X J _ 
 
 h 
 
 2 -^ 
 
 

c4iH 
 
 THE 
 
 SIGNS OF THETIM Eg? *^"^^ 
 
 ► ^ -, ^r/^ 
 
 SERIES OF DISCOURSES 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 CORNELIUS C. CUYLER, D. D. 
 
 PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 WILLIAM S. MARTIEN. 
 
 1839. 
 
Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1839, by 
 WILLIAM S. MARTIEN, in the office of the Clerk of the District 
 Court, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
THE 
 FOLLOWING DISCOURSES, 
 
 PREPARED FOR THEIR INSTRUCTION, 
 ARK 
 
 AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 
 TO 
 
 THE CONGREGATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 BY 
 
 THEIR AFFECTIONATE FRIEND AND PASTOR, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The most of the following discourses were ori- 
 ginally neither designed nor prepared with a 
 view to their publication. The afternoon of 
 the first Sabbath in every month is devoted by 
 the author to the Catechetical instruction of 
 the children and youth of his charge. This 
 has given occasion to a public service on the 
 evening of the same day. These services 
 were generally attended by large and mixed 
 audiences. It became a matter of considera- 
 ble importance to supply such audiences with 
 instruction which should, at the same time, 
 command their attention, and prove profitable 
 to them. A large proportion of them con- 
 sisted of young men, who had either just en- 
 tered upon the active concerns of life, or who 
 were preparing for them. Several courses of 
 
 1 
 
PREF A CE 
 
 instruction were taken into consideration, and 
 it was finally concluded that the aspects of Di- 
 vine Providence were such as to afford many 
 lessons which might be taught and enforced 
 with profit. 
 
 This conviction was confirmed by the con- 
 sideration, that although the dispensations of 
 Divine Providence are often deeply interesting 
 and highly instructive, they are seldom taken 
 up and considered in order — and thus the ad- 
 vantages which might be derived from them 
 are lost, because they have not been expounded 
 and enforced. Even those which concern us 
 as individuals, are soon forgotten, unless atten- 
 tion is from time to time directed to them, or 
 the general principles of the Divine administra- 
 tion are so infixed in the mind as to identify 
 the presence and government of God with 
 every movement. 
 
 It was also thought that as the latter days 
 approach, the aspects of the Divine adminis- 
 tration might be expected to become more in- 
 teresting and important, especially towards a 
 country whose whole history has been so 
 
PR EF ACE. S 
 
 strikingly marked in every stage of it, and 
 whose institutions and character are calculated 
 to exercise, nay, have already exercised, so im- 
 portant an influence on the world. Tliere was 
 probably no mistake in attributing a special 
 character to "the signs of the times," with 
 respect to this land. And if this be so, they 
 are certainly illustrative of our character and 
 duty as a nation. Such a child of Providence 
 should have its eyes directed to the Father's 
 hand. We are bound to observe, study, and 
 improve " the signs of the times." They are 
 neither too dark to be observed, too abstruse 
 to be studied, nor too unimportant to be im- 
 proved. A way-faring man, though a fool, 
 need not err. This impression has induced 
 the choice of the general subject, and the par- 
 ticular topics which have been discussed, illus- 
 trated, and enforced, under it. 
 
 These discourses were prepared and deliver- 
 ed with a view to usefulness. They are pub- 
 Ushed at the desire of many who heard them, 
 and by the advice of a few friends, in whose 
 judgment the author had great confidence. 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 They are now submitted to the public with 
 great diffidence, and under a deep conviction 
 that their usefulness is entirely dependent upon 
 the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. 
 That He may be present with every reader, is 
 the sincere and fervent prayer of 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 Philadelphia, June, 1839. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction, 7 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 Missions, 13 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 Education, 37 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 Recklessness of Human Life, 63 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 God's Frowns against Covetousness, 87 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 Revivals of Religion, 109 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 Corruption of Doctrine, 137 
 
 LECTURE VII, 
 
 Effects of Corruption in Doctrine, 163 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 Spirit of Fanaticism, 190 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 Slavery, 215 
 
 1* 
 
LECTURE X. 
 Spirit of Lawlessness, 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 LECTURE XL 
 Dealings of Providence, 265 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 Duty of the Ministry, 294 
 

 %.THEOi.OGlGiiIi/ 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Having perused, in manuscript, a number of 
 the "discourses" which compose the present 
 volume, and advised the author to pubhsh them, 
 let me hope for the reader's indulgence, while I 
 very briefly assign the reasons for the counsel 
 which I gave. 
 
 In the first place, the subject of these dis- 
 courses is vastly momentous. The title of the 
 publication itself, refers to an interrogatory of 
 our Saviour, carrying with it a most severe 
 censure of those who were criminally blind to 
 the duty which his question indicated. In the 
 preaching of the Gospel, the noticeable pecu- 
 liarities and import of Divine Providence ought 
 ever to claim the special attention of the faith- 
 ful pastor. We learn from the revelation 
 which God has given us, that it is his purpose 
 and plan, to teach by his Providence as well as 
 by his Word. The two, indeed, are often the 
 best and most striking proof and illustration of 
 each other. Discourses, moreover, which refer 
 to events actually passing, or that have recent- 
 ly passed, under our own observation, are, if 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 well conducted, uncommonly interesting, and 
 impart instruction and admonition, which come 
 home, with peculiar force, to " men's business 
 and bosoms." 
 
 Again: It appeared to me, on the perusal 
 of the discourses which my friend submitted to 
 my inspection, that he had listened to the voice 
 of God's providence, and understood its true 
 import, in many occurrences in which nothing 
 of the kind strikes the ear of the multitude, 
 and to which many, even of the pious, are too 
 inattentive, or, from which they receive only 
 some fugitive impressions. If we accredit the 
 Gospel, we must believe, that a sparrow falleth 
 not to the ground, nor a hair from our head, 
 without the notice and ordering of our Hea- 
 venly Father; and these truths are, we know, 
 accompanied by the declaration, " Ye are of 
 more value than many sparrows." Thus are 
 we emphatically taught, that the hand of God 
 has an immediate direction or control of all the 
 events which affect, not only individuals, but 
 communities of men. It follows, that nations 
 rise or fall, experience prosperity or adversity, 
 witness propitious or adverse seasons, escape or 
 suffer from, wasting disease, from earthquakes, 
 tornadoes, inundations, tempests, conflagrations, 
 noxious insects or reptiles; are favoured or 
 frowned on, in their agricultural, manufactur- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 ing, and commercial interests, and in the con- 
 sequent abundance or scarcity of the means of 
 subsistence; are blest with peace or embroiled 
 in war; see virtue and piety prevail, with their 
 countless attendant blessings, or are afflicted 
 with the prevalence of vice, of infidelity, blas- 
 phemy, neglect, and contempt of divine institu- 
 tions, of avarice, intemperance, domestic broils, 
 homicides, murders, assassinations, and duels — 
 all according to the permission, or ordaining 
 will, of Him, " who doth according to his will 
 in the army of heaven, and among the inhabi- 
 tants of the earth; and none can stay his 
 hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?" 
 How immensely important is it? how exactly 
 coincident with the design of God, in the vari- 
 ous dispensations just hinted at, that their cha- 
 racter and language should be heedfully regard- 
 ed by the subjects of his moral government? 
 And who, it may be asked, are specially bound 
 to put a tongue into these dispensations? The 
 ministers of religion, beyond a question, must 
 be the answer. Their imperative duty it mani- 
 festly is, to call the attention of the people of 
 their charge, and, so far as they can, of the 
 public generally, to the improvement which the 
 God of Providence requires all to make, of the 
 events which he causes to pass before them. 
 Believing that this had been done by the au- 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 thor of the sermons which fill this volume, I 
 advised to their publication; not only that his 
 own people might have the advantage of re- 
 veiwing, at their leisure, what they had heard 
 from the hps of their pastor, but, that others 
 might be sharers in the benefit. 
 
 Finally: It is believed, that the author of 
 these discourses has not only been fortunate in 
 the selection of his subjects, but happy in the 
 manner in which he has discussed them. The 
 portion of narrative which he has naturally, 
 and, indeed, necessarily introduced, is at once 
 adapted to awaken and fix attention, and to 
 form the basis of the doctrines, inferences, and 
 illustrations which follow; and, although a well 
 instructed Christian, in reading as well as in 
 hearing pulpit addresses, will commonly look 
 for edification, more from the revival and re- 
 newed impression of known truth, than from 
 learning something which, to him, is entirely 
 novel; yet there may be, not only a real no- 
 velty in the manner in which familiar truth is 
 presented, but there are some truths and sub- 
 jects of a religious character, and of a practi- 
 cal and profitable kind, which lie so much out 
 of the tract of common thought and discus- 
 sion, that, when skilfully handled, will suggest 
 ideas strictly new^ to many who can by no 
 means be justly considered as novices in Chris- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 tian attainment. To this class of compositions, 
 to a considerable extent, it appeared to me, the 
 discourses, now in the hands of the reader, 
 fairly belonged; and, as this was a chief rea- 
 son for advising to their publication, so it is a 
 strong motive for wishing and hoping, that 
 they may have an extensive publication, and a 
 careful perusal. 
 
 It must not be omitted, that if my friend 
 had not earnestly requested me to give my 
 opinion of this work, candidly and publicly, 
 I should not have hazarded the charge of va- 
 nity, to which I perceive I may expose myself, 
 by making the foregoing statement. 
 
 ASHBEL GREEN. 
 Philadelphia, May 10th, 1839. 
 
LECTURE I 
 
 MISSIONS. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. I. 
 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES ? 
 
 The period of our Saviour's advent and min- 
 istry was eventful and portentous. The Roman 
 empire, by the aggressive movement of ages, 
 had spread itself out over most parts of the thqn 
 known world. The policy and power of that 
 wonderful people, had triumphed over almost all 
 the nations of Europe, and subjected them to 
 their control. Northern Africa acknowledged 
 their authority ; and Western Asia, reduced to 
 the form of provinces, lay submissive at their 
 feet. Thus situated, the world was in a state 
 of profound peace. But while the Roman em- 
 pire was thus extended, and apparently at the 
 zenith of power, the process of decay had com- 
 menced at the heart. Pride, vain-glory, and 
 luxury, the consequences of success in warlike 
 enterprises, and increased wealth, had corrupt- 
 ed the morals, and enervated the energies of 
 that people, and were rapidly preparing the way 
 
 2 
 
14 LECTURE I. 
 
 for those revolutions and changes which after- 
 wards took place in the state of that empire, 
 and the world. 
 
 At the time of the Saviour's advent, the Jews 
 were subject to the Roman yoke. Before this 
 time public attention had been generally excited 
 by the ancient prophecies, and high expecta- 
 tions were entertained, not only with respect to 
 the fact of Messiah's appearance, but the effects 
 which were to result from it both to the Jews, 
 and the world at large. The coming events had 
 cast their shadows before them. The Jews, how- 
 ever, had fallen as far from their once high and 
 palmy state, in morals and religion, as in na- 
 tional strength and political importance; and 
 hence were not prepared to receive such a Sa- 
 viour as God had promised, and Christ proved 
 to be. This accounts for much of their con- 
 duct while he ministered among them, and par- 
 ticularly their treatment of him. They were 
 looking for a splendid person, a conquering hero, 
 a temporal prince, an extended empire to which 
 all other nations were to be subjected ; and, of 
 course, great personal and political considera- 
 tion and influence, in which they expected large- 
 ly to share — while, in fact, he came, meek, low- 
 ly, humble, a man of sorrows, to die for sinners; 
 to leave the world to set up a spiritual kingdom, 
 to revolutionize the world by the sanctified use 
 
MISSIONS. 15 
 
 of the word and grace of God. And the Jews, 
 instead of being the partakers of his temporal 
 glory, were to be the unwilling witnesses of his 
 Messiabship and truth, by their unbelief, the sub- 
 version of their civil and religious polity, their 
 dispersion among all nations, and a degradation 
 and suffering which were to endure for many 
 centuries; and from which they would find no 
 relief, till they should seek it penitently through 
 the blood, the guilt of shedding which they wick- 
 edly imprecated on themselves and their chil- 
 dren. 
 
 The signs which were foreshadowing these 
 events, were already appearing in the state of 
 the Roman empire, the condition and feelings of 
 the Jewish people, and the general aspects of 
 Divine Providence, which began to put on a 
 lowering character; and they were portrayed 
 as with a sun-beam, in the holy oracles which 
 God had committed to them, to guide their faith 
 and conduct. To these considerations, however, 
 the Jews of that day were blind. They had no 
 discernment of the things which belonged to 
 their peace, and hence did not foresee the dan- 
 ger which threatened them, nor hide themselves, 
 till the storm fell upon their devoted heads. 
 
 And yet they were keen enough of discern- 
 ment in relation to other things : — -" Ye can dis- 
 cern the face of the sky," says the Saviour, " but 
 
16 
 
 LECTURE I 
 
 ye cannot discern the signs of the times:" — a 
 matter of infinitely more importance to them on 
 every account. Bv^ this he designed to rebuke 
 them for their inattention to a subject in which 
 they had so deep an interest. Every age, my 
 hearers, has its signs. As long as there are 
 men on earth, and God governs them by his 
 providence, these signs will exist. They are let 
 down from heaven, by the hand of God to be 
 seen of men, and studied by the light of his holy 
 word, and improved to his glory, and our good. 
 " Whoso is wise and will observe these things, 
 even they shall understand the loving kindness 
 of the Lord." Of these signs the present day 
 is by no means destitute; and if they are not 
 peculiar, (as it is confidently believed some of 
 them are,) yet they are exhibited to be seen, 
 studied, and improved by men, for their benefit. 
 Under this impression, and wdth this view, the 
 subject of our present meditation has been select- 
 ed. Permit me to ask your close and prayerful 
 attention to it. Let us advert 
 
 I. To what 25, and should be esteemed to be, the 
 glory of the present age, the great and success- 
 ful efforts made to spread abroad among man- 
 kind the Gospel of Christ and its blessed in- 
 fuences. Before the Redeemer ascended to 
 glory, he gave to his disciples this command- 
 ment — " Preach the Gospel to every creature," 
 
MISSIONS. 17 
 
 and encouraged them to hope for its accom- 
 phshment by these three considerations; the 
 promise of his presence; the declaration of his 
 Almighty power; and the gift of his Spirit. 
 Thus commanded and encouraged, they went 
 forth to their work, undismayed, although all 
 earth and hell were opposed to them. During 
 their life time the Gospel had already been 
 preached in every province of the wide spread 
 Roman empire, and multitudes had every where 
 submitted themselves to the Saviour's authority. 
 And the work went steadily on, notwithstand- 
 ing the opposition which was made to it, in- 
 cluding many bitter and bloody persecutions, 
 until, in the beginning of the fourth century, the 
 rehgion of the cross ascended the throne of the 
 Cesars, in the person of Constantino the Great. 
 It is a question, whether pure and undefiled re- 
 hgion ever had a much wider extension than at 
 that period, till after the Reformation in the six- 
 teenth century; for what it gained in one quar- 
 ter, it lost in another; and it gradually became 
 almost universally corrupted. Nor did the ag- 
 gressive influence of the Reformation on the ter- 
 ritories of darkness and sin, last long. Its fer- 
 vours were soon exhausted, and its influence be- 
 came retrograde in Europe; and when it was 
 carried abroad, by the discovery and settlement 
 of this continent, and the discovery of a passage 
 
 2* 
 
18 LECTURE I. 
 
 to the East Indies by sea, it was too much en- 
 cumbered by a spirit of worldly enterprise and 
 gain, to exert a proper and permanent efficiency. 
 At the commencement of the last century, Pro- 
 testantism itself had lost much of its vitality, 
 and degenerated into formality. Under such 
 circumstances, missionary efforts were scarcely 
 thought of. The Moravians, about that time, 
 had just commenced their efforts. Three or 
 four Germans, employed by a British society, 
 were engaged in the East Indies; and the 
 Elliots, Mathews, and, at a somewhat later pe- 
 riod, Brainerd, had devoted themselves to the 
 Indians of our own continent; but the cause 
 became almost extinct at the premature death 
 of the latter. 
 
 I date the first symptom of reviving life, and 
 change for the better, from a small association 
 of praying young men, at the University of Ox- 
 ford, in England, in the year 1729, of whom 
 were the Wesleys and Whitefield. These were 
 among the most early, honoured, and efficient 
 instruments of a revival of religion in the Bri- 
 tish Isles and this country, which, I have no 
 doubt, was graciously sent of the Lord, to coun- 
 teract the influence of that infidelity Avhich swept 
 like a torrent over Europe during the last cen- 
 tury, and prepare the church of God to do her 
 duty to the world. A series of well adapted 
 
MISSIONS. 19 
 
 meaiis^ such as the world never saw, and the 
 church never wielded, and promissory of the 
 happiest results, have been put in requisition. 
 
 This age is distinguished by the estabhsh- 
 ment and successful operation of Bible, Mis- 
 sionary, Tract, Education, and Temperance 
 Societies, and Infant and Sunday schools, all of 
 them having for their object the glory of God, 
 and the welfare of man ; and each of them se- 
 parately, and all of them collectively, bearing 
 benignly upon these all important objects. 
 
 The Bible, either in whole, or in part, has 
 already been translated and printed in more 
 than one hundred and fifty languages of our 
 world; and many millions of copies have been 
 distributed. In all these languages there is pre- 
 paration made for a full supply as soon as the 
 people shall be prepared to read them, and the 
 church to furnish the necessary means. Has 
 the like of this ever been witnessed in any pre- 
 ceding age of the world. No, my hearers, it is 
 one of the peculiarities of this age, one of the 
 signs of the present time. The way is at least 
 opening to give the word of God to all the 
 dwellers on earth, so that they may read the 
 wonderful works of God in their own living 
 languages. 
 
 This singular and cheering state of things is 
 connected with, and has sprung from the ef- 
 
20 L E C T U R E I . 
 
 forts which have been made to spread the Gos- 
 pel by means of Missions. Wherever men 
 have gone to preach the Gospel, they have, as 
 soon as practicable, commenced the transla- 
 tion of the sacred Scriptures, and the means 
 to print them have to some extent been sup- 
 plied by Bible Societies. Since the days of 
 the Apostles, the work of missions has never 
 engaged so much of the attention, excited so 
 highly the interest, and called forth so gene- 
 rally and successfully the exertions of the 
 Christian church as during the last half century. 
 There is scarcely a denomination that has not 
 felt the impulse. The Moravians, those pio- 
 neers in the sacred cause, have gone on in 
 " the even tenor of their way," increasing their 
 operations with their strength. The London 
 Missionary Society, composed of members of 
 most of the evangelical denominations in Great 
 Britain, was instituted near the close of the 
 last century, and has been engaged in the w^ork 
 with ardour and success. They were very soon 
 followed (probably preceded) by the Baptists of 
 England, of whom it is praise enough to say, 
 that they sent out as their first missionaries, Ca- 
 rey, Ward, and Marshman, the fathers of Se- 
 rampore, and the indefatigable translators of the 
 Scriptures into the languages of India. After 
 these came the Church Missionary Society, the 
 
MISSIONS. 21 
 
 Methodist Missionary Society, the Scottish Mis- 
 sionary Society, the American Board of Com- 
 missioners for Foreign Missions, together with 
 Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Western^ For- 
 eign, and Reformed Dutch Boards or Societies, 
 in our own country; and a number of similar 
 institutions on the continent of Europe. 
 
 These various institutions have succeeded in 
 planting Christian Missions at various points of 
 the British East Indian possessions, China, Bur- 
 mah, New Holland, and New Zealand, Siam, 
 the Dutch possessions, the Society and Sand- 
 wich Islands, the Cape of Good Hope, Sierra 
 Leone, Liberia, Abyssinia, The Holy Land, 
 Constantinople, Broosa, Erzeroom, Persia, Ar- 
 menia, Smyrna, various points in Greece, and 
 among very many of the native tribes of our 
 own country. To which may be added the va- 
 rious operations of Domestic Societies to ex- 
 tend and strengthen the cause of Christ in 
 Christian lands. To these operations God has 
 added his blessing, so that many minds have 
 been enlightened with the knowledge of the 
 truth, and many hearts sanctified and devoted 
 to God. And not only so, but this cause is 
 every year acquiring new interest in the hearts 
 of God's people, and some hundreds of new 
 
 * Now adopted by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church. 
 
22 LECTURE I. 
 
 labourers are going into the vineyard. The 
 cause has commanded the services of some of 
 the choicest spirits, both as to head and heart, 
 which have ever devoted themselves to Christ. 
 To prove this, I need only mention the names 
 of Buchanan, Carey, Martyn, Morrison, Milne, 
 Thomason, and our own Hall, Mills, Burgess, 
 and Fisk, with a host of other worthies, some 
 of whom have gone to rest, and many of whom 
 are now " bearing the heat and burden of the 
 day." In addition to this, many hundreds of 
 young men, both in this country and Europe, 
 have sacredly devoted themselves to the bless- 
 ed work, and are in various stages of progress, 
 preparing to enter upon their labours, and eve- 
 ry year is adding to their number by scores, 
 and by hundreds. And, in the meantime, the 
 Oiurch in every part of the world is waking up, 
 and taking new interest in the subject of Mis- 
 sions, by increasing contributions, efforts, and 
 prayers. As soon as labourers are found, they 
 are sent into the vineyard. And w^hile the 
 church and its members at home are taking 
 new interest in the subject, the new converts 
 from heathenism are anxious to share as well 
 in the labours as in the honours of the sacred 
 cause. " The sacramental host" is marshalhng 
 its forces all around the territories of sin and 
 darkness, preparing to make a grand aggres- 
 
MISSIONS. 23 
 
 sive movement, in the confident hope of a 
 glorious victory. And if they can only keep 
 sight of the captain of their salvation, follow 
 closely in his footsteps, use no armour but his, 
 receive the word of command from his lips, and 
 rely upon his power and skill, there is no 
 knowing what wonders they will perform, nor 
 how soon a conquered world will acknowledge 
 his gracious authority. 
 
 Tracts have been brought to aid the cause 
 of Bibles and Missions with happy success. 
 They have been of incalculable service in 
 Christian as well as in heathen lands. In 
 Christian lands there are multitudes who will 
 not touch a Bible, and who studiously avoid 
 the preaching of the Gospel, to whom these 
 little, humble, unobtrusive preachers of right- 
 eousness, find their way, bearing along with 
 them enough of divine truth to save the soul, 
 and doing their work before men are aware of 
 their heavenly errand. And in heathen lands 
 they can be put into requisition long before the 
 Bible can be translated, printed, and circulated, 
 or the Missionary be prepared to preach the 
 gospel to edification. 
 
 The use of this little weapon was learn- 
 edfrom the infidels of the last century. Vol- 
 taire and his coadjutors knew that they could 
 not reach the mass of the people with their 
 
24 
 
 LECTURE I 
 
 elaborate treatises, and therefore scattered the 
 tares by handfuls all over the land, by this 
 means ; and the unblest harvest has been reaped 
 in the general demoralization of the people, the 
 French revolution with its horrors and woes, 
 and the wars and miseries which grew out of it. 
 A useful lesson was thus learned by the follow- 
 ers of Christ, upon which they have since im- 
 proved with great skill and success, both in 
 Christian and heathen lands. Multitudes of 
 them have been written, printed, and circulated, 
 and many souls have been indebted to them for 
 their whole stock of Christian knowledge, and 
 not a few for the salvation of their souls. 
 Their preparation has put into requisition some 
 of the best heads and hearts in the church of 
 Christ; and the consequence has been, that 
 they have produced tracts which have received 
 the approbation of the learned and the wise, 
 and the reading of them has been blessed to 
 the edification of Christians, the conviction of 
 gainsayers, and the saving illumination of the 
 ignorant. 
 
 They are happily calculated to be influen- 
 tially auxiliary to the spread and success of the 
 Gospel of Christ. They are more easily pre- 
 pared and readily circulated than the sacred 
 Scriptures. They can be sent where the 
 preacher cannot go, and where we can find. 
 
MISSIONS. 25 
 
 and prepare, and send forth one preacher of 
 righteousness, milhons of these httle mutes may- 
 be sent, not only to prepare the way of the 
 Lord, but to do the work of Evangehsts. All 
 are not qualified to preach the Gospel. All are 
 not quahfied to translate the Bible. But all 
 the Lord's people may be tract distributers, and 
 thus fulfil Moses' wish, " Would to God that 
 all the Lord's people wxre prophets !" No de- 
 partment of Christian benevolence appears more 
 happily calculated to further the progress of 
 the kingdom of Christ. The widow^s mite is 
 made happily and visibly instrumental to save 
 souls. The tract cause belongs to this age. 
 It is one of the signs of our times. May it 
 abundantly flourish, and increase with the in- 
 crease of God. 
 
 Another institution which belongs to this 
 age, and stands forth as a sign of the present 
 time, is the cause of education as connected 
 with the ministry of reconciliation. I am not 
 well informed as to the facts, when education 
 societies originated, or whether they took their 
 rise on this, or the other side of the Atlantic. 
 Nor is it material to determine these points. 
 It is enough for my present purpose to remark, 
 that they are of recent origin, and belong sub- 
 stantially to the present age. I am not un- 
 aware that most of the literary institutions on 
 
26 LECTUREI. 
 
 earth have sprung from religion, and have been 
 designed to furnish the Church of God with a 
 competent ministry. And I am also aware 
 that many young men have, long ago, been 
 gratuitously educated for this purpose. But 
 the movement of the Church toward evan- 
 gelizing the world, and the deficiency of instru- 
 ments, which investigations on the subject have 
 brought to light, have proved the necessity of 
 new eflforts to furnish men well qualified to ac- 
 complish the great object. It was soon found 
 that there were not enough among the sons of 
 those who had the ability to educate their own 
 children, to supply the wants of the Church and 
 the world. Either such were not converted to 
 God, and hence not morally qualified for such 
 a work; or, they could not be brought to en- 
 gage in it. And hence the necessity of seek- 
 ing those who had a mind for the work, but 
 had not the means to educate themselves. 
 There may be divine sovereignty in this. " The 
 poor have the Gospel preached unto them." 
 " Not many wise men after the flesh, not many 
 mighty, not many noble are called." But there 
 certainly is divine wisdom in it. " The heat and 
 burden of the day," require not a race of men 
 who have been delicately brought up, or who 
 have fared sumptuously — but who know what 
 it is to want and labour. If the rich will not 
 
MISSIONS. 2? 
 
 give their sons to Christ for this work, they 
 ought not to think it hard to be called upon to 
 assist in training substitutes for supplying their 
 lack of service in this holy warfare. The 
 work must be done. 
 
 But whatever the cause, the systematic 
 training of men for this service, by the associat- 
 ed efforts of many, is peculiar to this age. And 
 no where has the subject excited as much in- 
 terest, or occasioned as much exertion, as in 
 our country. Almost every denomination of 
 Christians has felt the necessity of engaging in 
 the work. While they have " prayed the Lord 
 of the harvest to send labourers into the har- 
 vest," they have endeavoured to show their 
 faith by their works. No small part of this 
 field has been cultivated by Presbyterian and 
 Congregational hands. For a length of time 
 the American Education Society, principally 
 composed of Congregationalists, with a flourish- 
 ing auxiliary in the Presbyterian Church, took 
 the lead in this important work, until the Pres- 
 byterian Church, for the safety and purity of 
 her own institutions, found it necessary to pro- 
 secute the work more extensively and vigorous- 
 ly in her distinctive character. She found 
 from experience, that w^hosoever should edu- 
 cate her ministry, and direct her missionary 
 operations, must, as a matter of course, control 
 
28 LECTURE I. 
 
 her institutions. Being of age, she felt as if 
 she could, and might, under God, assume the 
 direction of her own affairs, by the appoint- 
 ment of a Board of Education, although some 
 of her own children think she has not yet come 
 to the years of discretion, and had better re- 
 main under " tutors and governors." 
 
 These two denominations have generally, for 
 a few years past, kept by this means about 
 fifteen hundred young men in a course of train- 
 ing for the Gospel ministry. How many have 
 been patronized by other denominations, I 
 know not, but probably as many as they 
 thought necessary for their purposes, or felt 
 able to assist. The number has probably not 
 been small. Thus it will be found that a large, 
 and unprecedented number have, within a few 
 years, by the contributions and prayers of the 
 Church, been consecrated to this holy and im- 
 portant cause — enough to mark this as a pecu- 
 liarity of the age in which we live, and a pro- 
 minent sign of the times, promising the most 
 important results. Nay — it has already had 
 important results, for many of the pastors of 
 the churches, and some of the noblest men in 
 the Missionary field, have thus been trained 
 for their work — men, who would have been 
 left in obscurity, and comparative uselessness, 
 but for such means of education. The prose- 
 
MISSIONS. 29 
 
 cution of this work promises to bless the world 
 for a long time to come. 
 
 The Temperance cause is another of the signs 
 of the tir/ies, which bears with tremendous 
 weight upon the interests of souls, and the 
 cause of God on earth. The evil of intemper- 
 ance had become very extensive and destructive, 
 and no Avhere more so than in those countries 
 which had made the greatest progress in civi- 
 lization, and the cultivation of the arts and 
 sciences, not even excepting those in which 
 the Gospel was enjoyed in the greatest purity, 
 and had exercised the happiest influence. Such 
 has been the demand for alcoholic drinks, that 
 not only had the fruit of the vine, and the 
 apple been perverted, but the very staff" of life, 
 our choicest bread stuffs, were transmuted into 
 liquid poison, and made the destroyers of that 
 life, which God made them to sustain, and nour- 
 ish. This tide of destruction has rolled not 
 only over this land, but over the greater part 
 of Europe, and has not improbably been an 
 engine of greater destruction to happiness and 
 life than the wars which have arisen out of 
 the French revolution ; and men have evinced 
 to it as much attachment as the soldiers of 
 Bonaparte did to the glory of their Emperor, 
 or the plunder of the nations. In our own 
 country, this demon is, Avith good reason, sup- 
 
30 LECTUREl. 
 
 posed to have destroyed more than thirty 
 thousand lives annually, at an expense of a 
 hundred millions of dollars, besides the misery 
 it has occasioned to wives and widows, and 
 children, and orphans, and the ruin irretriev- 
 able and eternal, which it has brought upon 
 souls; for nothing good or holy can abide 
 with intemperance. 
 
 Temperance societies have been designed to 
 arrest the progress of this evil, and, if possible, 
 eradicate it ; and their success has been mar- 
 vellous and happy. The amount of good which 
 has been accomplished, has been incalculable ; 
 but much, very much remains to be done; and 
 if the cause shall be prosecuted with the dili- 
 gence which its high importance demands, and 
 the law of kindness and love shall dwell upon 
 the lips of its advocates, and it shall not be 
 made a substitute for religion, pure and unde- 
 filed before God and the Father, and be com- 
 mitted to the blessing of the " Father of Lights," 
 who alone is able to crown it with victory, it 
 will go on, and prosper, and be one of the chief 
 glories of this age, and one of the greatest bless- 
 ings of the following. Christians, however, must 
 take a much deeper interest in it than they have 
 as yet done, or God will rebuke them by crown- 
 ing the world with the honour of achieving this 
 blessed reformation. The work will be done. 
 
MISSIONS. 31 
 
 It is one of the signs of the times, which ought 
 to be studied with close and interested attention. 
 Its bearing on the cause of Christ is direct and 
 important. 
 
 Another sign of the times is, the attention 
 which has been paid to the education of the 
 rising generation, particularly by means of In- 
 fant and Sabbath schools. The former is a 
 proof of the well founded sentiment, that a child 
 is susceptible of what is properly denominated, 
 education, at a much earlier period than was 
 formerly imagined; and the latter, that the 
 young mind may not only receive intellectual 
 culture at a very early period, but become ac- 
 quainted with the truths of religion, and be sav- 
 ingly influenced by them. It is no uncommon 
 thing for children of seven or eight years of age 
 to have received more mental cultivation than 
 we formerly looked for at twelve or thirteen. 
 What is now common^ was once thought a pro- 
 digy in the development of mind. The history 
 of our Sunday schools furnishes us with multi- 
 tudes of well authenticated instances of saving 
 conversion, at ages which would formerly have 
 been deemed miraculous. Would time permit, 
 I could detail to you many well attested facts 
 on the subject, some of which have fallen under 
 my own observation. I will, however, only re- 
 mark, that I have been well acquainted with at 
 
32 LECTUREI. 
 
 least one instance of conversion between five 
 and six years of age, and that I have known a 
 child of nine years of age, better acquainted with 
 the doctrines of religion, and the system of sal- 
 vation by Jesus Christ, than two-thirds of the 
 members of most of our churches. 
 
 Now, when it is remembered, how early edu- 
 cation is commenced — what multitudes are en- 
 joying the benefit of Sabbath schools, and how 
 the system is disseminating itself with the Gos- 
 pel in every part of the world; and connect it 
 with the promises of God, and the other signs 
 of these latter days, may it not be noted as 
 one of the striking characteristics of the age 
 in which we live ? One of the beacon lights 
 which God is hano^insr out from heaven to show 
 US where we are, and teach us what he expects 
 us to do to promote his cause. Perhaps there 
 is nothing of higher promise connected with 
 the use of means, and allied to the promise, 
 " They shall be all taught of God," than the 
 instruction provided for the young in the in- 
 stitutions of which I am speaking. What a 
 day will that be for our world when all the 
 children and youth on earth shall be duly in- 
 structed in the knowleds^e of God and salva- 
 tion, and that instruction shall be sanctified, as 
 we hope it will be, to all who receive it. 
 
MISSIONS. 33 
 
 Suffer me, before I dismiss the branch of the 
 subject which has engaged our attention this 
 evening, to make a remark or two suggested 
 by it. I say, "Branch of the subject," for 
 there remain a number of interesting and im- 
 portant particulars to which, if the Lord spare 
 us, your attention will be directed in future 
 months. 
 
 In the first place, I remark, that there are 
 probably embodied in the particulars which 
 have been mentioned, most of the instrumen- 
 taUties which God will employ, through the 
 sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, to 
 subdue the world to the obedience of faith; and 
 that the means now exist in the Church to carry 
 this great purpose of the divine love and mercy 
 into ample effect. There are men enough now 
 in the Church to preach the Gospel to every 
 creature. There are a sufficiency of talents 
 and wealth in the Church to prepare the Scrip- 
 tures, and put them into the hands of every 
 family on earth, in their own living language, 
 in the course of a few years. Where would 
 be the difficulty of flooding the earth with 
 evangelical tracts? And wherever Mission- 
 aries have carried the Gospel, and planted the 
 Church, they have hitherto been able to estab- 
 lish the Sabbath school. The abandonment of 
 unnecessary and destructive drinks alone would 
 
34 
 
 LECTURE I 
 
 more than furnish the necessary funds. What 
 then is necessary to accomplish the great and 
 glorious object? Piety — Religion enough to 
 consecrate ourselves and all that we have and 
 are, to Him " who spared not his own Son, but 
 delivered him up for us all," and has promised, 
 " freely to give us all things with him." Thus 
 God is showing us how this great work may 
 be accomplished. 
 
 2. Why is he hanging out this great sign of 
 the Son of Man before our eyes? That we 
 may observe and study its meaning, and learn 
 our duty, while the Son of God exhibits him- 
 self to our view, as ready to go before us in the 
 work, and render our feeble efforts efficacious 
 by the power of his Spirit and grace. To tell 
 us that the time has come, and rebuke our unbe- 
 lief and delay. Would he thus raise the cloud 
 from off the tabernacle of the congregation, if he 
 had not come to lead us onward to Canaan? We 
 can scarcely open the mouth in prayer, before 
 he answers us. Wheresoever we sow the seed 
 he causes it to spring up and bear fruit. If 
 we are still afraid to go on, and possess the 
 land, he will turn us back to wander in the 
 wilderness, and leave our bones to perish there ; 
 and when we, an unbelieving generation, are 
 dead, our children shall go in, and possess the 
 land. He thus rebukes our unbelief of the pro- 
 
MISSIONS. 35 
 
 mises which relate to the kingdom of Christ, 
 and the latter day glory, our blindness to those 
 signs of promise which are exhibited before our 
 eyes, and our tardiness of obedience to his 
 word, and in following the leadings of his pro- 
 vidence, which are all encouraging us to hope 
 for the speedy subjection of the world to the 
 cross of Christ, if his people have faith and 
 courage enough to undertake the work. 
 
 3. By this great sign, in some one of its as- 
 pects, every follower of Christ, however hum- 
 ble, may find some way in which he may be 
 usefully employed for the promotion of the 
 glory of God, and the welfare of our race. 
 The field of operation is so wide that none 
 need be idle. In some one of its allotments 
 he may find a spot which he may advantage- 
 ously cultivate, if only he has a mind for the 
 work. "The field is the world" — and if we 
 have but one talent, we may find a spot where 
 it may be usefully bestowed. Tell me, is there 
 nothing which you can do for the promotion of 
 the cause of Missions, or Bibles, or Tracts, or 
 Sunday schools, or Education, or Temperance ? 
 If in all this variety of means for promoting 
 the cause of God and souls, you can do no- 
 thing, you must be poor indeed in intellect, and 
 property, and poorer still in piety and heart. 
 
36 LECTUREl . M I S S I O N S . 
 
 We can all do somethings and God is loudly 
 calling us to the work both by his Word and 
 providence. " Can ye not discern the signs of 
 the times?" 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES ? 
 
 In opening this subject, on a former occasion, 
 it was remarked, that every age had some 
 signs, or aspects which were peculiar to it- 
 self; and these might be considered as en- 
 signs, hung out by God to be observed and 
 studied by men, for their edification. Such 
 was the case when the Saviour ministered on 
 earth. The lines of divine providence were strik- 
 ingly drawn, and highly significant, but they 
 seem not to have been observed by the Jewish 
 people, and Christ rebuked them for their blind- 
 ness and inattention in our text. They were 
 more 'inexcusable, because these signs were the 
 fulfilment of their ow^n Scriptures. 
 
 It was also remarked that the present day 
 had its signs, and that God designed to in- 
 struct this generation by them. It w^as also 
 intimated that these signs were manifold and 
 instructive, and that it was my design, in the 
 selection of this subject, to call your attention 
 to them from time to time. A single one, 
 which was stated in these words, " The great 
 
 4 
 
38 LECTUREII. 
 
 and successful efforts made to spread abroad 
 among mankind the Gospel of Christ and its 
 blessed influences," was at that time consider- 
 ed. Your attention was particularly directed 
 to the establishment and operation of Bible, 
 Missionary, Tract, Education, and Temperance 
 Societies, and Infant and Sabbath schools, as 
 bearing upon this one great object, happily cal- 
 culated to facilitate its accomplishment, and 
 furnishing means of usefulness to all God's 
 people. 
 
 II. I now proceed to direct your attention to 
 the subject of Education. A distinguished Bri- 
 tish statesman, after the second abdication 
 of Napoleon, and his seclusion in the island 
 of St. Helena, when Europe was enjoying a 
 profound peace, and a deep anxiety pervaded 
 the minds of all its rulers to maintain and 
 confirm it, and when most men supposed that 
 it would be permanent, remarked either doubt- 
 ingly or prophetically in the British Parlia- 
 ment, " The schoolmaster is abroad in the 
 land," anticipating another struggle, waged 
 upon other principles, more extensive, fierce, 
 and decisive, than that which had been brought 
 to its issue at Waterloo. 
 
 But however this may be, " The schoolmas- 
 ter is abroad in the earth." In few countries, 
 if any on earth, has education been as widely 
 diffused, as in our own. New England has 
 
EDUCATION. 
 
 3» 
 
 ong been proverbial for the number and ex- 
 cellency of its schools. Few, or none of its 
 children need be destitute of a common English 
 education. New York has followed close in 
 its wake, if still behind. Pennsylvania has 
 waked up to this important subject, and New 
 Jersey is treading on its heels. Ohio is scarce- 
 ly second to any out of New England. Ken- 
 tucky and Tennessee are alive to the subject; 
 and in most of the more recent States, reserva- 
 tions of land furnish a foundation for the estab- 
 lishment of a common school system. And 
 this system is believed to be so homogeneous 
 to our political institutions, and so necessary 
 to their development and permanency, that it 
 will establish itself in our Southern States, not- 
 withstanding all the difficulties connected with 
 the case. It is not improbable that in the 
 course of a few years, such a system will have 
 a legal estabhshment, and successful operation, 
 in every State in the union, a consummation 
 ardently desired, and anxiously sought by eve- 
 ry patriot and Christian. 
 
 But the interest excited by the subject has 
 by no means been confined to this country. 
 Education is as widely spread in despotic 
 Prussia, as in this land of liberty, and per- 
 haps not less so in Scotland. In England and 
 France it is extending itself. And there are 
 
40 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 few countries of Europe where it is not extend- 
 ing itself with more or less rapidity. So w^her- 
 ever the Christian religion is spreading by 
 means of missionary operations, does the mis- 
 sionary establish schools, and the natives, who 
 are uninfluenced by religious considerations, 
 are to some extent following the example. 
 The attention of men has been extensively 
 awakened to the importance of the subject, 
 and is acting under an impulse which will 
 eventually, and probably at no very remote 
 day, pervade every community on earth. And 
 the facility for carrying on the work is very 
 greatly increased in every thickly populated 
 country, by the comparatively recent invention 
 of the Lancasterian or monitorial mode of in- 
 struction, by which a few can now perform the 
 w^ork which formerly required the labour of 
 many. 
 
 I am not in possession of a sufficiency of 
 statistics on the subject to give you a correct 
 or adequate idea of its progress, and this pro- 
 bably would not be the place to do it. We do, 
 however, know that it is engaging the attention 
 of men to a much wider extent than it ever 
 did, and from its very nature, must spread, per- 
 haps till it shall pervade every community on 
 earth. That the subject is important is univer- 
 sally admitted, but to what extent, and in what 
 
EDUCATION. 41 
 
 manner, it is to affect the minds, or hearts, or 
 affairs of men, who can tell ? That the univer- 
 sal diffusion of education among all the dwell- 
 ers on earth will produce vast changes in our 
 world is justly anticipated by all who have 
 any tolerable acquaintance with the nature of 
 man, and the history of our world. The 
 maxim that " Intelligence is the life of liberty," 
 and the fact that a portion of the inhabitants 
 of our country are studiously excluded from all 
 intellectual cultivation, and to a lamentable ex- 
 tent, moral also, sufficiently evinces the im- 
 portance which is attached to the subject in 
 this land. 
 
 That the effects of education will partake 
 quite as much of its nature and properties, as of 
 its amount, is susceptible of a moral demonstra- 
 tion by an induction of facts. It is, for instance, 
 true, that the arts which embellish life, and the 
 literature and science, which expand, strengthen, 
 and adorn the mind of man, were never more 
 extensively or successfully taught in Greece, 
 than in the age which immediately preceded 
 the overthrow of her republican institutions, 
 the extinction of her liberties, and the com- 
 mencement of a downward career, from which, 
 after the revolution of twenty centuries, she 
 has scarcely begun to recover. When were 
 the arts and sciences in the zenith of their 
 
 4* 
 
42 LECTURE II. 
 
 glory at Rome ? In the death struggle of the 
 republic, and the commencement of her impe- 
 rial career. The Augustan age is proverbial. 
 Knowledge had never been more successfully 
 cultivated or widely diffused in France, than 
 when her population, like a horde of barba- 
 rians, immersed all her own institutions in 
 blood, and rolled, like a wave of destruction, 
 over Europe. Facts of this description, if not 
 quite so striking, might still be multiplied. 
 And it would be highly instructive and useful 
 to study them with close attention. They 
 might furnish us with many a lesson of prac- 
 tical wisdom which it would be worth our 
 while to learn. The universal cultivation of 
 the human mind might raise a race of giants on 
 our earth. But it is to be feared that some of 
 them might be blind, and use their great 
 strength in destroying their fellows; and the 
 residue combine their energies in a vain at- 
 tempt to scale the heavens and dethrone God. 
 
 This stone, and it is neither of diminitive 
 magnitude, nor of small weight, has been set in 
 motion, not only in this land, but in many 
 others, under circumstances, strongly indica- 
 tive of rapid movement, and a long extended 
 course. I take it for granted that education 
 will progress in our country. Such is our 
 state, and such the feelings of the American 
 
EDUCATION. 43 
 
 people on the subject, that the schoolmaster 
 will find his way into every part of our widely 
 extended country, and fiilfil his office wherever 
 he shall go, even when our population shall be 
 four times doubled. And I doubt not some- 
 thing like this will take place in other parts of 
 the world, if not throughout the whole of it^ 
 And I so judge from the thirst of mankind for 
 knowledge, the increased, increasing, and easy 
 intercourse, for commercial or religious pur- 
 poses, and the anxious desire of some to com- 
 municate the knowledge which they possess, to 
 others. This appears to me to be one of the 
 clearest signs of the times in which we live. 
 May we not almost call it an article of Ame- 
 rican faith ? We are fond of anticipating the 
 day as not very distant, when all the nations 
 of the earth shall enjoy civil and religious liber- 
 ty, and their institutions be formed after the 
 model of our own ? And who that dreams of 
 such a consummation, but connects it in his 
 mind with the cultivation of the intellect by 
 education, and the communication of the ne- 
 cessary knowledge on all the subjects connect-/" 
 ed with it ? 
 
 That the diffusion of education is to make 
 wonderful and important changes in our world, 
 no one, who has any knowledge on the sub- 
 ject, can, even for a moment, doubt. But who 
 
44 LECTUREII. 
 
 can tell what their nature and extent will be ? 
 Only He who knows the end from the begin- 
 ning. That it will very deeply affect both the 
 minds and hearts of men, the state of families, 
 the ordinary intercourse of life, the intercourse 
 between nations, the habits of life, the frame- 
 work of society, and pubhc institutions, both 
 civil and religious, admits of no dispute. The 
 changes will be deep and radical, but their 
 nature and properties, will, under God, depend 
 upon the nature and qualities of the education 
 which shall be communicated. Men do not 
 gather grapes from thorns^ nor Jigs from thistles. 
 Mere intellectual culture never did make men 
 wise or good — never did fit them to fill up the 
 various relations which they sustain to God 
 and each other in a manner calculated to pro- 
 mote the best interests of all concerned. Satan 
 has a gigantic intellect. His angels are his 
 compeers. They have been increasing in in- 
 telligence from their creation. The most high- 
 ly educated among the sons of men on earth, 
 would not, probably, in this respect, compare 
 with the meanest imp of darkness who has 
 been blighted and scathed by the wrath of God. 
 But there is neither society, nor government, 
 nor bliss in hell. The fathers of the French re- 
 volution comprised the very elite of the eigh- 
 teenth century for mind, for cultivation, and in- 
 
EDUCATION. 4& 
 
 telligence. Every known art and science was 
 cultivated by them to the utmost extent, and 
 they laboured industriously to infuse their own 
 intelligence into the public mind of France. 
 And what was the result ? A Babel — a gen- 
 eral overthrow — confusion — blood — misery. — 
 Beautiful France made into a slaughter-house — 
 changed into a Golgotha.. The politest na- 
 tion on earth became the murderers of their 
 race. Every nation around them was robbed 
 of the fruits of the arts, to prove that the 
 French were the best educated and most polish- 
 ed people on earth. 
 
 Take another example. The people of Hin- 
 dostan are among the most ignorant, supersti- 
 tious, degraded, and immoral people on earth. 
 They are, however, said to possess fine capa- 
 cities for improvement. They are now, as you 
 know, and for some time have been, subjected to 
 the authority and control of the British govern- 
 ment. Influenced either by a desire to do 
 good to this people, or finding it necessary to 
 educate some of them, that they might employ 
 them advantageously in their affairs, they es- 
 tablished a Hindoo College in the vicinity of 
 Calcutta. At this institution a number of young 
 men, probably of respectable connexions and 
 talents have been educated. They have been 
 trained in the knowledge of the literature and 
 
46 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 sciences of Europe, in addition to the languages 
 of India. The consequence has been, great 
 intellectual improvement, together with great 
 contempt for, and abandonment of, the super- 
 stitious notions and practices of their own 
 country. It should here be remarked, that all 
 religious instruction, particularly all connected 
 with the Christian religion, w^as, for fear of 
 shocking the minds of the pupils and their con- 
 nexions, and prevent them from embracing the 
 advantages of the institution, carefully excluded 
 from its walls. And what has been the con- 
 sequence ? The rearing of a race of intellec- 
 tual Atheists. The lights of literature and 
 science dissipated their superstition. It expos- 
 ed the follies and absurdities which they had 
 been taught in childhood and early youth, with- 
 out offering them any thing better in its stead, 
 and left them to verify Paul's declaration, 
 " The world by wisdom knew not God." Suf- 
 fer me to illustrate my position by a few ex- 
 tracts from a speech delivered by Dr. Duff, a 
 Scottish Missionary from India, in the General 
 Assembly of the Church of Scotland, in 1835. 
 If you can lay your hands on the whole speech, 
 its perusal will abundantly repay you. " Now, 
 (says he) let us advert to some of the modes 
 of overcoming difficulties like those now stated. 
 I have already shown that the communication 
 
EDUCATION. 47 
 
 of useful knowledge will demolish the ancient 
 learning and religion of Hindostan. On this 
 subject a grand experiment has been made at 
 the expense of the British government in the 
 metropolis of India. About eighteen years 
 ago there was founded, in Calcutta, a college 
 for educating Hindoo youths, in the literature 
 and science of Europe, apart from religion. 
 The seminary has been attended chiefly by 
 persons of rank, wealth, and influence in so- 
 ciety. Here then was a favourable opportu- 
 nity of ascertaining the power of European 
 knowledge, when brought .in contact with the 
 system of Hindooism. The result was pre- 
 cisely such as any one duly acquainted with 
 the subject would confidently anticipate. For 
 the last ten years, class after class has issued 
 forth from this institution, who, by the course 
 of enlightened study pursued, were made alive 
 to the gross absurdities of their own systems. 
 These, therefore, they boldly denounced as 
 masses of imposture and debasing error, and 
 the Brahmans as deceivers of the people? 
 though many of themselves belong to that ex- 
 alted and sacred class. But no morals or reli- 
 gion having been taught in the institution, the 
 young men were in a state of mind utterly 
 blank as regards mora] and religious truth, or 
 moral and religious obligation. They were infi- 
 
48 X E C T U R E II. 
 
 dels or sceptics of the most perfect kind, believing 
 in nothing, believing not even in the existence of 
 a Deity, and glorying in their unbelief. Still, their 
 infidelity was of a negative, rather than a posi- 
 tive kind. It was not the hardened infidelity 
 of those who have apostatized from the true re- 
 ligion, but the looser infidelity of minds that 
 had become emptied of a false one. Truth was 
 w^ith them, not a thing positively rejected, but 
 a thing undiscovered, unknown, and therefore 
 not believed. To this class of persons much 
 attention was directed some years ago, and I 
 refer to their case as illustrative of one of the 
 modes of accomplishing our great end. Of the 
 existence of this class I knew nothing, because 
 I had heard nothing, when I first reached my 
 destination. With them and their condition I 
 got acquainted by degrees, visiting the college 
 and conversing with them — meeting with them 
 in government offices and agency houses, as 
 clerks and copyists — and attending various as- 
 sociations which they had formed for debating 
 questions of a literary or political character. 
 In this way I gradually became familiar with 
 their peculiar state of mind — their habitude of 
 thought — their modes of reasoning — their pre- 
 vailing opinions, with the staple of their know- 
 ledge — the subjects that were found most in- 
 teresting, and the kinds of argument and evi- 
 
EDUCATION. 49 
 
 dence that proved to them most satisfactory. 
 All subjects seemed to be more or less tolerat- 
 ed but religion. Against religion in every form 
 they raged and raved. They scrupled not to 
 scoff at Christianity, they scrupled not to dis- 
 avow their disbelief in the very being of a God — 
 thus reahzing the condition of men, described 
 by an ancient author, who " Fled from super- 
 stition, leapt over religion, and sunk into athe- 
 ism." 
 
 Such is the testimony of a competent and 
 highly intelligent witness, who had the best op- 
 portunities for judging of what mere intellec- 
 tual cultivation will do towards fitting us for 
 usefulness on earth, and glory in heaven. Let 
 it not be said that these were mere stupid ig- 
 norant Hindoos. Nothing can be wider of the 
 truth than such an opinion. Thus, our author, 
 with the best opportunities of forming a just 
 estimate, describes them. " Having in my for- 
 mer intercourse found that, from the metaphy- 
 sical cast of mind among the higher orders of 
 Hindoos, these young men had studied our 
 writers on mental philosophy with peculiar de- 
 light, that several of them had mastered the 
 works of Reid, and Stewart, and Brown, and 
 Locke, in such a way as I do not remember 
 the majority of students attending moral phi- 
 losophy classes in our universities to have for- 
 
 5 
 
50 LECTUREII. 
 
 merly mastered them, I had recourse, as a last 
 resort, to a mixed mode of representing what 
 has been termed the a priori, or a metaphysi- 
 cal argument for the being of an intelligent First 
 Cause. The young men, for the most part, de- 
 clared, " We now believe there is a great First 
 Cause, the intelligent Author of all things." 
 Such were these men, and such the effect of 
 mere education, or intellectual culture, upon 
 them. 
 
 I am strongly tempted to make you ac- 
 quainted with the mode and results of the la- 
 bours of this highly gifted servant of Christ 
 with these young intellectual atheists of India, 
 but time and the particular object I have in 
 view this evening, forbid it. Enough, how- 
 ever, has appeared from well authenticated 
 facts, to prove that the mere cultivation of in- 
 tellect, or what is understood by mere educa- 
 tion, is very far from fitting man even for the 
 filling up in the best manner his earthly rela- 
 tions, much more those higher relations which 
 bind him morally to his fellows, and his God. 
 It is in danger of blotting out the hopes of his 
 immortality, the higher and true style of his 
 nature, and reducing him to the ultimate level 
 of the brutes which perish. 
 
 I may here be asked, are you the advocate 
 of ignorance ? Would you deprive the rising. 
 
EDUCATION. 51 
 
 and following generations of mental culture? 
 Would you close up our schools, academies, 
 and colleges? Would you take from the 
 schoolmaster his vocation? Not at all — I 
 would increase their number — I would elevate 
 the character of intellectual cultivation — I 
 would, however, make this sign of our times a 
 bow of promise in our heavens, and not a bale- 
 ful meteor, portending ruin and death. I 
 would not entrust the fortunes of our country, 
 and of our race, to the mere schoolmaster — the 
 man of mere figures and letter s» It is all idle 
 and vain, and worse than either, to attempt to 
 train the immortal mind as if it were a mere 
 intellectual spark to be blown into a flame, 
 which will be for ever extinguished by the cold 
 damps of death. 
 
 Am I again asked. Are not the institutions 
 of this land the fruit of mental culture ? Were 
 not the fathers of our country men of educa- 
 tion and intelligence ? Is not intelligence the 
 life of liberty ? Is there a hope that the other 
 nations of the earth will ever be thus blessed, 
 unless the mass of the people are educated? 
 I admit all you can say in favour of education. 
 I bless God that the schoolmaster is abroad. 
 May his company become a regiment, a brig- 
 ade, a well organized and numerous army. 
 
 Still, let it be remembered, that the fathers 
 
52 LECTUREII. 
 
 of our country were as distinguished for their 
 high virtue, rehgious knowledge, and evange- 
 hcal purity, as for their mental cultivation and 
 intelligence- They had their schools from the 
 beginning; but the schoolmaster stood before 
 his pupils with the book of God in his hand, 
 and the young mind received a large portion of 
 its intellence from the pages of inspiration. 
 Thus were the men trained who formed our in- 
 stitutions. These had all received their " form 
 and pressure" before French infidelity had ban- 
 ished the Bible from our schools. We should 
 wait long before we should receive such insti- 
 tutions from the boasted intelligence of men 
 who have been educated under different auspi- 
 ces. And God knows whether the institutions 
 which were thus built up under the divine 
 smiles, would have endured to the present day, 
 if the Lord had not corrected our folly, and 
 saved us from its consequences, by the estab- 
 lishment of Sabbath schools, thus bringing our 
 children and youth into the connexion of God's 
 instructions, from which they had been exclud- 
 ed by the banishment of the divine oracles from 
 our primary schools. May the correction be 
 received with humility and thankfulness, and 
 the lesson not be lost upon us. 
 
 We owe much to education, but more to 
 the Father of our spirits, who has blessed us 
 
EDUCATION. 53 
 
 with the light of the Sun of Righteousness. 
 But we owe nothing to infidehty. We should 
 have waited long enough for such institutions 
 as we enjoy, if we had expected to derive them 
 from such a source. The ordering of our lot 
 has been marvellous both with respect to 
 time and circumstances. I consider it among 
 the special mercies of God that this country 
 was not colonized until the Reformation had 
 obtained a firm footing in Europe, and brought 
 our fathers here enlightened by the truth and 
 grace of God. Otherwise we should have close- 
 ly resembled Mexico, and the South American 
 states. The Spaniards were as enlightened then 
 as the English, in every thing excepting the 
 knowledge of salvation. It was a circumstance 
 no less merciful that our revolution was achiev- 
 ed, while the infidelity which has since deluged 
 Europe, and shaped its revolutions, was mainly 
 confined to its higher and educated circles, and 
 had scarcely reached even that class here. If 
 that great event had been delayed even a quarter 
 of a century^ the result 7night, and probably would 
 have been very different. At all events the 
 revolutions through which other nations have 
 subsequently passed, have had very different 
 results. In no one instance have they resulted 
 in the establishment of institutions which have 
 fulfilled the wishes, and realized the hopes of 
 
 5* 
 
54 LECTUREII. 
 
 the enlightened friends of hberty, order, and 
 rehgion. Look at France, Spain, Portugal, 
 Naples, Mexico, and the South American 
 States. They have all passed through revolu- 
 tions, and some of them through several. And 
 now, tell me, upon which of these countries 
 does your eye rest with complacency? Of 
 which of all of them would you say. There do 
 I desire to dwell ? Many of them are fair, fer- 
 tile, and salubrious. But which of them will 
 bear a favourable comparison with this land of 
 your birth or adoption ? 
 
 And whence arises the difference? I will 
 tell you, and I challenge contradiction. Here 
 only was there religious light to direct and 
 sanctify mere knowledge. This, of all of 
 them, was the only land of Bibles. No where 
 else did the young receive the knowledge of 
 God, pure from the heavenly fountain, with the 
 elements of their education. Our fathers only, 
 of all the men of revolutions, had the grace not 
 only to appeal to God for the rectitude of their 
 intentions, but to put the issue into the hands 
 of the God of the Bible with frequent fasting 
 humiliation, and prayer, and to implore on it 
 continually the healthful spirit of his grace. 
 In this spirit were the foundations of our insti- 
 tutions laid, and under these auspices was the 
 edifice reared. Even men who were not dis- 
 
EDUCATION. 55 
 
 tinguished for piety or religious zeal felt the 
 force of the principle. Hear what Franklin 
 said in the convention which formed the con- 
 stitution under which we still live. It was 
 when that assembly was perplexed, and it seem- 
 ed exceedingly doubtful whether they would be 
 able to agree on any thing. " In this situation 
 of this assembly, groping as it were, in the dark, 
 to find political truth, and scarce able to distin- 
 guish it when presented to us, how has it happen- 
 ed, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought 
 of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to il- 
 luminate our understandings ? In the beginning 
 of the contest with Britain, when we were sensi- 
 ble of danger, we had daily prayers in this room, 
 for the Divine protection ! Our prayers, sir, 
 were heard; and they were graciously answer- 
 ed. All of us, who were engaged in the strug- 
 gle, must have observed frequent instances of a 
 superintending Providence in our favour. To 
 that kind Providence we owe this happy oppor- 
 tunity of consulting in peace on the means of 
 establishing our future national felicity. And 
 have we now forgotten that powerful friend? 
 Or do we imagine we no longer need his assis- 
 tance ? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the 
 longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see 
 of this truth, That God governs in the affairs of 
 men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the 
 
56 LECTURE II. 
 
 ground without his notice, is it probable that 
 an empire can rise without his aid ?" 
 
 You find nothing Hke this in the other revo- 
 lutions to which I have referred. So far as 
 they were loosed from the trammels of Catho- 
 lic superstition, they were imbued with the 
 principles and spirit of infidelity. Such were 
 the Illuminati of France and Germany, the Li- 
 berals of Spain and Portugal, and the Carbo- 
 nari of Italy. The revolutions of Mexico and 
 South America were carried on upon the same 
 principles. God seems to have put the mark 
 of his divine reprobation upon these vain at- 
 tempts; and appears to have established it as 
 an axiom in human affairs, that men shall walk 
 safely and comfortably by no light which they 
 have not borrowed from the Sun of Righteous- 
 ness. My dear hearers, you may educate men 
 as highly as you please — you may rear every 
 man amid the splendours of science — you may 
 pour into every human mind all the lights of 
 literature and science, and deny him the light 
 of revelation, and leave his heart uncultivated 
 by the grace of God, and you make him a 
 blind giant, or arm him with greater power to 
 do evil. This is the law of moral and intellec- 
 tual existence; and the increasing experience 
 of mankind will illustrate and verify it. The 
 
EDUCATION. 57 
 
 perfections and word of God are guarantees of 
 its truth. 
 
 While, therefore, we attach all due import- 
 ance to education, and labour to cultivate our 
 own minds, and facilitate the cause of educa- 
 tion among our fellow creatures to the extent 
 of our ability, let us beware how we en- 
 tertain the vain imagination, that man needs 
 nothing more to fit him for his highest desti- 
 nies, either here or hereafter, than the mere 
 cultivation of his intellect. God has furnished 
 us with a sufficiency of light on the subject, to 
 convince us of the utter fallacy of such a hope. 
 The experiment has been fairly tried, and men 
 need not be deceived on the subject, unless 
 they are wilfully so. It has long ago been de- 
 termined that we shall reap what we sow. Ex- 
 periments enough have been tried to convince 
 the most sceptical. The field has been sown 
 broad-cast with tares, but it has not yielded 
 wheat. The law is as well estabUshed in morals 
 as in nature, that every seed wdll produce fruit 
 after its kind, and if Christian men will consent 
 that infidels shall educate their children, or di- 
 rect their education, let them blame themselves 
 for the unblest results which shall flow from it. 
 Let it not be believed, even for a moment, that 
 because the constitution of our government has 
 wisely guaranteed to every man the rights of 
 
58 LECTUREII. 
 
 conscience, and denied itself all connexion with 
 any sect, that we are therefore a nation of 
 atheists, and that we are on that account 
 bound to banish God and his revealed will from 
 our schools. They had w^ell nigh succeeded 
 some years ago in persuading us that this was a 
 constitutional axiom. Nothing however can be 
 more fallacious. Christian freemen better un- 
 derstand their rights. They know that they are 
 entitled to say what books their children shall 
 read, and in what principles they shall be educat- 
 ed. And if it were not so, infidels would enjoy 
 a constitutional pre-eminence over all others. 
 They would then have the right of pre-occupy- 
 ing the minds of the young, and render the in- 
 troduction of better principles almost hopeless. 
 This, however, can never be conceded under a 
 government of equal laws. 
 
 Let Christians reflect deeply and seriously on 
 this subject. It is not among the least interest- 
 ing of the signs of the times. God has gra- 
 ciously given them a sufficiency of light on this 
 all important subject, to enable them to discern 
 the nature and tendency of the principle, and 
 to understand their own duty with respect to it. 
 He has put this " Salt of the earth" into their 
 keeping, and made them responsible for its pre- 
 servation, and due dissemination. They have 
 it in their power to give a direction and char- 
 
EDUCATION. 59 
 
 acter to education in this land which shall, un- 
 der the Divine blessing, preserve and propagate 
 the knowledge, to the sanctified use of which 
 we are indebted, not only for our liberty, but 
 for those institutions which give to liberty itself 
 its highest value. These can be secured to us 
 by no other means. Constitutions and laws 
 have no binding force without morals, and mo- 
 rals can never be maintained without divine 
 sanctions. The morahty of the Bible itself 
 would not outlive a single generation unless it 
 were sustained in the consciences of men by 
 the authority of God. Christian men can do 
 much to maintain this position, and God and 
 their country's highest interests require it at 
 their hands. And if they can do nothing else, 
 let them see to it that their own children do 
 not lack culture in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord. Piety and patriotism both require 
 this at their hands. 
 
 And let it be distinctly remembered that no 
 time is to be lost. The children have been 
 born, and are probably now receiving their edu- 
 cation, who will exercise a decisive and con- 
 trolling influence over the destinies of our 
 country, and with them, over no small portion 
 of our race. Let them be rightly educated 
 with a view to this high destiny, and the eyes 
 of the nations will not be directed in vain to 
 
60 LECTUREII. 
 
 this country. We shall solve the problems, 
 whether mankind shall enjoy free institutions, 
 and whether the Gospel of Christ can maintain 
 itself in purity and power by its own energy 
 and sanctified use. We are at present empha- 
 tically " the city set on a hill." If we fulfil our 
 high trust, we shall be a glorious example, to 
 be followed by multitudes, and men shall call 
 us blessed. But if we fail, we shall blast some 
 of the fairest hopes which the friends of free- 
 dom and religion have ever entertained. And 
 all experience and observation prove incontes- 
 tably that we shall fail, and miserably fail, un- 
 less the mass of our population early learn the 
 knowledge and fear of the Lord. Mere educa- 
 tion will not save us, nor will it save the world. 
 That high honour God has reserved for his 
 Christ, and no sons of Belial shall share it with 
 him. The world's light must come from hea- 
 ven. Its redemption is by the cross. Diseas- 
 ed human nature will never be cured but by 
 the knowledge of the Son of God, and that 
 knowledge will rarely be received, when the 
 mind and heart have been previously filled 
 with, and perverted by, a mere literary or 
 scientific education. If the people of God will 
 not cast divine salt into these fountains of 
 knowledge to sweeten their bitter waters, they 
 
EDUCATION. 61 
 
 will have their children to drink of the unwhole- 
 some streams till they perish. 
 
 Finally, we may learn from this subject the 
 importance and necessity of sustaining with the 
 utmost vigour, and to the utmost extent, our 
 Sabbath schools. When Christians foolishly, 
 if not wickedly, suffered the Bible and its hal- 
 lowed influences, to be banished from our pri- 
 mary schools, God graciously led to the adop- 
 tion of this system to aid his depressed cause, 
 and counteract the influence of irreligion and 
 infidelity. And no one can tell how much 
 good has been effected by it. It will probably 
 be long before the Bible will again be in gene- 
 ral use in our schools, nor will it be effected 
 without a long and severe struggle. But shall 
 the young be neglected till that object is ef- 
 fected? That would postpone the day indefi- 
 nitely. The Bible will be restored to its place 
 and ascendancy by the hands of those who 
 shall be trained to its love and knowledge in 
 our Sabbath schools. The Church has not yet 
 done half its duty in this field of labour and 
 Christian enterprise. The number of those to 
 be benefitted by this means can easily be not 
 only doubled, but quadrupled. Teachers and 
 scholars can both be obtained, if the necessary 
 exertions are only made. And can the duty 
 be neglected without sin ? It cannot be with- 
 
 6 
 
62 LECTURE II . E D U C A T I O N . 
 
 out inconceivable danger and loss. Let it then 
 be prosecuted with all the zeal and diligence 
 which its importance demands, and let it not be 
 delayed, for the enemy stands ready with his 
 tares. Let the work be done, and speedily, and 
 well done, and the prediction will be the more 
 speedily accomplished, "They shall be all 
 taught of God." 
 
LECTURE. III. 
 
 RECKLESSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OP THE TIMES. 
 
 Most of my audience will probably recollect 
 that their attention has, on two former occa- 
 sions, been directed to the subject, which is to 
 be further prosecuted this evening. On the 
 first of these occasions, the great Missionary 
 aspect of the times was considered. On the se- 
 cond, the subject of Education engaged our at- 
 tention. It appeared that, it had excited a much 
 higher interest, and obtained a much more ex- 
 tensive diffusion among mankind than during 
 any former period of the history of our race; 
 that from the present state of the world, and 
 the general and growing importance which 
 men attached to the subject, it would probably 
 diffuse itself over the whole world; that it will 
 very deeply affect both the minds and hearts 
 of men, the domestic relations, the ordinary in- 
 tercourse of life, the relations between nations, 
 the habits of life, and public institutions, both 
 civil and religious ; that changes, both deep and 
 radical, will be produced, but that their nature 
 
64 LECTUREIII. 
 
 and properties, will, under God, depend upon 
 the nature and qualities of the education which 
 shall be communicated — that mere intellectual 
 culture never did make men wise and good, 
 nor fit them to fill up the various relations 
 which they sustain to God and each other in a 
 manner calculated to promote the best inter- 
 ests of all concerned; that God's revealed will, 
 contained in the sacred Scriptures, must lie at 
 the foundation of all really good education, and 
 that it is the duty, as well as the interest, of 
 all who know its value, to seek its accomplish- 
 ment. I now proceed to direct your atten- 
 tion, 
 
 III. To the small value which is apparently 
 attached to human life in our country. 
 
 Of all mere earthly good, life is the most 
 valuable, and it is so esteemed by men. Hence 
 the dread which men feel about loosing it, and 
 the pains which they take, and the expense 
 which they incur, to preserve it. This proba- 
 bly arises, in no small degree, from the uncer- 
 tainty under which they labour with respect to 
 their , condition after this life, and the connex- 
 ion which they suppose to exist between the 
 manner in which they shall pass their lives 
 here, and their condition hereafter. But, how- 
 ever men may feel or act with respect to the 
 subject, God evidently sets a very high value 
 on human life, and has guarded it by the most 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 65 
 
 solemn sanctions. This was his language to 
 Noah on the subject, immediately after the 
 flood, and was therefore designed to bind all 
 his posterity. " And surely your blood of your 
 lives will I require, at the hand of every beast 
 will I require it, and at the hand of man ; at 
 the hand of every man's brother will I require 
 the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, 
 by man shall his blood be shed; for in the 
 image of God made he man." This principle 
 was afterwards incorporated with the deca- 
 logue. Three exceptions were made to the 
 rule. 1. When a man ignorantly, and without 
 design, was the cause of another's death. 2. 
 When it became absolutely necessary to take 
 the hfe of another for the preservation of one's 
 own life. 3. If a man should slay a thief who 
 attempted to break into his house at night. 
 For such cases the cities of refuge were pro- 
 vided. 
 
 From this it will appear that the law by 
 which God protects human life is an original 
 divine enactment, prior to, and independent of, 
 the Jewish dispensation, and must, therefore, 
 unless God has repealed it, which he has never 
 done, be still in force. It is not to be denied that 
 the Gospel enforces every principle of the mo^ 
 ral law^ and makes provision to sustain it by 
 the highest motives, while it abrogates every 
 
 6^ 
 
66 LECTUREIII. 
 
 thing which was merely ceremonial under the 
 former dispensation. It was objected against 
 the Gospel plan of salvation by grace that it 
 made void the law. To which the Apostle 
 Paul replies, " Do we then make void the law 
 by faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the 
 law." That is, the Gospel provides an ade- 
 quate satisfaction for the penalty of the law by 
 the death of Christ, and secures a better obe- 
 dience on the part of man, by higher motives, 
 from the influence of the grace of God on his 
 heart. And while we admit that the Gospel 
 throws an additional safeguard around the life 
 of man, and renders it greatly more probable 
 that he will regard the interests of his fellow 
 creatures with favour, in proportion to the in- 
 fluence which the grace of God exercises on 
 his heart, we must at the same time deny that 
 it has freed either saint or sinner from the mo- 
 ral obligation of obedience, or the transgressor 
 from the penalty by which God sanctions his 
 law. For what purpose was the law given? 
 Paul tells us in writing to Timothy. " Know- 
 ing this, that the law was not made for a righ- 
 teous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, 
 for the ungodly and for sinners, for ungodly and 
 profane, for murderers of fathers and murder- 
 ers of mothers, for manslayers;" and after enu- 
 merating a number of other crimes, he adds. 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 67 
 
 " And if there be any other thing that is con- 
 trary to sound doctrine, according to the glo- 
 rious Gospel of the blessed God, which was 
 committed to my trust." So that it is plain 
 to the least degree of discernment, that " The 
 glorious Gospel of the blessed God," has not 
 only not abrogated the law, but established it. 
 Nay, the blessed Saviour himself says, " Think 
 not that I am come to destroy the law and 
 the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but 
 to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till hea- 
 ven and earth pass, one jot or title shall in no 
 wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." 
 That is, the moral law shall endure while God 
 and intelligent creatures exist. 
 
 It would then be reasonable to suppose that 
 that branch of the law which guards human 
 life would be respected by men as extensively 
 as they had knowledge of it, particularly where 
 its precepts were inculcated, and its impor- 
 tance and sanctions understood, especially 
 where the great body of the community were 
 intimately connected with the enactment of 
 laws, and equally affected by their character 
 and observance. If this be so, then should 
 human life no where be more sacredly regard- 
 ed, or be considered as surrounded by strong- 
 er safeguards than in the land in which we 
 dwell. 
 
68 LECTUREIII, 
 
 No where else are freer and happier institu- 
 tions enjoyed. We are in the habit of con- 
 sidering the providence of God as having been 
 directly and benignly concerned in their estab- 
 lishment. We view with unfeigned admiration 
 the times selected by God for the discovery 
 and settlement of our country, the revolution 
 which separated us politically from Great Bri- 
 tain, and the formation of our government. 
 If America had been discovered sooner, or the 
 northern part earlier settled, we should proba- 
 bly have been a nation of ignorant and super- 
 stitious Cathohcs. If the revolution and the 
 establishment of our institutions had been only 
 a quarter of a century later, the deleterious in- 
 fluence of infidelity would have been deeply 
 felt, and left its broad mark upon every thing. 
 
 Our federal constitution, with a single ex- 
 ception, recognises and establishes, on the 
 broadest principles, every human right. In no 
 country on earth is so large a proportion of 
 the population so nearly concerned in the en- 
 actment of all laws by which the land is gov- 
 erned, through the extension of the elective 
 franchise. Our laws are, in the main, good 
 and equal, and calculated to promote the in- 
 terests, and secure the rights of all. In no 
 other country have the people a deeper inter- 
 est in maintaining the supremacy of the law, 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 69 
 
 and the administration of equal justice. We 
 are distinguished among the nations of the 
 earth for the extension of education, and the 
 dissemination of intelHgence among the mass 
 of the people. And no people better under- 
 stand, and more highly prize their rights. We 
 also have the sacred Scriptures, that volume 
 of divine wisdom, together with all the ordi- 
 nances and appliances of revealed religion, in 
 as pure a state, and rich abundance, as they 
 have ever been enjoyed on earth. Nor have 
 they been without the divine blessing. And 
 with respect to human life, we know that God 
 has guarded it by an express law, the penalty of 
 which he has declared to be death, and added 
 to it, that no murderer shall inherit the king- 
 dom of heaven, and the law of every State and 
 Territory in this wide spread union denounces 
 the penalty of death against every murderer* 
 And yet it is a fact, that notwithstanding all 
 the light which we enjoy, and all the safe- 
 guards which the laws both of God and man 
 have thrown around human life, a large num- 
 ber of lives are yearly destroyed either by 
 recklessness or violence. 
 
 I have not been able to possess myself of 
 the statistics on the subject, but it is known to 
 all who hear me, that a number perish yearly 
 by steamboats on the waters of our country. 
 
70 LECTUREIII. 
 
 I speak not here of the ordinary dangers and 
 casualties connected with this species of navi- 
 gation, whether on the ocean, or on our lakes 
 and rivers, but of those which arise from the 
 action of fire. Several of these vessels have 
 been destroyed by fire, and with them a con- 
 siderable number of human beings. And ex- 
 plosions, more or less destructive, have been so 
 frequent during the season of navigation, as al- 
 most to be expected as articles of weekly intel- 
 ligence. And unless the destruction of human 
 life has been very extensive, or the circum- 
 stances very peculiar, it has soon passed away 
 with trifling animadversion, been soon forgot- 
 ten, slight investigations as to the cause or 
 blame worthiness have ensued, and but little 
 pains have been taken to guard against the 
 evil in future, whether it has resulted from de- 
 fective construction, or carelessness or reck- 
 lessness on the part of those who have had the 
 management of the concern. Thus have many 
 hundreds of lives been destroyed, and multi- 
 tudes of human beings, in the freshness of their 
 sins, been hurried into the presence of their 
 Maker, to give an account of the deeds done 
 in the body, without time for repentance or 
 warning to prepare. But it seems neither to 
 have diminished this mode of travel, nor to 
 
RECKLESSNESS OP LIFE. 71 
 
 have increased the anxiety of those who were 
 exposed to its dangers. 
 
 And yet, most of the disasters which have 
 occurred have arisen from the inordinate speed 
 with which they have been attempted to be pro- 
 pelled, or, an utter inattention to the state of the 
 machinery. Explosions would rarely, if ever, 
 take place, with a competent quantity of water 
 in the boiler, and that is a fact which, ordina- 
 rily, may easily be ascertained. But, with the 
 love of mastery impelling them, men are often 
 wilfully blind to the true state of the case, or, 
 through the hurry produced by the eageniess of 
 competition, they forget their duty, even when 
 many lives are dependant on it. In most cases, 
 the disasters which occur, arise from these 
 causes. Nor are the managers of these ves- 
 sels the only ones who are to blame. Passen- 
 gers, not only stand by and witness the hazard- 
 ous and reckless competition which takes place, 
 without remonstrance, but they urge them on 
 to more inordinate exertion, even to the point 
 of destruction. Nay, in commencing a journey, 
 they will prefer the master who will wage the 
 strife, and the vessel which promises success in 
 doing it. And where are the restraints which 
 are imposed on the practice, either by public 
 sentiment, or by law? 
 
 This is one of the evil spirits of the age in 
 
72 LECTUREIII. 
 
 which we Hve, which needs to be allayed; one of 
 the portentous signs of these times ; one of the 
 forms of hurry into which the human mind has 
 been thrown, and under the influence of which it 
 is driving headlong, at every object which pre- 
 sents itself to view, without regard to duty or 
 consequences. Think it not strange, therefore, 
 that a minister of the Gospel should rebuke this 
 spirit from the heights of Zion, when it has 
 brought the guilt of so much blood upon a land 
 so deeply indebted to the Divine goodness as 
 ours. I refer to the subject, to show that hu- 
 man life is valued among us at a low rate, in- 
 ducing greatly less care of it than its impor- 
 tance demands. Such accidents, (as they are 
 called,) as occur, almost weekly, on our West- 
 ern waters, without giving rise to legal investi- 
 gation, or stroiig animadversion in the public 
 prints, would, in almost every other civilized 
 country, occasion the closest legal inquiry, and 
 be frequently followed by condign punishment. 
 Here, even the public press, which boasts so 
 high a degree of independence, can, with diffi- 
 culty, be brought to publish well authenticated 
 statements of facts, where influential individuals 
 or companies are concerned. For this reason, 
 no wholesome public sentiment can be formed 
 on the subject, which would constrain public 
 functionaries to do their duty. 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 73 
 
 A still more distressing and alarming feature, 
 in this sign of the times, may be found in the 
 lawless violence with which indviduals and com- 
 panies assail each other's lives, and the rareness 
 with which it is followed by adequate punish- 
 ment. In a country of laws^ and boasting itself, 
 on that account, to be the happiest and freest 
 on earth, many constitute themselves their own 
 law, and judge, and executioner of their own 
 passionate and bloody purposes. You will rea- 
 dily call to mind the Vicksburg tragedy. It is 
 true, the unhappy sufferers were only a com- 
 pany of gamblers, and the actors professed to 
 be influenced by a desire to maintain the virtue 
 and safety of the youth upon whom the harpies 
 were preying. But who would, or could, live 
 in a community, the very virtue of which was 
 thus lawless and bloody? And how ready were 
 they, in other places, to follow the unblest ex- 
 ample, and wdth what difficulty were they re- 
 strained? It seemed as if a sympathetic spirit 
 pervaded the land about those days. Baltimore 
 was without law or order for several days, nor 
 were they restored till several lives were lost. 
 The same spirit gave rise to the burning of the 
 convent at Charlestown, in Massachusetts, and 
 the election and flour mobs in New York. 
 Even our own peaceful city, as you know, was, 
 for several nights, in so disturbed a state as to 
 
 7 
 
74 LECTUREIII. 
 
 excite deep and serious alarm. Strong appre- 
 hensions even began to be entertained by the 
 friends of order throughout our land, that the 
 time was rapidly passing away when every man 
 could sit in peace under his own vine and fig- 
 tree, without any to molest or make him afraid. 
 And, when we began to hope that this foul 
 spirit had departed, we became painfully con- 
 vinced of his presence and influence, at Alton — 
 the more painfully, because a minister of the 
 Gospel, and of our own Church, died there, " as 
 a fool dieth," with arms in his hands, which he 
 had, a few moments before, probably used 
 against a fellow creature. These things are cal- 
 culated to humble us before God, as they have dis- 
 graced us before the civilized world. Our blessed 
 institutions, themselves, have been impugned on 
 account of it, and our citizens have been ob- 
 liged to hang their heads in shame and mortifi- 
 cation before foreigners, who attribute it all to 
 those very institutions. And, what is worse 
 than all, the majesty of our injured laws has 
 not been vindicated. Blood still cries from the 
 ground to the God of life! 
 
 But this is not all. Blood has been shed, in 
 not a few instances, by individuals, as well as 
 by mobs, who were inflamed by passion ; and 
 that, not merely when they have been brought 
 into sudden collision with each other, and un- 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 75 
 
 der the influence of highly excited passions, but 
 they have gone about the work of death, with 
 the cool dehberation of the practiced dueihst, 
 the assassin by trade, or the butcher to the 
 slaughter of an ox. Men do not even seek the 
 darkness and secrecy of night for the perform- 
 ance of such works, but they let the light of 
 day shine upon them, and the eyes of men see 
 them. Within a few months, such a tragedy 
 was enacted in one of the legislative halls of 
 our country. What will, and ought, the world 
 to think and say, when it is told, that the 
 Speaker, the highest officer in one of our legis- 
 lative assemblies, in the presence of all his 
 brethren, and while the body was in session, 
 rose up from his official seat, walked delibe- 
 rately across the floor to where his companion 
 was seated, and stabbed him to the heart! 
 What must we think of the morals of our 
 country, in this respect, when the editor of a 
 leading public journal can publish to the world, 
 that he, for hours, endeavored to find a man, 
 that he might maim or kill him, because he 
 would not meet him in a duel, while he con- 
 tinues his occupation, with a slightly diminished 
 subscription list, and is sustained by a large 
 number of patrons? You may, probably, find 
 his paper in most of the reading-rooms of 
 Philadelphia, and it would not surprise me, if it 
 
76 LECTUREIII. 
 
 were the first paper inquired after by many. 
 At what rate is human Ufe valued in our coun- 
 try, when a member of Congress can tell his 
 constituents, and through them the American 
 people, that he, and, by implication, all others, 
 go to the seat of our national government, in 
 the discharge of their public duties, not under 
 the protection of law, but in dependence on 
 the strength or skill of their own arms? and 
 who denies or rebukes the assertion ? Nay, he 
 avers, that his constituents approve of it, and 
 will sustain him in it. God grant that he may 
 find himself mistaken. 
 
 That I am not overstating the case is evident 
 from the declared fact, that in large portions of 
 our country, pistols and bowie-knives are the 
 ordinary travelling companions of many ; and 
 that, in several places, many men go thus 
 armed in their daily avocations. If these 
 things are not so, why do we almost daily read 
 in our public prints, of one being stabbed, and 
 another shot down in the public streets? And 
 why, in several of the States of the Union, 
 have the legislatures passed, or attempted to 
 pass, laws to prevent, not the use, but the 
 wearing of such weapons? And why, if men 
 are not afraid of personal violence, or if they 
 do not intend to commit violence on others, do 
 they go about, among their fellow creatures, 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 77 
 
 thus prepared for it? Thus scores, perhaps hun- 
 dreds, perish in our country every year. These 
 will be dark lines in the history of our age and 
 country; and they cannot be obliterated. And, 
 if this wave of blood rolls on, it will wear for 
 itself deeper and broader channels, until this 
 declaration of God shall be verified in our 
 country, " The Lord cometh out of his place 
 to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their 
 inquity: the earth, also, shall disclose her 
 blood, and shall no more cover her slain." 
 Are we not in danger of such a visitation ? 
 
 I add but one item more to the black cata- 
 logue, and I do it with deep pain, because it 
 implicates a class who occupy high places, 
 claim great deference, and the influence of 
 whose example, whether for good or evil, is not 
 easily calculated— I mean, the practice of duel- 
 ling. I would define a duel to be, a personal 
 contest between two human beings, with deadly 
 weapons, who consider themselves and their 
 personal concerns to be of such immense im- 
 portance as to render it unsafe and improper to 
 have them regulated or controlled by the laws 
 either of God or man, and therefore, throwing 
 off all the restraints imposed by either, take the 
 whole subject into their own hands, and murder 
 each other, to prove that they are gentlemen. 
 The spirit which induces the practice is a com- 
 
78 LECTUREIII. 
 
 pound of pride, malevolence, vain glory, and 
 lawlessness, which unfit a man for being a 
 wholesome member of any society, or from fill- 
 ing up any of his relations in a becoming man- 
 ner. What is to hinder a man, who for certain 
 purposes feels himself to be above all laws, both 
 human and divine, to trample upon all laws, 
 when his convenience or passions shall prompt 
 him to do so ? what security has a country that 
 such a man will fulfil any trust committed to 
 him? that he will not stop by the way to throw 
 away his hfe, or make himself a murderer? It 
 is evident that the law of God will not restrain 
 him, for he sins knowingly and wilfully in its 
 very face. The law of friendship does not con- 
 trol him, for many a friend has thus fallen by 
 the hand of his friend. The duellist is not 
 bound by the ties which unite hearts in the 
 dearest, sweetest, and most holy relations 
 which are known on earth, as many a heart- 
 broken widow, and hapless orphan can testify. 
 The eternal and unmitigated wrath of God does 
 not stay his hand, for he knows that " no mur- 
 derer hath eternal life," and yet performs the 
 deed. He knows that no duellist can stand be- 
 fore the judgment seat of Christ, and yet he 
 sends his fellow creature there without the pos- 
 sibility of repentance. 
 
 But however wicked and cruel the spirit may 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 79 
 
 be in itself, and however inconsistent with all 
 law, human and divine, and however hostile to 
 the peace and order of society, and the comfort 
 of individuals and families, it unhappily exists, 
 exercises an extensive influence, and bears 
 deadly fruit, in this land in which we have a 
 sufficiency of light to understand our rights and 
 duties, and law enough to secure our persons 
 and privileges. Even here, many claim the 
 privilege of being so far above law as to be 
 both the judge and executioner in their own 
 cause, even to the taking of the life of a fellow 
 creature — a right which no just or equal law 
 ever concedes to the most upright and intelli- 
 gent man in community, if the interest of a dol- 
 lar were involved in it. The presumption upon 
 which the law is founded is correct. How then 
 can a man be entrusted to weigh a point of 
 honour, a mere punctilio, in his own cause, when 
 in almost all cases, false pride sits as judge, and 
 passion acts the double part of witness and exe- 
 cutioner? Yet in this self-constituted, partial, 
 and doubly-unlawful court, men are every 
 month tried for their lives, and executed. And 
 while the blood is flowing, and widows and or- 
 phans stand by, and weep in speechless agony, 
 the enlightened freemen of these United States 
 pass by on one side, and her enlightened Chris- 
 
80 LECTUREIII. 
 
 tians on the other ; but they are both mute, or 
 speak in so low an under-tone that nobody 
 hears them. There has indeed been a httle 
 drowsy grumbhng on account of a recent exhi- 
 bition of blood at the seat of our national gov- 
 ernment, but not enough to prevent that gov- 
 ernment, with the exception of our time honour- 
 ed Judiciary, (and may God bless them for it,) 
 from officially honouring the name and obsequies 
 of him who happened to be the victim, and con- 
 tinuing to sit in the council of official brother- 
 hood with the survivors, as if there were no 
 stain of blood on their souls. And a portion of 
 our countrymen will before long have an oppor- 
 tunity of proving at what rate they value hu- 
 man blood, thus shed, when these men shall 
 again present themselves before them for their 
 suffrages. 
 
 My dear hearers, the American people have 
 many stains of this kind fixed upon them. This 
 is not the first, nor the tenth, nor the hundreth 
 instance which has occurred. The lawyer, the 
 physician, the legislator, the merchant, and the 
 planter, have all been the worshippers and the 
 victims of this bloody Moloch. And why are 
 these things so ? Is the disease incurable ? Is 
 it impossible to rectify the evil ? If the body of 
 the American people do not approve of the hor- 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 81 
 
 rid practice, they can easily abate the nuisance. 
 They can create a public sentiment on the sub- 
 ject before which no man can stand. Let the 
 subject be presented before the public in its true 
 light by the press. Let the law declare every 
 survivor in such a conflict a murderer, and deal 
 with him accordingly. Let it assign a place for 
 life in the penitentiary, where death does not 
 ensue, to both principals and accessaries. Let 
 judges and jurors render verdicts according to 
 law and evidence. Let there be no pardoning 
 power which can reach the case. Let all the 
 parties concerned in duels be for ever incapaci- 
 tated from holding any office of profit or trust. 
 Let the public press cease to parade duels be- 
 fore the world as articles of intelligence. Let 
 the public treat them with the scorn they de- 
 serve — and let survivors be made responsible 
 for the support of the widows and orphans of 
 their victims, and the practice would not long 
 exist, much less be held in honour. And if it can 
 be suppressed, who should be held responsible 
 for its continuance ? 
 
 I have thus endeavored, my dear hearers, to 
 hold up to your view one of the dark signs of 
 the times in which we live — one of the clouds 
 which obscure our country's glory — one of the 
 evils which mar our happy lot, hinder our 
 
82 L E C T U R E 1 1 I . 
 
 prosperity, and may draw down divine judg- 
 ments upon us. My apology, as a minister of 
 the gospel, if it be necessary to make one, for 
 exhibiting such a subject in such a place, is, the 
 nature and notoriety of the facts which I have 
 stated, their bearing upon the welfare of our 
 country, their unhappy influence on the institu- 
 tions of religion, the unfrequency of their being 
 pressed upoa the attention of the people, and 
 the command of God, "Tell my people their 
 transgressions, and the house of Jacob their 
 sins" — " Give them warning from me." I do, 
 therefore, give you warning from God. We 
 are, verily, guilty in this thing, and should re- 
 pent, and do works meet for repentance. It is 
 the sin of our day, and of our nation. The 
 w^hole land is implicated. Every rank is impli- 
 cated in this sin, in one form or other, for we 
 have at least been looking on, and seeing it, 
 and by our silence, conniving at it, instead of 
 lifting up our voices like trumpets against it. 
 I speak it Avith boldness, but with great sorrow, 
 the public sentiment of our country favours the 
 light estimation in which human hfe is held. 
 The proof of it is found in the facts, that how- 
 ever clear the proof of blood guiltiness may be, 
 it is difficult to find a jury willing to convict the 
 culprit, if the offence be capital, although jurors 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 83 
 
 have bound themselves by the oath of God, to 
 bring in a verdict according to law and evi- 
 dence — and greatly more pains is taken to pro- 
 cure pardon, or mitigation of penalty, in such 
 cases, than to bring the most grievous offenders 
 to justice, even if the welfare of society, as well 
 as the laws of God and man, demand their con- 
 dign punishment. I should think it strange that 
 sinful man should pretend to be so much more 
 merciful than that God who gave his only be- 
 gotten Son to die for us, did I not remember 
 that "The heart is deceitful above all things, 
 and desperately wicked." If this were not so, 
 it would be impossible that men should feel a 
 deeper sympathy for criminals, than for the hap- 
 less victims of their crimes. I consider this 
 spurious sympathy as a kind of premium for 
 half the blood that is shed by private hands in 
 our country. You would find very few men 
 ready to fight duels, or stab or pistol a fellow 
 creature in the streets, if they expected to be 
 hung for it. Put them under the wholesome 
 restraint of the fear of the halter, and they 
 would soon learn to set a higher value on the 
 lives of their neighbours. They would then 
 weigh them in opposite scales with their own — 
 and their self-esteem would become the pledge 
 of their neighbour's safety. 
 
84 LECTUREIII. 
 
 What, then, can be done to give greater se- 
 curity to human Hfe? to repress the lawless 
 and violent, and keep back their hands from 
 shedding blood? I have already, in part, an- 
 swered this inquiry. I add, that God claims a 
 special right in the life of man, and has put it 
 under the shield of his Divine protection : " At 
 the hand of every man's brother will I require 
 the life of man." The whole community, and 
 every man in it, is made responsible to God for 
 the personal security of all its members, and, if 
 a human hfe be unlawfully taken, the guilt rests 
 on the community, until the culprit is sought 
 out with all proper diligence, and the offender 
 be duly punished. Let this sentiment be faith- 
 fully inculcated; let conscience be enlight- 
 ened on the subject ; let it be connected, as it 
 should be, with our primary relations to God ; 
 let it be impressed on the minds of the young, 
 as a Divine requirement; make them ac- 
 quainted with the fact, that they have been 
 constituted the responsible guardians of the 
 lives of their fellow creatures by a Divine stat- 
 ute ; let the spurious morality, which learns its 
 duty from the sympathies of a corrupt heart, 
 be exploded ; — and human hfe would cease to 
 be so lightly and wickedly assailed, and so 
 wantonly thrown away. 
 
RECKLESSNESS OF LIFE. 85 
 
 Above all, let it be remembered, that human 
 hfe derives its principal value from the v^orth 
 and state of the soul. The worth of the soul 
 no man can measure, who cannot measure the 
 amount of its enjoyment or suffering in an end- 
 less state of existence, or, duly estimate the 
 value of what Christ has done and suffered for 
 its salvation. Its salvation depends upon its 
 state at death ; so that, he who cuts off the life 
 of man in his sins, becomes guilty of his eternal 
 damnation, by cutting off the possibility of his 
 salvation. This, I suppose, to be one of the 
 reasons why God has, with more than paternal 
 solicitude, guarded the life of man ; and this is 
 the principal reason why I have laboured to ex- 
 pose so many of the ways in which it is wan- 
 tonly and wickedly abridged in this age and 
 country. May we not read God's righteous 
 retribution for our wanton disregard of human 
 life, in the blood and disasters connected with 
 the seemingly interminable war which we are 
 waging against the remnant of a tribe of In- 
 dians ; and the recklessness with which a por- 
 tion of our citizens appear to be anxious to 
 hurry us into a w ar with a foreign nation ? Is it 
 not time we should learn the worth of souls, and 
 avert the wrath of God, by caring for that upon 
 which the welfare of souls depends — human 
 life'? Let the lesson, then, be duly and dili- 
 
86 LECTURE III. RECKLESSNESS, &C. 
 
 gently inculcated. And let us endeavour, if we 
 cannot remove this portentous cloud, pregnant 
 with wrath for blood, from our horizon, to 
 spring across it the bow of promise, by seek- 
 ing for our country the forgiving love and the 
 restraining grace of God. 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 GOD'S FROWNS AGAINST COVETOUSNESS. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 On the last occasion, when this subject engaged 
 our attention, we considered " the cheap rate 
 at which human hfe was held in our country," 
 as one of the unhappy signs of the times in 
 which we live. It was then remarked, that 
 notwithstanding the strictness and care with 
 wiiich the Lord had guarded human life, there 
 were four ways in which it was wantonly as- 
 sailed, and foolishly or wickedly thrown away 
 in this age and country : viz. " by the reckless 
 manner in which steamboats are navigated 
 upon the waters of our country; by the un- 
 governable passions of mobs ; by the unlawful 
 possession and use of deadly weapons in the 
 ordinary intercourse of life ; and, by the prac- 
 tice of duelling. It appeared, that hundreds of 
 lives were thus wickedly sacrificed every year ; 
 and that this arose, principally, from the disre- 
 gard of God's law^ on the subject, and the diffi- 
 culty of procuring the adequate punishment of 
 
88 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 those who treated the hves of their fellow crea- 
 tures so lightly. 
 
 The picture, which truth and duty obliged 
 me to present to your view was both horrible 
 and appalling. It is a melancholy considera- 
 tion, that in a country so enlightened, so 
 blessed of God in every respect, life, so valu- 
 able on every account, should be the sport of 
 diabolical passions ; and that a people, calling 
 themselves Christian, should so far tolerate the 
 evil as to make it the sin of the nation. That 
 it should subject us to the frowns of Jehovah, 
 ought not to be surprising, when it is remem- 
 bered, that he values the soul of man at the 
 price of his Son's blood. There is enough in 
 this subject, as connected with our country, to 
 make us mourn and tremble. This, however, 
 is not the only sign which is worthy of our 
 serious attention as Christians, and American 
 citizens. I design to direct your attention, in 
 the prosecution of my object, from time to 
 time, to some of the aspects of Divine Provi- 
 dence towards our land. These, if they are 
 carefully and attentively studied, may furnish 
 us with some important lessons of practical 
 wisdom. Says the Psalmist, in the view of 
 God's deahngs with the children of Israel, 
 " Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, 
 even they shall understand the loving-kindness 
 
COVETOUSNESS. 89 
 
 of the Lord." The folly, as well as wicked- 
 ness, of those who disregard the judgments of 
 God, is declared in these words: "Therefore 
 he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, 
 and the strength of battle : and it hath set him 
 on fire round about, yet he knew not ; and it 
 burned him, yet he laid it not to heart." The 
 lines of Divine Providence do, at least, some- 
 times teach men their characters, and the light 
 in which God views them. Is there any thing, 
 then, in God's dealings with us, which is 
 worthy of special notice? Yes, my hearers, 
 there are several things. Let me direct your 
 attention, 
 
 IV. To the monied concerns of our country^ 
 as the fourth sign of the times. 
 
 There are those now living, who have a dis- 
 tinct recollection of our condition when we 
 came out of the perils and trials of the revo- 
 lutionary struggle, few in number, the country 
 almost a wilderness, well nigh without law or 
 government, deeply involved in debt, and with 
 few resources. The man who possessed a few 
 hundreds of dollars thought himself well off; 
 and the possessor of a few thousands w^as es- 
 teemed rich. What changes have taken place? 
 A few years have passed, and the little one has 
 become a thousand. Our population has more 
 than twice doubled. The wilderness has, very 
 
 8* 
 
90 LECTUREIV. 
 
 extensively disappeared, and the fruitful field 
 has taken its place ; a regular and happy frame 
 of government has been organized ; wholesome 
 laws have been enacted; villages, towns, and 
 cities, have every where sprung up; schools, 
 academies, and colleges, have been instituted in 
 every part of the land ; facilities for intercom- 
 munication between every part of this widely 
 extended country, by turnpikes, railroads, ca- 
 nals, and navigation by steam, have never been 
 exceeded in any age or country ; and, agricul- 
 ture, manufactures, and commerce, have been 
 pursued with untiring industry, and great suc- 
 cess. The improvement and advancement of 
 this country have had no parallel in the history 
 of nations. 
 
 The speaker can remember when the States 
 of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, 
 Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Ten- 
 nessee, Kentucky, Ohio, half of Pennsylvania, 
 and all of New York lying west of Utica, were 
 a wilderness. When there was neither turn- 
 pike, railroad, canal, or steamboat, in the 
 Union. When any species of manufacture 
 scarcely extended beyond the family. When 
 there were, probably, not as many traders in 
 the United States as the city of New York 
 might have furnished two years ago. When, 
 the colleges of the country consisted of, Har- 
 
COVETOUSNESS. 91 
 
 vard, Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia, Princeton, 
 the University of Pennsylvania, and William 
 and Mary's, in Virginia. And, when there was 
 no post-office in the State of New York west 
 of Schenectady. 
 
 What amazing changes have taken place! 
 greater, perhaps, in nothing, than in the in- 
 crease of wealth. This may be attributed, un- 
 der God, to the character of our population, 
 the spirit of the age, and the state of Europe. 
 The American people were a hardy, enterpris- 
 ing, active, and industrious race of men. The 
 human mind received an impulse at the Refor- 
 mation which it has never lost. This, was 
 partly owing to the revival of letters, and the 
 greatly extended spread of education; partly 
 to the discovery of America, and the passage 
 to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and the 
 influence of both on commerce, and the art of 
 printing ; and partly, to the excitement of the 
 human mind, by the influence of religious prin- 
 ciple. This impulse was re-invigorated by our 
 revolution, and strengthened by the course of 
 events which grew out of, and followed it in 
 Europe. I allude, particularly, to the wars 
 connected with the French revolution. 
 
 The effect of these upon the American peo- 
 ple was circumstantially peculiar, but natural. 
 We were a 3^oung, enterprising people, sprung 
 
92 LECTUREIV. 
 
 from a commercial stock, and locally con- 
 nected with the ocean. The preponderance of 
 tlie British on that element, made us the car- 
 riers of the other nations, and, for certain pur- 
 poses, of the British themselves ; and thus, we 
 became commingled with the commerce of the 
 world. The employment of such vast masses 
 of men in war, sensibly affected the agriculture 
 of Europe, created a demand for our bread- 
 stuffs, and quickened us in agricultural pursuits. 
 And the war of 1812, with England, called into 
 existence our manufactures. By this combina- 
 tion of circumstances, we have not only be- 
 come one of the most active and enterprising 
 nations on the face of the earth, but one of the 
 most successful and prosperous in every branch 
 of productive industry. 
 
 The effect of all this has been truly astonish- 
 ing. Such a career of prosperity has, perhaps, 
 never before been run. The same proportional 
 number has probably, in no other age or coun- 
 try, in an equal space of time, advanced from 
 small beginnings, not only to competence, but 
 to wealth and exuberance. The earth has 
 brought forth by handfuls, and every branch 
 of industry has flourished and been productive. 
 Does the history of nations furnish a parallel 
 to our apparent prosperity, and the buoyancy 
 of our hope of the future, two or three years 
 
COVETOUSNESS. 93 
 
 ago? Like the Church of Laodicea, we were 
 " rich, and increased with goods, and had need 
 of nothing." Our " mountain stood strong," 
 and we said, " I shall never be moved." Our 
 prosperity seemed like the waters of the river 
 of Egypt, the source of exhaustless fertility. 
 The harvest was rich and ripe, and the field 
 boundless; and it was but for every man to 
 put in his sickle, and fill his bosom with the 
 sheaves. Any body might grow rich that had 
 the resolution to will it. If a man had skill 
 enough to draw a map of a city on a sheet of 
 paper, he could make a fortune in a month. 
 Our hundreds became thousands, and our thou- 
 sands were multiplied into millions. The 
 whole public mind was not only agitated under 
 the influence of this unparalleled prosperity, 
 but there was an expansion of grasp, of desire, 
 and of hope, which saw neither end nor limit 
 to the acquisition of this world's goods. Few 
 doubted their ability to obtain their desires, 
 and few were careful to confine their desires 
 within reasonable or moderate bounds. And it 
 seemed, for a time, as if the Lord was about 
 to gratify them to more than the extent of rea- 
 sonable wishes on the subject. If the wishes 
 of men had been reasonable, multitudes might 
 have said : " Thou hast goods laid up in store 
 for many years ; take thine ease." But, while 
 
94 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 Providence smiled, few could find it in their 
 hearts to retire from the career they were run- 
 ning. Let it suffice to say, that this mighty 
 river, swelled by a thousand tributary streams, 
 became broader, and deeper, and more rapid, 
 as it rolled along before the admiring, and still 
 longing eyes of our countrymen, as they were 
 moving on with its current. 
 
 This flood attained its height about three 
 years ago. There were indeed observed, by 
 nice discerners, some two years before, certain 
 motions about these rolling w^aters, which indi- 
 cated, not only the presence of a disturbing 
 force, but the decay of the flood. Then came 
 a sudden sinking of the water, which some 
 called in derision, " a panic," but w hich wiser 
 men considered, and the event has verified 
 their wisdom, as the precursor of a deep, if not 
 of a rapid decline. It is true, a number of 
 barques were shattered or overwhelmed ; but 
 they were represented to have been unsound 
 and feeble. Others ran aground; but they 
 were supposed to have been badly managed, or 
 overloaded. But the hope still was, that the 
 interruption of our prosperity would be very 
 partial and brief. Our spirits were still buoy- 
 ant, and our hope strong. Still, one change 
 kept following another, but none brought the 
 desired relief. 
 
COVETOUSNESS. 95 
 
 Our currency and exchanges became de- 
 ranged. Business became unsafe, interrupted, 
 unprofitable, diminished. The grand produc- 
 tive staple of our country would not command 
 two-thirds of its former price, which rendered 
 it impossible for us to pay our foreign debts, 
 without draining us of the precious metals ; de- 
 ranging further the currency, and depressing 
 the business of the country. The evil was in- 
 creased, by the necessity which obliged us to 
 import bread-stuffs for the support of human 
 life ; by the want of stated and profitable em- 
 ployment for hundreds of thousands of our in- 
 habitants; by the increased price of the ne- 
 cessaries of life, and the diminished means of 
 procuring them ; by the stagnation of the pro- 
 ductive industry of the country; by the de- 
 struction of millions of property, by extensive 
 conflagrations in several of our cities ; and, by 
 the lack of that confidence which transfuses 
 life and spirit into all the concerns of fife. 
 
 Now, be the causes what they may, these 
 are the facts of the case, known, acknowledged, 
 and felt, in every part of our land, and in every 
 department of business, and of life. The 
 change is every where manifest and felt; in 
 the city, and in the country ; on the land, and 
 on the water; in the counting-house, in the 
 manufactory, in the workshop, and on the 
 
96 LECTUREIV. 
 
 farm. Without any national disaster, sweep- 
 ing pestilence, blighting drought, devastating 
 and destructive war, or overwhelming provi- 
 dence, we have, in a comparatively short time, 
 descended, I cannot say, fallen — for we have 
 scarcely felt a shock — from a state of the most 
 high and palmy prosperity, to a state of de- 
 pression which has deeply affected a whole 
 people in all their interests. Some have 
 been ruined; some have been maddened: all 
 have felt it. It has indeed been a great 
 change. It has come upon us, in a great de- 
 gree, unexpectedly. Who has, or could have, 
 anticipated it? 
 
 I am aware that this change has been at- 
 tributed to a variety of causes. We have all 
 heard of the United States Bank; the removal 
 of the deposites; the refusal to renew the 
 charter of that institution ; the specie circular ; 
 the surplus revenue ; trading on borrowed capi- 
 tal ; over-issues on the part of the banks ; the 
 inordinate increase of these institutions; and, 
 the speculations in the public lands. All these 
 have been represented, by one and another, as 
 having contributed to produce this state of 
 things. One has found the cause in one thing ; 
 and others, in another. My hearers, however, 
 do not expect me, standing on these heights of 
 Zion, to enter into the political or economical 
 
COVETOUS NESS. M 
 
 considerations which stand connected with the 
 subject. Nor shall they have occasion, justly, 
 to accuse me of it. This portentous sign of 
 the times, upon which we have fallen, has 
 other aspects, of a more important and solemn 
 character, to which the Christian observer, 
 standing on his watch-tower, may more profit- 
 ably turn his attention, and from which he may 
 read to his hearers lessons of practical wisdom, 
 involving their highest interests. 
 
 Neither our present state, nor the one which 
 preceded it, were irrespective of the govern- 
 ment of God, and our allegiance to him. 
 While rain and fruitful seasons, and every 
 earthly good, are Divine gifts, coming down 
 from the Father of lights, "affliction cometh 
 not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble 
 spring out of the ground." If God has 
 changed his face towards us, there is a reason 
 for it, and, more than probably, that reason 
 may be found in ourselves. Of the truth of 
 this I am fully persuaded. Will my hearers in- 
 dulge me with their undivided and prayerful at- 
 tention, while I endeavour to show why the 
 Lord has brought us into our present circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The pursuit of wealth among us has been 
 eager. The love of gain has been a perfect 
 passion — the master passion, which, like Aa- 
 
 9 
 
98 LECTUREIV. 
 
 ron's rod, has swallowed up all the others. It 
 has pervaded all ranks and professions. Men 
 of business have been dissatisfied with the slow 
 returns and moderate profits, which were once 
 thought desirable and sufficient, and have 
 spread themselves out, not only to the extent 
 of their capital, but of their credit. Profes- 
 sional men hav^ become dissatisfied with the 
 decent competence arising from their profes- 
 sional labours, and rushed into the vortex of 
 speculation. Christians have forgotten, if they 
 ever learned, those lessons of moderation and 
 contentment, which are so fully inculcated by 
 the word and grace of God, and, identifying 
 themselves with the lovers of the present world, 
 have spread every sail, to catch every breath 
 of this contaminated air, if it only promised to 
 make them suddenly rich. Even the sacred 
 ministry of the blessed Jesus, whose disciple 
 no man can be without denying himself, have 
 been draw^n into this whirlpool, and already 
 stand as beacon-lights, to warn their brethren 
 of the dangers of this coast, already thickly 
 strewed with wrecks. Our children, in the 
 greenness of their youth and inexperience, are 
 learning the lesson so effectually, as to grudge 
 the time spent in receiving their education, be- 
 cause it detains them from the embraces of 
 mammon. 
 
COVETOUSNESS. 99 
 
 In hearts thus occupied and exercised, it is 
 manifest there can be Uttle room for the love of 
 God and better things ; and if the good seed 
 should, perchance, take root and vegetate, it 
 will produce a feeble, sickly plant, because 
 overshadowed by this deadly tree. What else 
 do the Scriptures teach: "If any man love 
 the world, the love of the Father is not in 
 him." "Lay not up for yourselves treasures 
 upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, 
 and where thieves break through, and steal: 
 for where your treasure is, there will your 
 heart be also." " He that maketh haste to be 
 rich shall not be innocent." " They that will 
 be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and 
 into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which 
 drown men in destruction and perdition. For 
 the love of money is the root of all evil; 
 which while some men coveted after, they have 
 erred from the faith, and pierced themselves 
 through with many sorrows. But thou, O man 
 of God, flee these things." 
 
 Many unhappy consequences flow from the 
 love and eager pursuits of the world. God is 
 very unapt to be kept in the thoughts and 
 hearts of such men. They rarely make suit- 
 able returns of love and gratitude to God for 
 the rich gifts of his providence. They seldom 
 use a due proportion of them to promote his 
 
100 LECTURE IV. 
 
 glory, or the good of their fellow creatures. 
 They often lose that deep sense of dependence 
 which should characterize creatures who " live, 
 move, and have their being" in God. They 
 are in great danger of growing proud and self- 
 sufficient, leaning to their own understandings, 
 and ascribinof their success to their own skill. 
 They seldom retain or exercise the love of God 
 and spiritual things — wearying out their minds, 
 and hearts, and lives, with the love and pursuit 
 of the world. They have neither time, nor 
 heart, to seek and enjoy God and his grace. 
 What they have gained, as they think, by their 
 own skill and industry, they feel at liberty to 
 expend for their own gratification, in pamper- 
 ing " The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the 
 eyes, and the pride of life." All these, in a 
 greater or less degree, and with various cir- 
 cumstantial modifications, are the natural re- 
 sults of the love and pursuit of riches^ — a pas- 
 sion, by the inordinate exercise of which, our 
 age and country are so strikingly distinguished, 
 and which God has so signally rebuked, by 
 the course of his providence. 
 
 1 say, " God has so signally rebuked us," for 
 neither truth nor duty will permit us to lose 
 siffht of Him while lookins^ at second causes — 
 for he is The Cause of all causes. Hence it is 
 written, "I form the light, and create dark- 
 
COVETOUSNESS. 101 
 
 nessr I make peace, and create evil: I, the 
 Lord, do all these things." He sent us all that 
 exuberant prosperity for which we had not the 
 grace to be thankful, and which we did not use 
 for his glory. Like Jeshurun, we " waxed fat, 
 and kicked." Our well-spread table became a 
 snare to us. And if it were true, that our ru- 
 lers were never so deeply implicated in the re- 
 verses which we have suffered — if they were 
 as unwise and bad as their worst enemies have 
 represented them to be — yet have they been 
 given to us of God, upon our own choice ; we, 
 being left to choose them^ and they being left to 
 pursue measures, by which God is punishing us 
 for this great sin of which we have been guilty. 
 The very stroke of God's hand, tells us of the 
 nature of the sin for which he is visiting us, for 
 he has laid his hand on the very idol which we 
 have set up in his place. The extent of the 
 visitation indicates, that the sin is a national 
 one ; and the weight of the stroke, that the sin 
 is grievous. Covetousness is, in the Scrip- 
 tures, declared to be, idolatry — and idolatry 
 is that abominable thing which the soul of 
 the Lord hates. He will no more give his 
 glory to it, than he will give it to graven 
 images. 
 
 Judge of the evil by the punishment. You 
 account it no small evil to see the riches and 
 
102 LECTURE IV. 
 
 prosperity of such a land as this prostrated — to 
 see so many hundreds of thousands, almost 
 without employment, and strugghng for a bare 
 subsistence. Nor have the sufferings of those 
 who have been ruined in their circumstances, 
 nor of those who have been expecting to have 
 the stroke fall upon them, been small. Think 
 not lightly, then, of the sin which has caused 
 it. This evil has not sprung from the dust. 
 It is not a sin of yesterday. It had its birth 
 in the first dawn of our prosperity, and has 
 been growing with our growth, and strengthen- 
 ing with our strength. Nor will it be easily 
 eradicated. It has felt the knife before, but 
 the wound has not been healed. God has now 
 cut down to the bone, but the sore still runs, 
 and is in danger of becoming a gangrene, for 
 the worshippers of mammon still stand by the 
 side of their fallen idols, bedew his image with 
 their tears, and long for the time when they 
 shall set it in its place, and repair its injuries, 
 and gild its face afresh, and fall down and wor- 
 ship it. 
 
 Let us then endeavour to think of this evil 
 which we are suffering as a divine infliction 
 upon us for the ardour with which we have 
 loved, and the eagerness with which we pur- 
 sued the world. — It was said, as a matter of 
 high praise, of the inhabitants of a sister city, 
 
COVETOUSNESS. 103 
 
 (New York,) when they suffered by that dread- 
 ful conflagration, in December, 1835, that their 
 spirits were so unbroken by the visitation that 
 within a very few days some were engaged in 
 re-building, and others advertising their goods, 
 as if nothing had happened. To me, in com- 
 mon with many others, the language and con- 
 duct appeared but little less than heaven-daring 
 and impious. It may serve to show that the 
 heart is not touched; but whether the heart 
 should not feel such a pressing, and bow very 
 low before God under it, is quite another ques- 
 tion. My hearers, the hand of God was in 
 that conflagration, and the hand of God is in 
 the losses and sufferings which the American 
 people have experienced. And shall they not 
 both feel and acknowledge? The calamity 
 may be removed, for aught I know, although 
 we may feel and act like stoics or brutes under 
 it. But sure I am it will never be sanctified. 
 Hear God's words on this point — "I will go 
 and return unto my place till they acknowledge 
 their offence, and seek my face." — "Now, no 
 chastening for the present seemeth to be joy- 
 ous, but grievous : nevertheless, afterward it 
 yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness, 
 unto them which are exercised thereby." — 
 Want of feeling under such a calamity as that 
 which we have suffered, should be as deeply 
 
104 LECTURE IV. 
 
 deplored as the calamity itself. Then God 
 might say of us as he said of ancient Israel : 
 " Why should ye be stricken any more ? Ye 
 will revolt more and more." 
 
 Let us then acknowledge the divine hand in 
 our sufferings, as inflicting chastisement upon 
 us for our sins; and let us humble ourselves 
 under his mighty hand. This, however, we 
 shall scarcely do till we think more of God, 
 and less of man in connexion with this sign of 
 the times. In this we shall be greatly assisted 
 by turning our eyes inward, and examining our 
 own hearts on the subject. Are we personally 
 innocent concerning this thing? Have we 
 never bowed before this idol? Is there ne'er 
 a wedge of gold, or Babylonish garment hid- 
 den in our tent? Have we not coveted in- 
 creasing wealth, and desired rapid accumula- 
 tion ? Have we not been pained even to anger, 
 at the interruption and reverses which we have 
 experienced? Then our calamities have not 
 been sanctified, and we are not prepared for 
 their removal. If the Lord should remove the 
 pressure of his hand, we should go on as we 
 did before. And this, I fear, is the case with 
 the great body of the American people. They 
 seem to me to consider themselves as more 
 sinned against than sinning — as having been 
 brought into their present state by the blunders 
 
COVETOUSNESS. 105 
 
 and sins of their fellow creatures — as if the 
 retributive providence of God had but little to 
 do with it — and as if they were ready to spring 
 forward with fresh alacrity and delight in the 
 same career, the moment the Lord should take 
 off the restraints by which he is now holding 
 them in check. If such should be the case, we 
 shall soon prepare ourselves for a new and 
 sorer visitation, unless it should be prevented 
 by a copious effusion of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Our present state may, with great propriety, 
 be considered as critical, if this were the only 
 portentous sign of the times, which is by no 
 means the case. There is a number of other 
 dark shades in the aspects of the divine provi- 
 dence towards us, to which your attention, the 
 Lord permitting, will hereafter be called. It 
 seems as if the dark cloud which we have this 
 evening been contemplating, is beginning to 
 break — as if the pressure of the Lord's hand 
 upon this part of our affairs, would soon be 
 lightened. But it also appears as if the visita- 
 tion had not been felt, to any great extent, as a 
 divine and deserved affliction, humbling us un- 
 der the Lord's mighty hand, and causing us to 
 be afraid of being led into the same temptation 
 again. O, could we but reach the Church of 
 God, the stewards of his house, the people 
 bought with the blood of the Lamb, with this 
 subject at this critical period, and sound in their 
 
106 LECTURE IV. 
 
 ears the voice of warning and remonstrance, 
 " Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." 
 " Love not the world, neither the things that are 
 in the world. If any man love the world, the 
 love of the Father is not in him." — " Go thy 
 way, sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon 
 thee." — "Come out from among them, and be ye 
 separate." — "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, 
 and his righteousness, and all these things shall 
 be added unto you." — "Consider the lillies of the 
 field, how they grow : they toil not, neither do 
 they spin : and yet I say unto you, that even 
 Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like 
 one of these — Wherefore, if God so clothe the 
 grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-mor- 
 row is cast into the oven, shall he not much 
 more clothe you, O ye of little faith." — "Be 
 careful for nothing: but in every thing, by 
 prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let 
 your requests be made known unto God. And 
 the peace of God, which passeth all under- 
 standing, shall keep your hearts and minds 
 through Jesus Christ." 
 
 These are some of the appropriate and sea- 
 sonable teachings of the Holy Spirit, from 
 which the Church and people of God may 
 learn their duty at such a time as this. Re- 
 ceiving these instructions, and guiding them- 
 selves by these lights, they will be enabled to 
 possess their souls in patience, enjoy a sweet 
 
COVETOUSNESS. ^ 107 
 
 and holy serenity of mind in the darkest sea- 
 sons, have the Lord's dealings sanctified to 
 their good, take cheerfully the spoiling of their 
 goods, and edify, by their example, all who be- 
 hold them. 
 
 Let us all study, with prayerful attention, this 
 sign of the times upon which we have fallen, that 
 we may learn from it the Lord's designs, and 
 our own duty. These lessons at least, among 
 many others, appear to be clearly taught:— 
 That God exercises a controlling influence over 
 the affairs of men ; that he is the moral Gov- 
 ernor of the nation, as well as the individuals 
 composing the human family; that he some- 
 times, at least, marks the crime by the punish- 
 ment which he inflicts, so as to make the con- 
 nexion between them manifest ; that we cannot 
 rely upon any earthly good for comfort and 
 safety ; that the love and pursuit of every ob- 
 ject which fills the heart, and occupies the life, 
 to the neglect of God and the concerns of the 
 soul, are sinful, displeasing to God, and danger- 
 ous to us ; that the highest degree of worldly 
 prosperity does not prove the favour of God, 
 or the good estate of men ; that, notwithstand- 
 ing the many blessings which we, as a nation, 
 enjoy, there are plain proofs, in the providence 
 of God, that he is visiting us for a sin which is 
 peculiarly hateful to him — the inordinate love 
 of riches ; and, that our interest and duty are 
 
108 LECTURE IV. CO VET OUS NESS. 
 
 equally concerned in immediate repentance for 
 this crying national sin, and a thorough refor- 
 mation of our manners with respect to it, if we 
 would improve the existing crisis in our affairs, 
 and escape the judgments which are hanging 
 over us. 
 
 I now leave this weighty concern for the 
 prayerful consideration of my hearers, under a 
 deep conviction of its intrinsic importance, and 
 their individual interest in it. No Christian 
 call think lightly of it, and no sinner should. 
 May the Spirit pour it upon our minds with 
 divine light, and give it, in our hearts, an in- 
 terest equal to its importance! 
 
 There are still other aspects of the provi- 
 dence of God towards our beloved country, 
 which it nearly concerns us to understand, and 
 which may be studied with interest and profit. 
 If it shall please the Lord to spare us to the 
 commencement of another month, and afford the 
 necessary aid, some of these will be presented 
 for consideration. In the mean time, "May 
 the God of peace, that brought again from the 
 dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of 
 the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting 
 covenant, make you perfect in every good 
 work to do his will, working in you that which 
 is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus 
 Christ : to whom be glory for ever and ever." 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 REVIVALS OF RELIGION. 
 
 MATTHEAV XVI. III. 
 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OP THE TIMES. 
 
 The fourth sign of the times, to which your 
 attention was directed, was, "The aspect of 
 Divine Providence with respect to the monied 
 concerns of our country." I endeavoured to 
 show, that the deaUngs of God towards us had 
 been very benign and gracious, in assigning us 
 so extensive and fruitful a country ; in the time 
 of its settlement; the state and character of 
 its first settlers; the time, and results, of our 
 revolutionary struggle ; the time when our in- 
 stitutions, civil and religious, were settled ; the 
 peculiar character of those institutions; the 
 state of Europe as connected with the French 
 Revolution ; the influence of this state upon the 
 business and wealth of our country, in con- 
 nexion with its agriculture, commerce, and 
 manufactures; the long and unhallowed ca- 
 reer of our prosperity, manifested by the widely 
 extended settlement and improvement of the 
 
 10 
 
110 LECTURE V. 
 
 country, the facilities for intercommunication, 
 and the amazing increase of wealth ; the effect 
 of all these upon the people, with respect to in- 
 dustry, enterprise, and the desire of rapid ac- 
 cumulation ; the sudden and unexpected re- 
 verse which succeeded ; the agency of God in 
 it, and the probable reason for it; together, 
 with some of the lessons of practical wisdom, 
 which we may, and should derive from it. 
 This, it is thought, is one of the signs which 
 God is hanging out from his high heavens, to 
 be observed, and studied, and improved, by the 
 inhabitants of this land, for their good — one of 
 the voices by which he reproves us for a cry- 
 ing national sin. The next sign of the times, 
 and to which I propose to call your attention 
 this evening, is of more immediate concern to 
 the people of God, because it bears more di- 
 rectly upon the welfare of his Church, which 
 must be dearer to every real Christian than the 
 apple of his eye. Whatever concerns her, 
 concerns him also. " If I forget thee, let my 
 right hand forget her cunning." Our subject 
 is, " Revivals of religion." 
 
 V. This will now he considered as the fifth 
 sign of the times in which we live; and certainly 
 not the least remarkable or important of them. 
 
 Strictly speaking, " a revival of religion" is, 
 an increasing feeling and interest experienced 
 
REVIVALS. Ill 
 
 by Christians for the glory of God, and the 
 good of souls, manifesting itself by increased 
 diligence and zeal in the divine service; 
 stronger efforts after growth in grace and 
 knowledge, connected with a keen relish for 
 divine things, so as to take greater pleasure in 
 them than in all things else. In the ordinary 
 acceptation of the terms, however, we include 
 in it one of its almost invariable fruits or con- 
 comitants — its effects on sinners. When the 
 people of God walk together in the fear of the 
 Lord, and the comfort of the Holy Ghost, it 
 rarely happens that their number, as well as 
 graces, are not increased. (See Acts ix. 31.) 
 Hence, whenever Christians are warmed and 
 animated in the service of God, it rarely 
 happens, that sinners are not converted. 
 When we speak of a revival, in this more 
 general sense, we include in it, the conviction 
 and conversion of sinners in greater numbers 
 than is common under ordinary circumstances. 
 Perhaps the best term we can use, to express 
 the whole subject, is, "a revival of God's 
 work," as that will include the whole work, as, 
 both saints and sinners are affected by it. Nor 
 do I know what reasonable objection can be 
 made to its use in this sense. At all events, 
 this is the sense in which the phrase, "Re- 
 
112 LECTURE V. 
 
 vival of religion," is now generally under- 
 stood. 
 
 The present has been called, "The age of 
 revivals," and there is a sense in which it has 
 been rightly so denominated. Perhaps there 
 never has been an age, when revivals have 
 been more numerous and extensive than within 
 the memory of those now living. If, however, 
 we should infer, that extensive and glorious re- 
 vivals have not occurred in other ages than the 
 present, and in other countries than our own, 
 we should be egregiously mistaken. And yet, 
 language is frequently used on the subject 
 which would lead to such mistakes. 
 
 The fact is, there have been few periods of 
 much extent in which the Church of God has 
 not enjoyed seasons of refreshing from the 
 presence of the Lord. I do not except Old 
 Testament times. To such a season, I sup- 
 pose, the sacred writer alludes, when, in speak- 
 ing of the birth of Enos in the fifth chapter of 
 Genesis, he says, " Then began men to call 
 upon the name of the Lord." This seems to 
 me to indicate some increased attention to the 
 ordinances of religion, connected with uncom- 
 mon interest and feeling. Nor is there reason 
 to doubt that a divine blessing attended the 
 closing instructions with which Moses devolved 
 the government of Israel upon Joshua shortly 
 
REVIVALS . 1J3 
 
 before his death, the good effects of which ac- 
 companied that man of God through his whole 
 administration. This is probably the reason 
 why we hear nothing of their murmurings and 
 rebellions while engaged in driving out the na- 
 tions of Canaan, and taking possession of the 
 land which God had given them for an inheri- 
 tance. It also appears highly probable that 
 the solemnities with which Joshua closed his 
 ministry and life were attended with a blessing, 
 the happy influence of which was long felt. 
 The proof is found in this record in the second 
 chapter of the book of Judges — " And the peo- 
 ple served the Lord all the days of Joshua, 
 and all the days of the Elders that outlived 
 Joshua, who had seen all the great works of 
 the Lord, that he did for Israel. And there 
 arose another generation after them, which 
 knew not the , Lord, nor yet the works which 
 he had done for Israel. And the children of 
 Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." The 
 extremes of these periods is about fifty years. 
 The revivals were general, embracing the na- 
 tion ; their influence was felt for half a century, 
 an(l many thousands, it may be hundreds of 
 thousands, experienced the benefits of them. 
 
 Many other instances occur in the book of 
 Judges. The children of Israel are represent- 
 ed as having been frequently delivered into the 
 
 10* 
 
114 LECTUREV. 
 
 hands of their enemies, because " they did evil 
 in the sight of the Lord." And then we have 
 such records as these — " And when the chil- 
 dren of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord 
 raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, 
 w^ho delivered them. And the land had rest." 
 These brief records indicate seasons of great 
 humiliation, fervent prayer, reformation of 
 manners, and a return of the divine favour. 
 And what are all these, under the circum- 
 stances of the case, but a revival of religion, 
 more or less pure and extensive? You may 
 read an account of similar seasons in the his- 
 tory of Hezekiah, Manasseh, and Josiah, kings 
 of Judah, in the thirty-second, thirty-third, and 
 thirty-fourth chapter of second Chronicles. 
 
 Nor has the Church been destitute of sea- 
 sons of revival during the Christian dispensa- 
 tion from the beginning. What name shall we 
 give to what occurred at Jerusalem on the 
 Pentecost, when thrce thousand were converted 
 to God in one day ? What must have occur- 
 red intermediately, when we are told soon after 
 that the number of them that believed was five 
 thousand? Was it not a revival of religion 
 which caused Peter and John to pay that visit 
 to Samaria, of which we have an account in 
 the eighth chapter of Acts ? To what state of 
 religion does the record in the ninth chapter of 
 
REVIVALS. 115 
 
 the Acts refer ? " Then had the churches rest 
 throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, 
 and were edified ; and, walking in the fear of 
 the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy 
 Ghost, were multiplied." Was it any thing but 
 pure, blessed, and glorious revivals of religion 
 which planted large and flourishing churches 
 at Rome, Antioch, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, 
 Thessalonica, Smyrna, Pergamos, Laodicea, 
 Thyatira, Philadelphia, and a large number of 
 other places in every part of the Roman Em- 
 pire, long before the close of the first century ? 
 I will not refer you to the uncertain records 
 of the dark ages, for further examples, although 
 much might be gleaned even from this com- 
 paratively barren field. But to come down to 
 the sixteenth century, the period of the Refor- 
 mation. At the commencement of that period, 
 the great body of the Christian Church lay fast 
 asleep in the arms of Roman Catholicism. Its 
 characteristics were, ignorance, superstition, 
 idolatry, and profligacy. A religious influence, 
 as extensive and salutary, had not been expe- 
 rienced since the first century, as that which 
 occurred in the sixteenth. The fruit of it was 
 the emancipation of England, Scotland, the 
 seven united provinces of the Netherlands, one 
 half of Switzerland, Saxony, and other con- 
 siderable portions of Germany. While no- 
 
116 LECTURE V. 
 
 thing but the strong arm of secular power, 
 and a spirit of persecution, which rioted in 
 blood, arrested the progress of the Reforma- 
 tion in France, Spain, and Italy, and kept such 
 large portions of Europe under Papal domina- 
 tion. The aggregate of all this was denomi- 
 nated, " The Reformation." The detail might 
 with propriety be called, " Revivals of religion 
 in some scores of thousands of congregations." 
 The present century, loud as its boastings are, 
 furnishes no parallel. 
 
 But perhaps it may be supposed that no re- 
 vivals occurred from the Reformation till the 
 commencement of the period which we have so 
 complacently called, "The age of revivals." 
 Nor is this correct. The former part of the 
 seventeenth century witnessed remarkable out- 
 pourings of the Holy Spirit, both in Scotland 
 and Ireland, which have not been exceeded 
 since the day of Pentecost. For instance — a 
 single sermon preached in the Church yard of 
 Shotts, in Scotland, on Monday the 21st day of 
 June, 1630, by John Livingston, the lineal an- 
 cestor of the numerous and respectable family 
 of that name in this country, was blessed to 
 the conversion of five hundred souls. Another 
 sermon of his, preached on a similar occasion 
 at Holywood, in Ireland, God was pleased to 
 own to the conversion of a thousand souls. 
 
REVIVALS, 117 
 
 We have no reason to believe that these were 
 insulated seasons in either of those countries. 
 Nor was England during the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, the age of Baxter, Owen, Howe, Bates, 
 and a host of other worthies, without its seasons 
 of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. 
 Take Kidderminster, the parish of Richard 
 Baxter, as an example. When he came to the 
 place, he says, there was about one family in a 
 street that worshipped God, and called on his 
 name — and before he left, instances of neglect 
 were very rare. Of six hundred communicants, 
 he stood in doubt of only about a dozen. Per- 
 haps the ministry of no pastor was more 
 blessed in a given place. And this was the 
 case with many of his cotemporaries, although 
 they lived in exceedingly troublous times. 
 
 It was my wish and design, at this point, to 
 have taken a brief view of the state of reli- 
 gion in England and this country during a part 
 of the last century. But time will not permit. 
 Sometime before the middle of that period God 
 had gathered together, at the University of Ox- 
 ford, in England, a company of young men of 
 fervent piety who were associated for mutual 
 improvement in the things of religion. Of this 
 number were John and Charles Wesley, and 
 George Whitefield, subsequently well known, 
 both in Europe and America, as the friends and 
 
118 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 promoters of vital godliness ; one of them the 
 founder of that numerous and respectable sect, 
 called Methodists, and another honoured of 
 God as the instrument employed to diffuse a 
 new spirit into existing denominations. Ex- 
 tensive revivals of religion followed their la- 
 bours on both sides of the Atlantic. In this 
 country Whitefield met a hearty co-operation 
 in the Tennants and others in the Presbyterian 
 Church, and Edwards, and many others of the 
 fathers of New England — and a glorious scene 
 of revival ensued, which pervaded almost every 
 part of our land. It w^as, however, greatly 
 marred by the errors and excesses of Daven- 
 port and others, whose mistakes and follies 
 made the very name of a revival odious for 
 many years. The influences of the Spirit 
 were consequently withdrawn for many years, 
 so that we scarcely hear of a revival again till 
 after the revolutionary war. Of what then 
 occurred I shall hereafter speak. Enough has, 
 I think, been said to show that revivals are not 
 as great novelties as some have believed and 
 others imagined. So that if it be admitted that 
 it is proper to call the present, especially with 
 reference to our own country, " The age of 
 revivals," it is necessary that we do so with 
 some limitations and explanations, or we shall 
 be apt to leave a wrong impression on the 
 
REVIVALS. 119 
 
 mind. From what has taken place in this age 
 and country, we have no right to disparage 
 what God has done in other ages and coun- 
 tries. To do this would be very like blas- 
 pheming the Holy Ghost. 
 
 To come, then, to modern times. It is a 
 fact, that, not long after the revolutionary war, 
 revivals began to occur again; and, towards 
 the close of the last century, and the beginning 
 of the present, they were more frequent than 
 they had been for a long time before. In 
 many instances, they were deep, powerful, and 
 extensive, and their effects were permanently 
 good. They were, generally, connected with 
 plain, pungent, and affectionate exhibitions of 
 the whole counsel of God, followed by deep 
 convictions of sin, of heart and nature, as well 
 as hfe, and a believing reception and appropri- 
 ation of Christ, as " made to us of God, wis- 
 dom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemp- 
 tion," through the renewing and sanctifying 
 power of the Holy Spirit. The effect, ordina- 
 rily, was, great self-abasement, humiliation, 
 and perseverance in holy living. The churches 
 had peace, and their members walked together 
 in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of 
 the Holy Ghost. Defections were few, and the 
 exercise of disciphne was seldom necessary. 
 Novelties, in faith or practice, rarely occurred. 
 
120 LECTURE V. 
 
 There were, however, some few exceptions. 
 In some parts of this State, in some of the 
 Western States, and, in a few instances, else- 
 where, singular cases of bodily-exercise occur- 
 red ; first, probably, in the case of persons of 
 feeble or diseased nerves, and afterwards com- 
 municated to others by sympathy. This was of 
 evil influence. Then followed a seeming want 
 of more labourers in the vineyard, which gave 
 rise to the introduction of imperfectly educated 
 and unqualified men into the ministry, with 
 which, was probably connected departures 
 from sound doctrine. From this sprung the 
 Cumberland Presbyterians, who, for several 
 years, troubled the Presbyterian Church. But, 
 notwithstanding these drawbacks, the work 
 went on, and great good was done. 
 
 'Till about the year 1820, few changes took 
 place, excepting the introduction of what has 
 been called, " The anxious-seats," and the em- 
 ployment of a few evangelists. The anxious- 
 seat was originally used, to save the pastor the 
 labour of calling upon the many who were 
 exercised ; and the employment of evangelists 
 was designed to assist the pastors, who were 
 borne down with the multiplicity of their ardu- 
 ous labours. About this time, commenced 
 what has been called, " The conference of 
 the churches." This practice obtained princi- 
 
REVIVALS. 121 
 
 pally in New England, and consisted in the 
 appointment of a few influential and gifted lay- 
 men, to visit neighbouring churches, calling the 
 people together, and spending a day or two 
 with them in exhortation and prayer, labouring 
 to reconcile existing difficulties, and calling 
 upon churches to make public confession of 
 their sins, and covenant anew to serve the 
 Lord. From these exercises pastors were so 
 far excluded as not to be expected to take an 
 active part in them, even in their own 
 churches. This was the first serious inroad 
 made on the character and influence of the 
 pastoral office. 
 
 The influence of this new measure was, in 
 the first instance, very considerable, and, per- 
 haps, some good was accomplished. But, like 
 all merely human devices, it ceased to have 
 much effect when its novelty was worn olF. 
 When this was perceived to be the case, it 
 was abandoned. About the same time, a dis- 
 tinction began to be made between ministers, 
 as favourable or unfavourable to revivals. If 
 the name of a minister was not known to one 
 of the parties, the question would be immedi- 
 ately asked, "Is he a revival-man?" And the 
 meaning would be, not, is he a godly man, who 
 loves God, and the souls of men, and labours 
 diligently for the promotion of the divine 
 
 11 
 
122 LECTURE V. 
 
 glory, and the salvation of souls, but, does he 
 approve of the newest measures, and work ac- 
 cording to the newest rules ? If not, though 
 he were pouring his whole heart into his work, 
 and God were blessing his labours in the most 
 abundant manner, he would not be recognised 
 as, " a revival-man," but, stigmatized as, " cold- 
 hearted, and inefficient." I have, myself, heard 
 them so called, again and again. 
 
 When the conference of the churches had 
 served its turn, it was succeeded by what has 
 been technically called, " protracted meetings." 
 Such meetings have been extensively held 
 throughout our land, and, especially, in the 
 Presbyterian Church. I think, they did not be- 
 come general till about the year 1827, or '28, 
 Previously to this period, if an interesting state 
 of religious feeling existed in an extensive con- 
 gregation, meetings were necessarily increased ; 
 and, if the pastor were unable to bear the in- 
 creased labour, neighbouring brethren were 
 called in to assist him. This, however, is not 
 what is meant by " protracted meetings." 
 These are meetings, which have been ap- 
 pointed frequently, if not generally, when reli- 
 gion appeared to be in a low or declining state, 
 with a view to wake up Christians, and excite 
 the attention of sinners, to the subject of their 
 salvation; or, as it has been expressed, "To 
 
REVIVALS. 123 
 
 get up a revival." They have generally been 
 conducted by evangelists, or, by a number of 
 ministers, called from greater or less distances, 
 who were supposed to be peculiarly skilful in 
 conducting such operations, or whose minis- 
 trations were calculated to produce the most 
 striking effects : in other words, " revival-men." 
 Other men, whatever their gifts or qualifica- 
 tions might be, would rarely be invited. 
 
 These meetings have lasted, from three to 
 four days. Pastors have, generally, taken very 
 Httle part in the exercises in their own congre- 
 gations, and had very little to do with the di- 
 rection of affairs. The exercises have con- 
 sisted, of one or two sermons a day, with one 
 or two meetings for exhortation and prayer; 
 and, when the state of feeling would warrant 
 it, the anxious-seat. The object of this seat 
 is, to bring those whose minds are affected to 
 give a public indication of their purpose to be- 
 come religious, and then, by exhortation and 
 prayer, to bring them to "submit," as it is 
 called, in which, it is supposed, their conver- 
 sion consists. The character of the preaching 
 on these occasions has, generally, been of an 
 exciting kind : sometimes, by holding up some 
 important truth before the mind in a striking 
 light, till it has absorbed the attention, and ex- 
 cited the imagination, and prepared the subject 
 
124 LECTURE V. 
 
 sternly to adopt the preacher's desire, by form- 
 ing the resolution to submit to God, supposing 
 that the great work is then done, although they 
 have never been convinced of the evil of sin, 
 or felt the plagues of their own hearts, or their 
 need of being " Washed, and sanctified, and 
 justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
 by the Spirit of our God," or, having had a sin- 
 gle view of Christ, as crucified and slain for 
 their redemption. Sometimes, strong appeals 
 have been made to the passions; and some- 
 times, they have been urged on to the duty of 
 submission, in connexion with their abihty to 
 perform it, till it has been supposed to be one 
 of the easiest things imaginable; and, some- 
 times, the preacher has assumed the divine 
 omniscience, and declared, authoritatively, that 
 unless the hearer should submit to God before 
 he should leave his seat, he would lose his 
 soul. The speaker has witnessed such things. 
 Generally speaking, very little gospel in- 
 struction has been given at such meetings, and 
 the distinnruishinsf doctrines of the Christian 
 system have been studiously kept out of view, 
 as not calculated to promote the work. For 
 instance: You would hear very little, if any 
 thing, of our sinful condition by nature; the 
 nature and necessity of regeneration, by the 
 supernatural influences of the Holy Spirit ; the 
 
REVIVALS. 125 
 
 doings and sufferings of Christ; justification 
 by faith, through the imputed righteousness of 
 Christ, as the ground of our acceptance with 
 God ; the nature of the divine law and govern- 
 ment ; the importance of self-examination ; the 
 evidences of a gracious state , and, the nature 
 and character of the Christian life. These 
 subjects have often been laughed at, as anti- 
 quated folhes, or avoided, as injurious to revi- 
 vals of religion. 
 
 I do not mean, that this has been the case 
 at all protracted meetings. Many of them 
 have been conducted with propriety ; and the 
 truth, as it is in Jesus, has been preached at 
 them. But the other course, with various 
 modifications, has had a considerably wide cir- 
 culation. In many instances, such measures, 
 and preaching, have been forced upon congre- 
 gations, and suffered against the better judg- 
 ment and wishes of pastors, and, perhaps, a 
 large portion of their congregations, through the 
 influence of a few fanatical spirits, in the hope 
 of being able to control the course of events, 
 gratify these spirits, and yet save the Church 
 from material injury. This, however, has 
 rarely been the case. Time, however, does 
 not permit me to dwell on this part of the 
 subject. I proceed to inquire as to results. 
 
 What effects, then, have resulted from these 
 11* 
 
126 LECTURE V. 
 
 things ? It is undeniable, that these have been 
 neither few nor small, and, if we had an accu- 
 rate and detailed account of them, it would 
 furnish an interesting and useful study to the 
 philosopher and the Christian, and, especially, 
 the Christian minister. It might, for instance, 
 be expected, that where such long-extended 
 and mighty efforts had been made ; such im- 
 portant and exciting topics had been discussed, 
 and enforced with so much talent, skill, zeal, 
 frequency and perseverance, that the hearers 
 have had such a direct, acknowledged, and 
 deep interest in them — and that scenes of 
 thrilling interest have frequently been exhibited, 
 which were calculated to call into exercise the 
 deepest sympathies of our nature, that many 
 and important results would flow from them. 
 Such, accordingly, has been the fact. Thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands of souls, in vari- 
 ous parts of our land, have been deeply and 
 seriously affected by them. Nor have I a 
 doubt, that many have been happily and sav- 
 ingly affected by them. But, whether enough 
 of good, has been done to compensate for a 
 train of evils, many of which have grown 
 spontaneously, and almost necessarily, out of 
 the measures which have been pursued; and, 
 whether the good might not have been ob- 
 tained, and most of the evils have been 
 avoided, by a different course, are questions 
 
REVIVALS. 127 
 
 which are worthy of grave and serious con- 
 sideration. At all events, it is very certain, 
 that these measures, like all mere human in- 
 ventions, have been producing, constantly, less 
 and less effect, and have laid them under the 
 necessity of inventing others, or, of falling 
 back upon those which God has appointed and 
 approved. What then, you ask, are the evils 
 to which I allude ? 
 
 They have been of evil influence, with re- 
 spect to the stated and ordinary ministrations 
 of the Gospel ; an ordinance, which God has 
 appointed, in perpetuity, for the edification of 
 the body of Christ, and the conviction and con- 
 version of sinners. After a protracted meet- 
 ing, of the most approved stamp, the ordinary 
 ministrations of the sanctuary have, for a 
 length of time, had very little, if any eflfect, 
 either on saint or sinner. The agitated wa- 
 ters subside into a dead calm. The people of 
 God sink down into a dull, cold apathy, as if it 
 were not their duty to feel or act ; and sinners, 
 would seem to think it almost a sin to be con- 
 verted at such a time. They sit down, and 
 fold their hands to sleep, as if they had no 
 souls to save or lose, till one of these seasons 
 of extra eflfort and excitement returns. From 
 this it has resulted, that few have been re- 
 ceived into the churches, excepting at such pe- 
 
128 LECTURE V. 
 
 riods. It has been, either a feast or a famine. 
 Daily bread has been loathed and despised, as 
 well nigh useless. Even those churches which 
 have cordially disapproved of the whole course 
 of things, have been deeply affected by it. In 
 many of the Presbyterian churches, the period 
 for the return of the paroxysm has been, when 
 the season for the annual meeting of the Gene- 
 ral Assembly has been drawing near. When 
 it has been perceived, upon review, that little 
 has been accomplished since its last meeting, 
 and that, a meager account must be given, if 
 something be not immediately done ; the pro- 
 tracted meeting is called ; notice is given, as ex- 
 tensively as possible; preparation is made; the 
 proper coadjutors are procured ; expectation is 
 raised ; the work is commenced ; in the course 
 of a week or two, fifty or a hundred are gath- 
 ered into the Church; the thing is gazetted 
 throughout the land ; a report is made, in due 
 form, to the General Assembly : a great calm 
 ensues, so that the lecture-rooni and prayer 
 meeting are forsaken, and it would require an 
 earthquake to wake the Church up again be- 
 fore the usual time. Do not many of you 
 know this to be, substantially, correct? Why, 
 even our sober brethren of the Episcopal 
 Church, have felt the effect, and complain, that 
 their accessions to . the Church are principally 
 
REVIVALS. ' 129 
 
 confined to the season of Lent, during which 
 they have almost daily public exercises. There 
 must be something wrong, when God's institu- 
 tions are thus undervalued and powerless, and, 
 when we substitute, what, in the very nature of 
 the case, must be special, for God's stated ap- 
 pointment, and rely upon our own inventions, 
 instead of his ordinances. 
 
 But this is not all. This state of things has 
 been of most pernicious influence w^ith respect 
 to the pastoral office. This is an office of di- 
 vine institution, and designed by the great 
 Head of the Church to be perpetual. In the 
 settled state of the Church, the whole work of 
 the ministry, both as it respects ingathering 
 and edification, has been committed by Christ 
 to the pastor. But in the state of things of 
 which I am speaking, the pastor has been 
 made a mere cypher, on the wrong side of 
 unity. In these protracted meetings, the 
 whole work is thrown into the hands of the 
 Evangelist, or the brethren who are called in, 
 as the case may be. The pastor may indeed 
 be seen^ but he is not heard or felt. These 
 men come prepared with a few sermons calcu- 
 lated to produce an immediate effect, such as 
 no pastor can statedly prepare for his people, 
 and which he should not preach in continuance 
 if he could, for they would starve their souls; 
 
130 LECTURE V. 
 
 and when the excitement begins to subside, as 
 subside it will, these men retire, and leave all 
 the difficulties and trials of the re-action to 
 him. Well, what are the consequences? 
 Why, he cannot revive the dying excitement. 
 He cannot minister satisfactorily to the vitia- 
 ted tastes, and morbid sensibilities of his hear- 
 ers. He has lost the little influence which he 
 once exercised. He grows discouraged with 
 the hopelessness of future usefulness, and de- 
 sires to fly from the scene. And if he did not, 
 his hearers desire his removal. They lay every 
 difficulty at his door. They suppose if they 
 had one of those men that had laboured 
 among them with so much interest and suc- 
 cess, they would have a revival all the time. 
 And the next you hear, he is gone. This evil 
 influence has well nigh destroyed the pastoral 
 office, with all its hallowed influences, in some 
 parts of the Church, and weakened it every 
 where. And if it is suffered to go on, it will 
 make revivals a by-word and a loathing, and 
 go far to destroy the Church itself. Surely 
 these things ought not to be. Surely, those 
 who love and pray for the peace and pros- 
 perity of Zion, should wake up, and see to 
 it. If any one desires to be informed on the 
 subject, let him examine the statistics of our 
 Church, and he will be equally astonished and 
 
REVIVALS. 13X 
 
 grieved to find what a multitude of her minis- 
 try are either without charges, or acting as 
 stated suppHes. I have myself known a Pres- 
 bytery consisting of nineteen ministers, only 
 three of whom were pastors. No small por- 
 tion of this evil has arisen from the employ- 
 ment of Evangelists, protracted meetings, and 
 the character of modern revivals. A genuine 
 revival of religion has always served to unite 
 the pastor, if he were a good man, more 
 closely to his people, and greatly to increase his 
 usefulness. The revivals of later years have 
 had a directly contrary effect. Verily there is 
 something utterly wrong in all this. 
 
 This state of things has had a great and 
 unhappy effect on the character of gospel 
 ministrations. It seems to be at war with al- 
 most all the distinguishing doctrines of our 
 holy religion. These may not be preached in 
 connexion with revivals, because they are sup- 
 posed to have a bad influence on them. Du- 
 ring such seasons it would be treason to speak 
 of original sin, the atonement as the only 
 ground of our hope of acceptance with God, 
 justification by faith, through the imputed 
 righteousness of Christ, the necessity of re- 
 generation by the supernatural influences of the 
 Holy Spirit, or any thing else which distin- 
 guishes the gospel from all other systems; for 
 
132 LECTURE V. , 
 
 fear that men should forget their accountabihty, 
 or be unwilhng to exert themselves, unless they 
 possessed every kind of ability necessary to save 
 their own souls. The consequence of all this has 
 been, that men have imbibed a distaste for doc- 
 trinal preaching, and ultimately for the doc- 
 trines themselves, so as to become unwilling to 
 hear them at all, or even to believe them. 
 They have reasoned on this wise — " If these 
 doctrines are inimical to revivals, they cannot 
 be very important, even if true, and probably 
 are not true in the sense we have heretofore 
 supposed." If the first proposition be true, 
 the argument is sound, and the conclusion irre- 
 sistible. This, I have no doubt, is one of the 
 fruitful sources of those errors with which the 
 Presbyterian Church has been flooded, distract- 
 ed, and well nigh ruined. The devil has no 
 better time to sow his tares by handfulls than 
 when the watchmen are absorbed in revivals ; 
 and he knows it well — and if he can get them 
 to do his work, he is all the better pleased. It 
 does, however, seem strange to me how it ever 
 entered into the minds of men, that the doc- 
 trines of the Scriptures should be opposed to 
 the best interests of the kingdom of Christ. 
 Either the Holy Spirit has committed a strange 
 mistake on the subject, or men must be essen- 
 tially wrong about this thing. It would be 
 
REVIVALS. 133 
 
 wonderful if those truths which he at the foun- 
 dation of the whole system, should be injuri- 
 ous to its interests, and be unnecessary to be 
 known and understood by us ! 
 
 These revivals have had an unhappy influ- 
 ence on the state of religion and the welfare of 
 souls, as connected with hasty admission to the 
 communion of the Church. This practice has 
 been very general. Communion seasons have 
 immediately succeeded protracted meetings. I 
 have known an instance where, during the last 
 ten days of a meeting of five weeks continu- 
 ance, three communion seasons were held, 
 two hundred and ten were admitted to the 
 Church — in four months the pastor was dis- 
 missed, and within eighteen months their house 
 of worship was sold, and the Church itself 
 was broken up. If one hundred of its three 
 hundred members can now be found decently 
 professing godliness, I am utterly mistaken. 
 These hasty admissions afford the subjects no 
 time to test the nature of their exercises, or to 
 examine the state of their hearts ; and it is no 
 wonder if the churches get filled with unsound 
 members, or if they fall off" like leaves in au- 
 tumn. The reasons assigned for such admis- 
 sions is, they will lose their impressions, and 
 never make a profession. This may be very 
 true. But what a commentary is it on the na- 
 
 12 
 
134 LECTURE V. 
 
 ture of the revival, and indeed on the whole 
 system? If the work were genuine there 
 would be no danger in waiting. The bread 
 cast upon the waters would be found again 
 after many days. If the Church were not im- 
 mortal under its Head, the errors, and follies, 
 and wickedness of men would have destroyed 
 it long ago. 
 
 Finally. The Christian character, formed 
 by such means, even where a real conversion 
 takes place, is so defective, as to make the 
 measures themselves of questionable propriety. 
 I will only notice a very few. They have 
 been found, in uncommon numbers, destitute of 
 that meekness, gentleness, and humility, which 
 so strikingly characterized the blessed Saviour, 
 and which are so becoming and lovely in 
 young converts. These, on the contrary, ap- 
 pear to have been born of full age and growth, 
 and to speak with as much confidence of 
 Christian duty and experience as if they had 
 been thoroughly trained and disciplined in the 
 divine life; and, to rush into the Christian war- 
 fare with as much boldness, as if they had 
 proved their armour, and gained many an easy 
 victory; and, to reprove veterans of the cross, of 
 forty years standing, as cold, idle, and inefficient, 
 as if they, themselves, had a commission from 
 Heaven to exercise such authority over God's 
 
REVIVALS. 135 
 
 heritage. They are frequently found impatient 
 of restraint, and unwilling to submit to the au- 
 thority necessary to make God's house a 
 house of order. And with all these, there is 
 often connected, not only a lamentable igno- 
 rance of the doctrines of the Gospel, but a 
 great distaste for, and disbelief of them, by 
 which, a continued ignorance of them is in- 
 sured in all time to come. Men will never 
 study, with interest and success, those subjects 
 to which they have an aversion. Such a state 
 of things can never exist without great loss to 
 the soul, for the character is formed by the 
 knowledge and influence of the doctrines of 
 rehgion on the heart. These constitute the 
 bones and muscles of the new creature. And, 
 where the knowledge and love of the doctrines 
 is absent, an imperfect character will be in- 
 duced, which will lack some of the most im- 
 portant and lovely traits which adorn the 
 Christian when the conformation of the new 
 man is fully developed. Hence, many of those, 
 of w^hom I am speaking, are deficient in that 
 symmetry which is so lovely in the well-formed 
 Christian. While these are particularly defec- 
 tive, with respect to the meekness, gentleness, 
 and humility, by which the Saviour was so de- 
 lightfully distinguished, they are no less defi- 
 cient in that firmness, which makes its pos- 
 
136 LECTURE V. REVIVALS. 
 
 sessor "steadfast, unmovable, always abound- 
 ing in the work of the Lord." For the want 
 of this, so many of the present day are, " ever 
 learning, and never coming to the knowledge 
 of the truth," and are so blown about by every 
 wind of doctrine, that you can never know 
 whither the next breeze may carry them, or 
 upon w^hat desolate coast they may make ship- 
 wreck of their faith, and their souls. Need 
 we, then, wonder at the prevalence and influ- 
 ence of error? 
 
 These are some of the reasons, w^hy we ob- 
 ject to the inventions of men in conducting the 
 w^ork of the Lord, and why we earnestly desire 
 to see the Church return to the good old ways. 
 God has never denied his blessing to his own 
 truth, and the labour of his own servants, who 
 have received the Word at his mouth, and re- 
 lied upon the influence of his Spirit to give it 
 effect. Nor wall he now. "Wait on the Lord, 
 and he will bring it to pass." The Church will 
 then soon cease to be like a forest, through 
 which a devouring fire has passed, consuming 
 every thing which had life in it; and become 
 again, " Fruitful as Lebanon, beautiful as Tir- 
 zah, comely as Jerusalem, and terrible as an 
 army with banners." May the Lord hasten it 
 in its season! 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 The last particular, to which your attention 
 was directed, was, " Revivals of religion." Af- 
 ter explaining their nature and importance, it 
 was observed, that they were not novelties in 
 the history of God's Church, having been ex- 
 perienced in almost every age and country 
 where the Church has had a visible form, both 
 under the Old and New Testament dispensa- 
 tions. A number of facts were detailed, and 
 remarks made, with respect to the great revi- 
 val, which commenced a little before the mid- 
 dle of the last century, and in w^hich. White- 
 field and the Wesleys were prominent actors ; 
 and the reason assigned, why that glorious 
 work was brought suddenly and unexpectedly 
 to a close, shortly before the Revolutionary 
 war. 
 
 We then passed on to a brief review of the 
 revivals which occurred after that period, to- 
 
 12* 
 
138 LECTURE VI. 
 
 wards the close of the last century, and the com- 
 mencement of the present, up to about the year 
 1820, during which time, revivals, with com- 
 paratively few exceptions, continued to be pure 
 and salutary. Then, began the employment 
 of evangelists, out of which grew protracted 
 meetings, anxious-seats, new tests of conver- 
 sion, together with speedy and premature ad- 
 missions to the Church. It has also appeared, 
 that, if much good resulted from such a course 
 of measures, that much and great, if not ne- 
 cessary evil, has followed in their train; such 
 as, scanty and imperfect exhibitions of truth; 
 a distaste for the ordinary ministrations of the 
 Gospel ; a lack of edification under them ; long 
 seasons of coldness and inactivity; the de- 
 struction of the influence which the pastor 
 should exercise; the frequent disruptions of 
 the pastoral relation; a distaste for the doc- 
 trines of the Gospel, often followed by their 
 abandonment or corruption ; and, that the cha- 
 racters thus formed, are lamentably defective, 
 lacking many of the characteristics which 
 should distinguish the child of God ; and par- 
 ticularly deficient in the meekness, gentleness, 
 and lowliness, which were so beautifully exem- 
 plified in the Master, and which are so emi- 
 nently lovely in the young convert, nor less de- 
 ficient in that firmness, which is " steadfast, un- 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 139 
 
 movable, always abounding in the work of the 
 Lord." And, finally, it was shown, that these 
 defective characteristics, which have distin- 
 guished revivals within the last twenty years, 
 are not necessary to them, and ought to be 
 avoided. If, from that discussion, the impres- 
 sion has been produced, in any mind, that the 
 speaker is unfriendly to revivals of religion, 
 and that he does not ardently desire to see 
 their prevalence — to witness them in his own 
 charge, where a season of refreshing from the 
 the presence of the Lord is so much needed — 
 and enjoy them in his own soul, he begs, that 
 such impression may be at once dismissed. 
 If these were not his views and feelings, he 
 would be both ungrateful and traiterous to his 
 gracious Lord. He has not forgotten, nor can 
 he ever forget, the blessed seasons he has wit- 
 nessed and enjoyed in another part of the vine- 
 yard, in days, the recollection of which will al- 
 ways be pleasant. Nor does he live without 
 the hope, that, ere the Master w^ill call him to 
 lay his hoary head on its last pillow, he will 
 will give him to see, and enjoy with this flock, 
 a season of refreshing from the presence of 
 the Lord, which will make this hill of Zion 
 beautiful as Tirzah, and fruitful as Eden. Nor 
 does he look forward to it as at a great dis- 
 tance. " Brethren, pray for us, that the word 
 
140 LECTURE VI. 
 
 of the Lord may have free course, and be glo- 
 rified." This train of thought, the Lord wil- 
 Hng, will be pursued on some other occasion. 
 At present, and as connected with the 
 
 VL Sign of the times in which we live, 
 I will direct your attention to several things in 
 the state of the Church which very seriously 
 affect her welfare. 
 
 L The first particular which I deem it of 
 importance to call up in this connexion^ is the 
 corruption of the doctrines of our holy religion. 
 
 Doctrines are the fundamental principles or 
 positions of any sect or master, by which their 
 systems or instructions are distinguished. The 
 doctrines of the Bible are the first principles, 
 or the fundamental truths, of the religion which 
 the Bible teaches. They must, therefore lie at 
 the foundation of the system which the Bible 
 inculcates. They make the Christian religion 
 to be what it is. They distinguish it from all 
 others. If therefore, you abstract the doc- 
 trines, you lose the system. It is no longer the 
 religion of Christ. It is something else. " The 
 Scriptures, (says one,) present us with a copi- 
 ous fund of Evangelical truth, which, though it 
 has not the form of a regular system, yet its 
 parts are such, that, when united, make the 
 most complete body of doctrine that we can 
 possibly have." If it be true that the doc- 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 141 
 
 trines of a system make it to be what it is, as 
 for instance, the doctrines of the Bible make 
 up the system of its rehgion, then must the 
 doctrines be of essential importance. No man 
 can be said to understand the religion of Christ 
 any further than he understands the doctrines 
 or truths of which it is composed, and w^hich 
 make it to be what it is. If this position be 
 correct, then it is reasonably to be inferred, that 
 God has made such a revelation of truth or 
 doctrine in the Bible, as may serve to make a 
 man wise unto salvation, and has made it intel- 
 ligible, or so as to be understood by those who 
 will bestow a proper degree of attention upon 
 it. That this supposition is a fact, is capable 
 of being proved to a demonstration. Nor are 
 the doctrines of the Bible, useless with respect 
 to practice. For instance: — The doctrine of 
 God's sovereignty is calculated to excite sub- 
 mission — his power and justice to promote 
 fear — his holiness, humility, and purity — his 
 goodness and grace to furnish a ground of 
 hope — his love to excite joy — his faithfulness, 
 confidence. In like manner we may derive 
 some practical instruction from every doctrine 
 of revelation. 
 
 Churches, in almost every age, have been in 
 the practice of collecting these doctrines to- 
 
142 LECTURE VI. 
 
 gether in some systematic form or order, de- 
 nominated "Confessions of Faith and Cate- 
 chisms," either for the purpose of exhibiting 
 their views of the doctrines of Scripture to the 
 world, assisting their own minds in obtaining 
 an orderly view of them in their various rela- 
 tions, or assisting the learner in obtaining a 
 correct knowledge of them. These symbols 
 of faith have been more or less elaborate and 
 extensive, as the circumstances of the case 
 have been thought to require, and have gener- 
 ally contained those doctrines which were sup- 
 posed to be most important and vital to the 
 Christian system. More of these formularies 
 were formed during the progress of the Refor- 
 mation than in any preceding period — and they 
 were generally both more elaborate and pre- 
 cise. And this remarkable fact occurred with 
 respect to them. They agreed with each other 
 in relation to every doctrine which has been 
 deemed vital to the Christian system. This may 
 perhaps be best accounted for by the considera- 
 tion that their framers came to the work with 
 unsophisticated minds, recently illuminated and 
 sanctified by the Spirit of all grace, and not con- 
 taminated by a worldly philosophy, and drew 
 the materials with which they wrought fresh 
 from the oracles of God. Our own Confession 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 143 
 
 of Faith and Catechisms, were of the number, 
 and they will bear a fair comparison with the 
 best of them. 
 
 It will be no news to inform you that they 
 have had their full share of assault from with- 
 out and from within. This has, perhaps, never 
 been more strikingly the case than within the 
 last twenty years. The most humiliating cir- 
 cumstance of all is, that the most violent 
 assaults and the* deepest wounds have been 
 made by her sworn allies, or homeborn sons. 
 These are signs of the times over which angels 
 might weep. These assaults have not been 
 made against the outworks, but against the 
 very citadel of truth. The robbery has not 
 been committed on "the mint, cummin, and 
 anise" of the sanctuary; but on the "weightier 
 matters of the law, truth, judgment, and righte- 
 ousness," the essential doctrines of the gospel — 
 those which distinguish the Christian system 
 from all others, and makes it to be what it is. 
 
 Do you ask what are the essential doctrines 
 of the gospel of the grace of God ? The fall 
 of our first parents, and the consequent de- 
 pravity, guilt, misery, and helplessness, of 
 themselves and all their natural posterity, the 
 depravity being inherited, and the guilt im- 
 puted, by the just judgment of God, so that 
 all are "by nature the children of wrath." 
 
144 
 
 LECTURE VI, 
 
 The proper and supreme Deity of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, as the only begotten son of God. 
 The covenant or engagement into which he 
 entered as the surety of his people, to redeem 
 them from the curse of the law, by bearing its 
 penalty in their stead. His incarnation — his 
 vicarious sufferings and death, by which he 
 made an atonement, by which he satisfied the 
 divine law and justice, and brought in an ever- 
 lasting righteousness, so that God might be 
 just in the justification of every one that be- 
 lieveth in him, he having " Borne their sins in 
 his own body on the tree." Justification by 
 faith through the imputed righteousness of 
 Christ alone, as the meritorious cause. Re- 
 generation by the supernatural power of the 
 Holy Ghost, the sinner being considered as 
 "dead in trespasses and sins," and he, as 
 quickening* him into life, slaying his enmity, 
 and subduing his rebelhon, not by moral sua- 
 sion or motive presented, but by his own al- 
 mighty energy, creating him anew in Christ 
 Jesus. And finally, God's electing love in 
 choosing them in Christ Jesus unto salvation, 
 before the foundation of the world, according 
 to the good pleasure of his will, and not on 
 account of any worthiness or good foreseen in 
 them, but that they might he holy and without 
 blame before him in love. 
 
CORRUPTION OP DOCTRINE. 145 
 
 Now, every body knows, who knows any thing 
 correctly about the matter, that these are doc- 
 trines of the Presbyterian Church — that they are 
 fully and clearly set forth in her standards — that 
 they have been publicly professed by every one 
 of her ministers and elders, who has not been 
 smuggled into office — that they should be 
 taught in all her pulpits, Sabbath Schools, Bible 
 and Catechetical classes — that we profess to 
 believe that they are drawn immediately from 
 the Bible, and that they are supported and cor- 
 roborated by many clear and indubitable testi- 
 monies, drawn from the same source. Are these 
 doctrines universally credited and maintained ? 
 They are the doctrines of the Reformation, and 
 with very little variation, that they are found in 
 all the standards which sprang immediately from 
 the Reformation ? In many instances they re- 
 main in the book, but have been banished from 
 the pulpit. The candidate has subscribed them, 
 but the priest's lips that should keep knowledge, 
 ueny, and speak against them. Alas, that it 
 should be so! Is it not a dark sign that men 
 should profess one system of doctrine, and be- 
 lieve, and teach another ? 
 
 But how is it in our own beloved Zion? 
 Have all her sons kept the faith ? The follow- 
 ing question must be answered in the affirma- 
 tive by every minister and elder who is inducted 
 
 13 
 
146 LECTURE VI. 
 
 into office in an orderly manner — " Do you 
 sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of 
 Faith of this Church, as containinsr the svstem 
 of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures?" 
 This would seem to be sufficient to declare the 
 sentiments, and bind the conscience of every 
 honest man — and our ministry and eldership 
 should, under such bonds, all be of one mind, 
 if not of one heart. What are the facts of 
 the case ? There is scarcely a doctrine which 
 I have mentioned, with the exception of the 
 incarnation, which has not been denied, or frit- 
 tered down, till scarcely one of its distinguish- 
 ing features has been discernible. 
 
 The manner of effecting the object has been 
 various. Sometimes a dead silence has been 
 maintained with respect to every leading doc- 
 trine of the Christian system, because the peo- 
 ple, it is alleged, do not like, or will not bear 
 the preaching of the doctrines of the gospel — 
 or because the preacher does not believe them 
 to be of importance, or the preaching of them 
 to be of injurious tendency — while at the same 
 time the preacher inculcates, and the people 
 hear, and bear doctrines of a contrary charac- 
 ter. So that the objection lies not against doc- 
 trinal preaching, but against the preaching of 
 the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel — for 
 who can preach or instruct at all, and yet teach 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 147 
 
 no doctrine. What is doctrine, but the senti- 
 ment entertained concerning a subject. Ano- 
 ther method of corrupting or destroying the 
 truth or doctrines of the gospel, is, to profess to 
 beheve the doctrines, and hold them in the same 
 sense with others, but to give contrary or dis- 
 crepant views of them, and call them the phi- 
 losopliy of those doctrines. Our view^s of doc- 
 trine agree, say they ; we differ only in their 
 philosophy. What is the philosophy of a doc- 
 trine, but the particular view which a man en- 
 tertains of it, or the amount of his belief con- 
 cerning it? Thus, by a philosophy, false so 
 called, is the truth undermined, and the faith of 
 the Church subverted. They hang these ap- 
 ples of Sodom on the tree of life, ask us to 
 eat them, as heavenly fruit, but they turn to 
 ashes in the mouth. And the salve for the 
 conscience is, that when they were supposed 
 to receive the Confession of Faith as contain- 
 ing the system of doctrines taught in the Holy 
 Scriptures^ they meant it only, " For substance 
 of doctrine." That is; they received it as 
 a whole, that they might impugn or reject as 
 much of it as they pleased in detail. Of this, 
 the age in which we live has furnished proofs 
 and illustrations enough to satisfy the most 
 sceptical. 
 
148 LECTURE VI. 
 
 It has been said, that "original sin" is one of 
 the essential doctrines of the Christian religion. 
 It holds a prominent place in our Confession of 
 Faith. It is thus defined: "They (our first 
 parents) being the root of all mankind, the guilt 
 of this sin (their first transgression) was im- 
 puted, and the same death in sin, and corrupted 
 nature conveyed to all their posterity, descend- 
 ing from them by ordinary generation." This, 
 some deny entirely. Others say, all men are 
 not sinners by nature, any more than Adam 
 was. They are only liable to sin, if they live 
 to perform moral acts. Others say, they will 
 certainly sin. And one of great notoriety, 
 who, in words, acknowledges original sin, sums 
 up his exposition of Rom, v. 12, by saying, "I 
 understand it, therefore, as referring to the 
 fact, that men sin in their own persons, in 
 themselves — as, indeed, how can they sin in 
 any other way ? and that, therefore, they die ;" 
 evidently implying, that no man can be a sin- 
 ner, nor, as such, die, till he has voluntarily 
 committed some act of sin. How this consists 
 with orignal sin, and the death of infants, it 
 would be difficult to show. No doctrine of 
 revelation has been more misconstrued, mis- 
 represented, hated, and impugned. Errorists, 
 of every name, have assailed it with every 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 149 
 
 weapon they have been able to bring to bear 
 against it. And yet, it has been written in the 
 oracles of God with the clearness of a sun- 
 beam, and is attested by every death which 
 has ever occurred on earth, as well as by the 
 anguish of every father and mother who have 
 buried an infant. 
 
 But this, is not the only important Christian 
 doctrine which has been assailed. Our Savi- 
 our's proper and supreme deity has been as- 
 saulted in a variety of forms. While the 
 thorough Unitarian has made him a mere 
 man, and the Arian has allowed him an an- 
 gelic or super-angelic existence before his in- 
 carnation, making him a kind of official God, 
 the philosophical speculatist, anxious to solve 
 every mystery in the deep things of God, and, 
 unable to explain what is meant by the divine 
 and eternal Sonship of Christ, has not only en- 
 deavoured to maintain his divinity by a crip- 
 pled and enfeebled argument, but with wanton 
 impiety called, what he could not comprehend, 
 " an eternal absurdity," while his Socinian 
 neighbour stood by, and exclaimed, "Well 
 done, my brother ;" and his humble followers, 
 in the Presbyterian and other churches, echoed 
 his folly, if not his impiety, and strengthened 
 the hands of the enemies of this great and es- 
 sential truth, " Jesus Christ is God over all." 
 
 13* 
 
150 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Again: — The covenant of works, in which 
 Adam is considered as the federal head and re- 
 presentative of all his natural posterity, in con- 
 sequence of the violation of which they all in- 
 herit a depraved nature, and, by the just judg- 
 ment of God, the guilt of that first sin (not 
 the sin itself, or the act of sinning, as some 
 ignorantly or wilfully misrepresent it, hut the 
 guilt of it,) is imputed to them, is a doctrine 
 clearly taught in our standards, as well as 
 those of other churches, and fully acknow- 
 ledged by all our ministers and elders at their 
 ordination. This is the language of our Con- 
 fession of Faith. " The first covenant made 
 with man was a covenant of works, wherein 
 hfe was promised to Adam, and, in him, to his 
 posterity, upon condition of perfect and per- 
 sonal obedience." All this, is denied, spoken 
 against, and even ridiculed as an absurdity, by 
 some; and by some, who have publicly re- 
 ceived it as an article of their own faith, a 
 part of that " system of doctrine taught in the 
 Holy Scriptures." This, is the language of 
 one, and the sentiment of many — printed in 
 books, and taught from the pulpit. "Various 
 attempts have been made to explain the intro- 
 duction and propagation of sin in our world. 
 The most common has been — that Adam was 
 the representative of the race ; that he was a 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 151 
 
 covenant head, and that sin was imputed to his 
 posterity, and that they were held hable to 
 punishment for it as if they had committed it 
 themselves. But to this, there are great and 
 insuperable objections : 1. There is not one 
 word of it in the Bible. Neither the terms 
 representative, covenant, or impute, are ever 
 applied to the transaction in the sacred Scrip- 
 tures. 2. It is a mere philosophical theory; 
 an introduction of a speculation into theology, 
 with an attempt to explain what the Bible has 
 left unexplained." It is afterwards said, in 
 the same connexion, " It compels us at once to 
 ask the question, how can this be just ?" All 
 this may possibly be true. It may be good 
 theology. It may be sound philosophy. It 
 may even be scriptural. Although I do not 
 believe it is either, but the germ of a heresy, if 
 not itself a heresy — and so accounted in the 
 standards of our Church. Whatever it may 
 be to others, we are bound to esteem it a great 
 error, leading to others. He who should call 
 it the mother of Pelagianism, would not give it 
 a wTong name. I wonder how a Presbyterian 
 minister, holding the sentiment, must feel, upon 
 a prayerful revision of his ordination profes- 
 sions and vows ? 
 
 The atonement, a co-ordinate and essential 
 doctrine of our holy religion, has fared no bet- 
 
152 LECTURE VI. 
 
 ter, in these days of speculation, restlessness, 
 and "march of mind," than its correlates. 
 The doctrine is thus defined in our Confession 
 of Faith : " The Lord Jesus, by his perfect 
 obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he, 
 through the eternal Spirit, once oflfered up unto 
 God, hath fully satisfied the justice of his Fa- 
 ther; and purchased, not only reconciliation, 
 but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom 
 of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath 
 given unto him." How has this doctrine been 
 received ? Vital as it is to the Christian sys- 
 tem, it has been assailed from many quarters. 
 The Unitarian, as you know, denies it alto- 
 gether. Some have, in words as well as in 
 fact, denied the vicarious nature of the death 
 of Christ, alleging, that he died for sin in the 
 abstract, w^iich is making no atonement at all, 
 and w^ould be as available for the sins of devils 
 as of men. Others have represented it as, " A 
 satisfaction rendered to the public justice of 
 God, giving him an occasion to express his dis- 
 pleasure against sin, and exercise his mercy in 
 the forgiveness of sinners" — a very lame ac- 
 count of so important a matter, leaving the de- 
 mands of the law, and the justification of the 
 sinner, where it found them, and as unscrip- 
 tural as lame. And others again, in order to 
 get clear of the doctrine of imputation, to 
 
CORRUPTION OP DOCTRINE. 153 
 
 which they have a mortal aversion in all its 
 forms and bearings, although Christ " bore our 
 sins in his own body on the tree," — and God 
 " hath laid on him the iniquity of us all," — 
 and he has " brought in an everlasting righte- 
 ousness," — " that we might be made the righ- 
 teousness of God in him," deny that he bore 
 the " penalty of the law," although that penalty 
 was " death ;" and he " died for us," or in our 
 stead, and " was made of a woman, and made 
 under the law," for that very purpose. To 
 such wretched subterfuo^es will men resort to 
 get rid of the truth, and ease their consciences 
 of the pressure of their vows. These prac- 
 tices have been so general, that simple-hearted 
 Christians have found it difficult to know what 
 truth is, and to exclaim with tears, "They 
 have taken away my Lord, and I know not 
 where they have laid him." 
 
 Justification by faith, which Luther called, 
 " the article by which the Church stands or 
 falls," has been assailed with no less violence 
 and bitterness. Satan and his emissaries have 
 always had a peculiar hatred against it. The 
 doctrine is thus defined in the Larger Cate- 
 chism : " Justification is an act of God's free 
 grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all 
 their sin, accepteth and accounteth their per- 
 sons as righteous in his sight ; not for any thing 
 
154 LECTURE VI. 
 
 wrought in them, or done by them, but only 
 for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction 
 of Christ, by God imputed to them, and re- 
 ceived by faith alone." Every erroneous 
 view of the atonement affects, in an equal 
 degree, the doctrine of justification. When 
 the first is given up, the last will fall as a 
 matter of course — and where modified views 
 of the former are held, they will aflfect the 
 latter also. We accordingly find that when 
 the doctrine of imputation is denied with re- 
 spect to our fallen state, it is also denied with 
 respect to the death of Christ, and the justifica- 
 tion of sinners — so that in the first case, a por- 
 tion of our race die without being guilty, in the 
 second case Christ suflfers inconceivably without 
 any charge of guilt on his own account, or that 
 of others, and in the third case, sinners are jus- 
 tified under a violated law without any right- 
 eousness of their own, or another's, and hence 
 justification becomes a mere pardon, contrary 
 to the whole showing of the Scriptures, as well 
 as our standards, in which the ideas of substitu- 
 tion and satisfaction are kept continually before 
 the mind, and are considered as essential to 
 every correct idea of the true nature of the 
 atonement. In modern instruction, however, 
 no doctrine is so seldom brought to view, and 
 on no subject do you hear such imperfect and 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 155 
 
 unscriptural exhibitions. Men seem to be afraid 
 of making God just as well as merciful in what 
 the Scriptures denominate justification; and 
 they improperly call it simple pardon. Indeed, 
 few of them can explain the difference between 
 them, although pardon is a mere remission of 
 punishment, and justification means additionally 
 a restoration to the divine favour, and a valid 
 title to eternal life. The difference between 
 the views entertained on this all important 
 subject, well nigh constitute what Paul calls 
 " another Gospel." 
 
 Nor has the doctrine of Regeneration been 
 less corrupted. This benefit of the Covenant 
 of Grace is in our standards denominated, 
 "Effectual calling," and is defined to be "the 
 work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us 
 of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds 
 in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our 
 wills, he doth persuade and enable us to em- 
 brace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the 
 gospel." Here we have a work of God's 
 Spirit on the heart; by which the dead sinner 
 is renewed or quickened, the blind has his eyes 
 divinely opened and illuminated, the careless 
 one is convinced of his sinful and lost estate, 
 his rebellious will is renewed or subdued to new 
 obedience, and his heart enabled, persuaded, 
 or influenced by gospel motives, to embrace, 
 
156 LECTUREVI. 
 
 and of course to follow Christ — and this repre- 
 sentation of the case fully agrees with the 
 Scriptures. Now what is this in modern 
 theology and preaching? A change of the 
 governing purpose^ a thing which it is said a 
 man can as easily effect as he can change his 
 business or his coat. And how ? Why by a 
 mere act of his own will. Hence a Presby- 
 terian minister, in a Presbyterian pulpit in this 
 city, prayed, " We do not ask thee, O Lord, to 
 give these sinners power : Thou knowest that 
 they have power enough." And how is this 
 great change effected? By moral suasion — 
 the preacher's skill in argumentation, or ability 
 in presenting motives of persuasion. If the 
 Holy Ghost has any thing to do with the mat- 
 ter, it is to help the preacher to argue and per- 
 suade. The poor hearer's eternal destiny is 
 thus committed to the tender mercy and skill 
 of his spiritual guide. As to spiritual illumina- 
 tion, communication of knowledge, and con- 
 vinction of sin, we hear no more of them, than 
 if the Scriptures had been silent concerning 
 them, or the sinner had not needed them. Ac- 
 cording to this scheme, and it is of wide cur- 
 rency, regeneration is nothing more than the 
 stern determination of a man's own will to be 
 religious. And when we press them with the 
 difficulties of the case, and the teaching of the 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 157 
 
 Scriptures on the subject, they think they have 
 sufficiently answered us by a sneer at " Physi- 
 cal Regeneration." The practical effect of all 
 this has been to fill the Church with ignorant 
 and unsound professors, from which nothing 
 but the work of the Spirit, time, discipline, or 
 death will deliver her. 
 
 I add, lastly, though I might greatly extend 
 my remarks, that the doctrine of election, with 
 every thing relating to the divine sovereignty, 
 is very extensively passed by in dead silence, as 
 antiquated and useless, or stripped of most of 
 its peculiar and essential characteristics, in or- 
 der to render it more palatable to carnal minds, 
 and bring it into an easier unison with the 
 views which are held of the other doctrines of 
 which I have spoken. The more common 
 mode, however, has been to suffer it to go into 
 disuse by default. It was my design to have 
 directed your attention, in connexion with the 
 part of the subject considered this evening, to 
 the effects of this, in the alienation of feehng, 
 and want of concert of action produced by it, 
 too great reliance on human plans and efforts, 
 and the withdrawal of the influences of the 
 Holy Spirit from the Church. But time has 
 failed me, and I must leave these important 
 topics to another occasion. 
 
 14 
 
158 LECTURE VI. 
 
 These wide discrepancies from the Gospel of 
 the grace of God, in their rapid advance and 
 extensive spread, are intimately connected with 
 the speculative disposition of a portion of our 
 countrymen ; a pride of intellect which cannot 
 bear to leave any thing unexplained; a foolish 
 notion that a system of revealed truth, compre- 
 hending the wisdom of God, is as improvable 
 in the hands of a poor, ignorant, short-sighted 
 mortal, as a human art or science which he has 
 left us to spell out by the imperfect light of our 
 reason; the desire of accommodating the doc- 
 trines of religion to the corrupt dispositions of 
 men, and rendering them more palatable to the 
 carnal mind ; but above all, by the deceitfulness 
 of sin. " The nineteenth century," and " the 
 march of mind," have become phrases of talis- 
 manic power, which, if a man can well pro- 
 nounce, will make him a giant in philosophy 
 and theology too, even if he cannot dig a single 
 root in his Hebrew Bible, construct an argument 
 from prepared materials, or connect two ideas 
 together in an orderly manner. 
 
 There have, however, been other causes in 
 operation which have had a mighty influence on 
 this momentous subject, the influence of which 
 has been gradual and almost unsuspected. 
 There was a time when the ministers and elders 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 159 
 
 of the churches felt that the children of the 
 congregation were their special charge, to be 
 watched over, and instructed in the first princi- 
 ples of our holy religion as contained in our 
 Catechisms. There was also a time when 
 Christian parents felt it to be their duty at some 
 time on the Lord's day, commonly in the even- 
 ing, to gather their offspring together, and ex- 
 amine them on their knowledge of the Cate- 
 chism, as well as instruct them, and pray with 
 them. But for a number of years past, unless 
 the practice has been recently changed, these 
 laudable endeavours to bring the young up in 
 the nurture and admonition of the Lord have 
 gone into disuse. This has in part arisen from 
 the idea that they received a sufficiency of in- 
 struction in the Sabbath school, where, till re- 
 cently, a Catechism was seldom found. By 
 this means, ministers, elders, and parents found 
 it an easy matter to relieve their consciences of 
 a weighty burden. But the consequence has 
 been, that a generation or two of our youth 
 have grown up without any systematic and or- 
 derly instruction in divine things, well prepared 
 to be impressed by every novelty, and carried 
 about by every wind of doctrine which blow 
 upon them. Would it be strange if a field thus 
 cultivated should produce a harvest of tares ? 
 
160 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Shall we not, my dear hearers, learn wisdom 
 from the past ? Shall all our unhappy experi- 
 ence be lost upon us? Then will God in vain 
 have held up before us this dark " sign of the 
 times." We shall resemble the children of Is- 
 rael, of whom the Lord says : " Who among 
 you will give ear to this? who will hearken, 
 and hear for the time to come? who gave Ja- 
 cob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did 
 not the Lord, he, against whom we have sin- 
 ned ? for they would not walk in his ways, nei- 
 ther were they obedient unto his law. There- 
 fore he hath poured upon him the fury of his 
 anger, and the strength of battle : and it hath 
 set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; 
 and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart." 
 This has been strikingly verified in the present 
 day, with respect to errors in doctrine. The 
 enemy came in so gently, so disguised; and 
 when the mask began to fall off, there was so 
 much zeal, activity, bustle, and seeming good 
 accomplished, that the friends of sound doc- 
 trine were afraid to lift up their voices, lest, 
 happily, they might be found contending 
 against God. And in the mean time, those 
 who had sufficient discernment to observe the 
 course of events, and sufficient courage to 
 stand in the breach, and sound the alarm, were 
 
CORRUPTION OF DOCTRINE. 161 
 
 Stigmatized as old dotards^ who were at least 
 fifty years behind the spirit of the age, the ene- 
 mies of revivals, and the conversion of the 
 world. It was no easy thing to stand up 
 against such a host, and maintain the cause of 
 truth and order. The wonder is, that a stand 
 was made, and the progress of the evil ar- 
 rested. 
 
 And, now, what is duty? To learn wisdom 
 from experience — to let the past teach us. 
 This exhortation of God seems to me to be 
 appropriately addressed to his people at the 
 present day : " Stand ye in the ways, and see, 
 and ask for the old paths — where is the good 
 way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest 
 for your souls." Study the truth. Love the 
 truth. Maintain the truth. See to it, that it 
 be taught in the churches, and particularly to 
 your youth and children. Especiallly let pa- 
 rents see to it, that it is taught to their chil- 
 dren, not only in the Sabbath-school and cate- 
 chetical class, but in their houses, and from 
 their lips ; for to whom will children hsten with 
 as much attention and interest, as to their own 
 fathers and mothers? Draw out the practical 
 eflfects of the doctrines you profess in your 
 lives, and prove to gainsayers, that the truth 
 produces godliness. And put to the blush the 
 
 14* 
 
162 LECTURE VI. 
 
 vile aspersion, that adherence to truth and or- 
 der are inimical to practical religion and revi- 
 vals, by renewed activity in promoting the 
 cause of God, both at home and abroad ; and 
 by being much engaged in that " fervent and 
 effectual prayer," vv^hich the Word of God, 
 and the experience of his people teach, is so 
 effectual in drawing down blessings from his 
 throne. Thus will you put gainsayers to si- 
 lence, and promote that "kingdom, which is 
 righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 " Now, the God of peace, that brought again 
 from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great 
 Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of 
 the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in 
 every good work, to do his will, working in 
 you that which is well pleasing in his sight, 
 through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for 
 ever and ever." 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION IN DOCTRINE. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 The last " sign of the times," to which our at- 
 tention was directed, was — The alarming and 
 extensive corruption of doctrine which exists 
 at the present day, particularly in our own 
 Church. It was remarked, that we may un- 
 derstand by doctrine, any thing which is 
 taught. Applied to religion it means, the sup- 
 posed truths or tenets which constitute it what 
 it is, and give it a distinctive character. The 
 doctrines of the Christian religion are, the truths 
 which are taught in the Bible, and these go to 
 make up what is called, "The Christian sys- 
 tem." These have been embodied in formulas 
 of greater or less extent, and have been vari- 
 ously denominated, " Confessions of Faith, or 
 " Articles of Religion," and " Catechisms," ac- 
 cording to the form into which they have been 
 thrown. 
 
164 LECTURE VII. 
 
 It was also remarked, that strong objections 
 had been made to what is called, "doctrinal 
 preaching," principally upon the ground that it 
 was unnecessary. To which it was replied, 
 that the objection, if carried out, would pre- 
 clude all preaching or instruction, and, that 
 those who were the loudest in their objections, 
 still had doctrines of their own, with the incul- 
 cation of which they were well pleased; so 
 that, the objection lay only against the doc- 
 trines which they did not relish. It was then 
 shown, that out of this had grown, in the first 
 place, the neglect of certain doctrines, and then 
 their rejection, the intermediate step being, the 
 inculcating of a new philosophy on the subject, 
 directly hostile to its plain meaning, while the 
 doctrine itself was professed to be believed. 
 
 A general view was taken of the leading 
 doctrines of the Christian system ; and it was 
 shown, that almost every one of them has been 
 impugned by modern error ists, particularly in 
 our own Church, ascertained and proved, by 
 comparing our Confession of Faith and Cate- 
 chisms with the instructions of these men from 
 the pulpit and the press, on the same subjects. 
 The discrepancy was seen to be wide and radi- 
 cal; and it was remarked, that it was calcu- 
 lated to produce great and unhappy effects. 
 Three points were particularly mentioned, but 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 165 
 
 their discussion and elucidation were, for want 
 of time, postponed to this evening, viz: 1st. 
 " AUenation of feehng, and want of concert in 
 action." 2d. A too great reUance on instru- 
 ments to the neglect of God. 3d. The with- 
 drawal of the influences of the Holy Spirit 
 from the Church. These topics, according to 
 promise, will constitute the matter of our medi- 
 tation this evening, in the order in which they 
 have been mentioned. 
 
 1st. Alienation in feeling and want of con- 
 cert in action. 
 
 It is a well established principle, that two can- 
 not walk together except they he agreed. What 
 men possess in common with each other, is 
 always the basis of their association, and the 
 cause of the satisfaction which they derive 
 from it. This is particularly the case in the 
 concerns of religion. Any great discrepancy 
 of views, especially with respect to important 
 principles, will, as far as they go, abate a por- 
 tion of that warm and reciprocal affection 
 which makes intercourse so delightful, and 
 action so harmonious and efficient. The 
 converse of this is equally true. When men 
 disagree, they cannot exercise that full flow of 
 affection, and that combination of energy in 
 action, which renders intercourse so delight- 
 ful, and action so powerful. It may be asked, 
 
166 LECTURE VII. 
 
 how this consists, for instance, with the affec- 
 tionate union and vigorous efforts of the va- 
 rious denominations of professing Christians, 
 differing so widely from each other in points 
 which are deemed not unimportant, and even 
 radical, in the great Bible cause. The reason 
 is found in a principal which has been incor- 
 porated in the Constitution of every general 
 Bible Society, in these Avords — "without note 
 or comment." Take this away, and you 
 would have as many Bible Societies as there 
 are denominations. And, if it should be fur- 
 ther asked, how this accords with the affection 
 entertained for each other by Christians of dif- 
 ferent denominations? I would answer, in this 
 case, each believes the other to be honest in his 
 profession, and a sincere follower of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and in this is laid the foundation 
 of a sohd and reciprocal affection. 
 
 The case is widely different where the par- 
 ties concerned profess the same creed, but the 
 one receives it, and teaches it, in its plain, ob- 
 vious, and generally received sense ; while the 
 other holds his solemn profession of it as a mat- 
 ter of very little importance, and in his prac- 
 tice under it, explains it away, and formally, 
 as w^ell as circumstantially, contradicts it, and 
 teaches what is directly contrary to it. In the 
 one case we may respect a man for his inte- 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 167 
 
 grity, and have confidence in his character, 
 while in the other, it is no easy matter to 
 divest ourselves of the idea that we are deal- 
 ing with a double-minded man, who is acting a 
 part to answer some unholy and selfish pur- 
 pose. 
 
 It has been thought that both truth and error 
 leave their own impress on the mind. Truth, 
 especially the truth as it is in Jesus, has the 
 effect to purify the heart, and attach it to truth 
 and righteousness. While error blinds the 
 mind, and leads the heart away from God, and 
 makes it reckless of all truth. Errorists are, 
 therefore, in danger of being given over to 
 strong delusion, even to the believing of a lie. 
 None are in so great danger of this as those 
 who, by a formal and solemn profession, are 
 connected with churches who hold as funda- 
 mental, the truths which are diametrically op- 
 posed to their errors. And the reason is ob- 
 vious. The connection is formed, if not in 
 falsehood, yet in derogation of the truth, in 
 mental reservation or prevarication. They do 
 not mean literally what others understand by 
 their language and acts. 
 
 Such original departures from candour and 
 openfaced honesty have an evil influence on 
 the conscience which is not easily overcome. 
 It gives a warp to the very principle of truth 
 
168 LECTURE VII. 
 
 in a man's heart which rarely ceases to affect 
 him through hfe, and if it does not lead him to 
 barefaced falsehood, it will make him uncan- 
 did and trickish. He ^\i\\ verify the adage, 
 
 " Just as the twig- is bent the tree's inclined." 
 
 This has been found lamentably true with res- 
 pect to some of the leading errorists of the 
 Christian Church. Among these, Pelagius, who 
 flourished in the early part of the fifth century, 
 holds a prominent rank. Milner in his Church 
 History gives the following account of him — 
 " His first writings were an Epistle to Paulinus 
 of Nola, and other little works, in which his 
 erroneous views of grace were so artfully ex- 
 pressed, and so guarded with cautious terms, 
 that Augustine owns he was almost deceived 
 by them. But when he saw his other writings 
 of a later date, he discerned that he might 
 artfully own the word grace, and by retaining 
 the term, break the force of prejudice, and 
 avoid offence, and yet conceal his meaning 
 under a general ambiguity." 
 
 "For, by a dexterity very common with 
 heretics, Pelagius, while he laid open to his 
 converts the whole mystery of his doctrine, 
 imparted only so much to others as might be 
 more calculated to ensnare their affections than 
 to inform them of his real opinions. He used 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 169 
 
 to deliver his views under the modest appear- 
 ance of queries, started against the doctrines 
 of the Church, and those as not invented by 
 himself, but by others. The effect of poison- 
 ing the minds of men was, however, perhaps 
 more powerfully produced by this, than it 
 would have been by a more direct and posi- 
 tive method." It is added, that " his attempts 
 were to undermine the doctrines of grace." 
 
 Arminius and his followers in Holland, ma- 
 nifested the same disposition, and followed 
 a similar course. After entering upon the 
 solemn duties of their holy offices, under the 
 most solemn pledges which men could give, of 
 believing the doctrines held by the Church, and 
 engaging to teach them, they laboured with 
 all their might, in a clandestine manner, to un- 
 dermine and destroy them— and they left no 
 species of trick or subterfuge unemployed to 
 deceive and blind those who were opposed to 
 them as to their real sentiments, gain time 
 to propagate their doctrines, strengthen their 
 cause, and escape the condemnation which 
 they justly deserved. 
 
 Any person who will read with attention the 
 history of these errorists, and compare them 
 with the course pursued by those of the pre- 
 sent day, will be amazed to observe the simi- 
 
 15 
 
170 LECTURE VII. 
 
 larity, and especially with respect to candour 
 and truth. This remark will probably apply to 
 all errorists who enter churches, being error- 
 ists, or who, becoming such, determine to re- 
 main in them. They commence their course 
 in deceit and implied falsehood, and vitiate and 
 weaken their moral sense at the start, and give 
 their consciences a lurch from which they 
 rarely recover. This ought not to surprise us. 
 The obligations which the clergyman takes 
 upon his soul, when he assumes his sacred 
 office, are of so awful a nature, that if he can 
 bring his conscience to trifle with truth in that 
 transaction, he will hardly be over fastidious in 
 others. The hght of history furnishes instruc- 
 tion on this subject which ought not to be lost 
 upon us. 
 
 If the view which has been taken of the 
 subject, even approximates truth, it ought to 
 create no surprise that there have been loss of 
 confidence, ahenation of feeling, and want of 
 concert of action in the Presbyterian Church. 
 Her doctrines are so carefully and explicitly 
 stated in her formularies of faith, and the pro- 
 fessions and vows of her ministers and elders 
 upon entering on their holy offices are so une- 
 quivocal, that wide discrepancies of views with 
 respect to her leading doctrines do not seem 
 very consistent with that high character for 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 171 
 
 truth and piety which such professions and 
 vows imply, especially if departures are con- 
 nected with want of candour and openness, 
 and a seeming design to change what we have 
 professed to believe as true and important, and 
 promised to teach and uphold. 
 
 Men are undoubtedly entitled to believe and 
 teach such doctrines as they please, under their 
 high responsibility to God. But no man has a 
 right to profess one thing, and believe and 
 teach another. And if he does so, he has no 
 right to ask our respect and confidence. I am 
 very far from believing that a man may not be 
 entitled to my respect and confidence as an 
 honest, conscientious, and pious man, w^ho dif- 
 fers from me even in important things — but I 
 could award him neither, if he professed the 
 same things with me, and at the same time 
 gave me reason to believe that his professions 
 and real belief were at utter disagreement. 
 You have in this the reason of those wide and 
 mournful alienations which have distracted and 
 well nigh destroyed the Presbyterian Church, 
 and w^hy its various parts have lacked that 
 concert in action which should have distin- 
 guished her, and would have made her, " clear 
 as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an 
 army with banners." That high responsibility 
 and heavy blame attaches somewhere, can be 
 
172 LECTURE VII. 
 
 neither denied, nor disguised. That those who 
 conscientiously beheve and maintain her stan- 
 dards, have uniformly exercised and cherished 
 right feelings, and contended for, as well as 
 taught the truth in a right manner, and with a 
 right spirit, I dare not assert. But I do aver, 
 that the burden of this rests, and imtst rest, 
 upon those who have departed from the plain- 
 ness and simplicity of the faith of our common 
 profession, and that they can heal our breaches 
 and divisions by returning to the faith they 
 have professed. Then all hearts would open 
 to receive them — and we should go forth to- 
 gether, under the banner of our Saviour's love, 
 to the conquest of the world. Then would 
 this dark and lurid sign of the times be ex- 
 changed for " the bow of promise," God's sign 
 of peace to a ruined Avorld. The truth, how- 
 ever, as embodied in our standards, we cannot 
 give up, for, " we have opened our mouths unto 
 the Lord, and therefore cannot go back." 
 
 2d. Another effect resulting from corruption 
 of doctrine has been, " A too great rehance 
 upon instruments to the neglect of God." No 
 principle can be better established than, that 
 however wisely the Divine instrumentalities are 
 arranged for the accomplishment of their ob- 
 jects, that still their efficiency depends entirely 
 on God — just as a set of tools may be well fit- 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 173 
 
 ted for the construction of a work of art, yet 
 they will accomplish nothing without the hand 
 and mind of the artist. This has been amply 
 acknowledged, by the wisest and best of God's 
 servants. Says Paul, to the Corinthians, "I 
 have planted, Apollos watered ; but God gave 
 the increase." And again, he saith of all the 
 gifts and graces which adorn the Christian 
 character, "All these worketh that one and 
 the self-same spirit, dividing to every man 
 severally as he will." The illustration is found 
 in the conversion of Lydia, which must be the 
 same in all other cases. She heard Paul and 
 Silas, and became a sincere convert to the 
 Christian faith. And although there were a 
 number of others present who heard the same 
 instruction, she alone was thus affected: and 
 so it has been on a thousand other occasions. 
 What made the difference in her case? The 
 divine record informs us — "Whose heart the 
 Lord opened, that she attended unto the things 
 which were spoken of Paul." This looks very 
 like a work^of the Holy Spirit on the heart of 
 the poor sinner, or, what our brethren call, 
 "physical regeneration." And this, we sup- 
 pose, takes place in the conversion of every 
 sinner. 
 
 The necessity of this is laid in the natural 
 condition of our race. We are described in 
 
 15* 
 
174 LECTURE VII. 
 
 the Word of God, not only as "blind" and 
 "deaf," but, as "dead in trespasses and sins;" 
 a state of not only deplorable wretchedness, 
 but of entire helplessness, from which nothing 
 but the supernatural agency and almighty en- 
 ergy of the Holy Spirit can relieve us. Our 
 brethren tell us, no — it requires nothing more 
 than a little skill on the part of the preacher in 
 presenting and urging motives, or, what is 
 technically called, "moral suasion," and the 
 work is done, provided the sinner at the proper 
 time make the right choice, and put forth a 
 vigorous effort of his will, which he can do 
 with the same facility that he can determine to 
 go to New York rather than to Baltimore. 
 Otherwise, say they, man is not a moral agent, 
 for that implies, "the power of a contrary 
 choice." that is to say, although a man may 
 have ten thousand reasons or motives to seek 
 the salvation of his soul, and not one to ne- 
 glect it, he cannot be a moral agent, unless he 
 have the power of determining to be damned 
 without any motive at all. Or, in other words, 
 that a man sins because he luill sin, and not 
 because he is enticed by his lusts. 
 
 It having been thus summarily settled, that 
 man is not totally depraved, or, according to 
 the teachings of the Scriptures, " dead in tres- 
 passes and sins," the peculiar office and work 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 175 
 
 of the Holy Spirit are superseded, and men are 
 prepared to rely upon the inventions and skilful 
 efforts of their fellow creatures, to bring them 
 out of nature's darkness into the glorious light 
 and hberty of the children of God. Hence, 
 men talk familiarly of getting up revivals of 
 religion, the whole secret of which consists in 
 getting together a few ministers of tJie right 
 stamps preaching to the people a few days, con- 
 cerning moral agency and their ability to 
 change their own hearts, getting their minds 
 excited on the subject by continued effort, com- 
 mitting them by coming to the anxious-seat, 
 and determining to be religious, while, at the 
 same time, you hear little or nothing concern- 
 ing their sinful, guilty, and undone condition, 
 repentance, faith, the doings and sufferings of 
 the Saviour, the work of the Holy Spirit, con- 
 fession of sin, the distinguishing nature of reli- 
 gious exercises, the nature and necessity of 
 self-examination, the deceitfulness and wicked- 
 ness of the human heart, the calls and invita- 
 tions of the Gospel, the moral resemblance of 
 the Christian to his Master, Christ, and the 
 peculiar characteristics of the Christian life. 
 Nearly all of these would be thought out of 
 place, and so would almost all the distinguish- 
 ing doctrines of our holy religion; and the 
 minister who should bring forward such topics, 
 
176 LECTURE VII. 
 
 would not be welcome on such occasions. He 
 would be accused of marring the work, and 
 hindering its progress. Every thing which 
 looks like an exhibition of human nature, as it 
 is described in the Scriptures, or the peculiar 
 agency of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of 
 sinners, or dependence upon his influences, 
 must be kept as far out of sight as possible, 
 lest sinners should remit their own exertions. 
 Why are these things so, if men have not lost 
 sight of their dependence on God, and rely 
 upon an arm of flesh? Why, if he be the effi- 
 cient agent in the conversion of sinners, are 
 not men referred to God for the bestowment of 
 this unspeakable gift, since he has said, "If ye 
 then, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
 to your children, how much more will your 
 heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them 
 that ask him?" Why are men afraid to deal 
 in such encouraging truths, if they have not 
 rejected them? In apostolical days it was not 
 so. Then, they could exhort men to "work 
 out their own salvation with fear and trem- 
 bling," by the consideration, that it was God 
 who works in them, both to will and to do of 
 his good pleasure." Can it be otherwise, un- 
 der such instruction, than that men should rely, 
 either upon the stern determination of their 
 own wills, or the persuasive skill and power of 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 177 
 
 Others to produce that stupendous change 
 which is denominated, "regeneration?" How 
 can they fail to entertain such sentiments, 
 when they are continually sounded in their 
 ears? And if it be true, that our religion 
 takes its type from the instruction which we 
 receive, then it will follow, that the religion 
 thus induced will stand, not in the power of 
 God, but in the wisdom of men. Who, then, 
 can be surprised, that it should prove as the 
 morning cloud and the early dew? of which, 
 the present day furnishes such numerous and 
 melancholy illustrations. 
 
 Do you fear that I would make man a mere 
 stock, and take away his moral responsibili- 
 ties? — that I would furnish him with a warrant 
 to stand still, and fold his hands to sleep? Far 
 from it, my hearers. Does it indulge a man in 
 idleness, to exhort him to " work out his own 
 salvation with fear and trembhng," and en- 
 courage him to do so by the consideration, 
 that " it is God who works in him, both to will 
 and to do of his good pleasure," especially 
 when it is connected with faithful exhibitions of 
 the danger he incurs by every hour's delay. 
 Is it a discouragement to be informed, of his 
 entire helplessness and dependence, when he is 
 at the same time told, that God is more wilhng 
 to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him 
 
178 LECTURE VII. 
 
 than parents are to give bread to their hungry 
 children? It may mortify their pride, but, in 
 itself, it is the greatest encouragement we can 
 possibly have, for it assures us of an influence 
 which nothing is able to resist. It is a vile 
 slander, which is cast upon men, who, while 
 they honour the grace of God in the conver- 
 sion of sinners, and follow the direction of hi& 
 Word, and the example of his inspired ser- 
 vants, in exhibiting the tvhole truth, exhort, and 
 urge their fellow creatures with as much aflfec- 
 tion and force as others, to " strive to enter in 
 at the straight gate." From dependence on 
 instruments, to the neglect of the Holy Spirit, 
 of whom, and his influences, little is heard in 
 the preaching or prayers of these men, has re- 
 sulted, 
 
 3d. To no inconsiderable extent, the with- 
 drawal of the influences of the Holy Spirit 
 from the Church. The fact, that those divine 
 influences with which the Church was blessed 
 a few years ago, and which caused so much 
 joy among the people of God, have, to a great 
 extent, ceased, admits of no dispute. Mourn- 
 ful as the fact is, it cannot be denied. That 
 there must be a cause for it, admits of no 
 doubt. Nor can w^e hesitate in believing, that 
 the cause must be sought in the Church. It 
 has been attributed to the disputes and divi- 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 179 
 
 sions which have existed in tlie Church. 
 These have not only occupied the attention of 
 multitudes, to the neglect of many Christian 
 duties, but, from the evil influence which they 
 have exerted on the hearts of Christians, have 
 unfitted them rightly to desire and seek the 
 outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Under these 
 circumstances, a healthful influence from hea- 
 ven could not have been expected. For this, a 
 dreadful responsibility rests upon all who have 
 indulged those tempers, by which the Holy 
 Spirit has been grieved, and especially upon 
 those by whom the offence has come. " Woe 
 to that man by whom the offence cometh." 
 The whole Church has reason to be humbled 
 in the very dust before God on this account. 
 Who is free from this sin ? Who has no rea- 
 son to mourn ? Who can fail to see in this 
 one reason why the Lord has withdrawn the 
 influences of the Holy Spirit? 
 
 But this is not the only reason. There has 
 been, among those who hold the truth in right- 
 eousness, a sinking of the heart, which has en- 
 feebled and crippled them in prayer and exer- 
 tion, so that they have been afraid to stretch 
 their desires abroad, and use with the Lord 
 that holy boldness and importunity in which he 
 dehghts, and which has so often drawn down 
 blessings from on high. And then again, 
 
180 LECTURE VII. 
 
 when they have heard doctrines preached, and 
 seen practices pursued, which they deemed 
 contrary to the word of God, and yet saw ef- 
 fects wrought which appeared to indicate the 
 presence and power of God, they have some- 
 times, without due consideration, been carried 
 away by the current,' disregarding truth and 
 order, thus grieving the Holy Spirit. Or, they 
 have stood still, made no exertion, and re- 
 ceived the reward of idleness. Or, they have 
 refrained bearing witness for the truth, for fear 
 of being found fighting against God, who 
 seemed to bless what appeared to them to be 
 error, the fruit not having yet developed itself. 
 Thus they have been paralysed, bothMn heart 
 and action, to an extent from which they have 
 not yet recovered themselves. Their perplexi- 
 ties have been increased by the taunts of er- 
 rorists, who have accused them of holding sen- 
 timents which precluded the use of means for 
 the promotion of revivals and godliness, and 
 which they declared to be hostile to both, until 
 they almost believed the slander, and were 
 afraid to bestir themselves. They well nigh 
 became what they were slanderously reported 
 to be. Thanks be to God, this delusion is be- 
 ginning to vanish away, and a day appears to 
 be dawning, when the lovers of truth and order 
 shall shake off this benumbing lethargy, and do 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 181 
 
 their duty to God and the world. Then it will 
 be fully manifest, whether truth and error are 
 equally conducive to revivals of pure and un- 
 defiled religion ; and it will cease to be difficult 
 to distinguish between the precious and the 
 vile — between truth and error — between the 
 will of God, and the inventions of men. 
 
 I advert to only one reason more, why the 
 influences of the Spirit have to so great a de- 
 gree been withdrawn from the Church. I al- 
 lude to the fact, that they have, to a very 
 great extent, been undervalued, and almost su- 
 perseded by the inventions of men. I have al- 
 ready remarked, that but httle is heard of the 
 influences of the Holy Spirit, either in the 
 preaching or prayers of some of the ministers 
 of that Saviour, who said to the disciples, " Be- 
 hold, I send the promise of my Father upon 
 you ; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, un- 
 til ye be endued with power from on high." 
 And they did tarry till they received the Penti- 
 costal anointing, and then went forth to the 
 conquest of the world. This great truth, how- 
 ever, seems to be as studiously avoided by 
 many as if they felt afraid to let the people 
 know that there is such a being as the Holy 
 Spirit, or that men needed him to regenerate, 
 enlighten, comfort, and sanctify their souls; 
 probably because they have imbibed the senti- 
 
 16 
 
182 L E CTUR E VII. 
 
 ments, that men are not " dead in trespasses 
 and sins" — are not totally depraved — can as 
 easily change their hearts as their garments — 
 have need only to have the truth rightly pre- 
 sented to their minds in order to love, choose, 
 and obey it ; that, if these things are not so, 
 then man is no moral agent, possesses all the 
 power necessary to accomplish all the pur- 
 poses of his salvation, and if it were otherwise, 
 then would God be a try rant to require him to 
 obey, and unjust to punish him. 
 
 If such sentiments are correct, then truly 
 have we no need of the influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, and men do right to repudiate him. 
 But, if they be as false as the Bible teaches 
 them to be, then let no man wonder why, 
 where they are taught, the Holy Spirit, 
 quenched and grieved, should withdraw him- 
 self from them, and leave them to the ineffi- 
 ciency of their own inventions. May not this 
 be had in view in such a declaration as this, "I 
 will go and return to my place, till they ac- 
 knowledge their offence, and seek my face." 
 Is there not a sufficient reason in all this for 
 the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from those 
 who thus treat him? Does not this satisfac- 
 torily account for the dearth and barrenness 
 which exist to so great and lamentable an ex- 
 tent in the Church at the present day ? And 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 183 
 
 will there ever be a change for the better till 
 men shall say to each other, " Come, and let 
 us return unto the Lord ; for he hath torn, and 
 he will heal us : he hath smitten, and he will 
 bind us up." 
 
 From this subject we may learn, 
 
 1st. That departures from the truth and or- 
 der of God's house are both sinful and danger- 
 ous. The essential truths, or doctrines, of the 
 Christian religion are so fully and clearly 
 stated in the Scriptures as to make their obvi- 
 ous meaning easily understood; and, in fact, 
 the difficulties of men with respect to them 
 have commenced with attempts at reconciling 
 them with sentiments previously imbibed. In 
 these attempts, if they have not been possessed 
 with a high reverence for the word of God, 
 their fondness of their own mental views has 
 led them so to interpret the holy oracles as to 
 bring them, as nearly as possible, into harmony 
 with these. Successful attempts have led them 
 to make new experiments, until at length they 
 have elaborated a new gospel, bearing very 
 few of the characteristics of that Gospel, which 
 plain common sense and humble piety would 
 recognise from a perusal of the sacred pages. 
 Whether this can innocently take place, is a 
 grave question, which men should scrupulously 
 
184 LECTURE VII. 
 
 ponder. It is, at all events, very certain, that 
 no man can proceed either far or long in such 
 a course, and maintain a becoming reverence 
 for the word of God, or fail of having his 
 heart perverted by error. And the danger is 
 greatly increased if they have previously sub- 
 scribed to a system of doctrine, for they are 
 obliged to tamper with, or pollute their consci- 
 ences at the start. They may, in this case, 
 have been innocently convinced that they have 
 adopted a system which they do not now be- 
 lieve ; but they cannot innocently continue in 
 the profession of a system the essentials of 
 which they have repudiated, or the connexion 
 in which it has placed them. 
 
 Nor will the sin of such a course be dimin- 
 ished when we look at the distrust, alienations, 
 bickerings, and contentions which, almost ne- 
 cessarily, grow out of such a state of things. 
 Who can have confidence in a man who dis- 
 regards his own solemn professions ? Or, who 
 can rely upon one who is as unstable as water ? 
 Can it be innocent to destroy " the unity of the 
 Spirit," and rupture " the bonds of peace" in a 
 Church ? What becomes of the beauty and 
 order of God's house ? the edification of the 
 body of Christ ? the salvation of souls ? What 
 must it lead the world to think of religion 
 itself? Let the history and state of our own 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 185 
 
 beloved portion of Zion, so long and greatly 
 favoured of God, answer these questions, and 
 let the churches and ministers of God ponder 
 them in their hearts, and learn wisdom from 
 past folly and sin. Let them look at the deso- 
 lations which have been made, and, if they 
 have any sympathy with mourning, bleeding 
 Zion, let them cry with their whole heart, " O 
 that my head were waters, and mine eyes a 
 fountain of tears, that I might weep day and 
 night for the slain of the daughter of my peo- 
 ple." 
 
 2d. This subject should teach churches and 
 ministers the importance of guarding against 
 the first departures from the doctrines of our 
 holy religion as they are taught in the Scrip- 
 tures, and embodied in the public and au- 
 thorized standards, even though they may seem 
 small and unimportant. Error is not ordina- 
 rily of mushroom growth. It is commonly 
 produced by little and little. Aberrations com- 
 mence in shades of difference. They relate 
 perhaps to articles which are esteemed of 
 minor importance. They do not aflfect the 
 vitals of religion. They may be commenced 
 by good and useful men, and it would wound 
 their feelings and hinder their usefulness, were 
 you to admonish them or call them to an ac* 
 count. Meek-eyed charity cries, " Is it not a 
 
 16* 
 
186 LECTUREVII. 
 
 little city ?" " Behold how great a matter a 
 little fire kindleth." Had Solomon's advice 
 been followed, what a world of difficulty and 
 sin would have been prevented. " Take us the 
 foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines." 
 This good and useful man may have an in- 
 quisitive and speculative mind. He has gotten 
 into a world of pleasing novelties. He passes 
 on from trifling to more grave and weighty 
 matters, and his changes still please him. He 
 has, by modification, made the gospel more 
 palatable to some mind which had before been 
 embarassed by some of the aspects and rela- 
 tions of truth. It may be that his labours 
 have been apparently, perhaps really, blessed 
 to many. What follows ? He becomes given 
 to change. His mind is unsettled and restless. 
 He tries his experiments on the weightier mat- 
 ters of the law with equal success and satisfac- 
 tion to himself, until the very landmarks of 
 truth vanish from his vision, and he is afloat 
 on a boundless ocean without chart or com- 
 pass. He attributes his success to his novel- 
 ties, and exalts them above the clear dictates 
 of the Spirit. Others become captivated by 
 his imaginations. A party is formed. The 
 strife commences. The Church is agitated, 
 distracted, torn, divided : — and the Holy Spirit, 
 grieved by such a state of things, takes his 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 187 
 
 flight to heaven. And should the leaven begin 
 to operate in an age like the present, when the 
 foundations of ages are torn up, and the human 
 mind is loosed from its moorings, it will be a 
 wonder, if the grace of God prevent not, if the 
 waters of this flood do not rise above the tops 
 of the highest mountains. This, however is 
 our consolation. The ark of God is safe. 
 But, O, what a mass of evil might have been 
 prevented, if even a few minds had been pos- 
 sessed of a little more modesty, humility, self- 
 distrust, or wisdom ! Or, if the Church of God 
 had taken timely precaution to correct the evil ! 
 Has not the Lord rebuked and punished her 
 for her want of watchfulness and faithfulness, 
 and grasping ambition to spread herself out 
 " like a green bay tree," and foolish confidence 
 in her own power and strength? Let us re- 
 ceive the divine rebuke with meekness and 
 humility, and watch and pray that we fall not 
 again into this temptation ! 
 
 3d. Finally : Let us acknowledge our sin 
 before God, forsake the evil of our ways, real- 
 ize our dependence upon God for the success 
 of all our eflforts to build up his kingdom, and 
 with deep humility of soul, and much fervency 
 and importunity of prayer, seek the return of 
 the blessed Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to the 
 Church, from which we have grieved him away 
 
188 LECTURE VII. 
 
 by our sins. Let us say again to each other, in 
 the language and spirit of the prophet, "come, 
 and let us return unto the Lord ; for he hath 
 torn, and he will heal us ; he hath smitten and 
 he will bind us up." Such a withdrawal of di- 
 vine influences as the Presbyterian body has 
 experienced is not to be accounted for indepen- 
 dently of sin ; " sin lieth at the door." If error 
 be sinful, we have tolerated it. Or if we have 
 contended for the truth, have we always done 
 so in a Christian spirit, and with spiritual Avea- 
 pons ? Have w^e not been so proud, and vain- 
 glorious of the success and enlargement which 
 God hath given us as to " forget the rock from 
 whence we were hewn, and the hole of the pit 
 from which w^e were digged," and with it, our 
 dependence upon God? And in consequence 
 of this, has not prayer been restrained ? And 
 then again God has been dishonoured, and the 
 Holy Spirit grieved, as well by unscriptural 
 compliances for the promotion of revivals, 
 as by a sinking of the heart, which denoted 
 w^ant of confidence in God and in his truth to 
 promote his glory in the salvation of sinners. 
 These are so many causes for deep self-abase- 
 ment and humiliation before God, and repent- 
 ance for our sins; as well as reasons for re- 
 turning to him with mourning, and weeping, 
 and lamentation. Let this be our prayer: "O 
 
EFFECTS OF CORRUPT DOCTRINE. 189 
 
 that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou 
 wouldst come down, that the mountains might 
 flow down at thy presence." " O Lord, revive 
 thy work in the midst of the years, in the 
 midst of the years make known ; in wrath re- 
 member mercy ?" And then the day will soon 
 come when he will put a new song into our 
 mouths, and these shall be some of its notes — 
 "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, 
 and he will save us ; this is the Lord ; we have 
 waited for him ; and we will be glad and re- 
 joice in his salvation." May sovereign mercy 
 hasten it in its season ! 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 SPIRIT OF FANATICISM. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 The last " sign of the times," to which your 
 attention was directed, w'as — The corruption of 
 doctrine in the Christian Church, especially in 
 our own branch of it ; and the effects of this 
 corruption: 1st. In alienation of feehng, and 
 want of concert in action. 2d. Too great re- 
 liance on human plans and efforts in building 
 up the cause of Christ. 3d. The withdrawal 
 of the influences of the Holy Spirit, without 
 which the Church of God can neither be main- 
 tained, enlarged, beautified, strengthened, nor 
 rendered efficient. The course of investiga- 
 tion showed, conclusively, that these effects 
 had, to a great and lamentable extent, resulted 
 from these causes as their fruits; that their 
 influence on the interests of religion had 
 been very deleterious; that a great amount 
 of blame must necessarily rest on those, who. 
 
FANATICISM. 191 
 
 professing a pure faith, had nevertheless held 
 and taught corrupt doctrines, and thereby, con- 
 trary to vows voluntarily taken, and obliga- 
 tions voluntarily contracted, destroyed both the 
 purity and peace of the Church, hindered its 
 edification, and paralysed its influence -, that it 
 is the duty of such men to renounce their er- 
 rors, or, in default of this, if they would act 
 the part of honest men, to separate themselves 
 from churches, whose doctrines they have 
 either never believed, or concerning which 
 they have changed their views ; and finally, 
 that it is the duty of the Church to hold fast 
 the form of sound words, guard with more 
 sedulous care against the introduction of un- 
 sound men and unsound doctrines, shake oflf 
 her apathy and sloth, and do her duty to the 
 world, and to God. 
 
 Having completed this part of the original 
 plan, designed to be pursued in these exercises, 
 I intend this evening to direct your attention 
 to another striking feature of the age in which 
 we live — a sign which has left a deep and 
 broad mark upon our times, and exercised no 
 small influence on the cause of God, as w^ell as 
 on many other important interests. I mean, 
 
 VII. The spirit of fanaticism. 
 
 It will probably not be denied, that there has 
 seldom, if ever, been an age when the human 
 
192 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 mind has been more unsettled and restless than 
 the present. Principles, which for ages had 
 been thought to be well defined and thoroughly 
 settled, have been called in question, and, in 
 connexion with it, the human mind has re- 
 ceived an impulse which has carried it forward 
 with a rapidity which would formerly have 
 been contemplated with amazement, and with 
 fear for the consequences. Such, however, 
 have been the nature and extent of the changes 
 wrought, that they are looked upon as mere 
 common-place events. 
 
 To what period to assign the impulse, of 
 which I have spoken, may not be an easy mat- 
 ter — nor may it be more easy to settle the sub- 
 ject which gave occasion to it. It may, how- 
 ever, be assumed as a fact, that if no novel 
 principles, as to human rights and civil govern- 
 ment, were broached by the fathers of our 
 Revolution, that they received a development, 
 and acquired a practical importance Avhich 
 they never knew before, and they have, ever 
 since, been exercising a mighty influence on 
 the mind of man and the civil institutions of 
 the world. Previous to this period, while his 
 Holiness of Rome was reposing on his downy 
 cushions in the Vatican, and resting after his 
 long contest with the Reformers — and the po- 
 tentates of Europe were pursuing their schemes 
 
FANATICISM. 193 
 
 of politics and war, as if all the interests of all 
 mankind were involved in them — a set of men, 
 who were, seemingly, quietly devoted to litera- 
 ture, science, or pleasure, had either reasoned 
 or lived themselves into scepticism, now set 
 their worldly wisdom in array against all es- 
 tablished institutions, and produced the infi- 
 dehty, and the wars, and revolutions which il- 
 lustrated the latter years of the last century, 
 when, events enough, civil, intellectual, moral, 
 and religious, to fill up ages, were crowded into 
 a few years. 
 
 I will add, and it has by no means been un- 
 important, or without its influence, that, previ- 
 ous to the middle of the last century, true reli- 
 gion itself has received an impulse, to which it 
 had for a long time been a stranger. The fer- 
 vours of the Reformation had subsided; the 
 great doctrine of life— justification by faith, 
 through the imputed righteousness of Christ, 
 had slept, or been abandoned ; and religion it- 
 self, even among Protestants, had degenerated 
 into form, when, the whole subject received a 
 fresh impetus, both in Great Britain and Ame- 
 rica, which it has never lost. The fruits have 
 been seen and felt in every part of the world, 
 as they have developed themselves in the en- 
 largement of the Church, and in the operation 
 of Bible, Missionary, Tract, and Education So- 
 17 
 
194 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 cieties. An equal degree of zeal and activity 
 for the propagation of the Gospel, and the 
 amelioration of the condition of our race, has 
 rarely been witnessed. 
 
 Such have been the nature and extent of the 
 changes which have taken place, and such the 
 spirit of the age in which we live, that the fond 
 anticipation has been indulged that the latter 
 day glory had already arrived, and the subjec- 
 tion of the world to the cross of Christ would 
 scarcely require a struggle. It requires not 
 the ken of a prophet to tell that these antici- 
 pations are doomed to disappointment. The 
 anticipations of men have been as extreme as 
 their principles and practices — and this has 
 been one of the species of tares which the ad- 
 versary has sown in this field, otherwise so pro- 
 mising. The age in which we live is one of 
 extremes. It has proved ultra or fanatical in 
 almost every thing. The impulse has carried 
 men beyond the mark. Every thing of which 
 they have taken hold has been magnified be- 
 yond its just proportions, if not beyond its 
 true dimensions, and thus received an impor- 
 tance to which it was not entitled. The mind 
 has dwelt intently on a single object, or it has 
 brought that object so near to the eye, that it 
 has appeared to be single and alone in the 
 world. Whereas, if it had been placed in an- 
 
FANATICISM. 195 
 
 Other position, and at a little greater distance 
 from the eye, its true as well as relative magni- 
 tude could be better ascertained and deter- 
 mined ; but then, if the mind had been labour- 
 ing under a fond delusion with respect to it, it 
 it would create a degree of pain to be unde- 
 ceived. My hearers would think me in ex- 
 tremes, if not in the extreme of madness, if I 
 should tell them that the sun, the great orb of 
 day, was not as large as a half dollar— and yet 
 I can so place that httle object as to hide the 
 sun from my view. And so a matter, which, 
 when viewed in its just proportions and rela- 
 tions, shall be seen and felt to be of much less 
 importance than another with which it may be 
 compared, may become absorbing as the one 
 thing needful when it is not only seen alone, 
 but dwelt upon, commended and magnified. 
 This I consider as a distinguishing character- 
 istic of our age, and this I call fanaticism, and 
 this I design more fully to illustrate in the re- 
 mainder of this discourse. I have already in- 
 timated that there is scarcely a department of 
 business or life into which the spirit of excess 
 has not been carried, and where its influence 
 has not been felt. 
 
 It has manifested itself in the various de- 
 partments of business. These have been pur- 
 sued, not for the purpose of affording men 
 
196 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 healthful employment, and a decent living, but 
 for the purpose of accumulating wealth ; and 
 when the movement has not been a rapid one, 
 it has been attended with an uneasy, restless, 
 discontented spirit, which has watched every 
 opportunity of change, and rushed after every 
 gilded phantom which a wild imagination has 
 raised up before the mind. Men have not only 
 grown impatient of the slow avails of honest, 
 persevering industry, and dissatisfied with the 
 prospect of a well earned competence, enough 
 to satisfy a well balanced and contented mind, 
 but they have gathered up all, and embarked 
 it on the tempestuous ocean of speculation. 
 Nothing would serve them but to be suddenly 
 rich. Of the dangers of failure, or the ship- 
 wreck of conscience, they have made no more 
 account than they have of the effect it would 
 be hkely to produce on their minds in unfitting 
 them for sober business, or rational enjoyment, 
 or on the character, comfort, and prospects 
 of their families, or on the fortunes of those 
 with whom business may have connected them. 
 Such things as these are scarcely worthy of a 
 thought in the " nineteenth century," and unne- 
 cessary clogs to "the march of mind." The 
 man has made up his mind to be rich, and sud- 
 denly^ rich, and if ninety-nine out of every 
 hundred who have made the attempt upon the 
 
FANATICISM. 197 
 
 same principle, have failed, you cannot con- 
 vince him that he will not be the hundredth 
 man in the next class of adventurers. And if 
 an equal proportion have made shipwreck of 
 faith and a good conscience in making the at- 
 tempt, it would be no easy matter to convince 
 him that it is a difficult thing for a rich man to 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven, or for a man 
 whose mind has been soured and corroded by 
 worldly losses and disappointments to turn his 
 attention at once, and with interest, to the sub- 
 ject of religion. A divine oracle would fail to 
 work the conviction in him. This is the spirit 
 of our age, the spirit of our American youth — 
 the Moloch upon whose altar so many precious 
 souls are sacrificed. This, a year or two ago, 
 filled the United States Treasury to overflow- 
 ing from the sales of our western lands — built 
 so many cities in the wilderness, on paper- 
 fattened the soil of Louisiana with the dead 
 bodies of the prime young men of our coun- 
 try, and which God has recently so terribly re- 
 buked. Is it misnamed, "the fanaticism of 
 cupidity ?" 
 
 The spirit has other forms, and other names. 
 It is a universal intermeddler. It will let no- 
 thing alone. Nothing good or holy can engage 
 the attention of men, but it rushes in, and en- 
 deavours to appropriate it to itself. It is not 
 17* 
 
198 LECTUREVIIl. 
 
 many years since a moral leprosy came to the 
 aid of original sin, and threatened an almost 
 universal destruction. It was at deadly strife 
 with property, health, all the comforts of domes- 
 tic life, all the hallowed influences of the social 
 principle and relations, human life, and the sal- 
 vation of mens' souls. It was fast peopling the 
 grave and hell with its victims. It was rapidly 
 extending the circle of its deadly influence. 
 The rich and the poor, the high and the low, 
 the old and the young, were its victims. The 
 farmer and the mechanic, the young man and 
 the maiden, the husband and the wife, the pa- 
 rent and the child, the statesman, the lawyer, 
 the physician, the Christian, the deacon, the 
 elder, the minister of the everlasting Gospel, 
 all, all, were among its victims. It acted as a 
 slow poison. It was an insidious enemy. It 
 often came as an angel of light, a minister of 
 health, a handmaid of hospitality. And the 
 malady was the more deadly, because it well 
 nigh paralysed the medicine of life, the Gospel 
 of the grace of God. 
 
 Philosophers, physicians, philanthropists, pa- 
 triots. Christians, ministers of the everlasting 
 Gospel, all mourned over the wide spreading 
 evil, and mourned almost without hope. It was 
 the sin of intemperance. This was the name 
 of the foul fiend. A simple remedy was ap- 
 
FANATICISM. 199 
 
 plied. The union of the friends of man in a 
 pubhc pledge to abstain from alcoholic drinks. 
 Blessed be the man into whose mind the happy 
 thought first entered. His race have known 
 few greater benefactors. In this, as in every 
 thing else, union creates strength. O, what 
 wonders has the development of this principle 
 wrought; what happy changes have we wit- 
 nessed; what victories over beastly and soul 
 destroying appetites. But the arch fiend en- 
 vied man, and grace, and God, such a victory — 
 and flew to the rescue, and sowed dissension in 
 the camp, and sought to sever from the brother- 
 hood its best friends, upon whom, under God, 
 its dearest hopes will be found to rest. I mean 
 the covenanted friends of Christ. But how? 
 By seeking to exalt temperance, a single 
 branch of Gospel morality, above religion 
 itself; thus making it of more worth than that 
 which makes us meet for heaven — constituting 
 the temperance pledge a test of Christian 
 character and church communion, a rule un- 
 known to the Church and word of God — and 
 establishing it as a principle that any use of 
 wine, no matter how small the quantity, is a 
 sin ; of course, banishing it from the Table of 
 the Lord, although the Saviour himself has 
 made it a symbol of that blood which was 
 shed for the remission of sin. These assurap- 
 
200 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 tions Christians have never believed, and to 
 these principles they can never submit. The 
 urging of these points, often in intemperate and 
 abusive terms, has made many a Christian 
 pause, and caused many a man who tasted no 
 intoxicating drink, to withhold his name from 
 the temperance pledge, and the public support 
 of a cause which was dearer to him than his 
 life. Thus has Satan succeeded in making the 
 real friends of Christ, the seeming enemies of 
 the cause of temperance. And thus has the 
 spirit of fanaticism injured a cause which every 
 good man must love. Let me say to Chris- 
 tians, beware how you withhold yourselves 
 from the support of a cause, so important and 
 good in itself, on account of the folly, or even 
 wickedness, of its professed friends. And to 
 all others I say, you may be never so tempe- 
 rate, and lose your soul. Temperance is not 
 rehgion. 
 
 Again, the operation of this spirit may also 
 be seen in the views which are entertained, and 
 the conduct which is pursued with respect to hu- 
 man rights. Probably no people on earth have 
 ever better understood the principles of civil 
 and religious liberty, or been more strongly 
 attached to them, than the inhabitants of these 
 United States. This has led them earnestly to 
 desire that all other nations may possess insti- 
 
FANATICISM. 201 
 
 tutions similar to our own, to hail with joy 
 every approximation to it, and to anticipate 
 with confidence the near approach of the day 
 when it shall take place. This may all be 
 right and proper, but it is both foolish and fa- 
 natical to suppose all nations, however igno- 
 rant and degraded, are capable of forming, 
 maintaining, and enjoying institutions equally 
 free and happy, or that we have a call in Di- 
 vine Providence to interfere with them. Upon 
 such, the examples of France, Spain, and the 
 Mexican and South American States, are lost. 
 They are incapable of perceiving the necessary 
 connexion which exists between civil liberty, 
 and intelligence and virtue. France and Spain 
 have receded. The cry of liberty and equality 
 has died on the ear, and the revolutions to the 
 south of us have followed each other like the 
 waves of a troubled ocean, whose agitated 
 waters are continually casting up mire and 
 dirt. So wild are a portion of the American 
 people on the subject, that it has more than 
 once required all the wisdom, and vigilance, 
 and energy of our government, to restrain the 
 people from hurrying us into a foreign war. 
 
 And free and happy as our institutions are, 
 leaving the wise and good nothing to desire on 
 the subject but a sufficiency of intelligence and 
 virtue to enjoy, and preserve our immunities 
 
202 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 and privileges, and hearts to adore and praise 
 the giver of every good and perfect gift, there 
 are many in our land, who, impatient of all 
 restraint, would prostrate the very institutions 
 and laws by which our liberty and privileges 
 are secured and maintained. Witness the ra- 
 vings of a foreign profligate female in a neigh- 
 bouring city on the day of sacred rest, and the 
 thousands who follow and applaud her, This, 
 however, is a mere drop in the bucket ; the 
 wild vapourings of infidelity and agrarianism in 
 a state of combination — and will serve to show 
 how exceedingly foolish men can be when they 
 adopt the abominable absurdity that there is no 
 God. Perhaps the following specimen, select- 
 ed from the proceedings of the peace conven- 
 tion, composed of men and women, laymen and 
 clergymen, convened at Boston on the 18th of 
 September last, may more fully illustrate the 
 subject. The second article of their constitu- 
 tion reads thus : " The members of this society 
 agree in opinion, that no man, or body of men, 
 however constituted, or by whatever name 
 called, have the right to take the life of man 
 as a penalty for transgression ; that no one 
 who professes to have the Spirit of Christ, can 
 consistently sue a man at law for redress of inju- 
 ries, or thrust any evil doer into prison, or fill 
 any office in which he would come under obli- 
 
FANATICISM. 203 
 
 gation to execute penal enactments — or take any 
 part in the military service — or acknowledge al- 
 legiance to any human government — or justify 
 any man in fighting in defence of property, 
 liberty, life, or religion — that he cannot engage 
 in or countenance any plot or effort to revolu- 
 tionize, or change, by physical violence, any 
 government, however corrupt or oppressive; 
 that he will obey the powers that be, except in 
 those cases in which they bid him violate his 
 conscience ; and then, rather than resist, he 
 will meekly submit to the penalty of disobe- 
 dience; and that, while he will cheerfully en- 
 dure all things for Christ's sake, without 
 cherishing even the desire to inflict injury upon 
 his persecutor, yet he will be bold and un- 
 compromising for God, in bearing his testi- 
 mony against sin, in high places, and in low 
 places, until righteousness and peace shall reign 
 in all the earth, and there shall be none to mo- 
 lest or make afraid." 
 
 If any doubt could exist, as to the meaning 
 of the foregoing article, the following " declara- 
 tion of sentiment," accompanying it, would re- 
 move it : " We cannot acknowledge allegiance 
 to any human government" — " We love the 
 land of our nativity only as we love all other 
 lands" — " No resistance ought to be offered to 
 domestic troublers of the peace, or of private 
 
204 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 security" — " We, therefore, voluntarily exclude 
 ourselves from every legislative and judicial 
 body, and repudiate all human politics, worldly 
 honours, and stations of authority : if we can- 
 not occupy a seat in the legislature, or on the 
 bench, neither can we elect others to act as 
 our substitutes in any such capacity." My 
 hearers, what shall we call all this? These are 
 the enactments and declarations of American 
 citizens, many of them well educated men and 
 women, some of them professing Christians, 
 and even clergymen. Are these the deduc- 
 tions of right reason, or Christian intelligence; 
 or are they the wild ravings of hair-brained, 
 moon-stricken fanatics? 
 
 Whatever they are, they are the results of 
 the wisdom of the men who are agitating the 
 country with the subject of anti-slavery, or mo- 
 dern abolitionism. Of this institution, to some 
 of whose doings I have directed your atten- 
 tion, Lloyd Garrison is the Corresponding Sec- 
 retary, and the Rev. H. C. Wright, a leading 
 member. So that, the same spirit actuates 
 both bodies, and the same results may be ex- 
 pected from their doings. The association 
 would, at once, destroy all law and govern- 
 ment, with every connected institution, civil 
 and religious, and call it, carrying out the prin- 
 ciples of peace; and the latter is labouring 
 
FANATICISM. 205 
 
 hard to subvert the constitution of the country, 
 and break up the Union of the States, by in- 
 flaming the passions of men, and exciting the 
 bitter feehngs and angry passions of one por- 
 tion of our countrymen against another, for 
 the purpose of attaining an object which, by 
 such means, is either utterly hopeless, or at- 
 tainable only by the slaughter of one-half of 
 the inhabitants of our country. The effect, 
 thus far, has been, only to excite a great deal 
 of angry feehngs, abridge the privileges of 
 those for whose benefit they professed to act, 
 increased the friends of slavery, deadened the 
 sympathy which was felt in our land for the 
 African race, and not improbably postponed, 
 for a long time, the day of emancipation. 
 
 But, when was the spirit of fanaticism wise? 
 When was a blind zeal ever known to form 
 judicious plans, or to take prudent or practical 
 measures for their accomplishment? If their 
 motives were never so good and* holy at the 
 start, they might very easily, and probably 
 would, become so heated in the chase as to 
 become reckless; and others, as destitute of 
 principle as of sound discretion, would, by 
 their zeal, be attracted to them, and rush on 
 with them, and the cause would very soon 
 cease to have the excuse even of good motives 
 to sanctify it. This, I apprehend, has, to a 
 
 IS 
 
206 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 considerable extent, become the case with anti- 
 slavery, by attempting to unite with the poli- 
 tics of the day. Let the wise and the good, 
 who love their country and its institutions, be 
 on their guard against every fanatical move- 
 ment, and, withal, their own spirits! The 
 greater watchfulness and care are necessary, 
 because religion itself has been attempted to 
 be drawn into this vortex, and the principles of 
 modern abolitionism have been sought to be 
 made a test of Christian character and reli- 
 gious fellowship. It is one of the wedges 
 which has been applied to split the Presbyte- 
 rian Church in two, as well as dissever the 
 union of these States ; and in this form, and 
 with these sentiments as good as avowed, it 
 deserves, and should receive, the pointed con- 
 demnation of all who feel the importance of 
 truth and order, in Church or State. 
 
 It would be strange, my hearers, if such a 
 spirit, in such an age as the present, when the 
 human mind has become so restless, and when 
 the very dictates of the Holy Spirit are said to 
 be improvable by human wisdom, had not in- 
 truded itself directly into the concerns of reli- 
 gion. Perhaps it might reasonably have been 
 expected. It has accordingly taken place. 
 There has seldom been an age, when errors in 
 principle and practice have had a more rapid 
 
FANATICISM. 207 
 
 growth and wide-spread. I refer not now to 
 the rise and spread of Unitarianism, in the 
 eastern part of our country. That is a sys- 
 tem which has not vitahty enough to excite 
 either the feehngs or the imaginations of men. 
 It aims at arrogating to itself the learning, 
 philosophy, and politeness of the age. It is a 
 " dead sea," whose heavy waters no winds ap- 
 pear to be capable of raising into waves. 
 
 I allude to the system of error, which has 
 falsified the true nature of the atonement, de- 
 nied, substantially, original sin, and with it, the 
 views which the Scriptures give us of the na- 
 ture and necessity of the Spirit's operations in 
 regeneration, substituting for them the self- 
 determining power of the human will, under 
 the exciting influences of protracted meetings, 
 strong appeals to the principles of self-love, 
 duty, and the supposed ability which men pos- 
 sess to change their own hearts, anxious-seats, 
 and other human machinery — means, by which 
 great excitements have been produced, many 
 souls have been introduced into the Church, 
 and high hopes raised concerning the enlarge- 
 ment and glory of Zion, but which, as the 
 event has proved, has served to fill the Church 
 with unsound members, almost destroyed the 
 effect of the ordinary and stated ministrations 
 of the Word and ordinances, rendered the pas- 
 
208 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 torai office well nigh useless, given a fitful 
 character to religion, and made the Church, 
 where it has had its fullest influence, like a fo- 
 rest through which a devouring fire has passed. 
 " By their fruits," says the blessed Saviour, 
 " ye shall know them : Do men gather grapes 
 of thorns, or figs of thistles?" There was in 
 all this, life, and activity, and zeal. Masses 
 of men, in whole districts of country, were not 
 only moved, but agitated. Astonishing effects 
 were wrought. But there was little of the 
 meekness, gentleness, and humility of Christ, 
 even where there was evidence of a radical 
 change, and, more commonly, it soon became 
 manifest, that much of it was the mere effect 
 of sympathy, or the formation of a stern reso- 
 lution to be religious, very much apart from all 
 real conviction of sinfulness, and that work 
 of the Holy Spirit, by which men are created 
 anew in Christ Jesus unto good works. Nor 
 need these things be wondered at, if it be true, 
 as is said, that men can get such movements 
 up at their pleasure, and change " their gov- 
 erning purpose" at will. Of these things, in 
 forms somewhat modified and varied, our age 
 and country have seen, heard, and felt much. 
 It is no difficult thing to obtain believers, ad- 
 mirers, and followers for any system of doc^ 
 trine or practice, be it never so contrary, 
 
FANATICISM. 209 
 
 not only to God's well-attested, revealed will, 
 but the best established principles of experi- 
 ence, and the common sense of mankind. 
 And, what ought to excite no small degree of 
 wonder, if any of the vagaries of fanaticism 
 are to be wondered at, men will receive them 
 without evidence as divine, and stake their 
 eternal all on them, who will believe nothing 
 which the Bible teaches, although it be attested 
 by miracles wrought, by prophecies fulfilled, by 
 the phenomena of nature, by the history of na- 
 tions, by the wants and maladies of human na- 
 ture, and the experience of millions of our race. 
 They prefer the very dreams and wild imagi- 
 nations of Mormonism to these, however well 
 attested. Nothing is too absurd to be be- 
 lieved and practiced. My hearers, ^' the times 
 are out of joint," and this is one of the moral 
 maladies of the day. Every thing has felt it, 
 and every thing has been injured by it. And 
 religion has not been among the least sufferers 
 by it. What will render it difficult of cure is, 
 that men hold the dreams of their wild imagi- 
 nations to be the highest dictates of wisdom. 
 The ship is afloat, and loosed from her moor- 
 ings, with every sail set, and filled, but, alas! 
 she is destitute of ballast, rudder, compass, and 
 pilot, and, if we had no divine security, the 
 voyage would be hopeless, , 
 
 18* 
 
210 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 What shall we do in such a case? What 
 can we do but repudiate the dreams and imagi- 
 nations of men, and get back as fast as possi- 
 ble to the principles of sober sense, and re- 
 vealed truth. When they cry, "Lo! here is 
 Christ, or, lo! there," let us not go after them. 
 " We have, also, a more sure word of prophecy, 
 whereunto, ye do well to take heed, as unto 
 a light that shineth in a dark place." A con- 
 stant, humble, prayerful regard to the plain, un- 
 sophisticated testimonies of God's word, will 
 be an admirable safeguard against the sophis- 
 tries and delusive imaginations, with which 
 multitudes are deceiving themselves, and en- 
 dangering others. This will preserve us from 
 being carried about hy every wind of doctrine^ 
 by the sleight of men^ and cimjiing craftiness^ 
 whereby they lie in wait to deceive. And then, 
 too, we shall be able to follow the direction of 
 the Apostle John. "Beloved, believe not every 
 spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of 
 God; because many false prophets are gone 
 out into the world." This is now as true as it 
 was when John wrote. But it is equally true, 
 that false doctrines, and lying spirits, may be 
 detected, by bringing them to the law and the 
 testimony; and that the man whose heart is 
 deeply imbued with the love of the truth, and 
 makes the word of God the man of his coun- 
 
^ FANATICISM. 211 
 
 sel, and the guide of his hfe, will not very 
 easily be led astray. Let him only be rooted 
 and grounded in the love and truth of God, 
 and he shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot 
 be removed. 
 
 We may, from this, readily perceive why a 
 restless, fanatical spirit has obtained such a 
 wide currency, and exercised such an exten- 
 sive influence in the present day. The minds 
 of men have been empty. They have had 
 a very imperfect and superficial acquaintance 
 with the word of God. They have not made 
 the holy oracles their own, by meditation and 
 reflection. They have devoured every thing 
 indiscriminately, and digested nothing, and the 
 consequence has been, that they have not 
 grown in the grace and knowledge of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And, what 
 is worse, they are proud of their folly, and 
 have proved it by calling the present, " the age 
 of action" — as if the whole of religion con- 
 sisted in action; or, as if there could be any 
 correct, consistent action which was not based 
 on principle, and guided by knowledge. Men 
 have run before they were called, and, when 
 questioned on the subject, have been unable to 
 give a reason of the hope that is in them. 
 They have adopted their own notions as the 
 doctrines of Christ, and the practices which 
 
212 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 they found to produce the most visible effects, 
 as the best calculated to benefit the souls of 
 men, because they were strangers to the nature 
 and necessity of the Spirit's influences, as 
 taught in the sacred Scriptures; and others, 
 who ought to have known better, and who 
 probably did know better, deceived by what 
 they heard and saw, and not taking time to 
 test the eflfects, by time and the word of God, 
 were led to follow in the train, for fear of be- 
 ing found fighting against God. The evil will 
 never be cured till Christians become careful 
 and diligent students of God's word, and, with 
 meekness, humility, and reverence, derive both 
 their principles and practices from its simple 
 teachings. 
 
 Again : If you would avoid the spirit, 
 against which I have endeavoured to warn 
 you, think and reflect much on divine things, 
 with fervent prayer to God that he would give 
 you a right understanding of his word, and 
 your duty. A thoughtful, reflecting mind, is 
 never a light and trifling one, carried away, 
 headlong, by the passions of the heart, or the 
 dreams and imaginations of an ill-furnished 
 head. The fanatic rarely thinks, or, if he 
 does, it is seldom to much purpose. He is al- 
 ways in a hurry. Like Jehu, he driveth furi- 
 ously; and, hke him, a stranger to the love 
 
FANATICISM. 213 
 
 and knowledge of God, he is apt to cry, 
 "Come, see my zeal for the Lord." The 
 Apostle Paul bore witness of the Jews of his 
 day : " That they had a zeal of God, but not 
 according to knowledge." And what was the 
 consequence? They crucified the Lord of 
 glory, and persecuted his followers. They 
 took counsel of their passions. They were 
 fanatics. Thought and reflection would have 
 allayed these cruel and wicked passions, and 
 kept them in abeyance. 
 
 Finally: Let it not be taken for granted, 
 that these views of truth and duty are opposed 
 to zeal and activity in the Lord's service, or, 
 that they will furnish an excuse for sloth and 
 idleness, and warrant a man to sit down, and 
 fold his hands to sleep. Whatever others may 
 think on the subject, it is no part of my mean- 
 ing. If there be any one subject, which has 
 a just claim to occupy every power, both of 
 head and heart, it is the subject of rehgion. 
 There is enough in it, personally considered, 
 to furnish a full warrant for the exhortation, 
 " Work out your own salvation with fear and 
 trembling." There is enough in the state and 
 danger of sinners to make every Christian feel 
 as Jeremiah did, when he cried, " O that my 
 head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of 
 tears, that I might weep day and night for the 
 
214 LECTURE VIII. FANATICISM. 
 
 slain of the daughter of my people!" Paul 
 did not press the subject beyond its just and 
 proper bounds, when he said to the Corin- 
 thians, "Now, then, we are ambassadors for 
 Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; 
 we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye recon- 
 ciled to God." Every child of God, as well as 
 every minister of the Gospel, should be, not 
 only a shining^ but a burning light. His un- 
 derstanding should be full of divine light, and 
 his heart of divine love. His soul, body, and 
 spirit should be the Lord's. This, however, 
 may be, and yet the man be at an infinite re- 
 move from cold-hearted, inconsistent fanati- 
 cism. The one resembles an eccentric comet, 
 wandering in the sky; while the path of the 
 other, is as "the shining light, that shineth 
 more and more, even unto the perfect day." 
 So may all, who professedly belong to the 
 Lord, speedily become, and the reproach of 
 Zion be forever wiped away ! 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 The last " sign of the times" which was passed 
 in review by us, was " the spirit of fanati- 
 cism." By this was understood, " a tendency 
 to carry every thing with which we have any 
 thing to do to extremes, or beyond their just 
 and proper bounds." And this we have shown 
 to have arisen partly, from viewing objects or 
 subjects singly and alone, and dwelling upon 
 them till our imagination magnified them into 
 supreme importance. And partly from that 
 restlessness of spirit by which the present age 
 has been characterized and illustrated. Its 
 rise was connected with the religious and po- 
 litical movements of the last century. 
 
 The subject was considered — 1st. As it has 
 manifested itself in the various departments of 
 business and gain. 2d. With respect to the 
 temperance cause. 3d. With respec* to hu- 
 
216 LECTURE IX. 
 
 man rights, as illustrated by the " Peace" and 
 "Anti-Slavery Societies." And 4th, its influ- 
 ence on the interests of religion. That such a 
 spirit existed, and was exercising an extensive 
 and deleterious influence on every subject and 
 interest with which it had commingled itself, 
 was proved and illustrated. It was also shown 
 that it was the duty of all who loved their coun- 
 try, and all who took an interest in the preser- 
 vation of truth and order, and the welfare of 
 our race, to watch against the influence of this 
 spirit. If it is permitted to prevail, it will 
 sweep away every thing which is valuable in 
 the civil institutions of our country, destroy 
 the hopes which the friends of civil liberty 
 have entertained concerning the experiment 
 which we are now making on the subject, fulfil 
 the predictions of its enemies, and overturn 
 some of the fairest hopes of the friends of re- 
 ligion. From this it results that the friends 
 of truth and order should' possess their souls in 
 patience, guard against the influence of this 
 spirit, and when this enemy comes in like a 
 flood, pray fervently and importunately to Him 
 who has the hearts of all men in his hands, and 
 can turn them at his will, that he may say to 
 the waves of this raging flood — thus far shall 
 ye come and no farther. Our ultimate hope 
 must be in God. Men may raise this spirit. 
 
SLAVERY. 217 
 
 but they can neither govern it, nor lay it. 
 The 
 
 VIII. Sign of the times to which your at- 
 tention will be directed is one which involves 
 the interest of our beloved country to a greater 
 extent than any one which we have as yet con- 
 templated. How we can avoid looking at it, 
 and feeling with respect to it the deepest solici- 
 tude, it is difficult to conjecture. I allude to 
 the subject of Slavery — a subject which has 
 deeply agitated the public mind, and which, in 
 one way or other, mingles itself with the dear- 
 ests interests of our beloved country. It is a 
 subject which requires the wisest and calmest 
 consideration, on which, if men take counsel 
 of their passions, they will be sure to be led 
 astray, and be in danger of producing results 
 which they will be sure to regret, but cannot 
 change. No man who is reckless of conse- 
 quences, who is not capable of weighing with 
 wise caution the probable effects which impor- 
 tant causes are likely to produce in such a 
 country as ours, who is not well acquainted 
 with the character of the American people, the 
 nature of our civil institutions, the relations 
 which the various parts of our country sustain 
 to each other, and the duties which arise out 
 of them; who does not sincerely love his coun- 
 try, who does not possess a meek and quiet 
 
 19 
 
218 LECTURE IX. 
 
 spirit, or who is not in a good degree capable 
 of governing his own spirit, should suffer him- 
 self to agitate such a subject at such a time. 
 
 I may be asked, why call it up ? Not sim- 
 ply because it is a sign of the times, and a por- 
 tentous and agitating one too, but from the 
 very difficulties and dangers by which it is sur- 
 rounded, to induce, persuade, and beseech my 
 countrymen, and especially the followers of the 
 meek and lowly Jesus, to give it that calm, de- 
 liberate, and prayerful consideration which its 
 high importance demands. The interests which 
 are involved in it are neither few nor small. 
 They will be found to bear with tremendous 
 weight on all our institutions, civil and religious, 
 and on the eternal welfare of milhons of im- 
 mortal souls. There are difficulties connected 
 with this subject, my hearers, from which no- 
 thing but the w^isdom and grace of God can de- 
 liver us. And these difficulties have for the 
 last few years been increasing upon us at a 
 most fearful and appalling rate. 
 
 Pity and sympathy for the African race are 
 not of recent date in our country. Before the 
 men who, for the last five or six years, have 
 figured the most prominently in their behalf, 
 were known to think or feel on the subject, 
 there were philanthropists and Christians who 
 not only felt and prayed for this unhappy race 
 
SLAVERY. 219 
 
 of men, but were silently and efficiently exert- 
 ing themselves to benefit them, with a prospect 
 and hope which I fear will not exist again for 
 a long time to come. I wish my hearers to 
 listen to, and remember, what I am about say- 
 ing. These men believed themselves to have 
 received in good faith from the prominent pub- 
 lic men of the South, a satisfactory assurance 
 of the abolition of slavery in the District of 
 Columbia, by the action of Congress at a speci- 
 fied time then near at hand ; and I have no 
 doubt the plan would have been carried into 
 effect, but for the alarm occasioned by the sud- 
 den rush, and intemperate and abusive publica- 
 tions made at the time, by those who now 
 claim to be the exclusive friends of the cause. 
 This I fully believe. Nay, I know the promi- 
 nent actors in it, and have good reason to 
 believe that they would have been successful 
 in it. 
 
 At the same time also, Virginia and Mary- 
 land were prepared to have passed laws which 
 would have terminated slavery in those States 
 during the present generation; and Kentucky 
 and Missouri would have followed the example, 
 if they had not led the way, for public senti- 
 ment in the latter State was so nearly equally 
 balanced, that a feather would have turned the 
 scale in favour of emancipation. In that case, 
 
220 LECTURE IX. 
 
 North Carolina and Tennessee could scarcely 
 have failed to follow the example soon. This 
 would have given a prodigious preponderance, 
 both moral and political, to the non-slavehold- 
 ing States, which would at once have hindered 
 the introduction of slavery into any new States 
 which might have been formed, and probably 
 have insured its extinguishment in the remain- 
 ing States within a comparatively short period. 
 I thus judge from the facts, that many in those 
 States were beginning to look upon it as a 
 moral evil from which it was necessary to be 
 delivered, and from which they were devising 
 means to deliver themselves. Is it not reason- 
 able to suppose, that with such feelings on the 
 subject, they would have sought and found 
 facilities of emancipation, and that with perfect 
 freedom to speak and write on the subject, such 
 sentiments would have diffused themselves 
 widely ? This would especially have been 
 the case, if, as is believed, this sentiment is 
 connected with the religious principle. 
 
 This promising state of things, however, un- 
 happily, no longer exists. The prospect which 
 appeared to be opening before us, no longer pre- 
 sents the same aspect. Dark and gloomy clouds 
 have gathered over it, and whether they will be 
 dissipated, or grow darker, and burst in a tem- 
 pest, is known only to Him who knows the end 
 
SLAVERY. 221 
 
 from the beginning, has the hearts of all men 
 in his hand, and can turn them, even as the 
 rivers of water. The subject is of such im- 
 portance as to commend itself to the serious 
 and prayerful regard of every friend of God 
 and his country. Look at it, and judge for 
 yourselves whether we attach too much impor- 
 tance to it. 
 
 Our country probably contains about sixteen 
 millions of inhabitants. Our rise and progress 
 have been wonderful. God has given us a 
 noble land. He has exercised over us a be- 
 nign and gracious providence. He has bes- 
 towed upon us the happiest institutions, and 
 accommodated them to our circumstances — 
 and we have reason to say, " He hath not dealt 
 so with any people." In an evil hour, our mo- 
 ther country introduced slavery among us, I 
 believe I may say, against the will of our fa- 
 thers. We had it on our hands at the Revolu- 
 tion. It has, unfortunately, been perpetuated, 
 though not in unison with our institutions; and 
 it has grown with our growth to its present 
 magnitude. There are, probably, now in our 
 country, well nigh three millions of Africans 
 or their descendants, more than two millions 
 of whom are in a state of involuntary servi- 
 tude. Nearly all the slaves, and a very con- 
 siderable proportion of those who are free, are 
 
 19* 
 
222 LECTURE IX. 
 
 entirely destitute of education, and, to a very 
 great extent, destitute also of the appliances of 
 religion. 
 
 The slaves of course are destitute of pro- 
 perty, and cannot legally hold any. Nor have 
 they any direct interest in the institutions of 
 our country. Comparatively few of those who 
 are free, are possessed of property enough to 
 render their earthly circumstances comfortable. 
 In several of the States, they are deprived of 
 the common rights of citizenship, and where 
 this is not the case, they cannot exercise it 
 with facility and comfort. In addition to this, 
 they are without many of the incentives to im- 
 provement and well-doing which are common 
 to the rest of the inhabitants of our country. 
 They have scarcely any facilities for acquiring 
 any thing more than a common-school educa- 
 tion ; and if they had, they are almost shut out 
 from any sphere in which they could exercise 
 an improved intellect. It is a very rare thing 
 to find one of them in the medical profession; 
 with that of the law they never meddle; and 
 few of them are ministers of the Gospel. Nor 
 is there a civil office of profit or trust which is 
 open to them. Such, too, is the state of so- 
 ciety, that in no part of our land can they en- 
 ter into the social relations upon that footing 
 of equality, which gives to those relations their 
 
SLAVERY. 223 
 
 highest charm, and makes them so productive 
 of comfort and elevation. 
 
 This is the case with those of them who are 
 free, and more strikingly so with those who 
 are in a state of slavery ; and, if they were 
 emancipated, it would still be so. This state 
 of things exists, whatever be its cause, and ex- 
 perience and observation teach us, that it will 
 be no light or easy thing to produce a change. 
 You may call it a prejudice, or a sin — such are 
 its practical influence and force that it will not 
 be easily removed, and, certainly, not by call- 
 ing it by hard names. 
 
 There exist, then, in our land, two distinct 
 races of men, who do not differ from each other 
 more widely in their colour, than they do in 
 their circumstances — and these are of no com- 
 mon importance. One of them, has very little 
 interest in the institutions of our country; and 
 the great body of them are illy qualified to en- 
 joy them. We have already seen, that even 
 those of them who are free lack many of the 
 inducements and facilities to well-doing, and 
 elevation in the intellectual and social scale, 
 which are common to the whole white race. 
 With those who are in a state of slavery, 
 these facihties and inducements are still less. 
 They are aliens in the land in which they dwell, 
 
224 LECTURE IX. 
 
 and feel themselves to be, for a long time to 
 come, in a state of degradation, recovery from 
 which will be a very difficult thing. 
 
 Those of them who are free, very naturally 
 desire to be placed, in every respect, on a foot- 
 ing of perfect equality with the whites; and those 
 who are in a state of slavery, as naturally desire 
 to enjoy freedom; and, if they believe that these 
 immunities are improperly or unjustly withheld 
 from them, the desire will be greatly increased, 
 and not improbably connected with impatient 
 and exacerbated feelings. 
 
 We have, then, in the midst of us, nearly 
 three millions of people, who are aliens to the 
 remaining twelve or thirteen millions, the body 
 of whom are destitute of property, of educa- 
 tion, and of civil rights; who have received 
 very little moral culture; who have been 
 brought up in such a state of dependence as 
 never to have relied upon their own resources 
 or exertions for support, and therefore are as 
 ignorant as children, of that practical econo- 
 my so necessary to conduct, advantageously, 
 the most ordinary concerns of life, nor less ig- 
 norant of the nature and operation of our civil 
 and political institutions. The man, who can 
 see no difficulties and dangers in this state of 
 things, deeply affecting the interest and welfare 
 
SLAVERY. 225 
 
 of our beloved country, has very little claim to 
 discernment — has viewed the subject through a 
 very deceptive medium. 
 
 What can be done to relieve the subject of 
 its distressing aspects? Say some, raise the 
 free at once to a perfect social and civil equa- 
 lity. This is easily said, but not so easily 
 done. Such is the state of society, that it will 
 require a long time, and great changes in pub- 
 lic sentiment, before their most sanguine friends 
 can hope to see them mingling, freely and 
 equally, in the civil and political affairs of our 
 country. Whatever may have given rise to 
 the sentiment which excludes them, it exists; 
 and observation proves, that it will not be 
 easily changed. You may call it an unreason- 
 able prejudice. But prejudices are not often 
 easily overcome. Call it, if you please, a sin. 
 It is frequently a difficult thing to bring men to 
 repentance. It will be still more difficult, to 
 change their social relations. Were it practi- 
 cally attempted, those who made the attempt, 
 instead of elevating them, would degrade them- 
 selves. The subject has more difficulties con- 
 nected with it than enthusiasts have ever ima- 
 gined. It will require many a cogent argu- 
 ment, and many a persuasive plea, to produce 
 the desired change. The modest, unobtrusive 
 
226 LECTUREIX. 
 
 demeanour, and continued practical well-doing 
 of the coloured race themselves, will go farther 
 towards changing public sentiment in their fa- 
 vour, and raising them in society, than all the 
 laboured arguments, and angry, vituperative 
 harano^ues of their — so called — friends, whose 
 past efforts, I fear, have done them any thing 
 but good. They mistake human nature. You 
 cannot dragoon voluntary agents into kindly 
 feeling or right action. 
 
 The great difficulty, however, is found in the 
 case of those who are still in a state of bon- 
 dage. However desirable their emancipation 
 may be, the case is surrounded with difficulties 
 which it will not be easy to remove. The 
 case cannot be touched by the General Gov- 
 ernment. The right of holding slaves is guar- 
 anteed to the States by the Constitution, and an 
 attempt to touch it, even by the constitutional 
 mode of changing its provisions, would dis- 
 solve the Union into its elements, and blast the 
 hopes which its establishment has raised. It 
 would be almost a hopeless thing, at present, 
 to procure an enactment, in any of the slave- 
 holding States, which would give them a re- 
 mote prospect of freedom, or even to permit 
 individuals to emancipate them without an im- 
 mediate removal from the country — and cir- 
 
SLAVERY. 227 
 
 cumstances have well nigh led them to shut 
 themselves out from the exercise of any influ- 
 ence by which a change might be produced. 
 
 But if these things were not so, still the case 
 has difficulties of great magnitude connected 
 with it, which are calculated deeply to affect 
 the heart of the warmest friend of the race. 
 Suppose their bonds were loosed this day! — 
 that every one of them were to go out free! 
 How would that affect them, and the commu- 
 nity? It would add two millions more to the 
 number of those who would be obliged to 
 provide for themselves, all of them without pro- 
 perty, or education, or moral culture, or provi- 
 dence, or economy; and many of them, too, 
 aged and infirm, or too young, to contribute 
 to their own support; principally located in a 
 part of the country where they would find it 
 much more difficult to elevate themselves, than 
 in portions of the land where slavery does not 
 exist. It would take several generations, be- 
 fore any considerable portion of them could be 
 expected to raise themselves to any thing like 
 an equality with the whites, in point of pro- 
 perty or education; and it would probably be 
 longer still before the whites, having the power 
 of the law in their own hands, would consent 
 to raise them to a civil and political equality 
 with themselves. On all these accounts, there 
 
228 LECTURE IX. 
 
 would be a very great lack of means, as well 
 as inducements, for the improvement of their 
 state and worldly circumstances, which would 
 necessarily prolong the season of their proba- 
 tion and advancement — connected with heart- 
 burnings, jealousies, and discontents, as well as 
 much actual suffering from poverty and want, 
 some of it arising unavoidably from their cir- 
 cumstances, and no small part of it from idle- 
 ness and improvidence. The experiment, if it 
 were tried, even under the most favourable cir- 
 cumstances, would prove, that the difficulties of 
 the case are not imaginary. Skeptics may en- 
 lighten themselves on the subject, if they will at- 
 tentively study the moral and natural statistics 
 of any of our large cities, where the people of 
 colour are collected together in large numbers, 
 or, who will walk our streets with an observant 
 eye. It is a remarkable and instructive fact, 
 that in places inhabited by whites, slaves, and 
 free people of colour, the proportion of deaths 
 is several per cent, greater among the free 
 blacks than either among the whites or the 
 slaves. The facts which I have mentioned, I 
 have no doubt, furnish the solution. 
 
 I mention these things, not as an argument 
 against their emancipation, for I heartily desire 
 it; nor, as being friendly to slavery, for I think 
 it a very great evil, and not the least so to the 
 
SLAVERY. 229 
 
 whites who Hve in the midst of it — but to 
 show, to those who are driving at the object, 
 without any regard to means or consequences, 
 that the subject is not free from great difficul- 
 ties, even in the most favourable light in which 
 it can be placed. The difficulties of the case 
 would be greatly increased, whenever their 
 number should approximate that of the whites. 
 Nor is the problem of easy solution as it re- 
 gards the whites. The effect on them cannot 
 be small. The change on their part will be 
 great with respect to all who have passed the 
 season of infancy. It will affect very seriously 
 all the habits of their lives, as well as their 
 worldly circumstances. It will change their do- 
 mestic and social relations, and will have no 
 small influence on ^vhat they have been in the 
 habit of esteeming their comforts. These, how- 
 ever, are things which some either entirely over- 
 look, or totally disregard. They consider the 
 slave-holder, no matter how he became so, or 
 what his character in other respects may be, no 
 better than a wild beast, who may be hunted 
 from society, or a demon incarnate, of whom 
 nothing but evil should be spoken. With such 
 views, it would be no wonder if any interest 
 which they may be supposed to have in the sub- 
 ject, should be left entirely out of the question. 
 And yet, so esteeming and treating them, they 
 
 20 
 
230 LECTURE IX. 
 
 professedly think it strange that they cannot 
 bring them into their views by such means of 
 conviction and persuasion ! Yet, they must be 
 considered in connexion with the subject, and 
 they will be, unless the change is to be brought 
 about by the power of the sword. Their inte- 
 rest and welfare are as fully and equitably enti- 
 tled to consideration in the settlement of this 
 question, as the other party. It would be as 
 unjust to disregard them, as the most ardent 
 abolitionist thinks it to hold a fellow creature in 
 involuntary bondage. 
 
 It is presumed to be evident that this subject 
 is surrounded with practical difficulties on every 
 side, in w^iatever light it may be viewed. How- 
 ever easy some men may think it to cut the 
 knot, men of sober thought, and deep reflec- 
 tion, do not find it so easy a matter to untie it. 
 With as ardent a love of country, as kindly and 
 sympathetic feelings for the slaves, and as high 
 a regard for holiness and the divine will as re- 
 vealed in the Sacred Scriptures, they cannot 
 contemplate this subject without perplexity and 
 alarm; and these grow upon them the more 
 closely they contemplate it in the light cast 
 upon it by the aspects of the times. 
 
 What then are its present aspects ? There 
 are at least two milUons of bondmen in our 
 country. Their condition is anomalous to our 
 
SLAVERY. 231 
 
 institutions. They are degraded by bondage, 
 poverty, ignorance, and public sentiment. They 
 are unquahfied to enjoy our institutions, at pre- 
 sent, even if they were free. Circumstances 
 are unfavourable to their elevation to an equali- 
 ty in the social and political scale. They no 
 doubt feel their degradation, and anxiously de- 
 sire to possess the privileges of which they are 
 destitute. The whole number of their race 
 among us is about one-fifth of our population. 
 Those who are free are far from an equality 
 with the whites in advantages and privileges. 
 They all feel it, and desire a change ; for who 
 desires not to have his lot bettered? 
 
 Look next at the whites. A large majority 
 of the American people believe slavery to be a 
 very great moral and political evil. They sin- 
 cerely wish that it never had existed in our 
 country, and that we might be entirely freed 
 from it. But when they came on the stage of 
 action, they not only found it in existence, in- 
 corporated with the domestic relations of a 
 large part of our country, as it then was, but 
 identified with the great bond of our political 
 union, and dependent for its continuance on the 
 action of the individual States. And they have 
 seen it grow up to so enormous a magnitude, 
 that they know not how to abate or remove it. 
 They see evil and difficulty attending every 
 
232 LECTURE IX. 
 
 view they can take of the subject; and they 
 tremble with anxiety when they look at it. 
 
 Not so another portion of the American peo- 
 ple. They not only look at it as a great moral 
 and political evil, the aspects of which are darkly 
 frowning upon our country, but as the evil of 
 all evils, and the sin of all sins, and therefore to 
 be given up at once and for ever, no matter 
 what consequences may flow from it. And 
 hence no man connected with it, say they, shall 
 be a minister of the Gospel, or a member of 
 the • Church of Christ, till he hath washed his 
 hands clean of it; or in other words, that it 
 is such a damnable heresy as to exclude a man 
 from the kingdom of heaven, for whatever right- 
 fully excludes a man from the visible Church, if 
 not sincerely repented of, excludes from the 
 more holy society of heaven. These principles 
 are attempted to be carried out by enlisting the 
 periodical press as extensively as possible in 
 the cause, by the dissemination of pamphlets 
 and books, by public meetings of various kinds, 
 by the employment of agents, and especially 
 public lecturers in great numbers, by flooding 
 the national legislature with memorials from 
 session to session, and by the action of ecclesi- 
 astical assemblies and churches. 
 
 The effect of all this has been to rouse the 
 attention and call into exercise the angry feel- 
 
SLAVERY. 233 
 
 ings of the inhabitants of the slave-holding 
 States ; to shut out from among them all per- 
 sons and publications differing from the senti- 
 ments which they hold on the subject ; to treat 
 with abuse, and in some instances with lawless 
 personal violence, those whom they have sus- 
 pected of coming among them with designs 
 hostile to slavery ; to deprive the slaves of the 
 means of instruction afforded by Sabbath- 
 schools, and of the Gospel itself, lest they 
 should become more desirous of liberty, and 
 better able to assert it ; to increase and fortify 
 public sentiment in favour of slavery, and to 
 postpone the hope of its abrogation. The 
 question has also mingled itself with the poli- 
 tics of the country, excited and increased sec- 
 tional prejudices and difficulties, distracted our 
 public councils, and may endanger the peace 
 and union of the States. 
 
 The wise and good contemplate this state of 
 things, not only with feelings of awe and 
 solemnity, but with fear and trembling. And 
 they feel the deeper anxiety, when they see 
 Christian men, and Christian ministers, under 
 the influence of excited feelings, and reckless of 
 consequences, rushing headlong, where angels 
 w^ould feel obliged to tread with caution. To 
 them we seem to be standing over a mine 
 which a single spark may cause to explode. 
 
 20* 
 
234 LECTURE IX. 
 
 Suppose this fire were kindled, who can tell 
 how deep and broad the conflagration will be ? 
 Who will count the slain, or calculate the loss ? 
 What interest, civil or religious, will not suffer 
 by it ? It will then be too late to mourn our 
 folly. Let the antagonist principles which 
 have for a few years past been arraying them- 
 selves against each other, press each other a 
 little harder, and who will avert the explosion ? 
 I have often wondered why God in his 
 providence has suffered two such races of men 
 to be congregated together under such circum- 
 stances, in this land. And this has been the 
 conclusion : First — To repay to Africa the 
 wrong we have done her, by the return of at 
 least a portion of her children, laden with the 
 treasures of civilization and religion, to be dis- 
 seminated through all her dark borders and 
 tribes, that she may be prepared for the day of 
 millennial glory. And hence the colonization 
 cause has my approbation and sympathy. Se- 
 cond — As a test of our good behaviour, in the 
 enjoyment and due improvement of the blessed 
 lot which he has so graciously bestowed upon 
 us, and a rod in his hand to chastise us, if we 
 should abuse our privileges, and not make 
 suitable returns to our gracious benefactor. 
 And this leads me to look with so much 
 anxiety at this sign of the times. When we 
 
SLAVERY. 235 
 
 think of our cupidity, our worldly mindedness, 
 our lawlessness, our disregard of human life, 
 our early political corruption, our national 
 pride and vanity ; and last, though not least, 
 our abuse of religious privileges, and espe- 
 cially our individual and national disregard of 
 God's holy day, who is not obliged to look 
 with fear and trembling at such aspects of 
 providence as that which we have this evening 
 been contemplating? 
 
 This subject requires the deepest considera- 
 tion of the wisest heads, and soundest hearts in 
 our land. And the consideration must not be 
 delayed, for the danger is threatening. Let 
 none think of it as an unimportant matter. 
 The condition of three millions, circumstanced 
 as the African race are in our land, must ex- 
 ercise an important influence on our country 
 for good or evil. They are in an important 
 sense, committed to our care, and we shall not 
 only affect them by our treatment of them, but 
 ourselves also. Their very residence among 
 us affects all our institutions; nor will it be 
 less so in time to come, and may be much 
 greater. The very agitations which are at 
 present connected with the subject, demand it 
 of us to look at it with close and wise atten- 
 tion. 
 
 If there be any one thing more important 
 
236 LECTURE IX. 
 
 than all others, to be attended to at present, it 
 is the influence of a wild, reckless spirit, \\ hich, 
 regardless of consequences, rushes at its object, 
 as the eagle at its prey. Such a spirit would 
 not be a safe counsellor on such a subject at 
 such a time. A whole community under ex- 
 cited feeling could be easily made to run mad. 
 This evil is not to be thus cured, or the remedy 
 will be worse than the disease. This spirit has 
 already done a mischief on this very subject, 
 which it will be no easy thing to cure. I fear 
 it will be long before the subject will again 
 present as favourable an aspect as it did eight 
 years ago. 
 
 And if, as there is reason to apprehend, this 
 is one of the rods, in the Lord's hand, to chas- 
 tise us for our sins ; and if there is reason to 
 fear, that he is now holding it over us in a 
 threatening manner, then it becomes us to 
 humble ourselves before him, and return to 
 him, in the attitude of penitents and suppliants. 
 And then we may hope, that he will regard our 
 cry, and remove all our fears. x\t all events, 
 we shall not be mistaken, if we ask counsel 
 of him. " If any lack wisdom, let him ask 
 of God; who giveth liberally, and upbraideth 
 not." 
 
 Perplexed as the whole affair is to human 
 eyes, and little as we may know how to relieve 
 
SLAVERY. 
 
 237 
 
 ourselves from its difficulties, God's eye pierces 
 through the dark cloud, and his hand can, with 
 infinite ease, remove it, and bring us out into 
 the clear sunshine of his favour. " With God, 
 all things are possible," and he has never said 
 to any of his creatures, '' seek ye my face in 
 vain." And especially, let it be your fervent 
 prayer and earnest endeavour, that the Church 
 of God may be kept clear from the passions 
 and agitations which men are seeking to con- 
 nect with the subject. If this be not the case, 
 the salt itself will lose its savor; and then^ where- 
 with shall it he salted? There are a multitude 
 of men, connected with this perplexing subject, 
 who have no connexion with the Church of 
 God, and they have no right to ask her to en- 
 ter into their angry feelings, and do the work 
 which they have undertaken. Her business is, 
 with the souls of men, and their salvation; and 
 she must not descend into this arena, which 
 the sins and follies of men may make one of 
 blood. Into such counsels the Church must 
 not come. Let her say to them, as Nehemiah 
 said to Sanballat, " I am doing a great work, 
 so that I cannot come down : why should the 
 work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down 
 to you?" 
 
 Let all look at this subject, wisely, calmly, 
 and prayerfully. It is a great and important 
 
238 LECTURE IX. SLAVERY. 
 
 subject, which bears with weight upon the wel- 
 fare of our beloved country, and all its institu- 
 tions; and in its issues will deeply affect the 
 glory of God, and the best interests of immor- 
 tal * souls. Pray, that the Divine eye may be 
 upon it for good, and the Divine hand direct it 
 to a happy result. 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 The last " sign of the times," to which your at- 
 tention was directed, was the subject of " Sla- 
 very." My object was, to show that it is a 
 subject of vast magnitude and importance, in- 
 volving, to an inconceivable extent, the dearest 
 interests of our beloved country. The difficul- 
 ties and dangers connected with it, were at- 
 tempted to be illustrated, by the number of the 
 African race, free and in bondage, which ex- 
 isted in our country; the relation in which the 
 two races, who dwell together in our land, 
 stand to each other; the constitutional power- 
 lessness of the General Government, with res- 
 pect to the subject; the difficulties connected 
 with emancipation, arising from the absolute 
 control of so many independent States over it; 
 the poverty, ignorance, and helplessness of the 
 
240 LECTURE X. 
 
 African race, both free and slaves; and the at- 
 titude in which portions of the whites stand to 
 each other, with respect to the subject of eman- 
 cipation. From the state of the case, as it ex- 
 isted, it was argued, that the subject should be 
 approached with a great deal of caution, mode- 
 ration, and practical wisdom, which was the 
 more necessary, because evil passions had al- 
 ready been engendered, which, if not season- 
 ably checked, might kindle a fire which would 
 destroy some of the dearest interests of our 
 highly favoured country, and prove equally 
 deleterious to the welfare of all concerned. 
 And especially, that we should commend our 
 beloved country, and its interests, to the holy 
 keeping and benediction of God, and seek from 
 him that wisdom which may be necessary to 
 guide us through the perplexities and dangers 
 by which the subject is surrounded. Let it be 
 deeply impressed upon all our minds, (I would 
 I could impress it upon every American mind 
 and heart,) that, what Jehovah has graciously 
 bestowed upon us, as the collected wisdom of 
 the fathers of our country, may not be des- 
 troyed by the folly, madness, or wickedness of 
 a few, or, even of an individual. The erection 
 of a splendid edifice would require the wisdom 
 of many and noble minds, and the labour of 
 many and powerful hands, while a torch, in the 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 24 1 
 
 hand of a foolish or wicked incendiary, would 
 suffice to reduce it to ashes. 
 
 All the dangers, however, by which our 
 country is threatened, are not bound up in 
 this single subject. The times present to our 
 view other signs, which it will be our interest 
 to observe and study. A number of them 
 have already, on former occasions, been called 
 up. The 
 
 IX. In order, and which will this evening 
 claim your attention, is — The spirit of lawless- 
 ness, which has, on a number of occasions, 
 manifested itself, to the great detriment of the 
 community, and with manifest danger to our 
 institutions. If there be a country on earth, 
 where the rigid maintenance of law and order 
 is more necessary than in any other, ours is 
 that country. Such is our state, that every 
 thing among us is affected by public senti- 
 ment. 
 
 We have, indeed, an admirable Constitution. 
 I have no doubt, that a benign and gracious 
 Providence watched over, and directed its for- 
 mation. The fathers of that instrument had 
 not forgotten the vicissitudes and trials of the 
 Revolution; the fervency with which the Di- 
 vine protection and help had been implored; 
 and the many interpositions and deliverances 
 which had been experienced, in seasons of 
 
 21 
 
242 LECTURE X. 
 
 deep gloom and threatening dangers, and felt 
 anxious, ere they should be called away, to 
 remedy the defects of an imperfect confedera- 
 tion, which kept us together by the force of 
 the circumstances of danger and difficulty in 
 which the country was involved, but was found 
 to be totally inadequate to keep us together, so 
 as to enable us to repair the injuries received in 
 the Revolutionary contest, unite us as one peo- 
 ple, and form us into a harmonious and happy 
 nation, in a state of peace and prosperity. 
 Hence their earnest, and, through the Divine 
 blessing, successful endeavour, at so early a 
 period, to form the Constitution, under which 
 we still live. Nor was it a work of easy ac- 
 complishment. There were many interests to 
 be consulted; and many difficulties, which, at 
 the time, were feared to be of an appalling and 
 almost insuperable nature, to be overcome — 
 and, but for the blessing of God upon the exer- 
 tions of Washington and his compeers, who 
 threw the whole weight of their characters, as 
 men and patriots, with all the love and grati- 
 tude which was felt for them on account of their 
 Revolutionary services and sacrifices, into the 
 scale, would probably never have been over- 
 come. They did, however succeed, beyond 
 their own most sanguine hopes, and have left 
 us a form of government which, while it has 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 243 
 
 elicited the admiration of the wise and good 
 throughout the world, has eminently promoted 
 our welfare as a nation. 
 
 This Constitution has been the safeguard of 
 the State governments which existed before it, 
 and the model of those which have been subse- 
 quently formed. And not only so, but it has 
 given direction and character to the whole 
 course of our legislation both in the general 
 and State governments. The consequence has 
 been, that the general character of our legisla- 
 tion has been wise and salutary, adapted to the 
 circumstances of the people, and calculated to 
 promote general welfare and individual happi- 
 ness. And just as long as the people desire 
 such legislation, they can command it — for if 
 their representatives should enact unconstitu- 
 tional laws, their courts can so declare them, 
 and thus render them inoperative, or the peo- 
 ple themselves can speedily rectify the evil, by 
 choosing other representatives, and thus pro- 
 cure their repeal, before any lasting or wide 
 spread mischief could be wrought. The peo- 
 ple of this country, have, under God, not only 
 their laws, but their constitutions also, in their 
 own power, and can change them at their 
 pleasure. So that, if they are not good in 
 themselves, or suited to their circumstances, 
 they can modify or change them in any way 
 
244 LECTURE X. 
 
 they may see fit. Under these ch'cumstances, 
 our constitutions and laws will be types of the 
 character of the American people. If our civil 
 and political institutions are not what they 
 ought to be, the blame must rest upon our- 
 selves. And so also with respect to their ad- 
 ministration, for no public servant can hold an 
 office long against the will of the people. 
 Those of them who cannot be reached by the 
 ballot boxes, may, by impeachment or indict- 
 ment. No man can hold it out long against 
 public sentiment. 
 
 Let it, however, be observed, and constant- 
 ly borne in mind, that the administration of 
 the whole system depends on that sentiment. 
 However wise and good our constitutions and 
 laws, and however able and upright our rulers 
 in every department of trust, the execution of 
 law, and the preservation of order, will depend 
 on the will, and of course on the character, of 
 the people. This is more strikingly the case 
 in our country than in any other on earth. 
 Here the people are their own supreme law. 
 The whole has, under God, emanated from 
 them, and substantially, it periodically reverts 
 into their hands. We neither have, nor can 
 have, a European police, or mercenary soldiery, 
 to dragoon the disorderly into unwilling sub- 
 mission, or coerce the execution of law against 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 245 
 
 the popular will. The people themselves must be 
 the conservators of the public peace, and they 
 are themselves essentially the executors of the 
 law, for they are the soldiers of the Constitu- 
 tion. Should the popular mind, therefore, be- 
 come sufficiently perverted to tolerate or desire 
 unwholesome or wicked legislation, or to hin- 
 der the execution of good and wholesome laws, 
 there will be no earthly power left to preserve 
 social order, or secure the public welfare. Un- 
 der such circumstances there would be less se- 
 curity than if both the makers and the executors 
 of the laws were corrupt and wicked — for the 
 bad law may be repealed, and the wicked pub- 
 lic servant may be displaced. But if the foun- 
 tain itself be empoisoned, who will heal the 
 streams ? " If the foundations be destroyed, 
 what can the righteous do ?" 
 
 We must be governed by law, or not at all. 
 Every hinderance to the due administration of 
 the law, while it is law, and every perversion of 
 public sentiment which leads to the weaken- 
 ing of the power and supremacy of the law, is a 
 prop removed from under the edifice, which 
 endangers its safety, by weakening its strength. 
 And those who help it on are the instruments 
 or abettors of all the disorder and loss which 
 may be suffered. No man can, with propriety, 
 be esteemed either a good citizen, or a patriot, 
 
 21* 
 
246 LECTURE X. 
 
 much less a Christian, who does not submit 
 himself to the laws of his country while they 
 are in force, and give his influence to maintain 
 their supremacy and execution. Every citizen 
 owes this as a debt to his country, and every 
 good citizen will cheerfully pay it, as well " for 
 conscience, as for wrath's sake." 
 
 We may be aiders and abetters of lawless- 
 ness and disorder, in a variety of ways. We 
 are perhaps too much in the habit of circum- 
 scribing this category. The openly lawless 
 and disobedient, who regard neither God nor 
 man, are not the only ones who belong to it. 
 The open freebooter, the midnight plunderer, 
 and the petty thief, are only modifications of 
 the principle of dishonesty. So the open mob- 
 ist, who would pull your house down, or burn 
 it over your head ; or the man who would by 
 violence hinder the execution of the law, or 
 who would make and execute law by his own 
 authority, under the pretence that its penalty 
 is not sufficiently severe, or its ordinary execu- 
 tion too tardy, are only modifications of law- 
 lessness and disorder. The judge on the 
 bench may so administer the law as to weaken 
 its force, and he cease to be " a terror to evil 
 doers." Or the juror in the box may nullify 
 the law, by refusing to render a verdict of 
 guilty on the clearest evidence, because he 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 247 
 
 supposes the penalty by which the law is 
 sanctioned, too severe. And so any man may 
 become an enemy of law and order, who, al- 
 though he will submit himself personally to its 
 control, yet will speak lightly of, or justify the 
 violations of which others are guilty. 
 
 Such things can not be too deeply regretted, 
 or too scrupulously avoided, in a country like 
 ours. The law with us must be every thing, 
 or it will be nothing. If one may with im- 
 punity burn up a house of infamy, why may 
 not another apply the torch to that of a hated 
 neighbour. The same spirit which influenced 
 the mob of New York to break open a flour 
 store and scatter its contents to the winds, 
 might influence another lawless multitude to 
 break into your banks, and rifle them. And if 
 a whole community could stand by and witness 
 the voluntary conflagration of an edifice, with 
 the erection and use of which they were dis- 
 pleased, without moving a hand to save it, or 
 bring the agents to punishment, who will gua- 
 ranty the safety of our churches, against the ene-J 
 mies of religion, when their passions become ex- 
 cited against it ? Mobs are not choice of the ob- 
 jects of their attack. If they could arrest with 
 their own private hands, and try by the laws of 
 their own minds, and then execute by their 
 own authority the wretched gamblers at Vicks- 
 
248 LECTURE X. 
 
 burg, they could, with perhaps, as little com- 
 punction, and with the same impunity, shoot 
 down a minister of the Gospel at Alton. True, 
 he was an imprudent, perhaps a deluded man, 
 but still a minister of the Gospel, an American 
 citizen, and on every account entitled to the 
 protection of the laws of his country, and to 
 penalties, only as the laws should adjudge and 
 inflict them. 
 
 It is one of the evils of this spirit that it is 
 lawless. No man can feel himself safe, even 
 when he is obeying, in all good conscience, 
 every law of his country. He may at the very 
 time be committing some mortal offence, for 
 which he may be called to answer with his life 
 to the next collection of his fellow creatures he 
 may chance to meet in the streets. Another 
 evil is, that it makes the unruly and excited 
 passions of men the judges of right and wrong, 
 and these are commonly not only unjust, but 
 cruel and malignant. They almost always ex- 
 act more than is just, for passion views every 
 thing through a perverted and false medium. 
 Need I add, as one of the evils which flow from it, 
 the loss of that delightful security which a man 
 feels in every well regulated community, that 
 his property, his reputation, his family, and his 
 life, are all safe under the protection of law, and 
 that he can sit in peace under his own vine and 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 249 
 
 fig-tree, without any to molest or make afraid. 
 How wretched must that land be, when its in- 
 habitants feel that all they have is at the mercy 
 of lawless violence ; who, when they retire in 
 the evenino;, are obliojed to fear that the torch 
 of the incendiary may be applied to their dwel- 
 ling before the morning dawns ; or when they 
 walk forth into the street, are obliged to be 
 afraid lest the next person they shall meet, may 
 prove to be an assassin ! 
 
 It was a sad day in the land of Israel when 
 the following record characterized its state. 
 " In those days there was no king in Israel, but 
 every man did that which was right in his own 
 eyes." You may read an account of the fruit 
 of this lawless state in the 17th, 18th, 20th, and 
 21st chapters of the book of Judges. It came 
 very near the entire destruction of one of the 
 tribes of Israel. But when did this spirit ever 
 work any thing but evil ? 
 
 Perhaps it was never more strikingly exhibi- 
 ted and fully illustrated than during the former 
 years of the French Revolution. Then anarchy 
 sat enthroned in the Jacobin Club of Paris, di- 
 rected or controlled the deliberations and acts 
 of the constituent and national assembHes, 
 roused and pushed forward the mob of that 
 great city in its march of rapine and blood, sent 
 forth its decrees to its affiliated clubs through- 
 
250 LECTURE X. 
 
 out the nation, changed the French people into 
 a nation of blood-hounds and tigers, subverted 
 all law and order, laid the foundation of Napo- 
 leon's iron despotism, and poured itself upon 
 Europe like a stream of burning lava. The 
 habits of ages, the long-cherished respect of 
 that people for the altar and the throne, and the 
 resistance of a brave mercenary soldiery, all 
 gave vi^ay before its resistless march as things 
 of naught. Even Napoleon could not stem it 
 till it had spent its force, butchered the great 
 mass of its own children, and an exhausted, and 
 well nigh ruined nation, felt that it would be a 
 blessed relief from such a state, to lie powerless 
 on the bosom of a mihtary despotism. Give us 
 any thing, said the French people, but a state 
 of lawlessness and anarchy ! In the compari- 
 son, even the continual wars of the Emperor, 
 although they cost millions of hves, the lives of 
 the elite of the empire, were preferred, not only 
 because they were connected with foreign con- 
 quest and military glory, but they had peace, 
 and in general, security of property and life at 
 home. 
 
 How great then would be the sacrifice of the 
 American people, to give up the reign of law 
 and order, with all their blessed fruits, for law- 
 lessness and confusion ! What could possibly 
 compensate us for the loss ? The liberty which 
 
SPIRIT OP LAWLESSNESS. 251 
 
 is irrespective of law and order is " a chimera 
 dire." It exists not as a blessing either in 
 heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the 
 dark regions of the damned. My hearers, 
 " order is Heaven's first law," and its violation 
 is rarely, if ever, suffered to pass with impunity. 
 The undue indulgence of our appetites is incon- 
 sistent with bodily comfort or health. A penalty 
 is exacted for every act of excess. The indul- 
 gence of our passions always affects our minds 
 unhappily. When God made man upon the 
 earth, he at once subjected him to law. In 
 making him a social being, he provided by 
 suitable enactments for his social relations, be- 
 ginning with the family, and carrying it through 
 the ramifications of society and life. Look at 
 the divine code in the second table of the Law, 
 and see how admirably it is adapted to man as 
 a social being. The family is the first society, 
 and the parents constitute the natural headship. 
 Look how kindly he has provided for the sup- 
 port of the head, the subjection of the members, 
 and the order and comfort of the whole circle ! 
 " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy 
 days may be long upon the land which the Lord 
 thy God giveth thee." What is a family with- 
 out the practical influence of this wise and holy 
 precept ? And for what society are men fit who 
 have been trained without any regard to it? 
 
252 LECTURE X. 
 
 In this divine precept God himself has laid the 
 deep, and broad, and strong foundations of so- 
 cial order and happiness. This is the grand 
 social compact of our race, enacted and reveal- 
 ed by God himself, long before Solon, or Lycur- 
 gus, or Justinian, or Hampden, or Sydney, or 
 the fathers of our own happy institutions, lived 
 or taught. My hearers, the fire, the holy fire, 
 came down from God out of heaven. Foolish 
 and wicked men borrowed or stole the sacred 
 fire from off his altar, and then refused to ac- 
 knowledge the obligation. For what good and 
 perfect gifts are we not indebted to the Father 
 of lights ? 
 
 And how wisely and benignly is this " first 
 commandment with promise" followed up by 
 others, having respect to the same relations, and 
 calculated to secure order and comfort? By 
 the first which follows, he cast about human 
 life the safeguard of the divine protection — 
 " Thou shalt not kill." By the second, he pro- 
 tects the purity, and peace, and comfort of the 
 domestic circle — " Thou shalt not commit adul- 
 tery." By the third, he makes the fruit of a 
 man's labour available to the support and com- 
 fort of himself and his family, while at the same 
 time the rights of all others are equally guard- 
 ed— "Thou shalt not steal." By the fourth, 
 truth, the foundation of confidence, and the se- 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 253 
 
 curity of justice and right, is established — 
 " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
 neighbour." And the last is designed to kill 
 in the bud, to strangle in the birth, the dishon- 
 esty, and fraud, and violence, by which indi- 
 viduals and communities seek to aggrandize 
 themselves at the expense of others, by forbid- 
 ding the sin of covetousness, which is never 
 satisfied with what it possesses, is grieved at 
 the prosperity of others, desires every thing 
 which it sees, and gra-sps at every thing which 
 it desires. Thus has God, who is a God of or- 
 der, and not of confusion, established a system 
 for the government of our race, admirably cal- 
 culated not only to promote the divine glory, 
 and bind man by the strongest bonds of allegi- 
 ance to his Maker, but to regulate in the happi- 
 est manner his social relations and duties, so as 
 to make them productive of individual happiness 
 and general good. 
 
 These principles are essential, not only to 
 the well-being, but to the very existence of so- 
 ciety. The wild Arab — the wandering son of 
 Ishmael, whose home is in the dreary desert, 
 " whose hand is against every man, and every 
 man's hand against him," is still not without 
 law to himself, or his fellows. It is not writ- 
 ten on parchment, nor printed in a book, nor 
 engraven on stone or metal. But still, it is his 
 
 22 
 
254 
 
 LECTURE X 
 
 law, and he governs himself by it; and his 
 rights and enjoyments, be they many or few, 
 be they great or small, are protected and se- 
 cured. And were it not so, he would soon be 
 as lone as wild. Even robbers, who are banded 
 together for spoil, and live in the constant 
 breach of the laws of their country, have their 
 own laws and officers, to which they render 
 obedience. There is law, as well as "honour 
 among thieves." All society must have its 
 bonds; and these bonds must be suited to the 
 state of that society, in order to ensure its 
 welfare. When population is dense, active, 
 and refined, intercourse frequent, mutual inter- 
 ests many and important, it will not only re- 
 quire many laws to regulate its concerns, but 
 the most strict and orderly observance of them, 
 or constant collision will be the consequence. 
 This will especially be the case, where both 
 the enactment and execution of the law are in 
 the hands of the society itself; or, in other 
 words, dependent on public sentiment. All 
 communities, and especially those who possess 
 free institutions, have an interest in the preser- 
 vation of law and order, in the exact propor- 
 tion of the immunities and privileges which 
 they enjoy under them. Let the sacred shield 
 of law be once removed from over their heads, 
 and what is to secure them in the enjoyment of 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 255 
 
 them? This is eminently the case, as has al- 
 ready been remarked, in our own country. 
 The law is, under God, the palladium of our 
 rights, and of our enjoyments. When the 
 laws shall die, or be reduced to silence, our 
 liberties will die, and so will our prosperity, 
 our national and individual happiness, and our 
 religion — all our dearest interests and hopes. 
 
 And are we in no danger? Have the whole 
 body of the American people that high and 
 sacred regard for law and order, which their 
 supreme importance demands from a people 
 who profess to be, and should be, jealous of 
 every encroachment and danger which may 
 threaten the integrity, and permanency of our 
 free and happy institutions — and the free ope- 
 ration of our equal and wholesome laws, which 
 award to every man his inestimable rights and 
 privileges? Is their language, touch these, and 
 you touch the apple of mine eye? Do they 
 feel all that fear, and exercise all that vigi- 
 lance, which a subject of such dread impor- 
 tance demands at their hands? 
 
 Alas ! that the " signs of the times" should 
 oblige us to answer these interrogatories in the 
 negative! There are too many proofs of the 
 existence, not only, but of the tolerance of this 
 evil. Do you ask, where are they to be found? 
 and of what they do consist ? Are there not 
 
256 LECTURE X. 
 
 thousands of the American people, who go 
 continually armed with pistol, dirk, or Bowie- 
 knife? not only on journies, and when they 
 may perhaps be thought necessary to guard 
 property, but every where, and on all occa- 
 sions. That they are not carried out of mere 
 show or fashion, is manifest from the fact that 
 they are often used, and used to deadly pur- 
 pose; not only in defence, but in offence. The 
 victims may be counted by hundreds. Do they 
 go armed in vain? Do they not intend to as- 
 sault, or expect to be assaulted? If this be 
 not a crying evil, why has the subject been 
 agitated in legislative halls, and, in some in- 
 stances, given rise to legal enactments, with 
 high penalties? Can a spirit be more law- 
 less than this? Here is a private citizen, who 
 not only forms a definite opinion concerning 
 all private offences, but sits as judge in his 
 own case, and, for an offence so slight that 
 the eye of the law cannot discern it, breaks 
 the peace of society, takes the life of a fellow 
 creature, and sends an immortal soul to the 
 judgment, without time or ability to shed a 
 tear of penitence, or an opportunity to apply 
 for mercy, through the blood of atonement. 
 The law condemns it as a heinous crime : And 
 what comes of it? A brief inquiry — perhaps 
 a recognisance — and, almost invariably, an ac- 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 257 
 
 quittal. Could these things be, and pubUc sen- 
 timent not justify them? Is this lawlessness, 
 or is it not? Does it endanger our institutions, 
 or does it not? What if all were thus to arm 
 themselves? I tremble for my country. If 
 any of you, my hearers, carry about with you 
 these instruments of death, disencumber your- 
 selves of them at once, and forever — for you 
 may be bearing about with you the instrument 
 of a double destruction, the very temptation 
 by which you may be luring your own soul 
 to the pit. 
 
 Another proof that a lawless spirit is abroad 
 in the land, is found in the practice of duelling; 
 a practice w^hich nothing can justify or palliate. 
 It is anti-social, barbarous, unjust, cruel, re- 
 vengeful, and at war with every principle of 
 law, human and divine, which regards the hfe 
 of man. Many have been its victims, sad its 
 results. It made Alexander Hamilton a fool, 
 and Aaron Burr a murderer, a wandering va- 
 gabond in the earth. O, how must he have felt 
 when he wrote, what I have myself read in his 
 own hand-writing: "Since that sad event, by 
 which I have severed myself from all mankind, 
 I have been alike incapable of giving or re- 
 ceiving consolation!" Perhaps enough has 
 been said on the melancholy subject on a for- 
 mer occasion. Many practice it — more justify 
 
 22* 
 
258 LECTURE X. 
 
 it — and more still tolerate it; — and therefore, 
 lawless as it is, and dangerous to our institu- 
 tions, the more is it to be deprecated. Let me 
 beseech those, if any such be present, who are 
 in danger of being tempted to sacrifice to this 
 bloody Moloch, to pause while the yawning gulf 
 is still at a distance, ere they make the fatal 
 plunge, and reflect on the language of Aaron 
 Burr, and look to the judgment seat of Jesus 
 Christ ! 
 
 Need I add, that mobs are awful proofs of 
 lawlessness and disorder wherever they exist, 
 and for whatever purposes they may be gotten 
 up. As nothing can justify them, so nothing 
 should ever induce a member of any American 
 community to engage in them, or speak well 
 of them. If they are ever made the means of 
 rectifying one abuse, they occasion many. If 
 they are ever brought to bear for the punish- 
 ment of one crime, they have been the fruitful 
 source of thousands. They who use them, put 
 firebrands into the hands of madmen, and may 
 kindle a conflagration which may burn till it 
 shall have consumed every pleasant, good, or 
 holy thing within its destructive range. Mobs 
 have neither understandings nor hearts. They 
 are all passion and fury — and if there be any 
 exception to the rule, it is so much the worse, 
 for it denotes the absence of all good principle. 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 259 
 
 Let that man tremble, who can find it in his 
 heart to justify a mob for doing what may be 
 confessedly good, if it had been lawfully done ; 
 for, upon his own principles, he stands exposed 
 to retribution in kind, be it never so unrighte- 
 ous, and the justification of the wicked man 
 will be, I was only following in the track of 
 your lawless example, having as perfect a right 
 to be my own judge and executioner as your- 
 self. Against you, at all events, the plea would 
 be perfectly conclusive. The fact is, mobs are 
 always, and necessarily, unlawful and lawless, 
 and therefore wicked. It is an established 
 maxim in all law, divine as well as human, that 
 the end cannot justify the means ; so that he 
 who does evil that good may come, is justly 
 condemned. 
 
 Unhappily for us, these lawless and danger- 
 ous combinations have become too common in 
 our land, and are therefore the more deeply 
 and fervently to be deprecated. The more 
 numerous they are, the greater is the danger 
 that they may supersede all law, and vacate all j 
 order. Our institutions will not long bear them. 
 Woe betide us when mobs become the panacea 
 for our moral or political disorders. If a re- 
 medy at all, they are a desperate remedy for 
 any disorder which is not in its own nature 
 mortal. They have already been the fruitful 
 
260 LECTURE X. 
 
 source of many evils, and if no remedy of suffi- 
 cient virtue be found and applied, the time may 
 come, may the Lord avert it, when the best 
 disposed and most virtuous of the citizens of 
 our now free and happy land, may find the iron 
 sceptre of some home-bred Napoleon a relief 
 from the tyranny, anarchy, and destructive 
 power of mobs. The phrase, "any law, 
 rather than mob law," has well nigh the sen- 
 tentiousness and force of a maxim. Under 
 such a rule, or rather misrule, what interest or 
 comfort is secure ? If a mob demolished the 
 Bastile, a prison of State, it has also demolished 
 many a Christian temple. If it has dethroned 
 a few tyrants, it has raised up many. I may 
 be too apprehensive on the subject, God grant 
 it may be found so, but I am fearful of their 
 multiplication and influence. 
 
 The exciting causes of the spirit of misrule, 
 seem to me to be numerous and various. I do 
 not design, however, at this late hour, to go 
 into any lengthened detail on the subject. 
 Among these, I think, may be set dow^n as one, 
 the very exuberance of our freedom. Our in- 
 stitutions impose so little restraint upon us that 
 we scarcely feel it, and consequently, on the 
 one hand, are very much disposed to act as if 
 there were none ; and on the other hand, when 
 the yoke presses a little, to feel restive and un- 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 261 
 
 easy under it, and desirous of shaking it off 
 entirely. Then again, the spirit of freedom is 
 apt to beget the spirit of pride. Such is the 
 majesty of freedom, that the simple citizen feels 
 himself to be a kind of little king in his sphere, 
 and as the king can do no wrong, he feels very 
 much disposed to act as he pleases in all 
 things. 
 
 Nor do I doubt, that one cause may be found 
 in the exciting manner in which the subject of 
 politics is frequently brought to bear on a por- 
 tion of community. Every thing is seen 
 through a distorted medium, and therefore, is 
 not seen in its true character and just propor- 
 tions. Political opponents are rarely allowed 
 to be good men, or to possess any estimable 
 qualities. Invidious distinctions are made, and 
 the parties excited against each other, as 
 though they were natural and irreconcilable 
 enemies. Nor are appeals to the worst pas- 
 sions of our nature, and the baset motives by 
 which the hearts of men can be influenced, un- 
 common. I am speaking of no party; but of 
 what causes the wise and good of all parties to 
 feel great heaviness of heart, and to be exer- 
 cised by awful apprehensions for their country. 
 I refer to the politician by trade, who panders 
 to the worst passions of men, and lives upon 
 the public spoils. These set the ball in mo- 
 
262 L E C T U R E X . 
 
 tion, and it may well be, that wiser and bet- 
 ter men may be unable to arrest its course. 
 These kindle a fire, which, if it continue and 
 spread, a flood may not suffice to quench. 
 Here is one of the dangers which, while it too 
 frequently disturbs our peace and order, en- 
 dangers the ultimate safety of our institutions. 
 Who will stem this flood for us? who guide the 
 vessel through this narrow, dangerous strait? 
 
 But finally: The cause of causes may be 
 found in the absence of a deep, settled con- 
 viction, that God has laid the foundation of so- 
 cial order, and of society itself, in the fifth pre- 
 cept of the Decalogue, connected with its prac- 
 tical influence, arising from early moral train- 
 ing and discipline. This is the precept: "Ho- 
 nour thy father and thy mother, that thy days 
 may be long in the land which the Lord thy 
 God giveth thee," I have already remarked, 
 in another part of this discourse, that this is 
 the foundation which God has laid for the so- 
 cial edifice, and, that nothing but its principles 
 can bind its parts together. It unfortunately 
 happens, that comparatively few in our country 
 build on this foundation, or adopt its principle. 
 Even if the attention of the child or youth be 
 directed to it, how rarely does the parent ex- 
 pand it, and apply its principle, as of Divine 
 authority, to the relations of society and civil 
 
SPIRIT OF LAWLESSNESS. 263 
 
 government! and perhaps more rarely still, in- 
 sist upon its practical application in the do- 
 mestic circle, particularly as a divine enact- 
 ment, which binds the conscience, as well as 
 directs the life. 
 
 Few of our American youth enter upon the 
 stage of action, and assume the civil and po- 
 litical relations, fully indoctrinated in the prin- 
 ciples of this precept, and already habituated 
 to the practice which it inculcates, and, conse- 
 quently, not fully able to appreciate the su- 
 preme importance of law and order to the be- 
 ing, and well being of society. Let the whole 
 mass of the young be thus trained, and you 
 would have a society as stable as the everlast- 
 ing hills; for, says the Lord, " Train up a child 
 in the way he should go, and when he is old, 
 he will not depart from it." 
 
 This, is the conclusion of the whole mattef. 
 There is a tendency, in our whole civil and po- 
 litical system, to deterioration, administered, as 
 it must necessarily be, by sinful, selfish man, 
 for the government of those like himself. We 
 already reap some of its bitter fruits, and are 
 in danger of reaping more. The principles of 
 the divine law lay the only solid foundation for 
 permanent and happy civil institutions, especial- 
 ly those which contain most of the principles 
 of civil hberty and self-government; and, that 
 
264 LECTURE X. 
 
 they can be maintained in that health and 
 vigour which will make them productive of 
 the greatest good, only by a large infusion of 
 that holiness which exalteth a nation. And, 
 that it is the wisdom and the duty of the 
 American people, to cultivate those principles 
 which, through the Divine blessing, may give 
 the greatest permanency and efficiency to our 
 happy institutions, and make them blessings to 
 the latest posterity. May God, of infinite 
 mercy, conduct to such results; and to his 
 name, in Christ, shall be all the praise for ever. 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 The last "sign of the times" to which your 
 attention was directed, was — "That spirit of 
 lawlessness which has, for a number of years, 
 from time to time, broken out, and endangered 
 or disturbed the peace of the community." 
 The importance of law and order to the welfare 
 of a country, where the very execution of the 
 law depends upon public sentiment, was endea- 
 voured to be established and enforced. The in- 
 consistency of duelling; the wearing, and use 
 of deadly weapons by individuals; and the ac- 
 tion of mobs, with the peace and welfare of 
 society, were particularly insisted on, because 
 they raise the will and passions of individuals 
 above the law of the land, involving the mon- 
 strous injustice of making every man his own 
 lawgiver, judge, and executioner, however dis- 
 
 23 
 
266 LECTURE XI. 
 
 qualified by ignorance, self-interest, or pas- 
 sion. A number of remarks were also made, 
 on the fact, that God had formed our race 
 with social, as well as intelligent natures; and 
 that, while he had thus fitted us to dwell to- 
 gether in communities, he had enacted a law 
 which was admirably calculated to regulate 
 our social relations, and make them productive 
 of general and individual happiness. This was 
 attempted to be illustrated, by the second table 
 of the Decalogue; in which it was supposed 
 that God had laid the foundation of all civil 
 government in the family, by clothing the pa- 
 rents with all the necessary authority to exer- 
 cise government, and laid the child under mo- 
 ral obligation, not only to submit to that autho- 
 rity when it should exact obedience, but to 
 hold it in such honour as to make that obedi- 
 ence easy and pleasant. This, it was shown, 
 would form the young to habits of order and 
 obedience to law, and lay a solid foundation 
 for the peace and order of larger communities. 
 The connexion of the remaining precepts of 
 the Decalogue, was also exhibited, as illustra- 
 ting the interest which the Lord takes in the 
 welfare of our race. There might have been 
 added, the happy influence of true religion, in 
 establishing and confirming the order and hap- 
 piness of society, for, whatever binds man in 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 267 
 
 allegiance to God, will make him willingly and 
 conscientiously subject to every ordinance of 
 man for the Lord's sake. 
 
 The great object had in view, in the whole 
 discussion, was, to show how utterly inconsist- 
 ent a spirit of lawlessness and disorder was 
 with the stability of our institutions, and the 
 prosperity and happiness of our country. Nor 
 are we alone involved in the issue. A grand 
 experiment on free institutions is performing in 
 this western world, under fairer auspices than 
 have ever before existed, and the eyes of the 
 world are directed to us. If we fail, as fail 
 we must, if our liberty becomes licentiousness, 
 the hand on the dial will go many degrees 
 backward, and the renovation of the civil insti- 
 tutions of the world, be long, if not indefinitely 
 postponed. Shall we bring this guilt upon 
 ourselves? and this blighting upon the world's 
 hopes? We shall, most assuredly, if we prove 
 an irreligious and lawless people. It may per- 
 haps be profitable, if we now turn our atten- 
 tion, as the 
 
 X. Sign of the times, to the nature and de- 
 sign of some of the dealings of Providence with 
 us as a nation^ for a few years past. 
 
 I trust a review of some of the divine dispen- 
 sations towards our country may be both inte- 
 resting and instructive. The age in which we 
 
268 LECTURE XI. 
 
 live, the state of the world, the character of our 
 population and institutions, the position which 
 we occupy among the nations of the earth, the 
 attention which is fixed upon us, and the proba- 
 ble influence which we shall exercise on the des- 
 tinies of the world, render it very probable 
 that God's dealings with us partake of a highly 
 interesting and special character. And if so, 
 they may well be studied with deep attention 
 and thrilling interest. 
 
 Those of my hearers who have honoured me 
 with their attention from month to month while 
 attempting to illustrate and improve " the 
 signs of the times," will recollect that our be- 
 loved country has been frequently spoken of as 
 peculiarly favoured and blessed of God. This 
 is true with respect to the whole range of our 
 history. The study of it would be calculated to 
 improve both the minds and the hearts of those 
 who should regard it as connected with the mo- 
 ral government of God. And in this light it 
 should be regarded, for God is the Governor 
 among the nations. The range which I pur- 
 pose to take is not of this extended character. 
 It is comprehended within the circle of a few 
 years. But the events are neither few, nor 
 small, nor unimportant; and if some of them are 
 not recalled to the mind by a simple reference, 
 even without naming them, it is a sure sign that 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 269 
 
 we have not been suitably affected by them. 
 This alone would be a good reason to call them 
 up again, form them into a group, direct atten- 
 tion to them, give them a more permanent place 
 in the mind, and endeavour to derive from them 
 the practical instruction which they are calcu- 
 lated to afford. My observations shall be con- 
 fined to the events of the last seven years. I 
 commence with the year 1832. 
 
 A disease which has received the name of 
 " The Asiatic Cholera," has for a long time 
 been known and dreaded in the East Indies. 
 Its range has there been wide and destructive. 
 It was supposed to be peculiar to that climate. 
 A few years before the time I have named, it 
 began to take its course westward through the 
 interior of Asia until it reached the confines of 
 the Russian empire, and marched on, contrary 
 to all expectation, through a high northern lati- 
 tude and cold climate, and entered Europe; and, 
 with various degrees of violence and destruc- 
 tiveness, passed through its various countries 
 and chmates. In 1831, perhaps not before the 
 early part of 1832, it reached England, and 
 soon after, France. We heard of it, and some 
 slight degree of alarm was excited. Still, our 
 country was a healthy one, the broad Atlantic 
 rolled its waves between us and Europe, it was 
 not believed to be contagious, it had never been 
 
 23* 
 
270 LECTURE XI. 
 
 known to overleap such a barrier as the Atlan- 
 tic ocean, and a good degree of confidence was 
 felt that we should escape its ravages. 
 
 This confidence continued until thebeginning 
 of June in the memorable year 1832. Then 
 the tidings arrived that it had broken out at the 
 same time at Quebec and Montreal. In another 
 month it was at New York. And then, how 
 speedily did it march over the land in its length 
 and breadth? It was also experienced in 
 greater or less extent and violence in the two 
 following years. It is not my intention to re- 
 hearse its history, or give its statistics. I have 
 neither the time nor the means of doing so at 
 my command. It is enough to remark, that 
 many thousands were its victims, that millions 
 felt its effects, that the minds of the greater part 
 of our population w^ere so disturbed and alarm- 
 ed by it as to be unable to take their daily food 
 with comfort, and few were then unwilling to 
 acknowledge "the finger of God" in it. Nor 
 was the acknowledgment an unreasonable one. 
 A disease so singular in its character, so 
 strange and rapid in its movements, so fatal in 
 its effects, and so w^ell calculated deeply to af- 
 fect the minds of men, may well be referred to 
 the special providence of God. If God have 
 any thing to do with the affairs of men, and we 
 are divinely told that his judgments are fre- 
 
DEALINGS OP PROVIDENCE. 271 
 
 quently abroad in the earth, and that the very 
 hairs of our head are all numbered, why should 
 we doubt the presence of his hand, and the 
 counsel of his will in such a series of divine 
 providences ? I will not now inquire either into 
 the cause or object. 
 
 Another striking series of facts may be found 
 in the number of lives which have been lost 
 within the last seven years by shipwreck, and 
 by the burning of vessels at sea, and the de- 
 struction of steamboats in a variety of ways, on 
 the rivers and lakes of our country. The cata- 
 logue is long and dark, and a detailed rehearsal 
 of their story would be harrowing to the feel- 
 ings. Who does not think with horror of the 
 destruction of the Mexico on Long Island, to- 
 gether with the greater part of her passengers 
 and crew, in the depth of winter. The loss of 
 the unfortunate Pulaski on our seaboard, the 
 Moselle at Cincinnati, and the Washington on 
 Lake Erie, sent a thrill of horror throughout our 
 land. Multitudes of other disasters have occur- 
 red connected with the loss of many lives. The 
 recent loss of three of our most splendid packet 
 ships on the coast of England, and the many 
 lives which fell a sacrifice, are still fresh in our 
 memories. How many lives have thus been 
 lost I cannot tell — the number is large. During 
 one season it amounted to a thousand on our 
 
272 LECTURE XI. 
 
 coast in the course of a few months. The ag- 
 gregate for the last seven years would amount 
 to many thousands. Has the Lord, who guides 
 and governs the elements of nature, as well as 
 the minds of the children of men, had any con- 
 cern with these affairs ? Who, but the down- 
 right Atheist, can deny the presence and the 
 hand of God in them ? 
 
 Look next at the state of property and busi- 
 ness in our country during the same period. 
 There has perhaps never been a time in the 
 history of this land, (and the goodness of the 
 Lord has been prolific towards us,) when we en- 
 joyed a state of more high and palmy pros- 
 perity, than in the years which immediately pre- 
 ceded 1834. Agriculture, commerce, and manu- 
 factures, were rapidly developing our resources. 
 Every thing to which men put their hands 
 seemed to prosper. The wilderness smiled as 
 Eden, and blossomed as the rose, and we said 
 in our self-complacency, " My mountain stands 
 strong, I shall never be moved." During that 
 year, however, it became a matter of painful 
 experience that in that respect the Lord hid his 
 face, and we were troubled. Who does not re- 
 member that season of panic. One ascribed it 
 to one cause, and another to another. Some 
 supposed it to be necessary, and others facti- 
 tious. But so far as I recollect, the hand of 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 273 
 
 God was seldom mentioned in connexion with 
 it. It is, however, very certain that the ex- 
 changes of our country became exceedingly de- 
 ranged, that multitudes were very much embar- 
 rassed, that many heavy failures occurred, that 
 there was a great stagnation of business, and 
 that many a golden dream vanished into thin 
 air. It is not doubted that the supposed wealth 
 of our country was diminished by many millions 
 by the operation. 
 
 The last month of the succeeding year was 
 rendered memorable, by one of the greatest ca- 
 amities which our country has ever suffered — 
 the conflagration of more than six hundred 
 dwellings and stores, and the destruction of 
 more than seventeen millions worth of proper- 
 ty, in the city of New York. The effects of 
 that calamity are not easily measured, and will 
 not soon be forgotten. The whole land felt it; 
 for, business has connected every part of it 
 with New York. Perhaps the city of Charles- 
 ton has since suffered in an equal, if not 
 greater proportion, by a similar calamity. 
 Many other cities have subsequently suffered 
 heavy losses in the same way. Twenty mil- 
 lions would not replace the property which has 
 been destroyed in our country by fire, within 
 five years. 
 
 I have already adverted to shipwrecks, and 
 
274 LECTURE XI. 
 
 the destruction of steamboats, on the waters of 
 our country, in a variety of ways, as connected 
 with the loss of human hfe. It is pertinent 
 here to connect these disasters with the de- 
 struction of property. I am not in possession 
 of data which would enable me even to ap- 
 proximate the truth in any calculations which 
 I might make on the subject — but no one 
 would be surprised if it were estimated by 
 millions. 
 
 The year 1837 is still fresh in your recollec- 
 tion. Many w411 never forget it. How should 
 they? when so many great houses were smit- 
 ten with breaches, and so many little ones with 
 clefts; and so many were obliged to cry, with 
 Micah, "Ye have taken away my gods; and 
 what have I more?" Who ever witnessed 
 such a period? House after house fell — fail- 
 ure followed failure, in such rapid succession, 
 that all confidence was destroyed, and almost 
 universal bankruptcy was feared. Thousands 
 were sacrificed to save the last hope of credit. 
 Every succeeding morning's intelligence was 
 anticipated with a kind of instinctive horror. 
 Men were afraid to ask of each other, the 
 news of the day. Many, in this community, 
 and more in proportion elsewhere, feared, for 
 a length of time, every morning, that their cre- 
 dit, dearer to them than life, would that day 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 275 
 
 perish — till finally, the banks stopped the pay- 
 ment of specie, and the community doubted, 
 whether one-half of them would ever resume. 
 Never was this description of the Jews, in 
 their calamity, more strikingly resembled than 
 among the business part of the American peo- 
 ple: "In the morning thou shalt say, would 
 God it were even ! and at even thou shalt say, 
 would God it were morning! for the fear of 
 thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for 
 the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see!" 
 We were indeed a suffering community; and 
 all our previous pecuniary losses were cast into 
 the shade by those which were induced by this 
 state of things. 
 
 We dwell in a widely extended and fertile 
 land, abounding in the fruits of the earth, and, 
 with ordinary cultivation, producing far beyond 
 the necessities of its inhabitants. In this re- 
 spect it is a land highly favoured of the Lord — 
 in the beautiful language of the Scriptures, " a 
 land flowing with milk and honey." It has 
 been called, " the poor man's paradise." And 
 yet, such have been the aspects of Divine 
 Providence, that for two seasons of the period 
 under review, there was such a deficiency of 
 some of the more important fruits of the earth, 
 as not only to enhance the price of bread-stuffs 
 so much as greatly to embarrass the poor, but. 
 
276 LECTURE XI. 
 
 SO as to render the importation of hundreds of 
 thousands of bushels of grain from foreign 
 countries necessary. This, to say the least of 
 it, is a strange thing in the history of our 
 country; and is worthy of the observation of 
 the moralist, as well as the political oecono- 
 mist. 
 
 There is left, in our country, a remnant of 
 the aboriginal inhabitants. They have been 
 widely scattered. We have been frequently 
 embroiled with them. They have often met 
 with hard and provoking treatment; commonly 
 from individuals, or small portions of the com- 
 munity. The Government has, in the main, 
 sought their welfare. But, crowded by our 
 advancing population, they have receded, and 
 melted away. A small tribe, denominated the 
 Seminoles, inhabited Florida. We felt anxious 
 to possess the whole of that Territory. We 
 entered into a treaty with them; to which, the 
 body of the tribe were unwilhng to accede. A 
 war was the consequence; which has already 
 endured two years and a half, cost twenty mil- 
 lions of dollars, and more lives than the tribe 
 originally contained; and, almost every week 
 brings us an account of some plantation that 
 has been devastated, and its inhabitants de- 
 stroyed. But the end is not yet. This, is cer- 
 tainly remarkable. There must be a cause. 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 277 
 
 Concerning the tribes which our Government 
 is collecting together beyond the Mississippi, I 
 will hazard no conjectures. I have my fears. 
 God grant that they may prove to have been 
 unfounded. Most of these tribes are still rude 
 and uncivilized, and, of course, easily excited, 
 and under the influence of strong feeling. They 
 have been pushed from point to point, with no 
 gentle hand. They are warmly attached to 
 their hunting-grounds, and " the place of their 
 father's sepulchres." They feel as if they have 
 had hard measure meted out to them. They 
 feel, as if they have been greatly wronged^ and 
 wronged by us. When we tell them of their trea- 
 ties, they allege fraud or force in obtaining them. 
 When we speak of their depredations on our 
 frontiers, they reply, we were living peaceably 
 in our cabins, till your people came upon us, 
 and drove off our cattle and horses, and burnt 
 up our cabins, and even slew our women ^nd 
 children, while our braves were at a distance, 
 on our hunting-grounds. They are too often 
 in the right, for our reputation or our good. 
 Is it not to be apprehended, that feelings of re- 
 venge may be rankling in their bosoms? that 
 they may be watching some favourable oppor- 
 tunity, when they will bury all the evil feelings 
 they entertain towards each other, and, under 
 the influence of some new prophet, unite their 
 
 24 
 
278 LECTURE XI. 
 
 forces, and pour out their fury on our frontiers; 
 or, that some new wrong, real or imaginary, 
 may rouse them to fury against us? And, if 
 we have really wronged them, would not God 
 plead for them against us! I fear, we have 
 not seen the last of our Indian wars. 
 
 There are a number of other topics of 
 scarcely inferior importance, upon which the 
 attentive observer of " the signs of the times," 
 cannot look without feeling a thrill of interest 
 and apprehension, as connected with the wel- 
 fare of our beloved country — at which I have 
 time only to glance. There is a fearful interest 
 connected with the state of the British pro- 
 vinces to the north and east of us. They are 
 full of the elements of political turmoil. When 
 they are hard pressed they take refuge among 
 us. They arm anew for the contest within our 
 borders, supported and encouraged not only by 
 thQ sympathies, but by the money and arms of 
 Americans, a number of whom have paid the 
 forfeit with their lives, some on the field of 
 battle, and some on the gallows. 
 
 The agitations connected with the Maine 
 boundary are scarcely yet allayed. A few 
 wrecks ago, one of the states of the Union, 
 bound by a constitution which has committed 
 the whole subject of our foreign relations to 
 the general government, well nigh levied war. 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 279 
 
 and committed the Union to a contest which 
 might have endured for years, and cost thou- 
 sands of hves, and milhons of money, and 
 whose influence on morals and happiness no 
 man can measure — and yet the body of the 
 American people were but httle alarmed at it, 
 and many, I fear, anxiously desired it. If pub- 
 lic opinion on the subject of war, be, what I 
 apprehend it to be, we might very easily be 
 hurried into contests, which under the most 
 favourable circumstances are to be greatly de- 
 precated, and might prove very destructive to 
 our dearest interests. 
 
 It is not necessary that I should direct your 
 attention again to the difficult, agitating, and 
 alarming subject of slavery, in connexion with 
 the state of public sentiment about it, which to 
 me seems like one of the rods which God is 
 holding over our heads. Nor will I dwell, al- 
 though it holds a prominent place in the cate- 
 gory, on that restless and lawless spirit, which 
 from time to time vents itself in broils and 
 mobs, and which we have reason to fear may 
 mingle itself up with the politics of the day, 
 and in the hands of unprincipled men, be used 
 as an instrument to subvert our happy institu- 
 tions. The danger is the greater from the 
 consideration, that there is reason to fear that 
 a sufficiently high value is not attached to our 
 
280 LECTURE XI. 
 
 Union and institutions as they exist. We 
 are lohat we are, because we are one people. 
 The value of this cannot be calculated. And 
 yet it may be feared there are those who think 
 their arithmetic can make the estimate. Be- 
 lieve me, my hearers, that if one link be broken 
 out of that chain, its parts will never be re- 
 united. That any of the American people, 
 and especially any of our prominent public 
 men, can look at the prospect of a probable 
 severance of our Union, no matter for what 
 cause, without shuddering, is to me an indu- 
 bitable proof, that their minds are destitute of 
 that wisdom, and their hearts of that whole- 
 some feehng, which God will give us while he 
 regards us with favour. 
 
 It has appeared from the facts which have 
 passed in review before us this evening, that 
 there are many things which have occurred 
 within the last seven years of our country's 
 history, which are of a striking character, and 
 which, however many are the blessings which 
 have been left to us, would seem to indicate 
 that God has a controversy with us which we 
 ought to regard with reverential interest and to 
 study with devout attention. I am fully aware 
 of the delicacy and danger connected with the 
 study and application of such a subject, remem- 
 bering the words of Christ concerning those 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 281 
 
 eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell ; 
 "Think ye that these were sinners above all men 
 that dwell in Jerusalem ? I tell you, nay ; but 
 except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 
 It becomes us to be very humble and modest in 
 the judgments we form on such subjects. It is 
 however, one thing to judge rashly, and ano- 
 ther to " discern the signs of the times," by 
 the light -which God's word casts on his pro- 
 vidences. The latter we not only may, but 
 should do. 
 
 It is as true that God is the moral governor 
 of the universe, as it is that he is the preserver 
 of his creatures. And while he will have us feel 
 our dependence, and thankfully acknowledge 
 his goodness, he makes it our sacred duty to 
 regard his judgments with awe and reverence. 
 The providences of God towards the children 
 of Israel were very remarkable, and he com- 
 plains of them that they disregarded them^ — 
 " Who among you will give ear to this ? who 
 will hearken, and hear for the time to come? 
 who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the 
 robbers ? did not the Lord, he against whom 
 we have sinned ? for they would not walk in 
 his ways, neither were they obedient unto his 
 laws. Therefore he hath poured upon them 
 the fury of his anger, and the strength of bat' 
 tie; and it hath set him on fire round about, 
 
 24* 
 
282 
 
 LECTURE XI 
 
 yet he knew not ; and it burned him, yet he 
 laid it not to heart." Does it need any proof 
 that God exercised a moral government over 
 that nation ? Does not their whole history 
 illustrate the fact ? Why have they been dis- 
 persed ? Why have they been preserved in a 
 separate state for eighteen hundred years, 
 though scattered among all nations? Why 
 are there so many predictions concerning their 
 future glory ? 
 
 But perhaps it may be said, their case was 
 peculiar. The general principles of the divine 
 government are not peculiar. They embrace 
 all nations, and all time. The government of 
 the whole world has been committed into the 
 hands of Jesus Christ, as the Mediator, be- 
 tween God and men, and the very principle for 
 which I am contending is necessary for the ful- 
 filment of the trust which has been committed 
 into his hands. The hopes of our ruined race 
 are dependent upQn it. Hence he is called, 
 " the head over all things to the Church" — 
 " King of kings, and Lord of Lords." " For 
 the kingdom is the Lord's ; and he is the go- 
 vernor among the nations." — " Yet have I set 
 my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Be wise, 
 therefore, O ye kings ; be instructed, ye judges 
 of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and 
 rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 283 
 
 be angry, and ye perish from the way, when 
 his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are 
 all they that put their trust in him." "God is 
 the Judge: he putteth down one, and setteth 
 up another." Surely, if the individuals of our 
 race are so under God's controul, that "the 
 very hairs of their head are all numbered," it 
 can scarcely be imagined that He disregards 
 the affairs of rulers and nations, upon the ac- 
 tion of whom the welfare of such myriads of 
 individuals depend ! Nay ; there are good rea- 
 sons why the moral government of God should 
 bear with more directness upon collective bo- 
 dies of men, such as communities and nations, 
 than upon individuals. 
 
 The individual is justly regarded as responsi- 
 ble in his own individual capacity. He never 
 loses his personal identity. He can always be 
 found, and always reached. If God see fit to 
 mark him by a providential act in this life, it is 
 well. He has a perfect right to do so, and has 
 often done it, as in the cases of Lot's wife, An- 
 nanias, Saphyra, and many others. Most can 
 recollect instances in which the providences of 
 God have been so striking as to mark the very 
 sins for which men have been visited. But 
 what, if he see fit to give the notoriously 
 wicked, throughout the whole of their lives, 
 more than their hearts could wish, so that their 
 
284 LECTURE XK 
 
 cup runneth over, and their eyes stand out with 
 fatness, and then let them depart without bands 
 in their death — adequate retribution in the 
 w^orld of spirits is insured, for the individual, 
 with all his responsibilities, is remitted to the 
 judgment seat of Christ, to receive according 
 to the deeds done in the body. Not so with 
 respect to collective bodies, such as nations. 
 The bonds of nations are dissolved here. Death 
 resolves collective bodies into the elements of 
 which they are composed. They are not 
 known in their collective capacity after this life. 
 If therefore, communities, as such, have exer- 
 cised a moral influence affecting the declarative 
 glory of God, and the condition of his crea- 
 tures, and it be proper that God should act to- 
 wards them in such a way as to illustrate his 
 character and government, there is a moral 
 necessity that he should reach them by the dis- 
 pensations of his providence while they retain 
 their collective capacity. 
 
 This, I apprehend, is the only principle upon 
 w^hich we can account for the dealings of God 
 with nations, and the declarations which we 
 find in the Scriptures, bearing on the subject. 
 When all flesh had corrupted their way on the 
 earth, he destroyed the whole race, excepting 
 Noah and his family. When the inhabitants of 
 Sodom and the neighbouring cities had become 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 285 
 
 universally corrupt, he overwhelmed them by 
 one stroke. When the nations of Canaan had 
 filled up the measure of their iniquity, he sent 
 the children of Israel to destroy them, and 
 possess their land. And when they aposta- 
 tized, he visited them with pestilence and 
 famine, or delivered them into the hands of 
 their enemies. Such are the general develop- 
 ments of the moral government of God towards 
 the nations of the earth, and we are in much 
 less danger of mistake in applying these prin- 
 ciples to communities, than to individuals. 
 
 We are then prepared to say, from the prin- 
 ciples which we have deduced from the word of 
 God, and the illustrations furnished by the sa- 
 cred history of his providences, that when the 
 dealings of Divine Providence in consecutive 
 years are adverse to the prosperity and com- 
 fort of a nation, interfering materially with 
 their interests, and frustrating their desires and 
 their hopes, that there is reason to fear that 
 God is pleading a controversy with them, in- 
 to the ground, of which they are imperiously 
 bound to inquire, and the causes of which they 
 should diligently labour to remove. The eye 
 should be directed to them with close attention 
 and deep interest, to ascertain, if possible, the 
 reason of the controversy which God may have 
 with them. God will hide himself from men 
 
286 LECTURE XI. 
 
 on account of their sins, and return unto them 
 when they humble themselves under his hand 
 and return to him by penitence and prayer. 
 This is his language — " I will go and return to 
 my place till they acknowledge their offence, 
 and seek my face." And concerning the dili- 
 gent study of his dispensations we have this 
 record — " whoso is wise, and will observe these 
 things, even they shall understand the loving 
 kindness of the Lord." The attention and in- 
 terest with which men may be induced to re- 
 gard the Lord's dealings with them is of great 
 importance. 
 
 That God takes an interest in the concerns 
 of our country, none but Atheists will venture 
 to deny. Our fathers loved to acknowledge 
 his hand, and refer their cause to him. And 
 who can believe that this people have grown 
 up without his care and blessing ! And if he 
 led forth our fathers like a flock, and guided 
 and raised us to such heights of prosperity 
 and glory, why should it be supposed that he 
 has had no concern in the events of later years. 
 If our prosperity have come from him, from 
 what source have our afflictions come? Do 
 they ever come without a cause ? 
 
 Look again at the events of the last seven 
 years which have passed in review before us. 
 The dreadful cholera, which swept away so 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 287 
 
 many thousands, in so short a time, and filled 
 the whole land with consternation. The suc- 
 cessive embarrassments in the concerns of 
 business and money. The loss of human life 
 by shipwreck and other disasters on our wa- 
 ters. . The pecuniary losses which have been 
 suffered by derangement of business, by bank- 
 ruptcies, by storms at sea, by the destruction 
 of steam-boats by fire and other means, by the 
 conflagration of scores of manufactories, and 
 large portions of some of our cities, by exten- 
 sive failures of the fruits of the earth, and by 
 the overwhelming floods with which the last 
 winter has passed away — the gloomy subject of 
 slavery, and the feelings which are connected 
 with it, and engendered by it — the lawless and 
 reckless spirit which actuates so many of our 
 countrymen, and which vents itself in broils 
 and mobs, and conflagrations, and murders — 
 the state of the Indian tribes, and the expen- 
 sive, protracted, and disgraceful war in which 
 we have been engaged with one of the smallest 
 of them. The state of the Canadas, the 
 Maine boundary question, and the feelings of a 
 multitude of the American people with respect 
 to our relations with Great Britain. If God 
 has any concern with these subjects, and I 
 know not how to separate them from the scope 
 and action of his moral government — a govern- 
 
288 LECTURE XI. 
 
 ment which comprehends the army of heaven, 
 and every dweller upon earth, yea, and the dark 
 regions of hell — then there is reason to appre- 
 hend that he has a controversy with us, of 
 which these providences are the tokens and the 
 proofs, and we cannot disregard them without 
 neglecting the best interests of our country, and 
 our duty to God. 
 
 Nor would it be difficult to find substantial 
 reasons for the Lord's dealings with us, in our 
 state and conduct as a nation. He has dealt 
 graciously and bountifully with us. There is 
 not a people on earth who are so deeply in- 
 debted to the Divine goodness. We have, 
 truly, " a goodly heritage." Whether we look 
 at the extent, fertility, and healthiness of our 
 country, the Divine care in watching over us, 
 the deliverances we have experienced from 
 perils, the rapidity of our growth, in num- 
 bers, in wealth, and in the substantial com- 
 forts of life, the happy character of our civil 
 institutions, and the exuberance of our religi- 
 ous privileges, we may well say, " he hath not 
 dealt so with any people." What returns have 
 we made to him? Where are the memorials of 
 our gratitude? What improvement have we 
 made of our privileges? As a nation^ we ac- 
 knowledge his hand in nothing; we are afraid, 
 as a people^ even to mention his name. We 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 289 
 
 have, to be sure, a day of memorial: but 
 whom do we honour by its observance? We 
 sing hosannahs to Mars, by the thunder of our 
 cannon; and pour out hbations to Bacchus, in 
 wine or whiskey; but, where are our acknow- 
 ledgments to the God of our fathers? The 
 sins of the Fourth of July, are more than 
 enough to account for every divine frown we 
 have ever experienced. 
 
 The falsehoods, slanders, bribes, blasphe- 
 mies, perjuries, drunkenness, and broils, con- 
 nected with almost any general election which 
 takes place in our country, are enough to turn 
 the Divine Mind against us, and tempt the 
 Lord to pour out his wrath upon us. 
 
 We have had an unexampled course of pros- 
 perity. The earth has brought forth by hand- 
 fuls; and we have gathered up riches like Solo- 
 mon. What effect has the Divine goodness 
 had upon us? It has made us greedy of gain, 
 anxious to grow suddenly rich, dissatisfied with 
 the gradually increasing avails of honest in- 
 dustry, proud, extravagant, luxurious, unthank- 
 ful, and regardless of God, the giver of every 
 good and perfect gift. It appears to me, to be 
 proved to a demonstration, by the very visita- 
 tions of God's hand, that these are some of 
 our crying, national sins, for which he is now, 
 in a very striking manner, visiting us. Nor is 
 25 
 
290 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 it strange that it should be so, if he have any 
 mercy left for us; for the love of the world, 
 and the love of God, in which the happiness 
 of intelligent creatures consists, are totally in- 
 consistent with each other. This is a contro- 
 versy, which he 7iow appears to be pleading 
 with us; and, in which it behooves us to "hear 
 the rod," and give God glory, ere he cause 
 darkness. 
 
 Nor, finally, would it be difficult to find a 
 pregnant reason for the Divine frowns which 
 have fallen upon us, in the little improvement 
 which we have made of our religious privi- 
 leges, and in our disregard of those institu- 
 tions which God has so graciously bestowed 
 upon us. God has said, " Them that honour- 
 eth me, I will honour; and they that despise 
 me, shall be lightly esteemed." This is a prin- 
 ciple of the Divine government. What people 
 have enjoyed the appliances of religion in 
 richer abundance? This is, emphatically, a 
 land of Bibles, Sabbaths, and sanctuaries. 
 We have none to interfere with our duties to 
 God, and the rights of our consciences; and 
 are therefore under the greater obligations to 
 improve our unparalleled privileges. But what 
 are the facts of the case? What multitudes, 
 not only disregard, but despise and abuse 
 every thing which partakes of a religious cha- 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 291 
 
 racter; and, especially, to what idle and sinful 
 purposes is the day of " sacred rest," " the 
 holy of the Lord, and honourable," the memo- 
 rial among us of God's creating power and 
 redeeming mercy, perverted? sufficiently so to 
 mark it as a national sin. But, you ask, would 
 you have men obliged by law to read the Bi- 
 ble, sanctify the Sabbath, and wait on the ordi- 
 nances of religion? Be assured, my hearers, 
 that I have not forgotten the Saviour's declara- 
 tion, " My kingdom is not of this world." I 
 am not a believer in the absurdity of making 
 men religious by law; or, the worse than folly, 
 of uniting the Church of Jesus Christ to the 
 states of this world. A worse evil could not 
 befal religion. But I do believe, that the obli- 
 gations of religion, are personal and universal; 
 and that, when men are acquainted with them, 
 and their connected institutions, and disregard 
 and pervert them, that God will hold them 
 responsible, and deal with them accordingly. 
 Nay, that where it amounts to a national sin, 
 that he will visit the nation for it. And while, 
 as a minister of Jesus Christ, I ask not the ru- 
 lers of the world to establish religion by law, I 
 not only ask, but warn them, to enact no laws, 
 which would go to legalize breaches of God's 
 enactments. Here, I think, we have failed of 
 our duty, and are suflfering in consequence of 
 
292 LECTURE XI. 
 
 it. Lightly as men think of the Sabbath, God 
 has connected the honour and glory of his 
 name, and the welfare of his creatures with it, 
 to an extent which eternity only can measure. 
 
 You may not be aware of the fact — 
 nevertheless it is true, that the laws of our 
 country oblige many thousands of its inhabi- 
 tants to live in the habitual breach of the 
 law of the Sabbath, and tempt hundreds of 
 thousands to do so. I allude to the laws 
 which regulate the post-offices, mails, canals, 
 and rail-roads of our country, rendered neces- 
 sary only by the love of gain, and the desire of 
 gratifying curiosity. But a more painful sight, 
 connected with this part of our subject, has 
 rarely occurred in our country, than was exhi- 
 bited five weeks ago this day,* at our National 
 Capitol. On that day, the representatives of 
 the people of these United States, with the 
 Head of the Government in waiting to receive 
 and approve the work of their hands, were as- 
 sembled in Congress, to complete the work of 
 our annual legislation, which might have been 
 finished before in a tenth part of the time 
 
 * Both Houses of Congress were in session during the whole 
 day, on Sabbath, the 3d of March, 1839; and who has rebuked 
 them for it? The secular press has observed a dead silence; and 
 the religious press and the pulpit, if they have spoken at all, have 
 done it in a whisper ! I 
 
DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE. 293 
 
 which had been unprofitably wasted; and the 
 people have made this sin their own, by not re- 
 buking them for it. Over such a scene, angels 
 might weep. Is it a wonder that God frowns 
 upon us? 
 
 I have borne my feeble testimony. I have 
 finished the contemplated review of "the signs 
 of the times." On the next occasion, your at- 
 tention will be directed to "the duty of the 
 Gospel ministry with respect to the signs of 
 the times." And now, to God, only wise, be 
 glory everlasting. 
 
 25' 
 
LECTURE XII. 
 D U T Y OF T H E MINISTRY. 
 
 MATTHEW XVI. III. 
 CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
 
 EZEKIEL III. XVII. 
 
 Son of mdn^ I have made thee a watchman unto 
 the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at 
 my mouthy and give them warning from me. 
 
 Having completed the contemplated review of 
 " the signs of the times," I think it both rele- 
 vant and important, to connect the whole sub- 
 ject with the ministry of the Gospel. During 
 his personal ministry on earth, our Saviour 
 was follow^ed by large multitudes, who heard 
 his instructions. There were, however, twelve, 
 who, upon his special call, were more constant- 
 ly with him, and constituted, as it were, his 
 family. These were denominated his " Apos- 
 tles," because he occasionally sent them out to 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 295 
 
 minister in his name; and, when ascending to 
 glory, he commissioned them to "go into all 
 the world, and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature," appending this promise, "Lo! I am 
 with you always, even to the end of the 
 world." 
 
 This commission required them to make 
 known the whole will of God to those to 
 whom they should go, in his name, rightly 
 dividing to every man the Word of truth, ac- 
 cording to his need, of which, they could judge 
 only as God should teach them, or as their 
 state and character should be developed by 
 Divine Providence. The great body of that 
 instruction, which it is proper and necessary 
 for a minister of the Gospel to give to his 
 hearers, must be drawn from the sacred Scrip- 
 tures. They are the grand depository of God's 
 revealed will. This store-house is well replen- 
 ished. The stock is large, and rich. The 
 Scriptures, however, do not consist of mere 
 doctrines and precepts. They contain, also, 
 the principles of God's moral government, and 
 the history of its administration, so far as the 
 Church is concerned — and the Church is con- 
 cerned in it to a greater extent than we are in 
 the habit of imagining. If you will read with 
 attention the seventh and eighth chapters of 
 the book of Daniel, you will find a succinct 
 
296 LECTURE XII. 
 
 prophetical history of the four great kingdoms, 
 which have followed each other in succession, 
 the Babylonish, the Grecian, the Roman, and 
 the politico-religious one which arose out of 
 the last upon the subversion of the Western 
 Roman Empire by the Goths and Vandals. 
 Upon turning your attention to the subject, you 
 will perceive what a mighty influence these 
 have exerted on the Church of God, and the 
 interests of immortal souls. This connexion 
 is still running on; and we are waiting for 
 those farther developments of Divine Provi- 
 dence, which shall bring the great Papal anti- 
 christian apostacy to an end, release the 
 Church of God from her bondage, and bring 
 her out into the liberty and glory of her mil- 
 lenial state. And, because we suppose that 
 the dispensations of Providence, with respect 
 to the nations of the earth, our own country 
 as well as others, have a direct and important 
 bearing on the Church, and the salvation of 
 souls, we are induced to believe that ministers 
 of the Gospel have important duties to dis- 
 charge, in connexion with " the signs of the 
 times." 
 
 I am as far from desiring to make them 
 worldly politicians, as I am from wishing to 
 see them engaged in any of the schemes of 
 ambition or money-making, which are leading 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 297 
 
 such multitudes to forget God and the salva- 
 tion of their souls. God forbid, that they 
 should descend from their watch-towers for 
 such purposes. I wish to see them fixed on 
 their appropriate posts, awake to their duty, 
 alive to every movement which is taking place, 
 studying the actions of men, and the provi- 
 dence of God, by the light of his Holy Word ; 
 with a divine telescope in one hand, and the 
 gospel trumpet in the other, ready to sound an 
 alarm in God's holy mountain, and give the 
 people warning from Him. 
 
 Is there one of " the signs of the times," to 
 which your attention has been directed, which 
 has no connexion with the moral character and 
 conduct of men, the state and prospects of the 
 Church of God, the salvation of souls, the wel- 
 fare of society, and the glory of Jehovah ? With 
 respect to some of them, the connexion is direct 
 and palpable. It is so with respect to the subject 
 of missions. Nothing can be more obvious, than 
 that it is the duty of the ministry of reconcilia- 
 tion to give to the Gospel the widest scope, 
 and the greatest efficiency within the sphere of 
 their immediate labours. Their w^ork is not 
 done, and therefore, their hand is not to be 
 stayed, while a sinner remains unconverted, or 
 a saint inconsistent, inactive, or not growing in 
 grace and knowledge. In other words, till all 
 
298 LECTURE XII. 
 
 are doing their duty, and ripening for heaven. 
 The whole body of the Church, however, and, 
 very prominently, the ministers of the Gospel, 
 are firmly and sacredly bound to see, to the 
 fullest extent of their ability, that the Saviour's 
 command, " preach the Gospel to every crea- 
 ture," be carried into effect. The command 
 was manifestly addressed to the Apostles, as 
 the representatives of the whole Church, the 
 radiating point from which light was to go 
 forth to the ends of the earth. Their Master 
 had already said to them, " Ye are the light of 
 the world." Providence has taught us, that it 
 w^as not the divine design that this command 
 should receive its full accomplishment by the 
 ministry of the Apostles, or in their day; but, 
 that the duty should remain incumbent to the 
 end of time, and hence, is incumbent now; for, 
 such is the import of the appended promise, 
 "Lo! I am with you always, even to the end 
 of the world." 
 
 There rests, therefore, a weighty duty, and 
 high responsibility on the leaders of the Lord's 
 host, for there remains much land to be possess- 
 ed. I say, " on the leaders," for it is from them 
 that the body of the Church must receive their 
 intelligence, and learn their duty. It is but 
 little of the state and prospects of our sin- 
 ruined world that the great mass of our con- 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 299 
 
 gregations either know, or can know, as to its 
 wants and woes, excepting what they learn 
 from the hps of their pastors. Nor can they 
 be brought to act till they are informed, nor 
 will they continue to act, unless the Macedo- 
 nian cry, "come over, and help us," is con- 
 stantly sounded in their ears. The feelings 
 and actions of Christians with respect to mis- 
 sions, will take " their form and pressure" from 
 the ministry under which they live. I know 
 not, therefore, why the ministry is not to be 
 held personally responsible for the want of in- 
 terest or exertion on the part of their congre- 
 gations, so far as these have been induced by 
 their neglect to communicate to them the ne- 
 cessary intelligence, or to excite them to action 
 by the necessary inducements. 
 
 The great lesson here taught is, that the 
 ministry are solemnly bound to make the sub- 
 ject of missions one leading branch of their 
 study, and to bring the knowledge they acquire 
 on it, and the interest they personally feel in it, 
 practically to bear on the people committed 
 to their charge. I allude not merely to the 
 monthly concert of prayer, however important 
 that institution may be — that however should 
 command their diligent attention, and their 
 study should be to make it interesting and edi- 
 fying, for the cause of missions — but, in as 
 
300 LECTURE XII. 
 
 much as comparatively few are in the habit of 
 meeting together on that occasion, it becomes 
 the more necessary to give the subject more 
 frequency and prominence in the stated minis- 
 trations of the sanctuary. This would oblige 
 the pastor to study with more attention the 
 state of the world as " without God and with- 
 out hope," and the duty and agency of the 
 Church with respect to its conversion to God. 
 And the result would be, increased interest and 
 exertion on the part of both, for its consumma- 
 tion. This would produce a happy reaction at 
 home, for it is an undeniable truth, that "the 
 liberal soul shall be made fat : and he that wa- 
 tereth, shall be watered also himself." Is it 
 not to be feared that this subject, so interesting 
 in itself, and so important to the kingdom of 
 Christ in the world, is far from receiving merit- 
 ed attention from the ministry of reconcilia- 
 tion ? And if so, is it not high time to wake 
 up to it ? 
 
 Nor is the cause of education foreign to a 
 minister's duty. I speak not of it now with 
 a reference to the training^ of a faithful and 
 able ministry, but of education in general. It 
 has appeared from a former discourse, that the 
 subject is acquiring an interest and attention 
 which have never before been bestowed upon it, 
 not only in our own country, but in many 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 301 
 
 Others. It has been spoken of as highly proba- 
 ble, that these will increase, until education shall 
 become general in all lands. It will diffuse 
 itself wherever the Gospel shall go, and many 
 who will refuse the Gospel, will see the necessity 
 of it for themselves. It is also manifest that 
 mental culture will exercise a prodigious influ- 
 ence on the condition and character of our race, 
 in all the relations which they sustain to each 
 other, and to God — and consequently that great 
 and vital changes will be wrought by it upon 
 every part of the world, partaking in their na- 
 ture of the kind of cultivation which the human 
 mind shall receive. And that from the state of 
 the human heart, as depraved and alienated 
 from God, these will uniformly be adverse to 
 the glory of God* and the best interests of man, 
 unless there be a large and early infusion 
 of that knowledge which is able to make us 
 wise unto salvation, through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus. Without this, the more highly 
 the mere mind of man is educated, the more 
 wise will he be to do evil. 
 
 These considerations attach a fearful interest 
 to the subject of education, and should induce 
 Christians, and especially Christian ministers, to 
 study it, with a closeness and interested atten- 
 tion which they have hitherto never bestowed 
 upon it. The following facts are worthy of 
 
 26 
 
302 LECTURE XII. 
 
 serious consideration. The Scriptures are very 
 sparingly used in any of our public schools — 
 from many of them they are totally banished. 
 Multitudes of parents do not make up the defi- 
 ciency, either by personal attention to the reli- 
 gious education of their children, or by sending 
 them to the Sabbath School, or by bringing 
 them under the Biblical and Catechetical in- 
 struction provided for them by the Church. 
 With many parents, in selecting seminaries for 
 the education of their children, the inquiry is 
 never made, what are its religious advantages, 
 or what influence will it be likely to exercise on 
 the salvation of my child, confining their atten- 
 tion to intellectual culture, or the acquisition of 
 mere accomplishments. If these assumptions 
 are well founded, it follows, that multitudes 
 grow up destitute of all that moral and reli- 
 gious training which is vital to usefulness, and 
 comfort on earth, and preparation for heaven. 
 What is the consequence of all this? That 
 multitudes grow up in almost total ignorance 
 of those things which belong to their peace, 
 and many of them with deadly hostility to the 
 claims of the Bible as a divine revelation, be- 
 cause those who have had the direction of 
 their education have not seen fit to have them 
 made acquainted either with the contents or 
 the claims of the Bible. And if the more than 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 303 
 
 half infidel objection has been made, they are 
 too young to understand the meaning of the 
 Scriptures^ even a child might reply, you did not 
 proceed thus with respect to other things. 
 You obliged me to study them^ that I might 
 learn to understand them, and you encouraged 
 me by the promise of ultimate success. 
 
 There is much here that is wrong, and needs 
 rectification, and it must be rectified, or we 
 shall reap a fearful harvest. And much can be 
 done to abate, if not remove the evil, by the in- 
 fluence and efforts of a faithful ministry. Let 
 them sound an alarm on the subject. Let the 
 truth with respect to it be proclaimed in all the 
 pulpits of our land. Let Christians of every 
 name, at least, be made to learn their duty, and 
 exert their influence on the subject, and a pub- 
 lic sentiment would be created which it would 
 not be easy to resist. The professed friends of 
 the Bible are not in the minority in this land, 
 and infidels ask too much of us in a republican 
 country, where the majority must needs govern, 
 when they ask us to banish the Bible from our 
 public schools — and Christians are too com- 
 plaisant in yielding a point of such high impor- 
 tance upon such insufficient inducements. The 
 more education shall be diflfused, the more im- 
 portant will this subject become. I warn my 
 brethren of every denomination of the duty 
 
304 LECTURE XII. 
 
 they owe to God and the world in relation to 
 it, and beseech them, if they can agree in no- 
 thing else that they agree to give the Bible the 
 place it should occupy in the school. 
 
 My brethren will not contend that it is a 
 matter which does not concern them, that the 
 whole world, as it were, hath run mad after 
 mammon, while the evidence is as clear as the 
 light of the day, that the infection is not only 
 general among those who do not profess the 
 self-denying religion of Christ, but has deeply 
 affected his professed followers; yea, even the 
 ministers of his grace, while the frowns of his 
 providence have caused the hearts of men to 
 quake within them. If this is no business of 
 theirs, why do we read as follows in the holy 
 oracles : " But they that will be rich fall into 
 temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish 
 and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruc- 
 tion and perdition. For the love of money is 
 the root of all evil ; which, while some coveted 
 after, they have erred from the faith, and 
 pierced themselves through with many sor- 
 rows." " Covetousness, which is idolatry." 
 " Covetousness, let it not be named among 
 you, as it becometh saints." " He that maketh 
 haste to be rich, shall not be innocent." " A 
 rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom 
 of heaven." If ever there was a subject which 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 305 
 
 called upon them to open their eyes and see, 
 and to hft up their voices like trumpets, this is 
 the subject, and this is the time. For let them 
 be assured that while this spirit is thus raging, 
 nothing good or holy, nothing accompanying 
 salvation can be induced. And this is the 
 more incumbent at present, because God is 
 smiting this idol with the right hand of his 
 righteousness. Peradventure they will now 
 hear the voice of his mercy, expostulating with 
 them in the Gospel. And if some of them 
 should be obliged to preach to themselves on 
 the subject, let them not on that account hold 
 their peace, for unless this stumbling-block be 
 removed out of the way, the Gospel will be 
 powerless. Two master passions cannot reign 
 in the human heart at the same time; ''ye can- 
 not serve God and mammon," saith Christ. 
 Let Zion's watchmen wake up to this impor- 
 tant subject. 
 
 Nor should they be blind to the cheap rate 
 at which human life is held in our country. I 
 need not recapitulate what has been said on 
 this painful subject on a former occasion. You 
 know that hundreds of human lives are des- 
 troyed every year, and how rarely the law is 
 brought to bear on those who are guilty of it. 
 How shall public sentiment be rectified? Who 
 shall speak for God, and for the souls of men, 
 
 26* 
 
306 LECTURE XII. 
 
 which are wantonly sacrificed in hecatombs on 
 the altar of this bloody Moloch ? It is a dark 
 sign. Who will observe it ? Who will give 
 the people warning from God, before he shall 
 come out of his place to punish us for this sin? 
 God sets too high a value on human life to suf- 
 fer it to be thus sported with. Let not the 
 ministry of reconciliation say, " this is no con- 
 cern of ours." Why then has the Lord put 
 into their hands, as his messengei^, that volume 
 in which he says, " thou shalt not kill ?" " Who- 
 so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood 
 be shed?" And why does he hold to you this 
 language, " give them warning from me ?" " If 
 thou give them not warning from me, and they 
 turn not from their iniquity ; they shall perish 
 in their iniquity ; but their blood will I require 
 at thy hand." The press is silent — and so is 
 the law. And if the pulpit also be silent, who 
 shall sound the alarm? The ministry has a 
 great duty to perform, however unpleasant it 
 may be to them^ and unwelcome to those who 
 are implicated. They will sin, if they keep 
 silence. 
 
 Mention has also been made in these dis- 
 courses, of the corruption of doctrine in the 
 Christian Church, and of the unhappy effects 
 which have resulted from it, particularly in our 
 own portion of it — the injuries which have re- 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 307 
 
 suited from improperly conducted, or spurious 
 revivals of religion — the state of public senti- 
 ment and feeling with respect to the great and 
 agitating subject of slavery — the manner in 
 which the spirit of fanaticism has mingled itself 
 up with almost all the important concerns of 
 life — the spirit of lawlessness which has in so 
 threatening a manner broken out in different 
 parts of the land on a variety of occasions — 
 and finally, the frowning aspects of Divine Pro- 
 vidence towards our beloved country during 
 the last seven years. These furnish so many 
 points upon which the intelligent and attentive 
 observer of the signs of the times should fix 
 his eye, with the desire of ascertaining, as far 
 as possible, their probable causes, studying 
 them with a reference to their influence on the 
 state of our country with respect to its institu- 
 tions, its general welfare, its morals, and espe- 
 cially on the influence they will be likely to 
 exert on the Church of God, and the interest of 
 immortal souls — and then to bring to bear upon 
 them the counsel of God, as it may be elabo- 
 rately gathered from his revealed will. 
 
 That they have already produced great ef- 
 fects, no one, who will be at the pains of look- 
 ing at them with attention, can fail to discover. 
 That they will continue to produce eflfects 
 equally great, is as certain as that God exer- 
 
308 LECTURE XII. 
 
 cises a moral government over our world. Can 
 it be then, that his watchmen, whom he has 
 placed on the walls, and commanded to give 
 warning from him whenever it shall be necessa- 
 ry, shall neither observe what is taking place, 
 nor speak when events are transpiring, which 
 deeply affect, not only the great temporal inter- 
 ests of men and communities, but the greater 
 interests of God, as connected with the preser- 
 vation, purity, peace, and efficiency of his 
 Church, the glory of his great name, and the 
 eternal happiness of multitudes? 
 
 And which of these "signs" does not impli- 
 cate these high interests? It surely will not 
 be pretended that they are not involved in 
 the maintainance of purity of doctrine in the 
 Church of God, or the preservation of order in 
 his house. Nor will it be said, that ministers 
 of the Gospel are not bound by the most solemn 
 obligations to teach and defend the truth, and 
 labour by every lawful means in their power to 
 root up and destroy error. If this be not an 
 important part of their business, what is? 
 They are again and again divinely commanded 
 to do so, that they may both save themselves 
 and them that hear them. Nor is this a mat- 
 ter of small moment — for error eats as doth a 
 canker. Few things are more injurious to the 
 Church and the world, than the promulgation 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 309 
 
 of errors in religion, especially on vital sub- 
 jects. This induced Paul to withstand Peter to 
 his face at Galatia. 
 
 Nor need it be proved, on the one hand, that 
 revivals of religion, pure and undefiled, are of 
 the last importance, with respect to the decla- 
 rative glory of God, the enlargement and effi- 
 ciency of the Church, and the salvation of our 
 sin-ruined world; or, on the other hand, that 
 ministers of the Gospel have a very high con- 
 cern in them. These things are as evident as 
 the light of the sun at noon-day. Let it, how- 
 ever be borne in mind, that the character and 
 results of revivals are materially affected by 
 the means employed in conducting them. It 
 is true, that no genuine revival of religion can 
 exist, or be carried on, without the quickening, 
 illuminating, and sanctifying influences of the 
 Holy Spirit. What Paul said to the Corinthi- 
 ans, is true of this subject : " I have planted, 
 Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." 
 Neither those w^ho are asleep, nor those who 
 are "dead in trespasses and sins," obey any 
 other voice. Still, they are very much modi- 
 fied by the means employed in conducting 
 them, and the circumstances attending them. 
 Their character will, for instance, be very dif- 
 ferent, if they are conducted under a full exhi- 
 bition of Gospel truth, connected with deep 
 
310 LECTURE XII. 
 
 conviction of sin, and humble dependence on 
 the Spirit and grace of God; than if they 
 should be induced under instruction in which 
 the distinguishing features of the Gospel should 
 be kept out of view, especially if they should 
 be connected with any considerable degree of 
 human machinery, and excitement of the im- 
 agination or the feelings. This distinction, 
 and it is an important one, brings the subject 
 fairly within the line of ministerial duty, and 
 makes it incumbent on all the ministers of the 
 Gospel to study the nature of revivals of reli- 
 gion, to watch their progress with sedulous care, 
 and to give a right direction to all those influ- 
 ences and exercises which are connected with 
 them. For let them be assured, that much 
 will, under God, depend upon them. They 
 have a deep interest in the whole subject. 
 They should be the fast friends, and active 
 promoters of revivals. But let them see to it, 
 that they present no strange fire before the 
 Lord, nor sow tares in his field. Let not the 
 lesson, so painfully taught during late years, be 
 lost upon them. Much remains to be accom- 
 plished before the world shall be brought into 
 subjection to the cross of Christ; and it is to 
 be eflfected by means of revivals, more pure, 
 extensive, and glorious than have ever yet been 
 experienced. This is known to the powers of 
 
DUTY OP THE MINISTRY. 311 
 
 darkness; and if they can palsy this arm of 
 strength, they will do it. If in any thing the 
 ministry should " be wise as serpents, and 
 harmless as doves," this is the very thing. 
 They must be firm, wise, zealous. 
 
 You will remember, that the existence of 
 slavery in our country, and the state of pub- 
 lic sentiment with respect to it, has been con- 
 sidered as one of the " signs of the times," 
 bearing, with no small weight, on the public 
 interest, and the prospects of religion among 
 us. This exciting subject can scarcely fail to 
 attract the attention of the ministry of recon- 
 ciliation, and lead to serious thoughts as to 
 their own duty with respect to it. They will 
 do well to remember the various relations in 
 which it stands. They must look at it, as con- 
 nected with the Constitution and laws of our 
 land — as it bears on the rights and duties of 
 all concerned: and especially, as it involves 
 the state and prospects of immortal souls. 
 They must look at it in its various bearings. 
 They must ponder deeply their own situation 
 as men, as American citizens, as Christians, 
 and as ministers of the Gospel. I dare not 
 say, that they have nothing to do with the sub- 
 ject, in either of these relations; but I do say, 
 that they will find, in every view which they 
 can take of it, much to perplex and embarrass 
 
312 LECTURE XII. 
 
 them. They will find it difficult to determine 
 the line of duty, if it involve action. They 
 cannot, however, be mistaken in governing 
 their own spirits, and keeping themselves aloof 
 from any course of action which may jeopard 
 the peace of the country, the safety of our in- 
 stitutions, the welfare of the African race, and 
 the unity and edification of the Church. Espe- 
 cially should it be their duty and prayer, to 
 know how they may bring the Gospel to bear 
 upon them, so that they may endure their lot, 
 in the enjoyment of the comforts of religion, 
 and the hope of heaven, until God, in his in- 
 scrutable wisdom, shall throw light on this 
 dark subject, and make the line of duty plain 
 before our face. That day will come. In the 
 mean time, great care is necessary, lest we cast 
 abroad " firebrands, arrows, and death." In 
 relation to this subject the saying is true, " Be- 
 hold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth." 
 Even a slight movement of one imprudent min- 
 ister, may prove to be as the breaking forth of 
 an overwhelming flood. 
 
 " The spirit of fanaticism," is another of 
 those subjects, at which a minister of the Gos- 
 pel should look with close attention. We 
 have, on a former occasion, adverted to its 
 prevalence and evil effects in our own age and 
 country. It has been shown, to have efifected 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 313 
 
 almost every department of business; the cause 
 of temperance; the civil and political institu- 
 tions of our country; the subjects of slavery, 
 and peace; the benevolent institutions of the 
 day; and finally, the doctrines, order, and ac- 
 tion of the Church of God, particularly with 
 respect to revivals of religion, and this, if no- 
 thing else, brings it fairly and legitimately 
 within the range of ministerial care, watchful- 
 ness, and animadversion. The country and 
 the Church have both felt its deleterious influ- 
 ence. It has made a part of our own allot- 
 ment in the Lord's vineyard, like a forest 
 through which a raging fire has passed; and, 
 if its progress has been arrested, it is still far 
 from being extinguished. It is so much "the 
 spirit of the age," that it may be expected to 
 break out again, as often as any one of a hun- 
 dred breezes may blow upon it. The mischiefs 
 it has wrought, is a sufficient reason to keep it 
 under watchful supervision. Every part of the 
 Church has in it some of these combustible 
 spirits, who are ready, at every moment, to 
 burst out. Ordinary duties and seasons will 
 not move them to action. They move not but 
 in the tempest. They act not but by explo- 
 sion. The importance of the subject will war- 
 rant the admonition. Watch against it. Re- 
 press it in your own bosom — in all over whom 
 
 27 
 
314 LECTURE XII. 
 
 you can exercise an influence, especially in the 
 Church. It is a spirit of ignorance; and one 
 of the best safeguards against it, is to fill the 
 mind with sound knowledge and understanding, 
 in the fear of the Lord. It thinks not, it re- 
 flects not; it is empty, and therefore is carried 
 about by every wind which strikes it. Guard 
 against it, in every thing, and you will be sure 
 to preserve the Church from its destructive in- 
 fluence. 
 
 It will be remembered, that, on a former oc- 
 casion, the age in which we live was spoken of 
 as having, for one of its " signs" and distin- 
 guishing characteristics, " a spirit of lawless- 
 ness," which is restless, uneasy, and discon- 
 tented; which refuses to be in subjection to 
 any rule or authority, claiming to make its 
 own will its almost only rule of action, while 
 the will itself is governed by the passions of 
 an unsanctified heart. This spirit was shown 
 to have manifested itself in the bearing and 
 use of deadly weapons by private individuals, 
 in the ordinary affairs of life, either, as is al- 
 leged, for self-defence, or, for the assertion of 
 their personal rights, or the redress of their 
 personal wrongs, as though there were no 
 shield of law to cover every head, and protect 
 every right — in the practice of duelling — and 
 in the prevalence of mobs. Now, I contend, 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 315 
 
 that this state of things is fairly subject to the 
 animadversions of the pulpit, as well because it 
 involves the interests of religion, the glory of 
 God, and the welfare of society, as because it 
 is a violation of the precepts of God's law, and 
 the positive injunction which says: "Let every 
 soul be subject unto the higher powers. For 
 there is no power but of God; the powers that 
 be, are ordained of God. Whosoever, there- 
 fore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordi- 
 nance of God; and they that resist, shall re- 
 ceive to themselves damnation." " Put them 
 in mind," (says Paul to Titus,) " to be subject 
 to principalities and powers, to obey magis- 
 trates." Says Peter, "Submit yourselves to 
 every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake; 
 whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto 
 governors, as unto them that are sent by him, 
 for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the 
 praise of them that do well. For so is the 
 will of God." The duty of ministers, in this 
 respect, cannot be questioned. They owe it 
 as a sacred duty to God, as well as to the 
 community in which they dwell, not only to 
 obey the law for conscience sake, but to up- 
 hold the law, and maintain the peace and order 
 of society, to teach men their duty in this re- 
 spect, and to rebuke the spirit of lawlessness 
 with all the authority with which God has 
 
316 LECTURE XII. 
 
 clothed them. And I apprehend, that they 
 have need of being stirred up to the discharge 
 of this duty. I fear, the ministry has often 
 been well nigh silent, when it should have 
 spoken out in the name of the Lord. If the 
 twelve or fifteen thousand pulpits of our land 
 should have sounded the alarm, much of the 
 disorder and confusion which has disgraced 
 our country, and injured the cause of free in- 
 stitutions throughout the world, might have 
 been prevented. 
 
 In my last discourse on " the signs of the 
 times," occasion was taken to speak, some- 
 what at large, of the dealings of God towards 
 our country, during the last seven years — par- 
 ticularly with reference to adverse providences, 
 which might have been designed, if not to pun- 
 ish, yet to rebuke and chasten us, for our na- 
 tional sins. Mention was made of that awful 
 scourge, the cholera, in 1832 — the number of 
 lives lost by shipwrecks on the ocean, and the 
 multitude of disasters which have occurred on 
 the waters of our country, in conducting navi- 
 gation by steam power — the pecuniary losses 
 which have been suffered from the derange- 
 ments of business, shipwrecks, steam-boat dis- 
 asters, and the extensive conflagrations which 
 have occurred in several of our cities — the fail- 
 ure of crops — Indian wars — and the danger 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 317 
 
 which has existed of becoming embroiled with 
 other nations. These things were considered 
 as indications of the Divine displeasure against 
 us for our national sins, in failure of suitable 
 gratitude for the Lord's goodness to us as a na- 
 tion, for the small improvement which we have 
 made of our privileges, and our inordinate de- 
 sire and eager pursuit of wealth, connected with 
 the almost necessary consequences, worldly 
 mindedness, luxury, and forgetfulness of God. 
 These are all signs, hung out by God, to be ob- 
 served, studied, and improved by men — divine 
 instruction taught to be learned — a father's rod 
 chastising his children — " elder Scripture, writ 
 by God's own hand," teaching lessons of practi- 
 cal wisdom. And if in such things he says to 
 all, " can ye not discern the signs of the times," 
 what does he say to the watchmen whom he 
 hath set on the walls of Zion for the very pur- 
 pose of observing them. 
 
 The very object of their appointment is, to 
 study his word, and observe his movements to- 
 wards the children of men, and when they un- 
 derstand them, to give their fellow creatures 
 warning from God, with all faithfulness, assidui- 
 ty, and affection, so that they may learn their 
 danger, and betake themselves to their hiding 
 place for safety. This is one of the peculiar 
 duties of the sacred ministry, which they can- 
 
318 LECTURE XII. 
 
 not neglect without sin. In the smaller sphere 
 they act upon the principle. If some disas- 
 trous providence occur in the congregation to 
 which they minister, or the village or city 
 where they dwell, they speak out — they lift up 
 the voice hke a trumpet. Now, why is it that 
 they have no concern with those providences 
 which manifestly relate to the state and welfare 
 of a nation ? The difference, if there be any, 
 is this ; — the greater the number to be affected 
 by the dispensation, the deeper should be their 
 solicitude, and the more earnest their warning. 
 My apprehension is, that the ministry has to a 
 considerable extent mistaken its duty in rela- 
 tion to this subject. Their observations are 
 not sufficiently extensive, or they suppose those 
 to whom they minister to have no concern in 
 the broader lines of providence, or they feel 
 afraid of becoming implicated in matters which 
 do not belong to their office. But what is there 
 in the word of God, or in the dealings of his 
 hand, from which they may not derive instruc- 
 tion which may be useful in the prosecution of 
 their ministry ? It is admitted, that care, pru- 
 dence, and often, nice discernment, are neces- 
 sary to conduct this part of their ministry to 
 edification. But surely it can furnish no ex- 
 cuse for neglecting it ! 
 
 It appears, then, from the views to which 
 
DUTY OF THE MINISTRY. 319 
 
 your attention has this evening been directed, 
 that the ministry of reconcihation has an im- 
 portant concern in observing, studying with 
 assiduity, care, and prayerfulness, and applying 
 with affectionate sohcilude and faithfulness, 
 " the signs of the times," for the temporal bene- 
 fit and the spiritual edification of those who 
 hear them. It was under a distinct impression 
 of the truth and importance of this conclusion, 
 that the course of instruction on " the signs of 
 the times," which has for so long a time en- 
 gaged your attention, was commenced, has 
 been prosecuted, and is this evening brought to 
 a close. It has been attended on my part wdth 
 some considerable labour, some portion of sat- 
 isfaction, not unmingled with anxiety, and not 
 without affectionate solicitude and prayerful 
 desire, that it might, through the Divine bless- 
 ing, be made, in some humble measure, useful 
 to the souls of those who have heard it, to the 
 interests of our beloved country, and to the 
 cause of Christ. And, if the Lord shall grant 
 the request, may it be to the honour of his great 
 name, and glorious grace. Amen» 
 
 THE END.