revenue created; the treasury filled. This great fiscal revolution enriched numbers who held a large amount of the public paper, pur- chased at a season when the unpromising state of the public faith had set it afloat in the market at a most ignoble price. None could have fairer oppor- tunities of acquiring a princely fortune, than the financier himself. So inviting was the occasion, and the disposition to profit by it so little at vari- ance with the common estimate of honorable gain, that few supposed it possible to resist the tempta- Death of General Hamilton. 511 tion. The fact being presumed, every petty poli- tician erected himself into a critic ; while the gazettes, the streets, the polls of election, resound- ed with the millions amassed by the secretary. It is natural that the idolators of gold should treat the contempt of it as a chimera ; but gold was not the idol of Hamilton. He had formerly relinquished his own claims to compensation for military services, that obloquy might not breathe an impeachment of his motives in espousing the claims of his brother officers.* And from this proud eminence which he then ascended, he was not now to be seduced by the attractions of lucre. Exquisitely delicate to- ward official character, he touched none of the advantages which he put within the reach of others; he vested not a dollar in the public funds. Although his particular province was the trea- * Being a member of congress, while the question of the com- mutation of the half-pay of the army for a sum in gross was in de- bate, delicacy, and a desire to be useful to the army, by removing the idea of his having an interest in the question, induced him to write to the secretary of war, and relinquish his claim to half-pay ; which, or the equivalent, he accordingly never received. Neither did he ever apply for the lands allowed by the United States to officers of his rank. It is true, that having served through the latter periods of the war on the general staff of the United States, and not in the line of this state, he could not claim the allowance as a matter of course. But having before the war resided in this state, and having entered the military career at the head cf a company of nrtillary raised for the particular defence of this state, he had better pretensions to the allowance than others to whom it was actually made. Yet has it not been extended to him. 512 Funeral Oration on the sury, his genius pervaded the whole administra- tion; and in those critical events which crowded each other, had a pecuhar influence upon its meas- ures. The French Revolution, which our fond- ness mistook for the birth of virtuous freedom, stood before him, from the beginning, in that hide- ous form which it has since unmasked. Not to be duped by hollow pretences, he was active in ar- resting the course of an insolent minister ; and not to be biased by popular frenzy, he secured that dignified ground to which the United States were led by the proclamation of neutrality. Without his aid, great Washington himself might have been borne down by the torrent, and the nation implicated in war, to gratify the resentment and ambition of France. Internal embarrassment soon added fresh honors to Hamilton as a statesman. The western insur- rection, which had rejected the condescending proposals of government, was to be quelled by force. A more serious question iiad not occupied the cabinet, as nothing had hitherto occurred to try the strength of the national arm. It was now to be ascertained how far the turbulent might trifle with the law, and what rehance they might place upon armed opposition. Incalculable consequen- ces hung upon the precedent. Feeble measures would have surrendered the peace, perhaps the hfe, of the union; but feeble measures were con- Death of General Hamilton. 513 templated. That timidity which shrinks from de- cision ; that economy which accounts every tiling less precious than money; and that covert treason which favored the rebelUon, would have ordered out a detachment that might have been met and defeated. The penetration of Hamilton was not to be eluded, nor his firmness to be shaken, by any argument in support of so dangerous an experi- ment. "If you wish," said he, "to maintain the authority of the laws ; to prevent the repetition of similar outrages ; to spare your treasure and your blood ; let the insurgents, let the continent see, that it is never to admit of a doubt whether the national will shall be obeyed or not. Teach them this lesson by employing a force that shall put resistance out of the question." This sage and humane policy was adopted by Wash- ington ; and the rebellion disappeared without effusion of blood. After the restoration of order, Mr. Hamilton remained but a short time in office. His nume- rous services gave him, perhaps, a right to retire when the state might be safely intrusted to other hands. But one reason of his retreat deserves particular notice, because it involves a mischievous and disreputable principle. A general error in popular systems, is a frugality which computes nothing but pence. The affairs of a nation, how- voL. IV. 33 514 Funeral Oration on the ever, cannot be ablj conducted without able and independent men. But such men, in a country where the demand for active talent is greater than the supply, will always hold their fortunes in their own hand: nor are we to expect that they will submit to the toils and responsibihty of public office, with a support utterly disproportion ed both to their station and their means of providing for themselves. No people is in jeopardy from the liberality of their civil list ; but when this is nig- gardly, able men withdraw in succession, and the state falls at length into the hands of the weak or the wicked, whose want of capacity or of in- tegrity, squanders on one occasion the public revenue, and on another overloads it with the expenses of war. The last of these consequences God forbid we should experience ; the first was exemplified in the history of Hamilton. He en- tered into public service with property of his own, the well earned reward of professional talent; he continued in it, till his little funds were dissipated ; and left it, to get bread for a suffering family. It was surely enough that he had impoverished him- self while he was enriching the commonwealth; but it was beyond measure insulting to charge him, under such circumstances, with invading the pub- he purse. Nobody believed the charge; and least of all, the slanderers who brought it. But Wash- ington was vilified, and how should Hamilton Death of General Hamilton. 515 escape ! The virtuous saw with regret that he stooped to repel it, and with anguish that in regard to a private aberration, his defence contained a disclosure of which they admired the ingenuous- ness, but deplored the occasion, while they wept over a spot in a blaze of excellence. Large and lucrative practice at the bar, promised to replace his pecuniary sacrifices in official life. But a new distress of his country drew him again from his professional engagements. Our remon- strances against the injuries committed by France, had proved unavailing ; and her rude and humili- ating requisitions had fired the national spirit. Little was to be expected from the generosity, and less from the rectitude, of a government framed upon the maxims of the new philosophy. Tribute or the sword was the only choice of the states, and it would have been a libel on the war of indepen- dence to have hesitated a moment. A provisional army, with Washington at their head, was sum- moned into the field; but the condition on which he suspended the acceptance of his own commis- sion was, that Hamilton should be his associate. The end of this stipulation could not be misunder- stood. He not only designed to have his age re- lieved from some heavy cares by his younger friend, but, in the event of his own decease, to leave the sword of America in the hands of a man whom 516 Funeral Oration on the nothing could overreach, nothing intimidate, nothing corrupt. Suhsequent adjustment of our dispute with the French Repuhhc, was accompanied with the dis- charge of the provisional army, and with Hamil- ton's second return to his profession. Here, un- wearied in dihgence, and unrivalled in fame, he filled up the residue (ah, too transient!) of his in- valuable days. But, as you have truly been told, though he had withdrawn from public life, he was not an hour absent from the public service. It did not belong to a man absorbed in his country's wel- fare, to look with indifference on the course of her affairs. Office he wanted none. None in the gift of the nation would have moved him from his pur- pose. He reserved himself for crises which he feared are approaching; such crises, especially, as may affect the integrity of the union. How he was alarmed by everything which pointed at its dissolution ; how indignant were his feehngs and language on that ungracious topic ; how stern and steady his hostility to every influence which only leaned toward the project, they will attest with whom he was in habits of communication. In every shape, it encountered his reprobation as un- worthy of a statesman, as fatal to America, and desirable to the desperate alone. One of his pri- mary objects was to consolidate the efforts of good men in retarding a calamity which, after all, they Death of General Hamilton. 517 may be unable to avert ; but which no partial nor temporary policy should induce them to accelerate. To these sentiments must be traced his hatred to continental factions ; his anxiety for the federal constitution, although, in his judgment, too slight for the pressure which it has to sustain ; his horror of every attempt to sap its foundation, or loosen its fabric ; his zeal to consecrate it in the affections of his fellow-citizens, that if it fall at last, they may be pure from the guilt of its overthrow — an over- throw, which may be accomplished in an hour, but of which the woes may be entailed upon ages to come. With such dignified policy he joined the most intense application to his professional duties. But the description of these is not my province. How he resolved the most intricate cases ; how he pur- sued general principles through their various modi- fications ; how he opened the fountains of justice ; how he revered the rights of property; how he signalized himself in protecting the defenceless ; how judges, and jurors, and counsel, and audience, hung on his accents, let them declare who have intrusted their fortunes to his hand ; let them de- clare who have wondered that any man should be thought great while Hamilton appeared at the American bar. But enumerations were endless. He was born to be great. Whoever was second, Hamilton 518 Funeral Oration on the must be first. To his stupendous and versatile mind no investigation was difficult — no subject presented which he did not illuminate. Superi- ority, in some particular, belongs to thousands. Pre-eminence, in whatever he chose to undertake, was the prerogative of Hamilton. No fixed crite- rion could be applied to his talents. Often has their display been supposed to have reached the limit of human effort; and the judgment stood firm till set aside by himself. When a cause of new magnitude required new exertion, he rose, he towered, he soared ; surpassing himself as he sur- passed others. Then was nature tributary to his eloquence! Then was felt his despotism over the heart! Touching, at his pleasure, every string of pity or terror, of indignation or grief; he melted, he soothed, he roused, he agitated ; alternately gentle as the dews, and awful as the thunder. Yet, great as he was in the eyes of the world, he was greater in the eyes of those with whom he was most conversant. The greatness of most men, like objects seen through a mist, diminishes with the distance : but Hamilton, hke a tower seen afar off under a clear sky, rose in grandeur and subhmity with every step of approach. Familiarity with him was the parent of veneration. Over these match- less talents, probity threw her brightest lustre. Frankness, suavity, tenderness, benevolence, breath- ed through their exercise. And to his family ! — Death of Gen eral Hamilton. 519 but he is gone ;— that noble heart beats no more ; that eje of fire is dimmed : and sealed are those oracular lips. Americans, the serencst beam of your glorj is extinguished in the tomb. Fathers, fricftds, countrymen ! the death of Hamilton is no common affliction. The loss of distinguished men is at all times a calamity; but the loss of such a man, at such a time, and in the very meridian of his usefulness, is singularly porten- tous. When Washington was taken, Hamilton was left ; but Hamilton is taken, and we have no Washington. Wc have not such another man to die. Washington and Hamilton in five years ! Bereaved America! Thou art languishing be- neath the divine displeasure. Let this truth awfully impress my hearers, that when the Almighty God is about to shake terribly the earth; when he has bidden scourge to follow scourge, and vengeance to press on vengeance, one of his means is to de- prive a nation of their ablest men. Thus bereft of counsel, their affairs run into confusion, and bring forth misery. I invent nothing; I only re- peat the admonition of holy writ; For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the pfo- phet, and the iirudent, and the ancient, the captain of ffty and the honorable man, and the counsellor and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. The disastrous consequences are, impotent gov- 520 Funeral Oration on the ernors, and ruthless anarchy. For the prophet continues: I will give children to he their princes^ and hahes shall rule over them. And the people shall he oppressed, every one hy another, and every one hy his neighhor ; the child shall T)ehave himself proudly against the ancient, and the hase against the honor ahle. Fathers, friends, countrymen ! the grave of Hamilton speaks. It charges me to remind you that he fell a victim not to disease or accident; not to the fortune of glorious warfare ; but, how shall I utter it ? to a custom which has no origin but superstition, no aliment but depravity, no reason but in madness, Alas ! that he should thus expose his precious life. This was his error. A thousand bursting hearts reiterate, this was his error. Shall I apologize ? I am forbidden by his living protestations, by his dying regrets, by his wasted blood. Shall a solitary act into which he was betrayed and dragged, have the authority of a precedent ? The plea is precluded by the long decisions of his understanding, by the principles of his conscience, and by the reluctance of his heart. Ah ! when will our morals be purified, and an imaginary honor cease to cover the most pesti- lent of human passions? My appeal is to mili- tary men. Your honor is sacred. Listen. Is it honorable to enjoy the esteem of the wise and good? The wise and good turn with disgust from Death of General Hamilton. 521 the man who lawlessly anus at his neighbor's life. Is it honorable to serve your country ? That man cruelly injures her, who, from private pique, calls his fellow citizen into the dubious field. Is fidel- ity honorable ? That man forswears his faith, who turns against the bowels of his countrymen, w capons put into his hand for their defence. Are generosity, humanity, sympathy, honorable? That man is superlatively base, who mingles the tears of the widow and orphan, with the blood of a husband and father. Do refinement, and courtesy, and benignity, entwine with the laurels of the brave ? The blot is yet to be wiped from the soldier's name, that he cannot treat his brother with the decorum of a gentleman, unless the pis- tol or the dagger be every moment at his heart. Let the votaries of honor now look at their deeds. Let them compare their doctrine with this horri- ble comment. Ah! what avails it to a distracted nation that Hamilton was murdered for a punc- tilio of honor \ My flesh shivers ! Is this indeed our state of society ? Are transcendent worth and talent to be a capital indictment before the tribu- nal of amljition \ Is the angel of death to record, for sanguinary retribution, every word which the collision of political opinion may extort from a political man ? Are integrity and candor to be at the mercy of the assassin? And systematic crime to trample under foot, or smite into the grave, all 522 Funeral Oration on the that is yet venerable in our humbled land I My countrymen, the land is defiled with blood unright- eously shed. Its cry, disregarded on earth, has gone up to the throne of God ; and this day does our punishment reveal our sin. It is time for us to awake. The voice of moral virtue, the voicB of domestic alarm, the voice of the fatherless and widow, the voice of a nation's wrong, the voice of Hamilton's blood, the voice of impending judg- ment, calls for a remedy. At this hour, Heaven's high reproof is sounding from Maine to Georgia, and from the shores of the Atlantic to the banks of the Mississippi. If we refuse obedience, every drop of blood spilled in single combat, will he at our door, and will be recompensed when our cup is full. We have then our choice, either to coerce iniquity, or prepare for desolation; and in the mean time to n}ake our nation, though infant in years, yet mature in vice, the scorn and the abhor- rence of civihzed man ? Fathers, friends, countrymen ! the dying breath of Hamilton recommended to you the Christian's hope. His single testimony outweighs all the cavils of the sciolist, and all the jeers of the pro- fane. Who will venture to pronounce a fable, that doctrine of life and immortality, which his profound and irradiating mind embraced as the truth of God? When you are to die, you will find no source of peace but in the faith of Jesus. Death of 'General Hamilton. 523 Cultivate for your present repose and your future consolation, what our departed friend declared to be the support of his expiring moments: "A tender reliance on the mercies of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ." Hamilton ! we will cherish thy memory, we will embalm thy fame ! Fare thee well, thou un- paralleled man, farewell — for ever ! APPENDIX. To the Editor of the Cofnmercial Advertiser. Sir, Having read, in your paper of the 16th, a very imperfect account of my conversation with General Hamilton, the day previous to his decease, I judge it my duty to lay the following narrative before the public. On the morning of Wednesday, the 11th inst. shortly after the rumor of the General's injury had created an alarm in the city, a note from Dr. Post informed me that "he was extremely ill at Mr. Wm. Bayard's, and expressed a particular desire to see me as soon as possible." I went immediately. The exchange of melan- choly salutation, on entering the General's apartment, was succeeded by a silence which he broke by saying, that he "had been anxious to see me, and have the sacrament administered to him ; and that this was still his wish." I replied, that " it gave me unutterable pain to receive from him any request to which I could not accede : that, in the present instance, a compliance was incompatible with all my obligations ; as it is a principle in our churches never to administer the Lord's supper privately to any person under any circumstances." He urged me no further. I then remarked to him, that "the holy communion is an exhibition and pledge of the mercies which the Son of God has purchased ; that the absence of the sign does not exclude from the mercies signified ; which were accessible to him by faith in their gracious Author." " I am aware," said he, " of that. It is only as a sign tliat I wanted it." A short pause ensued. I resumed the discourse, by observing that "I had nothing to address to him in his afidiction, but that same Gospel of the grace of God, which it is my office to preach to the most obscure and illiterate: that in the sight of God all men are on a level, as all have sinned, and come short of his glory ; and that they mnst Appendix. 525 apply to him for pardon and life, as sinners, whose only refuge is in his grace reigning by righteousness through our Lord Jesus Christ." "I perceive it to be so," said he ; "I am a sinner: I look to his mercy." I then adverted to "the infinite merit of the Redeemer, as the propitiation for sin, the sole ground of our acceptance with God ; the sole channel of his favor to us ; and cited the following passages of scripture , There is no other name given' under heaven ajnong men, v:herehy we must be saved, hut the name of Jesus. He is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanscih from all sin." This last passage introduced the affiiir of the duel, on which I reminded the General, that he was not to be instructed as to its moral aspect, that the precious blood of Christ was as effectual and aa necessary to wash away the transgression which had involved liim in suffering, as any other transgression ; and that he nmst there, and there alone, seek peace for his conscience, and a hope that should " not make him ashamed." He assented, with strong emotion, to these representations, and declared his abhorrence of the whole transaction.. " It was always," added he, " against my principles. • 1 used every expedient to avoid the intei-view; but I have found, for some time past, that my life must be exposed to that man. I went to the field determined not to take his life." He repeated his disavowal of all intention to hurt Mr. Burr ; the anguish of his mind in recollecting what had passed ; and his humble hope of forgiveness from his God. I recurred to the topic of the divine compassions ; the freedom of pardon in the Redeemer Jesus to pei-ishing sinners. " That grace, my dear General, which brings salvation, is rich, rich." — " Yes," interrupted he, "it is rich grace." — "And on that grace,'' continued I, "a sinner has the highest encouragement to repose his confidence, because it is tendered to him upon the surest foundation ; the scrip- ture testifying that we have redemption through the blood of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. ' ' Here the General , letting go my hand, which he had held from the moment 1 sat down at his bedside, clasped his hands together, and, looking up towards heaven, said, with emphasis, " I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, thi-ough the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ." He replaced his hand in mine, and appearing somewhat J 526 Apjyendix. spent, closed his eyes. A little after, he fastened them on me, and I proceeded. "The simple truths of the Gospel, my dear sir, which require no abstruse investigation, but faith in the veracity of God who cannot lie, are best suited to your present condition, and they are full of consolation." — " I feel them to be so," replied he. I then repeated these texts of scripture : It is a faithful sarjing, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and of sinners the chief I, even I, am he that blottcth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and loill not remember thy sins. Come mm, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. "This," said he, "is my support. Pray for me." — "Shall I pray with you?" — "Yes." I prayed with him, and heard him whisper as I went along; which I supposed to be his concurrence with the petitions. At the conclu- sion he said, "Amen. God grant it." Being about to part with him, I told him, "I had one request to make." He asked " what it was!" 1 answered, "that whatever might be the issue of his affliction, he would give his testimony against the practice of dueling." — " 1 will," said he, "I have done it. If that," evidently anticipating the event, " if that be the issue, you will find it in writing. If it please God that T recover, I shall do it in a manner which will effectually put me out of its reach in future." I mentioned, once more, the importance of renouncing every other dependence for the eternal world, but the mercy of God in Christ Jesus ; with a particular reference to the catastrophe of the morning. The General was affected, and said, "Let us not pursue the subject any further, it agitates me." He laid his hands upon his breast, with symptoms of uneasiness, which indicated an increased difficulty of speaking. I then took my leave. He pressed my hand affec- tionately, and desired to see me again at a proper interval. As I was retiring, he lifted up his hands in the attitude of prayer, and said feebly, "God be merciful to ." His voice sunk, so that^ I heard not the rest distinctly, but understood him to quote tHe words of the publican in the Gospel, and to end the sentence with, "me a sinner." I saw him, a second time, on the morning of Thursday ; but from his appearance, and what I had heard, supposing that he could not Appendix. 527 speak without severe effort, I had no conversation with him. 1 prayed for a moment at his bedside, in company with his over- whelmed family and friends; and for the rest, was one of the mom'ning spectators of his composure and dignity in suffering. His mind remained in its former state ; and he viewed with calmness his approaching dissolution. I left him between twelve and one, and at two, as the public know, he breathed his last. I am, sir. With much respect, Your obedient servant, J. M. MASON. New York. July ISth, 1804. THE VOICE OF WARNING CHRISTIANS THE ENSUING ELECTION OF ^ PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. BLOW THE TRUMPET IN ZION. — WHO IS ON THE LORd's SIDE? VOL. IV. 34 TO CHRISTIANS, WHO PRIZE A GOOD CONSCIENCE, A CONSISTENT CHARACTER, AND THE HONOR OF THEIR REDEEMER, ABOVE ALL PERSONAL AxMD POLITICAL ATTACHMENTS, THE FOLLOWING PAMPHLET IS dedicated; WITH THE SINGLE REQUEST, THAT, LAYING ASIDE PASSION, THEY WILL GIVE IT SUCH A CALM, SERIOUS, AND CONSIDERATE PERUSAL, AS THEY OWE TO AN ARGUMENT RELATIVE TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THEMSELVES, THEIR FAMILIES, THEIR COUNTRY, AND THE CHURCH OF GOD. JVew York, September, 1800. THE VOICE OF WARNING, ETC. If a manly attempt to avert national min, by exposing a favorite error, should excite no resent- ment, nor draw any obloquy upon its author, there would certainly be a new thing under the sun. Men pan seldom bear contradiction. They bear it least when they are most demonstrably wrong ; because, having surrendered their judgment to pre- judice, or their conscience to design, they must take refuge in obstinacy from the att^icks of reason. The bad, dreading nothing so much as the preva- lence of pure principle and virtuous habit, will ever be industrious in counteracting it, and the more candid, rational, and convincing the means em- ployed in its behalf, the louder will be their clamor, and the fiercer their opposition. On the other hand, good men are often led insensibly astray, and their very honesty becomes the guaranty of their delusion. Unaware, at first, of their inconsistency, 534 The Voice of Warning. they afterwards shrink from the test of their, own profession. Startled by remonstrance, but unpre- pared to recede ; checked by the misgivings of their own minds, yet urged on by their previous purpose and coiyiection, the conflict renders them irritable, and they mark as their enemy whoever tells them the truth. From the coincidence of such a bias with the views of the profligate and daring, results incalculable mischief The sympa- thy of a common cause unites the persons engaged in it ; the shades of exterior character gradually disappear : virtue sinks from her glory ; vice emerges from her infamy ; the best and the basest appear nearly on a level ; while the most atrocious principles either lose their horror or have a veil thrown over them ; and the man who endeavors to arrest their course is singled out as a victim to revenge and madness. Such, from the beginning, has been the course of the world. None of its benefactors hjive escaped its calumnies and per- secutions; not prophets, not apostles, not the Sou of God himself To this treatment, therefore, must every one be reconciled, who labors to pro- mote the best interests of his country. He must stake his popularity against his integrity ; he must encounter a policy which will be contented with nothing short of his ruin ; and if it may not spill his blood, will strive to overwhelm him with public execration. That this is the spirit which has pur- The Voice of Warning. 535 sued a writer, the purity of whose views is equalled only by their importance — I mean the author of " Serious Considei^ations on the Election of a Pre- sident"— I need not inform any who inspect the gazettes. To lay before the people of the United States proofs that a candidate for the office of their first magistrate is an unbeliever in the Scriptures, and that to confer such a distinction upon an open enemy to their religion, their Redeemer, and their hope, would be mischief to themselves and sin against God, is a crime never to be forgiven by a class of men too numerous for our peace or pros- perity. The infidels have risen en masse, and it is not through their moderation that he retains any portion of his respectabihty or his usefulness. But in their wrath there is nothing to deprecate ; nor does he deserve the name of a Christian, who, in order to avoid it, would deviate a hair's breadth from his duty. For them I write not. Impene- trable by serious pi-inciple, they are not objects of expostulation, but of compassion ; nor shall I stoop to any solicitude about their censure or applause. But do I represent as infidels all who befriend Mr. Jefferson's election ? God forbid that I should so " lie against the truth." If I thought so, I should mourn in silence; my pen should slumber for ever. That a majority of them profess, and that multi- tudes of them really love, the religion of Jesus, while it is my terror, is also my hope. Terror, 536 The Voice of Warning. because I believe them to be under a fatal mistake ; hope, because thej, if any, are within the reach of conviction. I address myself to them. The latter, especially, are my brothers, by dearer ties and higher interests than can be created or destroyed by any pohtical connection. And if it be asked, Why mingle religion with questions of pohcy? Why irritate by opposition ? Why risk the excite- ment of passions which may dissever but cannot aid, the common Christianity ? Why not maintain a prudent reserve, and permit matters of state to take their own course? I answer, because Chris- tians are deeply engaged already ; because the principles of the gospel are to regulate their politi- cal as well as their other conduct; because their Christian character, profession, and prosperity, are involved in the issue. This is no hour to tempo- rise. I abhor that coward spirit which vaunts when gliding down the tide of opinion, but shrinks from the returning current, and calls the treason prudence. It is the voice of God's providence not less than of his own word, " Cry aloud, spare not; Hft up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." With Christians, therefore, I must expostu- late ; and may not refrain. However they may be displeased, or threaten, I will say with the Athe- nian chief, " Strike, hut hear mer Fellow Christians, — A crisis of no common mag- The Voice of Warning. 537 nitude awaits our country. The approaching election of a President, is to decide a question not merely of preference to an eminent individual, or particular views of policy, but, what is infinitely more, of national regard or disregard to the reli- gion of Jesus Christ. Had the choice been between two infidels, or two professed Christians, the point of politics would be untouched by me. Nor, though opposed to Mr. Jefferson, am I to be regarded as a partisan ; since the principle which I am about to develope, wdll be equally unaccepta- ble to many on both sides of the question. I dread the election of Mr. Jefferson, because I believe him to be a confirmed infidel : you desire it, because, while he is politically acceptable, you either doubt this fact, or do not consider it essen- tial. Let us, like brethren, reason this matter. The general opinion rarely if ever mistakes a character which private pursuits and public func- tions have placed in different attitudes; yet it is frequently formed upon circumstances which elude the grasp of argument, even while they make a powerful and just impression. Notwithstanding, therefore, the belief of Mr. Jefferson's infidelity, which has for years been uniform and strong, wherever his character has been a subject of spec- ulation ; although that infidehty has been boasted by some, lamented by many, and undisputed by all, yet as it is now denied by his friends, the 538 The Voice of Warning. charge, unsupported by other proof, could hardly be pursued to conviction. Happily for truth and for us, Mr. Jefferson has written, he has 'printed. While I shall not decline auxihary testimony, I appeal to what he never retracted, and will not deny, his Notes on Virginia.'^ In their war upon revelation, infidels have levelled their batteries against the miraculous facts of the Scripture, well knowing that if its historical truth can be overturned, there is an end of its claim to inspiration. But God has protected his word. Particularly the universal deluge, the most stu- pendous miracle of the Old Testament, is fortified with impregnable evidence. The globe teems with demonstrations of it. Every mountain, and hill, and valley, lifts up its voice to confirm the narrative of Moses. The very researches and discoveries of infidels themselves, contrary to their intentions, their wishes, and their hopes, arc here compelled to range behind the banner of the Bible. To attack, therefore, the scriptural account of the delage, belongs only to the most desperate infi- delity. Now, what will you think of Mr. Jeffer- son's Christianity, if he has advanced positions which strike directly at the truth of God's word concerning that wonderful event ? Let him speak for himself: " It is said that shells are found in the * The edition which I use is the second American edition, pub- lished at Philadelphia, by Matthew Carey, 1794. The Voice of Warning. 539 Andes, in South America, fifteen thousand feet above the level of the ocean. This is considered by many, both of the learned and unlearned, as a proof of an universal deluge. But to the many co7isiderations oiiposing this opinion, the following may be added : The atmosphere and all its con- tents, whether of water, air, or other matters, gravi- tate to the earth ; that is to say, they have weight. Experience tells us, that the weight of all these columns together never exceeds that of a column of mercury thirty-one inches high. If the whole contents of the atmosphere, then, were water, in- stead of what they are, it would cover the globe hut thirty five feet deep: but, as these waters, as they fell, would run into the seas, the superficial measure of which is to that of the dry parts of the globe, as two to one, the seas would be raised only fifty-two and a half feet above their present level, and of course would overflow the land to that height only. In Virginia this would be a very small proportion even of the champaign country, the banks of our tide -waters being frequently, if not generally, of a greater height. Deluges beyond this extent then, as for instance, to the North Mountain, or to Kentucky, seem out of the laws of nature. But within it they may have taken place to a greater or less degree, in propor- tion to the combination of natural causes which may be supposed to have produced them. But 540 The Voice of Warning. such deluges as these will not account for the shells found in the higher lands. A second opin- ion has been entertained, which is, that in times anterior to the records either of history or tra- dition, the bed of the ocean, the principal resi- dence of the shelled tribes, has, by some great convulsion of nature, been heaved to the heights at which we now find shells and other remains of marine animals. The favorers of this opinion do well to suppose the great events on ivhich it rests, to have taken place heyond all the ceras of history; for ivithin these certainly none such can he found; and we may venture to say further, that no fact has taken place either in our own days, or in the thousands of years recorded in history, which proves the existence of any natural agents within or without the bowels of the earth, of force suffi- cient to heave to the height of fifteen thousand feet, such masses as the Andes."* After mention- ing another opinion proposed by Voltaire, Mr. J. proceeds: "There is a wonder somewhere. Is it greatest on this branch of the dilemma; on that which supposes the existence of a power of which we have no evidence in any other case; or on the first which requires us to believe the creation of a body of water, and its subsequent annihilation?" Rejecting the whim of Voltaire, he concludes, that '^the three hypotheses are equally xuisatisfac- * Jefferson's Notes on Virginiix, p. 39-41. The Voice of Warning. 54J tory, and ive must be contented to acknowledge that this great phenomenon is, as yet, tmsolved."* On these extracts I cannot suppress the follow- reflections : 1. Mr. Jefferson disbelieves the existence of an universal deluge. " There are many considera- tions," says he, " opposing this opinion." The Bible says expressly, " The waters j^revailed exceed- ingly upon the earth, and all the high hiltls THAT WERE UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN lOCre covered."\ Mr. Jefferson enters into a philosophi- cal argument to prove the fact impossible ; that is, he argues in the very face of God's word, and, as far as his reasoning goes, endeavors to convict it of falsehood. 2. Mr. Jefferson's concession of the probability of deluges within certain limits, does not rank him with those great and good men who have supposed the deluge to be partial, because his argument concludes against the Scriptural narra- tive, even upon that supposition. He will not ad- mit his partial deluges to rise above fifty-two and a half feet above the level of the ocean. Whereas the Scripture, circumscribe its deluge as you will, asserts that the waters were fifteen cubits (twentj^- seven and a half feet, nearly) above the mountains.X 3. Not satisfied with this argument, Mr. Jefifer- * Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, p. 42. t Gen. vii. 19. % Gen. v. 20. 542 The Voice of Warning. son sneers at the Scripture itself, and at the credu- lity of those who, relying upon its testimony, beheve "that the bed of the ocean has, bv some great convulsion of nature, been heaved to the heights at which we now find shells and other remains of ma- rine animals." " The 1/ do iveil," sa.y she, ''to suppose the great events on which it rests to have taken place beyond all the ceras of history ; for within THESE none such ARE TO BE FOUND." ludccd ! And so our faith in God's word is to dwindle, at the touch of a profane philosopher, into an "opinion," unsupported by either "history or tra- dition V All the fountains of the great deep, saith the Scripture, were broken up.* Was this no "great convulsion of nature 1" Could not this " heave the bed of the ocean to the height at which we now find shells ?" But the favorers of this opinion suppose the great events on ichich it 7-ests to have taken place beyond all the ceras of history. And they do well, says Mr. Jefferson : the plain meaning of which is, that their error would cer- tainly be detected if they did not retreat into the darkness of fable. Malignant sarcasm ! And who are " the favorers of this opinion V At least all who embrace the Holy Scriptures. These do de- clare most unequivocally that there was such a "great convulsion of nature" as produced a deluge infinitely more formidable than Mr. Jefferson's phi- * Gen. vii. 11. The Voice of Warning. 643 losophy can digest. But he will not so much as allow them to be history : he degrades them even below tradition. We talk of times for our flood, he tells us, " anterior to the records either of history or tradition." Nor will it mend the matter, to urge that he alludes only to profane history. The fact could not be more dubious or less deserving a place in the system of philosophy, from the attesta- tion of infallible truth. And is this truth to be spurned as no history;' as not even tradition? It is thus, Christians, that a man whom you are ex- pected to elevate to the chief magistracy, insults yourselves and your Bible.* * Nay, as it is only the Scripture which authenticates the popu- lar belief of an universal deluge, Mr. Jefferson's insinuation caa hardly have any meaning, if it be not an oblique stroke at the Bible itself. Nothing can be more silly, than the pretext that he showa the insufficiency of natural causes to effect the deluge, with a view of supporting the credit of the miracle. His difficulty is not to account for the deluge : he denies that ; but for the shells on the top of the Andes. If he believed in the deluge, natural or miraculous"* the difficulty would cease : he would say at ouce, TJie flood threw them there. But as he tells us, " this great phenomenon is, as yet, un- solved" it is clear that he does not believe in the deluge at all ; for this " solves " his " phenomenon " most effectually. And for whom does Mr. J. write ? For Christians ? None of them ever dreamed that the deluge was caused by anything else than a miracle. For infidels ? Why then does he not tell them that the Scripture alone gives the true solution of this " great phenomenon "? The plain matter of fact is, that he writes like all other infidels, who admit nothing for which they cannot find adequate " natural agents ;" and when these fail them, instead of resoi-ting to the divine word, which would often satisfy a modest inquirer, by revealing the" arm of jehovah," 544 The Voice of Warning. 4. Mr. Jefferson's argument against the flood is, in substance, the very argument by which infidels have attacked the credibility of the Mosaic his- tory. They have always objected, the 'insuffi- ciency of water to effect such a deluge as that described. Mr. J. knew this, yet he adopted and repeated it. He does not deign so much as to mention Moses; while through the sides of one of his hypotheses, he strikes at the scriptural history. He winds up with pronouncing all the three to be ^'equally unsatisfactory;" thus reducing the holy volume to a level with the dreams of Voltaire! Let me ask any Christian, would you dare to ex- press yourself in a similar manner, upon a subject which has received the decision of the living God \ Would you patiently hear one of your neighbors speak so irreverently of his oracles ? Could you venture to speculate on the deluge without resorting to them \ Would you not shud- der at the thought of using, in support of a philo- sophical opinion, the arguments w^hich infidels bring against that Word which is the source of all your consolation; much more to use them without a hsp of respect for it, or of caution against mistake ? Can he believe the Bible who does all this? Can an infidel do more without they shrug up their shoulders, and ciy, " Ignorance is preferable to error."* ♦ Notes on Virginia, p. 42. The Voice of Warning. 545 directly assailing it? What then must you think of Mr. Jefferson 1 But it was not enough for this gentleman to discredit the story of the deluge. He has ad- vanced a step farther, and has indicated too plainly, his disbehef in the common origin of man- kind. The Scriptures teach that all nations are the offspring of the first and single pair, Adam and Eve, whom God created and placed in para- dise. This fact, interwoven with all the relations and all the doctrines of the Bible, is ahke essential to its historical and religious truth. Now, what says the candidate for the chair of your president ? After an ingenious, lengthy, and elaborate argu- ment to prove that the blacks are naturally and morally inferior both to white and red men; and that " their inferiority is not the effect merely of their condition of hfe,"* he observes, " I advance it, therefore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made dis- tinct hy time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind."t He had before asserted, that, " besides those of color, figure, and hair, there are other physical distinctions, proving a difference of race. "J He does, indeed, discover some compunction in reflecting on the consequences of his philosophy. For to several reasons why his opinion " must be * Notes on Virginia, p. 205. f lb. 209. % lb. 201. VOL. IV. 35 546 The Voice of Warning. hazarded with great diffidence," he adds, "as a cir- cumstance of great tenderness," that the " conclu- sion" to which his observations lead, "would degrade a whole race of men from the rank in the scale of be- ings which their Creator may perhaps have given themr^ Much pains have been taken to persuade the pubhc that Mr. Jefferson, by "distinct race" and " difference of race," means nothing more than that the negroes are only a branch of the great family of man, without impeaching the identity of their ori- gin. This construction, though it may satisfy many, is unfounded, absurd, and contradicted by Mr. Jef- ferson himself. Unfounded; for when philosophers treat of men as a " subject of natural history," they use the term " race" to express the .s/<9c/*; from which the particular families spring, and not, as in the popular sense, the families themselves, without regard to their original. A single example — em- bracing the opinions of two philosophers, of whom the one, M. de Buffon, maintained, and the other, Lord Karnes, denied the common origin of man- kind— will prove my assertion. " M. Buffon, from the rule that animals which can procreate together, and whose progeny can also procreate, are of one species, concludes that all men are of one race or species."t Mr. Jefferson, writing on the same subject with these authors, and * Notes on Virginia, p. 203. t Karnes' Skotchca, Vol. i. p. 24. The Voice of Warning. 547 arguing on the same side with one of them, undoubt- edly used the term " race^^ in the same sense. And as the other construction is unfounded, it is also absurd ; for it represents him as laboring through nearly a dozen pages to prove what no man ever thought of doubting, and what a glance of the eye sufficiently ascertains, viz., that the blacks and whites are different branches of a common family. Mr. Jefferson is not such a trifler : he fills his pages with more important matter, and with deeper sense. And by expressions which cut off evasion, contra- dicts the meaning which his friends have invented for him. He enumerates a variety of " distinctions winch jjfove a difference of race." These distinc- tions, he alleges, are not accidental, but " phi/sical" i. e., founded in nature. True, alarmed at the boldness of his own doctrine, he retreats a little. His PROOFS evaporate into a suspicion ; but that suspicion is at a loss to suspect whether the inferi- ority of the blacks (mark it well, reader!) is owing to their being " originally a distinct race, or made distinct hy time and circumstances." Branches of the same stock originally distinct, is a contradic- tion. Mr. Jefferson therefore means, by different races, men descended from different stocks. His very " tenderness" is tinctured with an infidel hue. A conclusion, corresponding with his speculations, affects him, because it " would degrade a whole race of men from the rank in the .scale of beings which 548 The Voice of Warning. their Creator may jyerhaps have given them." So, then, the secret is out ! What rank in the scale of beings have we, obeying the Scripture, been accus- tomed to assign to the injured blacks ? The very same with ourselves, viz., that of children of one common father. But if Mr. Jefferson's notions be just, he says they will be degraded from that rank; i. e., will appear not to be children of the same fa- tlier with us, but of another and inferior stock. But though he will not speak peremptorily, he strongly insinuates that he does not adopt, as an article of his philosophy, the descent of the blacks as well as the whites from that pair which came immediately from the hands of God. He is not sure. At best, it is a douht with him — "the rank which their Creator may perhaps have given them !" Now, how will all this accord with revealed truth ? God, says the apostle Paul, " hath made of one blood all NATIONS ofinen, for to dwell on all the face of the earth."* Perhaps it may be so, replies Mr. Jeffer- son ; but there are, notwithstanding, physical dis- tinctions PROVING a difference of race. I cannot repress my indignation ! That a miserable, sinful worm, like myself, should proudly set up his "proofs" against the truth of my God and your God, and scout his veracity with a scoptical perhaps ! I intreat Christians to consider the sweeping extent of this infidel doctrine of "different races." If it be true, the history of the Bible, which knows of * Acts xvii. 26. The Voice of Warning. 549 but one, is a string of falsehoods, from the book of Genesis to that of the Revelation ; and the whole system of redemption, predicated on the unity of the human race, is a cruel fiction. I ask, Chris- tians, again, whether they would dare to speak and write on this subject in the style of Mr. Jefferson ? Whether any believer in the word of the Lord Jesus, who is their hope, could entertain such doubts'? Whether a writer, acute, cautious, and profound, like Mr. Jefferson, could, as he had before done in the case of the deluge, pursue a train of argument which he knew infidels before him had used to discredit revelation, and on which they still have great reliance \ Whether, instead of vin- dicating the honor of the Scripture, he could, in such circumstances, be as mute as death on this point; countenancing infidels by enforcing their sentiments; and yet be a Christian? The thing is impossible! And were any other than Mr. Jeffer- son to be guilty of the same disrespect to God's word, you would not hesitate one moment in pro- nouncing him an infidel. It is not only with his philosophical disquisitions that Mr. Jefferson mingles opinions irreconcilable with the Scriptures. He even goes out of his way for the sake of a fling at them. "Those," says he, " who labor in the earth, are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, 550 The Voice of Warning. whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue."* How does a Christian ear relish this "profane babbling"? In the first place, Mr. Jefferson doubts if ever God had a chosen people. In the second place, if he had, he insists they are no other than those vv^bo labor in the earth. At any rate, he denies this privilege to the seed of Abra- ham; and equally denies your being his people, unless you follow the scythe and the plow. Now, whether this be not the he direct to the whole testimony of the Bible, from the beginning to the end, judge ye.f * Notes on Virginia, p. 240. t Some have been vain enough to suppose that they destroy this proof of Mr. Jefferson's infidelity, by representing his expression, "the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people," as synonymous with the following : "A. B. is an honest man, if ever there was an honest man," which is so far from doubting the exist- ence of honest men, that it founds, in the certainty of this fact, the assertion of A. B.'s honesty. On this wretched sophism, unworthy of good sense, and unworthy of candor, I remark : 1. That the expressions are by no means similar. The whole world admits that there are honest men, which makes the proposi- tion, " A. B. is an honest man, if ever there was an honest man," a strong assertion of A. B.'s honesty. But the hundredth part of the world does not admit that God had a chosen people, and therefore the proposition that " those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people," is, upon this con- struction, no assertion at all that the cultivators of the soil are his people, because there are millions who do not believe the fact on which it must bo founded : viz. that ho had a chosen people. 2. That if the expressions were parallel, Mr. J. would still be left The Voice of Warning. 551 After these affronts to the oracles of God, you have no right to be surprised if Mr. Jefferson should preach the innocence of error, or even of Atheism. What do I say ! He does preach it. " The legitimate powers of government," they are his own words, "extend to such acts only as are in- jurious \o others. But it does me no injury for my neighbors to say there are twenty gods, or 7io god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."* Ponder well this paragraph. Ten thousand impieties and mischiefs lurk in its womb. Mr. Jefferson maintains not only the inviolability of opinion, but of opinion propagated. And that no class or character of abomination might be exclu- ded from the sanctuary of such laws as he wishes to see established, he pleads for the impunity of published error in its most dangerous and execrable form. Polytheism, or Atheism, " twenty gods or no god," is perfectly indifferent in Mr. Jefferson's good citizen. A wretch may trumpet Atheism from New Hampshire to Georgia ; may laugh at all the realites of futurity ; may scoff and teach others to scoff at their accountabihty; it is no in the lurch, because the first asserts A. B. to be as much an honest man as any man that ever lived ; and so Mr. J. asserts ♦' those who labor in the earth" to be as much the " chosen people of God" as any people that ever lived. This is still the lie direct to the whole Bible, and the inventors of this lucky shift must set their wits at work to invent another. * Notes on Virginia, p. 231. 552 The Voice of Warning. matter, says Mr. Jefferson, " it neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." This is nothing less than representing civil society as founded in Athe- ism. For there can be no religion without God. And if it does me or my neighbor no injury, to subvert the very foundation of religion, by deny- ing the being of God, then rehgion is not one of the constituent principles of society, and conse- quently society is perfect without it; that is, is perfect in Atheism.^ Christians ! what think you of this doctrine ? Have you so learned Christ or truth? Is Atheism indeed no injury to society? Is it no injury to untie all the cords which bind you to the God of heaven, and your deeds to his throne of Judgment; which form the strength of personal virtue, give energy to the duties, and in- fuse sweetness into the charities of human life ? Is it indeed no injury to you, or to those around you, that your neighbor buries his conscience and all his sense of moral obligation, in the gulf of Atheism ? Is it no injury to you that the oath ceases to be sacred ? That the eye of the Omni- scient no more pervades the abode of crime ? That you have no hold on your dearest friend, farther than the law is able to reach his person ? Have you yet to learn that the peace and happi- ness of society, depend upon things which the laws of men can never embrace? And whence, I pray you, are righteous laws to emanate, if rulers. The Voice of Warning. 553 by adopting Atheism, be freed from trie coercion of future retribution I Would you not rather be scourged with sword, and famine, and pestilence, than see your country converted into a den of Atheism ? Yet, says Mr. Jefferson, it is a harmless thing. "It does me no injury; it neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." This is perfectly of \ a piece with his favorite wish, to see a government administered without any religious principle among either rulers or ruled. Pardon me, Christian ; this is the morality of devils, which would break in an instant every link in the chain of human friend- ship, and transform the globe into one equal scene of desolation and horror, where fiend would prowl with fiend for plunder and blood ; yet Atheism "neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." I will not abuse you by asking whether the author of such an opinion can be a Christian? or whether he has any regard for the Scriptures, which con- fine all wisdom and blessedness and glory, both personal and social, to the fear and the favor of God? The reader will observe, that in his sentiments on these four points, the deluge; the origin of na- tions; the chosen people of God; and Atheism, Mr. Jefferson has comprised the radical principles of infidelity in its utmost latitude. Accede to his positions on these, and he will compel you to grant the rest. There is hardly a single truth of 554 The Voice of Warning. revelation, which would not fall before one or other of them. If the deluge be abandoned, you can defend neither the miracles nor inspiration of the Scripture. If men are not descendants of one common stock, the doctrine of salvation is con- victed of essential error. If God never had any chosen people but the cultivators of the soil, the fabric of the New Testament foils to the ground ; for its foundation in the choice of Israel to be his peculiar people, is swept away. And if the Athe- ism of one man be not injurious to another, soci- ety could easily dispense, not only with his word, but with his worship. Conformable with the infidelity of his book, is an expression of Mr. Jefferson contained in a par- agraph which I transcribe from the pamphlet enti- tled " Sei'ious Considerations,'' S)'c. "When the late Rev. Dr. John B. Smith, resi- ded in Virginia, the famous Mazzei happened one night to be his guest. Dr. Smith having, as usual, assembled his family for their evening devotions, the circumstance occasioned some discourse on religion, in which the Italian made no secret of his infidel principles. In the course of conversa- tion, he remarked to Dr. Smith, 'Why your great philosopher and statesman, Mr. Jefferson, is ratlicr farther gone in infidelity than I am ;' and related in confirmation, the following anecdote : That as he was once riding with Mr. Jefferson, he ex- The Voice of Warning. 655 pressed his 'surprise that the people of this coun- try take no better care of their pubUc buildings.' 'What buildings?' exclaimed Mr. Jefferson. 'Is not that a church?' rephed he, pointing to a de- , cajed edifice. ' Yes,' answered Mr. Jefferson. 'I am astonished,' said the other, 'that they per- mit it to be in so ruinous a condition.' 'It is < good enough' rejoined Mr. Jefferson, 'foi- him I that loas born in a manger'' 1 1 Such a contemp- tuous fling at the blessed Jesus, could issue from the lips of no other than a deadly foe to his name and his cause."* Some of Mr. Jefferson's friends have been des- perate enough to challenge this anecdote as a calumny fabricated for electioneering purposes. But whatever they pretend, it is incontestibly true, that the story was told, as here repeated, by Dr. Smith. I, as well as the author of " Serious Con- siderations," and several others, heard it from the lips of Dr. Smith, years ago, and more than once. The calumny, if any, lies either with those who impeach the veracity of a number of respectable witnesses, or with Mazzei himself And there are not wanting, among the followers of Mr. Jefferson, advocates for this latter opinion. He must have been a wretch indeed, to blacken his brother philosopher, by trumping up a deliberate lie, in order to excuse his own impiety in the ♦ Serious Considerations, pp. 16, 17. 556 The Voice of Warning. presence of a minister of Christ ! If such was Mazzei, the philosopher, it is our wisdom to think, and think again, before we heap our largest honors upon the head of his bosom-friend. Christian Reader, the facts and reasonings which I have laid before you, produce in my mind an irresistible conviction, that Mr. Jefferson is a confirmed infidel ; and I cannot see how they should have a less effect on yours. But when to these you add his solicitude for wresting the Bible from the hands of your children — his notoriously unchristian character — his disregard to all the ordinances of divine worship — his utter and open contempt of the Lord's Day, insomuch as to receive on it a public entertainment ;* every trace of doubt must vanish. What is a man who writes against the truths of God's Word ? who makes not even a profession of Christianity ? who is without Sabbaths ; without the sanctuary ; with- out so much as a decent external respect for the faith and the worship of Christians ? What is he, what can he he, but a decided, a hardened infidel? Several feeble and fruitless attempts have been made to fritter down and dissipate this mass of evidence. In vain are we told that Mr. Jeffer- son's conduct is modest, moral, exemplary. I ask no odious questions. A man must be an adept in * At Fredericksburgh, in Virginia, in 1798. The Voice of Warning. bbl the higher orders of profligacy, if neither literary occupation, nor the influence of the surrounding gospel, can form or control his habits. Though infidelity and licentiousness are twin sisters, they are not compelled to be always in company ; that I am not a debauchee, will therefore be hardly admitted as proof that L am not an infidel. In vain are we reminded, that the "Notes on Vir- ginia " contain famihar mention, and respectful acknowledgment, of the being and attributes of God. Though infidelity leads to Atheism, a man may be an infidel without being an Atheist. Some have even pretended, that anxiety for the honor of God, prompted them to fix the brand of impos- ture upon the Scripture ! But where has Mr. Jeflerson, when stating his private opinions, be- trayed the least regard for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ X In vain is it proclaimed, that he maintains a Christian minister at his own expense, I shall not inquire whether that maintenance does or does not arise from the product of glebe lands attached to many southern estates. Taking the fact to be simply as related, I will inquire whether prudent and political men never contribute to the support of Christianity from other motives than a behef of its truth ? Mr. Jeflerson may do all this, and yet be an infidel. Voltaire, the vile, the blasphemous Voltaire, was building churches, and assisting at the mass, while he was writing to 568 The Voice of Warning.- his philosophical confidants, concerning your divine Saviour, Crush the wretch ! In vain is the " Act for estahlishing religious freedom,'' which flowed from the pen of Mr. Jefferson, and passed in the Assembly of Virginia, in 1786, paraded as the triumph of his Christian creed. I protest against the credibihty o^ the witness ! That act, I know, recognizes " the Holy Author of our reli- gion," as "Lord both of body and mind," and possessing "Almighty power;" and by censuring "fallible and uninspired men," tacitly acknow- ledges both the inspiration and infallibihty of the sacred writers. But Mr. Jefferson is not here declaring his pj-ivate opinions: for these we must look to his Notes, wniiich were published a year after, and abound with ideas which contradict the authority of the Scriptures. He speaks, in that act, as the organ of an Assemhly professing Chris- tianity ; and it would not only have been a mon- strous absurdity, but more than his credit, and the Assembly's too, was worth, to have been disre- spectful, in an official deed, to that Redeemer whose name they owned, and who was precious to many of their constituents. Such Christianity is common with the bitterest enemies of Christ. Herbert, Hobbes, Blount, Toland, Tindal, Boling- broke, Hume, Voltaire, Gibbon, at the very mo- ment when they were laboring to argue or to laugh the gospel out of the world, affected great The Voice of Warning. 559 regard for our "holy religion" and its divine author. There is an edict of Frederic 11. of '"^ Prussia, on the subject of rehgious toleration, couched in terms of the utmost reverence for the Christian religion, and yet this same Frederic vv^as one of the knot of conspirators, who, with Vol- taire at their head, plotted the extermination of Christianity : and whenever they spoke of its " Holy Author," echoed to each other. Crush the wretch I This act, therefore, proves nothing but that, at the time of its passing, (we hope it is so still,) there was religion enough in Virginia to curb the proud spirit of infidelity. Christians ! Lay these things together : com- pare them ; examine them separately, and collect- ively; ponder; pause; lay your hands upon your hearts ; hft up your hearts to heaven, and pro- nounce on Mr. Jefferson's Christianity. You canirot stifle your emotions; nor forbear uttering your indignant sentence — ;INFIDEL ! ! This point being settled, one would think that you could have no difficulty about the rest, and would instantly and firmly conclude, " Such a man ought not, and, as far as depends on me, shall not, be President of the United States !" But I calculate too confidently. I have the humi- liation to hear this inference controverted even by those whose " good confession " was a pledge that they are feelingly ahve to the honor of their Re- 560 The Voice of Warning. deemer. No, I am not "deceived : they are Chris- tian lips which plead that " Religion has nothing to do icith polities'' — that to refuse our suffrages on account of religious irrinciples, would he an interference with the right of conscience — that there is little hope of procuring a real believer, and we had better choose an infidel than a hypocrite. That religion has, in fact, nothing to do with the politics of many who profess it, is a melan- choly truth. But that it has, of right, no concern with political transactions, is quite a new discov- ery. If such opinions, however, prevail, there is no longer any mystery in the character of those whose conduct, in political matters, violates every precept, and slanders every principle, of the reli- gion of Christ. But what is politics ? Is it not the science and the exercise of civil rights and civil duties ? And what is religion? Is it not an obligation to the service of God, founded on his authority, and extending to all our relations, per- sonal and social ? Yet religion has nothing to do with politics ! Where did you learn this maxim ? The Bible is full of directions for your behavior as citizens. It is plain, pointed, awful in its injunc- tions on rulers and ruled as such : yet religion has nothing to do ivith iwlitics. You are commanded '■'in ALL your ways to acknowledge him!'* ''In EVERYTHING, by praycr and supplication, with * Prov. iii. 3. The Voice of Warning. 561 thanksgiving, to let your requests be made hw^n unto God!"^ " And whatsoever ye do, in word OR DEED, to do ALL IN THE NAME of the Lord Jesus."j- Yet religion has nothing to do with politics! Most astonishing! And is there any part of your conduct in which you are, or wish to be, without law to God, and not under the law of Christ? Can you persuade yourselves that poh- tical men and measures are to undergo no review in the judgment to come ? That all the passion and violence, the fraud, and falsehood and corrup- tion, which pervade the system of party, and burst out like a flood at the pubhc elections, are to be blotted from the catalogue of unchristian deeds, because they are politics ? Or that a minister of the gospel may see his people, in- their political career, bid defiance to their God in breaking through every moral restraint, and keep a guiltless silence, because religion has nothing to do with politics ? I forbear to press the argument farther . observing only, that many of our difficulties and sins may be traced to this pernicious notion. Yes, if our religion had had more to do with our poli- tics ; if, in the pride of our citizenship, we had not forgotten our Christianity : if we had prayed more and wrangled less about the aifairs of our country, it would have been infinitely better for us at this day. * Phil. iv. 6. f Col. iii. 17. VOL. IV. 36 562 The Voice of Warning. But jou are afraid, that to refuse a man your suffrages because he is an infidel, would interfere with the rights of conscience. This is a most sin- gular scruple, and proves how wild are the opinions of men on the subject of liberty. Conscience is God's officer in the human breast, and its rights are defined by his law. The right of conscience to trample on his authority is the right of a rebel, which entitles him to nothing but condign punish- ment. You are afraid of being unkind to the con- science of an infidel. Dismiss your fears. It is the last grievance of which he will complain. How far do you suppose Mr. Jefferson consulted his conscience when he was vilifying the divine word, and preaching insurrection against God, by preaching the harmlessness of Atheism? But sup- posing Mr. Jefferson to be conscientiously impious, this would only be a stronger reason for our oppo- sition. For the more conscientious a man is, the more persevering will he be in his views, and the more anxious for their propagation. If he be fixed, then, in dangerous error, faithfulness to God and truth requires us to resist him and his conscience too ; and to keep from him the means of doing mischief. If a man thought himself bound in con- science, whenever he should be able, to banish God's Sabbath, burn his churches, and hang his worshippers, would you entrust him with power out of respect to conscience \ I trow not. And The Voice of Warning. 563 why you should judge diflferently in the case of an infidel, who spurns at what is dearer to you than hfe, I cannot conceive. But in your solicitude for the conscience of Mr. Jefferson, have you con- sidered, in the meantime, what becomes of your own conscience ? Has it no rights ? no voice ? no in- fluence \ Are you not to keep it void of offence towards God? Can you do this in elevating his open enemies to the highest dignity of your coun- try ? Beware, therefore, lest an ill-directed care for the conscience of another, bring your own un- der the lashes of remorse. Keep this clear, by the word of God, and there is little hazard of injuring your neighbor's. But how can you interfere with any man's conscience by refusing him a political office ? You do not invade the sanctuary of his bosom: you impose on him no creed; you simply tell him you do not like him, or that you prefer another to him. Do you injure him by this ? Do you not merely exercise the right of a citizen and a Christian \ It belongs essentially to the freedom of election, to refuse my vote to any candidate for reasons of conscience, of state, of predilection, or for no reason at all but my own choice. The rights of conscience, on his part, are out of the question. He proposes himself for my approbation. If I approve, I give him my support. If not, I withhold it. His conscience has nothing to do with my motives ; but to my own conscience they 564 Tlie Voice of Warning. are serious things. If he be an infidel, I will not compel him to profess Christianity. Let him retain his infidelity, enjoy all its comforts, and meet all its consequences. But I have an unquestionable right to say, " I cannot trust a man of such principles : on what grounds he has adopted them is not my concern ; nor will his personal sincerity alter their tendency. While he is an infidel he shall never have my countenance. -Let him stay where he is; and let his conscience be its own reward." 1 could not blame another for such conduct to me ; for he only makes an independent use of his privilege, which does me no injury ; nor am I to be blamed for such conduct to another, for I only make the same use of my privilege, which is no injury to him. Mr. Jefferson's conscience cannot, therefore, be wronged, if you exclude him from the presidency, because he is an infidel ; and your own, by an act of such Christian magnanimity, may escape here- after many a bitter pang. For if you elect Mr. Jefferson, though an infidel, from a regard to what you consider the rights of conscience, you must, in order to be consistent, carry your irrinciph through. If infidelity is not a vaUd objection to a candidate for the presidency, it cannot be so to a candidate for any other office. You must never again say, " We will not vote for such a man, because he is an infidel." The evil brotherhood will turn upon you with your own doctrine of the "rights of con- The Voice of Wa/iiing. !JG[t science." You must, then, either retract, or be content to see every office filled with infidels. How horrible, in such an event, would be the situation ol your country ! How deep your agony under die torments of self-reproach ! But there is no prospect, you say, of obtaining a real Christian, and we had betie?- choose an injidel than a hijpocrite. By no means. Supposing that a man professes Christianity, and evinces in his general deportment a regard for its doctrines, its worship, and its laws ; though he be rotten at heart, he is infinitely preferable to a known infidel. His hypocrisy is before God ; but, while it is with- out detection, can do no hurt to men. We have a hold of him, which it is impossible to get of an infidel. His reputation, his habits, his interests, depending upon the behef of his Christianify, are sureties for his behavior, to which we vainly look for a counterbalance in an infidel; and they are, next to religion itself, the strongest sureties of man to man. His very hypocrisy is an homage to the gospel. The whole weight of his example is on the side of Christianity, while that of an infidel is wholly against it. It is well known that the at- tendance of your Washington and of President Adams upon public worship, gave the ordinances of the gospel a respectability in the eyes of many which otherwise they would not have had : brought a train of thoughtless people within the reach of 566 The Voice of Warning. the means of salvation ; and thus strengthened the opposition of Christians to the progress of infidehty. You can never forget the honorable testimony which Mr. Adams bore, in one of his proclamations, to a number of the most precious truths of Revela- tion ; nor how he was abused and ridiculed for it, by not a few of those very persons who now strive to persuade you that Mr. Jefferson is a Christian. In short, your President, if an open infidel, will be a centre of contagion to the whole continent. If a professed Christian, he will honor the institu- tions of God ; and though his hypocrisy, should he prove a hypocrite, may be a fire to consume his own vitals, it cannot become a wide-spreading conflagration. Can you still hesitate ? Perhaps you may. I therefore bespeak your attention to a few plain and cogent reasons, why you cannot, without vio- lating your plighted faith, and tramphng on your most sacred duties, place an infidel at the head of your government. 1. The civil magistrate is God's officer. He is the ininister of God, saith Paul, to thee for good.'*' Consequently his first and highest obligation is, to cherish in his mind and express in his conduct, his sense of obedience to the Governor of the Universe. He that ruleth over man must he just, ruling in the fear of Goo.f The Scriptures *Ilorn. xiii. 4. f Pe. xv. 4. 7"'/ 'lie Voice of Warning. 567 have left you this and shnilar declarations, to direct jou in the choice of jour magistrates. And you are bound, upon your allegiance to the God of the Scr^tures, to look out for such men as answer the description; and if, unhappily, they are not to be had, for such as come nearest to it. The good man, he who shall "dwell in God's holy hill," is one "in whose eyes a vile per son is contemned; but he HONORETH tlieirt that fear the Lord''* But can you pretend to regard this principle, when you desire to raise an infidel to the most important post in your country \ Do you call this honoring them that fear God? Nay, it is honoring them who do not fear God : that is, according to the scriptural contrast, honoring a vile person, whom, as Christians, you ought to contemn. And have you the smallest expectation that one who despises the word and worship of God; who has openly taught the harmlessness of rebellion against his government and being, by teaching that Atheism is no injury to society, will, nevertheless, rule in his fear? Will it show any reverence or love to your Father in Heaven, to put a distinguishing mark of your confidence upon his sworn foe? Or will it be an affront to his majesty ? 2. The civil magistrate is, by divine appoint- ment, the guardian of the Sahhath. In it thou shall not do any icork; thou, nor thy son, 8^c., nor * 2 Sam. xxiii. 3. 568 The Voice of Warning. THE STRANGER THAT * IS WITHIN THY GATES.* " Gates," is a Scriptural term for public authority ; and that it is so to be understood in this com- mandment, is evident from its connection ,with ^'stranger." God says that even the stranger shall not be allow^ed to profane his Sabbath. But the stranger can be controlled only by the civil magistrate, who "sitteth in the gate."f It there- fore belongs to his office, to enforce, by lawful means, the sanctification of the Sabbath, as the fundamental institute of rehgion and morals, and the social expression of homage to that God under whom he acts. The least which can be accepted from him, is to recommend it by personal obser- vance. How- do you suppose Mr. Jefferson will perform this part of his duty 1 m* how can you deposit in his hands a trust, which you cannot but think he will betray; and in betraying which, he will not only sacrifice some of your most invalua- yblc interests, but as youi- organ and in yo2ir name lift up his heel against the God of Heaven ? In different states, you have made, not long since, spirited exertions to liinder the profanation of your Lord's day. For this purpose, many of you en- deavored to procure rehglous magistrates for this city, and religious representatives in the councils of the state. You well remember how you were mocked, traduced, execrated, especially by the * Ex. XX. 10. t Dan. ii. 49. The Voice of Warning. • 559 infidel tribe. But what is now become of your zeal and jour consistency ? I can read in the list of delegates to the Legislature, the names of men who have been an ornament to the gospel, and acquitted themselves like Christians in that noble struggle, and yet are expected to ballot for electors, whose votes shall be given to an infidel President. Who hath bewitched you, Christians ? or, what do you mean by siding with the infidels to lift into the chair of state, a man more eminent for nothing than for his scorn of the day, the ordi- nances, and the worship of your Redeemer; and who did* not blush to make it, in the face of the sun, a season of frolic and revel !* Is this your kindness to your friend? 3 The church of God has ever- accounted it a great mercy to have civil rulers professing his name. Rather than yield it, thousands of your fathers have poured out their blood. This privi- lege is now in your hands; and it is the chief circumstance which makes the freedom of election worth a Christian's care. Will you, dare you, abuse it, by prostituting it to the aggrandizement of an enemy to your Lord and his Christ \ If you do, will it not be a righteous thing with God to take the privilege from you altogether ; and in his wrath to subject you, and your children, and * The Fredericksburgh feast, given on Sabbath, to Mr. J. 1798. 570 The Voice of Warning. joar children's children, to such rulers as you have, l)j jour own deed, preferred ? 4. You are commanded to 2yrai/ for your rulers : it is jour custom to praj, that thej maj be men fearing God and /uUing coveteousness. You en- treat liim to fulfil his promise, that kings shall be to his church nursing-fathers, and queens her nursing- mothers.'^ With what conscience can jou hft up your hands in such a supplication, when jou are exerting jourselves to procure a President, who you know does not fear God ; i. e. one exactly the reverse of the man jou ask him to bestow ? And when, bj this act, jou do all in jour ^ower to defeat the promise of which jou affect to wish the fulfilment? Do jou think that the church of Christ is to be nurtured bj the dragon's milk of infidelitj? Or that the contradiction between your prayers and jour practice does not mock the holj God? 5. There are circumstances in the state of jour countrj which impart to these reflections, applica- ble in their 'spirit to all Christians, a double em- phasis in their application to jou. The Federal Constitution makes no acknowledg- ment of that God who gave us our national exist- ence, and saved us from anarchj and internal war. This neglect has excited in manj of its best friends, more alarm than all other difficulties. * Itifiiiih xlix. 23. The Voice of Warning. 571 The only way to wipe off the reproach of irre- ligion, and to avert the descending vengeance, is to prove, by our national acts, that the Constitu- tion has not, in this instance, done justice to the pubhc sentiment. But if you appoint an infidel for your President, and such an infidel as Mr. Jefferson, you will sanction that neglect, you will declare, by a solemn natiojial act, that there is no more religion in your collective character, than in your written Constitution : you will put a national indignity upon the God of your mercies; and pro- voke iiim, it may be, to send over your land thai deluge of judgments which his forbearance has hitherto suspended. Add to this the consideration, that infidelity has awfully increased. The time was, and that within your own recollection, when the term infidelity was almost a stranger to our ears, and an open infi- del an object of abhorrence. 'SfVitiioiv the term has become familiar, and infidels hardly disgust. Our youth, our hope and our pride, are poisoned with the accursed leaven. The vain thle of " philoso- pher" has turned their giddy heads, and, what is worse, corrupted their untutored hearts. It is now a mark of sense, the proof of an enlarged and liberal mind, to scoff at all the truths of inspira- tion, and to cover with ridicule the hope of a Christian ; those truths and that hope which are the richest boon of divine benignity ; which calm 572 Tlie Voice of Warning. the perturbed conscience, and heal the wounded spirit; whicli sweeten every comfort, and soothe every sorrow ; which give strong consolation in the arrest of death, and shed the light of immor- tality on the gloom of the grave. All, all arc be- come the sneer of the buffoon, and the song of the drunkard. These things, Christians, you de- plore. You feel indignant, as well as discouraged, at the inroads of infidel principle and profligate manners. You declaim against them. You cau- tion your children against their infection. And yet, with such facts before your eyes, and such lessons in your mouths, you are on the point of undoing whatever you have done ; and annihi- lating at one blow the effect of all your profession, instruction, and example. By giving your support to Mr. Jefferson, you are about to strip infidelity of its ignominy ; array it in honors ; and hold it tip with eclat to the view of the rising generation. By this act, you will proclaim to the whole world that it is not so detestable a thing as you pretend- ed ; that you do not beheve it subversive of moral obligation and social purity ; that a man may revile your religion, and blaspheme your Saviour, and yet command your highest confidence. This amounts to nothing less than a deliberate surren- der of the cause of Jesus Christ into the hands of his enemies. By this single act — my flesh trem- bles, my blood chills at the thought! — by this Th^ Voice of Warning. 573 single act you will do more to destroy a regard for the gospel of Jesus, than the whole fraternity of mfidels with all their arts, their industry, and their intrigue. You will stamp credit upon prin- ciples, the native tendency of which is to ruin your children in this world, and damn them in the world to come. 0 God ! " the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass life master's crib : but thy people doth not know, and Israel doth not con- sider."* With these serious reflections, let me connect a fact equally serious: The whole strength of open and active infidelity is on the side of Mr. Jefferson. You may well start ! But the observation and experience of the continent is one long and loud attestation to the truth of my assertion. I say OPEN and ACTiA E infidelity. You can scarcely find one exception among all who preach infidel tenets among the .people. Did it never occur to you, that such men would not be so zealous for Mr. Jeffer- son if they were not well assured of his being one of themselves — that they would cordially hate him if they supposed him to be a Christian — or that they have the most sanguine hope that his election to the presidency will promote their cause 1 I know, that to serve the purpose of the moment, those very presses which teemed with abuse of your Redeemer are now affecting to offer incense * Is. i. 3. 574 The Voice of Wai-ning. to his religion ; and that Deists themselves are la- boring to convince you that Mr. Jefferson is a Christian ; and yet have the effrontery to talk of other men's hypocrisy ! Can you be the dupes of such an artifice ? Do you not see in it a proof that there is no reliance to be placed on an infidel conscience ? Do you need to be reminded that these infidels who now court you, are the very men who, four years ago, insulted your faith and your Lord with every expression of ridicule and contempt ? That these very men circulated, with unremitting assiduity, that execrable book of Boulanger, entitled Christianity Unveiled; and that equally execrable abortion of Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason ? That, in order to get them, (especially the latter) into the hands of the common people, they sold them at a very low rate ; gave them away where they could not sell them; and slipped them into the pockets of numbei:s who re- fused to accept them ? Do you know that some of these infidels were at the trouble of translating from the French, and printing, for the benefit of Americans, a work of downright, undisguised Athe- ism, with the imposing title of Common Sense ? That it was openly advertised, and extracts, or an extract, published to help the sale?* Do you know * The title is a trick, designed to entrap the unwary, by palming it on them through the popularity of Paine's tracts under the same Dame. The title in the original, is Le Ion sens, good sense. It was ^^m The Voice of Warning. bib that some of the same brotherhood are secretly handing about, I need not say where, a book writ- ten by Charles Pigott, an Englishman, entitled A Political Dictionarij? Take the following sample of its impiety: (my hair stiffens while I transcribe it.) ''Religion — a superstition invented by the archbishop of hell, and propagated by his faithful diocesans the clergy, to keep the people in igno- rance and darkness, that they may not see the work of iniquity that is going on," &c.* Such are the men with whom professors of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, are concerting the election of an infidel to the Presidency of the United States of America. Hear the word of the Lord : " What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath lidit with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Behal? And what part hath he that believeth with an infiden"t Yet Christians are printed, I believe, in Philadelphia ; but the printer was ashamed or afraid to own it. * Pigott's Political Dictionary, p. 132. This work was originally printed in England ; but having been suppressed there, the whole or nearly the whole impression, was sent over to America, and dis- tributed among the people. But in ivhat. manner, and by what means, there are some who can tell better than the writer of this pamphlet. It was thought, howevin*, to be so useful, as to merit the honors of the American press — for the copy which I possess is one of an edi- tion printed at New York, for Thomas Greenleaf, late editor of the Argus, 1796. f 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 4. 576 The- Voice of Warnihg. uniting with infidels, in exalting an infidel to the chief magistracy ! If he succeeds, Christians >^ must bear the blame. Numerous as the infidels are, thej are not yet able, adored be God, to seize upon our " high places." Christians must help them, or they set not their feet on the threshold of power. If, therefore, an infidel preside over our country, it will be your fault, Christians, and your act; and you shall answer it! And for aidino- and abetting such a design, I charge upon your con- sciences the sin of striking hands in a covenant of friendship, with the enemies of your Master's glory. Ah, what will be your compunctions, when these same infidels, victorious through yow assist- ance, will "tread you down as mire in the streets," and exult in their triumph over bigots and bigotry? Sit down, now, and interrogate your own hearts, whether you can, with a "pure conscience," befriend Mr. Jefferson's election? Whether you can do it in the name of the Lord Jesus ? Whe- ther you can lift up your heads, and tell him that the choice of this infidel is for his honor, and that you promote it in the faith of his approbation ? Whether, in the event of success, you have a right to look for his blessing in the enjoyment of your President? Whether, having preferred the talents of a man before the religion of Jesus, you ought not to fear that God will blast these talents; abandon your President to infatuated counsels; r The Voice of Warning. 577 and yourselves to the plague of your own folly? Whether it would not be just to remove the restraints of his good providence, and scourge you with that very infidelity which you did not scruple to countenance ? Whether you can, without some guilty misgivings, pray for the spirit of Christ upon a President, whom you choose in spite of every demonstration of his hatred to Christ? Those who, to keep their consciences clean, oppose Mr. Jeffer- son, may pray for him, in this manner, with a full and fervent heart. But to you, God may administer this dread rebuke: "You chose an infidel: keep him as ye chose him ; walk in the sparks that ye have kindled." Whether the threatenings of God are not pointed against such a magistrate and such a people ? " Be wise, O ye kings," is his command- ment; "be instructed, ye judges of the earth: serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trem- bling : Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his anger is kindled but a little."* What, then, is in store for a magistrate who is so far from " kissing the Son," that he hates and opposes him? " The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."f And who forget him, if not a nation which, though called by his name, nevertheless caresses, honors, rewards his enemies ? The Lord hath sworn to strike through kings in the day of his wrath.\ Woe * Ps. ii. 10-12. f Ps. ix. 17. I Ps. ex. 5. VOL. IV. 37 578 The Voice of Warning. then, to those governments which are wielded by infidels, when he arises to judgment ; and woe to those who have contributed to establish them ! To whatever influence thej owe their determinations and their measures, it is not to the " Spirit of under- standing, and of the fear of the Lord." Do I speak these things as a man ; or saith not the Scripture the same also? "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, hut not of me, and that cover with a covering, hut not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin. That walk to go down into Egypt (a?id have not asked at my mouthy to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore the strength of Egvpt shall be yowY shame, and the trust in the shadoia of Egypt your CONFUSION.""^ This is the light in which God considers your confidence in his enemies; and the issue for which you ought to be prepared, I have done; and do not flatter myself that I shall escape the censure of many professed, and of some real Christians. The style of this pamphlet is calculated to conciliate nothing but conscience. I desire to concihate nothing else. " If I pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." I do not expect, nor wish, to fare better than the Apostle of the Gentiles, who became the enemy of not a few professors, because he told them the truth.\ But the * Isa. XXX. 1-3. t Gal. iv. 16. TJie Voice of Warning. 570 Bible speaks of " Children that will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophecy not unto us right things : speak unto us smooth things : prophecy deceits,"* Here is the truth, " Whether you will hear, or whether you will forbear." If you are re- solved to persevere in elevating an infidel to the chair of your President, I pray God not to " choose your delusions ;" but cannot dissemble that " my flesh trembleth for fear of his judgments." It is m}* consolation that my feeble voice has been lifted up for His name. I have addressed you as one who believes, and I beseech you to act as those who beheve, "That we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ." Whatever be the result, you shall not plead that you were not warned. If, notwithstanding, you call to govern you an enemy to my Lord and your Lord; in the face of earth and heaven, and in the audience of your own consciences, I record my protest, and wash my hands of your guilt. Arise, O Lord, and let not man prevail! * Isa. XXX. 9, 10. -i** •t *^. 02-23-05 32180 MC W Princeton Theoloqical , Senjinary Libraries 1 1012 01254 8493