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PEIIICETGIT 
 
 TKEOLOGICAI^ 
 
 JK 1759 .C72 1852 
 Colwell, Stephen, 1800-1871 
 Politics for American 
 Christians 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Arcinive 
 
 in 2010 witii funding from 
 
 Princeton Tiieoiogicai Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.arcliive.org/details/politicsforameriOOcolw 
 
POLITICS 
 
 AMERICAN CHRISTIANS: 
 
 A WORD 
 
 OUR EXAMPLE AS A NATION, OUR LABOUR, 
 OUR TRADE, ELECTIONS, EDUCATION, 
 
 CangraBioiiiil XrgiBlation. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 LIPPINCOTT, GRAM BO & CO. 
 
 1852. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 
 
 LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO., 
 
 in the Clerk's OfBce of the District Court of the United States, in and for 
 the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY J. FAGAN. T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRITfTEBS. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 There is no small confusion of ideas among even 
 intelligent men, and good Christians, on the subject 
 of the bearing of Christianity on social and political 
 questions. " Do you suppose I mingle my religion 
 with my politics?" replied, not long since, a man of 
 standing in his church, to a gentleman who had 
 taken him to task for political conduct inconsistent 
 with his religious profession. There are not a few 
 who seem to be of the same opinion; that, in the 
 way of politics and business, they can be perverse, 
 rabid, undermining, overreaching, overbearing, if not 
 dishonest and indecent, provided they keep their 
 every-day conduct quite distinct from their religious 
 observance and Sunday demeanor. Christianity per- 
 mits no such distinction, — not even in the slightest 
 degree. It is true that the great Author of Chris- 
 tianity, our Religious Lawgiver, Teacher, and Ex- 
 emplar, enjoins no interference with political insti- 
 tutions. His instructions in reference to our conduct 
 in this life are elementary ; they reach to the soul 
 and inward character, and thence mould the outward 
 
 1 (1) 
 
11 PREFACE. 
 
 man in all the jjliases, positions, and relations of 
 external life. If the seeds of truth be in a man. as 
 sown by Christ and His Apostles, — as planted by the 
 Holy Spirit, then the trunk, and bark, and branches, 
 the fruit, and foliage, must show the same character. 
 A man cannot carry Christianity all on one shoulder, 
 nor in one hand, nor concealed in his pocket. If it 
 be in him, it will show itself wherever he goes, and 
 in all that he does, if any moral consideration be 
 involved. We are not commanded to reform nor to 
 attack political institutions which may be unfriendly 
 to the progress of Christianity ; but we are com- 
 manded to reform ourselves. The more richly we 
 are filled with that wisdom which is taught by 
 Christ; the more this leaven is infused into a whole 
 community, the fitter will its citizens be to reform 
 their institutions, and the more patiently will they 
 bear what is oppressive or inconvenient, until the 
 time comes when the needful reform can be effected 
 with the greatest safety and advantage. The instruc- 
 tions of Christ, then, bear upon the preservation and 
 purifying of all that is good in our political institu- 
 tions, by regenerating and enlightening the indi- 
 vidual men who sustain and manage them ; they 
 bear upon every needful social reform which can, in 
 any degree, promote individual comfort and general 
 well-being. When any large proportion of the people 
 in any nation are thoroughly Christianized, its po- 
 
PREFACE. iii 
 
 litical results will not be long in showing- themselves 
 in what may promote human advantage, here and 
 hereafter. No Christian can rightfully separate his 
 religion from his politics, from his business, his pro- 
 fession, or from his career in life, whatever it may be. 
 
 The following remarks are intended to illustrate 
 this truth in reference to several subjects having a 
 political or social bearing. If our public institutions 
 are important to the interests of humanity through- 
 out the world, as affording irrefutable proof of the 
 capacity of men for self-government; if they are 
 important specially to us for the unequalled advan- 
 tages we enjoy under them ; if they furnish the only 
 home which Christianity may claim as peculiarly its 
 own, because here alone Christian institutions are 
 unshackled, then Christians here undergo responsi- 
 bilities perhaps more serious than ever weighed upon 
 Christians of any previous nation or age. 
 
 The topics we introduce are but loosely touched. 
 We but converse upon the subjects, — Our Position 
 in reference to Foreign Politics; The Rewards of 
 Labor; The Relations of industry with Trade; 
 Public Education, Elections, Legislation, Legislative 
 Bodies, and, more especially, the Moral Position of 
 our National Legislature. These are topics of vast 
 moment. They need a large development. The 
 time may not have arrived when any one man can 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 fully systematize what is proper to be inculcated 
 upon Christians as to their political and social duties. 
 If so, the subject should not be lost from sight ; and 
 men, instead of slumbering over it, should keep it 
 ever under close consideration, until the collision of 
 many minds, and the product of much thought, 
 shall shed light enough to send the needed intelli- 
 gence, from one focus, with full effect, throughout 
 the whole household of the family of Christ. We 
 know that very many minds are now anxiously 
 turned in the direction here indicated. We trust 
 this attention will not be withdrawn until a work 
 is performed, the most needful of any that can 
 occupy the Christian mind. 
 
 Philadelphia, October, 1852. 
 
POLITICS 
 FOE AMEEICAN CHRISTIANS 
 
 For many years we have been gazing upon the 
 eventful scenes which have transpired in Europe, 
 and we have been listening with no less interest to 
 what has been said there ; we have been looking 
 with startled expectation to the developments, 
 moral, political, and religious, which are rapidly 
 unfolding in that focus of civilization. We cannot 
 but regard that battle-ground of the interests of 
 humanity with the most intense earnestness! How 
 much do we behold and hear to excite our hopes, 
 our fears, our sj-mpathies, if not our intervention ! 
 We cannot if we would, we should not if we could, 
 be indifferent spectators of what is passing there. 
 Whilst we cannot avoid seeing the external move- 
 ments of the peoples of Europe, we cannot be blind 
 to the equally certain facts, that these movements 
 are caused by internal forces, moral and intellectual, 
 exerting an energy and power never felt before from 
 the same sources. The friend of humanity is called 
 to consider and appreciate strange events, new and 
 explosive powers not heretofore familiar to the world. 
 
 (5) 
 
6 POLITICS FOR 
 
 The horse is learning to know his own strength 
 and his rider's weakness ; the progress of the journey 
 is interrupted, and the security of the master threat- 
 ened by violent and powerful, but awkward and ill- 
 directed, and often vicious efforts, to escape from 
 the galling harness of darker ages. We look on the 
 noble steed, and wonder that he can be held by 
 such flimsy cords, but tremble to see them snap, 
 and give him a liberty to which he is all unused, 
 and which in its first intoxication is more dangerous 
 to himself than the tyranny of a master. The 
 people of Europe are rapidly hastening to a change 
 of their political institutions, or to modifications of 
 them more in accordance with their true interests. 
 But, ah ! what preparation is needed for this new 
 position and its attendant duties? Whence shall 
 come the light and the wisdom under the guidance 
 of which this preparation must be made, and its 
 results enjoyed ? Have we any ground of hope from 
 the lessons of the past, that mere human wisdom can 
 extricate the masses of Europe from their present 
 condition and place them securely in their proper 
 sphere of usefulness to themselves and to the world ? 
 Certainly none. The course of events for more than 
 half a century demonstrates their utter incapacity 
 to emancipate and govern themselves. They have 
 not yet sufficient self-control : they have 3^et the 
 abuses, the prejudices, the chains — the harness of 
 a thousand years to cast off, before they can be fit to 
 assume the position of self-government. And that is 
 not all ; it is not merely a negative preparation they 
 need, they must be trained for a new position and 
 new duties. But how can this be ever effected, 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 7 
 
 unless they are first emancipated ? We reply the 
 first step in this great change is to know that prepa- 
 ration is requisite for the change — preparation of 
 mind and heart. If these subjects were calmly and 
 fully discussed, as they may be under any form of 
 government, good progress might be made towards 
 permanent and radical reforms. Rulers are not the 
 chief obstacle to discussions of those truths which 
 most concern the interests of humanity. The most 
 beneficial changes are those which would often give 
 as great satisfiiction to the sovereign as to the masses 
 of his subjects. The first and greatest difficulty lies 
 in this, that large classes of men are interested every 
 where in preserving the existing order of things 
 intact. All change in their estimation threatens 
 some sacrifice of position, or power, or wealth, or 
 influence, on their part. Those who possess such 
 advantages cannot endure a discussion which brings 
 them into question. They hold the patronage of 
 society in their hands ; and the literature of every 
 country is apt to be moulded to gratify their taste. 
 They exercise a negative influence on the progress 
 of truth, by giving it no ^velcome, as well as a 
 positive one, by frowning upon all attempts to 
 unsettle existing notions of social order. Such is 
 the power exercised by these favored classes in every 
 country, that it is not only hard to resist their influ- 
 ence, but difficult for those who have been bred amono: 
 them even to think in opposition to the i^revailing 
 current of ideas. Writers and thinkers circulate 
 among the fortunate thousands, and become their 
 dependants ; they forget the millions, or cannot afford 
 to serve them. This repressive influence is exerted 
 
8 POLITICS FOR 
 
 with greater or lesser effect in diflferent countries, but 
 is appreciable in all. 
 
 AVhence is to come that high intelligence and pure 
 virtue which can surmount all these barriers to the 
 truth, and shed the needful light upon these topics 
 of social happiness? Can it come from political 
 economy ? no ; for that is a science of wealth, with 
 its production and distribution, explicitly excluding 
 all moral considerations. Can it come from political 
 philosophy ? no ; for that is making no progress, and 
 never can whilst it persists in constructing systems of 
 government, without keeping in view the very object 
 of human society, the welfare of the individuals 
 associated. No balancing of the powers of a govern- 
 ment, however nicely accomplished, can atone for 
 neglecting to provide chiefly for the main object of 
 national association. No limitation of powers, 
 no restraints from abuse, can compensate for leaving 
 out the real end to be attained. Thus far political 
 philosophy has shown itself totally incapable of 
 grappling with the real question it involves, and has 
 therefore evolved nothing like a science. The actual 
 progress in political science cannot be attributed to 
 any speculative philosophy, but to the lessons of 
 experience, and more than all, to the light of the 
 Keformation. If that light had been permitted to 
 shine with equal lustre and steadiness in every 
 country of Europe, how different this day would be 
 the condition of those nations ! But great as are the 
 obligations of the world to the reformation, has it 
 performed its whole duty to man? Have Christians 
 of the Reformation, and the ten generations who 
 have lived since, comprehended the whole of the 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 9 
 
 obligations devolving upon them? Can it be safely 
 assumed that those who have left out of the scope 
 of their studies the whole range of questions which 
 most concern the social interests of humanity, have 
 discharged their duties to their fellow-men ? Living 
 under a moral law, exacting such strong regards for 
 men and all their interests, they could not satisfy 
 the demand of that law by any thing short of study- 
 ing not only individual, but social interests; for the 
 former are frequently only to be reached through 
 the latter. The actual progress achieved in good 
 government has been made under the light of 
 Christianity, which reveals the true theory of 
 human happiness in this world, as well as in the 
 world to come. But the progress — how infinitely 
 short of the lesson ! Human welfare on this side of 
 the grave, how far too little has it engaged the atten- 
 tion of believers ! They have not realized that all 
 the temporal, as well as all the eternal interests of 
 men, belong to their responsibilities. No language 
 can add to the weight or stringency of these require- 
 ments. Christians have not, in times past, acquitted 
 themselves of their social duties : they have scarcely 
 put forth a hand in that direction, and they are still 
 derelict to these obligations. Christianity is now 
 suffering deeply from this neglect, and is made to 
 appear as if unequal to the emergency of the day. 
 Let not Christians occasion such reproach ; let them 
 arouse to the labors which are awaiting them. They 
 must not only do good, but study to do good ; they 
 must not only help those who are near, but study to 
 help those afar off; they must bring not merely their 
 goods, and the help of their hands, but the labor of 
 
10 POLITICS FOR 
 
 their minds to the service of those whom they are 
 commanded to love as themselves. 
 
 It is not supposed that all can engage, with the 
 same advantage to themselves and others, in this 
 expansive w^ork of befriending all the world, or 
 whole nations, or masses of men ; it is not every 
 Christian clergyman or layman who can enter upon 
 such comprehensive inquiries as those we have indi- 
 cated, with success. " Having gifts differing accord- 
 ing to the grace that is given," let every man fill his 
 separate, as well as his joint mission in this life, by 
 glorifying his Father in Heaven, and serving his 
 brethren on earth as his mental and physical gifts 
 may enable him. Only let it be distinctly understood 
 and felt, that our duties to other men are similar to 
 those which we owe to ourselves. If our chief duty 
 is the love of God, our next is the love of men. The 
 blended action of these graces makes the perfect 
 Christian. We believe, then, that the whole pro- 
 blem of human destiny in this world, is fully com- 
 mitted to the consideration of Christians : it is one 
 which commends itself to the conscience of every 
 thoughtful man, and takes hold upon all true friends 
 of the human race. Believing, as we do, however, 
 that the light of Christianity must shine upon every 
 investigation intended to explore the hidden path to 
 human happiness, we think that such explorations 
 can only be successful in the hands of Christians; 
 and the time has certainly arrived when the research 
 must commence. Christians must now survey the 
 world, not merely with an eye to the eternal, but to 
 the temporal interests of men ; not merely to direct 
 their steps heavenward, but to guide and comfort 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 11 
 
 "them in their earthly pilgrimage. The latter, if not 
 as important, is as incumbent on us as the former. 
 Without remarking on the influence which such 
 considerations should have upon the form and admi- 
 nistration of our missions to men of the heathen world, 
 for these, though exclusively designed for religious 
 instruction, become, in practice, so modified, as to 
 embrace works of mercy and humanity; we turn to 
 those countries of Europe where the desire for ame- 
 lioration is now so clearly visible. It is now essen- 
 tial to human w^elfare that the light of revelation be 
 shed upon the subjects discussed there ; — that the 
 light of Christian wisdom, caution, and calmness, be 
 infused into measures designed to secure a better 
 condition for the European family. 
 
 None can better render them this service than 
 those who have enjoyed the unrestrained advantage 
 of Christian instruction, free from the complications 
 of ancient political and religious systems. In Euro- 
 pean countries, Christianity has never developed its 
 application and bearing upon social questions. So 
 far from such development, it has itself been subject 
 to modifications, restraints, and perversions, effectu- 
 ally restraining its legitimate influences and proper 
 bearing. We shall not pause to inquire what respon- 
 sibilities, in this respect, rest upon English Christians : 
 it is enough for us to ascertain what we should do 
 to acquit ourselves of those which devolve upon 
 Christians of the United States. We have been, in 
 not a few respects, the most favored people on 
 earth ; we are most deeply indebted to the Dispenser 
 of all blessings; and, being the most prosperous 
 brother in the family of nations, we owe, not only 
 
12 P L I T I C S F R 
 
 the largest debt of thanks to the Author of all good, 
 but the largest debt of love and good offices to less 
 favored brethren of other lands. This lesson, incul- 
 cated hy the very spirit of Christianity, should be 
 deeply pondered, as intimately connected with the 
 progress of true religion. 
 
 As mere politicians, we may refrain from address- 
 ing them ; but, as Christians, can we refuse them the 
 benefit of our knowledge and experience ? We must 
 not content ourselves with merely pointing their 
 attention heavenwards ; they are enduring hardships 
 here, and now ; they ask for sympathy and present 
 aid, and we cannot discharge our duties by simply 
 exhorting them to patience and submission. Shall 
 our large experience in self-government, our free 
 thoughts, and our intimate acquaintance with the 
 word of God, afford them no lesson ? They struggle 
 to cast off their ancient forms of government; we 
 can at least warn them, that success in this will be, 
 as we have said above, of no avail without prepara- 
 tion ; they must not merely be prepared with a sub- 
 stitute, but they must be prepared to administer that 
 substitute. A political change cannot safely be made 
 until a previous moral change is accomplished. Ours 
 was a long preparation, which dates back to the Re- 
 formation. A far shorter period would suffice to 
 prepare the people of Europe for greater equality of 
 condition, and for a better lot in this world. It is 
 not change in the frame-work of society, which they 
 most need, in the first instance ; it is to comprehend 
 the nature and extent of their social interests. The 
 rulers and people are alike deficient in this know- 
 ledge. These interests should be understood in the 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 13 
 
 light of men's mutual dependence, and their obliga- 
 tions to mutual support and kindness. There is a 
 language of kindness and of wisdom which may be 
 addressed to the rulers and people of any country ; 
 and it is in this tone we should speak, for we cannot 
 forget the duty of Christians, to "be subject to 
 principalities and powers, to obey magistrates." 
 Let it be known that, whilst Christians are ever 
 zealous of promoting the advantage of their fellow 
 men, they are never unmindful of the hazards of rash 
 movements; that they are, in fact, earnest in pro- 
 moting the real advantage of those in authority, as 
 well as of those over whom sway is exercised. It 
 is not merely a change in the form of a government 
 which is desirable in the Christian aspect; if the 
 social institutions within the sphere of government 
 are what Christian example and morality should 
 make them, then a very high degree of social well- 
 being may be enjoyed under any form of rule. 
 
 All governments are more or less the subjects of 
 abuse; the best is that which affords the fewest 
 opportunities of abuse and oppression, and the fewest 
 temptations to such indulgence. As the wisest form 
 of government cannot secure the benefit of social 
 happiness, unless with previous preparation or long 
 training; it is to this training that the Christian 
 philosopher must direct his eyes. The constitution 
 of a country should take its form and spirit from 
 the actual position into which their previous train- 
 ing has led the people. It is often safer, and fre- 
 quently only possible that this preparation should 
 proceed under existing political institutions, any 
 attempts to change which, in the first instance 
 
14 POLITICSFOR 
 
 involves disaster and bloodshed, with the ruin of in- 
 dustry, and prolonged disturbance of the elements of 
 peace and prosperity. 
 
 " Every religion, every mode of religious belief 
 and opinion, is more or less directly related to the 
 social moralities; and laws and institutions are the 
 organs through which these express themselves — 
 the body of which they are the soul. Every theory 
 of Divine Providence and government draws after 
 it, or rather includes in it, a corresponding theory 
 of human destination; therefore of human duties; 
 therefore of the civil and social arrangements under 
 which the destination may best be attained, and the 
 rights and duties most worthily realized ; all which 
 especially holds good of such a religion as the Chris- 
 tian's — so practical, so human, so rich and full in 
 its every-day moralities." — " The Founder of Chris- 
 tianity and his first followers did not interfere with 
 forms and modes of civil government otherwise than 
 to teach that all governments which answer the 
 common purposes of social union are equally legiti- 
 mate and of divine right; — "for the powers that be, 
 are ordained of God." " They contented themselves 
 with announcing broad and everlasting moral truths, 
 destined in the progress of time, gradually to regen- 
 erate society and remould governments and politics 
 into their own likeness." — " Leaving then all ques- 
 tions of texts and textual controversy, as belonging 
 rather to the theologian than the political moralist, 
 we simply inquire what great general truths in the 
 philosophy of social morals, — what ideas and princi- 
 ples having a political bearing, are consecrated by 
 the general tone and tenor of the volume which 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 15 
 
 Christians revere as their rule of faitii and practice? 
 M'hat moral may the politician learn from that vast 
 fact in the economy of Providence, that stupendous 
 spiritual revolution, whose opening scenes the books 
 of the New Testament disclose ?" " Thus Christianity 
 consecrates the principle of appealing directly to the 
 common people on the very highest and deepest 
 questions of human interest. The gospels treat the 
 popular intellect with respect and friendliness." " It 
 honours all men by addressing itself to faculties and 
 feelings which all men in common possess. That 
 'the poor have the gospel preached unto them' is 
 adduced by our Lord as one of the most distinctive 
 signs of his Divine Mission, and it is this more than 
 any thing else which constitutes the Gospel a great 
 fact, — the greatest of facts, — in the philosophy of 
 the Rights of Man. This preaching of a gospel to 
 the poor, assumes that the poor have faculties for 
 the appreciation of the profoundest of moral truths ; 
 that there is nothing too good to be given to them ; 
 that the enlightening of their understanding, the 
 awakening of their feelings, the guiding of their 
 aspirations to spiritual beauty, truth and good, is a 
 work worthy of the highest order of intelligence. 
 The Christian religion is the loftiest wisdom de- 
 scending, without any parade , of condescension, to 
 commune with the deepest ignorance, — lifting up its 
 voice not merely in the schools of learning and 
 science, but in the high-ways of human intercourse, 
 in the very streets and market-places." 
 
 We have made this long extract from an article 
 in Tail's Edinburgh Magazine for Decemher 1844, 
 entitled " The Politics of the New Testament," for 
 
16 POLITICS FOR 
 
 its spirit and tone as well as because it contains some 
 ideas in the line of our remarks. 
 
 Whilst we engage in every direct and appropriate 
 means of extending the benefits of Christianity, 
 w^e should neither overlook nor fail to apply all the 
 indirect means of attaining this end. The latter 
 may be less obvious to common observers, but they 
 are quite frequently the most effective. The preach- 
 ing of the gospel is an appointed means for the 
 conversion of the world, but a Christian exemplifica- 
 tion indirectly conveys a more impressive lesson than 
 the most eloquent enforcement of a doctrine. We 
 must win the ear of our auditors if we would find the 
 way to their hearts : we must establish a place in the 
 confidence of men before they will surrender their con- 
 victions to our teachings. It is not necessary nor pro- 
 per that we should tender the standards of our church 
 to those we would befriend as the condition u})on 
 which they may receive our favor. It should be an 
 admitted and proclaimed fact, that there is something 
 in Christianity higher and purer than any exhibition 
 yet made of it. Denominationalism, however una- 
 voidable, is the result of human weakness, not of any 
 imperfection or ambiguity in Christianity. When- 
 ever it is in the power of Christians to rise above 
 this weakness, and to exhibit the results of tlieir 
 faith in their loftiest aspects, they should not fail to 
 do it as one of the most efficient means of extending 
 the Redeemer's kingdom. When as Citizens of the 
 United States, and as members of the family of 
 Christ we look abroad upon the world, we are espe- 
 cially bound to rise above sectarian lines and to carry 
 the eyes of our fellow Christians of every denomina- 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 17 
 
 tion with UP, because it is only in our collective 
 capacity we can employ that moral or physical power 
 which can accomplish any great good among the na- 
 tions of the earth. When we reflect that we are the 
 only people in the world who enjoy full control over 
 our religious and political institutions; that we have 
 actually moulded and developed them to their present 
 condition free from all violent intervention and dis- 
 turbance, we perceive that our position is one of vast 
 and special responsibility. No other Christian coun- 
 try has enjoyed such an advantage. In the achieve- 
 ment of our independence, and in the construction 
 of our political institutions, we acquitted ourselves 
 so as to acquire a vast moral power in the world. 
 Towards this country the enlightened Christians and 
 friends of humanity looked from all nations for an 
 exemplification of self-government and a development 
 of Christianity which should commence a career of 
 progress for religion, and amelioration for humanity, 
 never to end until all nations were brought under 
 their influences. It was obvious that the eyes of the 
 world were and have been upon us as Christians and 
 self-governing citizens, and it became the duty of 
 Christians in this country to consider and it so re- 
 mains, what they could do to exalt their master's 
 cause and to promote the , best interests of humanity 
 at home and abroad. ■ As denominations they were 
 powerless in this broad view of their responsibilities; 
 but as Christian citizens of the United States, they 
 had full power to mould their social and political 
 institutions and to develop and apply Cliristinnity 
 according to their will. 
 
 There has been no time, since our origin as a 
 2 
 
18 POLITICS FOR 
 
 nation, when the united voices and efforts of the 
 Christians of this country could not have accom- 
 plished any object they desired, provided the mea- 
 sure was conceived in the true spirit of Christian 
 wisdom and toleration. There has been no time 
 when it was not the duty of the Christians of this 
 country to consider, under the full light of that 
 Christianity which beamed upon them undimmed 
 from the word of God, what policy and what mea- 
 sures were best fitted to improve and preserve our 
 political institutions, and what course of government 
 or legislation would most improve the moral, reli- 
 gious, and social well-being of the whole people. 
 The consideration of such subjects imports the study 
 of the most difficult and lofty problems involved in 
 human destiny here and hereafter. If all have 
 not gifts or leisure for such labor, many have both, 
 and should be brought to see that this is eminently 
 the w^ork of Christians ; one which they cannot omit 
 nor turn over to unchristian hands without flagrant 
 violation of religious obligations. The views of 
 Christians, in reference to human welfire, instead of 
 being more contracted, should be more broad and 
 liberal than those of other men. Familiarity with 
 such topics as the Creation and the Creator, the fall 
 of man, and his redemption by the Son of God, the 
 Divine Government, physical and moral, should 
 exalt and strengthen, as well as enlarge the compre- 
 hension of Christians. When Christians, as a body, 
 shall have appreciated the greatness of the field of 
 inquiry, in reference to human weal and woe, which 
 lies before them, and shall have become sensible that 
 it is their peculiar duty to explore that field, without 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 19 
 
 shrinking from any portion, carrying with them the 
 light of Christianity, men will be found having quali- 
 fications for this great task. Many reasons might be 
 assigned why Christians have not made greater 
 advances in this portion of their work. Under the 
 pressure of Eoman Catholic abuses, previous to the 
 Reformation, the Christian mind could not rise to 
 such conceptions. During the period of the Refor- 
 mation, and nearly ever since, in Europe, a struggle 
 has been carried on for the vindication of vital 
 doctrines of Christianity, and for religious and civil 
 liberty, which left but little opportunity for ex- 
 ploring a wider range of Christian obligations. When 
 men could scarcely maintain the right of worshipping 
 God according to their convictions of truth, they 
 were not in a condition to carry the study of Chris- 
 tian duty to its ultimate scojie and conclusion. They 
 reduced into systematic form that theology which 
 embraces our duty to God ; but were seldom encou- 
 raged to develop freely and fully the Christian duty 
 of man to man. Such discussions would have brought 
 them in contact with powers temporal and spiritual, 
 who could not endure the exposition of the true 
 Christian doctrine of charity, as taught in the 
 "Word of God. This line of investigation and religious 
 literature has been left to a more happy period of 
 the world, when men are free, not only to utter the 
 highest Christian aspirations, but to pursue those 
 inquiries which relate to human happiness and des- 
 tiny in this world, and to devise means to accom- 
 plish such ameliorations as the profoundest and 
 boldest discoveries of truth may dictate. The times 
 and the opportunities thus waited for are now coming, 
 
20 POLITICSFOR 
 
 and the corresponding responsibilities are now resting 
 upon Christians. They must soon determine what 
 they owe to their respective governments, and to 
 their own fellow-citizens, and what they owe to 
 humanity at large ; and this to the farthest stretch 
 of their intellectual vision and physical powers, and 
 to the utmost scope of the Christian law of love. 
 
 In this field of Christian inquiry, much truth 
 remains to be developed. The discussions which 
 have so long and unprofitably occupied the minds of 
 Christians, shed little light upon the real subject of 
 human welfare ; and are of little use except to 
 demonstrate that the solution of the main problem 
 does not lie in that direction. ( Pure Christianity 
 claims no power over the state as such, and no official 
 connection with it. It claims no dominion nor con- 
 trol over communities of men, but merely over the 
 hearts and lives of men individually ; it lays its obli- 
 gations impartially upon the master and the slave, 
 the prince and the beggar, the ruler and the sub- 
 ject. It does not claim the right of converting 
 Political into Christian Institutions, and of compelling 
 men to yield them a servile obedience, but only 
 through men enlightened and purified by Christianity, 
 to mould, modify, and rear institutions suitable for 
 Christian men — such as fully recognize Christi- 
 anity, and afibrd a fair opportunity to develop its 
 benefits, and diffuse its truths, without constraining 
 the belief of any man. It asks full toleration, and 
 yields it in return, so far in either case as may be 
 possible, in the utmost spirit of that wise concession 
 upon which the powers of all governments must be 
 founded and exercised. Christianity seeks not secu- 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 21 
 
 lar authority ; it asks institutions suitable for Chris- 
 tian men; it assumes that Christians will make 
 Political Institutions ultimately effective in promo- 
 ting human welfare ; it regenerates the man, and 
 leaves the man to regenerate the State; it works 
 from the heart to the life. The grand result of 
 Christian wisdom and love must, in the special re- 
 spect in which we are regarding it, be developed up- 
 ward from the individual to the masses, and be at 
 last seen in the laws, manners, industry, and social 
 institutions of a whole nation.3 
 
 When the Christian statesman regards the masses 
 of men who surround him as fellow-citizens, a multi- 
 tude of topics may crowd upon him whilst reflecting 
 upon their actual condition, their progressive, physi- 
 cal, and moral well-being, and the connection of this 
 progress with their futurity. lie perceives that a 
 heavy responsibility lies upon the whole body of 
 Christians in reference to the welfare of these masses, 
 in this life as well as in that to come. He per- 
 ceives that there can be nothing of moment in the 
 lives of these multitudes, or in their relations with 
 each other, to which the great commands " Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," " Whatsoever ye 
 would that men should do to you, do ye even so to 
 them," or some other law of Christ, does not apply. 
 Let the political or social institutions of a country 
 be what they may, the commands of the Saviour are 
 none the less binding where they have been made 
 known. They cover the whole ground of human 
 motives, human action, and human welfare, because 
 they begin with the individual, and follow him into 
 every position, and business, and relation of life. He 
 
22 POLITICSFOR 
 
 discovers that there is no "debateable ground 
 between political economy and Christianity," because 
 the latter claims jurisdiction over the whole ground 
 of human welfare, co-extensive, if not exclusive. 
 
 Christianity begins with the welfare of the indivi- 
 dual, and never forsakes that consideration in all the 
 course and variety of human life ; it cannot approve, 
 therefore, any code of morals, any system of political 
 economy, any philosophy of wealth, or any course 
 of legislation which loses sight of individual well- 
 being. No glory in war, no conquest, no increase of 
 public revenue, no liberality in its expenditure, no 
 exaltation of special interests, whether manufactur- 
 ing or commercial, can compensate for the neglect 
 and abuse of the bones and sinews, bodies and souls, 
 of those upon whose labor this success is founded. 
 Every system of wealth or production which is deve- 
 loped from any other point than the welfare of the 
 individuals to which it is applicable, must be anti- 
 Christian and unsound. The Christian philosopher 
 who surveys the masses of a nation with reference 
 to their best temporal interests, knows, from his own 
 observation, as well as from history and tlie testi- 
 mony of Revelation, that men are by nature unequal 
 in mind and body ; in power of intellect and in phy- 
 sical endurance ; he rejoices to see them united in 
 communities or nations, that the weak may be pro- 
 tected against the strong, and the simple against the 
 cunning ; he knows that in the race of life many 
 must fall behind, not only from mental and physical 
 inability to cope with their superiors, but from acci- 
 dental causes beyond their control ; and that if these 
 are not upheld and carried onward by their stronger 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 23 
 
 associates, they must sink under the burdens of life : 
 he knows these cases will be numerous, that Chris- 
 tianity forbids their being overlooked, and that they 
 should also be an important subject of human legis- 
 lation. 
 
 LABOR AND ITS REWARDS, 
 
 The 23ri»cipal feature in the lives of masses of 
 men is labor; they must get their bread by the 
 labor of their hands. This is the inevitable lot 
 of the many; the few will endeavor to escape the 
 more severe tasks imposed by this lot, and some 
 may escape altogether. The agriculturist must 
 provide food for all, the manufacturer and mechanic 
 must provide clothing and lodging for all ; the pro- 
 fessional man — the man of science must find medical 
 and legal aid, science, skill, and education for all ; 
 and thus they are bound in the brotherhood of 
 mutual dependence. ^But the actual working of this 
 mutual dependence has ever shown that a few men 
 of superior mental power or attainments, or wealth 
 or accidental advantages soon rise to jDositions of 
 authority and control, which enable them to oppress 
 those beneath them, and to draw to themselves, in 
 various ways, and upon an infinity of pretexts, 
 too large a proportion of the profits of labor,' 
 Although the visible power and wealth, and glory 
 of a country soon appear concentrated in the higher 
 
24 POLITICS FOR 
 
 and more prominent stratum of society, the Chris- 
 tian philosopher cannot withdraw his ej'es from 
 the broad layers of the under stratum, where swarm- 
 ing crowds labor, and strive, and suffer. Among 
 these should be the chosen field of Christian labor. 
 Every soul below, however humble, is worth as 
 much as the loftiest soul in the region of power and 
 wealth above. One great point to be secured for 
 these masses, is a simply just compensation for labor, 
 and a fair field for industry and enterprise. This 
 should be the principal aim of legislation in every 
 nation, because it relates to the greatest interest 
 of the largest number. 
 
 If there be four millions of laboring fiimilies in 
 the United States, one dollar weekly added in money 
 or its value in necessaries, to the income of each 
 family, would give to the laborers of this countrj^, 
 annually, a sum far greater than the average exports 
 or imports of our foreign commerce. If the income 
 by wages of each laboring family were increased 
 only one hundred dollars yearly, the sum thus paid 
 would amount to nearly threefold the average foreign 
 exports of the country. 
 
 But the magnitude of this interest may be better 
 conceived when we consider that there must be about 
 ten millions of effective laboring persons in the 
 United States, male and female, including the larger 
 children. If these receive for the working days of 
 each year but fifty cents daily, their whole annual 
 wages would amount to fifteen hundred millions of 
 dollars yearly; twenty-five cents daily added to their 
 wages makes an addition of seven hundred and fifty 
 millions. This exhibits the vast annual value of 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 25 
 
 the labor of the country in doUars and cents; but 
 it should not be regarded merely in this aspect. It 
 exhibits in gross the living of the poor. Is it enough ? 
 Is it justly distributed and faithfully dispensed? It 
 is all their living: is it held back? Is it subject to 
 undue fluctuation, controlled by selfishness, or reduc- 
 ed by fraud and oppression ? A thousand such 
 inquiries arise in the mind which surveys this great 
 mass of humanity, and reflects how much power a 
 favored few can exercise over all its interests. 
 Christianity cannot regard this spectacle of labor 
 with indifference, for in its arrangements are the 
 issues of comfort and happiness on the one hand, 
 and utter misery, destitution, pauperism, crime, 
 disease and death on the other. In no Christian 
 aspect of the subject can it be denied that if the 
 multitudes labour they ought to have their reward, 
 and that reward should not be less than a comforta- 
 ble subsistence. To the extent their wages or 
 reward falls short of this, they are enslaved without 
 even the benefit of a master to have any care for 
 them. In all countries where laborers who are the 
 chief consumers have an opportunity of fixing their 
 wages as against each other, they exact mutually 
 a comfortable living for their labor. They should 
 have this right. 
 
 It cannot be indifferent to Christianity how much 
 wages the employer pays his hireling, nor how much 
 interest the lender, nor what price the seller of goods 
 charges his customers ; nor how little the rich use 
 their means in giving employment to those who are 
 suffering for lack of labor. Christianit}^ nay the 
 all-seeing eye of the compassionate Saviour of men 
 
26 POLITICSFOR 
 
 takes cognizance of this whole scene of hibor in 
 all its infinite bearings and relations, and all the vio- 
 lations of the law of love occurriiig in this active 
 arena, are of course not unmarked. Whether the 
 injustice observed is upon a small or a large scale, 
 affecting mere classes of men or the entire population 
 of laborers, the responsibility lies more or less 
 heavily somewhere ; and, " For the oppression of the 
 poor, for the sighing of the needy will I arise, saith 
 the Lord." 
 
 This spectacle of human industry and human 
 suffering is often complicated, it is true, beyond all 
 power of human scrutiny to unravel and explain. 
 (No mere man may be able to determine and define 
 the precise duties of all who stand related to it ; but 
 though no discrimination is equal to this task, 
 Christian love and Vv^armth can soften the whole 
 mass, render it more plastic, more transparent, and 
 more susceptible of new forms, and new and more 
 just arrangements. The applications of mere human 
 philosophy to these complicated questions of labor 
 have been many, but almost without ajoproximating 
 a successful solution. They have, for the most part, 
 assumed that, in the main, the institutions under 
 which these sufferings were inflicted upon humanity 
 were all right, and that the sufferings were the 
 penalties of idleness, dissipation, disease, or other 
 similar causes, in a great measure the 'fault of the 
 sufferers. vThis philosophy consecrates the actual 
 institutions of the day, as in the main all right, and 
 casts all the blame of poverty upon those who suffer 
 from it, merely offering them such palliations as the 
 distress of the moment seems to demand, but with- 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 27 
 
 out acknowledging the right to any permanent 
 remedy or any adequate soLic^ One of the remedies 
 for this monstrous evil of ill-requited labor, reveals 
 by its singular inapplicability, how little its nature 
 is understood, and how little its extent is appreciated. 
 It is earnestly argued that the whole problem of 
 labor would be solved by complete commercial free- 
 dom. Looking upon merchants in the foreign trade 
 as the great patrons of industry', who receive the pro- 
 ducts of labor, and transport them to distant lands, 
 and who bring from thence, in exchange, the pro- 
 ducts of the labor of other climes, it is assumed that 
 if all taxes, duties, and restraints, of every kind, 
 affecting foreign trade, were removed, merchants 
 would be all-sufficient friends of the producers. But 
 as merchants make their gains by charging their 
 own price for the trouble of purchasing, transmitting, 
 and selling the products of labor, they are the 
 very parties to whom the interests of labor should 
 not be entrusted ; for they are directly interested to 
 oppress and over-reach both the laborers and the con- 
 sumers of their products. Whatever the importance 
 of commerce and commercial freedom, the lot of the 
 hosts who toil for their daily bread is immeasurably 
 a more important consideration. The wealth and 
 strength of the state depend more on the competency 
 and comfort of the many, than on the overgrown 
 fortunes of a few. A million of sturdy laborers, 
 worth five hundred dollars each, makes a fiir richer 
 and stronger country than a thousand merchant 
 princes worth half a million each. No system of 
 human welfare can, indeed, be logically or actually 
 developed from trade. We must go back from trade 
 
28 POLITICS FOR 
 
 to the commodity, and from the cotnmodity to the 
 producer; and we must not regard him as a mere 
 machine. He labors to enjoy the fruits of his labor, 
 and it should not be a matter of indifference to legis- 
 lators, to governments, much less to Christians, 
 whether the laborer is permitted to enjoy the full 
 reward of his earnings, or whether intermediate 
 agencies are allowed to absorb the largest proportion. 
 The order of development to be observed m con- 
 "structing, or m considering, social institutions must 
 be Human well-being. Labor, Internal Trade, Free 
 Trade with the world. These requisites being secured 
 and maintained in this order in the social system, 
 very many of the doctrines of Free Trade become 
 applicable and true. 
 
 It is strange that it ever should have been thought 
 possible to derive the laws of domestic industry from 
 any theory of trade among nations. The merchants 
 engaged in foreign trade do not, in Europe or Amer- 
 ica, constitute the thousandth part of the population, 
 and the whole foreign trade of the most civilized 
 nations, measured by the values exported or imported, 
 seldom exceeds ten per cent, of the products of do- 
 mestic industry, and averages less than five per Cent. 
 The most commercial nations, therefore, produce 
 nine-tenths of the articles they consume, and on the 
 average the nations of Europe and America are 
 dependent on domestic production for nineteen-twen- 
 tieths of their consumption. The theory of Free 
 Trade assumes that all that need or can be done for 
 the laborers who produce the vast quantities of 
 commodities which are not destined for foreign trade 
 and can never enter into it, is to make a perfectly 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 29' 
 
 free and unobstructed arena for the operation of 
 foreiijn merchants. 
 
 Now it is well known that foreign merchants 
 understand the art of making gain as well as any 
 other class, and that they are as ready to avail them- 
 selves of opportunities. They no doubt think fa- 
 vorably of a theory which proposes to place these 
 great armies of laborers under their special care 
 and patronage. They are usually men of large 
 means and controlling immense credit. They fre- 
 quent the great marts of commerce, at which the 
 prices of commodities are generally fixed. Small as 
 are their whole transactions compared with those 
 of the internal trade, they look large, and are so for 
 a few individuals and a few cities. This gives them 
 an apparent importance and an apparent magnitude 
 which is not so visible in the domestic trade. These 
 few men naturally and easily obtain great power over 
 prices, over credit, and over all the usual commercial 
 agencies. Their interest is undoubtedly to purchase 
 the products of labor as low as they can, and if they 
 neglect to use their power to cheapen what they 
 purchase, it will not accord with received usages 
 of trade ; so if they do not make the consumer 
 pay the highest rates they can extort. These are 
 the strong tendencies of their position, and that they 
 work fiithfully and surely in obedience to them is 
 well known. In all this they merely do what others 
 would do in their place. But how exempting these 
 men from all duties, taxes, or obstructions in the 
 way of their business should ever have been thought 
 a boon or benefit to the great host of laborers, is 
 indeed strange. If these foreign merchants who 
 
30 POLITICS FOR 
 
 keep one foot cabroad and one at liome, were great, 
 beneficent, God-like beings, more devoted to human 
 welfiire than to any private ends, there might be 
 foundation for this theory of trade. The truth is, 
 that no theory nor practice of foreign trade which 
 is greatly the less, can be adequate to explain, illus- 
 trate, or properly determine the interests of internal 
 trade, which is the greater. Even if domestic trade 
 M-ere assumed as the controlling principle upon which 
 industry was to be regulated, it would be wholly 
 adequate and inapplicable. 
 
 / All trade, both foreign and domestic, is but an 
 instrument of industry; no theory of this instrument 
 can be rightly formed, until the theory and laws of 
 industry, and the rights of laborers, are known and 
 established. The agency of trade, however neces- 
 sary, is merely incidental ; it is a tax upon industry, 
 and should, therefore, as a burden, be kept within 
 the strictest limits. In offering commercial action 
 as the social safeguard of industry, a violent absurd- 
 ity is committed : as well might a theory of archi- 
 -tecture be developed from the means used to bring 
 together the materials of a building, or from the tools 
 used by the builders ; or a theory of physiology from 
 the drugs and the skill of apothecaries. Trade, 
 considered by itself, leaves the producing laborer far 
 behind and out of sight, and begins with the foreign 
 merchant; it does not stoop to consider industry, but 
 begins with the finished product, as soon as it has 
 found its way into the channels of foreign commerce. 
 If the lionest inquirer can be induced to set out from 
 the point indicated by this theory, he may find it 
 hard to dispute tlie positions, or resist the conclusions 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 31 
 
 which are thrust upon him; but let him ever recur 
 to the truth, that man comes before industry, and 
 industry before trade, and he will readily perceive 
 the fallacy of such doctrine. 
 
 Dr. Chalmers had a shrewd suspicion of the ftillacy 
 of this mode of treating such subjects, when he 
 wrote as follows, in his Civic Economy. — "One of 
 the most inveterate of these, (false speculations) is 
 that by which not only the conduct of Parliament, 
 but almost our whole authorship, in political eco- 
 nomy, is infected. It proceeds on a preference of 
 the means to the end. Capital and commerce, and 
 the various branches of both, which are distinguished 
 by so many interests, such as the shipping interest, 
 and the manufacturing interest, and the trading 
 interest; these supply so many high-sounding terms 
 by which the public understanding has been juggled 
 into a false estimate of the magnitude of things. 
 The truth is, that the whole apparatus of commerce 
 and capital is but of instrumental subserviency 
 towards an ultimate and terminating object; and it 
 is not, surely, by casting one's eye along the steps of 
 a process, but it is by settling our regards upon the 
 result of it, that the good of the whole is to be per- 
 ceived." — " It is by several hundred ships that coals 
 are carried from Newcastle to London ; and it is for 
 the comfort and utility of good fires to the families 
 there, that they are so carried ; and we affirm the 
 latter to have the precedency, in consideration and 
 importance, over the former." — "Now what we com- 
 plain of is, that this principle is lost sight of, both 
 by philosophers and statesmen; by political econo- 
 mists and politicians." (Vol. 3, p. 275.) This idea 
 
32 POLITICS FOR 
 
 is dwelt upon at length, and illustrated in various 
 ways by the eloquent divine; but he did not master 
 this principle so as to mark all its bearings, and 
 make it operative in his mind. It was the solution 
 of many a problem in social economy, but he tailed 
 to carry it with him in after speculations. The 
 error pointed at in this passage is not merely a 
 preference of the means to the end; it is, in very 
 many instances, that of overlooking the end alto- 
 gether. 
 
 The grand item in the wealth of every nation is 
 the industry and mechanical skill and practical 
 science of its laboring population. This includes the 
 directing power of its machinery. This wealth 
 should be the primary object of national care and 
 solicitude ; not merely for the sake of the magnitude 
 of the annual product, but for the sake of the multi- 
 tude of the annual producers. The welfare of this 
 great host of laborers should be the chief considera- 
 tion; that their efficiency may be raised to the 
 highest point consistent with their advantage, and 
 there sustained; that the rewards of labor may, as 
 far as joracticable, be just and regular; that the vast 
 mass of producers may have every possible facility 
 afforded them in the mutual exchan2;e bv domestic 
 trade, of their own products at such rates as thej- 
 may establish among themselves, all seeking that 
 remuneration for labor which their peculiar circum- 
 stances may justifj^ There is certainly a rate of 
 remuneration for labor in every country to which 
 there would be a continual tendency and close 
 approach in the progress of industry, if intervention 
 of disturbing causes were excluded or duly regulated. 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 33 
 
 The mutual transactions of men constantly dealing 
 witli each other, under protection of wise and equal 
 laws, would enable them to establish prices fixed 
 with reference to the quantity of labor expended on 
 every commodity of trade. Cheapness is not the 
 chief object, for that may only be attained by the 
 oppression of the producer, who is equally with the 
 consumer under the protection of law. The greatest 
 happiness of the greatest number is the main object; 
 and this implies a constant watchfulness and fraternal 
 care of the government over its host of laborers, who 
 are not only the largest number, but the most import- 
 ant portion of the population, and withal the most 
 likely to be oppressed and injured. Let it not be 
 urged that no public policy can reach the justice of 
 this case, and that laborers must be left to take care 
 of themselves. That is the policy which now prevails 
 extensively ; but it has no spark of Christian moral- 
 ity in it. Let the subject of labor be viewed from 
 the side of Christianity, and it will be found that to 
 give up the poor laborer to the unchecked hand of 
 merchant or manufacturer, is to abandon him to a 
 life of .discontent, despair, and pauperism : it is to 
 give him up unprotected to those whose interest it is 
 to oppress and enslave, without the feelings or obli- 
 gations of a master. The degradation and impover- 
 ishment of men who are wholly subject to the selfish 
 domination of capital, commercial speculations, and 
 revulsion, and still worse, manufacturing competition, 
 is only a matter of time ; ruin is sure to settle upon 
 them at last. The capitalist and merchant play the 
 game, win all the high stakes, take the lion's share 
 of the profits, and throw the losses upon the masses. 
 3 
 
34 POLITICS FOR 
 
 [^ 
 
 The whole movements of foreign commerce are 
 Lexceedingly fluctuating ; it is a game of innumerable 
 contingencies, innumerable casualties and uncertain- 
 ties, and partakes, in many departments, of all the 
 excitements of gambling. How unfit to be a regula- 
 tor of the rate of wages, or the patron of domestic 
 labor ! Each country must contain the elements 
 upon which to determine the question of compensa- 
 tion to its own labor, without making it dependent 
 upjDn the hazards of foreign trade. 
 ) To shield its laborers is then the most important 
 care of a nation ; for labor is the most important 
 item in the wealth of a nation, and the care of the 
 laborer is the highest moral as well as political con- 
 sideration which can claim the attention of a govern- 
 ment^ It is from this point that all social economy 
 shoTild be developed, all legislation be derived, and 
 all industrial and commercial regulations should be 
 deduced. And when all this shall be done, if the 
 spirit of Christianity — if brotherly kindness, if 
 charity, if humanity, do not pervade the whole and 
 temper its administration, the laborer must suffer and 
 gradually sink to the state of dependence and suffer- 
 ing we have indicated. It is thus that the spirit of 
 Christianity intervenes in almost every social pro- 
 blem and in every course of administration. 
 
 These problems all refer to men : all legislation 
 and every administration of laws concern men ; and 
 Christianity never withdraws its regards from men 
 in every position and every circumstance of life, and 
 least of all should it lose sight of those multitudes 
 who are least able to protect themselves, and most 
 injuriously, if not ruinously affected by unwise, igno- 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 35 
 
 rant, or insufficient legislation, or by the iniquities 
 of an oppressive administration. Christianity is by 
 its very constitution the appointed protector of hu- 
 manity, and being so, in no way can it so befriend the 
 poor or ameliorate their condition, as by well-directed 
 efforts to assure to the laborer the due reward of his 
 labor. We do not hesitate, therefore, to place the 
 whole subject of political economy under the super- 
 vision of Christianity, not of the church Catholic, 
 nor of the church Protestant, but of considerate, 
 kind, earnest, loving Christian intelligence and phi- 
 lanthropy; and to invoke the attention of all Chris- 
 tians of every name to every topic, to every philoso- 
 phy, to all legislation, and to all questions of 
 government aftecting any important interest of hu- 
 manity. 
 
 We have indulged in these remarks by way of 
 illustrating the deep stake which Christianity has in 
 national questions. Christians may not then be 
 indifferent to any controlling influences or power, 
 which are exercised, or to any of the great social 
 questions which are agitated around them. They are 
 or should be the constant, watchful, unwavering, and 
 if possible, intelligent friends and defenders of men 
 in all conditions of life. This does not involve the 
 approbation of that which is wrong, nor the defence 
 nor even palliation of that which is evil; it does 
 not necessarily imply rebellion nor revolution in 
 favor of the oppressed, nor any change of rulers; 
 the putting down of despots or the erection of repub- 
 lics; it does not imply resistance to constituted 
 authorities, nor the sudden destruction of old 
 institutions, nor the hasty construction of new 
 
36 POLITICS FOR 
 
 social systems. It implies rather that clear view of 
 human nature and human condition with its wants, 
 and woes, its hopes and hazards, its present lot and 
 future prospects, which enable a government under 
 Christian influences to legislate directly, wisely, and 
 efficiently for the best interests of a whole people, 
 without remedies more violent than the disease, and 
 without that mortal delay which wearies out the 
 lifetime of a whole generation. Men should not be 
 permitted to grow up and drag out a weary life of 
 privation and sorrow, and leave this world without 
 once knowing or being made to feel the benefits of 
 Christian sympathy. That Christianity may well 
 be called in question which does not make its power 
 of sympathy felt through every nerve of the body 
 politic. Genuine Christianity keeps in remembrance 
 the whole human family ; it labors for the whole as 
 opportunity offers ; it thinks for the whole ; it seeks 
 to communicate the offer of salvation, and it strives 
 to be known and felt as the best friend of the whole 
 in every aspect of human affiiirs. It comes proclaim- 
 ing the glad tidings of eternal life to all, preaching 
 the gospel to the poor, ushering in the law of chari- 
 ty, the reign of peace, mutual kindness and brotherly 
 love. These may be looked for as indications of 
 pure Christianity when permitted to shine out in its 
 own unmarred lustre. We cannot accept any mani- 
 festations yet made of its benefits or glories as 
 worthy of the cause. It must yet exert its full 
 influence and its full wisdom upon our national and 
 social institutions, that these in their turn may exert 
 their full power in promoting the highest interests of 
 humanity. 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 37 
 
 Wherever there is a large body of Christians, they 
 can, by a faithful application of Christian principles, 
 by active co-operation in the Christian life, infuse 
 more or less of the very spirit of Christianity into 
 the whole system of philosophy, of legislation, and of 
 social institutions in which they are most concerned. 
 Their energy will exceed that of other men, their 
 wisdom will be greater, their philosophy Avill grow 
 brighter from its Christian hues, and both legislation 
 and social economy will gladly absorb those principles 
 which are beautifully and strongly recommended by 
 the lives of those who advocate them. 
 
 SPECIAL DUTIES IN REFERENCE TO 
 OUR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 We can attain, probably, the most distinctive view 
 of the duties of Christian Citizenship, by studying 
 them in connection with the history, actual position 
 and future destinies of our own favored land. In 
 no country of the world have such perfect freedom 
 of thought and action, Christian and political, been 
 enjoyed as in the United States. It is a settled 
 principle, that men's obligations will be measured by 
 the talents committed to them, and the nature of 
 their stewardship. We have received much ; of us 
 much will be required, and accorcTing to the nature 
 of the favors bestowed will be the nature of the 
 return to be made. Our colonial history abounds in 
 
38 POLITICS FOR 
 
 evidences of Providential ftivor ; it shows a varied lot 
 of joyful and bitter experience, designed to pre- 
 pare us for the happy deliverance and high destiny 
 to which we have risen. All this history is rich in 
 lessons for the Christian statesman, exhibiting as it 
 does the Providential germs of our present political 
 and social institutions. The study of this preliminary 
 chapter in our history shows that we traversed a 
 wilderness before we entered the happy land we now 
 enjoy. Time will soon show whether we intend to 
 make a wise and righteous use of the advantages 
 conferred so bountifully, or whether we are to incur 
 the displeasure of the Author of all good gifts by 
 abusing His favor and neglecting our duties. Our 
 present position was won from a proud and powerful 
 nation by a long, uncertain, and arduous contest. It 
 was not only a struggle which tried men's souls, it 
 was a time in which men were tried and trained for 
 the great and responsible duties of self-government. 
 The hardships and the reverses ; the various discus- 
 sions and experience of our Revolutionary war were 
 the school in which our first statesmen were formed 
 and taught to acknowledge the hand of God ; in this 
 trying and eventful period, so conspicuous for display 
 of self-denial, firmness, perseverance, and brotherly 
 concord, they gathered the wisdom and other high 
 qualifications which enabled them to form those 
 institutions under which this land has risen so rapid- 
 ly in population, material wealth, and moral power. 
 If these institutions were the product of the pro- 
 foundest human Wisdom, combined with a Providen- 
 tial training; if their wonderful success and undis- 
 puted benefits have verified their original excellence, 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 39 
 
 and demonstrated the importance of the trust admin- 
 istered for two generations by citizens of the United 
 States, then so much the heavier is that responsibil- 
 ity which devolves upon that third generation now 
 entering upon this important charge. It cannot be 
 denied that this truth lies more heavily upon the 
 consciences of Christian citizens than others. 
 
 If the forms of government which resulted from 
 our revolutionary struggle were specially calculated 
 to promote human well-being, and to give larger 
 scope to Christianity, they were clearly the object of 
 special Christian favor and care. If they had been 
 obtained under the favor of a kind Providence, then 
 it became the special duty of all who acknowledge 
 Divine blessings to cherish, preserve, and place to 
 good account the gifts bestowed. Apart from Chris- 
 tianity itself, perhaps, no greater kindness was ever 
 conferred upon men, than the establishment of our 
 Federal and State governments, and the social insti- 
 tutions and legislation connected with them. It is, 
 of course, an inquiry of vital import, what has been 
 and is now doing by the Christians of the United 
 States, in discharge of their special responsibilities, 
 in reference to the continuance and improvement of 
 these advantages. Man was placed in the garden of 
 Eden, but he transgressed, and was driven from it ; 
 the Israelites were conducted to the promised land, 
 and placed there under Heavenly guidance, and with 
 the most assured prospects of a happy futurity if 
 they were obedient to the Divine commands; they 
 became perverse, and obstinately abused all the 
 privileges bestowed upon them, abandoning them- 
 selves to a constant and increasing course of trans- 
 
40 POLITICS FOR 
 
 gressioii, and persevering therein against repeated 
 judgments and warnings, until they were crushed, as 
 a nation, and scattered, as a people, over the whole 
 earth. " They have remained for nearly eighteen 
 hundred years a separate people ; but as a monition 
 to all the world, they have never in that time 
 enjoyed a national existence, or any civil institutions 
 of their own. It is possible that we may suffer like 
 judgments, if we transgress in like manner. Tliis is 
 a fearful consideration when we reflect on the future 
 good or evil which is involved in our present con- 
 duct. Does the appalling fate which has befallen 
 the Jews, during eighteen centuries, rest upon any 
 generation of that stubborn race which shortly pre- 
 ceded the termination of their national existence? 
 If so, what human imagination can grasp the extent 
 of the calamity and sorrow which have flowed from 
 the transgressions of one generation? It is true 
 that Jewish sins were not all or chiefly national ; but 
 as the Jewish people remain, it may be assumed that 
 their national sins have drawn upon them this long 
 deprivation of national existence. In all national 
 respects we have, as a people, been far more favored 
 than the Israelites; and the retribution for neglect 
 and abuse must, in the course of Providence, be pro- 
 portional. 
 
 If Christians of this country had fully realized 
 their responsibilities and had contemplated them 
 under such considerations as the foregoing, what a 
 multitude of topics would have risen in their minds 
 in our progress as a nation ! It would have been 
 their earliest effort to discuss and settle the precise 
 relations of Christianity with our system of govern- 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 41 
 
 ment, and the precise bearing of Christian principles 
 upon the legishition, administration, and the general 
 policy of the country. It was necessary, in fact, 
 to ascertain and define to what extent Christianity 
 or its spirit was incorporated in our institutions. 
 This would imply no proscription or persecution, 
 because here Christianity enjoins toleration and 
 kindness as much as it does activity and earnestness. 
 Yet a line was to be drawn sufficiently distinct to 
 separate what was Christian from what was opposed 
 to it, whether Infidel, Barbarian, Pagan, or Moham- 
 medan. Christians would not establish Christianity 
 by law, but they could insist upon the pure morality 
 of that system, as constituting an atmosphere in 
 which they could freely breathe. They would 
 not, even for conscience sake, permit heathenish 
 violations of that morality which they consider 
 essential to the highest human interests. They 
 would not compel the observance of the Lord's Day 
 as a religious institution, but they would establish it 
 as a day of rest needful to man and beast and 
 necessary to the comfort and enjoyment of Christians. 
 They would not compel an acquiescence in any form 
 of belief or worship, but they would not permit the 
 disturbance of any system of religion not containing 
 any features opposed to Christian morality. There 
 would be one point then in this line of liberty which 
 must necessarily be determined under our govern- 
 ment by the majority. If this were not so, the most 
 enormous wickedness might be perpetrated under 
 cover of the rights of conscience, and the time 
 might come when the whole criminal code would be 
 repealed under the claims of conscience. Yery 
 
42 POLITICSFOR 
 
 sincere Catholics, and Protestants too, have kindled 
 the flames of persecution, and murdered innocent 
 men for conscience sake, and all the history of 
 martyrdom displays what men who have the power 
 can do under religious pretences. The enormities of 
 the French Revolution reveal what men can do from 
 enmity to all religion. There must therefore, 
 according to the nature of our systems of self-govern- 
 ment, be an appeal in the last instance to the deci- 
 sion of majorities, even in relation to rights of con- 
 science and opinion, but of course according to the 
 regular form of procedure. In the beginning we set 
 out as a Christian nation ; we punished the profiina- 
 tion of the Lord's Day ; we punished blasphemy ; we 
 were sworn upon the Holy Evangelists of Almighty 
 God ; we appointed chaplains for our army and navy, 
 and for our legislative bodies, and our rulers repeat- 
 edly enjoined upon us days of Fasting and Thanks- 
 giving and Prayer to God for blessings past and future. 
 These are only a few of the instances in which as a 
 People we paid national homage to the God of the 
 Christians. Since the day of primitive Christianity, 
 no country contained in proportion to its population 
 a larger number of sincere and intelligent Christians. 
 They were split up, it is true, into many denomina- 
 tions, but were still of accord upon the main doc- 
 trines of the Bible, and the grand features of the 
 plan of salvation by Christ. These minor differences 
 could not absolve them from the great duty under 
 our political system of defining, defending, and 
 establishing, not Christianity, but Christian morality, 
 which is the real basis of our civilization and of our 
 free institutions. 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 43 
 
 We are far from being opposed to such acts of na- 
 tional homage or worship as the existing pubhc 
 magistracy may recommend. We beheve that Chris- 
 tian iniluences might be so exercised and extended, 
 as to reach all the public authorities, and make such 
 recommendations much more frequent. The result 
 would be seen in the Christian demeanor of men in 
 high station, and in the constant recognition of the 
 claims of Christianity upon the nation. 
 
 To a large extent, our criminal codes enforce this 
 Christian morality ; but the line has not yet been 
 defined which marks the boundary between religion 
 and morality. There has been an extreme reluctance 
 to enter upon this delineation ; and while Christians 
 have refrained from marking this boundary, and from 
 occupying it with that unity of co-operation which 
 would at once display their moral and political power, 
 they have largely lost ground. The argument in 
 favor of the rights of conscience is being stretched to 
 all the extent possible, without displaying its utter 
 absurdity of making every man his own judge of 
 what is right and what is wrong. There are ques- 
 tions which should long since have been decided 
 under the light of Christianity ; and there are 
 positions which should have been occupied and 
 established by authority. The delicacy which has 
 been felt in approaching this may have been com- 
 mendable in some respects, but it has not been wise, 
 nor profitable in its results. Much of the difiiculty 
 has arisen from the want of clear view^s. Many 
 Christians have, from the beginning, shown a dispo- 
 sition to claim more than was right, and their ideas 
 have been resisted not only by the enemies of religion, 
 but by Christians of clearer views and greater tolera- 
 
44 POLITICS FOR 
 
 tion. No doubt these extravagant claims, on the 
 part of some good people, have been one main ob- 
 stacle to the progress of the discussion. But there 
 is a line to be assumed which_can, not only be well 
 defined, but well defended. Christians are to be cen- 
 sured alike for claiming too much, and for not claim- 
 ing enough. One portion failed in the wisdom of 
 moderation, and another failed in moral courage and 
 Christian manliness. The position should have been, 
 from the first, We will exact no man's assent to the 
 dogmas or worship of our faith, but we will establish 
 that code of morality — the best the world has ever 
 known — under which alone Christians can live in 
 peace. Any church which claims more, either by 
 its constitution or its actual demands, asks too much. 
 No church, indeed, as such, can ask any thing; but 
 the Christian people of our country who ask less are 
 recreant to their duty. 
 
 In all this discussion and its results there should, 
 of course, be a frank and earnest co-operation of all 
 evangelical denominations. They should have no 
 differences on the question, whether the code of mo- 
 rals under which they live is heathen, or infidel, or 
 Christian. They should never hesitate to contend, 
 that we inhabit a Christian country ; and never in- 
 termit their labors to make its legislation and govern- 
 ment such as Christians can own and approve."'' We 
 
 * We commend to the attention of the reader who is disposed to 
 pursue this subject, "An Inquiry into the Moral and Relvjiotis 
 CJiaradcr of tlie American Government,^' publislied by Wiley and 
 Putnam, New York, 1838, page 208. It is the best treatise on the 
 subject we have seen, and deserves to be better known. See, also, 
 Story on the Constitution of the United States, vol. 3, 702 and 722, 
 and the various works there cited. 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 45 
 
 believe that if the Christian men of this country had 
 from its origin been firm and united in their efforts 
 to obtain such legislation as they should have asked, 
 and nothing more, they would, in the main, have been 
 successful. They incurred a heavy responsibility 
 by not asking it, and one still more heavy by not 
 even ascertaining what they were entitled to claim. 
 
 The proper training of the young is a subject 
 which should early have engaged the attention of 
 those who, by their courage, their wisdom, and their 
 endurance, under the smiles of heaven, had gained 
 such a happy national position. It was their desire 
 to perpetuate the institutions which had cost them 
 so much thought, anxious care, and hard experience. 
 They had accomplished their glorious work in a severe 
 school, in which all their virtues, and all their powers, 
 were taxed. These seasons of trial over, the next 
 generation was to be trained, for the preservation 
 and gradual improvement of these political and social 
 institutions, from youth to manhood. Education was 
 of vital importance to the safety and progress of the 
 country thus emancipated, and placed in the respon- 
 sible position, before the world, of being the only 
 one in which the people were actually governing 
 themselves. It was a great work to train up men to 
 receive such a trust, and to fulfil all its duties ; it 
 involved considerations which Christians only could 
 fully appreciate. They alone recognised the Divine 
 Hand which had led them through the dangers of a 
 long war, and had delivered them from the still 
 greater dangers of internal treason and mutual dis- 
 sensions ; and they alone felt the importance of their 
 victory to the cause of Christianity. The proper 
 
46 POLITICS FOR 
 
 education of American youth was a duty so vast as 
 to demand the co-operation of Christians of every 
 name. It was not only a parental and denomina- 
 tional duty ; it was a great national object. The 
 coming generations were not only to be trained, by 
 their parents and religious teachers, for the special 
 circles of duty in which they might be called to act 
 their part in life, but they were to receive a national 
 education, into which should be fully infused our 
 Christian morality, and a full knowledge of the im- 
 portance of our national and state institutions to the 
 cause of humanity and the progress of Christianity.4 
 No Christian denomination could, upon due inquiry, 
 fail to appreciate such considerations, and yet no one 
 could give them full effect in the general system of 
 education ; the members of none could forget that 
 their children, few in comparative numbers, were to 
 grow up and act their part in civil and religious life 
 under all the advantages and encouragement to be 
 derived from association with those who had been 
 properly educated for their great duties, or under all 
 the tc^mptations, hindrances, and discouragements to 
 be suffered from those who had grown up without 
 liberal culture, without expansion of mind, and with- 
 out due conception of their responsibilities to God or 
 to 11 in 11. But there are so many injunctions, direct 
 and indirect, in the Scriptures, bearing on the duty 
 of training up children in the way they should go, 
 that there is little propriety in urging the selfish 
 argument which inculcates the education of all chil- 
 dren for the sake of our own. It may have been said, 
 at aiiv moment of our historj', the public good now, 
 and tlie public good hereafter, demands that the best 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 47 
 
 training possible shall be given to our children — to 
 all our children ; and the only question which could 
 be raised was, what kind of education this should be, 
 and how it should be imparted. 
 
 The obvious reply to this question is, that the 
 young should be trained with due reference to their 
 private duties, public responsibilities, and eternal 
 welfare. That which is implied in such an education 
 as this, will bring us again to the conclusion that it 
 could only be accomplished by the united efforts of 
 all the Christians in the country. It must be such 
 in its main features as all approve, or fail of its object 
 in securing those national ends involved in the con- 
 tinued prosperity of our country. The denomina- 
 tional, and other special characteristics of our system 
 of education, should be specially imparted. Christian 
 citizens may not, however, from any selfish considera- 
 tions, forget or lose sight of the whole country, and 
 the cause of humanity, identified, as it is, with 
 Christianity, while they labor to perpetuate the indi- 
 viduality of their several denominations in their 
 descendants. 
 
 Now, whatever may be said or boasted about the 
 progress of education in the United States, it cannot 
 be pretended that the Christians of this country have 
 risen to a proper conception of their responsibilities 
 on this subject. They have not, collectively, given 
 it the slightest examination ; the}^ have not even, as 
 we have seen, defined their position as Christians; 
 they have not said what they claimed, or disclaimed, 
 as such; they have not considered any duty which 
 devolves upon them, collectively, as Christian citizens 
 of a nation in which they have a moral power in 
 
48 POLITICS FOR 
 
 proportion as they exemplify Christianity, and a 
 poUtical power in proportion to their vigilance and 
 their numbers. The Evangelical Christians of this 
 Christian countr}^, recognizing God as the Supreme 
 Being, the Holy Scriptures as the Revelation of His 
 Will, and Christianity as the purport of that Reve- 
 lation, have had it in their power, ever since the 
 origin of this government, to organize a complete 
 system of public education, capable of embracing all 
 our youth, and of placing the Bible in their schools, 
 as containing the basis of our national morality — 
 the sanctions of our criminal and commercial codes, 
 and the exposition of our system of humanity. If 
 this be a Christian nation, it is not because we esta- 
 blish Christianity by law; it is because we are a 
 Christian people, and our legislation recognizes Chris- 
 tian morality as the source whence it draws its prin- 
 ciples. A man may very earnestly approve and 
 maintain the morality of the Bible, as many do, 
 without receiving the Scriptures as a revelation from 
 God, or withou,t even conceding it as peculiar to 
 Christianity. The very necessity of the case compels 
 Christians to claim that, if our compulsory legislation 
 does not go so far, in fact, as to establish Christian 
 morality by law, it at least does not permit any other 
 system to be set up ; and, though a large toleration 
 is the true spirit of Christianity, yet it is compelled 
 to preserve and defend itself by insisting, when it 
 has the power, upon those conditions yphich are indis- 
 pensable to its peace and prevalent^ Christians, 
 therefore, resist the introduction of a Mahometan, or 
 a Hindoo, or an}^ heathen morality into this country ; 
 they cannot tolerate what is contra honos mores. 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 49 
 
 Neither Christians nor their institutions are safe, in 
 this migrating age of the world, if all such questions 
 be not referable to the control of a majority.^ 
 
 Initiation in all needful branches of knowledge, 
 including a full course of Christian morality derived 
 from its fountain-head, is a duty which Christians of 
 this country owe to all the children of the United 
 States : besides which, Christians owe to their own 
 children an education in Christianity, which is their 
 special duty, and to which they w^ill, of course, give 
 the impress of their peculiar opinions. But it is 
 scarcely less important, in this exclusive part of their 
 education, that children should be carefully taught 
 to understand the points of agreement, as well as 
 of difference, among true Christians. There must 
 always be points of difference to sunder the pious; 
 much should therefore be made of the points of con- 
 cord. So far as Christians are responsible for the 
 permanence and increased usefulness of our political 
 institutions ; so far as they may regard the interests 
 of humanity and Christianity to be involved in this, 
 they are bound, in every way, to cultivate that unity 
 of action and good feeling which will enable them to 
 co-operate promptly and efficiently in every effort 
 needful for the public welfare. It is, undeniably, 
 wrong, nay, utterly unchristian, to pursue denomina- 
 tional ends Avith such exclusive attention as to lose 
 sight of all public aims and enterprises, and to lose 
 all advantage of the widest possible Christian co- 
 operation. 
 
 It is into this error that the Christian citizens of 
 the United States have been deeply betrayed. They 
 are the less excusable because their respective 
 4 
 
50 POLITICSFOR 
 
 churches were not in danger from any external 
 attack ; they were not obhged to act continually on 
 the defensive, and were not, therefore, under the ne- 
 cessity of building up, higher and higher, their party 
 walls. Competition and jealousy have been suffered 
 to work an estrangement, an excessive reserve, and 
 an indisposition to co-operate, even for the most im- 
 portant objects, which it is lamentable to witness. 
 If this does not involve greater transgressions of the 
 laws of Christ than seems to be realized, we are under 
 the most serious mistake of our life. 
 
 Our republican institutions have been the pride, 
 throughout the world, of all the earnest friends of 
 humanity. Their moral influence has already ac- 
 complished a mighty revolution in men's opinions as 
 far as civilization has extended ; they are regarded 
 as an irrefutable demonstration of the capacity of 
 men for self-government. The hopes of millions are 
 yet fastened upon them with varying but, can we 
 say, increasing confidence in us and in our great ex- 
 periment. However highly the friends of humanity 
 may prize our institutions or our position, or however 
 we may be disposed to extol them, we cannot be ab- 
 solved from the necessity of incessant vigilance, as 
 the repositories of a trust so widely regarded as im- 
 portant. We cannot be faithful trustees unless we 
 use our increasing knowledge and experience, not 
 only for the appreciation of the true nature and 
 worth of our institutions as they were originally 
 framed, but also to improve them in form and value, 
 and augment their efficiency. That extreme self- 
 complacency which rests satisfied with even such 
 forms and advantages as we now enjoy, is founded 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 51 
 
 upon an entire misapprehension of our real position 
 and prospects. A very little foresight, or reference 
 to history, was sufficient to convince our fathers that 
 every human fabric must be not only subject to abuse 
 but actually perishable. The framers of our consti- 
 tutions could only propose and establish the best 
 plans their wisdom suggested ; they could not hand 
 down, with these forms, the virtue needful to admin- 
 ister them ; neither could they be insensible to the 
 truth that free institutions required more patriotism, 
 more firmness and greater disinterestedness to ad- 
 minister them than others in which the arm of power 
 was more employed. They could not but know and 
 anticipate, that in proportion as- the restraints of 
 authority were withdrawn, freedom of action super- 
 vened for the bad as well as for the good ; for the 
 rash as well as the prudent ; for the unscrupulous as 
 well as for the conscientious. To administer free 
 institutions successfully demands, we are safe in 
 asserting, a higher exercise of virtue, and greater 
 activity of good men, than is usually observed under 
 other forms of government. Freedom gives op- 
 portunities to vice, and tolerance to error, which 
 must be met by moral power and exemplary teach- 
 ins:. This view of our hazards and difficulties has 
 been far too little regarded. It should, from the 
 first, have been the subject of anxious care and 
 faithful attention. If some men were not intensely 
 selfish, and others unwisely liberal ; if some were not 
 active, and others inert ; if some were not strong, 
 and some weak; some rich, and some poor; in fine, 
 if there were not such infinite varieties of good and 
 bad men, a well-devised system of self-government 
 
52 POLITICSFOR 
 
 like ours might work with the steadiness and regu- 
 hirity of a machine. But, as men are, such regularity 
 is impossible ; and the truth stares us in the fiice, 
 that as we remove the restraints of authority the 
 career of the unprincipled is made free in the same 
 proportion as that of the wise and good. The un- 
 dertaking to administer free and liberal forms of 
 government involves, then, peculiar and heavy re- 
 sponsibilities. They are not such as Christians can 
 shun, and they are such as impose very onerous 
 penalties in case of neglect, mismanagement and 
 failure. The history of the world affords no parallel 
 to the responsibilities undertaken by our fathers, in 
 reference to the institutions which yet survive, and 
 under which we live ; and, without too much boast- 
 ing, we may say history affords no parallel to our 
 administration of this trust. We may say this at 
 the same moment that we confess we have fallen 
 far below a faithful discharge of the .duties of our 
 position. 
 
 It was impossible to foresee, at first, all the forms 
 of abuse which would be put in action under our free 
 system ; of course no safeguard could be provided 
 against them. Our ancestors are less to blame for 
 not having provided such securities than their suc- 
 cessors have been for not observing the actual course 
 of abusive movements, and for not providing against 
 them as they developed their forms, powers, and re- 
 sults. Every form of government has its peculiar 
 abuses, which grow, mature, and attain consistency 
 and power, as interested men learn, by experience, 
 how to carry on their work of evil, how to evade 
 law, how to perpetuate their influence, how to cor- 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 53 
 
 rupt the fountain of authority and defile all its 
 streams. Our government was, not only not free from 
 such danger, it was peculiarly exposed to attacks 
 upon its purity and vitality ; and the diseases thus 
 superinduced were likely to be virulent and danger- 
 ous, in proportion to the florid health and abundant 
 fluids of the patient's system. Our fathers, therefore, 
 while they assumed a post of honor assumed also one 
 of danger. It would, indeed, have been confiding 
 more in human virtue and forbearance than the ex- 
 perience of the past aflbrds any warrant for doing, 
 if the working of our government had not invited 
 into action baneful passions, and dangerous men in 
 all possible variety. The power of our vast republic, 
 the patronage of its rulers, ofiices, salaries, the public 
 treasury and its disbursing agencies, distinction, and 
 influence are put up, by our system of government, 
 not to the highest bidder, but to be struggled for by 
 the boldest politicians, the most unscrupulous in- 
 triguers, and the most active demagogues. These 
 prizes stand glittering in their eyes, and they feel 
 that they have an equal right to contend for them. 
 In this contest it must be expected that such men 
 will display an industry, an energy, and a perseve- 
 rance not to be equalled by men of modest worth or 
 honorable decency. These political adventurers find, 
 in the objects of their pursuit, rich bounties to ofler 
 those whom they invite to their standard. They 
 engage in a strife for plunder, and they ofler to 
 divide the spoils ; thus employing the oflices of the 
 country, its power, and the control of its treasury as 
 means of corruption at once of fatal tendency and 
 extensive operation. 
 
54 POLITICSFOR 
 
 Faithful attention to the true interests of our great 
 country, as well as regard to the cause of humanity 
 itself, demands a searching scrutiny into the real pro- 
 gress and actual condition of our free institutions. It 
 is a necessary duty : we trust some skilful but firm 
 hand will apply the probe, with a sharp eye to every 
 portion of our system. This necessity arises from 
 no alarming condition of the patient, demanding 
 sudden or violent remedies : his is a sturdy frame, 
 which may, for a long time, be abused with seeming 
 impunity, as in time past. But it may not be wise 
 to disregard the alarm of fire, even though we do not 
 feel the wall to be hot against which we are reposing. 
 There is no question, for facts prove it abundantly, 
 that our institutions can exist under a fearful burden 
 of abuses. The truth is, there is, mixed with our 
 worst demagoguism, and greatest greediness for power 
 and office, a certain respect for forms, and even law, 
 which preserves appearances, when the substance is 
 all removed, or changed into rottenness. Our worst 
 politicians do not intend to ruin nor to overturn the 
 government; they desire possession and control, not 
 death and destruction. They are satisfied there sliall 
 be constitutions, laws, and all the frame-work of 
 social institutions, provided they can turn all to their 
 profit. They have no objection to religion or patri- 
 otism, provided it cannot rule. They can appro- 
 priate to themselves the credit of virtue in others, 
 and thus frequently strengthen their position, with- 
 out the sacrifice of individual good conduct. A very 
 corrupt party may place a good man in office, wliilst 
 they strip him of all power of doing right, and make 
 him the slave of their most unworthy purposes. 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 55 
 
 Our country may be in no danger of sudden destruc- 
 tion from any abuses which prevail, but very certain 
 'ruin may be impending, even though it may long 
 delay its coming. The stages in the progress of 
 civilization are few and far between : it requires, in 
 the ordinary progress of humanity, a long period to 
 develop a new phase of civilization — an actual step 
 in moral advancement ; thus the preparation of hu- 
 manity which resulted in our independence and free 
 institutions dates, as we have said, at least from the 
 Reformation. If we are now indulging in vices or 
 abuses so serious as to lower the standard of morality, 
 and weaken the influence of Christianity, we are 
 retrograding, and gradually preparing for a lower 
 level in the scale of humanity. We cannot maintain 
 our high position before the world for another half 
 century without better deserving it. We cannot 
 deserve it unless the mass of the discreet and vir- 
 tuous shall stand ready to give efficient and constant 
 aid to the maintenance of our institutions. 
 
 It would far exceed our limits, as well as our 
 ability, to indicate the shortcomings of Christian men 
 in our galaxy of republics, and the evil doings of the 
 wicked and unwise. The mischiefs perpetrated, and 
 the evil mingling in our systems, are much greater 
 than is apprehended by those who have not given 
 serious attention to the subject : we gradually become 
 hardened to what is continually occurring about us ; 
 we lose our sense of enormities constantly witnessed, 
 and therefore cease to appreciate the progress of evils 
 that may be advancing with a deadly pace. We 
 begin to regard the visitations of calamity, brought 
 about by our own neglect;, or the movements of de- 
 
56 POLITICSFOR 
 
 signing men, as strokes of inevitable destiny, to be 
 quietly accepted as a part of our lot in life. 
 
 It would be an instructive history, which should 
 furnish us with an enlightened and impartial appre- 
 ciation of the progress of our national and State 
 governments, with a strict reference to the best inte- 
 rests of the people, as to what has been done, and 
 also what has been left undone. It would, indeed, 
 be interesting to compare the results of the collective 
 wisdom of legislatures and administrations with the 
 most reliable conclusions of private wisdom. It 
 would seem that if social science is susceptible of 
 any rapid progress, it has enjoyed its fairest field in 
 the halls of Congress, and in those of our multi- 
 tudinous State Legislatures, in which nearly every 
 question that concerns humanity comes up at times, 
 and in every aspect, for discussion. The men selected 
 for these discussions are those sent by the peojDle 
 themselves, the parties most interested in the results. 
 In all the immense mass of legislation to which these 
 numerous law-giving assemblies have given birth, 
 great advance in the right direction has been made. 
 Large experiences in social science have been at- 
 tained; but who, that is fitted to judge, wall not say 
 the result is immeasurably beneath just expectation ? 
 The men thus assembled had, unhappily, to pass 
 through the ordeal of the elections ; an ordeal which 
 few good men are willing to meet at all, and which 
 very many cannot undergo without sufiering a moral 
 taint, unfitting them for legislative duty, or without 
 becoming the- slaves of influences destructive to all 
 patriotism. \Men, subjected to this evil, fall readily 
 into the belief that the chief end of official station is 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 57 
 
 to obtain a reward for the labors of securing an elec- 
 tion. There is, pcrhajDs, no subject on which the 
 friends of democratic institutions choose to remain 
 under greater delusion and mystification than that 
 of popular elections. No remedy having been disco- 
 vered for the mischiefs attending them, nor any sub- 
 stitute for them, there seems to be a tacit agreement 
 that silence shall be maintained on the subject, lest 
 some degree of discredit should attach to republi- 
 canism. Universal suffrage is such a heau ideal of 
 social perfection, that it may be impossible or cruel 
 to disturb its hold upon men's confidence : our whole 
 system of government is so completely mingled with 
 the system of popular elections, that it appears dan- 
 gerous to suggest a doubt, or to hazard an argument, 
 unfriendly to them. But we must not shut our eyes 
 to truth, however opposed to our preconceptions, nor 
 refuse to see and admit what is manifestly and unde- 
 niably transpiring before us. Even if popular elec- 
 tions, such as ours, without other safeguards or gua- 
 rantees, are necessary incidents of republican govern- 
 ment, it is none the less necessary ta estimate their 
 mischiefs, that we may calculate the moral influences 
 which must be used by way of counteraction. We 
 believe that the moral evils of popular elections have 
 been, at all times, and in every country, of vast mag- 
 nitude. They furnish an arena for the play and ex- 
 hibition of some of the worst propensities of human 
 nature : not only so, they awake and bring into 
 action these bad passions on a great scale, and fan 
 them into an excitement and intensity which quicken 
 the circulation of the poison through every artery 
 and vein of the body politic, and spread abroad a 
 
58 POLITICS FOR 
 
 gambling spirit, heedless of all moral consiJerationSj 
 and of all self-respect. The conscience of the com- 
 munity becomes defiled, and insensible alike to the 
 appeals of patriotism and interests of the people, 
 civil or religious. Our system of elections presents 
 exactly the conditions which enable unscrupulous 
 and unworthy men to take the chief control of go- 
 vernment into their hands. It furnishes to such men 
 the very means and inducements which enable them 
 effectually to sap public morals, and prey upon the 
 vital interests of the country. The excitements of 
 elections are so skilfully managed by interested aspi- 
 rants, who are greedily grasping for power and its 
 emoluments ; the topics of discussion are so well 
 chosen, and so incessantly and earnestly agitated, 
 that the whole people become absorbed in a contest, 
 the only result of which is disgrace and injury to 
 them, let victory favor which side it may. Multi- 
 tudes of men, under the extravagant, if not insane, 
 excitement thus awakened, suffer themselves to be 
 drilled, in the debasing arena of party politics, into 
 prompt obedience to political gamblers, into a sur- 
 render of their own judgment, and into the surrender 
 of all the pride, and often the decency, of manhood. 
 And, what is scarce less to be lamented, those who 
 refuse to participate personally in these scenes, learn 
 to regard them with stoical inaction and hopeless 
 indifference. That worse results have not followed 
 such events, may be owing to the fact above men- 
 tioned, that demagogues have no interest in destroy- 
 ing institutions, the workirig of which they can turn 
 to their private advantagev\ They prefer, if possible, 
 that an external appearance of respectability and 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 59 
 
 public virtue should prevail, as a cloak to their prac- 
 tices. Let every one recur, for proof of the deleterious 
 results of electioneering processes upon public morals 
 and national welfare, to facts which must be within 
 the knowledge of all. Even where, by way of ex- 
 ception, the candidate fittest for the office succeeds, 
 we cannot flatter ourselves that the progress of cor- 
 ruption has not been rapid ; but, in general, those fit 
 for office will not struggle for it under such a system. 
 
 /Popular elections, then, do not ensure a selection of 
 representatives worthy to be governors or legislators; 
 not only so, they render the choice of such impro- 
 bable and very rare.' The people of the United 
 States, deeply indebted as they are to their fathers, 
 who handed down to them their present free institu- 
 tions, are very little indebted to their immediate pre- 
 decessors for legislation wisely directed to the general 
 good. The blessings they now enjoy have not come 
 to them from any sound, or skilful, or righteous, ad- 
 ministration of the government, but from their own 
 moral energy, industry, and physical courage. In 
 one sense they are more of a self-governing people 
 than was anticipated; — the regularly constituted 
 authorities fail in fulfilling their appropriate func- 
 tions, yet the people move onward by a spontaneous 
 action, in the direction of the general interest, with- 
 out due aid from legislation ; Avithout that unity and 
 harmony of effect, needful to accomplish a strong 
 progressive movement, the moral power of the coun- 
 try is still great; the country may still endure, with- 
 out sinking, a long course of mismanagement ; these 
 free institutions may even grow more and more inef- 
 ficient; the hopes of the friends of humanity may 
 
60 POLITICS FOR 
 
 sink to a lower ebb ; but the nation may survive a 
 long time. We must not, then, assume that we are 
 making due progress in national welfare, because we 
 are not visibly and rapidly receding. 
 
 We have a striking instance of the abuses which 
 may be practised in the name of popular suffrage in 
 the career of the present ruler of France, and of its 
 utter inefficiency in affording a faithful representation 
 of the real wishes of the people. Elevated by the 
 free choice of the people to the high office of Presi- 
 dent of that country, Louis Napoleon soon violated 
 his oath of office, sequestered all the power of the 
 government, changed its form, assumed the Dictator- 
 ship, and having played, for a time, the absolute 
 ruler without reserve, he finally called upon the 
 people to elect him to the office he had usurped. It 
 was done. It is a mistake to suppose, as many do, 
 that we are so much in advance of Frenchmen in 
 self-government that nothing of the kind could occur 
 here. The centralization of power in Paris enabled 
 the President to accomplish this wholesale usurpation 
 under the cover of popular suffrage. Our subdivi- 
 sions and state sovereignties render such treachery 
 nearly impossible. If we had, from the beginning, 
 been a consolidated instead of a federal government, 
 our liberties would probably have perished long 
 since. 
 
 In England their elections have so long, and so 
 notoriously, been a scene of bribery, corruption, and 
 fraud, that they are the dread and horror of good 
 men there.'^^ They are ever meditating, but never 
 
 * Hear the testimony of a member of Parliament in England, as 
 to the result of the recent election of a new Parliament in that 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 61 
 
 succeeding in their attempts to remedy the deadly 
 diseases of their system ; it is now branded as abomi- 
 nable, and the very stringent regulations heretofore 
 adopted have been found inadequate to conquer so 
 grievous an evil. At home, the extent of this mis- 
 chief, while it should be chiefly studied in the 
 actual movements of the electioneering campaigns, 
 in the management of elections; in the quality of 
 Ciindidates selected ; in the results of the contest 
 upon the minds and principles of the people, and in 
 the history of the various parties who assume to con- 
 country. It is found in the "Economist/' a very able London 
 Journal, for the 7th of August, 1852 : 
 
 *' Not for the wealth of worlds, not for the Empire of the Old 
 Caesars, would we consent to lay upon our consciences the sins and 
 the sufferings comprised in, and consequent upon, a general election ! 
 the covetous desires aroused ; the malignant passions excited and let 
 loose ; the debauchery stimulated and assisted ; the wounded self- 
 respect; the tarnished honor; the compromised independence of 
 many candidates; the social ruin of the honest voter who stands 
 sturdily by his principles ; the moral ruin of the bribed or bullied 
 voter who deserts them; the conceptions of public duty of a whole 
 people incalculably bewildered and relaxed. For it is a mistake to 
 suppose the evil passes with the hour, — that the old sense of right, 
 justice, and truth revives in its pristine integrity as soon as the tem- 
 porary storm which bent it is swept past. These recurring saturnalia 
 never fail to leave enduring traces of their pestilential presence. 
 
 The sin and responsibility lie with the nation, 
 
 whicli, in the person of its individual citizens, perpetrates the whole, 
 and in its aggregate capacity permits the continued recurrence of 
 such things, without peremptorily commanding their cessation — 
 without insisting on the discovery and application of a remedy." It 
 would be a question of great interest how far British Christians are 
 responsible for these evils. The solution of that question would 
 help us to determine some of our own responsibilities for the not less 
 euormous evils of our own elections. 
 
62 POLITICSFOR 
 
 trol the elections, it may be seen clearly revealed in 
 our legislative assemblies, national and state, in lines 
 too strong to escape any observing eye. If such as 
 feel an interest in this subject are not able to find 
 their way into the arcana of our elections, they may, 
 at one view, behold results so sad, so disgraceful, so 
 injurious, as to humble the pride and lower the hopes 
 of every honest man in the country, by simply ob- 
 serving the conduct and the materials of our present 
 Congress.* And what is true of that body, is true, 
 to a greater or less extent, of every legislative as- 
 sembly in the Union. We shrink from the use of 
 such terms as would suffice aptly to depict the indi- 
 vidual characters of a large majority of the members 
 of the present Congress, and the legislative character 
 of the whole body. When we reflect that these men 
 have been chosen by the free suffrages of the citizens 
 of this great, proud, and intelligent nation, we are 
 filled with astonishment, if not dismay, and we ex- 
 claim, " If self-respect, if the cause of self-government, 
 if the interests of humanity could not save us this 
 flagrant disgrace, could not the Christians of the 
 country have averted such a calamity?" When we 
 bring to mind that these members of Congress • have 
 assumed, deliberately, a station in some respects the 
 most important and responsible in the world, and 
 that they have severally taken a solemn oath to fulfil 
 its duties, we are smitten with emotions of indigna- 
 tion too strong for expression. There is yet a rem- 
 nant of good men in Congress, but they are hopelessly 
 
 * These remarks were written before the close of the Session of 
 1851-52. 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 63 
 
 overpowered; their virtue may remain, but their 
 courage is withered. They have no effective influ- 
 ence, not even the slightest pretence of it. They 
 dare scarcely so much as lift their eyes to the great 
 duties of their station. The greater number laugh 
 in derision at the idea that honesty and patriotism 
 should have any sway in Congress. Every measure 
 of a general nature, designed for the public benefit, 
 is scouted ; and the member who ventures to speak 
 on such subjects, or to urge such legislation, unless 
 he is known to have some special private end in 
 view, is regarded as super-serviceable, over-righteous, 
 and eminently verdant. They pity, if they do not 
 despise, all such as attempt to acquit themselves of 
 the duties of their station and their oath of office. 
 There runs not in Congress, then, the slightest per- 
 ceivable current of legislative morality, or wisdom, 
 or public virtue. The members have substantially 
 repealed their oath of office, and acquitted themselves 
 of all public obligation. They have resolved Congress 
 into a grand agency of the various political parties, 
 which manage the elections and aim at the control 
 of the offices, the power of the country, its treasury, 
 and the national domain.; 
 
 But the disgrace and the mischief does not termi- 
 nate with the casting off all consideration for the 
 public good, and exhibiting themselves as the mere 
 agents and slaves of corrupt parties, headed by more 
 corrupt leaders ; they become prostituted servants 
 of impure and crafty men, who are continually 
 studying how they may gratify unlawful desires over 
 the ruins of public virtue. To rob the treasury of 
 the United States, there needs only a pretence for 
 an appropriation, which may be either a robbery in 
 
64 POLITICS FOR 
 
 itself or may be enlarged into one; and were it not 
 for the struggle to gain the largest share of the spoils 
 where there is not enough to satisfy the greedy 
 cravings of all, the treasury would soon be swept of 
 its contents. To mere occasional spectators the con- 
 duct of Congress, as a body, ma}^ not at first appear 
 so shameful. The deluded female w^ho has forsnken 
 the path of virtue may, to the eyes of the inexperi- 
 enced and unwary, present the semblance and ex- 
 ternals of virtue ; her character is revealed at once 
 to those who are seeking favors. So with Congress ; 
 those unacquainted with its true character may, at 
 first, observe some remains of decency and dignity, 
 or at least not suspect any wide departure from the 
 path of purity ; but let the observer reveal himself 
 as seeking legislative action, and he will soon discover 
 the real character. The flirtation will commence, the 
 possibility of compliance becomes quite visible, the 
 panders of corruption surround him, conditions are 
 named, rivals for favor are mentioned, difficulties 
 suggested, but full success is promised for a compen- 
 sation, contingent or positive, which is openly named. 
 The extent to which this moral prostitution has gone, 
 under the shadow of our capitol, can be fully credited 
 only by those who ascertain it upon the spot. How 
 many there may be of these Congressional brokers — 
 they deserve a name more descriptive of their calling 
 — it is difficult to tell; they may be numbered by 
 scores or hundreds.* They fill a great variety of 
 
 * Wc are very far from including, in this class, many respectable 
 gentlemen whose knowledge and services are really invaluable to 
 those who have business before Congress. The cleverest of these 
 men are among the sufferers by the state of things we so much 
 deplore. 
 
AMERICAN CnRISTIANS. 65 
 
 grades, from those who offer to procure special legis- 
 lation for one, two, or three hundred thousand dollars 
 to the humbler police of this hungry pack, whoso 
 office it may be to keep members in their seats at 
 the hour of A^oting, or to keep them away, or to lead 
 them to the gaming table to win their money, or to 
 lend them money ; for all which, and manifold other 
 like services, they may receive a few dollars dail}', 
 and then a share of the plunder when a great prize is 
 secured. These men pervade the whole atmosphere 
 of Congress and the capitol; they hunt singly, in 
 pairs, and in whole packs; and when fliirly on foot 
 for prey, no hounds in the world are more greedy, 
 more keen of scent, more fleet, or sure of their wind 
 in pursuit of game, than those whicli follow at the 
 heels of members of Congress. It must be left for 
 some accidental revelation to make known the rela- 
 tions between our national Legislators and these 
 watchful, serviceable, faithful creatures, of whom it 
 is hard to say, in the present state of our knowledge, 
 which are the masters and which the servants. 
 Whatever may be conjectured as to these relations, 
 it is very clear that members of Congress are sub- 
 jected to a distribution and classification, according 
 to their several and combined objects and interests, 
 according to the bearing of these on the aims of the 
 players, who move all these classes and men like the 
 pieces and pawns upon a chess-board. They are 
 checked, controlled, moved, and results are produced 
 which are only understood by the moving spirits. 
 It is quite probable that the designing and astute 
 wire-pullers who manage this complicated game are 
 often disappointed by the very complications in 
 5 
 
66 POLITICSFOR 
 
 which they hide their interference, and which -prove 
 too intricate for human cunning; but whether suc- 
 cessful or not in their private ends the public inter- 
 ests are alike neglected, and the corruption of Con- 
 gress is deepened. The favors of Congress are thus 
 constantly struggled for, on the floor of the capitol, 
 by hosts of impassioned suitors utterly regardless of 
 the dignity or reputation of that body.* 
 
 Details could be furnished of Congressional shame 
 and degradation which would far more than justify 
 the language we have used. We are not able to draw 
 the line which would mark how far this moral gan- 
 grene has affected the mass ; but it has unquestion- 
 ably proceeded so far as to paralyze all patriotic and 
 proper action. No great measure of national policy 
 can now be debated upon its merits ; nor can it even 
 be introduced, unless some private ends of party be 
 subserved. But one topic has seriously engaged the 
 attention of Congress during the present prolonged 
 session, and that is one with which the members, as 
 such, had not the slightest occasion to meddle — the 
 succession to the Presidency. This subject has been 
 an incessant theme for Congressional eloquence; it has 
 swallowed up all other themes, and prolonged a session 
 to nine months, of which the actual business could 
 
 * It is matter for profound thankfulness that one Senator, at least, 
 has been aroused to a sense of self-respect. Towards the close of 
 this session, Senator Houston offered a resolution of inquiry into 
 these shameful practices. This movement may check, for awhile, 
 these abuses, but to be effectual must be followed up with untiring 
 perseverance, and a moral courage which nothing can daunt. If the 
 Senator from Texas can destroy this Hydra of congressional corrup- 
 tion, he will deserve the highest reward his country can bestow. 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 67 
 
 have been done in one month. In the true spirit of 
 gamblinjx, they have been wholly absorbed in the 
 great Presidential game. The claimant to whom 
 money is as justly and honestly due as a man owes 
 for his shoes or his coat, is thrust away from the 
 doors of the Capitol without a moment's heed. De- 
 ficiencies in the appropriations of last year, which 
 are now M'anted to pay poor men for their labor, and 
 to pay the current engagements of the government, 
 are delayed more than half a year, in violation of 
 common honesty; claims of undisputed justice, some 
 of them as old as the Revolution, are besieging the 
 justice of Congress, for nearly half a century. Who 
 can tell the numbers of the destitute and suffering 
 who are now waiting Congressional justice, without 
 the slightest prospect of success ? The debts assumed 
 by the United States to the claimants upon the 
 French government, now fifty years old, are not 
 yet paid. France became indebted to citizens of the 
 United States, in a large sum, for merchandize and 
 ships taken by her cruisers. After a long period, the 
 government of Louis Philippe acknowledged the debt 
 and paid the money into the treasury of the United 
 States, where it remains, through the refusal of Con- 
 gress to order it to be paid to its rightful owners. 
 Many of our merchants, whose property was thus 
 taken from them, were ruined by the loss. They 
 passed the remnant of their lives in fruitless appli- 
 cations to the justice of Congress — their widows and 
 orphans have grown old in poverty and sufTei-ing, 
 whilst continuing these fruitless applications. How 
 much distress, how many weary lives have been worn 
 out under this denial of justice, under the operation 
 
68 POLITICS FOR 
 
 of this vast act of practical dishonesty, may never 
 be fully known in this world. It is as if one neigh- 
 bor should say to another, I owe your friend, who 
 lives next door to you, several thousand dollars ; he 
 is suffering for want of it ; here is the amount ; your 
 regard for him will prevent all delay in paying it 
 over. What would be thought of this neighbor if 
 he should refuse to pay over the money, for twenty 
 years, whilst its true owners were struggling with all 
 the ills of poverty ? 
 
 But we need not mention these refusals to meet the 
 claims of mere justice, whilst millions are squandered 
 in corrupt practices, or absorbed from the treasury by 
 Congressional management, and without any view to 
 the public good. Witness the use which has been 
 made of the public printing, for which thrice too 
 too much is paid, and the whole is a job reeking with 
 corruption. The work is as badly executed as it is 
 corruptly managed. To come to more modern in- 
 stances, the President's message, in which, according 
 to a duty prescribed by the Constitution, he is bound 
 to recommend to the consideration of Congress such 
 measures as he shall deem necessary and expedient, 
 has laid on the table since its delivery, in Deccember 
 last, without being printed, and without being re- 
 ferred to the appropriate committees. There is in 
 this a want of self-respect and official decorum for 
 which it would be hard to find a parallel; — an enor- 
 mity of indecency of which only such a body could 
 be guilty. The Returns of the Census of 1850, con- 
 taining information of the highest importance to the 
 country at large, and of great interest to all the 
 world, lie useless in the office, in which they have 
 
AMERICAN C 11 K I S T I A N S . 69 
 
 long been completed ; the expense of printing being 
 merely the ostensible cause, the real difficulty being 
 that the two great parties Avhich divide the country 
 are contending for the spoils of the printing. This 
 printing will be eventually performed in a manner 
 alike disgraceful to the art, to the nation, and the 
 subject. But we may as well pause from this attempt 
 at enumeration, and say there is no assignable limits 
 to the perfidy, to the frauds, to the injustice, to the 
 corrupt practices, to the breaches of trust, and 
 breaches of oaths, and other official and private im- 
 moralities, which are committed in and about the 
 Congress of the United States. They are such as, 
 if brought to light in equal intensity of iniquity in 
 any profession or department of social life, would 
 bring on the' perpetrators such a storm of indignation 
 and scorn as would drive them from society with a 
 reputation from which the pillory and the peniten- 
 iiary would alike shrink with loathing and disgust. 
 
 We express ourselves strongly : would that we 
 could even faintly approximate the truth ! We 
 should be sorry to indulge in such a sketch with- 
 out an important object; we ask Christian citizens 
 of the United States to contemplate this picture. 
 They have mingled with, and have been active in, 
 much of the party machinery w^hich has fostered and 
 fed this monstrous iniquity ; their hands are buried 
 in this moral filth — deeply stained in these streams 
 of moral pollution. We do not mean, merely, that 
 the Christians of this country could have averted 
 this calamity ; we mean that they have actually con- 
 tributed largely to bring it about. We ask them to 
 deliberate upon their responsibilities to their country, 
 
70 POLITICS FOR 
 
 to the cause of Immiuritj', but cljielly to Gud, the 
 Author of all the manifold blessings thus abused and 
 endangered. Let them inquire of their consciences 
 what interests of humanity and Christianity are at 
 stake in the moral and religious progress of the 
 United States, and how far these interests are put in 
 jeopardy by such sins of commission and omission as 
 are justly chargeable upon them, in all the course of 
 our history. 
 
 All such facts and considerations form the ground 
 of a solemn appeal to American Christians, Will 
 they plead religious divisions as' an excuse for 
 the non-performance of imperative social duties? 
 A number of the largest religious denominations 
 regard each other as on the safe road to Heaven; 
 travelling thither together, speaking the same lan- 
 guage, living under the same laws, and owning the 
 same government, — is it not a dangerous, a fatal 
 selfishness, which forbids ail co-operation, social and 
 religious, for the common good ? It may be dif- 
 ficult to overcome the obstacles to a common under- 
 standing, and a united effort, for the general welfare ; 
 but the object is great, and great ends are seldom 
 attained without mighty efforts. Let the attempt 
 be made ; and first let the attention of Christians be 
 earnestly given to such important topics as now 
 most concern our social welfare, and most demand 
 the anxious scrutiny of pious men.''' Let them give 
 
 * A happy instance of thus recurring to topics of great moment to 
 the more general interests of religion and humanity, occurred in the 
 proceedings of the recent General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church, which met in Charleston, in the passage of resolutions on 
 the subject of the claim of American Christians to that freedom of 
 
AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 71 
 
 deep heed to those events, and those questions, which 
 are of vital importance in a civil and religious point 
 of view, before the}- enter upon any course of action. 
 In what quarter of our country do we perceive any 
 adequate movement of this kind in the Christian 
 public ? We have heard of no consultation among 
 leading men of different denominations. Among our 
 valuable religious periodicals, there are none suffi- 
 ciently devoted to high national topics, in their 
 Christian aspect, although we are pleased to remark 
 an increasing tendency in that direction, inhere 
 should be a medium of communication, relisiious, 
 political, and social, between the great Evangelical 
 Denominations of this country, in which they might 
 freely commune upon subjects of common interest to 
 them all, to the whole country, and the whole family 
 of man. Can men who hope to stand side by side in 
 Heaven refuse to stand side by side here, in the cause 
 of their common Master, and especially in matters 
 on which they could not differ in opinion ? Such 
 utter estrangement as forbids all co-operation for a 
 common good, among those of different denomina- 
 tions, argues such a mutual enmity as is at utter 
 variance with the injunction, " to love thy neiglihor as 
 thyself" Can the indulgence of such a spirit be safe 
 for any or for alH 
 
 religious worsliip, in foreign countries, which is allowed to the citi- 
 zens of all other nations here. A very able committee was ap- 
 pointed to report upon this subject. "We trust its consideration may 
 lead to the discovery that there are far more important and pressiog 
 topics, relating to the condition, prospects, and final religious freedom 
 of our people on their own soil, which cannot receive too early or 
 too earnest an attention. 
 
72 POLITICS FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. 
 
 The energies of the present clay in our own coun- 
 try, and throughout the world, are sufficient to impel 
 Christians to that union of sentiment and action 
 which may secure important ends, without the sacri- 
 fice of minor differences. The longer they refuse 
 this concert of opinion and action, the greater the 
 injury and discredit do they inflict upon His cause 
 whom they profess to serve. For this undue indul- 
 gence of sectarian estrangement, Christians have been 
 punished in time past, and must continue to be under 
 the Almighty displeasure, until they consent to place 
 the general interests of Christianity and humanity 
 as high, if not higher, in the scale of Christian efforts 
 than the special interests of denominationalism. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The following pages, consisting of an article from Tali's 
 Edinburgh Magazine, for December, 1844, are so instruct- 
 ive, so spirited, so german to the matter of our tract, 
 and contains so much we heartily approve, that we believe 
 we shall confer a signal favor upon our readers by giving 
 them a publication so little known, so inaccessible, and of 
 such real value. We do not warrant the correctness of every 
 expression, nor the soundness of every sentiment, but we 
 commend it as eminently worth perusal. 
 
 THE POLITICS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 It is less necessary just now to oflFer any elaborate apology 
 for the seemingly heterogeneous combination contained in 
 the above heading, than it would have been some ten or fifteen 
 years ago. That " Religion has nothing to do with Politics," 
 once familiarly admitted, by Liberals especially, almost as a 
 truism, is fast dying out as a paradox ; and men are coming 
 to see that Religion has something — much — everything to do 
 with Politics. All our great political questions are, in fact, 
 daily running more and more into religious questions. In 
 Ireland, religion is, what, indeed, it long has been, but per- 
 haps is now more than at any previous time, the chief element 
 of the "chief difficulty." In Scotland, religion has recently 
 effected a dislocation and break-up of political parties, the 
 full consequences of which yet remain to be developed. In 
 England, not to speak of the Church-rate and Church-court 
 questions, the first and greatest of all our national interests, 
 6 
 
74 
 
 Education, is at a dead lock, because religious differences 
 stop the way. All our politics are every day becoming more 
 religious, and our religion more political. Free-trade orators 
 quote Scripture like clergymen, and Free-trade sermons are 
 preached from pulpits. The Anti-Corn-Law League receives 
 aid from a Dissenting Ministers' Anti-Corn-Law Conference; 
 and the struggle between the land-owning and manufacturing 
 interests is likewise, incidentally but effectually, a struggle 
 between the ecclesiastical and the dissenting interests. The 
 leaders of the Complete Suffrage movement are leaders also 
 in the Anti-State-Church movement. Again, if Free-trade 
 has been taken up almost as a Dissenters' question, the Ten- 
 hours' bill has been made a sort of Church question. We 
 have seen the clergy of Leeds and Huddersfield agitate side 
 by side with Messrs. Ferrand and Oastler; and that very 
 high-church divine. Dr. Hook, is of opinion (in which we are 
 very much of his way of thinking) that a clergyman is in 
 his proper place when taking the chair at a workingmen's 
 meeting. Chartism is a religion, and founds its churches ; 
 and Socialism takes the benefit of the Act of Toleration, as 
 a Protestant Dissenting sect of Rational Religionists, and gets 
 its lecturers and missionaries licensed as Protestant Dissenting 
 Ministers. Puseyism is a political, as much as a religious 
 movement. This curious revival -of the old ecclesiastical 
 Christianity was, in point of fact, a reaction against Schedule 
 A, and certain of its anticipated consequences ; and already 
 is the theology of the Oxford Professor of Hebrew respect- 
 ably represented in Parliament, where it forms the bond of a 
 growing political party — a "New Generation" of British 
 statesmen, a senatorial Young England. 
 
 In the tendency which these signs of the times variously 
 indicate, to a nearer connection of religion with politics, 
 'there is nothing that need surprise us. The connection is 
 rooted in the nature of things. Whatever we may think of 
 the alliance of Church and State, the alliance of Religion 
 and Politics is one of indisputable legitimacy. . Every reli- 
 gion, every mode of religious belief and opinion, is more or 
 
75 
 
 less directly related to the social moralities ; and laws and 
 institutions are the organs through which these express them- 
 selves — the hody of whicli they are the soul. Every theory 
 of Divine Providence and government draws after it, rather 
 includes in it, a corresponding theory of human destination; 
 therefore, of human duties ; therefore, of human rights ; 
 therefore, of the civil and social arrangements under which 
 the destination may best be attained, and the rights and 
 duties most worthily realized.* All which especially holds 
 good of such a religion as the Christian — so practical, so 
 human, so rich and full in its every-day moralities. As Epis- 
 copacy, Presbyterianism, Puseyism, Puritanism, Catholicism, 
 Quakerism, Benthamism, have each of them their politics — 
 have each of them a natural affinity to certain political ideas 
 and maxims, so we propose to inquire what are the politics of 
 that which was before them all, and will survive them all, the 
 religion of the New Testament. 
 
 By this we do not mean to ask, what form of government, 
 in Church or State, does the New Testament authoritatively 
 declare to be the best ? For we are not aware that the New 
 Testament declares anything about the matter. In the obvi- 
 ous, superficial sense of the word, the New Testament has no 
 politics. The Founder of Christianity and his first followers 
 did not interfere with forms and modes of civil government, 
 otherwise than to teach (in opposition to the popular judaical 
 fanaticism, which refused tribute to Csesar, on the ground 
 that legitimacy and divine right were limited to the house of 
 David) that all governments, which answer the common pur- 
 poses of social union, are equally legitimate and of divine 
 right; for "the powers that be are ordained of God." They 
 contented themselves with announcino; broad and everlasting; 
 moral truths, destined, in the progress of time, gradually to 
 regenerate society, and remould governments and politics 
 into their own likeness. Neither shall we now inquire, what 
 do New Testament texts say as to the proper objects and 
 
 * Sec note in Tait, p. Tid.^Ed. 
 
76 
 
 limits (if any) of civil allegiance? Whether the Quaker in- 
 terpretation of " Resist not evil," and the Tory interpreta- 
 tion of "Be subject to the higher powers," be sound or un- 
 sound, are points which we leave to the solution of theological 
 exegesis. With any question of controverted texts and dog- 
 mas we have here no concern. Nor do we undertake the 
 task of constructing from New Testament texts a systematic 
 confession of political faith, or code of political morals ; for 
 we are not aware that the New Testament affords data for 
 anything of the sort. It would, in truth, be wonderful if it 
 did. All the circumstances of our civilization differ so widely 
 from those of the age and generation to which the gospel was 
 first promulgated, that the letter of its records cannot be ex- 
 pected to throw much direct light on the details of our politi- 
 cal rights and duties. With reference, for example, to those 
 two prominent and all-influencing elements of our present 
 social state — Representative Institutions and the Press — with 
 all the manifold rights and duties connected with and result- 
 ing from them, the New Testament yields us, of course, no 
 specific textual guidance. Our electoral and politico-literary 
 morality we are left to work out for ourselves, in the light of 
 those broad principles of social duty which constitute the 
 essence of the Christian ethics. The New Testament is so 
 far from teaching politics systematically, that it leaves even 
 the question of j^rivate jjroperty an open question, the earlier 
 precedents of the Church seeming to favor community of 
 goods, its subsequent history indicating the legitimacy, or at 
 least permissibleness, of individual appropriation. Leaving, 
 then, all questions of texts and textual controversy, as be- 
 longing to the theologian rather than the political moralist, 
 we shall simply inquire, Avhat great general truths in the 
 philosophy of social morals, what ideas and principles having 
 a political bearing, are consecrated by the general tone and 
 tenor of the volume w^hich Christians revere as their rule of 
 faith and practice. What moral lessons may the politician 
 learn from that vast fact in the economy of Providence, that 
 
77 
 
 stupendous spiritual revolution, whose opening scenes the 
 books of the New Testament disclose ? 
 
 " The Christian religion," says Novalis, in words which 
 frequent quotation has rendered familiar to us, " is the root 
 of all democracy — the highest fact in the Rights of Man." 
 We believe that this utterance of high-flown " German mys- 
 ticism," as some worthy people call it, is a piece of as sound 
 and sober truth as ever was spoken. The Christian religion, 
 taken from the most general point of view from which we can 
 regard it — as a great moral and spiritual fact in the history 
 of the world — consecrates and sanctifies those principles from 
 which democracy most naturally springs, on which it most 
 securely rests, by which human rights are most effectually vin- 
 dicated, and which the tyrants and oppressors of mankind 
 most heartily detest. 
 
 Thus, Christianity consecrates the principle of appealing 
 directly to the common people on the very highest and deepest 
 questions of human interest. The gospel treats the popular 
 intellect with respect and friendliness. There is nothing 
 esoteric in its doctrines or spirit. " What ye hear in the 
 ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops," is the mandate of 
 its beneficent Founder. It recognizes no aristocracy of caste 
 or class, of birth or office — no aristocracy of intellect even: 
 it "honors all men," by addressing itself to faculties and 
 feelings which all men in common possess. That " the poor 
 have the gospel preached unto them," is adduced by Jesus as 
 one of the most distinctive signs of his divine mission ; and 
 it is this, more than anything else, which constitutes the gos- 
 pel a great fact — the greatest of facts — in the philosophy of 
 the Rights of Man. This preaching of a gospel to the poor, 
 assumes that the poor have faculties for the appreciation of 
 the profoundest of moral truths; that there is nothing too 
 good to be given to them ; that the enlightening of their un- 
 derstandings, the awakening of their feelings, the guiding of 
 their aspirations to spiritual beauty, truth, and good, is a 
 work worthy of the highest order of intelligence. The Christ- 
 
78 
 
 ian religion is the loftiest wisdom descending, Avithout any 
 parade of condescension, to commune with the deepest igno- 
 rance — lifting up its voice, not in the schools of learning and 
 science, but in the highways of human intercourse, in the very 
 streets and market-places. Here, we take it, is the Education 
 question settled, once for all, on the highest authority. The 
 old Tory anti-education clamor about the danger of raising 
 poor people's minds above their station in life is rebuked by 
 the example of the inspired Teacher of the world. For, the 
 sort of knowledge on which this dangerous tendency is most 
 obviously chargeable, the knowledge which most powerfully 
 raises men's minds above the level of the vulgar working 
 world, is given freely and without reserve to all. Surely, if 
 the doctrines of the Christian theology are not too stimulat- 
 ing a nutriment for common minds, neither is chemisty, nor 
 geology, nor poetry, nor mathematics. The whole circle of 
 the arts and sciences is, we apprehend, less calculated to raise 
 poor people's minds above the station of life in which it has 
 pleased Providence to place them, than is the disclosure of 
 mysteries, into which, as we are told, " the angels desire to 
 look." 
 
 The gospel is, then, an appeal to the many, the millions, 
 the common people; assumes a capacity in the common people 
 receptive of the deepest and weightiest of moral truths. It 
 is more than this. It is an appeal to the many against the 
 few — to the people against their rulers. Such, taken histori- 
 cally, is the most obvious external aspect of the public preach- 
 ing of Jesus. It was a stirring up of the soul of the Hebrew 
 commonalty into protest and spiritual revolt against a vicious 
 ecclesiastical government. It was an endeavor to create in 
 Palestine an enlightened public opinion, a pure and earnest 
 public morality, adverse to the influence of the constituted 
 authorities, and to the permanence of the existing order of 
 things. That it was infinitely more than this^that this poli- 
 tico-moral feature of the teachings of Jesus was by no means 
 the whole, nor even the chief part of their significance, we 
 have, of course, no intention to deny. Still, it was this: to 
 
79 
 
 say that Christianity does present this aspect, among others, 
 is simply to state an historical fact. Jesus of Nazareth taught 
 the Jewish people, with the utmost freedom and plainness, a 
 morality subversive of the influence of their rulers ; taught 
 them to distrust those rulers as " blind," and to unmask them 
 as "hypocrites." Here, then, we have another great political 
 truth, resting on the highest authority, and exemplified in the 
 most illustrious of precedents. The gospel consecrates the 
 principle of moral-force agitation. It recognizes the right 
 and duty of insurrection — the insurrection, that is, of the 
 heart and understanding against hypocrisy and falsehood — 
 though the hypocrisy and falsehood sit in the very seat of 
 Moses, and are environed with the prestige of antiquity and 
 legitimacy. It keeps no terms, except those of truth, with 
 consecrated turpitude, and legitimate old-established iniquity. 
 It brings human authorities, the most reverend and time- 
 honored — human institutions, the most securely hedged round 
 by tradition, popular veneration, and the use and wont of 
 ages, to the test of eternal and divine moralities, proclaiming 
 that every tree not of God's planting shall be rooted up. It 
 speaks the plainest truths about public men in the plainest 
 way. "Hypocrites," "extortioners," "serpents," "vipers," 
 "children of hell," — such is the dialect in which the New 
 Testament speaks of corrupt and unprincipled rulers. The 
 spirit of the book is that of antagonism to existing ideas 
 and established authorities. The first preaching of the gos- 
 pel drove constituted authorities mad, with rage; scared a 
 guilty tetrarch, and made a Roman governor tremble : and its 
 written page* denounces the oppressions and frauds of " rich 
 men" of the landlord class, in a tone Avhich nowadays would 
 be thought to savor of the League, or even the Charter. 
 What, precisely, may be the meaning of " Let every soul be 
 subject to the higher powers," we do not here undertake to 
 say ; but the meaning of this and similar texts clearly is not 
 that they to whom Providence has given the power of instruct- 
 
 * James, ch. v. 
 
80 
 
 ing the minds and stirring the hearts of their fellow-men, are 
 to shrink from denouncing public immoralities, and agitating 
 against public wrongs. Never was a greater mistake than 
 that which is made when despots and aristocracies encourage 
 poor people to read the Bible, in the hope of quieting them 
 down under oppression. For any such purpose, the Bible is 
 about the unfittest book in all literature. Whenever the Bible 
 is read with the understanding and the heart, it will strengthen 
 men's sense of right, and quicken their sensibilities to wrong 
 — sanctify what tyrants call "sedition," by the example of a 
 long line of agitators of the prophet and apostle class, and. 
 consecrate, as religion, a sturdy, defiant opposition to all man- 
 ner of Pharaohs, Ahabs, Herods, Pilates, and Chief Priests. 
 The politics of the New Testament are anti-hierarchical. 
 The whole book is an emphatic proclamation of religious equal- 
 ity ; not that mere equality of sect with sect which seems to 
 be at present our current interpretation of this " peculiar 
 doctrine of the gospel," but the equality of man with man. 
 The Christian religion knows nothing of human priesthoods, 
 other than the priesthood that is common to all good men 
 and true, Avho render to their Maker the sacrifice of worthy 
 deeds springing out of honest hearts. Not to a select and 
 episcopally ordained few, but to "strangers scattered abroad," 
 does the gospel address the honorable title of a " holy priest- 
 hood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices." Christianity broke 
 down the old priestly monopoly, Jewish and heathen, and 
 made every man "king and priest unto God" on his own ac- 
 count. It neither recognizes nor constitutes any sacerdotal 
 caste, any spiritual aristocracy (Episcopalian or Presbyterian), 
 any order of men standing in ex-officio relations to Deity. 
 It makes the relation of man to God individual and imme- 
 diate. The Christianity that lifts a mitred front in courts 
 and parliaments is not the Christianity of Christ. Uppermost 
 rooms at feasts, chief seats in synagogues, and all the other 
 great and small prizes of ecclesiastical ambition — including 
 the "Rabbi, Rabbi" (or, as we phrase it. Very Reverend, 
 Right Reverend, Most Reverend) — are discarded and dis- 
 
81 
 
 owned by Him whose kingdom is not of this world. Marvel- 
 lous it is how, not the spirit only, but the very letter of the 
 New Testament, is set at naught by our modern priest- 
 hoods. Christ said, in that grandly awful concio ad populuni 
 which closed the series of his public teachings, " Call no 
 man your Father upon the earth:" yet "Father," "Right 
 Reverend Father," " Right Reverend Father in God," is the 
 style and title of modern Christian Episcopacy. Why do not 
 they, for very shame's sake, score out the text at once, as an 
 heretical interpolation ? 
 
 The gospel is a consecration of the principle and spirit of 
 Protestantism ; and of the principle and spirit of free inquiry 
 in matters of religious belief, of individual earnestness in 
 moral conduct, of progressive reform in social institutions. 
 Christianity makes no account of legitimacy, antiquity, or 
 majorities. It is a protest for the practical spiritual needs of 
 " the hour that now is," against the tyranny of traditions in- 
 herited from the past. Such a thing as the fastening of a 
 creed of one generation on the faith of all succeeding ones, in 
 secula seeulorum — hedging round pulpits and university 
 chairs with subscription to dead men's articles of belief 
 (though the articles should happen to be all true), is a pro- 
 ceeding utterly opposed to its free and onward spirit. Christ- 
 ianity is a protest for the practical utilities of human nature 
 and life, against the mechanical, ceremonial righteousness that 
 exalts the means above the end, makes man the creature and 
 slave of institutions, instead of their lord and master, and 
 would have even withered hands and sightless eyes remain as 
 they are, until the Sabbath of Moses has had its due. How 
 noble, and yet how simple — simple as moral truth ever is — is 
 that utterance of Christ's, " the Sabbath is made for man, 
 not man for the Sabbath." This has been in the world these 
 eighteen hundred years ; but we are not come up Avith it yet. 
 If this sentence happened to be, not in the New Testament, 
 but in some parliamentary speech of Mr. Roebuck's or Mr. 
 Hume's, many religious people would be dreadfully shocked, 
 and we should never hear the last of the "blasphemy" and 
 
82 
 
 "irreligion," the daring anti-Christianity of the sentiment. 
 The gospel is a protest for spiritual equality and brotherhood, 
 against the overbearing assumptions and tyrannous imperti- 
 nences of a priestly aristocracy — a protest for individual judg- 
 ment, against sacerdotal and ecclesiastical authority. It is a 
 true nonconformist's gospel. Ecclesiastics may talk ever so 
 learnedly and plausibly about the incapacity of the unlettered 
 multitude to judge for themselves of the high questions of 
 religion ; about the need of adhesion to a centre of spiritual 
 unity ; of docile submission to the authority of a regularly- 
 constituted and legitimately-ordained clergy: they may even 
 quote texts in support of their claims, which the unskilled in 
 Hebrew and Greek cannot exactly explain. But the broad 
 fact remains stubbornly impervious to all the heaviest artil- 
 lery of sacerdotal logic— ^that the Christian gospel is (histori- 
 cally) rooted and grounded in antagonism to authority ; that 
 on the "authority" principle it never could have got standing- 
 room in the world ; that all the authorities which men then 
 reverenced — the authority of the Jewish priesthood, the 
 authority of the heathen priesthood, the authority of the 
 civil magistrate, the authority of the philosophers and literati 
 — were confederated to crush it. Nonconformity, dissent, 
 free inquiry, individual conviction, mental independence, are 
 forever consecrated by the religion of the New Testament, 
 as the breath of its own life, the conditions of its own exist- 
 ence on the earth. The Book is a direct transfer of human 
 allegiance, in things spiritual, from the civil and ecclesiastical 
 powers to the judgment and conscience of the individual. 
 With the New Testament in his hands, and a high, honest 
 purpose in his heart, no man need ever be afraid of "heretic," 
 "schismatic," "sedition-monger," "babbler," "blasphemer," 
 "pestilent fellow," and other such missiles of the vocabulary 
 of insolence dressed in authority. The gospel itself was once 
 a heresy, a schism, a sedition, and a blasphemy, and would 
 have been crushed in the cradle, if authority and hard words 
 were arguments. The Christian religion is thus the " highest 
 
83 
 
 fact" in the philosophy of that highest of human rights — 
 Liberty of Prophesying. 
 
 The gospel is "the root of all democracy." Not that it 
 specifically inculcates the overthrow of oligarchical and de- 
 spotic governments, and the establishment of republics in 
 their room; but it announces principles, it breathes a spirit, 
 the universal prevalence of which would at once make oli- 
 garchy and despotism moral impossibilities. By its doctrine 
 of human equality and brotherhood it ignores all social dis- 
 tinctions, except the immutable natural distinctions between 
 wisdom and folly, righteousness and iniquity. It denounces 
 all mammon-worship and title-worship. Its social spirit is 
 that of a republican simplicity, equality, and self-respect. It 
 recognizes no aristocracy but that of personal goodness, 
 tested by social usefulness : " He that is greatest among you, 
 let him be your servant." It is a very levelling gospel. Its 
 early triumphs consisted, as the apostle eloquently boasts, in 
 the foolish, and weak, and base things of the world confound- 
 ing the wise, and mighty, and honored. The history of 
 Christianity is that of a revolution which began with what 
 cabinet-ministers and bishops call "the dregs of the people," 
 and mounted upward and upward till it scaled and captured 
 the throne of the Cassars. The raising of valleys, and laying 
 low of hills, was the burden of the prophetic announcement 
 of the gospel's approach ; and the " glory to God in the 
 highest," which angels announced as its final aim, can only 
 be realized when "peace on earth and good-will among men" 
 shall be established universally on the basis of political justice. 
 
 The politics of the New Testament are in direct antagonism 
 to the old heathen politics. These sacrificed the individual to 
 the state; treated the state as everything, and the individual 
 (except in his relations to the state) as nothing. In Christ- 
 ianity, the individual is everything ; the state — otherwise than 
 as an aggregate gf individuals — nothing. National wealth, 
 power, greatness, glory, manufacturing interest, commercial 
 interest, agricultural interest, colonial and shipping interest, 
 splendor and dignity of the crown, glorious constitution, and 
 
84 
 
 the like — all these are nothing, in the politics of Christianity, 
 except as representative of, or conducive to, the physical and 
 moral well-being of individual men, women, and children ; all 
 are worse than nothing, if the happiness and virtue of indi- 
 viduals are to be sacrificed to their support. Not as a mere 
 "member of society," not as a mere fractional part of a vast 
 and multitudinous whole called "community," does Christ- 
 ianity take notice of the individual, but as an immortal child 
 of God, having his own life to live, his own character to form, 
 his own individuality to develop, his own soul to save. How 
 deep this doctrine goes ! It is the most revolutionary thing 
 we have. It implies the radical falsity and wickedness of all 
 social arrangements which demand the sacrifice of individual 
 intellect, morality, and spiritual health, to the abstraction 
 called society. Under the Christian charter of human rights 
 and code of human duties, man — every man — has a destiny 
 of his own to work out, a nature of his own to develop up to 
 its highest possibility of health and strength ; and whatever 
 obstructs him in this, Christianity implicitly condemns. "Let 
 my people go, saith the Lord, that they may serve Me," is 
 the plea of the Hebrew liberator for the emancipation of his 
 race ; and never were the rights of man advocated on a 
 broader ground. The words are Jewish, but the spirit is 
 Christian. Political enfranchisement, as the condition pre- 
 liminary of a true and entire service of God; civil rights, as 
 needful to intellectual and moral health ; social justice, as the 
 atmosphere in which the virtues and charities best grow — 
 there is a principle here wide enough to cover the whole field 
 of political reform. The aim of Christianity is the perfecting 
 of the individual in whatsoever things are true, honest, just, 
 virtuous, and lovely ; and whatever, in social custom or legis- 
 lative enactment, hinders the accomplishment of this aim, is 
 unchristian and antichristian. 
 
 Here is the condemnation of slavery : and of some other 
 things beside. The question, " Can a dependent elector be, 
 in mental honesty and self-respect, a perfect Christian man?" 
 contains the core of the ballot controversy. The question, 
 
85 
 
 " Can a clergyman, -with his bread, and his children's bread, 
 contingent on his unfaltering profession of belief in a particu- 
 lar set of theological opinions, faithfully discharge the Christ- 
 ian duty of proving all things ?" is decisive as to the morality 
 of enforced subscription to creeds and articles. The question, 
 " Can a soldier, whose trade is homicide by word of command, 
 whose profession is the abnegation of moral responsibility for 
 the most responsible act a human creature can commit, be a 
 living example of the Christian virtues of benevolence and 
 justice ?" settles the anti-christianity of standing armies. The 
 question, " Can a grossly ignorant man be, at all points, a 
 thorough Christian man ?" is a short argument for national 
 education. And the question, " Can a man, woman, or child, 
 that is over-worked, under-fed, ill-housed, and ill-clad, enjoy 
 intellectual and moral health, realize the spiritual development 
 contemplated by the Christian gospel?" brings religion into 
 the whole of our social economics. The right of the indi- 
 vidual to the means of spiritual life and growth, to leisure, 
 rest, recreation, physical and domestic comfort, as the con- 
 ditions of his soul's health — if this be not instantly decisive 
 of the question of the Ten-hours' bill, it is only because some 
 other and nearer questions stand, for the present, between 
 us and that : and because there would be no Christianity in 
 legislating to make bad worse. But there the question is, 
 waiting for us, to be settled when those other things shall 
 have been put out of the way. That is not a Christian state 
 of society, which, for some millions of people, renders the 
 culture of the home virtues and affections little better than a 
 physical impossibility. The taint of anti-christianity is on all 
 social arrangements that hinder or abridge the spiritual growth 
 of human beings. 
 
 A still more delicate inquiry opens on us, in this connec- 
 tion. Is royalty, thus tested, a Christian institution ? Look- 
 ing at the manifold and sore temptations to pride, sloth, self- 
 indulgence, self-willedness, and hard-heartedness, incident to 
 a status which hedges round, as with a sort of divinity, a 
 fallible, imperfect (perhaps vicious and worthless) mortal ; 
 
86 
 
 places him in artificial and false relations to his fellow-men ; 
 blunts his human sympathies by excluding from his ken the 
 realities of human action and suffering ; raises him above the 
 possibility of anything like a free and equal friendship, re- 
 moves him out of the hearing of disagreeable truths, softens 
 down his vices into venial foibles, and exaggerates the most 
 commonplace amiabilities of temper or manner into extra- 
 ordinary virtues — it seems fairly open to a question whether 
 the monarchical institution is one that could exist in a tho- 
 roughly Christianized community. Has society a right, for 
 the sake of any mere temporary and political convenience 
 (real or supposed), to subject a human creature to such tre- 
 mendous moral disadvantages? The query may strike some 
 readers as a rather unorthodox one, but we have good episco- 
 pal authority for it. In a sermon by the present Bishop of 
 London, we find the sad case of sovereigns stated in a way 
 that cannot but awaken the keenest sympathies, and seems 
 calculated even to alarm the conscience of society. After a 
 feeling exhibition of the all but unbearable load of political 
 anxieties and responsibilities that presses upon crowned heads, 
 the Bishop proceeds : "But all these disadvantages, and diflS- 
 culties, and cares, are of little moment, compared with the 
 dangers which surround the wearer of a crown, considered as 
 a servant of God, a steward of his household, a member of 
 Christ's church, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. 
 How diflScult to them, above all other persons, must it be to 
 realize the precept, ' Love not the world, neither the things 
 that are in the world,' when the world so assiduously spreads 
 all its most seductive temptations before them, and courts 
 their enjoyment of its pleasures. With every wish antici- 
 pated, or gratified as soon as expressed, with an unrestricted 
 command of all the resources of luxury and art, living within 
 a fence of ceremony and observance which the voice of truth 
 can hardly penetrate, and, even when heard at distant inter- 
 vals, perhaps may shock by its unwonted and unwelcome 
 sound, how is it possible for them not to become ' lovers of 
 pleasure more than lovers of God ?' How can they be brought 
 
87 
 
 to learn the peculiar lessons which must be learned by all the 
 disciples of that Master who said, ' Take my yoke upon you, 
 and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart?' "* The 
 right reverend preacher is, it must be confessed, less happy 
 in his solution of the problem than in the statement of it. 
 He tells us plainly, it is a ease for omyiipotence : " Our 
 Saviour's answer to his disciples, when they inquired how 
 any rich man could be saved, must be ours : ' With men it 
 is impossible, but not with God ; for with God all things are 
 possible.' .... He «an endow the mightiest monarch 
 with the graces of the lowliest saint. This is indeed one of 
 the noblest triumphs of his almighty power." 
 
 From all which, the Bishop makes out a strong argument 
 for "the duty of prayer and intercession for our rulers." 
 The conclusion strikes us, however, as being much narrower 
 than the premises warrant and require. Have we any right, 
 as a Christian community, to place our rulers in such a pre- 
 dicament that their salvation becomes (humanly speaking) an 
 impossibility, a subject for the noblest triumphs of almighty 
 power? — is an inquiry which the episcopal reasoning irresist- 
 ibly suggests. The moral and religious grievances of the 
 sovereign class seem, like the physical and social grievances 
 of the negro-slave class, or the factory- child class, to call 
 for some more tangible and mundane mode of redress than 
 " prayer and intercession." Our preacher takes too despond- 
 ing a tone. He treats the royal soul as though it were 
 already in extremis, rejects all ordinary medical appliances 
 as unavailing, and has nothing to recommend for his spiritual 
 patient but the administration of the last rites of the church. 
 The writer of the above-quoted condemnation of the monarchi- 
 cal institution ought, in consistency, to be, if not a downright 
 republican, at least a most strenuous advocate of Avhatever 
 tends to the relaxation or abandonment of an etiquette ad- 
 verse to Christian sincerity, the curtailment of prerogatives 
 perilous to Christian humility, and the retrenchment of a 
 
 * "The Duty of, Prayer and Intercession for our Rulers," a Sermon by 
 Charles James, Lord Bishop of London. 1838. 
 
splendor incompatible with Christian simplicity and spiritual- 
 ity. Yet, after all, why talk of royalty, when there is episco- 
 pacy ? The Bishop's own case is one of the hardest. Twenty 
 thousand pounds sterling -per annum for life, with palaces, 
 patronage, and perquisites — surely there is matter here for 
 the exercise of "the duty of prayer and intercession." What 
 spiritual dangers can be compared with those which " sur- 
 round the wearer of a" mitre, " considered as a servant of 
 God, a steward of his household, a member of Christ's church, 
 and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ? How difficult to 
 them^ above all persons, must it be to realize the precept," &c. 
 
 In virtue of this principle of the sacredness of the individual, 
 the Christian gospel is a vast regenerative, revolutionizing 
 force, permeating the whole structure of society and its insti- 
 tutions. We are learning to feel that even the criminal is 
 within the scope of its operation. The "vindictive" theory 
 of punishment — which sacrifices the individual to the passions 
 of the community — is now pretty well exploded ; and the 
 "exemplary" theory — which sacrifices the individual to the 
 interests of the community — is less exclusively insisted on 
 than it was : we modify it with a large admixture of the "re- 
 formatory" theory, in which the individual is paramount. 
 The feeling gains ground in society every year, and from 
 time to time expresses itself in legislation, that whatever 
 rights the criminal may have forfeited, he cannot forfeit his 
 right to the means of moral improvement ; and that any 
 punishment, however well deserved and exemplary, is essen- 
 tially defective if it be not adapted to promote (otherwise than 
 in the ecclesiastical courts' fashion) the soul's health of the 
 offender. That punishment which dismisses the culprit from 
 the world as an incurable — cuts him off from all opportunity 
 and possibility of restoration, with the miserable mockery of 
 a judicial prayer that " the Lord may have mercy on his 
 soul" — is gradually dropping into desuetude : and society 
 seems less and less willing to despair of the moral amendment 
 of those who have most deeply sinned against it. 
 
89 
 
 The Christian doctrine of human brotherhood, so nobly 
 enunciated by St. Paul at Athens, " God hath made of one 
 blood all nations of men ;" this doctrine of the unity of the 
 human race, in nature, in rights, and in destination, is a dis- 
 tinct condemnation of another point in the politics of heathen- 
 ism: if, indeed, it be fair to charge on the poor heathen, 
 vices which have been faithfully copied, with additions and 
 improvements, by every Christian nation under the sun. We 
 speak of that exaggerated and exclusive patriotism, which 
 treads down, without a scruple, the rights of weaker rivals, 
 and counts all things fair in war. On the hackneyed objec- 
 tion to Christianity, that it does not inculcate patriotism, we 
 need not waste a word ; to this sort of patriotism — whether 
 it take the form of military aggression, or of diplomatic lying 
 and chicane — Christianity stands, without a question, in 
 strong antagonism. Of the politics of the New Testament, 
 a great first principle is international justice, sincerity, and 
 mao-nanimit'y — the subordination of all mere national inte- 
 rests, or supposed and seeming interests, to the one eternal, 
 impartial laAV of right. Will it be said that this is a truism, 
 scarcely needing a special and formal statement ? Unfortu- 
 nately, the truism is not yet allowed by our rulers to pass as 
 a truth, not even in the abstract. The present Prime Minis- 
 ter of tliis Christian empire, which has its missionaries and 
 its Bibles out at the ends of the earth, converting the heathen, 
 does not hold, even in the abstract, that barbarian, Scythian, 
 bond and free, are one in the eye of God, and God's law. 
 He does not hold that the moral law of nations is an equal 
 and impartial law. He believes not in the Christian faith 
 that, as God has made all nations of one blood, so he has 
 subjected all to one rule of right. He believes, rather, in the 
 heiathen faith that there is " some great uncontrollable princi- 
 ple at work" in the intercourses of civilization with barba- 
 rism,* which " demands a different course of conduct to be 
 pursued" from that which the principle of Christian equity 
 
 * See note in Tait, p. l^A.—Eil 
 
m 
 
 demaiids. He believes, in short, that tlie political morality 
 of the New Testament, though all very well in its way and 
 place, among gentlemen and gentlemanlike nations, will not 
 do at the antipodes : the rule of doing to others as we would 
 that others should do to us, is inapplicable to the peculiar 
 and complicated circumstances of our Indian empire. A 
 more heathenish doctrine than this of the " great uncontrol- 
 lable principle" for dispensing with principle when and where 
 convenient, could not be devised; it is worthy of some old 
 robbing and murdering Roman general or proconsul. And 
 the thing passed in our Cliristian House of Commons, with 
 only an honest word or two of protest from one or two voices, 
 went quietly through the press along with the rest of the 
 day's news, and circulated over the Christian country with- 
 out a syllable of objection from the Christian bishops, priests, 
 and deacons. There was no clerical agitation got up against 
 the great uncontrollable principle, as there was against the 
 Whig Church-rate and Education schemes — nothing said 
 about converting Sir Robert Peel and his majority to the 
 Christian religion. Our ecclesiastical Christianity has other 
 work on hand, of a more interesting kind — mounting guard 
 on Irish tithes, and barricading the Universities against Dis- 
 senters. Its solicitude for the soul's health of the people is 
 all expended on recusant rate-payers. 
 
 It must be allowed that the Christianity of this country 
 rarely appears to much advantage in our politics. On nearly 
 every one of the public questions Avhich politicians make re- 
 ligious questions, the Christianity of our legislators — those of 
 them who are most given to talk about their Christianity — 
 will be found on the wrong side. The Christian religion is 
 seldom brought into politics except to do mischief, to stop the 
 way of rational and beneficent legislation. Our political and 
 parliamentary Christianity is a Christianity that wages fierce 
 war against poor men's hot Sunday dinners, and Sunday 
 walks in green fields, and Sunday excursions by steamboat 
 and railway, and Sunday visits to museums, picture-galleries, 
 and zoological gardens — against evcrytliing that can refine 
 
91 
 
 the tastes, stimulate the intellect, refresh the heart, and do 
 good to the health and spirits of the pallid week-day dwellers 
 in city lanes and alleys. It is fond of extending the list of 
 the theological mala proJdhita. It is never so well pleased as 
 when it is restricting somebody from doing or enjoying some- 
 thing: there are men who would not, if they could help it, 
 let poor people do the very thing that Jesus Christ himself 
 did — walk through the fields on the Sabbath-day. It is an 
 obstructive and teasing, a frivolous and vexatious Christianity. 
 It stops the people from being educated. In the present 
 state of opinion and feeling on this subject, there is posi- 
 tively nothing in the way of a large and effectual measure of 
 national education, except our ecclesiastical and sectarian 
 Christianity : the thing might be done to-morrow, but that 
 the Jews of the established church will have no dealings with 
 the Samaritans of dissent. It is a Christianity that makes a 
 conscience of keeping Ireland, year after year, at the boiling- 
 point of peaceable and constitutional insurrection, rather than 
 relinquish its uppermost room at the feast of fat things, and 
 its chief seat in courts and parliaments. It is a Christianity 
 that cannot live without its orthodox hands in heretical 
 pockets. Church surplices must be washed and mangled, 
 church organs tuned, church clocks wound up, and church 
 roofs new slated, at the cost and charge of the people who 
 do not go to church; and they call that pai/ing a 'pepper-com 
 rent to God. It is a meddling, busy-bodied Christianity, 
 about trifles or things indifferent, and politely dumb in view 
 of evils which it ought to denounce with voice of thunder. 
 The church has not a word to say against the iniquity of tax- 
 ing the poor man's bread, to swell the rich man's rent. Our 
 political Christianity lifts up its voice, not against fraud, hy- 
 pocrisy, oppression, class-legislation, and the spirit of w:icked- 
 ness in high places; but against heresy, schism, unbelief, and 
 misbelief; forgetting that the "Woe, woe unto you" of the 
 Founder of the Christian church was pointed, not at the 
 Samaritan schismatics or the Sadducee infidels^ but at the 
 
92 
 
 orthodox, duly-consecrated, and legitimately- ordained "Scribes 
 and Pharisees, hypocrites." 
 
 The political ideas and principles of the New Testament, 
 like all other great moral truths, tend ever — with an inherent, 
 resistless, though slowly-working force — to their own realiza- 
 tion. It says nothing against this, that we have had Christ- 
 ianity in the world these eighteen hundred years, without 
 having yet properly learned one of its lessons. We have had 
 .the sun and moon these six thousand years, day unto day 
 uttering speech, and night unto night showing knowledge — 
 and we have not yet learned their religion. The Christian 
 gospel of brotherhood and spiritual equality, in the laborious 
 slowness of its progress, the limitation of its influence, and 
 the extent and seeming inveteracy of its corruptions, only 
 shares the fate of other moral truths. Meanwhile, it fur- 
 nishes us with abundant encouragement, under the tardy and 
 imperfect character of its own successes. The symbols in 
 which its Founder pictured its future progress are indicative, 
 not of miraculous metamorphosis, but of natural growth — 
 "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the 
 -ear:" nor are the enemy and his tares forgotten. Truly, 
 "there are many Antichrists," as the apostle says: and their 
 power is great as their natures are various : the Antichrist of 
 mammon, the Antichrist of aristocracy and class-legislation, 
 the Antichrist of spiritual tyranny, the Antichrist of Phari- 
 saism and hypocrisy, the Antichrist of the "great uncon- 
 trollable principle" that loves a gainful iniquity better than 
 a losing honesty. But the Politics of the New Testament — 
 the politics of justice and mercy, of spiritual liberty and 
 equality — are stronger than all the Antichrists together. 
 The Christian gospel is, at this moment, all external hin- 
 drances and internal corruptions notwithstanding, the might- 
 iest moral force wc have, both as a conservator and destroyer. 
 There are no signs of old age upon it. It can, in truth, grow 
 old only when the world grows old. The nations of the Eu- 
 ropean family received it in their infancy; and, in the life of 
 
93 
 
 nations, as of tlie individual, those are tlie vital and endurin^- 
 characteristics which are impressed during the age of early, 
 rapid growth. The religion whose author loved, under the 
 title of Son of Man, to identify himself with universal hu- 
 manity; the religion which began its life with putting down 
 polygamy, gladiatorship, serfdom, and other such abomina- 
 tions; which, in our OAvn time, has reformed our penal code, 
 stopped our slave-trade, emancipated our slaves, and is still 
 fighting the good fight beyond the Atlantic, showing abundant 
 signs, by the way, where the real strength lies ; this religion, 
 which, despite of all the corruptions that have been fastened 
 on it, and all the crimes that have been perpetrated in its 
 name, has ever been a civilizing influence in the midst of 
 barbarism, and a moralizing influence in the heart of an 
 effeminate and artificial civilization, will live while any part 
 of its benign mission remains unaccomplished — will live till 
 it has exorcised all the evil spirits that haunt and vex the 
 world. The moral ideas that constitute the life of Christ- 
 ianity contain within themselves the promise and programme 
 of our age to come. 
 
 The world has long since had out its laugh at the Fifth- 
 jSIonarchy men. The notion of those people has, indeed, a 
 sufficiently grotesque look, as clad in the garb of the century 
 before last: yet the idea is a grand and true one — of a king- 
 dom different from the old kingdoms of the world, ruled by 
 other laws and in another spirit — a kingdom of heaven, a 
 reign of truth and right, a Republic of the Virtues, a univer- 
 sal Tiigendhund. In another name, and under another form, 
 the world will have its Fifth Monarchy yet. Such, at least, 
 is our reading of the Politics of the New Testament. 
 
SOME NOTICE OF A REVIEW, 
 BY A LAY.^IAN, OF 
 
 NEW THEMES FOR THE PROTESTANT CLERGY. 
 
 Philadelphia, Od. 12, 1852. 
 MESSRS. LIPPINCOTT, GPtAMBO, & CO. :— 
 
 Gentlemen: You ask my opinion of the "Review, by a 
 Layman, of New Themes for the Protestant Clergy." Little 
 time as is at my disposal just now, it seems scarcely justice 
 to you or myself not to notice such a popular publication. 
 You will have readily perceived that not all the censure in 
 which it abounds is due to the critic himself. It is in part a 
 compilation of what has been said and written by others. 
 
 The "Review'' presents itself in two aspects: — 
 
 Firstly : Its criticisms, and their original authors. 
 
 Secondly: The critic, or compiler. 
 
 The authors of these severe charges demand the first atten- 
 tion. In regard to them, it would not be difficult to admi- 
 nister severe retaliation, and to deal in sharp retort. At 
 times the inclination to resort to that kind of redress is 
 hard to restrain ; but my judgment and better feeling do 
 not sympathize with this occasional disposition to retaliate. 
 My chief anxiety is to be understood by those Avho have so 
 grievously misapprehended the purport of " New Themes for 
 tire Protestant Clergy," and the' design of the author. It is 
 no doubt largely my fault that so much misapprehension has 
 occurred : that it is not wholly my fault, is plain from the 
 
95 
 
 fact that so many pious and intelligent persons have fully 
 understood the work, and appreciated the intentions of tlio 
 writer. It is truly marvellous that intelligent and educated 
 men, having so many views in common, both religious and 
 social, should entertain opinions so opposite of such a volume. 
 This unexpected result furnishes a valuable lesson to the 
 student of human nature. To me, it has been one of sio-nal 
 profit; it has afforded various striking replies to the question: 
 "What impedes the progress of Christianity?" But this 
 is, anticipating remarks interided to be explanatory of the 
 general intent and object of "New Themes." 
 ^ It appears to me right to assume that those who first 
 sounded the alarm in reference to its evil tendencies, labo;'ed 
 under at least some degree of mistake. Those who objected 
 to the tone and positions of the writer acquitted him of evil 
 intentions,: he had said the most dreadful things, but he did 
 not mean them ; there was immeasurable evil in what was 
 written, but it was kindly believed not to be in the heart of 
 the author. There must have been some mitio-atino- words 
 in the book which thus saved the writer from the condemna- 
 tion which was visited upon the work. Other pious, learned, 
 and discriminating men, without being blind to its faults, at 
 once perceived the scope of the work, and heartily approved 
 its general design. The number and character of those 
 among the clergy and the laity, who have thus signified their 
 approbation, is so great, and their testimony is so strong, as 
 further to warrant me in assuming that much of the censure 
 has proceeded from misconception — from a state of mind and 
 a state of knowledge not prepared for the consideration of 
 the subjects presented, and less still for the perhaps too un- 
 reserved manner in which they were treated. Under this 
 impression, it is my intention to avail myself of every favor- 
 able opportunity of so stating my views as to make them 
 better understood ; the present is one which should not pass 
 unimproved. It will require not one but probably many 
 efforts to bring fully to the minds of many good men what is 
 intended under the phrase, "New Themes for the Protestant 
 
96 
 
 Clergy." It is my intention if spared, and permitted the 
 leisure, to pursue these topics as occasion arises, and more 
 fully point out the subjects which it was hoped the Clergy 
 might be stimulated to take in hand. The tract from 
 your press, to which this letter is appended, written several 
 months since, was penned and is given to the public with this 
 design. It will be found to have imperfections of the same 
 kind as those charged upon "New Themes." It does not 
 treat the subject it handles logically or dogmatically. It in- 
 vokes the earnest attention of Christians to considerations too 
 much neglected. It does not pronounce definitively what is 
 the truth, but it calls Christians to serious inquiry, to honest 
 research, and then to decision and action. The misconcep- 
 tions of which "New Themes" has been the fruitful source, 
 have arisen, it is believed, mainly, not so much from absolute 
 divergence of opinion, as from the very different points of 
 view from which the subjects have been contemplated. 
 Those who stand in the landscape cannot describe nor paint 
 it in the same terms or colors as those who regard it from a 
 distance, and as a whole. On this ground, some allowance 
 may be claimed for him who has taken a new position until 
 his announcements can be verified by the observation of 
 others. It is a sad mistake to assume that the field of 
 humanity has all been explored, or that the heights or the 
 depths of Christianity have been reached as yet by any human 
 eye. The landscape in each widens as we advance, and no 
 human glance can ever cover the whole. But no eye should 
 be satisfied while more remains to be seen. It requires no 
 small effort to detach one's self from the busy turmoil and 
 exciting scenes of social and religious life, and to withdraw 
 so far as to look from a place apart at the drama enacted 
 upon the stage of life. The spectacle thus obtained is worthy 
 the highest intellectual effort; it is instructive beyond all 
 definite estimation. 
 
 Let any one who would find this point of view, ascertain 
 what all of Protestantism is doing in the cause of humanity ; 
 how it is promoting the progress of social amelioration ; and 
 
97 
 
 the position it occupies on all the great questions -which most 
 concern the peace, and liappiness, and -well-being of men in 
 this life. It may cost many years of effort and inquiry to 
 occupy a position which -will afford a full vie-\y of the subject, 
 the complications of -which are enough to deter any but the 
 most resolute. It cannot be done -without severe mental dis- 
 cipline and painful struggles ; for many things have to be un- 
 learned. But it costs no sacrifice of orthodoxy. On the con- 
 trary, it -would vindicate orthodoxy from much for -which it 
 should never have been responsible ; it -will afford a clearer 
 view of the elementary doctrines of Christianity than can be 
 had in any other -way. This view must be obtained with 
 one hand toward Divinity, the other toward Humanity, an 
 open Bible before the eyes, a heart raised to God for the en- 
 lightening influences of his Holy Spirit, and with a devout 
 looking, not only to Christ our atoning Saviour, but to Christ 
 our Lawgiver, our Teacher, our Great Exemplar, not less to 
 be heeded and obeyed than to be accepted and worshipped. 
 This method of inquiry will exalt Christianity above all 
 former estimation, by exhibiting its fitness and applicability, 
 not only to save men in eternity, but to save them from a 
 vast sum of misery, wickedness, and oppression in this world ; 
 thus increasing their grounds for gratitude to God, and leav- 
 ing them time and opportunity to prepare for Heaven. 
 
 Has collective Protestantism no grave faults to answer for? 
 Does it claim infallibility? If not, if it be conceded that Pro- 
 testantism has failings, then what are they ? Are they sins 
 of omission or commission, or both? Let a deep search be 
 made into the grand household and conscience of Protestant- 
 ism. . Let there be no flinching, and no sparing ; let neither 
 spiritual pride nor false shame prevent a full discovery and 
 an honest confession. Whilst Protestantism is dear to all for 
 the good done under its banners, and for that which is still 
 doing, let no one identify it with Christianity, and thus make 
 the latter responsible for all that passes under the name of 
 the former. The sins of the purest Christian are still sins, 
 and make no part of his Christianity ; they are to be sought 
 
for and repented of, and avoided. So neither should the sins 
 of Protestantism be excused or covered, much less should 
 they be allowed to bring reproach upon the cause of Christ. 
 One of the great sins of Protestantism, is the refusal to co- 
 operate — to be, even for the advancement of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom, in any aspect, a unit ; even for the common de- 
 fence against a common enemy. Christianity has one voice, 
 and utters simply the teachings of the Holy Scriptures ;■ 
 Protestantism has many tongues, and utters, in the interpreta- 
 tion of the Scriptures, a variety of voices, and these very 
 far from being in harmony. Yet let the inquiry be made, 
 if there be not points of concord, and those of vital import 
 to the highest interests ^ Christianity and humanity, on 
 which Protestantism can speak with one voice, and work with 
 undivided energies. If there be such points of concord, ad- 
 mitting unity of voice and action, and no advantage taken of 
 them, then Protestantism is guilty of a great and deadly 
 offence against Christianity. 
 
 Let any Christian man, any real friend of humanity, care- 
 fully and continuously survey the actual condition of the human 
 family, in its various phases of barbarism and civilization ; in 
 its aspects of happiness and suffering; in its social and po- 
 litical institutions ; in its relations with labor, with capital, 
 with commerce ; let him consider the nature of the progress 
 which he observes, and the tendencies which are at work; let 
 him note all the hopes, and promises which can be gathered 
 from every form of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, 
 and from every conceivable combination of them which hu- 
 man ingenuity can devise; and from every form of philosophy, 
 and every project of reform; let him superadd, from the page 
 of history, all that man has done for man in the most favora- 
 ble circumstances; and finally, let him sum up that which is 
 hopeful in human prospects, not forgetting that some of the 
 most boasted human triumphs have been purchased by the 
 direst human calamities, that the tendencies to evil do not 
 lessen in proportion to the increase of intelligence, while the 
 power of mischief enlarges; and he must be convinced that 
 
99 
 
 there Is no inherent virtue, no moral power,no goodincliuutions 
 in man, adequate to such a social and political regeneration of 
 society as appears to be attainable by a creature of his faculties 
 and endowments. Such a survey must convince the observer 
 that no such moral power exists, except in the influences of 
 Christianity, to which he is forced to attribute the largest share 
 of the actual progress made in human welfare since the Christ- 
 ian era. In this survey, the first great feature is, that, during 
 the early ages of Christianity, its moral power to renovate hu- 
 man society and promote human happiness was plainly demon- 
 strated to the world ; the highest earthly hopes of man were 
 placed within the reach of Christian effort. The early history 
 of Christianity appeared to promise a bright day for the hu- 
 man family ; but human depravity and perversity triumphed 
 in that struggle ; Christianity degenerated into Romanism, and 
 the evening of that bright dawn ended in the long night of 
 the Middle Ages. Thus the first experiment of Christianity, 
 regarded as the only power adequate to secure the highest 
 earthly happiness, failed signally in Papal hands. The Re- 
 formation was the era of another experiment, Avhich has now 
 been three centuries in progress. This time, the administra- 
 tion of Christianity is divided between Romanism, whose evil 
 tendencies are as great as heretofore, and Protestantism, which 
 has assumed a position of scarcely less power, and perhaps 
 greater influence. Protestantism is now, and has, during its 
 whole history, been regarded as the worthiest representative 
 of Christianity. The purest individual Christian laments his 
 insufficiency and utter unworthiness, and yet how far is such 
 an oae above the collective piety of Protestantism, split, as it 
 is, into shapeless and countless fragments, hostile factions 
 swelling with incessant intestinal broils and explosions. How 
 imperfect a representation of the holy cause it impersonates. 
 It presents a foundation of heaving, shifting sands, upon 
 which to build the fabric of human welfare, rather than one 
 "of rock which cannot be shaken." Must this experiment 
 fail, and prove that Protestantism is also unequal to the task 
 of applying Christianity to the earthly exigencies of humanity? 
 
100 
 
 For anything that the collective power and influence of Pro- 
 testantism is now doing to promote national welfare or social 
 reform, it may be apprehended that, at no distant period, the 
 Protestant administration of Christianity will be subjected, 
 not to a deep night of ignorance — that is no longer possible — 
 but to a long day of superlative intelligence, crime, and 
 misery. 
 
 Christianity is a system of man's duty to God and to his 
 fellow-men. It enjoins all that is included in love to God, and 
 all that is included in kindness to men. Its administration 
 is, however, committed to men, and partakes in its every 
 manifestation of human infirmity. And while it offers much 
 that is beautiful, it reveals more that is grievous and shock- 
 ing. Christianity involves, wherever there is liberty of speech 
 and action, a variety of opinions and interpretations, and 
 consequently a variety of churches or sects, various organiza- 
 tions and forms of ecclesiastical government ; also creeds, 
 confessions, articles, liturgies, forms of Avorship, a ministry — 
 divinely appointed, or religiously instituted ; assemblies for 
 worship, houses or churches in which to worship, and chur-ch 
 architecture. Upon all these, and many more like things, 
 there prevails, among even Protestant Christians, wide and 
 apparently iri'econcilable differences of opinion. These dif- 
 ferences naturally magnify the objects to which they relate, in 
 the minds of those who permit themselves to dwell upon them, 
 and thus men's minds are seduced into merely collateral chan- 
 nels. Their whole time and their whole minds become 
 absorbed in minor matters, while they suffer the substance 
 to slip from their attention and sink from their sight. It is 
 not necessary to weigh the exact value of these externals of 
 Christianity, in their true place, and order, and use, but it is 
 easy to say that tliey are of no use if abused or misapplied, 
 and that they become a positive evil when they are substi- 
 tuted for Christianity itself, as is largely the case. None 'of 
 these things, at the best, are to be received as Christianity, 
 neither is it to be held responsible for any abuse of them. It 
 is as high above all these externals as heaven is above the 
 
101 
 
 earth. If our faith be too weak, and our energies insufficient 
 to exemplify Christianity in our lives, we should not permit 
 our conception to fall as low as our practice. We can never 
 rise in our exemplification, if our conception be inadequate and 
 unworthy. If men find it hard to act beyond the line of 
 denominational boundaries, let not their faith sufi"er by assum- 
 ing a narrower scope for Christianity itself than the most en- 
 larged views their minds are capable of grasping. Its grandest 
 aspect is that in which it not only offers eternal life and hap- 
 piness to lost men, but wins their assent to the message of 
 mercy by offering all that man can do and feel for man, as 
 earnest of the authenticity and verity of the message. It is 
 that in which, while it points to men the way to Heaven, 
 smooths their path through this Avorld to the utmost extent 
 which human love and sympathy can go, thus furnishing the 
 nearest approximation which can be made in this world, to 
 the life of love in the world to come. It is a grand feature in 
 Christianity, that its simple but comprehensive principles and 
 injunctions involve the very elements of social life, the utmost 
 duty of man to man. " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
 self," is a command which reaches to the whole compass of 
 human duty ; we owe to our neighbor not merely alms, when 
 he is poor ; we ought to save him from becoming poor. We 
 owe him a better position in society ; we owe him every social 
 advantage — good laws, good institutions, a good government, 
 a happy and prosperous country. What we owe to one v/e owe 
 to all, and all in like manner owe to us. These obligations 
 no human being can fulfil, under the requirements of the 
 gospel, short of expending his whole energies and his whole 
 opportunities. But the advantage of our neighbor is not to 
 be found only in the bounds of his own country ; it must be 
 sought in the happiest relations of his own country with all 
 the nations of the world ; peace with all nations, and inter- 
 change of every good office with all. This vast scope of 
 human duty involves necessarily the study of all the "themes" 
 involved in so wide a compass of human action — it involves 
 the consideration of all that concerns human welfare in this 
 
102 
 
 world in connection "U'itli its highest destiny in the next 
 Avorkl. While, therefore, nothing is omitted in the sphere of 
 immediate duties, there should he no failure to follow out all 
 obligations to their largest consequences, and to widen the 
 range of duty to the utmost range of mental power; extending 
 the range of action and influence in proportion as the'field of 
 vision is enlarged. Very many, it is well known, have no 
 faith in moral or social progress ; they regard all speculations 
 in reference to social amelioration, as, at the best, mere vision- 
 ary dreams, if not what is far worse, downright socialism. 
 But let no friend of the human family be deterred from any 
 research or inquiry, or speculation, looking to human advan- 
 tage, by such narrowness of mind. Let him take the Grospels 
 in his hand, and the light of all the other Scriptures, and he 
 may go as far as his intelligence and knowledge of the world 
 "will carry him; and if he cannot secure the co-operation or 
 approval of the Christian men of the present day, he will have 
 the full sympathy of those who, having gone before, are ob- 
 serving the world from a point of view where nothing clouds 
 their vision. 
 
 It is because the above, and such topics, in reference to the 
 failures of Protestantism, have been pressed in the "New 
 Themes," very imperfectly and inadequately, it is admitted, 
 that the cry of "infidelity" has been raised against that 
 book. It justifies no such charge ; and the imputation is in 
 itself in such bad taste that it is difficult to conceive how any 
 gentleman, much less a Christian gentleman, could be guilty 
 of making it. Dr. Chalmers remarked to Tholuck, "that 
 some people have a very fine nose for heresy;" it appears 
 that some of that sort are here also. 
 
 This kind of denunciation is the ugliest weapon that is left 
 to the race which once wielded "fire and fagot." It may 
 be, however, that no penalty is intended to be inflicted, in 
 thus applying the term infidel ; it is most resorted to by those 
 who lack other arguments. It is a very prompt and very 
 forcible method of refuting positions which the party is un- 
 able to meet in any other way. Such a charge, unjustly 
 
103 
 
 matle, must soon or late recoil upon him who makes it, and 
 cannot fail seriously to injure the cause of Christianity, by 
 betraying, in its name, a spirit so little in accordance with its 
 nature and injunctions. If this charge of infidelity is justly 
 applied to such positions as those in the "New Themes," for 
 which the authority of the Word of God is constantly 
 pleaded, in its letter or in its spirit, what is to be said of the 
 manner in which the various Protestant denominations speak 
 of and treat each other? Let the denominational press be 
 examined ; let the various sects be held up as they are painted 
 by their rivals, and a picture will appear, before which the 
 strongest representations of " New Themes" must grow pale. 
 My pen recoiled from that task, which, if "all uncharitable- 
 ness" is anywhere to be found, would expose it, in the mutual 
 controversies and recriminations of professed Christians, in 
 which the severest epithets and the most damaging accusa- 
 tions, are dealt out with lavish hands. But it is not merely 
 to controversies in which the combatants are heated by col- 
 lision that we must look in this connection. It is the 
 settled doctrine of the Episcopal Church, that the clergy of 
 all others, except the Romanists, are unauthorized intruders 
 into the ministry of Christ ; the Friends hold that the clergy 
 are an unnecessary agency in Christianity ; the Methodists 
 receive neither the catechisms nor the confessions of the Cal- 
 vinists ; many denominations object stoutly to any creed, 
 catechism, or confession ; yet, for all this, however sharp the 
 strife, it is not known to me that they have hurled at each 
 other the terms "infidelity" and "infidels," in their warfare. 
 These, perhaps, are mere family quarrels, in which latitude 
 is allowed without damage ; but woe to that stranger- who 
 shall assume to rebuke all together — who shall utter aloud 
 that indignation which he might have vented with impunity 
 in a denominational broil ! 
 
 The "New Themes" Avas not designed, when written, for 
 anything beyond a series of articles for a newspaper, or at 
 most, a pamplilet. It was intended to appear as the produc- 
 tion of a manufacturer or workingman, and to have some 
 
104 
 
 signature with that indication. It grew beyond the limits 
 contemplated ; the actual form of publication was adopted 
 without changing the text, though no one could be more sen- 
 sible than the w^riter, of the deficiencies and imperfections of 
 the work, and of its amenability to strict criticism in a variety 
 of respects. My object would not, perhaps, have been any 
 better attained by the sev.erest revision to which it could have 
 been subjected, though it might have been rendered a less 
 precious morsel for the critic. The notes were increased to 
 swell the size of the volume, after that form of publication had 
 been adopted, and for the reasons which appear on their face. 
 The topics presented, were such as a long course of reflec- 
 .tion had suggested as collateral to those which were specially 
 under consideration, but of vital bearing upon them. This 
 truth was forced upon me with a power not to be resisted, 
 that the subjects of political and social reform could never be 
 successfully elucidated until the light of the gospel was made 
 to shine fully upon them, and that this light could not be 
 made to shine upon them until the whole subject of the rela- 
 tions of Christianity with the earthly interests of humanity 
 had undergone a more full and thorough exposition than had 
 yet been given to the world. The text for this indispensable 
 exposition is in the personal teachings and ministry of Christ, 
 with innumerable confirmations and illustrations found in all 
 parts of Holy Writ. Let no one suppose that any such ex- 
 position is extant, so long as there is no full development of 
 the teachings of Christ, as they bear upon social and political 
 duties ; so long as there is no adequate work upon the doctrine 
 and practice of Christian charity ; so long as Christ's system 
 of morality is not developed and applied to all that men think, 
 and say, and do in the walks of every-day life. 
 
 This great subject, so full of interest, of such vast moment 
 to the cause of humanity, and of such special concern to my 
 own studies, it appeared to me not only right, but of unavoid- 
 able duty, to turn over to those to whom it justly belonged, 
 though the step was out of my usual path, into a subject in 
 which my incompetency was felt at every instant. It was 
 
105 
 
 not an attempt, as seems to have been thought, to settle defi- 
 nitely the questions raised or touched ; it was an exhortation 
 to the Protestant clergy, to take up a wide range of themes, of 
 vital consequence to the human family, but sadly neglected. 
 In doing so, some liberty was given to impatience, and some 
 freedom to speech. Feeling that it was far beyond my power 
 to place these subjects where they ought to be, under the full 
 light of the gospel, strong terms were employed to provoke 
 the attention and consideration of those whose duty it was to 
 accomplish the work. These " Themes" are not to be finally 
 disposed of by criticizing or condemning the delivery of the 
 speaker who suggests them. The speech may be very im- 
 perfect, and the speaker very awkward, but that lessens none 
 of the responsibility which rests upon those whose duty it 
 may be to perform the required labor. 
 
 The Ckitic. — The Reviewer claims attention on the score 
 of civility ; it would be scarcely polite not to notice one who 
 has bestowed so many attentions upon me. 
 
 The Review presents many points which suggest responses 
 not very flattering to so complacent a personage as the Re- 
 viewer ; but these may be left to other hands. Two only 
 will be mentioned, as affording an opportunity to convey, 
 whilst correcting the Reviewer, some useful information to 
 others. When the Reviewer ventures into the subject of 
 Pauperism, he reveals at once that the questions and con- 
 troversies it involves are profoundly strange to him. So 
 far as reference was made to England, the question was 
 not as to the existence of the English Poor Laws ; nor 
 was it disputed that the English people had paid a larger 
 amount under their system for the support of paupers than 
 any other nation. The inquiry was into the political expe- 
 diency and Christian character of that legislation for the 
 poor, which, taken together, is called the English System. 
 It is called by this name on the continent of Europe, and 
 the term is generally employed by all who have engaged in 
 the discussions upon population for the last half century. 
 
106 
 
 It has not been thought necessary to burden these contro- 
 versies or treatises with a recital of the English Poor Laws ; 
 it being taken for granted that intelligent persons, engaging 
 in the subject, understood the import of the terms used to 
 characterize the various systems. To designate the system 
 of Mr. Malthus, the term Malthusian was used ; and it would 
 have appeared as absurd to recapitulate the positions of Mal- 
 thus, when his system was referred to, as it would have been 
 to recite the enactments of the English Poor Laws, instead of 
 simply saying the English system of pauperism. The Re- 
 viewer exhibits the breadth of his knowledge by stepping into 
 the discussion, book in hand, with the announcement that 
 England has passed laws for the maintenance of the poor, 
 and that her people have given liberally for that object : he 
 points out the very statutes, recites the very words, and 
 quotes, again and again, Wades British History. There is 
 something exquisitely innocent in this. There is clearly no 
 affectation in the case ; he considers these English statutes 
 a discovery of his own, and they are produced to silence all 
 these discussions about pauperism, and these complaints of 
 the English system. 
 
 This discovery and application of the English Poor Laws, 
 reminds me of an occurrence in a New England parish, in 
 which, at a public meeting of the congregation, there was a 
 warm debate upon the propriety of reading the Scriptures as 
 a part of public worship ; some alleging that they could read 
 them at home, and others, strongly advocating the public 
 reading. In the midst of the dispute, an honest "Layman" 
 picked up an English copy of the Bible, in which the usual 
 imprimatur met his eye, upon which he sprang in great ex- 
 citement to his feet, exclaiming: "Here it is — here's a de- 
 cision for you — here it is in the Bible itself: 'Appointed to 
 
 BE READ IN THE CHURCHES.'" 
 
 It may be worth while to inform the Reviewer that these 
 English statutes were not unknown, even in this country, 
 previous to the appearance of his publication. He will find 
 large mention of them in the January number, 1841, of the 
 
 i 
 
107 
 
 Princeton Review, and rather a full notice of the subject of 
 English pauperism in that article, and another in the July 
 number, 1841, of the same periodical. Both these articles 
 were contributed by me, for the purpose of drawing the 
 attention of the Christian public to the important topic of 
 pauperism. It is no doubt unknown to the Reviewer that 
 the statutes quoted by him so complacently, as a complete 
 reply to the statements made by me, have been the subject 
 of official comment in England. In 1831, a royal commission 
 appointed "to make diligent and full inquiry into the prac- 
 tical operation of the laws for the relief of the poor in Eng- 
 land and Wales, and into the manner in which those laws 
 were administered," &c., made an elaborate report, in two 
 good-sized octavo volumes, the matter of which is well cal- 
 culated to enlighten the Reviewer on the subject of Eng- 
 lish pauperism. In the outset of this Report, which is sub- 
 scribed by the Bishops of London and Chester, and seven 
 other distinguished individuals, they review the English Poor 
 Laws, including not a few statutes which escaped his notice, 
 with somewhat greater knowledge of the subject than this Re- 
 viewer. They reach conclusions so different from his, that 
 the fact is worth referring to as evidence that not only doctors, 
 but reviewers differ. As a general conclusion of their Review, 
 they state : "It is now our painful duty to report that, in the 
 greater part of the districts, the fund which the 43d of Eliza- 
 beth [the basis, but certainly not the origin of our present 
 system] directed to be employed in setting to work children 
 and persons capable of labor, but using no daily trade, and 
 in the necessary relief of the impotent, is applied to purposes 
 opposed to the letter, and still more to the spirit of that law, 
 and destructive to the morals of the most numerous class, and 
 to the welfare of all." After speaking of the action of the 
 magistracy in the administration of the Poor Laws, they con- 
 clude thus : " We have now given a brief outline of the most 
 striking points in the present mal-administration of the laws 
 for relief of the poor, and the principal causes to which we 
 attribute it. We have endeavored to account for it by the 
 
108 
 
 immediate gain -wliicli large classes have hoped to obtain, and 
 in many cases have actually obtained from that mal-adminis- 
 tration. Under the legal provisions in regard to settlement, 
 it became the interest of every parish to apportion the fund 
 for the subsistence of the laboring classes in such a manner 
 as to give to all a subsistence, and, if possible, to none more 
 than a subsistence; to treat them, in short, like slaves or 
 cattle. Every one who endures the painful task of going 
 through this Report, must be struck, and if the subject is new 
 to him, astonished by the cases which we have cited," &c. 
 The Report closes with a summary, of which the following 
 words are a part : — 
 
 "We have now recommended to your Majesty the measures 
 by which we hope that the enormous evils resulting from 
 the present mal-administration of the Poor Laws may be 
 gradually remedied. It will be observed, that the measures 
 we have suggested are intended to produce rather negative 
 than positive effects; rather to remove the dehanng influences 
 to which a large portion of our laboring population is now sub- 
 ject, than to afford new means of prosperity and virtue. We 
 are perfectly aware that for the general diffusion of right 
 principles and habits, we are to look, not so much to any 
 economic arrangements, as to the influence of a moral and 
 religious education." 
 
 As a result of this Report, the Act 4 and 5 William IV. 
 was passed in 1834. This statute changed both the princi- 
 ple and administration of the Poor Laws. Under the old 
 system, the principle was Public Charity; but the administra- 
 tion was an utter perversion of the principle, involving fraud 
 in the managers of the fund, and an increase of pauperism, 
 with an increase of misery on the part of the poor. The 
 new principle Avas no relief but at the workhouse ; and that to 
 be made so irksome and repulsive, as to repel the poor from 
 entering it, and drive them out, if possible, when in it. 
 Families were separated, husband from wife, and both from 
 children, with hard labor for all. This course assimilated 
 the lot of the poor to that of criminals in our penitentiaries. 
 
109 
 
 Under this repressive system, the expense of maintaining the 
 poor was rapidly decreased for several years. 
 
 It was supposed that a great principle was discovered, and 
 that a great saving in the support of the poor was effected. 
 But the whole fabric broke down on the recurrence of a few 
 years of scarcity. Money had been saved, but the people 
 had suffered in proportion. This radical change in the Eng- 
 lish system commenced in 1834. It would be highly interest- 
 ing to follow up the details of the experiment; but it must 
 suffice to quote from two works of repute, one of which ap- 
 peared in 1844, and the other in 1850. The first is the Prize 
 Essay on National Distress, by S. Laing, Jr., for which 
 £100 was awarded by a very able committee of five, of whom 
 Sir David Brewster was chairman. When this Essay was 
 published, the New Poor Law had been ten years in opera- 
 tion, and the commissioners had annually published an octavo 
 volume, in tlie way of a report of their proceedings. Mr. 
 Laing informs us that, "The researches of parliamentary 
 commissions, as well as those of philanthropic societies and 
 individuals, during the last few years, have accumulated a 
 vast mass of evidence bearing on this all-important subject;" 
 and from this he derives his information. " Where, then," he 
 asks, "is the distress," if not seen in the outward financial or 
 political state of the country? " How is it that so many serious 
 men shake their heads with gloomy apprehension, and at 
 times feel tempted to doubt whether the amount of evil in 
 the present social condition of England does not preponderate 
 over the good ? It is in the condition of the laboring classes 
 that the danger lies. The discovery of the fearful fact that 
 as wealth increases^ poverty increases in a faster ratio, and 
 that in almost exact proportion to the advance of one portion 
 of society in opulence, intelligence, and civilization, has been 
 the retrogression of another and more numerous class towards 
 misery, degradation, and barbarism." The evils involved in 
 all this, he states thus: "1st. The existence of an intole- 
 rable mass of misery, including both recognized and official 
 pauperism, and the unrecognized destitution that preys, like 
 
110 
 
 a consuming ulcer, in the heart of our large cities and densely 
 peopled manufacturing districts. 
 
 "2dly. The condition of a large proportion of the inde- 
 pendent laboring class, who are unable to secure a tolerably 
 comfortable and stable existence in return for their labor, and 
 are approximating, there is too much reason to fear, towards 
 the gulf of pauperism. It is almost too painful to pursue the 
 hideous and revolting details of human misery and degrada- 
 tion which meet the inquirer at every step. It is difficult to 
 speak of them with the calmness which impartial inquiry de- 
 mands, and which is necessary to avoid the appearance of ex- 
 aggeration. And yet it is an imperative duty; for the upper 
 classes of society have only too long shut their eyes to the. 
 realities by which they are surrounded, and lived on in a 
 dream of selfish pursuits and enjoyments, unconscious of the 
 manner in which millions of human beings, fashioned in every 
 respect as themselves, and distinguished from them only by 
 the accidents of an artificial system of civilization, were 
 living and dying around them. , . . The present situation 
 of affairs in England presents, however, an amount of misery 
 far too extensive to allow us to put it by with the comfortable 
 solution, that it is the natural and inevitable retribution of 
 the misconduct of those who suffer. In other times and 
 countries, vice was generally the cause, and misery the efiect ; 
 but with us the case is reversed. ... If the causes which 
 have operated for the last fifty years, and with increased 
 force the last fifteen years, be allowed to operate unchecked, 
 the great bulk of the laboring population of England will be 
 reduced to a condition which leaves no alternative between a 
 violent and bloody revolution, shattering the whole existing 
 framework of society to pieces, or a permanent degradation 
 of the population to a state of abject and heartbroken resig- 
 nation — to misery which almost reduces the human being to 
 a level with the brute." Thus writes a competent witness in 
 1844, who gives details and the authorities to justify the use 
 of his strong expressions. 
 
 It may be well to inquire, in passing, what English divine 
 
 i 
 
Ill 
 
 has shed the strong light of Christian obligation upon this 
 condition of the laboring classes in England ? What English 
 divine has offered the true Christian solution of the difficulties 
 of English Pauperism? 
 
 The second "work referred to is one which appeared in 
 London, in 1850, with the title The Social Condition and 
 Education of the People in England and Europe, by Joseph 
 Kay, of Trinity College, Cambridge. It is dedicated to Lord 
 John lUissel, then Prime Minister, It. is in two elaborate 
 volumes, which are well worth the examination of those who 
 desire information on the subjects it embraces. His plan led 
 him to inquire into the moral and physical condition of the 
 poor in many countries, and contrast it with that of the poor 
 in England: "I speak it with sorrow, and with shame, but 
 with not less confidence in the assertion, that our peasantry 
 are more ignorant, more demoralized, less capable of helping 
 themselves, and more pauperized than those of any other 
 country in Europe, if we except Kussia, Turkey, South Italy, 
 and some parts of the Austrian Empire. I speak this with 
 deliberation." . . . "During the last half century, every- 
 thing has been done to deprive the peasant of any interest 
 in the preservation of public order; of any wish to maintain 
 the existing constitution of society; of all hope of raising him- 
 self in the world; of all attachment to his country; of all 
 feeling of any community of interest between himself and 
 the higher ranks of society;, and of all consciousness that he 
 has anything to lose by political changes. The laborer has 
 no longer any connection with the land he cultivates; he has 
 no stake in the country ; he has nothing to lose, nothing to 
 defend. His position is one of hopeless and irremedial de- 
 pendence. The workhouse stands near him, pointing out 
 his dismal fate, if he falls one step lower." After furnishing 
 a table of the public expenditures for the poor, from 1832 to 
 1848, showing an average of about twenty-five millions of 
 dollars annually, he exclaims: "It surely cannot, and will not 
 be contended that a laboring population which requires such 
 an expenditure as this, and that too in addition to the vast 
 
112 
 
 amount of charitable donations devoted annually to the same 
 purpose, to keep part of it from actual starvation, can be in 
 a very happy or prosperous condition ? What country in the 
 world is there in which such an expenditure is necessary to 
 keep the laborers from starvation, or in which it is necessary 
 to keep up such a Poor Law system, and for such a purpose ? 
 Why should not our peasants be at least as well able to de- 
 pend on their own exertions for subsistence as the peasants 
 of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, or France?" Mr. Kay 
 speaks at length on the subject of the agency of the clergy, 
 in reference to the case of the poor, and excuses them on the 
 ground of their education, habits, and associations, from any 
 active or useful visitation of the poor, among whom they are 
 unfitted to be advisers, even when willing, because there is no 
 mutual sympathy or knowledge between them. " Of the 
 operatives in Lancashire, and of the workmen in our great 
 towns, there is not one out of every ten who ever enters a 
 church." One of these remarked, when spoken to on the 
 subject: "Your church is a church for the rich, not for the 
 poor; it was never intended for such people as we are." It 
 has been found, as Mr. Kay shows at large, that since the 
 Act of 1834, enforcing the workhouse system, has been fully 
 put in operation, the poor have taken to vagrancy. In four 
 years, ending 1848, the number 4?f vagrants increased in a 
 little over six hundred unions, or poor districts, from 1791 to 
 upwards of 16,000. He introduces one hundred pages of 
 details, the most shocking which can be conceived, of the con- 
 dition and morals of the poor in England and Wales thus : 
 " If any one should desire to see more of such sad and dis- 
 gusting details as those collected in the following pages, I beg 
 to refer him to the Report on the Employment of Women in 
 Agriculture, in 1843; Mr. Chadwick's Reports on the Sani- 
 tary Condition of the Laboring Population ; Reports of the 
 Welsh Commissioners, and the Poor Laiv Commissioners; the 
 columns of the Times; and the letters of Mr. May hew, in the 
 Morning Chronicle.'' These one hundred pages of extracts, 
 and other portions of Mr. Kay's first volume, abound in 
 
113 
 
 autlicntic statements, showing the moral debasement and the 
 physical destitution and suffering of the poor in England and 
 Wales, which would be utterly impossible if Christianity con- 
 trolled the measures devised for their relief.* What light 
 has the pure teaching of tlie Great Friend of the Poor been 
 permitted to shed upon the policy which controls the earthly 
 lot of the laborers of England? 
 
 The English people have contributed more money to the 
 support of paupers, by many fold, than any other people. 
 But what have English Christians done, in word or in deed, 
 to save those neighbors, whom they are bound to love as them- 
 selves, from the pangs of pauperism ? The solution of that 
 question does not lie in almsgiving, nor in poor laws. It lies 
 in the application of the commands of our Redeemer to the 
 
 * Among the iimumerable details furnished in the pages referred to are 
 evidence of the precocious demoralization of females, and the promiscuous 
 intercourse of the sexes, frequently ■without regard to the ties of blood. 
 Child-murder for the sake of the burial-fees ; descriptions of the dens inhabited 
 by the poor in the cities, and of their hovels in the country; one-fifth of the peo- 
 ple of Liverpool live in cellars, and a large proportion in dwellings no better. 
 A committee appointed by the Statistical Society to examine the Parish of St. 
 George's, which was selected as giving an average condition of the poor in 
 London, report that 551 families, making 2025 persons, have only one room 
 each, in which all live and sleep together ; 562 families, 2454 persons, have 
 only two rooms, in one of which different sexes undress and sleep ; 705 fami- 
 lies, 1950 persons, have only one bed, in which all sleep together ; 728 families, 
 3455 persons, have only two beds each, in one of which the parents sleep, and 
 in the other all the rest. The same Society sent a committee to examine Church 
 Lane, in London, in 1848, who thus conclude their report: "Your committee 
 have thus given a picture in detail of human wretchedness, filth, and brutal 
 degradation, the chief features of which are a disgrace to a civilized country, 
 and which your committee have reason to fear, from letters whiclf have ap- 
 peared in the public journals, is but the type of the miserable condition of masses 
 of the community, whether located in the small ill-ventilated rooms of manufacturing 
 toicns, or in many of the cottages of the agricultural peasantry. In these wretched 
 dwellings, all ages and all sexes — fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, 
 grown-up brothers and sisters, stranger adult males and females, and swai-ms 
 of chililren, the sick, the djang, and the dead — are herded together with a 
 proximity and mutual pressure which brutes would resist ; where it is physically 
 impossible to preserve the ordinary decencies of life." With other details of 
 criminality and destitution enough to startle the coldest and blindest Christian 
 in Great Britain. — Kay, Vol. i. chap. ii. 
 
114 
 
 business and exigencies of life. He who taught that the 
 same wages were due to those who were hired at the eleventh 
 hour, as to those who had borne the burden and heat of the 
 day, has furnished a lesson which cannot be overlooked with 
 impunity in defining what is due to those who have no living 
 but their labor. 
 
 The great question of pauperism remains yet to be settled 
 upon scriptural foundations. English statutes and experi- 
 ments cast a vast and lurid light upon the subject; but the 
 Bible must be buried, and the name and teachings of Christ 
 forgotten, before it can be successfully contended that the 
 lot of the poor and suffering is to be determined by the phi- 
 losophy of such legislation, or the result of such experience. 
 
 It was said of Lord Brougham, when Lord Chancellor, by 
 a caustic barrister, that if he only knew a little of Chancery 
 Law, he would know a little of everything; and the recollec- 
 tion of the anecdote almost provokes me to say, that if the 
 Beviewer, in this case, had known a little of English pauper- 
 ism, he would have had at least one qualification for reviewing 
 Neio Themes. 
 
 As the Beview has been favorably received by some, it be- 
 comes matter of regret that, for want of knowing better, 
 or a little reflection, such have chosen, instead of walking in 
 the lofty ways of Christianity, to take for their leader one 
 with whom, if they, go far, they will find themselves moving 
 in that low path where the blind, who are leaders of the blind, 
 are prone to go. 
 
 It was an allegation in "New Themes," that there was no ade- 
 quate work in the English language on christian ciiahity ; 
 that neither English nor American religious literature fur- 
 nished such an exposition of the subject as its inherent im- 
 portance, its position in the Holy Scriptures, and its proper 
 rank in the scale of human duty demand. The Beviewer 
 having evidently reserved his strength for this occasion, meets 
 this assertion with the most crushing response, and the most 
 unsparing denunciation, in the whole of his elaborate perform- 
 ance, and with a discrimination even more striking than that 
 
115 
 
 displayed in reference to English pauperism. He furnishes 
 
 a whole catalogue of works on the love of God and on 
 
 God's love for man ! The Reviewer is, perhaps, so imbued 
 with a knowledge of the ancient languages that he occasionally 
 forgets his English ; he knows that the word wo translate 
 charity, meant also in the original, love. He merely forgets 
 that our word charity has an English meaning so well esta- 
 blished that not even the Reviewer himself can shake it. 
 Neither man's love of God, nor God's love for man, can be 
 called charity, without violence to the English language. How 
 one, apparently so well educated, could be guilty of such a 
 mistake, seems inexplicable! Does the Reviewer call it an 
 ACT OF CHARITY IN GoD TO LOVE HIM ? — and if he bc willing 
 thus to force his vocabulary, is he so irreverent as to go 
 further, and say that it is an act of charity in him to love 
 God? 
 
116 
 
 New Themes for the Protestant Clergy : Creeds loitlwut (Jha- 
 rity, Theology vntliout Hamanity, and Protestantism toithout 
 Christianity : With Notes on the Literature of Charity, Popula- 
 tion, Pauj)erism, Political Economy, and Protestantism, : 12mo. 
 pp. 383. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, & Co., 1851. 
 
 [The Publishers subjoin extracts from some of the notices of the 
 Press to which tliis work has given rise, and also a few from letters of 
 Clergymen referring to it. These extracts might be greatly extended, 
 but the object is merely to give the tone of both favorable and un- 
 favorable.] 
 
 FROM THE PHILADELPHIA CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE. 
 
 This volume touches the weak point of Protestant civilization, the 
 relations between the rich and poor, between capital and labor. It 
 discusses the great question which has convulsed Europe, and has given 
 rise to the wild vagaries of Fourier, Louis Blanc, and Proudhon. The 
 author, as is natural to an earnest mind, brooding morbidly over a 
 great social evil, has adopted ultra views, and disparages strangely the 
 achievements of Protestantism, and undervalues the worth of a dog- 
 matic theology. He is unwittingly betrayed into statements which 
 militate against the cardiqal doctrines of the gospel. 
 
 Yet the book is in many respects a timely one. It exhibits in a 
 strong and convincing light the humanity of the Christian religion, its 
 essential philanthropy, and presents some charming pictures of Christ- 
 ian life and labor in the early ages of the church. No one can read it 
 without being convinced that the Protestantism of England and Ame- 
 rica is sadly defective in Christian love and sympathy for the laboring 
 classes. The church is no longer the almoner of charity to the poor 
 and the suffering ; personal duty is transferred to huge organizations, 
 and the blessings attendant on true charity are lost both to the giver 
 and receiver. The second table of the law needs a new exposition in 
 our selfish, money-making age, and we welcome this volume as a har- 
 binger of coming good. It is written with earnestness, intelligence, 
 and candor, and ought to receive attention from thoughtful minds. 
 
 L. 
 
117 
 
 FROM THE PROTESTANT QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 Tho volume before us comes with a title sufficiently striking to com- 
 mand earnest attention, and its contents deserve it. It is no common 
 book. It deals with Protestant errors and omissions with honest fidelity, 
 and though its rebukes are severe, they are the faithful wounds of a 
 friend. 
 
 The writer of this volume wields a strong pen. He has been a keen 
 observer, and he is a shrewd thinker. The book is eminently suggest- 
 ive. The notes by the editor, offered in an Appendix, are in themselves 
 a valuable addition to religious literature, and greatly enhance the 
 worth of the book. The volume is one which is worthy of a place upon 
 the table of every Protestant clergyman. 
 
 FROM THE NEW YORK INDEPENDENT. 
 
 As the book is likely to awaken an unusual degree of interest, and 
 is moreover highly suggestive, instead of simply noticing it under the 
 head of the Editor's Table, we shall make it a text for occasional edi- 
 torials upon the topics of which it treats. 
 
 We rejoice in the utterance of these just and liberal views from such 
 a quarter, and hope that the candor of the author will not subject him 
 to church discipline if ever his anonymous veil shall be removed. The 
 great aim of the work is to exhibit the need of a more scriptural, prac- 
 tical, and preceptive preaching, than the author supposes to be com- 
 mon in Protestant churches, and of a more earnest and wide-spread 
 application of the spirit of Christian love to the evils and the wants of 
 society. The latter is a momentous problem for the Christians of this 
 age of social progress and reform. We only broach it here, hoping to 
 resume it hereafter. 
 
 We are glad that this anonymous writer has given such free and 
 earnest utterance to his convictions on this subject; and that a pub- 
 lishing house of the highest respectability, and with the amplest facili- 
 ties for diffusing its issues, has taken the responsibility of bringing 
 these convictions before the public. We trust that the prominence we 
 have thus given to it will lead our readers generally to procure the 
 work, and will thus awaken in them a new interest in themes which 
 may have become hackneyed by the discussions of this journal. The 
 volume contains a valuable Appendix upon economical and social ques- 
 tions. 
 
 FROM THE METHODIST PROTESTANT. 
 
 This is the title of a book well calculated to excite public attention — 
 particularly among Christian readers. Our attention was first called to 
 it by a newspaper paragraph, giving a brief extract from its pages, 
 
118 
 
 •which most favorably impressed us, and now, after having perused the 
 volume with some care, we do not believe that we can better occupy 
 our columns than by making it the subject of a few brief, editorial 
 notes. 
 
 By many, this treatise will be regarded as furnishing evidence of a 
 fault-finding spirit on the part of the writer, who, looking on the darker 
 side of the picture presented by the present state of Christianity, has 
 transferred the gloom of his own mind to the objects before him, and 
 written out an exaggerated statement of church delinquencies. That 
 some of his reflections may have the taint of a mind morbidly sensitive 
 to existing evils in the church, we will not question ; but the themes he 
 discusses are vastly important, and although he does not claim to fur- 
 nish a formal and complete treatise upon the topics embraced in the title- 
 page, every candid reader that follows him will be impressed with the 
 startling truths rising constantly before him, and will not hesitate to 
 give his acquiescence to much of the severity with which the author 
 deals with the errors he has set out to expose and condemn. 
 
 In the prosecution of his purpose, which is to call Protestant Christ- 
 ians to the consideration of what he supposes to have been too much 
 overlooked by them, viz. : the charity of the gospel teachings, and of 
 the apostolic injunctions, our author collates from the Evangelists and 
 the epistles, all those passages which bear directly and specifically upon 
 the practical operations of love to God and to man; and in these he 
 finds ample cause of complaint against existing forms of Christianity, 
 and, accordingly, lifts his voice manfully for a reformation. He shows 
 that the concern of the Master for ilie^poor finds no proper exemplifica- 
 tion in the practice of his professed followers. That His mission was 
 emphatically one of charity and mercy. That the Christian bond is 
 love, not simply doctrine. 
 
 In his review of the Established Church of England ; its abuses at 
 the Reformation ; its neglect of the poor and the suffering ; the enor- 
 mous revenues of the English bishops, which are a standing reproach 
 to Christianity in a country where millions upon millions are groaning 
 in poverty, with a clear right to all the relief these riches could afford ; 
 the shameful disregard of Christ's teaching, in English legislation with 
 reference to pauperism, population, &c., our writer is most earnest and 
 emphatic in his denunciations. The picture which he draws is start- 
 ling in the extreme; but it startles because of its truth. "Lazarus is 
 still lying at their gate ; the wounded man in their streets is still bleed- 
 ing; and the Priest and Lovite pass by on the other side, whilst the 
 good Samaritan delays his coming. 
 
 Passing from England to America, the writer looks upon the develop- 
 ment of Christian charity here at home. Our limits forbid the com- 
 ments we should like to make in connection with his rebuke to Ame- 
 rican Christians. But we cannot avoid quoting somewhat at large from 
 
119 
 
 the volume at this point, and leaving the reader to ponder the truths 
 here spoken, reserving what we may have farther to say on this volume 
 to another issue of our paper. 
 
 FROM THE METHODIST PROTESTANT. 
 
 We hope that our brethren in the ministry will procure and carefully 
 read this book. Although there are many opinions advocated by the 
 author in which we do not fully concur, yet taken as a whole, we are 
 pleased with the book, and think its circulation will prove beneficial to 
 the religious world. The main object of the writer is to induce Christ- 
 ians to attend to the practical duties of Christianity, and to imitate the 
 example of their Saviour, who " went about doing good." 
 
 The author of the book now under review, and which furnished us a 
 topic for editorial animadversion last week, presents this point in a very 
 strong light. His book cannot fail to do good. He tells some homely 
 truths ; but he is not, therefore, " become the enemy" of the church. 
 Harris, whom we have before quoted, has said, " That he who would 
 sketch the most simple scheme of benevolence which the gospel can 
 approve, will perceive at every step that he is writing the condemnation 
 of the church." And the author now before us but reiterates and illus- 
 trates this declaration, when he declares : — 
 
 " The mission of Christ was not merely incarnation, death, resurrec- 
 tion, mediation, and redemption. It was also an humble and lowly 
 ministration among the poor and suffering: this was his daily work. 
 He went about doing good, ministering to the hungry, visiting the sick, 
 and restoring the leprous, the blind, and lame. He preached constantly 
 the doctrines of his mission, which, wherever felt and apprehended, 
 will secure a ministry engaged in the very same work. Now, whether 
 we look upon the whole mass of those who are regarded as Christ's 
 ministers, or at those of any particular denomination, we shall be equally 
 at a loss to find any class of them who are imitating the ministry of 
 their Lord and Master. Not only is there no such class of ministers, 
 but it is rare to find one who walks in the footsteps of Him whom he 
 professes to serve ; it is rare to find one who even comprehends the 
 scope of his teaching who spoke as never man spake. The mass of 
 these nominal ministers of Christ aim constantly to maintain a position 
 of authority and influence, which they have usurped, and not only 
 strive to perpetuate, but to enlarge." 
 
 This language is by no means complimentary ; but our inquiry con- 
 cerning it should be. Is it not too true ? In uttering this truth, there is 
 even, on the part of our author, less charge against individual character 
 than against the spirit of the age, and the habits and machinery of the 
 church. He looks upon it as but " a phase of the present state of 
 Christianity." 
 
120 
 
 It is as true in morals as in physics that " extremes vibrate oppo- 
 sites." Our author, in his zeal and earnestness for the cliarity of the 
 gospel, it seems to us, places too light an estimate upon the actual good 
 that the church is accomplishing, and seems at times to depreciate the 
 importance of sound doctrine, and of solid learning, on the part of the 
 clergy ; the maintenance of a systematized disciplinary form of church 
 recognition and government, and in fact the organized visibility of the 
 body of Christ. On those points, liovrever, he does not speak, except 
 by implication. We therefore let them pass, and, vrithout indorsing 
 all that has been written, rejoice to find in his volume so much that 
 recalls the simplicity, the purity, the unadulterated benevolence of the 
 teachings of the Saviour of men. 
 
 FROM THE EPISCOPAL RECORDER. 
 
 The author of this book has done a good work, and I only wish that 
 his utterances had been stronger and less diffuse. He has gone (as it 
 seems to me) a little too far, yet has evolved great truths, pregnant with 
 beneficial changes, lie has severely attacked almost all ecclesiastical 
 organizations (not excepting the one to which he belongs), but in gene- 
 ral they deserve what he has said of them. 
 
 Instead of characterizing his themes as new, I should say that he 
 would revive old ones, those which Jesus and his apostles imposed. 
 No thoughtful and candid man can peruse these pages without the con- 
 viction that the time must come, when Christians will do their work 
 better and more effectively. 
 
 Now, while I do not give unqualified praise to all the author has said 
 (far from this), I am still indebted to him for his interesting and in- 
 structive book, and heartily concur in general with the positions which 
 he has assumed. 
 
 Those who adhere to mere technicalities, who are fond of dried spe- 
 cimens of theology ; who would square everything, and accurately define 
 what is above definition; who would plod on in an old-fashioned way 
 simply because of its antiquity ; who make God the author of a plan of 
 salvation, or rather, of destruction, which is not found in the Bible, will 
 not be pleased with what this book says. It gives their system a blow 
 from which, it is to be hoped, it may never recover ! It strikes a tender 
 spot. It lays open festering wounds, slightly healed over. It tells 
 wholesome and unwelcome truths. But, by honest, fearless, earnest 
 minds, these truths will be appreciated, and they will load such to think, 
 to pray, and to act. 
 
 And while I would suggest that nothing is gained by undue severity 
 upon those we would reform, who will not bid the author God-speed in 
 his noble work, and thank him most heartily for what be has done to 
 awaken a slumbering church, to open half-closed eyes, and to arouse 
 men to thought and action ? C. 
 
121 
 
 FROM THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER. ( PRESBYTERIAN.) 
 
 An eloquent work on an important theme. It portrays the great de- 
 fect in the religion of Protestant Christendom. It sheds the light of 
 Heaven on the great barrier that has hindered and still hinders the 
 progress of true Christianity. It contrasts the formal and technical 
 religion of the ministry and different churches with the pure, holy, self- 
 denying, and loving religion, illustrated in the preaching, life, and 
 works of Jesus Christ and his apostles, and exposes the glaring omis- 
 sions of the Christianity of our times. The truths presented as "new 
 themes^' — like other things called "new" or "new school" — are as old 
 as the gospel, and are worthy of the attention of all who are endeavor- 
 ing to promote the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 ^/*ROM THE EVANGELICAL CATHOLIC, NEW YORK. (EPISCOPAL.) 
 
 We do not know the name either of the author or editor of this work. 
 An acute criticism could, with very little trouble, point out literary de- 
 fects, as regards scholarship, style, and, in some places, depth. Tradi- 
 tional orthodoxy again and again feels itself indignant at his bold 
 censures of, and strictures upon, the existing order of things, though 
 we should do the author gross injustice if we wished to convey the im- 
 pression that he is either an heretic or an unbeliever. 
 
 Thoroughly Protestant in his modes of thought, accepting in the gross 
 Protestant orthodoxy as accurate, he complains that it is but a skeleton 
 of sound propositions to which Protestantism is devoted. It lacks 
 charity; it lacks humanity; and is thus dead to the true spirit of 
 Christianity. Such is his charge. He contends that the divine mission 
 of the gospel fails in our hands. Instead of seeking the poor, the sor- 
 rowing, or the outcast, the depraved, and the abandoned, he declares 
 that Protestantism contents itself with teaching the dry husks of 
 theology — with drilling the understanding into acquiescence with cer- 
 tain accredited formulas — with pronouncing orations on Sundays to 
 respectable, well-behaved persons, who listen seated in their cushioned 
 pews. He may exaggerate the evils around us in this particular. But 
 this is a subject which requires strong statement. We are so secure, 
 so well satisfied, that nothing but the image of a gigantic sin can startle 
 us from our propriety. It is a protest against the Pharisaism of the 
 day ; against its heartless formalism, against its frigid theology, which 
 this man is here uttering. We are very unwillingly prevented from 
 further observations upon his production at present. 
 
 FROM THE CLARKSTILLE CHRONICLE. 
 
 It is not often that a book is presented to the public so replete with 
 common sense and home-truths, and set forth with so much force. We 
 
 9 
 
122 
 
 know not the author's name, but, were his book generally read, he 
 might congratulate himself upon being the instrument of much good. 
 la this age of time-serving policy, it is refreshing to find one with the 
 independence to attack error wherever found, and the ability to expose 
 it fully. Its perusal will repay, many fold, the price of the book. 
 
 FROM THE VIRGINIAN HERALD, FREDERICKSBURG. 
 
 This work should not only be in the hands of the ministry, but also 
 in the library of every Christian and thinker. The work is somewhat 
 novel in character, and speaks forth truths which must be regarded as 
 lamentable, yet true. The great point of inquiry is, whether the church 
 of the present day is a counterpart of what it was in the days of Luther, 
 and whether Christians — pastors and people — are doing their duty? 
 The author thinks not ; and urges strong reasons, plain and simple to 
 the comprehension, wherein the Christian church falls short of its duty. 
 
 The author goes on to say : — 
 
 " While one portion of nominal Christians have busied themselves with 
 forms and ceremonies, and observances ; with pictures, images, and 
 processions ; others have given to doctrines the supremacy, and have 
 busied themselves in laying down the lines by which to enforce human 
 belief — lines of interpretation, by which to control human opinion — 
 lines of discipline and restraint, by which to bring human minds to 
 uniformity of faith and action. They have formed creeds and cate- 
 chisms ; they have spread themselves over the whole field of the sacred 
 writings, and scratched up all the surface ; they have gathered all the 
 straws, and turned over all the pebbles, and detected the color, and de- 
 termined the outline of every stone, and tree, and shrub ; they have 
 dwelt vi^ith rapture upon all that was beautiful and sublime ; but they 
 have trampled over mines of golden wisdom, of surpassing richness and 
 depth, almost without a thought, and almost without an effort to fathom 
 these priceless treasures, much less to take possession of them." 
 
 FROM THE CINCINNATI HERALD. 
 
 This work, though published anonymously, is understood to be from 
 the pen of an old school layman in Philadelphia. It is written in an 
 earnest and vigorous style, and without much conciseness or system. 
 Though severe, it seems well-meant, and is designed to call the atten- 
 tion of the Protestant churches to the importance of removing the 
 temporal wants and evils which men sufi"er ; and, while it cannot be 
 recommended as an unexceptionable manual on this subject, it contains 
 facts and thoughts of importance, deserving to be deeply considered by 
 Protestants. AYe could wish it widely read, for it would stir up many 
 Christian minds on points where our systems of benevolent effort would 
 bear great improvement. 
 

 123 
 
 The first impression naturally is, that the book is either from the pen 
 of a strongly-biased sectarian or an infidel. But such is not the case. 
 The writer, whoever he may be, has performed his task of showing to 
 the reformed churches their strong tendency to put faith above charity, 
 and doctrine above life ; in no captious or sneering spirit, but with an 
 earnestness, yet thoroughness, which bears conviction to the mind. 
 "Better are the stripes of a friend than the kisses of an enemy." With 
 this feeling, rather than in a spirit of ofi'ended pride, should the volume 
 be read by those to whom it is addressed. It is not the work of either 
 an open or disguised enemy ; but, clearly, of one who is a friend to 
 Christianity, and seeks to do it a service by pointing out to its professed 
 friends the errors and defects that are destroying the very life of religion. 
 
 The unknown author of this American work takes for his themes (to 
 use his own language) " Creeds without Charity, Theology without 
 Humanity, and Protestantism without Christianity." He insists that 
 Protestants have long overlooked and neglected charity; that it has not 
 been, and is not, a feature in their creeds ; that, while Protestantism 
 has gone far before the world in liberality, it is almost a stranger to 
 that charity which the author of our faith preached and exemplified. 
 He regards charity as the great lever of Christianity, the faithful ap- 
 plication of which will remove the most serious obstacles to the conver- 
 sion of the world. The book is written with vigor and terseness ; is 
 thoroughly imbued with an earnest liberal spirit, and sets forth the 
 practical duties of religion with great force and impressiveness. The 
 application of Christianity to human afiairs — or rather its humanitarian 
 operation, is a subject which is gaining upon the attention of thoughtful 
 men all over the world ; and this work deserves an honorable place 
 among the literature which the topic is so abundantly calling forth. 
 
 FROM THE FAMILY FRIEND. 
 
 The author states that it is his purpose in this book "to insist that 
 the doctrine of Christian charity is not sufficiently prominent, if it be 
 not wholly omitted, in Protestants' standai-ds, creeds, confessions, cate- 
 chisms, and articles ; that it does not hold the place due to its import- 
 ance in Protestant theology and literature ; that the moral law — the 
 rule of Christian life and conduct — can be more safely drawn from the 
 very words of Christ than from any uninspired development of the De- 
 calogue." It must be admitted that there is much truth in these posi- 
 tions ; and that our clergy of late have seemed rather to prefer meta- 
 physical discussions, and occasionally angry controversies, to studying 
 and acting on that new commandment which our Saviour himself incul- 
 cated — the law of charity and love. Those who read this volume in 
 the right spirit will find much to profit by ; we trust it may be instru- 
 
124 
 
 mental in removing from certain members of more than one evangelical 
 priesthood, that exclusiveness and self-gloritication so unworthy of 
 themselves, and so offensive to their brethren. 
 
 FROM NORTON S LITERARY GAZETTE. 
 
 A book with a striking title, and one that will furnish material for 
 much thought to every Christian. It is on the general subject of the 
 duties owed by Christians to the poor. The views advanced, the mode 
 of discussion, the spirit manifested, the conclusions drawn, are not all 
 we could wish. This, however, is a matter of little consequence, as the 
 object of the author is not so much to dogmatize, as to invite the Pro- 
 testant clergy to look at a great subject, which has been too much neg- 
 lected by them. If he accomplishes this, if they are led to investigate 
 for themselves independently, his object is secured. He would simply 
 start them on the trail. 
 
 The subject may be stated to be the amelioration of the condition of 
 the poor. It is not denied that the Christian religion has done a vast 
 deal for this class of the community in all ages of the church ; that it 
 is doing much now; neither is it denied that there is a willingness 
 among those who have been brought under its power, to do vastly more 
 than has ever yet been done. But it is a fact, which no one will dis- 
 pute, that Christians are not doing a hundredth part of what they 
 might easily do, and ought to be doing. The question is, how is the 
 condition of the poor to be improved? Is it necessary to civilization 
 that there should always be a great class of such ignorant and degraded 
 poor as fill the cities of Europe and our own land ? There are millions 
 on the two continents, whose lives are little better than a "brute drag- 
 ging at the wheels of care." Other millions still, somewhat better off, 
 perhaps, are suffering from the combined effects of priestly cunning, 
 and political ambition and misrule. They are denied their proper posi- 
 tion in the scale of humanity. They are not permitted to make their 
 industry available to their own benefit, as justice requires. There has 
 been no hand stretched forth to help them. They see no prospect of 
 relief coming from those who are superior in social position. They 
 deem themselves injured, and are groping for the means of improve- 
 ment. They are forced to begin to think for themselves. 
 
 We hope the Protestant clergy will study this book, and particularly 
 the "notes," added by the editor. They fill a hundred closely-printed 
 pages, and are altogether the most valuable part of the work. They 
 furnish valuable material for thought, and point out the sources where 
 information may be obtained. They are written with a better spirit, 
 and by a more masterly hand. 
 
125 
 
 FROM THE SATURDAY POST. 
 
 This book is intended and calculated to stir the spirit of the thoughtful 
 reader. It begins with the query,- "What impedes the progress of 
 Christianity?" and, in the style of a man who has thought out the sub- 
 ject independently, proceeds to expose what he believes to be the com- 
 parative failure of the Christian church to accomplish the mission of 
 Christ, and institutes a direct and searching investigation of the causes 
 of this failure. Without pretending to indorse all the writer's views, 
 we must say that the volume contains more home-truths — of a some- 
 what unpalatable nature, perhaps, to many high-professors and low- 
 practisers — than we have seen for a long time. We are informed that 
 the author is a merchant of high standing and character, and an es- 
 teemed member of the (we believe) Presbyterian Church. 
 
 FROM THE NEW YORK. OBSERVER. 
 
 Seldom have we read a volume with so much truth and so much error 
 in it ; so much good and evil, and in such fair proportions ; a book so 
 much and so little to our mind, as the one now before us. The writer 
 has not chosen a distinctive title for his work: but he condenses his 
 subject into these heads: "Creeds without Charity, Theology without 
 Humanity, and Protestantism without Christianity." 
 
 He meant well, we doubt not ; and he has given utterance to some 
 strong, wholesome, and much-needed truths. The church needs many 
 of the reproofs here administered ; it ought to heed the appeals here 
 made. The clergy would be more useful if they fully carried out all 
 the injunctions of this book and of the Bible. Society would be vastly 
 improved in all its aspects and relations, if the gospel of Jesus Christ 
 were made the rule of practice in all classes and conditions of men. 
 No doubt of it. And none have so often, so loudly, faithfully, and elo- 
 quently proclaimed this doctrine as the clergy of these United States. 
 
 What fault, then, do we find with the book? Just this: that the 
 writer has mistaken the facts on which he builds his beautiful struc- 
 ture. He has brought a false charge against Protestantism, against 
 the church, against the clergy, against the age we live in. He has 
 either lived in a cloister, and been ignorant of the movements of the 
 times, or he has not sympathized with the true humanity of conserva- 
 tive Christianity. He is a bigoted advocate of charity; an intolerant 
 preacher of toleration. While he admits that Romanism is persecuting, 
 ignorant, diseased, and deadly, he charges that Protestantism is desti- 
 tute of CHARITY ; and this idea is the one idea of the whole book : a 
 spectre that haunts the disordered brain of the good man, who perpe- 
 trates a whole volume to show the grand necessity of charity, which he 
 thinks to be utterly wanting among the Christians of our day. He 
 
126 
 
 pleads for the poor, the ignorant, the orphan, the sick, for suffering 
 humanity everywhere, and thinks, if the precepts of Christ were felt by 
 the clergy and the church, that the reign of universal happiness would 
 be hastened. We think that the author has overlooked the great fact 
 that all real reform has been the fruit of the gospel under the preach- 
 ing of the very men whom he regards as so very inefficient ; that there 
 is far more real charity among Protestant Christians than any other 
 people on earth : that the only efforts that are made to make men hap- 
 pier in this world, are the result of Protestant teaching and example ; 
 while we deny altogether that the practice of virtue by those who have 
 not the p7nnciple, tends to cultivate the grace of charity in the soul. 
 
 But, when we have said these things by way of exception, we will go 
 on to say that the book is one for all Christians, and especially Christian 
 ministers, to read. The facts in history are of great value. The sug- 
 gestions of evils are timely. There are lessons of vast practical moment 
 to all thinking men ; and, if they are here taught with a tone of severity 
 and a fi-owning brow, instead of a smile, they are not the less valuable ; 
 and a wise man will learn even of an ungracious teacher. " Charity 
 is the great lever of Christianity," says our author. "By it the mes- 
 sengers of the gospel can open the eyes of Pagan blindness ; by it the 
 ears of the most obstinate and hardened can be unstopped ; by it rea- 
 son can be restored, and life saved ; by it every human ill can be alle- 
 viated ; by it all obstacles to the progress of Christianity can be removed 
 or diminished." Granted ; and, therefore, we plead that the book, with 
 all its defects, may be read as an earnest plea for a grace that an apos- 
 tle pronounced to be greater than faith or hope. We shall be very apt 
 to take it up again, and make it a theme for further remarks. As the 
 author desires the pulpit to discuss it, the press, of course, is equally 
 free. 
 
 FROM THE PRESBYTERIAN. 
 
 The volume before us is written with no ordinary vigor, and with an 
 earnestness we should commend, were it not for the dangerous tendency 
 of some of the views it is employed to enforce. The writer is at once 
 intelligent and blindfolded — right in some of his statements, and dan- 
 gerously wrong in others. It starts with the proposition that the 
 essence of all Christ's teachings is charity and brotherly kindness ; and 
 getting his mind fully absorbed in this theme, he, in no measured tones, 
 inveighs against the church as absolutely neglectful, if not regai'dless 
 of this great feature of Christianity. This is news to us, and it would 
 be news to any one daily conversant with Christian men and Christian 
 operations. We are painfully aware that charity, in its best sense, is 
 not sufficiently cultivated, nor as prominent as it should be ; but it is a 
 slander on Protestantism to represent it as scarcely tinged with this 
 
127 
 
 virtue. Assuming this ill-founded position, the writer proceeds to state 
 what he deems to be the causes of the seeming defect, and these he 
 finds mainly to consist in substituting theology in the place of practical 
 virtue. Hence he berates creeds, catechisms, sectarian partialities, 
 church order and discipline, and, of course, does not spare the clergy. 
 Here he displays a want of discrimination, if not a deficiency of the 
 charity he commends. It is no small assumption in him to claim a 
 knowledge of the true spirit of the gospel, which is hidden from all 
 other eyes, except it be the eyes of a jealous and hostile world, in be- 
 half of whose discrimination he makes an exception. If the writer 
 means anything, it is that the doctrines of religion, and all outward 
 church forms and arrangements should give place, that charity might 
 have its perfect work. He should have known, before he undertook to 
 instruct the church in its duty, that God has revealed the doctrines of 
 the Bible ; that he has made faith in them essential, and that charity 
 dies out just in proportion as these doctrines are discarded or loosely 
 entertained. Men who have no practical godliness may abuse an ortho- 
 dox creed by professing to embrace it ; but those who embrace it in 
 sincerity, cannot neglect the practical duties of Christianity, The 
 author views his whole subject through a jaundiced medium, and 
 although his intentions may have been to direct men to a more earnest 
 attention to practical Christian virtues, he has adopted a most unwar- 
 rantable method of doing it, and has written a book which will be read 
 with more zest by unbelievers than believers, and has thus really aided 
 the cause of infidelity. 
 
 FROM THE INDEPENDENT, OCT. 19, 1852. 
 
 It is not half so important to find out whether this author is a dis- 
 guised Jesuit, an infidel, a Fourierite, a Unitarian, or a Calvinist, as 
 it is that each class referred to should ask whether his strictures are 
 true. 
 
 FROM AN EMINENT CLERGYMAN OP THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION, 
 
 In my view, it presents to Christians a vast amount of truth of an 
 importance such as cannot well be estimated. I wish it great success. 
 
 FROM A PRESBYTERIAN CLERGYMAN. 
 
 I am inclined to the opinion, that the discussion which such a book 
 as this must excite must eventuate in helping on a most desirable 
 reformation. 
 
128 
 
 FROM A PRESBYTERIAN CLERGYMAN. 
 
 You ask my "views" of the book, "New Themes for the Protestant 
 Clergy," which you pi-esented to me. With this request I cheerfully 
 comply, understanding you to mean simply my impressions as to the 
 general merits of the publication, and not detailed remark upon its 
 specialities. And allow me to say, that I read the work with great 
 pleasure, and I hope with profit. A very important subject is discussed 
 in a stylo pure and lucid; the facts introduced under various divisions 
 show research, and are truly instructive. I was specially impressed 
 with the copious array of divine truth concentrated upon the subject of 
 charity, and arose from its perusal with a heart more deeply touched 
 with sympathy for suffering humanity. 
 
 The errors of the ministry, and their consequent dereliction in duty, 
 elicit a due proportion of remark ; but instead of repelling the force of 
 truth, I trust I honestly inquired, " Lord is it I V 
 
 FROM A PRESBYTERIAN CLERGYMAN. 
 
 It is written in a very lively and attractive style, and contains much 
 with which I agree, and would gladly see carried out in practical exem- 
 plification. Its portraiture of actual religion is too truthful to be 
 agreeable or to be easily denied. 
 
 The object of this little work is to expose the error of the church in 
 its exaltation of theology and its neglect of humanity. According to 
 the author, the cardinal doctrines of Christianity are the fatherhood of 
 God and the brotherhood of man. This thesis he maintains in opposi- 
 tion to all forms of sectarianism. He argues with clearness, force, 
 knowledge, and a good temper. He takes his stand on the Bible, and 
 is powerful and happy in his appeals to its authority. The work has 
 no important defect except its want of adaptation to the public mind 
 in the present state of public opinion. With a highly favorable impres- 
 sion of the talents, learning, Christian spirit, and benevolent intention 
 of the author, I believe that his book is calculated to do good. Yet by 
 a large number it may be deemed unsound and harmful. 
 
 FROM A PRESBYTERIAN CLERGYMAN. 
 
 I read it with great interest; and if I could hope that God would give 
 his ministers and people grace to bear the severe rebukes it adminis- 
 ters, and profit by the searching inquisition which it institutes into the 
 failures and faults of the prevailing type of Protestant Christianity, I 
 should have higher hopes for religion and humanity than my knowledge 
 of men, even good, well-meaning men, permits me to indulge. I fear 
 very much that he pays a compliment to our ministers and churches. 
 
129 
 
 in presuming on their kind acceptance of such plain-dealing, which 
 the result will show we do not deserve. I shall be very agreeably dis- 
 appointed, if the little volume does not encounter a storm of hostility, 
 if not of abuse. 
 
 Viewing the subject from his stand-point, I have very little fault to 
 find with it. I regard it as a very solemn, and impressive, and com- 
 manding expose of a subject which I deliberately regard as the great 
 subject of this age. There is no one thing which I regard as of more 
 importance, than that the attention and heart of the church should be 
 turned to the amazingly important practical question which we in our 
 generation are charged, in the providence of God, to carry to a Christ- 
 ian solution. The world has been heretofore engaged in laying the 
 foundation, and in quari-ying and hewing the stones of the great temple 
 of human redemption and enfranchisement; and now the times are 
 upon us when the structure is to be reared, and Jesus Christ must be 
 the chief Corner-Stone. It is to be deplored, in the last degree, that the 
 church and the ministry of true religion should be alienated for an 
 hour, or even that they should fail to see adequately the true nature 
 and grounds of the movement into which they are to be inevitably pre- 
 cipitated. If he had written for anybody but the ministry, I should 
 feel wholly incompetent to decide in any particular ; but with my 
 knowledge of the principles, views, and feelings in which the ministry 
 of our church and our age are educated — the idolafori of Bacon — the 
 professional prejudices of the class, if you please, I could most earnestly 
 wish that some degree of accommodation, if nothing more, had charac- 
 terized the plan and discussions of the book. I think he has pushed 
 his statements to an extreme, just on that side which will be most 
 likely to offend. The book bears some appearance, in consequence, of 
 being an assault upon the spirit and position of the clergy. It strikes 
 me as extravagant in its depreciation of theology, and generally of the 
 teaching function of the church. It overlooks the fact that truth is in 
 order to holiness ; that Christianity is not only a life of philanthropy, 
 but of charity, springing from and instinct with the great truths of the 
 incarnation, the atonement, and the kingly oflSce of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. The tenor of the life of Christ is represented too exclusively 
 under the aspects of his humanity and beneficence, and too little under 
 the fundamental facts to which the miracles of mercy were in one sense 
 only tributary, and without which they would have been unmeaning 
 and valueless as a redemption for humanity. He makes far too little 
 of his character and office, as a teacher sent from God, to show unto us 
 the way of life and holiness, as compared with the mere philanthropy 
 of his spirit, and life, and religion. The one, he might have exalted 
 never so highly, if he had not seemed to depreciate unduly the other. 
 He need not have brought these truths prominently forward ; but there 
 
130 
 
 are so many disparaging things said of teaching the doctrines of the 
 gospel, as if they were worthless, or stood in the way of its humane mis- 
 sion to man, that it rouses at once the hostility of those whom it seeks to 
 benefit. 
 
 I cannot help thinking, that while there is great and solemn truth in 
 what is said of the failures of Christianity on the one hand, as com- 
 pared with what it might and should have accomplished, and of the 
 advantages likely to accrue on the other, from baptizing the ministry 
 into the spirit of New Testament charity, yet both these forms of state- 
 ment show a tendency to exaggeration which may be turned to bad 
 account. The obstacles which a pure Christianity encounters in the 
 heart of fallen humanity, as exemplified in the life and ministry of 
 Christ himself, are, I think, too much ignored in stating the history of 
 its progress in the church and the world. 
 
 In looking back over what I have written in great haste, I see it takes 
 a shade of coloring which I did not intend to impart to it. I meant to 
 state this matter in a way that would prepare the author to expect no 
 very cordial reception from some quarters where he would be likely to 
 look for countenance, sympathy, and support. I did not intend what 
 I have said to be the expression of my own views and feelings, with 
 reference to what I suppose to be the real object and scope of the book. 
 It is my substantial agreement with the views it presents, and my per- 
 sonal knowledge of his aims and spirit in presenting them, that make 
 me anxious for its reception. If it should turn out difi'erently from my 
 fears, I shall rejoice most heartily. What I have mentioned as an ob- 
 jection to the book, though I think intrinsically valid, would be a baga- 
 telle in my view, but for my fears that it may unnecessarily hinder the 
 accomplishment of ends which I look upon as so amazingly important. 
 My whole heart is with him and with the book, so far as it is a fair and 
 true expression of his real views. I regret what strikes me as faulty, 
 in the way of exaggeration and unguarded statement, and, perhaps, 
 misapprehension, in regard to the actual spirit and achievements of 
 Protestant Christianity, because I do think the view he meant to pre- 
 sent is one of vast and solemn moment to the world, both in and out of 
 the church. I can truly say that I think the book has done me good as 
 a Christian and a Protestant ; and I can conscientiously hope and pray 
 that it may produce the same efi"ect upon the active working ministry of 
 this land, in all its great evangelical denominations. 
 
 PROM THE CHURCH REVIEW, AND ECCLESIASTICAL REGISTER. 
 
 THE CHURCH AND THE TIMES. 
 
 There are two classes of persons who will shrink with sacred horror 
 from the title of this book: both the formalist, and the formulist will 
 
131 
 
 abjure it without further scrutiny. The one believes that the church 
 is to truth what amber is to the insect; which it incloses, holds fast, 
 preserves entire, hut first kills. The latter imagines, that, from apos- 
 tolic times, the truth was held by the church in a state of solution ; 
 until a certain modern date, when, on a sudden shaking of the vessel, 
 that truth was instantly deposited in the form of a transparent, cold, 
 angular, and sharp-pointed crystal, which henceforth can neither be 
 improved nor modified. 
 
 The theory of the author under review may be thus stated : In apos- 
 tolic times, it was the motto of the church : " Now abideth these three, 
 faith, hope, and charity ; but the greatest of these is charity ;" in these 
 latter days the text is virtually altered so as to read, "the greatest of 
 these is faith." 
 
 Another inquiry is beginning to arrest attention : what relation does 
 Christianity sustain to the social questions and leading movements of 
 the age ? 
 
 At this point in our investigation, we hear the pi'ompt response from 
 many a comfortable parsonage and from innumerable stately Christian 
 residences, " Christianity in its organic form has nothing to do with 
 such matters. It is the peculiar and exclusive prerogative of the clergy 
 to prepare men for another world ; they have but one message to deliver, 
 and but one work to perform. The safety of the church depends upon 
 her keeping aloof from the excitements of the day." 
 
 Are Christians aware of what must be the inevitable result of all 
 this ? Is the church in a condition to counteract the danger ? There 
 they are, shooting swiftly about in every direction — those piratical 
 crafts, with their sharp bows and raking masts, showing no ensign at 
 the peak till the battle is fairly begun — and where is the church? 
 Here she is snug in harbor, like a huge frigate laid up in ordinary, 
 with her topmasts down, her sails nicely stowed away, the deck boarded 
 over to keep out the weather, anchored at the stem and stern ; and here, 
 if some people had their way, she would lie till she rots. 
 
 We do not mean to intimate that there is any general desire amongst 
 us to keep the good old ship always in port ; but we do say, most une- 
 quivocally, that the aggressive activity of the church is not expended 
 to the most profitable purpose. We are constantly re-arguing questions, 
 which argument can never settle. We are organizing on opposite sides 
 to repress tendencies in the church which have always existed, and 
 always will exist until all minds shall be cast in the same mould, and 
 so made to think, and reason, and feel alike. Meanwhile, as our 
 divided forces stand in hostile array on either side of the stream, hurl- 
 ing reproaches at each other, society is drifting away from us. Positive 
 error in the church is certainly to be resisted, and that perhaps more 
 vigorously than the heresy that lies without ; Ijut it is possible, that, be- 
 
132 
 
 fore long, a foreign invasion may lead us to feel that the points in 
 debate within our borders are not so fundamental as we had supposed. 
 
 Perhaps the most important practical question now before us is this: 
 How has Protestant Christianity fulfilled its mission in respect of the 
 lower strata of society ? With what degree of faithfulness and eflFect- 
 iveness has it preached the gospel to the poor ? How far has it ope- 
 rated for the elevation, physical, intellectual, and moral of the unfortu- 
 nate multitudes who are born to an inheritance of suflTering and poverty ? 
 How do the statistics of pauperism in the present century compare with the 
 records of former generations ? 
 
 It is, however, useless to deny that our most enlightened forms of 
 Christianity have shamefully failed in respect of that duty which the 
 blessed Saviour made most prominent in his earthly mission. There 
 are certain points which one would infer from the life and teachings of 
 Christ, were intended to stand in the very fore-front of his religion, 
 that we have quietly placed almost out of sight. They are embodied 
 in the text from which he preached his first sermon in the little syna- 
 gogue of Nazareth ; a text which has never yet been embodied in any 
 formal creed of Christendom. The spirit of caste is as rife in Christian 
 Europe and America as it ever was in pagan Greece or Rome. The 
 disciples of the Nazarene are distributed and classified in the arrange- 
 ments of public worship with painful exactness, according to their posi- 
 tion in society ; and in many of our churches, an apostle who should 
 enter the door anonymously would traverse the aisles a long while be- 
 fore he would be invited to a seat ; and if he were disposed to purchase 
 a pew, he would find that the price consumed more than he could earn 
 by many months of fishing. It is not to be expected that all distinc- 
 tions of rank can be annihilated, even in the church ; there are some 
 laws of social intercourse which separate the lower from the higher 
 classes, and which subserve the comfort of the former as much as they 
 do the taste of the latter ; and it would distress both parties alike if 
 these rules and customs should be altogether dispensed with, even in 
 the Christian society. But the gulf which now separates them is cer- 
 tainly wider and more impassable than it need be ; and it ought to be 
 rendered in some way a possible thing for the poor to worship, if they 
 please, in our '* stateliest temples." This they cannot do at present. 
 
 Neither is it right that the church should stand passively by, and 
 look with either disdain or with fear upon the movements now in agi- 
 tation for the elevation of the lower class of laborers, and for the rescue 
 of those who lie lower still, from the miseries of pauperism. To shriek 
 with horror at the enormities of socialism is not "the whole duty of 
 man." To tremble at the growing power of " Trades Unions," is not 
 the most dignified attitude for a Christian. The church has a work to 
 do down in those lower regions where these movements originate, which 
 
133 
 
 thus far has been rarely noticed in her convention debates, and never 
 in her legislation. The most imperative work now incumbent on the 
 church lies in that direction. We say this deliberately and unqualifiedly. 
 These " dangerous movements" among the people are not to be rudely 
 repressed, and they cannot be summarily arrested. They originate in 
 a stern agony of want, sometimes in a hopeless despair, which Christ- 
 ians must relieve, or take the consequences. It will not do for the 
 well-fed and prosperous disciple to say : "Those poor wretches have the 
 same opportunity to rise in the world that any of us have ; I was poor 
 once, and I am now rich ;" there are tens of thousands, even in our own 
 community, who can no more rise from their degradation without some 
 new action in the social state than they could understand our " popular 
 preachers" without an interpreter. They must be helped to their feet, 
 or they can never stand upright. The causes of pauperism, of crime, 
 and of atheistic convulsions must be explored. The probable effects of 
 the increasing inequality in the distribution of wealth must be carefully 
 investigated. 
 
 A very alarming circumstance in our present condition is the fact, 
 that most of the movements now in agitation for reform amongst the 
 laboring population are allied with infidelity. Is this attributable to 
 our having settled down upon such a theory of human depravity, that 
 we are driven to preach to the people the utter hopelessness of general 
 reform, and inculcate the doctrine as a part of Christianity, that " revo- 
 lutions, great discoveries, augmented science, and new forms of policy 
 shall become in effect what may be denominated the sublime mechanics 
 of depravity ?" If this be the principle upon which we act, if we deter- 
 mine to relinquish "the amelioration of humanity," and the regulation 
 of the present world into the hands of infidels, it requires no very acute 
 vision to see where the church will be found half a century hence. 
 She must identify herself with the masses of the people if she would 
 save either them or herself. The life of Christ must be reproduced in 
 her members, as well as the doctrine of Christ in her creeds. 
 
 The Reformation is not complete. It has, in certain respects, stopped 
 midway. It struck one great blow for the liberation of the soul ; but, 
 as a distinct movement, its strength is wellnigh expended. It is only 
 in the Anglican communion, that the original principles of the Reform- 
 ation retain their vitality. Other Protestant bodies have their forms 
 of life, but they are of a more recent date. The time has come for the 
 organization of a new movement. The practical element of Christianity 
 must be developed anew. There are symptoms of such a movement in 
 various quarters of the church, which we hail with joy. A species of 
 benevolent effort has been commenced in some of our larger cities, 
 which will do more to recommend and extend the church than all the 
 arguments that were ever written. A new party in the church is 
 
134 
 
 struggling into existence, which will refuse to be called a party in any- 
 exclusive sense. There are already many amongst us, who are ashamed 
 of the old Shibboleths. 
 
 In a future number, we shall endeavor to give an impartial sketch of 
 the present attitude of the church with reference to this party question, 
 and to the new amalgamation which is inevitable. There are matters 
 of the most vital interest bearing upon the adaptation of the church to 
 the necessities of the times which are now fairly up ; and they cannot 
 be disposed of without careful and impartial consideration. If we shall 
 succeed in exciting any further interest in these topics, whether it be 
 developed in the shape of opposition or the contrary, our main purpose 
 will be accomplished. 
 
CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
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 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 LIPPINCOTT, GUAMBO & CO., 
 
 (SUCCESSORS TO GRIGG, ELLIOT & CO.) 
 
 NO. 14 NORTH FOURTH STREET, PHILADELPHIA; 
 
 CONSISTING OF A LARGE ASSOKTMENT OF 
 
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 MEDICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, ETC., 
 
 PAETICCLARLY SUITABLE FOR 
 
 PUBLTC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES. 
 
 FOR SALE BT BOOKSELLERS AND COUNTRY MERCHANTS GENERALLY THROUGH- 
 OUT THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 < 3 
 
 THE BEST & MOST COMPLETE FAMILY COMMENTARY. 
 
 The Comprehensive Commentary on the Holy Bible; 
 
 COXTAININQ 
 
 THE TEXT ACCORDING TO THE AUTHORIZED VERSION, 
 
 BCOrrS MARGINAL REFERENCES; MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTARV. 
 
 CONDENSED, BUT RETAINING EVERY USEFUL THOUGHT; THE 
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS OF REV. THOMAS SCOTT, D. D. ; 
 
 WITH EXTENSIVE 
 
 EXPLANATORY, CRITICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES, 
 
 Selected from Scott, Doddridge, Gill, Adam Clarke, Patrick, Poole, Lowth, 
 Burder, Harmcr, Cnlmet, Rosenmueller, Bloomfield, Stuart, Bush, Dwight, 
 and many other writers on the Scriptures. 
 
 The whole designed to be a digest and combination of the advantages of 
 the best Bible Commentaries, and embracing nearly all that is valuable in 
 
 HENRY, SCOTT, AND DODDRIDGE. 
 
 Conveniently arranged for family and private reading, and, at the same time, 
 particularly adapted to the wants of Sabbath-School Teachers and Bible 
 Classes ; with numerous useful tables, and a neatly engraved Family Record. 
 
 Edited by Rev. "William Jenks, D. D., 
 
 PASTOR OF GKEEN STREET CHURCH, BOSTON. 
 
 Embellished with five portraits, and other elegant engravings, from steel 
 
 plates; with several maps and many wood-cuts, illustrative of Scripture 
 
 Manners, Customs, Antiquities, &c. In 6 vols, super-royal Svo. 
 
 Including Supplement, bound in cloth, sheep, calf, &c., varying in 
 
 Price from 810 to $15. 
 
 The whole forming the most valuable as well as the cheapest Commentary 
 
 published in the world. 
 
LIRPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 NOTICES AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COMPREHENSIVE COMMENTARY. 
 
 The Publishers select the following from the testimonials they have received 
 as to the value of the work : 
 We, the subscribers, having examined the Comprehensive Cojnmentary, issued from the press of 
 Messrs. L., G. tt Co., and highly approving its character, would cheerfully and confidently recom- 
 mend it as containing more matter and more advantages than any other with which we are 
 acquainted ; and considering the expense incurred, and the excellent manner of its mechanical 
 execution, we beheve it to be one of the cheapest works ever issued from the press. We hope the 
 publishers will be sustained by a liberal patronage, m their expensive and useful undertakir^. We 
 should be pleased to learn that every family in the United States had procured a copy. 
 
 B. B. WISNER, D. D., Secretary of Am. Board of Com. for For. Missions. 
 
 WM. COGSWELL. D. D., " " Education Society. 
 
 JOHN COOM.VN, D. D., Pastor of Congregational Church, Dorchester. 
 
 Rev. JIUBBARD WINSLOW, » " Bowdoin street, Dorche'ter. 
 
 Rev. SEWALL HARDING, Pastor of T. C. Church, Waltham. 
 
 Rev. J. H. FAIRCHILD, Pastor of Congregational Church, South Boston. 
 
 GARDIiNER SPRING, D. D., Pastor of Presbyterian Church, New York city. 
 
 CYRUS MASON, D. D., " u u - » 
 
 THOS. M'AULEY, D. D., " " « • » « 
 
 JOHN W00DI5KIDGE, D. D., - " " « • 
 
 THOS. DEW ITT, D.D., " Dutch Ret " • « 
 
 E. W. BALDWIN, D. D., " " - « « 
 
 Rev. J. M. M'KREBS, •• Presbyterian " « • 
 
 Rev. ERSKINE MASON, " " « « • 
 
 Rev. J. S. SPENCER, - « « Brooklyn. 
 
 EZRA STILES ELY, D. D., Stated Clerk of Gen. Assem. of Presbyterian Church. 
 
 JOHN M'DOWELL, D. D., Permanent " " " <* 
 
 JOHN BRECKENRIDGE, Corresponding Secretary of Assembly's Board of Education. 
 
 SAMUEL B. WYLIE. D. D., Pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. 
 
 N. LORD, D. D., President of Dartmouth College. 
 
 JOSHUA BATES, D. D., President of Mid.Uebury College. 
 
 H. HUMPHREY, D. D., " Amherst College. 
 
 E. D. GRIFFIN, D. D., " Williamstown College. 
 
 J. WHEELER, D. D., " University of Vermont, at BurliDgtcm. 
 
 J. M. MATTHEWS, D. D., " New York City University. 
 
 GEORGE E. PIERCE, U. D., " Western Reserve College, Ohia 
 
 Rev. Dr. BROWN, " Jefferson College, Penn. 
 
 LEONARD WOODS, D. D., Professor of Theology, Anduver Seminary. 
 
 THOS. H. SKINNER, D. D., " Sac. Rhet. " " 
 
 Rev. RALPH EMERSON, - Eccl. Hist. •• " 
 
 Rev. JOEL PARKER, Pastor of Presbyterian Church, New Orleans. 
 
 JOEL HA WES, D. D., " Congregational Church, Hartford, Conik 
 
 N. S. S. BEAMAN, D. D., " Presbyterian Church, Troy, N. Y. 
 
 MARK TUCKER, D. D., " " . - « 
 
 Rev. E. N. KIRK, " " " Albany, N. T. 
 
 Rev. E. B. EDWARDS, Editor of Quarterly Observer. 
 
 Rev. STEPHEN MASON, Pastor First Congregational Church, Nantucket 
 
 Rev. ORIN FOWLER, ..a - •. yM River. 
 
 GEORGE W. BETHUNE, D. D , Pastor of the First Reformed Dutch Church, Philada. 
 
 Rev. LYMAN BEECHER, D. D., Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 Rev. C. D. MALLORY, Pastor Baptist Church, Augusta, Ga. 
 
 Rev. S. AL NOEL, « u - Frankfort, Ky. 
 
 Frrnn the Professors at Princeton Theoloijical Seminary. 
 The Comprehensive Commentary contains the whole of Henry's Exposition in a condensed form, 
 Scott's Practical Observations and Marginal References, and a large number of very valuable philop 
 logical and critical notes, selected from various authors. The work appears to be executed with 
 juilgment, fidelity, and r^ire ; and will furnish a rich treasure of scriptural knowledge to the 
 BibUcal student, and to the teachers of Sabbath-Schools and Bible Classes. 
 
 A. ALEXANDER, D. D. 
 SAMUEL MILLER, D. D. 
 CHARLES HODGE, D. D. 
 
 2 
 
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 <£[ie Com|innioii ta tfie 35ihU. 
 
 In one super-royal volume. 
 
 DESIGNED TO ACCOMPANY 
 
 THE FAMILY BIBLE, 
 
 OR HENRY'S, SCOTTS, CLARKE'S, GILL'S, OR OTHER COMMENTARIES: 
 
 CONTAININO 
 
 1. A new, full, and complete Concordance; 
 
 Illustrated with monumental, traditional, and oriental engravings, founded on Butterworth's, with 
 Cruden's definitions ; forming, it is believed, on many accounts, a more valuable work than either 
 Butterworth, Cruden, or any other similar book in the lansfuaije. 
 
 The value of a Concordance is now generally understood ; and those who have used one, con- 
 sider it indispensable in connection with the Bible. 
 
 2. A Guide to the Reading and Study of the Bible ; 
 
 being Carpenter's valuable Biblical Companion, lately published in London, containing a complete 
 history of the Bible, and forming a most excellent introduction to its study. It embraces tlie evi- 
 dences of Christianity, Jewish antiquities, manners, customs, arts, natural history, (kc, of the Bible, 
 with notes and engravings added. 
 
 3. Complete Biographies of Henry, by Williams; Scott, by bis 
 son ; Doddridge, by Orton ; 
 
 with sketches of the lives and characters, and notices of the works, of the writers on the Scriptures 
 who are quoted in the Commentary, living and dead, American and foreign. 
 
 This part of the volume not only affords a large quantity of interesting and useful reading for 
 pious families, but will also be a source of gratification to all those who are in the habit of consult- 
 ing the Commentary; every one naturally feeling a desire to know .some particulars of the lives and 
 characters of those whose opinions lie seeks. Appended to this part, vrill be a 
 
 BIBLIOTHECA BIBLICA, 
 
 or list of the best works on the Bible, of all kinds, arranged under their appropriate heads. 
 
 4. A complete Index of the Matter contained in the Bible Text. 
 5. A Symbolical Dictionary. 
 
 A very comprehensive and valuable Dictionary of Scripture Symbols, (occupying about fifly-f 
 closely printed pages,) by Thomas Weniyss, (author of "Bibhcal Gleanings," ic.) Comprising 
 Daubuz, Lancaster, Hutcheson, <kc. 
 
 6. The Work contains several other Articles, 
 
 Indeias, Tables, &c. Sec, and is, 
 
 7. Illustrated by a large Plan of Jerusalem, 
 
 identifying, as far as tradition, &c., go, the original sites, drawn on the spot by F. Catherwood, of 
 London, architect. Also, two steel engra\ings of portraits of seven foreign and eiglit American 
 theological writers, and numerous wood engravings. 
 
 The whole forms a desirable and necessary fund of instruction for the use not only of clergymen 
 and Sabbath-school teachers, but also for families. When the great amount of matter it must 
 contain is considered, it will be deemed exceedingly cheap. 
 
 " I have examined 'The Companion to the Bible.' and have been surprised to find so much inform- 
 ation introduced into a volume of so moderate a size. It ccmtaiiis a liljrary of sacrej knowledge 
 and criticism It will be useful to mini.sters who own large libraries, anil cannot fail to be an 
 invaluable help to every reader of the Bible." H KNR Y .MORRIS, 
 
 Pastor of Congregational Church, Vermont. 
 
 The above work can be had in several styles of binding. Price varying 
 from $1 75 to $5 00. 
 
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HOLV SCRIPTURES, 
 
 In one super-royal volume. 
 
 DERIVED PRr\CIPALLY FROM THE M.VNNEKS, CUSTOMS, ANTIQUITIES, TRADITIONS, 
 
 AND FORMS OF SPEECH, RITES, CLIMATE, WORKS OF ART, AND 
 
 LITERATURE OF THE EASTERN NATIONS: 
 
 EMBODYING ALL THAT IS VALUABLE IN THE WORKS OF 
 
 ROBERTS, HARIWER, BURDER, PAXTOST, CHANDLER, 
 
 And the most celebrated oriental travellers. Embracing also the subject of the Fulfilment of 
 
 Prophecy, as exhibited by Keith and others ; with descriptions of the present state 
 
 of countries and places mentioned in the Sacred Writings. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS LANDSCAPE ENGRAVINGS, 
 
 FROM SKETCHES TAKEN ON THE SPOT. 
 
 Edited by Rev. George Bush, 
 
 Profosgor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature in the New York City University. 
 
 The importance of tliis work must be obvious, and, being altogether illustrative, without reference 
 to doctrines, or other points in which Christians differ, it is hoped it will meet with favour from all 
 who love the sacred volume, and that it will be suiEcienlly interesting and attractive to recommend 
 itself, not only to professed Christians of all denominations, but also to the general reader. The 
 arrangement of the texts illustrated with the notes, in the order of the chapters and verses of the 
 authorized version of the Bible, will render it convenient for reference to particular passages ; 
 while the copious Index at the end will at once enable the reader to turn to every subject discussed 
 in the volume. 
 
 This volume is not designed to take the place of Commentaries, but is a distinct department of biblical 
 instruction, and maj be used as a companion to the Comprehemive or any other Commentary, or the 
 Holy Bible. 
 
 THE ENGRAVINGS 
 
 in this volume, it is believed, will form no small part of its attractions. No pains have been spared 
 to procure such as should embellish the work, and, at the same time, illustrate the text. Objec- 
 tions that have been made to the pictures commonly introduced into the Bible, as being mere crea- 
 tions of fancy and the imagination, often unlike nature, and frequently convej-ing false impressions, 
 cannot be urged against the pictorial illustrations of this volume. Here the fine arts are made 
 subservient to utility, the landscape views being, without an exception, matter-of-fact vinos of places 
 mentioned in Scripture, as they ajrpear at the present day ; thus in many instances exhibiting, in the 
 most forcible manner, to the eye, the strict and literal fulfilment of the remarkable prophecies ; " the 
 present ruined and desolate condition of the cities of Babylon, Nineveh, Selah, ic, and the coun- 
 tries of Edom and Egypt, are astonishing examples, and so completely exemplify, in the most 
 minute particulars, every thing which was foretold of them in the height of their prosperity, that 
 no better description can now be given of them than a simple quotation from a chapter and verse 
 of the Bible written nearly two or three thousand years ago." The publishers are enabled to select 
 from several collections lately published in London, the proprietor of one of which says that " seve- 
 ral distinguished travellers have afforded him the use of nearly TTiree Hundred Original Sketched' 
 of Scripture places, made upon the spot. "The land of Palestine, it is well known, abounds in 
 scenes of the most picturesque beauty. Syria comprehends the snowy heights of Lebanon, and Uie 
 majestic ruins of Tadmor and Baalliec." 
 The above work can be had in various styles of binding. 
 
 Price from $1 50 to .85 00. 
 
 THE ILLUSTRATED CONCORDANCE, 
 
 In one volume, royal 8vo. 
 
 A new, full, and complete Concordance; illu.<;trated with monumental, traditional, and oriental 
 engravings, founded on Butterwortti's, with Cruden's definitions ; forming, it is believed, on many 
 accounts, a more valuable work than either Butterworth, Cruden, or any other similar hook in the 
 language. 
 
 The value of a Concordance is now generally understood ; and those who have used one, con- 
 sider it indispensable in connection with the Bible. Some of the many advantages the Illustrated 
 Concordance has over all the others, are, that it contains near two hundred appropriate engravings : 
 it is printed on fine white paper, with beautiful large type. 
 
 Price One Dollar. 
 
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 LIPPINCOTT'S EDITION OF 
 
 BAGSTER'S CONIPREHENSIVE BIBLE. 
 
 tn order to devclope the peculiar niiture of llie Comprehensive Bible, it will oiily he necessary 
 to embrace its more prominent features. 
 
 1st. The SACRED TEXT is that of the Authorized Version, and is printed from the edition cor- 
 rected and improved by Dr. Blaney, winch, from its accuracy, is considered the standard edition. 
 
 2d. The VARIOUS READINGS are faithfully printed from the edition of Dr. Blaney, inclusive 
 of the traiLslation of the proper names, without the addition or diminution of one. 
 
 3d. In the CHRONOLOGY, great care has been taken to fix the date of the particular transac- 
 tions, which has seldom been done with any degree of exartne.ss in any former edition of the Bible. 
 
 4th. The NOTES are exclusively philological and explanatory, and are not tinctured with senti- 
 ments of any sect or party. 1'hey are selected from the most eminent Biblical critics and com- 
 mentators. 
 
 It is hoped that this edition of the Holy Bible will be found to contain the essence of Biblical 
 resPuich and criticism, that lies dispersed through an immense number of volumes. 
 
 Such is the nature and design of this edition of the Sacred Volume, which, from the varioog 
 objects it embraces, the freedom of its pages from all sectarian peculiarities, and the beauty, plain- 
 ness, and correctness of the typography, that it caimot fail of proving acceptable and useful to 
 Christians of every denomination. 
 
 In addition to the usual references to parallel passages, which are quite full and numerous, the 
 student has all tlie marginal readings, together with a rich selection of Philological, Critical, Histo- 
 rical, Geographical, and other valuable notes and remarks, which explain and illustrate the sacred 
 text. Besides the general rntroduction, containing valuable essays on the genuineness, authenticity, 
 and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and other topics of interest, there are introductory and con- 
 cluding remarks to each book— a table of the contents of the Bible, by which the different portions 
 are so arranged as to read in an historical order. 
 
 Arranged at the top of each page is the period in which the prominent events of sacred history 
 took place. The calculations are made for the year of the world before and afler Christ, Julian 
 Period, the year of the 01)'mpiad, the year of the building of Rome, and other notations of time. 
 At the close is inserted a Chronological Index of the Bible, according to the computation of Arch- 
 bishop Ussher. Also, a full and valuable index of the subjects contained in the Old and New Testa- 
 ments, vrith a careful analysis and arrangement of texts under their appropriate subjects. 
 
 Mr. Greenfield, the editor of this work, and for some time previous to his death the superintend- 
 ent of the editorial department of the British and Foreign Bible Society, was a most extraordinary 
 man. In editing the Compreliensive Bible, his varied and extensive learning was called into suc- 
 cessful exercise, and appears in happy combuiation with sincere piety and a sound judgment. The 
 Editor of the Christian Observer, alluding to this work, in an obituary notice of its author, speaks 
 of it as a work of " prodigious labour and research, at once exhibiting his varied talents and pro- 
 found erudition." 
 
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 The Publishers have spared neither care nor expense in their edition of the Bible ; it is printed 
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 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 * In our opinion, the Christian public generally will feel under great obligations to the publishers 
 of tins work for the beautiful taste, arrangement, and delicate neatness wilh which they have got 
 it out. The intrinsic merit of the Bible recommends itself; it needs no tinsel ornament to adorn 
 its sacred pages. In this edition every superlluous ornament has been avoided, and we have pre- 
 sented us a perfectly chaste specimen of the liible, without note or comment. It appears to be just 
 what is needed in every family — 'the unsophisticated word of God.' 
 
 "The size is quarto, printed with beaulilul type, on white, sized vellum paper.of the finest texture 
 and most beauiit'ul surface. The publishers seem to h.ive been .solicitou"! lo m.ike a perfectly 
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 "The publishers are Messrs. Lippincolt, Grainbo <Sc Co., No. U North Fourth street, Philadel- 
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 "A tieautifiil quarto edition of the Bible, by L . G. <t Co. Nothing can exceed the type in clear- 
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 No illustrations or ornamentul type are used. Those who prefer a Bible executed m perfect sim- 
 [iliciiy. yc-t elegance of alyle, without adornment, wlU probably never find one mure to their taste." 
 — M. Sloiiaxine. 
 
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LIPPINCOTT, GRAM BO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 LIPPINCOTT'S EDITIONS OF 
 
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 ENCYCLOP/EDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE; 
 
 OR, DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, THEOLOGY, RELIGIOUS BIOGRAPHY, ALL RELIGIONS, 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HlSTOliY, AND MISSIONS. 
 
 Designed as a complete Book of Reference on all Religious Subjects, and Companion to the Bible ; 
 forming a cheap and compact Library of Religious Knowledge. Edited by Rev. J. Newton Brown. 
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 Price, $4 00. 
 
 6 
 
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 BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D.D., 
 Editor of "The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller," "Robert Hall," &4\ 
 
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 " We regard the collection aa highly mteresting, and judiciously made." — Presbyterian. 
 
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 BY THE LATE -WILLIAIVI WKISTON, A. WL 
 
 FROM THE LAST LONDON' EDITION, COMPLETE. 
 
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 As a matter of course, every family in our country has a copy of the Holy Bible ; and 03 the pre- 
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 that do, that the perusal of the writinars of Josephus will be found very interesting and instructive. 
 
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 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. 
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 FAMILY PRAYERS AND HYMNS, 
 
 ADAPTED TO FAMILY WORSHIP, 
 
 TABLES FOR THE REGULAR ^READING OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 By Rev. S. C. Winchester, A. M., 
 
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 BYRON'S WORKS. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. 
 
 INCLUDING ALL HIS SUPPRESSED AND ATTRIBUTED POEMS ; WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL 
 ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 This edition has been carefully compared with the recent London edition of Mr. Murray, and 
 made complete by the addition of more than fifty pages of poems heretofore unpublished in Eng- 
 land. Among these there are a number that have never appeared in any American edition ; and 
 the publishers believe they are warranted in sayin? that this is tke most complete edition of Lord 
 Byron'i Poetical Works ever published in the United States. 
 
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 Complete in one volume, octavo ; with seven beautiful Engravings. 
 
 This is a new and complete edition, with a splendid engraved likeness of Mrs. Hemans, on steel, 
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 "Ai no work in the English language can be commended with more confidence, it will argue bad 
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 an honour to her sex and to humanity, and whose productions, from first to last, contain no syllable 
 calculated to call a blush to the cheek of modesty and virtue. There is, moreover, in .Mrs. Hemans's 
 poetry, a moral purity and a religious feeling which commend it, in an especial manner, to the dis- 
 criminating reader. No parent or guardian will be under the necessity of imposing restrictions 
 with regard to the free perusal of every production emanating from this gifted woman. Tliere 
 breathes throughout the whole a most eminent exemption from impropriety of tliought or diction ; 
 and there is at times a pensivencss of tone, a winning sadness in her more serious compositions, 
 which tells of a soul which has been lifted from the contemplation of terrestrial things, to divine 
 communings with beings of a ptirer world." 
 
 MILTON, YOUNG, GRAY, BEATTIE, AND COLLINS'S 
 POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. 
 
 WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. 
 
 Including two hundred and fifty Letters, and sundry Poems of Cowper, never before published in 
 
 this country; and of Thomson a new and interesting Memoir, and upwards of twenty 
 
 new Poems, for the first time printed from his own Manuscnpts, taken from 
 
 a late Edition of the Aldine Poets, now publishing in London. 
 
 WITH SEVEN BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. 
 The distinguished Profe."wor SiUiman, speal.ing of this edition, ohsen-es : " I am as much gratified 
 by the elegance and fine taste of your edition, as by the nolile tribute of genius and moral excel- 
 lence which these delightful authors have left for all future generations ; and Cowper, especially, 
 IS not less conspicuous as a true Christian, moralist and teacher, than as a poet of great power and 
 exquisite taste." 
 
 9 
 
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE POETICAL WORKS OF ROGERS, CAMPBELL, MONTGOMERY, 
 LAMB, AND KIRKE WHITE. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. 
 WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 The beauty, correctness, and convenience of this favourite edition of these standard authors are 
 ■o well known, that it is scarcely necessary to add a word in its favour. It is only necessary to say, 
 that the publishers have now issued an illustrated edition, which greatly enhances its former value. 
 The engravings are excellent and well selected. It is the best library edition extant. 
 
 CRABBE, HEBER, AND POLLOK'S POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. 
 
 WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 A writer in the Boston Traveller holds the following language with reference to these valuable 
 editions : — 
 
 "Mr. Editor: — I wish, without any idea of puffing, to say a word or two upon the 'Library of 
 English Poets' that is now published at Pliiladelphia. by Lippincott, Grambo &. Co. It is certainly, 
 taking into consideration the elegant manner in which it is pnnted, and the reasonable price at 
 which it is afforded to purchasers, the best edition of the modern British Poets that has ever been 
 published in this country. Each volume is an octavo of about 500 pages, double columns, stereo- 
 typed, and accompanied with fine engravings and biographical sketches ; and most of them are 
 reprinted from Galignani's French edition. As to its value, we need only mention that it contains 
 the entire works of Montgomery, Gray. Beattie, Collins, Byron, Cowper, Thomson, Milton, V'ourig, 
 Rogers, Campbell, Lamb, Hemans. Heber, Kirke White, Crabbe, the Miscellaneous Works of Gold 
 smith, and other masters of the lyre. The publishers are doing a great jervice by their puhlical ion, 
 and their volumes are almost in as great demand as the fashionable novels of the day ; and they 
 deserve to be so : for they are certainly printed in a style superior to that in which we have before 
 had the works of the English Poets." 
 
 No library can be considered complete without a copy of the above beautiful and cheap editions 
 of the English Poets ; and persons ordering all or any of them, will please say Lippincott, Grambo 
 it Co.'g illustrated editions. 
 
 A COMPLETE 
 
 Dirlinnari] nl ^oriirnl diniatations: 
 
 COMPRISING THE MOST EXCELLENT AND APPROPRIATE PASSAGES IN 
 THE OLD BRITISH POETS; WITH CHOICE AND COPIOUS SELEC- 
 TIONS FROM THE DEST MODERN BRITISH AND 
 AMERICAN POETS. 
 EDITED BY SARAH JOSEPftA HAI.E. 
 As nightingales do upon glow-worms feed, 
 So poets live upon the living light 
 Of Nature and of Beauty. 
 
 Bailcy'i Festut. 
 
 Beautifully illustrated with Engravings. In one super-royal octavo volume, in various 
 
 bindings. 
 
 The publishers extract, from the many highly complimentary notices of the above valuable and 
 beautiful work, the following : 
 
 " We have at hist a volnme of Poetical Quotations worthy of th« name. It contains nearly sir 
 hniirlrpd i)ct:ivo paics, carefully luid tastflfiilly sclecteil Ironi all the houje and foreign authors of 
 ct'lelji ity. It IS iiiviilualile to a writer, while to the ordinary readier it presents every subject at a 
 glance." — Godri/'s Ijodn's Bnnk. 
 
 "The plan or iilca of Mrs Hide's work is felicitous. It is one for which her fine taste, her orderly 
 habits of nnnil. and her loni occupation with literature, has given her peculiar facilities; and tho- 
 roughly has she accouiplishcd her task in the work before us." — Sartam's Magazine. 
 
 "It is a choice c^illectioii of poetical extracts from everv English and American author worth 
 perusing, from the days of Cliaucer to the present lima." — Wcisliiwjton Union. 
 
 " There is nothing negative about this work ; it is positively good."— Evening Bulletin. 
 
 To 
 
LIPPINCOTT, GllAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE DIAMOND EDITION OF BYRON. 
 
 THE POETICAL WOllKS OF LOUD BYRON, 
 
 AWITH A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE NEAT DUODECIMO VOLUME, WITH STEEL PLATES. 
 
 The type of this edition is 8o perfect, and it is printed with so much care, on fine white paper, 
 that it can be read with as much ease as most of the larger editions. This work is to be had ia 
 plain and superb binding, making a beautiful volume for a gift. 
 
 " The Poetical Works of Lord Byron, complete in one volume ; published by L , G. <fe Co., Phila- 
 delphia. We hazard nothing in saying that, take it altogether, this is the most elegant work ever 
 issued from tlie American press. 
 
 " ' In a smgle volume, not larger than an ordinary duodecimo, ttie publishers have embraced the 
 whole of Lord Byron's Poems, usually pnnted in ten or twelve volumes; and, what is more remark- 
 able, have done it with a type so clear and distinct, that, notwillistaiiding its necessarily small size, 
 it may be read with the utmost facility, even by failing eyes. The book is stereotyped ; and never 
 have we seen a finer specimen of that art. Everything about il is perfect — the paper, the print- 
 ing, the binding, all correspond with each other; and it is embellished with two fiub engravings, 
 well worthy the companionship in which they are placed. 
 
 " 'This will make a beautiful Christmas present.' 
 
 " We extract the above from Godey's Lady's Book. The notice itself, we are given to understand, 
 is written by Mrs. Hale. 
 
 " We have to add our commendation in favour of this beautiful volume, a copy of which has 
 been sent us by the publishers. The admirers of the nnble bard will feel obliged tii the enterprise 
 winch has prompted the publishers to dare a competition with the numerous editions of his works 
 already in circulation; and we shall be surprised if tins convenient travelling edition does not in a 
 great degree supersede the use of the large octavo works, which have little advantage in size and 
 openness of type, and are much inferior m the qualities of portability and lightness." — InteUiyencer. 
 
 THE DIAMOND EDITION OF MOORE. 
 
 (corresponding WITH BYRON.) 
 
 THE POETICAL WORKs'oF THOMAS MOORE, 
 
 COLLECTED BY HIMSELF. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 
 
 This work is published uniform with Byron, from the last London edition, and is the most com- 
 plete printed in the country. 
 
 THE DIAMOND EDITION OF SHAKSPEARE, 
 
 (complete in ONE VOLUME,) 
 
 IXTCI.T7BZ2TG A SKETCH OF HIS l^ITH. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH BYRON AND MOORE. 
 
 THE ABOVE WORKS CAN BE HAD IN SEVERAL VARIETIES OF BINDING. 
 
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 CONTAINING A HISTORY OF THE EARTH, ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND FISHES; FORMING 
 THE MOST COMPLETE NATURAL HISTORY EVER PUBLISHED. 
 
 This is a work that should be in the library of every family, having been written by one of the 
 most talented authors in the English language. 
 
 "Goldsmith can never be made ob.solete while delicate genius, exquisite feeling, fine invention, 
 the most harmonious metre, and the happiest diction, are at all valued." 
 
 BIGLAND'S NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 Of Animals, Birds. Fishes, Reptiles, and Insects. Illustrated with numerons and beautiful EnpraT- 
 
 mgs. By JOHN BIGLAND, author of a " View of the World," "Letters on 
 
 Univers.il History," ice. Complete in 1 vol., 12mo. 
 
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 THE POWER AND PROGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES; Its Power and Progress. 
 
 BY GUILIiAUlVIE TELL POUSSIN, 
 
 LATE MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE TO THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE THIRD PARIS EDITION. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY EDMOND L. DU BARRY, M. D., 
 
 SURGEON U. S. NAVY. 
 
 In one large octavo volume. 
 
 SCHOOLCRAFT'S GREAT NATIONAL WORK ON THE INDIAN TRIBES OF 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 WITH BEAUTIFUL AND ACCURATE COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 RESPECTING TUB 
 
 HISTORY, CONDITION AND PROSPECTS 
 
 OF TUB 
 
 SEhian €x\hB of t[ie ItnitEit Itates. 
 
 COLLECTED AND PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN 
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 ILLUSTRATED BY S. EASTMAN, Capt. U. S. A. 
 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 ADAPTED TO THE CLIMATE AND SEASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Containing a complete account of all the work necessary to be done in the Kitchen Garden, Fruit 
 Garden. Orchard, Vineyard, .Vursery, Pleusure-GroumI, Flower Garden, Green-house, Hot-house, 
 and Forcing J'rames, for every mouth in the year; with ample Practical Directions for performing 
 the same. 
 
 Also, general as well as minute instructions for laying out or erecting each and every of the al)ove 
 departments, according to modern taste and the most approved plans; the Ornamental Planting of 
 Pleasure Grounds, in the ancient and modern style; the cultivation of Thorn Quicks, and other 
 plants suitable for Live Hedges, with the best methods of making them, &c. To which are annexed 
 catalogues of Kitchen Garden Plants and Herbs; Aromatic, Pot, and Sweet Herbs; Medicinal 
 Plants, and the most important Grapes, ic., used in rural economy ; with the soil best adapted to 
 their cultivation. Together with a copious Index to the body of the work. 
 
 BY BERNARD M'MAHON. 
 Tenth Edition, greatly improved. In one volume, octava 
 
 THE PORTFOLIO OF A SOUTHERN MEDICAL STUDENT. 
 
 BY GEORGE M. WHARTON, M. D. 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY CROOME. 
 
 One volume, 12mo. 
 
 I2 
 
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE FARIVIER'S AND PLANTER'S ENCYCLOP/f DIA. 
 
 Cjjp /iirmrr's nnh ^Hanttr'a (0ntiitlD|iffMa nf Hiiral 5lffiiirs. 
 
 BY CUTHBERTTV. JOHiNSON.- 
 ADAPTED TO THE UNITED STATES BY GOUVERNEUR EMERSON. 
 
 Ulnstrated by seventeen lieautiful SngravinKs of Cattle, Horses, Sheep, the varieties of Wheat, 
 Barley, Oats, Grasses, the Weeds of Agriculture, <tc. ; besiJes numerous Engrav- 
 ings on wood of the most important implements of Agriculture, Ao. 
 This standard work contains the latest and best information upon all subjects connected with 
 farming, and appertaining to the country ; treating of the great crops of grain, hay, cotton, hemp, 
 tobacco, rice, sugar, ic. &o. ; of horses and mules ; of cattle, with minate particulars relating to 
 cheese and butter-making ; of fowls, including a description of capon-making, with drawings of the 
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 to rural life, about which information is so constantly desired by all residents of the country. 
 IN ONE LARGE OCTAVO VOLUME. 
 
 MASON'S FARRIER-FARMERS' EDITION. 
 
 Price, 62 cents. 
 
 THE PRACTICAL FARRIER, FOR FARMERS: 
 
 COMFRISINO A GENERAL DKSCRIPTIOH OK THE NOBLE AND USEFUL ANIMAL 
 
 THE HOFISE; 
 
 WITH MODES OF MANAGEMENT IN ALL CASES, AND TREATMENT IN DISEASE. 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 A PRIZE ESSAY ON MULES | AND AN APPENDIX, 
 
 Containing Recipes for Diseases of Horses, Oxen, Cows, Calves, Sheep, Dogs, Swino, &o. &c 
 
 B7 BICHARD Iffi3.SOZr, XH. D., 
 
 Formerly of Surry County, Virginia. 
 In one volume, 12mo.; bound in cloth, gilt. 
 
 MASON'S FARRIER AND STUD-BOOK-NEW EDITION. 
 
 THE GENTLEMAN'S NEW POCKET FARRIER: 
 
 COMPRISING A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NOBLE AND USEFUL ANIMAL, 
 
 THE HORSE; 
 
 WITH MODES OF MANAGEMENT IN ALL CASES, AND TREATMENT IN DISEASE. 
 
 BIT RICHARD XHASOHr, XX. D., 
 
 Formerly of Surry County, Virginia. 
 
 To which is added, A PRIZE ESSAY ON MULES; and AN APPENDIX, containing Recipes for 
 
 Diseases of Horses, Oxen, Cows. Calves, St.tep, Dogs, Swine, &c. 6cc. ; with Annals 
 
 of the Turf, American Slud-Book, Rules for Training, Racing, ic 
 
 WITH A SUPPLEMENT, 
 
 Comprising an Es.say on Domestic Animals, especially the Horse ; with Remaiks on Treatment and 
 
 Breeding ; together with Trotting and Racing Tables, showing the best time on record at one, 
 
 two, three and four mile heats ; Pedigrees of Winning Horses, since 1839, and of the most 
 
 celebrated Stallions and Mares; with useful Calving and Lambing Tables. By 
 
 J. S. SKINNER, Editor now of the Farmer's library, New York, ic. 4c. 
 
 O 
 
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 HINDS'S FARRIERY AND STUD-BOOK-NEW EDITION. 
 
 farrTery, 
 
 TAUGHT ON A NEW AND EASY PLAN; 
 
 BEING 
 
 % €m\m n tlje Mmm nni !Hrrilirnts of tjit Imst ; 
 
 With Instructions to the Shoeing Smith, Farrier, and Groom ; preceded by a Popular Description of 
 the Animal Functions in Health, and how these are to be restored when disordered. 
 
 BY JOHN HINDS, VETERINARY SURGEON. 
 
 With considerable Additions and Improvements, particularly adapted to this country, 
 
 BY THOMAS M. SMITH, 
 
 Veterinary Surgeon, and Member of the London Veterinary Medical Society. 
 
 WITH A SUPPLEMENT, BY J. S. SKINNER. 
 
 The publishers have received numerous flattering notices of the great practical value of these 
 works. The distinguished editor of the American Farmer, speaking of them, observes: — "We 
 cannot too highly recommend these books, and therefore advise every owner of a horse to obtain 
 them." 
 
 " There are receipts in those books that show how Founder may be cured, and the traveller ptir- 
 sue liis journey the next day. by giving a tablespoonful of alum. This was got from Dr. P. Thornton, 
 of Muutpelier, Kappaliannoclc county, Virginia, as founded on his own observation in several cases." 
 
 " The constant demand for Mason's and Hinds's Farrier has induced the publishers, Messrs. Lip- 
 pincolt, Grambo i Co., to put forth new editions, willi a ' Supplement' of 100 pages, by J. S. Skinner, 
 Es(i. We should have sought to render an acceptable service to our aencultural readers. l)y giving 
 a cliapter from the Supplement, 'On the Relations between Man and the Domestic Animals, espe- 
 cially the Horse, and the Obligations they impose ;' or the one on 'The Form of Animals;' but tiiat 
 either one of them would overrun the space here allotted to such subjects." 
 
 " Lists of Medicines, and other articles which ought to be at hand about every training and livery 
 stable, and every Farmer's and Breeder's establishment, will be found m these valuable works." 
 
 TO CARPENTERS AND MECHANICS. 
 
 Just Published. 
 
 A NEW AND IMPROVED EDITION OP 
 
 THE CAEPENTER^S NEW GUIDE, 
 
 BEING A COMPLETE BOOK OF L1NE8 FOB 
 
 CjA-BPEXTTRIT jflLITD JOIXTERV; 
 
 Treating fully on Practical Geometry, Saflifs Brick and Plaster Groins, Niches of every description, 
 
 Sky-lighta, Lines for Roofs and Domes ; with a great variety of Designs for Roofs, 
 
 Trussed Girders, Floors, Domes, Bridges, &.C., Angle Bars for Shop 
 
 Fronts, <tc., and Raking Mouldings. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 Additional Plans for various Stair-Cases, with the Lines for producing the Face and Falling Moulds, 
 
 never before published, and greatly superior to those given in a former edition of this work. 
 
 BY WILLIAM JOHNSON. ARCHITECT, 
 
 or PIIILADELPRIA. 
 
 The whole founded on true Geometrical Principles; the Theory and Practice well explained and 
 fully exemplified, on eighty-three copper plates, including some Observations and Calculations on 
 the Strength of Timber. 
 
 BY PETER NICHOLSON, 
 
 Author of "The Carpenter and Joiner's Assistant," "The Student's Instructor to the Five 
 Orders," Slc. 
 
 Thirteenth Edition. One volume, 4to., well bound. 
 
 14 ■ 
 
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 A DICTIONARY OF SELECT AND POPULAR QUOTATIONS, 
 
 WHICH ARE IN DAILY USE. 
 
 TAKEN FROM THE LATIN, FRENCH, GREEK, SPANISH AND ITALIAN LANGDAGES. 
 
 Together with a copious Collection of Law Maxims and Law Terms, translated into 
 
 English, with Illustrations, Historical and Idiomatic. 
 
 NEW AMERICAN EDITION, CORRECTED, WITH ADDITIONS. 
 
 One volume, 12ino. 
 
 This volume comprises a copious collection of lejjal and other terms which are in common use, 
 with English translations und historical illustrations; and we should judge its author had surely 
 been to n great " Feast of Languages," aud stole all the scraps. A work of this character should 
 have an extensive sale, as it entirely obviates a serious difllcultyin which most readers are mvolved 
 by the frequent occurrence of Latin, Greek, and French passages, which we suppose are introduced 
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 removes the difficulty, and gives the reader an advantage over the author ; for we lielieve a majority 
 are themselves ignorant of the meaning of the terms they employ. Very few truly learned authors 
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 English" will do as well ; but we will not enlarge on this point. 
 
 If the book is useful to those unacquainted with other languages, it is no less valuable to the 
 classically educated as a book of reference, and answers all the purposes of a Lexicon — indeed, on 
 many acconnts, it is better. It saves the trouble of tumbling over the larger volumes, to which 
 every one, and especially those engaged in the legal profes-sion, are very often subjected. It should 
 have a place in every hbrary in the country. 
 
 RUSCHENBERGER'S NATURAL HISTORY, 
 
 COMPLETE, WITH NEW OLOSSABT. 
 
 €^t (BUmtnh d Matiiral 3^ii0tori], 
 
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